Mother of Satan

Poor man's terrorist uses materials that easily might blow him up

By Robert Weller

If explosives experts are right about the limited power of so-called beauty shop bombs, the FBI may have exaggerated the threat the nation faced from a 24-year-old Afghan immigrant living in Colorado. "It has created the impression that these are the MacGivers of terrorism who would whip up anything from sand and dust," said George Smith, a GlobalSecurity.org senior fellow.

The combination of chemicals needed to make the hydrogen peroxide-based bomb that Aurora, Colo., airport shuttle driver Najibulla Zazi allegedly sought to make is so unstable some terrorists call it the "Mother of Satan."

"The man had downloaded instructions from the Internet and it was rubbish,” said Smith. "If you went to a library and looked this up you might be more dangerous."

Bombs such as the one Zazi allegedly sought to make usually don't have the force to bring down a building. However, such a bomb killed 52 people, including the bombers, in a London train incident in 2005, showing how powerful they can be when detonated in an enclosed area. A second attempt failed, leaving a puddle of ooze that looked like a messy omelette.

Retired FBI agent Denny Klein agreed with Smith's assessment. He said a truck load of explosives would be needed to bring down a building, and the death toll would probably in the scores, not the hundreds.

Beauty shop bombs are prone to lose much of their explosive energy through a phenomenon known as heat death. And they rarely have higher than 30 percent when other businesses can sell them 50 to 70 percent. They still remain dangerous, but there is no need to boil them to raise the concentration.

Bombs such as the one Zazi allegedly sought to make usually don't have the force to bring down a building. However, such a bomb killed 52 people, including the bombers, in a London train incident in 2005, showing how powerful they can be when detonated in an enclosed area. A second attempt failed, leaving a puddle of ooze that looked like a messy omelette.

Smith said Zazi, arrested in Colorado by the FBI and then sent to New York after being accused of plotting an attack, lacked the formal education and chemistry know-how to make such a device without endangering himself. When Zazi allegedly worked on the bomb in a motel, as a federal indictment alleges, he could have endangered others, Smith said, adding that transporting it would also create dangers.

"It's not clear that terrorist training camps are all that effective" when it comes to teaching bomb-making, he added, alluding to the FBI's claim that Zazi attended such a camp in northern Pakistan last year.

Smith says beauty shop bombs don't qualify as weapons of mass destruction -- scientifically speaking, that is, although they are under U.S. law.

To quote 18 U.S.C. 2332a:
(2) the term "weapon of mass destruction" means—
(A) any destructive device as defined in section 921 of this title;
(B) any weapon that is designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors;
(C) any weapon involving a biological agent, toxin, or vector (as those terms are defined in section 178 of this title); or
(D) any weapon that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life.
.

Zazi has pleaded innocent to a charge of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against unknown U.S. targets. He initially was a.rrested in the city of Aurora on a charge of lying to the FBI. He faces a potential life sentence.
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So far no co-conspirators have been found as the investigation continues. Officials say they don't believe there's any imminent threat.

Smith, who has a Ph.d in chemistry, was consulted on a case in which the defendants were alleged to have tried to use ricin in England. They were acquitted except for one member of the cell who stabbed a policeman to death.

Smith said Zazi, arrested in Colorado by the FBI and then sent to New York after being accused of plotting an attack, lacked the formal education and chemistry know-how to make such a device without endangering himself. When Zazi allegedly worked on the bomb in a motel, as a federal indictment alleges, he could have endangered others, Smith said, adding that transporting it would also create dangers.

"It's not clear that terrorist training camps are all that effective" when it comes to teaching bomb-making, he added, alluding to the FBI's claim that Zazi attended such a camp in northern Pakistan last year.
.
Zazi has pleaded innocent to a charge of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against unknown U.S. targets. He initially was arrested in the city of Aurora on a charge of lying to the FBI. He faces a potential life sentence.

So far no co-conspirators have been found as the investigation continues. Officials say they don't believe there's any imminent threat.

Smith, who has a Ph.d in chemistry, was consulted on a case in which the defendants were alleged to have tried to use ricin in England. They were acquitted except for one member of the cell who stabbed a policeman to death.