Posted on 12/29/2001 12:17:09 AM PST by Pokey78
THE simplicity of many of the techniques contained in the terror training manuals used by groups such as al-Qaeda are the key to their success. Years of campaigning in unfavourable terrain such as the Hindu Kush mountain range in Afghanistan have allowed them to develop a portfolio of easy-to-use but devastating devices. While Western intelligence agencies may be vigilant in tracking larger groups of possible terrorists and suspect materials, they are less successful in detecting individuals and small cells making the sorts of devices found in the manual. It is precisely these sorts of home-made devices, using components found in everyday life — such as the Casio circuit mentioned in the documents — that can have devastating consequences. The assassination of Ahmed Shah Masood was carried out using hidden explosives, concealed using methods similar to those contained in the terror manual. The former Northern Alliance commander, killed two days before the September 11 attacks, had been the target of several attempts on his life before and alert to the dangers of suicide bombers. But Masood, known as the Lion of Panjshir, was finally fooled by two suicide bombers posing as journalists for an Arab news agency. They placed a video camera packed with explosives on a coffee table during an interview. Though no explicit link has been established with al- Qaeda, the timing and methodology of the attack — the Taleban have no tradition of suicide bombing — have all the hallmarks of an operation by bin Laden. The news that al-Qaeda was testing an air dispersal mechanism for cyanide on animals is a chilling echo of Iraq’s attack on Kurds in Halabja on the Iranian border in March 1988. The Iraqis were believed to have been working on chemical and biological weapons, including anthrax, for some time. But Western forces were unable to prevent hundreds, possibly thousands, dying where they stood when the chemical weapon exploded. The extent of the devastation of such a device was laid bare a few days later when journalists entered the city. The sight of people paralysed in the street, in shops and at home prompted the comparison of a modern-day Pompeii. In one side street of Halabja an entire neighbourhood in a 500-yard radius appeared to have been wiped out by a bomb containing cyanide, which acts almost instantly. One of the most striking examples of a simple technique used to bring down a Western behemoth was the attack on USS Cole in October last year. Al-Qaeda bombers rammed a small rubber dinghy laden with explosives into the side of the US destroyer, killing 17. Despite being built to withstand 21st century warfare, including nuclear assaults, missile or submarine attacks and even biological warfare, she was crippled by tactics that would have been more familiar to Sir Francis Drake. The bombers, who are thought to have been saluting at the moment the bomb was detonated, left the £500 million warship with a gash along her hull that was 20ft high and 40ft wide. The extensive section of the manual devoted to ways of making the best use of hand grenades will have been honed and used throughout the years of warfare between the Taleban and Northern Alliance, who carried out small-scale guerrilla campaigns against the enemy rather than larger campaigns. The ability to smuggle explosives between countries with ease has been crucial to bin Laden’s campaign of terror against the West. Operatives have often used the techniques outlined in the manual to evade detection. In preparation for the bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam the organisation managed to smuggle explosives and detonators past the weak security at most African airports. The truck used in Nairobi carried six wooden crates. Each held about 40kg of TNT mixed with aluminium nitrate. The detonator was wired to several large vehicle batteries and to a dashboard button. These home-made elements bore the now familiar modus operandi of a bin Laden terrorist attack.
Before WWW, the newsgroups, chat rooms, and messaging like FIDONET had short, clear coherent exchanges of ideas. But with access by the masses, half the stuff is pure dreck! FR not excluded.
Without being too sarcastic, nowadays if I said a had a truly enjoyable fart, twenty people would let me know it was God's will, fifty would let me know I'm a crude SOB,another twenty would blame it on Clinton, five would give me the history of the most memorable farts and two would remind me of my constitutional right to fart.
Things change, not improve.
< Cheap shot >
Well, that and AOL.
< /Cheap shot>
A version of Paretos law of distribution...
God i feel old. Should I go to the vet and ask for the shot ?
(former) uuvax!uunet!calcas!sysop
Just waiting for the Smithsonian to make an offer!
I hadn't heard this news before. I guess these explains all those dead animals that were spotted on the ground in Afghanistan back in September.
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