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RE: Comments on Franz' "nail bombs"



First let me start by saying that I am personally not impressed by the

statement that "even the lowest level boulevard newspapers" are concerned

with the effects of "dirty bombs". I am not sure why I am supposed to be

swayed by any provincial street level pulp distributor.



Second, concerns tend to be relative. If one has been attacked by nail

bombs, then nail bombs tend to be what one worries about. If one has been

attacked by deranged individuals that crash fully loaded aircraft into large

skyscrapers and subsequent investigation reveals that there were intentions

to create and use radioactive dirty bombs, then perhaps it is reasonable

that one should worry about that.



Regarding "point of efficiency" in a nail bomb versus a dirty bomb, it

should be clear by now that efficiency is not always the objective and the

objectives are related to desired outcomes. If the outcome is a simple

cost/benefit analysis related "kills" then a nail bomb might be the way to

go. But if the objective is to play on fear and maximize media exposure that

is sure to continue for many days, and in the process create "area denial"

at the detonation point that could have significant consequences to trade,

commerce or finance...then a "dirty bomb" might be an appropriate weapon of

choice. It should also be noted that a nail bomb would be considered "low

tech / low concept". Our current antagonists seem to prefer "low tech / high

concept" tactics. Dirty bombs fit that profile of weapon choice.  



And lastly, I do believe you are overly optimistic in your assumptions

regarding the difficulty in obtaining radioactive material for constructing

dirty bombs. Large amounts of material in several nations remain unaccounted

for. And in America, during a "peace time transfer" of bars of highly

enriched uranium to a nuclear reactor project in the Sudan during the

Clinton era, things got nasty in Sudan, the energy reactor never got built,

and to this day all but one of the bars remain unaccounted for. The one bar

that was recovered was stumbled upon during an Italian wiretap of organized

crime figures during which the sale of the bar was attempted to an

individual representing Middle Eastern "concerns". A sting operation by

Italian authorities recovered that one bar. When last seen the remaining

bars were in North Africa and they were apparently making their way to

Western Europe. North Africa would be the same origin of the suspects that

victimized your country with nail bombs and at least one of the bars had

already made it to one of your neighbors. Maybe the lowest level boulevard

newspapers should reassess their concerns.



With respect,

M. Gray



-----Original Message-----

From: Franz Schoenhofer [mailto:franz.schoenhofer@CHELLO.AT]

Sent: Tuesday, September 10, 2002 4:47 AM

To: maury; Kim D. Merritt

Cc: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu; Todd Brautigam

Subject: AW: ABC Tests U.S. Border Security









-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----

Von: owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

[mailto:owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu]Im Auftrag von maury

Gesendet: Dienstag, 10. September 2002 19:15

An: Kim D. Merritt

Cc: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu; Todd Brautigam

Betreff: Re: ABC Tests U.S. Border Security





Great jumpin' butterballs!!! Who'd ever have imagined strapping nails or

ball bearings onto a bomb?



-------------------------------------------



Sorry, I cannot distinguish, whether your comment on nails in a bomb is

cynical or not. The fact is, that several such bombs spreading nails, were

exploded in Paris about ten years ago, killing several persons and wounding

many more. They were deposited in garbage bins in places where a lot of

people went by during rush hours. This has resulted in closing the Paris

garbage bins by welding locks on them. When I during a stop-over in Paris

wanted to leave my luggage at the Charles deGaulle airport for a day there

was no place to leave it, because they had been closed and all the automatic

lockers were closed because bombs had been exploded there also. Maybe I

should mention that North African terrorists were suspected and convinced,

but they were not necessarily islamic fundamentalists, if I remember

correctly.



Let me draw the conclusion in comparison to a so called "radiologically

dirty bomb": Nails you can buy by the tens of thousands in any "Do it

yourself" market, without being suspected to be a terrorist. Radioactive

solutions like I-131 or Tc-99m are relatively difficult to obtain and it

takes much more sophisticated logistics compared with nails. The

difficulties to obtain fission products is by orders of magnitude larger and

to obtain spent fuel is more difficult by even several more orders of

magnitude, not to talk about the difficulty to spread uranium-dioxide or

uranium-carbide fuel so that it could be inhaled and harm somebody. And

where to obtain plutonium?



>From the point of efficiency something like the Paris nail bombs are by fare

more effective than any radiological bomb would be. There are immediate

deaths, not really by the explosive, but by the injuries due to the nails.

Exploding a radiological bomb would probably kill some people in the

immediate vicinity by the explosion, but the radionuclides will have not

only no immediate, but hardly any long term effects.



Why are people in the USA "not" afraid of a nail bomb, which is so much more

easy to make and to deliver - but they are afraid of the risk of several

magnitudes lower of a "radiological bomb"?



Nobody in Europe discusses the effects of "dirty bombs", not even the lowest

level boulevard newspapers.



Food for thoughts.



Franz





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