Bomb-Making Availability Online - Coursework Example

Name Course Lecturer Date Introduction Terrorism is defined as acts of violence which are aimed at causing fear. In the contemporary society the fear of terrorist bombs defines many facets of life including business, security and international relations. The perpetrators of terrorism justify their action due to their religious, political or other ideological goals. Terrorism takes place in either large scale terrorist attacks, medium scale attacks or lone wolf terrorist attacks. Bombs are some of the most commonly used weapons by terrorists in their campaigns. Terrorist groups have on numerous occasions made use of bomb making information on various media including the internet. As a source of Bomb making information the internet is more potent than any other source of information as it is accessible anywhere on the world and close to impossible to control. An understanding of the ways the internet can contribute to the making of more lethal bombs is important in protecting the public from being harmed by terrorist attacks. Availability of bomb making information amplifies the threat of terrorism as small terrorist groups or an individual can plan their terror plan alone and initiates them without any further assistance from the terrorism group providing the bomb making information. Independently assembled Bombs are almost impossible to detect until the strike. Unfortunately, the availability of bomb making information means anybody or any group with a different agenda than the information provider can make a bomb. The availability of mechanical information on how to make bombs is one of the reasons cited as amplifying the threat of terrorism. The internet is one of the sources of materials that provide various ways for ordinary people to carry out terrorist attacks. The research seeks to answer the question of whether: 1. The internet can assist the conception and execution of a bomb attack without need for other source of information. 2. Does the internet make it easier for people or groups with technical bomb making skills to carry out terrorist attacks? 3. Should technical information about bomb making be withdrawn from the internet? 4. What role do terrorist groups play in availing technical information about bomb making on the internet. 5. Does the availability of bomb making information increase the motivation for a terrorist to carry out a terrorist attack? History of Improvised bomb attacks One of the earliest incidents of the use of a homemade bomb in a terrorist attack was the Haymarket bombing of 1886. The attack occurred during a nationwide strike in the US to support the 8 hour working day (Clymer, 94). On 4th may 1886 3,000 people were gathered at the Haymarket in Chicago to listen to speeches from their union leaders (Clymer, 94). When police officers arrived at the scene to disperse the laborers an explosion occurred. The bomb was thrown from the crowd and it killed eight men and wounded over 50 others (Clymer, 94). Erick Robert Rudolph also referred to as the Olympic park Bomber was born in 1966. He is accountable for a series of anti abortion and anti gay bombings in the south of the US, which resulted in the death of two people and left at least 150 injured (Spaaj, 864). This took place between 1966 and 1998. On 5th may 1998 he was listed by the FBI as the 454th fugitive. Rudolph stated that his purpose for the bombings were to fight against homosexuality and abortion (Spaaj, 865). He attended Western Carolina University for two semesters. He also enlisted in the United States army, and underwent basic training in Georgia. He was later discharged due to use of marijuana. He had attained a specialist/E-4 rank. Ted Kaczynski carried a series of bomb attacks between 1978 and 1995. Kaczynski attacks were carried out using homemade package bombs and mail bombs (Spaaij, 862). His campaign was targeted at modern technology and industry. Kaczynski was an excellent academic mind who was accepted into Harvard University at the age of 16. In his 17 years as a terrorist Ted sent 16 homemade bombs which killed 3 people and injured 24. Kaczynski bombs were delivered in a mailed package which were sent to targets, most exploded on being opened but unexpectedly they had a minimum impact on the victims (Spaaij, 862. David Copeland was the perpetrator of a 13-day bombing campaign in London targeting the Bangladeshi, black and gay community. According to Spaaij, Copeland subscribed to the intolerant ideology of the far right political movement (870). Copeland used homemade nail bombs, each was made of 1,500 four-inch nails packaged in hodalls. His terror campaign killed three people and injured 139, four of whom lost their limbs. Enabling people with Personal Vendetta to make bombs Availing of bomb making information on the internet by terrorist groups plays two roles. First, the groups avails information to its members and cells on how to make and use bombs. Secondly, it is aimed at creating a state of anarchy where even a kid can make a bomb that cause havoc. Terrorist groups aim for a state where just about anybody can carry a bomb attack regardless of whether they share the ideology of the information providers or not. Lone wolf terrorist throughout history have used bombs to carry out campaigns completely unrelated to the goals of any established terrorist group. For example, Mcveigh, a sympathizer of a militia movement and a veteran of the gulf war, was looking to avenge the government’s handling of the Waco Siege exactly two years before the bombing (Thomas). Mcveigh had wanted to arouse a revolt against the federal government which he considered tyrannical. On the other, Franz Fuchs bombings was a Xenophobic campaign against people he perceived to be sympathetic of foreigners in Austria (Spaaij, 862). Avails critical information for people with Bomb Making skills to improve their Bombs Although, Ted Kaczynski was a brilliant academic mind he was unable to carry out a devastating attack as he did not have the technical know how to make a deadly explosive device. His first bomb was made of a primitive trigger consisting of a tensioned nail, later however he made use of a more sophisticated trigger. Furthermore, the metal pipe used for the bomb was not strong enough to enable building up of pressure to enable a huge explosion. One of his bombs placed in the Cargo hold of an American Airlines flight was discovered because it started smoking before it exploded. If Ted Kaczynski had lived during the internet age, information on how to make his bombs more lethal would have been readily available. Furthermore, there are groups of scientist who are eager to provide knowledge on making bombs more effective as they feel the devices do not realize their full potential. Imagine a situation where every Kaczynski attack was followed by publication of methods to improve the bomb. Hypothetically, Kaczynski would have killed thousands instead of the handful who he murdered in his devious campaign. Franz Fuch’s used improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and mail bombs which are very popular among lone wolf terrorists (Spaaij, 862). While claiming responsibility for some of the attacks Fuchs tried to give the impression that a larger terrorist group the Bajuvarian Liberation Army was responsible for the attacks. At some point some of his mail bombs failed to detonate showing he did not possess the technical skills to make the bombs effective. Furthermore, some of his mail bomb went off prematurely in their mailboxes. Some groups on the internet criticized the way Fuchs had made his bombs, and offered information on how this bombs could be made more devastating (Weimann, 72). After, the Oklahama city bombings self-pronounced bomb making experts published bomb making information providing insight into how Mcveigh should have designed his bomb to make more potent (Oravec, 147). According to Weimann, when Copeland was arrested he was found in possession of the terrorist handbook and how to make bombs both downloaded from the internet (28). Types of Improvised Bombs Mail bombs Mail bombs are a popular weapon used by terrorist to advance their murderous motives. Also referred to as letter bomb, they are explosives that are fashioned like a letter. An explosion is triggered once a person opens the letter bomb. Letter bombs are extremely easy to make and information about how to make one is easily obtained on the internet (Oravec, 38). Information on making a letter a bomb is available on multiple sites on the internet; on ask.com the simple procedure is explained in several lines. However, Chris Ronay, A former explosives expert with the FBI asserts that lethal letter bombs are very hard to make (Oravec, 38). He goes on to note sheet explosive which is hard to obtain is needed to make them lethal. Highly motivated terrorists might be able to obtain sheet explosive and manufacture a deadly letter bomb. But for a highly lethal bomb to be made expertise in chemistry is needed for the lab procedure. It is doubtful that information on making of letter bombs available on the internet is enough for a person who has no technical knowledge to make a lethal letter. Worryingly, Ronay notes that a 12 year old with a brilliant mind and sources of information including the internet may be able to manufacture a non-lethal mail bomb (Stenersen, 116). The fact that the packaging of letter bombs has to be light and flat, makes it more harder for inexpert terrorist to obtain information from the internet and make a devastating letter bomb. In contrast, a mailed package can carry more weight and are thus have more potential as explosive weapons. Package Bombs Ted Kaczynski widely used packages in his terror campaign. Package bombs are contrasted from mail bombs by the fact that a package is heavier and more voluminous. Package bombs are thus more lethal. Recently, the threat of the package bomb was amplified when Al queda announced in its magazine that it had been able to make an undetectable parcel bomb. The organizations seemed to be bragging that it made the bomb at the low cost of forty-two hundrend dollars (NPR). According to NPR the announcement was made in a detailed article of how a lethal and undetectable package bomb can be made to be dispatched in attacks on airplanes. According to the source the package bombs made could bypass such security measures like sniffers, X-ray scanners and metal detectors. NPR (2010) notes that publication of this information on the internet makes it possible for terrorists to carry out attacks without having to travel to terrorist cells for training. Fertilizer bombs (NPR). Fertilizer bombs refer to bombs made with Ammonium nitrate as the main ingredient. These bombs are also referred to as ANFO short for Ammonium Nitrate/fuel oil bomb (Stenersen, 71). This was the weapon employed by Timothy McVeigh in his devastating attack on the Alfred P. Murray Federal building in Oklahoma City April 19 1995 (Spaaij, 862). This event has come to be widely referred to as the Oklahoma City bombing. In this attack, 168 people were killed and more than 600 people were injured. It was the most devastating attack before the September 11 in the United States. Mcveigh and Nicholas while working at the lakeside campground constructed an ANNNM explosive device, then mounted it at the back of a truck. This bomb consisted of about 5000 pounds of Ammonium Nitrate and Nitromethane (Spaaj,864) . Mcveigh drove the truck infront of the Alfred P. Murray Federal Building just as its offices were opening on April 19 1995. On explosion caused extensive damage to the building.This kind of bomb is fairly easy to make using internet infortmation. According to Stenersen technical knowledge about the making of a fertilizer bomb is easily available on the internet (72). On ask.com a fairly easy method to manufacture a fertilizer bomb is outlined. Stenersen notes that the science of manufacturing a fertilizer bomb is fairly easy (72). Naturally ammonium nitrate is an explosive compound. To set off an explosion involving ammonium energy only activation energy is needed, this may be a flame or a spark. Once ignited, the ammonium in the nitrate becomes the fuel while the nitrate becomes the nitrate. This chemical properties of ammonium nitrate makes bombs containing it very lethal. Worringly, Ammonium nitrate is widely available as a fertilizer for crops. In 2011, the homeland security department of the US put forward a proposal to control the sale and movement of Ammonium nitrate in the US (Turchie and Puckett, 128). Conclusion The paper has discussed mail bombs, package bombs and fertilizer bombs as some of the weapons ordinary people can make by referring to information available on the internet. In the preceding section the ease of making these bombs using information obtained from the internet has been analyzed. Lethal letter bombs were concluded as the most difficult bombs to make from information available on the internet due to the requirement that they be flat and light weight. It was also noted that materials needed to make letter bombs lethal are hard to find and even with the materials present and the information available on the internet; a chemist is needed to build a lethal letter bomb. On the other hand it is easier to manufacture lethal package bombs with internet information availed to them by the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Fertilizer bombs on the other hand were found to be the easiest types of bombs for lone wolf terrorists to make from internet information. According to internet sources, Ammonium nitrate needs only a spark or a flame to explode. It can thus be concluded that independent terrorist cells and lone wolf terrorist can easily carry out a devastating terrorist attack by using information available on the internet. Therefore, internet sites providing bomb making information should be pulled down. Works Cited Alston Chase, A Mind for Murder: The Education of the Unabomber and the Origins of Modern Terrorism, 2004, Clymer, Jeffory A. America's culture of terrorism: Violence, capitalism, and the written word. The University of North Carolina Press, 2003. Green, Edward "Explosives regulation in the USA". Industrial Materials (465): 78. June 2006. NPR. Al-Qaida Magazine Details Parcel Bomb Attempt. 2010. Web Oravec, J. A. (2000). Countering violent and hate‐related materials on the Internet: Strategies for classrooms and communities. The Teacher Educator, 35(3), 34-45. Spaaij, Ramón. "The enigma of lone wolf terrorism: an assessment." Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 33.9 (2010): 854-870 Stenersen, Anne. "‘Bomb-Making for Beginners’: Inside al Al-Qaeda E-Learning Course." Perspectives on Terrorism 7.1 (2013). Stenersen, Anne. "The Internet: A virtual training camp?." Terrorism and Political Violence 20.2 (2008): 215-233. Thomas, Jo"Jury to Be Picked in 2d Oklahoma Bomb Trial". The New York Times. 29 September 1997 Turchie, Terry and Puckett, Kathleen Ph.D., "Hunting the American Terrorist: The FBI's War on Homegrown Terror," 2007, Weimann, Gabriel. Terror on the Internet: the new arena, the new challenges. US Institute of Peace Press. 2006. Read More

The attack occurred during a nationwide strike in the US to support the 8 hour working day (Clymer, 94). On 4th may 1886 3,000 people were gathered at the Haymarket in Chicago to listen to speeches from their union leaders (Clymer, 94). When police officers arrived at the scene to disperse the laborers an explosion occurred. The bomb was thrown from the crowd and it killed eight men and wounded over 50 others (Clymer, 94). Erick Robert Rudolph also referred to as the Olympic park Bomber was born in 1966.

He is accountable for a series of anti abortion and anti gay bombings in the south of the US, which resulted in the death of two people and left at least 150 injured (Spaaj, 864). This took place between 1966 and 1998. On 5th may 1998 he was listed by the FBI as the 454th fugitive. Rudolph stated that his purpose for the bombings were to fight against homosexuality and abortion (Spaaj, 865). He attended Western Carolina University for two semesters. He also enlisted in the United States army, and underwent basic training in Georgia.

He was later discharged due to use of marijuana. He had attained a specialist/E-4 rank. Ted Kaczynski carried a series of bomb attacks between 1978 and 1995. Kaczynski attacks were carried out using homemade package bombs and mail bombs (Spaaij, 862). His campaign was targeted at modern technology and industry. Kaczynski was an excellent academic mind who was accepted into Harvard University at the age of 16. In his 17 years as a terrorist Ted sent 16 homemade bombs which killed 3 people and injured 24.

Kaczynski bombs were delivered in a mailed package which were sent to targets, most exploded on being opened but unexpectedly they had a minimum impact on the victims (Spaaij, 862. David Copeland was the perpetrator of a 13-day bombing campaign in London targeting the Bangladeshi, black and gay community. According to Spaaij, Copeland subscribed to the intolerant ideology of the far right political movement (870). Copeland used homemade nail bombs, each was made of 1,500 four-inch nails packaged in hodalls.

His terror campaign killed three people and injured 139, four of whom lost their limbs. Enabling people with Personal Vendetta to make bombs Availing of bomb making information on the internet by terrorist groups plays two roles. First, the groups avails information to its members and cells on how to make and use bombs. Secondly, it is aimed at creating a state of anarchy where even a kid can make a bomb that cause havoc. Terrorist groups aim for a state where just about anybody can carry a bomb attack regardless of whether they share the ideology of the information providers or not.

Lone wolf terrorist throughout history have used bombs to carry out campaigns completely unrelated to the goals of any established terrorist group. For example, Mcveigh, a sympathizer of a militia movement and a veteran of the gulf war, was looking to avenge the government’s handling of the Waco Siege exactly two years before the bombing (Thomas). Mcveigh had wanted to arouse a revolt against the federal government which he considered tyrannical. On the other, Franz Fuchs bombings was a Xenophobic campaign against people he perceived to be sympathetic of foreigners in Austria (Spaaij, 862).

Avails critical information for people with Bomb Making skills to improve their Bombs Although, Ted Kaczynski was a brilliant academic mind he was unable to carry out a devastating attack as he did not have the technical know how to make a deadly explosive device. His first bomb was made of a primitive trigger consisting of a tensioned nail, later however he made use of a more sophisticated trigger. Furthermore, the metal pipe used for the bomb was not strong enough to enable building up of pressure to enable a huge explosion.

One of his bombs placed in the Cargo hold of an American Airlines flight was discovered because it started smoking before it exploded. If Ted Kaczynski had lived during the internet age, information on how to make his bombs more lethal would have been readily available.

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