Article

2010-05-03 Home Front: WoT

Ammonium Nitrate in NYC Car Bomb Was Not Explosive Mix

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by gorb 2010-05-03 00:27|| || Front Page|| [11134 views ] Top

#1 "

Posted by gorb 2010-05-03 00:46|| 2010-05-03 00:46|| Front Page Top

#2 ION ISRAELNN > JEWS, MUSLIMS CLASH AT WISCONSIN UNIVERSITY [UW-Milwaukee].

*** cough *** YOUNG SOLDIER-KAY-Y-Y-DET HUGO, ETC. + L'BERET ROUGE ***cough....D *** NGED ALASKAN, RUSSIAN VOLCANOES [Kuriles].

Posted by JosephMendiola 2010-05-03 00:59|| 2010-05-03 00:59|| Front Page Top

#3 I expect that they will find that this was perpetrated by people sympathetic to the Taliban but not directly under their control - otherwise their training program needs work.

Posted by Super Hose 2010-05-03 01:09|| 2010-05-03 01:09|| Front Page Top

#4 INDIA VISION > US SHOPES TO DEVELOP SPY PLANES [UAVS = "Mini-Me"]THAT CAN LAND VERTICALLY, MOVE AND CLING ALONG WALLS.

Like GARGOYLES, BATMAN andor YOUR-FRIENDLY-NEIGBORHOOD = HE-LOVES-HIS-MARY-JANE-AKA-KIRSTEN-DUNST SPIDEY???

Posted by JosephMendiola 2010-05-03 01:11|| 2010-05-03 01:11|| Front Page Top

#5 This is bullshit, I wish I could explain why.

BUT:

I don't want rantburg to become a useful site wrt "Fix my bomb" help.

So keep hitting that crack pipe, guys, maybe we'll keep being lucky.

Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-05-03 01:11|| 2010-05-03 01:11|| Front Page Top

#6 ION WORLD NEWS > IRAN SAYS IT CAN PROVE US LINKED TO GLOBAL TERRORISM [Moud's visit to NPT Summit].

Posted by JosephMendiola 2010-05-03 01:29|| 2010-05-03 01:29|| Front Page Top

#7 exactly my reaction Thing...

Posted by abu do you love 2010-05-03 01:40|| 2010-05-03 01:40|| Front Page Top

#8 Yeah, Snowy, we do not want to be like the engineer, who got his head saved from the guillotine malfunction, looked up and said, "I think I know where the problem is with this machine."

Posted by Alaska Paul 2010-05-03 02:31|| 2010-05-03 02:31|| Front Page Top

#9 The surveillance video shows an unidentified white man apparently in his 40s

I am delighted to see the descriptor "white man" is still permissable.

Posted by Besoeker 2010-05-03 03:03|| 2010-05-03 03:03|| Front Page Top

#10 Fireworks detonator??? Totally amateur work, I think it's just a screw-up wanna-be.

Posted by Scooter McGruder 2010-05-03 03:37|| 2010-05-03 03:37|| Front Page Top

#11 I don't want rantburg to become a useful site wrt "Fix my bomb" help.

Mods:

Any recommendations in cases like these?

My thoughts are:

For posters, we might have a check box to click to "Have Mods Approve Before Posting".

For the mod side, maybe a warning that the mods could turn on that would say "Don't feed the terrorists" or something like that if a mod decides that an article might invite comments that in turn might help the bad guys.

And maybe we need some kind of guidance built into the posting rules.

Or maybe this is all nothing to worry about.

I think it might help minimize this kind of problem since we do seem to get some sympathizing lurkers here that now and then can't help but spew some "extremist" comments.

Posted by gorb 2010-05-03 04:10|| 2010-05-03 04:10|| Front Page Top

#12

Preliminary ruling: Let those who know leave it at "Oh shit, we got lucky!" or "Stupid amateurs." I agree, we don't want to teach the vicious how to be more effective. We've got some honest-to-God experts in this area here at Rantburg, not to mention those of you with a strong enough background to figure it out. Please do not publicly share what you know.

-- tw

I agree with TW. Rantburg University is a treasure, but we need not offer advanced degrees in kabooms at our extension school.

Loose lips sink ships and all that.

--AoS

Posted by trailing wife 2010-05-03 05:26|| 2010-05-03 05:26|| Front Page Top

#13 Can we rule out "It was SUPPOSED to be a fizzle?"
I know, 'don't attribute to malice that which is easily explained by stupidity,' but....

Posted by Glenmore 2010-05-03 07:42|| 2010-05-03 07:42|| Front Page Top

#14 Please do not publicly share what you know. TW

A much easier task for me than for most here on campus.

Posted by Besoeker 2010-05-03 07:59|| 2010-05-03 07:59|| Front Page Top

#15

Redacted by moderator. Comments may be redacted for trolling, violation of standards of good manners, or plain stupidity. Please correct the condition that applies and try again. Contents may be viewed in the sinktrap. Further violations may result in banning.

Posted by Throper Forkbeard7372 2010-05-03 08:19|| 2010-05-03 08:19|| Front Page Top

#16 Bomb making advice is widely available on the internet and some of it a simple Google search will find.

I'm more concerned about giving terrorists new ideas.

Posted by phil_b 2010-05-03 08:51|| 2010-05-03 08:51|| Front Page Top

#17 Apparently, this device had four or five varieties of explosives and two or three detonators. Each one of the ingredients had to have been purchased so each one represents a path to identifying and apprehending the perp (or more likely the perps).

Posted by lord garth 2010-05-03 09:06|| 2010-05-03 09:06|| Front Page Top

#18 I'm more concerned about giving terrorists new ideas.

We had the shoe bomb, underwear bomb and the anus bomb. I have it on good authority the next craze will be the ear bomb: two M80s stuck up the auditory canal with an Ipod detonator. It's the new millennium's boom box.

Posted by ed 2010-05-03 09:07|| 2010-05-03 09:07|| Front Page Top

#19 unidentified white man

I'd be concerned that trained Western (unidentified white man) muslims are amongst us who might be behind this. Turned Americans?

Sounds a little like the Scotland bomb at the airport.

Posted by JohnQC 2010-05-03 09:21|| 2010-05-03 09:21|| Front Page Top

#20 #17) Blame Bush

Posted by DarthVader 2010-05-03 09:35|| 2010-05-03 09:35|| Front Page Top

#21 I'd be concerned that trained Western (unidentified white man) muslims

You mean like those nice boys turned frothing muslims behind the South Park/Viacom murder threats at revolutionmuslim.com? BTW, they are the American branch of the UK muslims responsible for the London subway bombings.

Posted by ed 2010-05-03 09:39|| 2010-05-03 09:39|| Front Page Top

#22 White, balding slender male + cluelessness on bomb-making points toward a leftie/PETA/GLBT/Kossack nut who hates South Park.

Posted by lex 2010-05-03 09:53|| 2010-05-03 09:53|| Front Page Top

#23 Speaking as someone who had the enjoyable job of fabbing up some "Things that make you go boom", a few observations.

First, most amateurs are lazy and stupid. They want to make explosives for bragging rights, but they won't follow recipes.

Second, publishing recipes in open forums is a bad idea, because sooner or later some idiot who actually will follow a recipe will read it.

Third, fortunately there are a lot of police and ordinary citizens who can smell a bomb maker a mile away, and once under the gaze, it is game over.

Posted by Anonymoose 2010-05-03 10:07|| 2010-05-03 10:07|| Front Page Top

#24 Please do not publicly share what you know.

Loose lips sink ships and all that.

Mods:

So it makes sense that we think twice before posting advice that might improve the terrorists' game.

How about posting articles like this that are commonly available in the public domain? What about those that are in the public domain that are not so common?

Posted by gorb 2010-05-03 10:30|| 2010-05-03 10:30|| Front Page Top

#25 And: Thanks for the response!

Posted by gorb 2010-05-03 10:31|| 2010-05-03 10:31|| Front Page Top

#26 I am pretty sure that regardless of the actual motives and background of the dumbass that did this, the MSM will report it as a disaffected tea-bagger with a racist axe to grind.

the actual attempt at 'boom' is reminiscent of something teenagers with too much time on their hands might try out on the back 40 or out in the woods (malice factor aside)

i would look for a sexually repressed and emotionally stunted guy who still lives with his mom if i was hunting our perp.

Posted by abu do you love 2010-05-03 10:46|| 2010-05-03 10:46|| Front Page Top

#27 How about posting articles like this that are commonly available in the public domain? What about those that are in the public domain that are not so common?

gorb, if it's about the hunt for the bombers, yes please. If it's about what the bombers did to make it go fizzle instead of boom, I'd rather not. You may know about the latter sites, but the idiots that come to Rantburg from the Land of the Pure or the Magic Kingdom probably don't. No need to make their search easier.

/moderator mode

Posted by trailing wife 2010-05-03 12:23|| 2010-05-03 12:23|| Front Page Top

#28 I have worked occasionally trying to analyze photographs and surveillance and other video. These often suck as far as being useful. Frame images from such video are often not well-defined and grainy; sometimes because of a lower frame rate, motion, and low frame resolution.

There are a couple of guys who have developed a computer technique that integrates multiple frames into stills. It is called VISAR technology. NASA and FBI are use this technique. This technique would be helpful to improve the quality of the Times Square captured frames. They have probably done this already.

Posted by JohnQC 2010-05-03 13:05|| 2010-05-03 13:05|| Front Page Top

#29 There are a couple of guys who have developed a computer technique that integrates multiple frames into stills. It is called VISAR technology. Before I got eyeglasses to correct my nearsightedness, I developed my own technique for recognizing people by the way their fuzzy, blurry outlines moved as they walked. Got very good at it, too. I'm sure there are lots of ways to extract data from those video cams, as poor as they are.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-05-03 13:20|| 2010-05-03 13:20|| Front Page Top

#30 From what I've read in online sources I've managed to tap, I can figure out about eight or nine things these perps did VERY wrong in their bomb, so I doubt they were part of a well-developed terrorist group. They were either rank amateurs, or this was strictly an attention-getter or distraction. I also agree with TW and others that we don't want to become terrorist U. Let's just leave it at they screwed up, big-time, in many different ways.

Several possibilities: this was a trial run to test police response, this was done by a non-muslim terrorist group (we have quite a few of those, some QUITE clueless), this was done by a group of terrorist wannabees, or this whole thing was a set-up - take your pick. The New York police reacted well, a New York street vendor reacted well, and many visitors to New York got an extra thrill.

Posted by Old Patriot 2010-05-03 13:32|| 2010-05-03 13:32|| Front Page Top

#31 I wanted to make a suggestion about eating plenty of beans and using a detonator disguised as a suppository but it seems a bit mal à propos.

Posted by Willy 2010-05-03 15:09|| 2010-05-03 15:09|| Front Page Top

#32 Fox reporting vehicle was purchased on Craigslist by a mideast man.

Posted by JohnQC 2010-05-03 16:56|| 2010-05-03 16:56|| Front Page Top

#33 Via DrudgeReport, the Craigslist story:

Sources tell CBS News the last registered owner of the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder - found in Times Square Saturday night - told authorities he recently sold the vehicle to a "Middle Eastern" or "Hispanic" looking man for $1,300 cash in $100 bills on Craigslist.

Posted by trailing wife 2010-05-03 17:19|| 2010-05-03 17:19|| Front Page Top

#34 The NY vendor, there were two involved, both Viet Nam vets. Vets get priority license to sell on the street. Guess stuff like that does stick with you even after 40 or so years.

Posted by Flapper Scourge of the Algonquins4926 2010-05-03 18:20|| 2010-05-03 18:20|| Front Page Top

#35 Car bombs just don't cause that many casualties, at least in Western countries. I was referring to other types of terrorist acts that are technically much easier and potentially kill many more people and would be hugely economically disruptive.

BTW, the deadliest 'car'* bomb in history in a Western country was just a few blocks away.

1920: The Wall Street bombing Italian anarchist Mario Buda (a member of the "Galleanists") parked a horse-drawn wagon filled with explosives and shrapnel in the Financial District of New York City. The blast killed 38 and wounded 400.

* 'car' being a derivation of carriage.

Posted by phil_b 2010-05-03 20:27|| 2010-05-03 20:27|| Front Page Top

#36 ION NEWS KERALA > QUEENS ISLAMIC GROUP DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN NEW YORK CAR BOMB PLOT.

They hate DANISH CARTOONS, NOT NYC Autos.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2010-05-03 20:40|| 2010-05-03 20:40|| Front Page Top

#37 hmm ..
Frame images from such video are often not well-defined and grainy; sometimes because of a lower frame rate, motion, and low frame resolution.
hmm..
maybe my cohorts and I should come out with an infrared 3D surveillance camera...
hmm...

Posted by 3dc 2010-05-03 21:31|| 2010-05-03 21:31|| Front Page Top

#38 This reminds me of a song I learned when I was 10 years old:

It's Sister Jenny's Turn to Throw the Bomb

In an anarchist's garret, so lowly and so mean
Oh, smell the pungent odor of nitro-glycerine.
They're busy making fuses, and filling cans with nails
And the little Slavic children set up this mournful wail.
Oh, its Sister Jenny's turn to throw the bomb;
The last one it was thrown by Brother Thom.
Poor Mamma's aim is bad and the Copskys all know Dad,
So it's Sister Jenny's turn to throw the bomb.

Sister Jenny took the bomb and started off.
"Oh, mind you now," said Mamma, "to blow up Templehoff."
And so the party waited, while the dawn turned into day,
And the little Slavic children set up this mournful lay
Oh it's Brother Ivanovitch's turn to throw the bomb.
Sister Jenny's gone the way of Brother Thom;
Poor Mamma's aim is bad and the Copsky's all know Dad,
So it's Brother Ivanovitch's turn to throw the bomb.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2010-05-03 22:06|| 2010-05-03 22:06|| Front Page Top

#39 gorb, if it's about the hunt for the bombers, yes please. If it's about what the bombers did to make it go fizzle instead of boom, I'd rather not.

Thanks, TW! If this isn't posted policy it will probably rear its head again as new readers join in.

Posted by gorb 2010-05-03 22:17|| 2010-05-03 22:17|| Front Page Top

#40 Always glad to be of service, gorb dear.

Posted by trailing wife 2010-05-03 23:29|| 2010-05-03 23:29|| Front Page Top

23:29 trailing wife
23:24 JosephMendiola
23:19 Barbara Skolaut
23:15 746
23:04 tipper
23:02 DMFD
22:45 phil_b
22:37 gorb
22:35 phil_b
22:33 trailing wife
22:22 DMFD
22:17 gorb
22:12 Besoeker
22:10 Alaska Paul
22:06 Alaska Paul
22:06 trailing wife
21:58 Dash Riprocker
21:48 Lumpy Elmoluck5091
21:37 Dash Riprocker
21:31 3dc
21:28 JosephMendiola
21:27 Dash Riprocker
21:26 SR-71
21:15 Mike N.