Security

London Bomber = Beavis?

We here at the DANGER ROOM have been taking the London-Glasgow bomb plot pretty seriously. But to security guru Bruce Schneier, the scheme is straight out of the "Terrorist Special Olympics." "Beavis and Butthead in London jihad," proclaims El Reg in one story. "‘al-Qaeda’ puts on big shoes, red nose, takes custard pie," in another. […]

We here at the DANGER ROOM have been taking the London-Glasgow bomb plot pretty seriously. But to security guru Bruce Schneier, the scheme is straight out of the "Terrorist Special Olympics." "Beavis and Butthead in London jihad," proclaims El Reg in one story. "'al-Qaeda' puts on big shoes, red nose, takes custard pie," in another.

Jeep_fire_look_inThe argument -- echoed by lots of folks in the comments here -- is that "the device could not have detonated. Not under any circumstances. You see, the terrorist wannabe clown who built it left out a crucial element: an oxidizer. The device was pure pre-teen boy fantasy."

"We'll heat up these propane cylinders with burning petrol, and they'll go off like bombs", boys the world over have remarked with glee. They don't realize that air is a poor oxidizer, and the only
"explosion" they will get is when gas pressure inside the cylinders is great enough to burst them. Then the propane will ignite, and a nice fireball will blossom. A fireball, not an explosion.

Oh, the Piccadilly fireball would have blown the car's windows out, and popped its doors open, and sent various bits like mirrors and so forth into the air at velocities possibly fatal to people nearby. It would have looked really cool, that's for sure. But an explosive event...a detonation? Not in a million years. Sorry lads: you failed car bombing 101; you did not attend a single lecture; you did not even open the textbook.

Some stupid people did a stupid thing. Yes, they might have injured or killed one or two passers-by, but any body count would have come in spite of them, not as a product of their efforts. You and I are more likely to have been killed accidentally by the lousy driver than intentionally by his Beavis and Butthead car bomb.

Personally, I think coordinated Islamist car bombers in a pair of major European cities shouldn't be taken lightly -- even if the plotters weren't exactly the most polished terror professionals. (I mean, this ain't pizza delivery dudes taking on the U.S. Army, or some physics-defying fantasy about blowing up JFK. Car bombs nailing civilians a time-tested terror tactic.)

What do you think? Were these bombers Beavises? Or was this a legitimate threat? Sound off in the comments.

(High five: Z, Vic)