# In-Body Explosives: Airport Security's About to Get Tighter
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [September 26, 2009, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597 "2009-09-26T01:02:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/1 "2009-09-26T01:02:52Z")
I cannot find an online cite yet, but BBC TV was saying a recent al-Qaeda suicide bomber in Saudi Arabia was able to evade security because he had the explosives _inside his body._ :eek:
I believe it was [this attempt](http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/19540.htm) a month ago on the life of the Saudi deputy internal-affairs minister. Luckily, the bomber failed, because the doofus tripped and fell, hittng his cellphone, which detonated his explosives. But they now know the explosives were inside his body.
They’re saying this development could render airport security as we know it now completely useless.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/2 "2009-09-26T01:07:09Z")
I’d wonder if the explosives were in something hard (ie film canister) that was swallowed. Could it be picked up on those full body/we can see you naked/X-ray machines some airports are using?
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/3 "2009-09-26T01:10:36Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#):
>
> I believe it was [this attempt](http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/19540.htm) a month ago on the life of the Saudi deputy internal-affairs minister. .
Internal affairs minister? Isn’t that his job?
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/4 "2009-09-26T01:20:13Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> I’d wonder if the explosives were in something hard (ie film canister) that was swallowed. Could it be picked up on those full body/we can see you naked/X-ray machines some airports are using?
I didn’t quite catch the mechanics of the explosives – hopefully the report will come around again in the next hour – but possibly it was C4 or a liquid like those guys were going to try to take onto planes a few years ago.
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### Author:  [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/5 "2009-09-26T01:20:31Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#):
>
> Luckily, the bomber failed, because the doofus tripped and fell, hittng his cellphone, which detonated his explosives. But they now know the explosives were inside his body.
Death called. He said to turn on keylock next time.
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### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/6 "2009-09-26T01:39:10Z")
I am surprised it took them this long to figure it out.
Of course on the other hand, these terrorists havent been able to hit so much as a 7-11 store since 9/11 so one really has to wonder how smart/dedicated these wankers really are.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/7 "2009-09-26T02:13:32Z")
The report just aired again. They’re calling it the Body Bomb.
It appears not to have been a liquid. There was a video of the 24-year-old bomber showing the device that was to be placed inside his body, but he brandished it so quickly that I didn’t get a good look at it. Not a liquid, though. May have been installed surgically. Definitely activated by cellphone.
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### Author:  [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/8 "2009-09-26T02:22:09Z")
I haven’t seen the video yet. But, people have been smuggling drugs in their. . . ahem. . . inner regions for years up their bum. If someone can post a link to another report, I’d be obliged.
Tripler
I’m interested to hear _how_ he was to initiate it.
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### Author:  [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/9 "2009-09-26T02:58:45Z")
Easy solution: Just tape everybody’s buttcheeks together before they get on the plane. So if anybody has any bombs up there, they won’t be able to get to them.
God bless America.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/10 "2009-09-26T03:06:48Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#):
>
> Easy solution: Just tape everybody’s buttcheeks together before they get on the plane. So if anybody has any bombs up there, they won’t be able to get to them.
>
> God bless America.
I didn’t see the article and I know you’re joking, but I was under the impression that the bomb would detonate while still inside the person.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/11 "2009-09-26T03:24:07Z")
Yes, the bomb detonated while it was inside the person, which was the intention, blowing him into tiny little pieces.
I saw the report again. It looked like a hand grenade, although they’re still saying “explosive device.” And now it looks like initial reports he tripped and fell were not correct. Seems he was there pretending to surrender himself, but he would surrender himself only to this minister in person. While he was meeting with the minister, they called another al-Qaeda fugitive under the pretence of trying to persuade him to give himself up. It was that other person who activated the device with his handset.
That was one lucky minister!
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Awesome)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/12 "2009-09-26T03:38:19Z")
> [@billfish678](#):
>
> Of course on the other hand, these terrorists havent been able to hit so much as a 7-11 store since 9/11 so one really has to wonder how smart/dedicated these wankers really are.
Madrid Train bombings, London July 7th bombings, 2003 Istanbul bombings, Bali bombings… _ad infinitum_.
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### Author:  [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/13 "2009-09-26T04:00:21Z")
This is going to be really tough on us Americans. Most of us are obese enough to hide enough explosives sink a cruise ship.
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### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/14 "2009-09-26T08:36:53Z")
> [@Captain\_Awesome](#):
>
> Madrid Train bombings, London July 7th bombings, 2003 Istanbul bombings, Bali bombings… _ad infinitum_.
The AMERICAN war on terror seems to be working pretty well for us. For the foreign guys not so much apparently.
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### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/15 "2009-09-26T11:56:57Z")
> [@billfish678](#):
>
> I am surprised it took them this long to figure it out.
>
> Of course on the other hand, these terrorists havent been able to hit so much as a 7-11 store since 9/11 so one really has to wonder how smart/dedicated these wankers really are.
You forgot the 13 people shot by 2 snipers in 2002.
9/11 was the culmination of 10 years of planning after the first bombing of the WTC. This week’s rash of arrests could be the tip of the iceberg of another coordinated effort.
It’s not a function of figuring it out, it’s a function of staging people to carry it out. The last major attack in the US involved a dozen enemy casualties against thousands of US casualties. The cost factor involved for the enemy was actually a negative number. All the weapons (3 fully fueled airliners) were purchased by way of credit card. In effect we purchased the enemy’s weapons and it resulted in over a half trillion dollars in damage. 12 people did that. It was a small operation. it cost them nothing.
If someone WANTS to die then their value as a weapons system goes up exponentially. Compared to a cruise missile there is no guidance system, fuel system or a support system of any kind. There is no size limit to the explosive if the person is used as a driver. The cost of a single cruise missile is between .5 and 1 million dollars (plus support system). A sleeper cell is self-sustaining and is capable of earning money to fund explosives. They can communicate for free worldwide by using library computers, free email, free bulletin boards and disposable cell phones.
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### Author:  [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/16 "2009-09-26T12:42:23Z")
> [@Reply](#):
>
> Death called. He said to turn on keylock next time.
Win.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/17 "2009-09-26T12:47:16Z")
> [@billfish678](#):
>
> The AMERICAN war on terror seems to be working pretty well for us. For the foreign guys not so much apparently.
They probably didn’t bother attacking America for so long because it would have been counterproductive. We were doing what they wanted, so why do something that might change our behavior?
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### Author:  [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/18 "2009-09-26T13:05:59Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#):
>
> They probably didn’t bother attacking America for so long because it would have been counterproductive. We were doing what they wanted, so why do something that might change our behavior?
Well, that, and the fact that every time they do, we make life uncomfortable for the shot-callers and generally upset their backers and hosts. Mind you, it’s like stirring a nest of fire ants, but even fire ants would prefer to not have to rebuild their nest every other week.
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### Author:  [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/19 "2009-09-26T13:18:14Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#):
>
> Well, that, and the fact that every time they do, we make life uncomfortable for the shot-callers and generally upset their backers and hosts.
You forgot to add “and create a 1,000 more potential suicide bombers”.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [September 26, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-body-explosives-airport-securitys-about-to-get-tighter/511597/20 "2009-09-26T13:47:50Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#):
>
> Well, that, and the fact that every time they do, we make life uncomfortable for the shot-callers and generally upset their backers and hosts. Mind you, it’s like stirring a nest of fire ants, but even fire ants would prefer to not have to rebuild their nest every other week.
Nonsense. We killed their enemy Saddam, set back secularism and democracy in the ME, did enormous damage to ourselves, and have produced huge numbers of potential recruits. They have every reason to be pleased with the results.
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