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A new chemical detector has been developed which promises to ID bomb makers.

Worldwide, terrorism is one of the key threats to world peace, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths each year.

Now scientists have created a chemical that detects urea nitrate, a common ingredient used to make Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and other bombs.

The chemical is extremely easy to use.  Simply wipe the hands of the suspect with a sterile cloth, then apply the chemical detector agent.  If the user has had recent contact with urea nitrate, then the chemical will turn a blood red hue.

The chemical was developed by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, led by Joseph Almog.

Their findings were published in the September issue of the Journal of Forensic Sciences.

Almog is a former Israeli brigadier general.  Almog's team has led a great deal of groundbreaking research in past years, including the development of the chemical FerroTrace which turns purple when the user has recently held a grenade or gun.

The team examined how the color change process in the new nitrate detecting compound worked by using X-Ray diffraction imaging and computer sharpening algorithms to view the reaction mechanisms in action.

The development holds great promise for saving lives and avoiding mistakes by eliminating false IDs of suspects and provides a valuable tool for peacekeeping forces to catch bomb makers red-handed in conflict zones worldwide.

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Gloves
By GoodBytes on 9/20/2007 10:58:04 AM , Rating: 2
Don't those bomb makers wear gloves when managing dangerous chemicals? If not, now they will, and this product will render useless, wouldn't it?




RE: Gloves
By JasonMick (blog) on 9/20/2007 11:03:44 AM , Rating: 5
Well, yes, but if even a minute amount soaks through their gloves the detector would reveal it.

Also, despite the fact that you should use gloves when handling dangerous chemicals, do terrorist cells strike you as the kind of organized quality-controlled operations that would worry about things like gloves??

Also the material could easily get on the persons arms, even if they wore gloves if they were not being careful.

Seems like the substance is a good idea at least, time will tell how useful the substance is.


RE: Gloves
By xsilver on 9/20/07, Rating: -1
RE: Gloves
By dgingeri on 9/20/2007 12:03:25 PM , Rating: 2
Countless more would have been killed by the terrorists and Saddam had he done nothing. Even now, with all these terrorist attacks, there are less than half the daily murders than under Saddam's rule.

Oh, wait, those were by the 'legal' government of Iraq at the time. I suppose you would count those as executions.


RE: Gloves
By Isaiah on 9/20/2007 12:18:13 PM , Rating: 2
Where do you get those numbers from?

Everything I read seems to say the the number of deaths is much higher now then when Saddam was in power.

See this article at the WSJ for example: http://tinyurl.com/ze8g7


RE: Gloves
By dgingeri on 9/20/2007 12:36:25 PM , Rating: 2
Saddam killed over 1.7 million people in his 30 years in power. they found 1.4 million of them in one prison store house in boxes shortly after the end of major combat. Of course, shortly after this being reported, the mainstream press quit reporting on it. Fox was the only one to actually continue investigating it. That amounts to over 56,000 deaths per year, on average, in his prisons.


RE: Gloves
By dgingeri on 9/20/2007 12:43:07 PM , Rating: 3
Oh, and that link you put in, the methods used to collect their supposed death toll is a method that I can see right off hand would produce significant double, triple, and quadruple counting of deaths. (asking people about deaths in the family as well as counting death certificates. Come on, how can you possibly inflate the numbers any further without totally making up a number!) That supposed study is nothing but made up propaganda.


RE: Gloves
By Isaiah on 9/20/2007 2:28:34 PM , Rating: 4
I find it odd that you totally dismiss the death count by Johns Hopkins (the same group that gave reports on deaths in Congo, Darfur and Bosnia), but believe Fox News when they find "1.4 million of them in one prison store house in boxes"...


RE: Gloves
By Shining Arcanine on 9/21/2007 7:22:10 AM , Rating: 2
Perhaps you do not know that the military is the one who found the remains of 1.4 million people and you can go to Iraq and count them for your own information right now.


RE: Gloves
By spluurfg on 9/20/2007 5:38:45 PM , Rating: 3
Believe it or not, Johns Hopkins University and the Wall Street Journal tend to be high quality, unbiased institutions... Perhaps you haven't heard of them before?

Also, their methodology involved sampling random houses within districts and asked for family member deaths. This would limit multiple reporting, as there is probably less of a likelihood that randomly sampled houses are from the same family. Further, they verified the death reports with actual death certificates (92%), not just counted them again. Perhaps one of the best American universities knows what they're doing and cares about their academic reputation?

By the way, the article is pre-rupert-murdoch-buys-dowjones.

Back on topic, I am guessing that while terrorist cells might be more sophisticated than men in grass shacks wiping their rear ends with leaves, it nevertheless is not a laboratory environment and the nature of explosives preparation may make chemical residues on their person difficult to avoid. Either way, it sounds like a clever innovation to me.


RE: Gloves
By dgingeri on 9/20/2007 12:54:10 PM , Rating: 5
Most of the death that are currently going on are Shiites killing Sunnis killing Shiites. that has been going on for centuries upon centuries, long before the US was even colonized. Saddam kept it in check, of a sort, by imprisoning and killing Shiites and keeping the Sunnis in charge, and immune from prosecution. Now that the 2 groups are at equal authority, they have restarted their constant war.

They'll wear each other out after a while, and one side or the other will develop another strong leader and dominate the other side again. Then the stronger leader will start executing the leaders of the other side, and leave the whole power structure weak again. Then that strong leader will die, either from internal or external causes, and another power vacuum will form and the whole thing will start again.

That's nothing new in history. the same thing happened in China, Japan, South America, Africa, the Sahara, the Roman Empire, the Greek Empire, the Persian Empire, etc. the only thing that has ever slowed this down has been democratic rule, but even that collapses when the voters start demanding hand-outs constantly. Then we wind up with the same old, same old stuff.

The human race is quite simply incapable of ruling itself properly. Any proper government will be overwhelmed by stupid voters who just want handouts and the power mongers that promise them those handouts.


RE: Gloves
By FITCamaro on 9/20/2007 1:34:49 PM , Rating: 5
quote:
Any proper government will be overwhelmed by stupid voters who just want handouts and the power mongers that promise them those handouts.


To support this type of government please visit.

www.hillaryclinton.com


RE: Gloves
By Bioniccrackmonk on 9/20/2007 3:02:06 PM , Rating: 5
quote:
To support this type of government please visit. www.hillaryclinton.com


This is the most ignorant thing I have read because the same could be said about any politician, republican and democratic. South Park said it best about our voting, we get to pick from a giant douche and a turd sandwich, which would you rather have is the honest answer.


RE: Gloves
By Ringold on 9/20/2007 3:52:35 PM , Rating: 2
First of all, you missed the humor part.

Second, the quoted sentence Camaro used is essentially the liberal platform, minus the admission of power-mongering. Care to even try to deny it? :P

In fact, please, don't. If I wanted a revisionist version of history going back to the New Deal I'd spend some time at MoveOn.org or Huffington.


RE: Gloves
By sviola on 9/20/07, Rating: 0
RE: Gloves
By sprockkets on 9/21/2007 12:07:45 AM , Rating: 2
You are right, there are some who rule well. There is only one tiny problem with those people; they die.


RE: Gloves
By gsellis on 9/21/2007 7:57:26 AM , Rating: 2
One correction -

3 - The Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a tooth in the Alcoran comes from the Old Testament

That is from Hammarabi's Code. It predates both Muslim and Judeo/Christian eras. But it was from the Tigris/Euphrates region. Babylon?. It was part of the first written laws.


RE: Gloves
By DeltaZero on 9/21/2007 9:26:32 AM , Rating: 2
As far as I know, (3) is incorrect. There are parts that do, and there are parts that don't. In fact, the same goes for the Old Testament.


RE: Gloves
By Shining Arcanine on 9/21/2007 5:16:16 PM , Rating: 2
If you have read the Koran, you would know that it talks about killing throughout its text and that it also talks about all of the offensive wars that Muhammad initiated. One such example is the treaty of Al-Hudaybiyya, which Mohammad made with the Meccan tribe of Quraish and broke as soon as his armies were powerful enough to slaughter every last man, woman and child of the Meccan tribe of Quraish. Mohammad did not preach about peace, even among Muslims, which is shown in the passage in the Koran that states to Muslims that if someone else's beliefs are in any way different from their own, they are not Muslim even if they consider themselves to be Muslim and observe all other beliefs.

Also, according to the Koran, the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mohammad and that led to the foundation of Islam. Therefore, from a Muslim perspective, it was God who founded Islam and not Mohammad. However, many saints have stated that it was not the Angel Gabriel who appeared to Mohammad, but the Devil disguised as the Angel Gabriel, which is more consistent with the stories of Mohammed's behavior and teachings as are written in the Koran than the story in the Koran concerning Islam's founding.


RE: Gloves
By Armygrognard on 9/26/2007 11:01:08 AM , Rating: 2
*sigh* Where to begin?

>>First of all, this civil hasn't been going on for centuries.<<

Yes it has. Ever since the schism and the disagreement over who should lead following Muhammed's death. The Shia and Sunni have been going at it ever since. For centuries.

>>and after having to fight to defend himself in Meca in the 7th century,<<

They say a good offense is the best defense, don't they? He had a "revelation" that allowed him to fight. Amazingly, he had many other revelations allowing him to follow many curious actions (including the murder of those who spoke against him, including a poet).

>>begun preaching peace and reconciliation among all the tribes.<<

At the point of a sword.

Many verses contradict what you say.

>>Since then, the Turkish Empire kept the region at peace until the european colonization in the end of 19th century and beginning of the 20th century.<<

I'll give you that. European colonial meddling screwed things up. U.S. interests in oil following WWII didn't help.

>>The points that the human race is incapale of ruling itself properly is also not correct. <<

Sure it is. As long as neighbor will argue with neighbor, there will be war (interrupted by periods of peace).

>>scandinavian countries are among them<<

Hmmm. Gustavus Adolphus ring a bell? Scandinavian involvement in the Napoleonic wars? Finland in WWII?

>> The Roman Empire was democratic<<

Rome was a Republic. BIG difference.

>>The British Empire and France were also democratic <<

Closer.

>>And, well, US says it is democratic (altough lately you can't say if this still applies)<<

Ah, you reveal your bias. The U.S. is a Republic. And yes, it still applies.

>> and has been running wars around the world in the last 60 years.<<

As to the reasons of all wars in the last 60 years, that's a whole 'nother topic.

>>Jihad does not mean Holy War. It means Effort. Holy War was an expression created by the crusaders in the 11th century when they went on the 1st cruzade.<<

Perhaps in the strictest sense. However, the "effort" is against something. In this case, infidels (anyone not Muslim).

>>The Alcoran does not preach fighting. But it says if you are attacked you should fight back and if the enemy proposes peace, all hostility should cease. But a muslin shall not be the first to make an aggression.<<

That's contradicted by so many verses I don't know where to start.

>>The Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a tooth in the Alcoran comes from the Old Testament.<<

Previous poster has it right. Hammurabi's law.

Actually, verses contradict everything said.

I don't think the Phillipines is considered Islamic as for 'democratic' nations. Turkey is really the only one that qualifies.


RE: Gloves
By dluther on 9/20/2007 5:37:08 PM , Rating: 4
quote:
Countless more would have been killed by the terrorists and Saddam had he done nothing. Even now, with all these terrorist attacks, there are less than half the daily murders than under Saddam's rule.


There are a couple of fundamental errors in this statement that I'd like to take this opportunity to correct.

1: There were no 'terrorists' in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, that is unless you consider Saddam to have been a terrorist. But in order to do that, you're going to have to produce some sort of evidence to support that theory. "Despot" is a more accurate description.

2: Saddam was a complete bastard to be sure. But he kept his country in stasis. Although the Shiite population outnumbered the Kurd and Sunni population put together by a large margin, the peace was kept, in almost the exact same way it is here in America.

Prior to the first Gulf War, Iraq was our close friend and ally, even though Saddam Hussein's human rights abuses were well-documented and internationally decried, except for the United States, who provided weapons, training, and tactical support.

quote:
Oh, wait, those were by the 'legal' government of Iraq at the time. I suppose you would count those as executions.


By definition, that's what those were. George Bush's only standout accomplishment as governor of Texas was to set the all-time record for the number of state executions, many of which are still controversial.


RE: Gloves
By Christopher1 on 9/20/2007 9:49:17 PM , Rating: 2
You are right on just about everything. Saddam was a despot, but at every level except at the very tip-top, the government of Iraq was astoundingly similar to the government here in the United States, if not a little bit better in some small areas.

There were also no terrorists in Iraq while Saddam was a leader. Hell, Saddam kept himself out of the terrorist sponsoring business pretty much, because he would be working with his eternal enemy Iran if he didn't and that was not acceptable to him.

You are also right that before the first Iraq War, Saddam was our bosom buddy! We had even helped him to overthrow the legitimate government of Iraq and put into place his government.

You are also right in that all those 'murders' committed by Saddam were by definition, executions. I don't agree with them (but then again I don't agree with ANY executions!), but I could understand why Saddam killed all those people, because most of them WERE planning against him.


RE: Gloves
By hadifa on 9/21/2007 4:41:52 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I could understand why Saddam killed all those people, because most of them WERE planning against him.


I can understand why Romans crucified Jesus, because he preached for a different god.(or you can put their -unreasonable- reason)

I can understand why Hitler burned Jews , because he planned to purify the Aryan race. (or you can put his -unreasonable- reason)

I can understand why Terrorists blow up the trade centers ,
because they wanted to fight the US.(or you can put their -unreasonable- reason)

I can understand why any criminal commits any crime, because there is a reason.(Even if they are crazy then the crime was committed because they were crazy)

I would be very interested to see what do you consider as unreasonable crime.

By the way, Saddam didn't wait for people to plot against him, he would execute/imprison people and their relatives even if there was a doubt about their involvement. He bombed his own city's, invaded neighboring countries, keeping back the country for over 30 years and populating the mass graves.

I am very sorry for humanity if these were understandable.


RE: Gloves
By Enoch2001 on 9/20/2007 12:07:45 PM , Rating: 4
quote:
..as your average white American.


Why is it that people have to turn this into an issue of race? The color of a person's skin has nothing to do with this.

You're pathetic.


RE: Gloves
By sxr7171 on 9/20/07, Rating: 0
RE: Gloves
By dgingeri on 9/20/2007 1:21:17 PM , Rating: 2
I would think they'd be kinda 'tan'. the US is barely majority white, at about 55% right now overall. many urban areas, like my hometown of Denver, aren't majority white anymore. This city is barely 48% white, but over 25% hispanic.


RE: Gloves
By JustTom on 9/20/2007 1:32:47 PM , Rating: 1
Actually the US is 68% 'white', or 75% depending how you count hispanics.


RE: Gloves
By dgingeri on 9/20/2007 1:51:12 PM , Rating: 1
it was on the last census, but things have changed in the last 7 years. Whites tend to have small families, or even no kids in many cases, especially rich people, while minorities tend to have more kids. The total number of white people has actually gone down in the last 7 years, with the number of hispanic people going up more than any other group. Denver passed the 50% mark for whites earlier this year.


RE: Gloves
By JustTom on 9/20/2007 7:38:53 PM , Rating: 2

Isolated demographic trends are just that, isolated. The percentage of Americans that would be considered white is much higher than 55%. Hispanic is NOT a race; most of them are considered white, the rest being mixed. Saying someone that is primarily of Spanish decent is not white is no more correct than saying someone of Italian decent is not white.

Whites are still the fastest growing demographic, by far. However, most of that growth is by Hispanic whites.

Whites grew by 12,389,050, est., between 2000 and 2006. The bulk of which was made up of white Hispanics, 9,014,660.

The myth of a white demographic collapse is predicated on counting Hispanics as a seperate race, which is just plain silly.


RE: Gloves
By Alexvrb on 9/20/2007 10:05:13 PM , Rating: 2
Most Hispanics I've met, do NOT consider themselves white. Most Italian-Americans and others that trace their genes back to European countries consider themselves white. Especially those who are third+ generation, like myself. That's the difference I'm seeing. Many Hispanics aren't trying to assimilate into white American society, or American society period.

Bottom line: They don't consider themselves to be White. Why should anyone else?


RE: Gloves
By JustTom on 9/21/2007 12:50:51 AM , Rating: 1
Actually, they SELF report as white, if they didn't consider themselves white why would they check white on census forms.


RE: Gloves
By Alexvrb on 9/21/2007 9:38:13 AM , Rating: 1
Most of the ones around here aren't legal. Chew on that for a while.


RE: Gloves
By JustTom on 9/21/07, Rating: 0
RE: Gloves
By Ringold on 9/20/2007 4:00:42 PM , Rating: 2
I'm a white male, and as such, in terms of treatment for many jobs, educational opportunities, and even various types of financial aid, I'm the most discriminated against segment of the population in America. I've been paying for the moral sins of the pre 1870s for working on 140 years now.

So everybody else.. STFU, lest my small cohort of brethren somehow be angered enough to repeal Affirmative Action. :P


RE: Gloves
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 9/21/2007 8:12:53 AM , Rating: 2
I have to agree with you there. White Male's tend to get shafted quite often these days. Hiring practices are to get Minority nationality and/or Women. By hiring a white male, you had better be able to prove he can do the work of 2 or more people on his own, otherwise management tends to dictate to get something more "diverse". Diversity... a great idea, but it sure got twisted around fast.


RE: Gloves
By FITCamaro on 9/20/2007 12:38:55 PM , Rating: 2
They may be educated but I would hardly call a person smart if they believe blowing themselves up is a good idea and will earn them an eternity of happiness.

And Bush is hardly responsible for the thousands of innocent Iraqis who have died as the result of insurgents and terrorists bombs.

They should spray this chemical down your throat and hope you choke on it.


RE: Gloves
By xsilver on 9/20/2007 12:54:36 PM , Rating: 2
little ahmed down in baghdad isnt responsible for the terrorist activities that go on around the world but guess what, he's dead. Collateral damage in the war on terror.

If a cop shot 2 innocent people while trying to shoot a murderer what would happen?. The same doesnt apply on the other side of the world though.


RE: Gloves
By xsilver on 9/20/2007 1:00:50 PM , Rating: 1
oh and also, who are you to say that you cant have eternal happiness by blowing yourself up?

The average american would rather choose material wealth. Not putting the blame, probably just the truth.

I just find it funny that that years after the phrase "shoot the bloody commies!!" people can still overlook the complexities of other peoples culture/choices.
Instead of commies now though, we have terrorists and innocents that look like terrorists, which is good enough.


RE: Gloves
By FITCamaro on 9/20/2007 1:39:47 PM , Rating: 2
So blow yourself and see what happens if its possible. Regardless of religious beliefs, anyone who thinks happiness can be had by committing suicide and taking out scores of innocents with them has serious mental issues.

And if part of your culture is to kill me, I don't give a damn about it.


RE: Gloves
By sviola on 9/20/2007 3:51:11 PM , Rating: 2
Please, see my post above, before saying that blowing someone is part of the muslim culture. The ones that do this are as healthy as those guys from that sect in Waco that killed themselves. They are a distorted minority among a huge universe of muslims (btw, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world...)


RE: Gloves
By InsaneGain on 9/26/2007 12:13:19 PM , Rating: 2
Please explain why the official Saudi Arabian school curriculum is to teach hatred and intolerance of non-Muslims? The curriculum "encourages violence toward others, and misguides the pupils into believing that in order to safeguard their own religion, they must violently repress and even physically eliminate the 'other.' ... This indoctrination begins in a first-grade text and is reinforced and expanded each year, culminating in a 12th-grade text instructing students that their religious obligation includes waging jihad against the infidel to "spread the faith.""
After 9/11, Saudi authorities vowed to change this, but recently, school texts were still found to have these hateful teachings.


RE: Gloves
By rcc on 9/20/2007 2:19:00 PM , Rating: 5
quote:
oh and also, who are you to say that you cant have eternal happiness by blowing yourself up?


I don't give a rat's A** if someone wants to blow themselves up, jump off a bridge, etc. I consider it rude, because someone else has to clean up the mess.

Unfortunately, most of the people seeking "eternal happiness" seem to think they need to blow others up at the same time. Most of the civilized people I know draw a line there.

quote:
The average american would rather choose material wealth. Not putting the blame, probably just the truth.


Ok, I may not by your average american, but I'll speak for them anyway. Damn straight we'll take material wealth over blowing ourselves up, proud to admit it too. I'll even accept emotional happiness, love, friendship, or a good lay, instead of blowing myself up. Guess I'm just shallow.


RE: Gloves
By FITCamaro on 9/20/2007 3:02:02 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
Damn straight we'll take material wealth over blowing ourselves up, proud to admit it too. I'll even accept emotional happiness, love, friendship, or a good lay, instead of blowing myself up. Guess I'm just shallow.


Nice.


RE: Gloves
By Christopher1 on 9/21/2007 1:51:52 AM , Rating: 2
You are not shallow, you are someone who has their head screwed on straight. We would do our country and our world a severe service if we started telling people that there is no such things as 'heaven', that after death it's just a 180 degree turn back into another body on this planet, and that if you want your 'paradise', you are going to have to make it yourself on this planet.


RE: Gloves
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 9/21/2007 8:17:22 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
We would do our country and our world a severe service if we started telling people that there is no such things as 'heaven', that after death it's just a 180 degree turn back into another body on this planet, and that if you want your 'paradise', you are going to have to make it yourself on this planet.

I'm sorry, that makes too much sense. By telling these people death is their ticket to paradise then they gladly line up in droves because its easier than working to improve their lifes. You have a good point, if these people were taught that death was the end and there is nothing more after that point, they would work to make the best of life and pro-long it as much as possible. But hey we don't have time for rational solutions.


RE: Gloves
By borismkv on 9/20/2007 3:10:50 PM , Rating: 4
Perhaps you would like to come up with a better solution to the terrorism problem? Cause according to Osama's last tape, the only other solutions are convert to Islam or die (and if you think he's joking, wow, aren't you just ignorant). I don't like either of those options, personally, since I like my religious freedom, and I like living. Part of the "culture/choices" of the Arab nations for the past few centuries has been constant war, dictatorship, oppression, and fear, starvation, and deprivation for countless millions of people.

Is it right for us to sit on our butts and stare at the enslavement and oppression and murders caused by governments that came to power through the use of fear, blackmail, kidnapping, and murder, and then turn around and wrangle the spiritual beliefs of those people so that it is all done in the name of some God? Is it right to say to the people of those countries that, even though we have the capability of putting an end to that type of enslavement, that we aren't going to because they aren't Americans and we don't have to do anything? All the while enjoying our Big Macs and SUVs and living out every day of our lives with our only fear being "How am I going to pay for this 54" big screen TV I just bought?" How incredibly selfish that is.

I think it's incredibly hypocritical for you to be exclaiming the evils of our military actions over there while ignoring the actions of the people we are fighting. Which is worse, the soldier who shoots a civilian in a cross fire with terrorists, or the person who straps a bomb to their chest and runs into a crowded market so he can kill as many innocent civilians as possible? Yes, it's a shame that people are dying. But it's a complete waste of time to argue over whether or not we should have gone into Iraq. We're there. They are there. And instead of just complaining about it, how about you use your great wisdom and intelligence to come up with a solution? And I'm not talking a "Run away from the problem and hope it doesn't follow you" solution. I mean a real, lasting solution that will result in the end of terrorism. Any idiot can sit there and complain about a problem. And that's all we have right now. A hundred million idiots complaining and not a single person trying to solve the problem, except, oh wait, the person that all those idiots keep calling an idiot. Say what you want about the President and the people around him. They are actually trying to come up with a solution. There are a lot of things about how the war has been handled that I don't like. But cutting our losses and running right now, just because we've screwed up...a lot...is both cowardly and unethical. But then, who gives a crap about ethics anymore? I mean, it's just so hard to think about the consequences of your actions when there's a really easy option available right now, isn't it? Bah...done with this.


RE: Gloves
By xsilver on 9/20/2007 8:56:17 PM , Rating: 2
There is a difference between hypocracy and acknowledging a problem. Just because I dont agree on current actions it doesnt make me a gay tree hugging hippie that wants to have an abortion and take away your guns.

What I want is for there to be a higher standard and for things to be thought out a little more but the problem is that close enough is good enough when it concerns somebody else.
What do you care if 100 innocents die over there; what if I changed that number to 1000? To us its just a number, doesnt make a damn difference to most of us. Im here at least admitting there is a problem and if more of us did admit there was a problem then maybe we could fix this. What we're doing now is very much a half arsed effort.

quote:
But it's a complete waste of time to argue over whether or not we should have gone into Iraq. We're there. They are there.

I interpreted your view as the ends justifies the means, I'll leave it at that.


RE: Gloves
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 9/21/2007 8:24:22 AM , Rating: 2
Well, if you wanted to get purely technical. We sure pacified a potential occupation problem in WW2 by nuking Japan not once, but twice. Wiping out some 160,000 people all at once. You don't think if we did that to Iraq or Iran people would continue to resist? They would be terrified to resist. The magnitude of destruction brought on by nuclear weaponry and the psychological impact it causes tends to pacify quickly.

These days we don't do that anymore, we lost the stomach ourselves to cause such levels of destruction in warfare, so instead we have invested in precision weapons, all terrain all weather day and night operational capability, ways to minimize civilian casualties while still taking out the bad guys. We lose more of our own troops this way, but the only other option is mass destruction on an impressive scale. You only get those two options, pick one. I'm pleased with the decision we have chosen.


RE: Gloves
By InsaneGain on 9/26/2007 12:37:46 PM , Rating: 2
What an inane comment. I am assuming that you understand that these people are blowing themselves up with the full intention of killing as many other people as possible. Using your logic, who's to say that it is universally wrong to walk into a school with an assault rifle and execute everybody because you perceived that they made you feel alienated? Who's to say this wouldn't justifiably provide an eternal feeling of joy by satisfying your need for vengeance? Nihilists are probably correct that there isn't any universal, ultimate authority that says anything is objectively right or wrong, and that these are simply cultural constructs, but civilized society says this is wrong, because otherwise anarchy and chaos would prevail.


RE: Gloves
By MatthewAC on 9/20/2007 12:39:51 PM , Rating: 2
Yea, just like your typing has gave countless eye sores.(I still feel the burn)


RE: Gloves
By retrospooty on 9/20/2007 12:17:04 PM , Rating: 2
"do terrorist cells strike you as the kind of organized quality-controlled operations that would worry about things like gloves??"

Umm... They came to the US, stayed for many months, took jumbo jet FLYING lessons, and 4 separate squads highjacked 4 separate planes. Yes, I think they are smart enough to use gloves.


RE: Gloves
By JasonMick (blog) on 9/20/2007 12:36:46 PM , Rating: 3
Alright, perhaps I was a bit vague in my description of terrorist cells.

I am referring to the makers of IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan, etc. These people are mostly untrained, unorganized, have little money, and are desperate.

You are referring to a small group of highly trained terrorists with billions of dollars of funding.

And as to the other above I do not approve of US foreign policy of wanton aggression, but people blowing innocent civilians up is only make the situation far, far worse.

Hopefully this invention will help stop that.


RE: Gloves
By retrospooty on 9/20/2007 12:51:37 PM , Rating: 2
"Hopefully this invention will help stop that."

Agreed. At least it may be able to help with some of the smaller unfunded groups. It cant hurt anyhow.


RE: Gloves
By Christopher1 on 9/20/2007 9:52:07 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
These people are mostly untrained, unorganized, have little money, and are desperate.


True. The main reason why people choose to join terrorist cells is that they are hopeless. Their lives are crap and they are stupid enough or brainwashed with religious crapola enough to believe that there is a 'heaven' after death instead of a 180 back into a body on this planet: human, animal or plant.


RE: Gloves
By Polynikes on 9/20/2007 5:36:49 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
If the user has had recent contact with urea nitrate, then the chemical will turn a blood red hue.


So, now that this detection method is known, they'll make sure they wear gloves, build the bomb, package it really well, then have someone else load it into whatever carrying device they're using, and days or weeks later the person carrying said carrying device will have no trace of any chemical on their hands.


RE: Gloves
By Darkefire on 9/20/2007 11:15:58 AM , Rating: 2
If they've got anything in the way of brains, they would. I would be extremely wary of this chemical in its current form, since if I'm reading the chemistry right means that it could interact with just plain urea. I don't have a subscription to the Journal of Forensic Sciences, unfortunately, so I can't check the exact chemistry, but I'm fairly sure the organic reaction would still take place regardless of the presence of the nitrate group. Since color is mostly a function of the extended conjugation of the newly formed organic molecule, you'd still see a color even if you only had any number of simple urea compounds on your hand. Since urea is a key component of urine, I'd hate to be tagged as a terrorist because I leaked a little.

Even if it does form only a red color with urea nitrate, urea is water soluble. So we're only going to catch the terrorists who don't bother to wash their hands afterwards? This isn't exactly a big step forward in catching bomb-makers.


RE: Gloves
By Moishe on 9/20/2007 11:28:47 AM , Rating: 2
Basically this will catch the stupid ones. Very few people committing illegal acts really think things all the way through and cover all the bases. Since stupid/not careful falls into the "most" category you will catch some at least.

Even if washing solves the problem, at least they have to perform another act to prevent being caught. That act takes time. Anything that causes extra work for the bad guys is good.

Certainly this is better than nothing.


RE: Gloves
By marvdmartian on 9/20/2007 11:33:58 AM , Rating: 3
(hot female guard to officer): Sir, his hands are clean.....but his pants are about to explode!! ;)


RE: Gloves
By Screwballl on 9/20/2007 11:51:09 AM , Rating: 2
I would assume they already tested this and human or animal urine should show as pink or light red but because of the potency of the bomb material is why it would show as blood red.
urea accounts for 75-90% of the nitrogen in urine whereas the bombs they are talking about use ammonium nitrate. due to the high potencies of the bomb material, normal human urine should not be any cause for concern.


RE: Gloves
By Gneisenau on 9/20/2007 12:12:26 PM , Rating: 2
It pickes up a miniscule amount. If they walked in the house where the chemicals were stored, it would probably show up. If they handled the bombs without gloves, or when they pulled the gloves off, it could easily get on them.


Amazing.
By Mitch101 on 9/20/2007 11:46:57 AM , Rating: 2
I find it amazing we cant find a guy on a camel hiding in caves and kill him. But then he is supposedly hiding in pakistan now or has been for a while. Isnt that what navy seals/commandos teams are for? Or more importantly the US intelligence agencies?

If we know he is in pakistan and that country denies it and we send in a seals team. Find him there then what can that country say about it?

Im all for taking out countries that harbor terrorists. Why should there be a safe zone for terrorists?

Isnt it amazing you can become a killer of thousands and run to pakistan and your safe. So al-quida has just relocated to pakistan instead of iraq.

Lets end these terrorism groups once and for all and put an end to safe zones.




RE: Amazing.
By sxr7171 on 9/20/2007 11:53:02 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah but Pakistan is an "Ally." With friends like that, who needs enemies?


RE: Amazing.
By Ringold on 9/20/2007 4:26:20 PM , Rating: 3
Two posters in a row that desperately need to brush up on the current Pakistani political situation, lest they continue to sound completely unfamiliar with the situation -- much like Obama.

Lazy American Guide to Current Pakistan: General Musharraf runs the country as dual President and top military commander, and is the 4th Pakistan pseudo-dictator of American backing. Despite a booming economy, he had become deeply unpopular for a wide variety of reasons, and the populace increasingly supports Islamic extremists, with Bin Laden purpotedly having a higher approval rating. Musharraf is presently trying to cling desperately to power, as democratic elections could yield bad results. He's also trying to keep Islamic extremist terrorist groups from toppling the government. This is all extremely dangerous as Pakistan has nuclear missiles and if the highly demoralized military disintegrated they could fall in to the wrong hands. On a related note, we're not well liked there. Musharraf is sacrificing far more troops trying to subdue the rebelious regions than any other American ally has done thus far in the war on terror , and sending American forces in willy-nilly would be a fantastic way to incite the people to not only remove him from power but to install someone totally opposed to assisting us in our goals.

What, then, is the solution? If you're an inexperienced off-the-cuff n00b Senator, then apparently it's to piss off the locals even further. For everybody else? I sure don't know.. maybe accept that women as Prime Minister and give up the uniform.. but it's not a simple matter in the least.


RE: Amazing.
By AntiM on 9/20/2007 11:01:39 PM , Rating: 1
The absolute fist step in dealing with the issues we are facing would be to remove that idiot we have in the White House. If you don't think he has grossly mishandled every facet of dealing with Islamic extremists, then I just don't know what to say.


RE: Amazing.
By degziebob on 9/20/2007 12:09:27 PM , Rating: 2
..and once the seals have eaten the terrorist, we send in the big spindely fish monster.


RE: Amazing.
By andrinoaa on 9/20/2007 9:57:54 PM , Rating: 2
You have been watching too much TV, life ain't like that.


RE: Amazing.
By InsaneGain on 9/26/2007 1:32:02 PM , Rating: 2
Osama Bin Laden is likely being hidden in a religiously conservative semi-autonomous tribal region in Pakistan, where he has significant support among the population. Measures are taken to prevent his location from being determined, and apparently the population is not susceptible to reward money. This area is isolated and there is a very good chance any team of foreigners would be quickly noticed and confronted by armed force, while Osama would be quickly scurried away. The only way to possibly find Osama would be to send an overwhelming military force into the area, and this could provoke an Islamic backlash against the western friendly Musharraf government. There would be many risks involved, and even if they actually killed Osama, the effect on the terrorist organization's capabilities may be minimal.


No use
By Alexstarfire on 9/20/2007 11:00:28 AM , Rating: 1
I kinda wish they wouldn't post exactly how these things work and what it works on. Now that the terrorists know this, or soon will, it's only gonna be a matter of time before they either find a way to cover it up, or find other means to make explosives. It's not like urea nitrate is a requirement.




RE: No use
By vortmax on 9/20/2007 11:07:13 AM , Rating: 2
I agree, sometimes keeping things a secret is good.


RE: No use
By thejez on 9/20/2007 11:14:30 AM , Rating: 2
unless of course it really doesnt work in which case going public would make terrorists be worried about something for no reason....


RE: No use
By theapparition on 9/20/2007 12:15:55 PM , Rating: 3
There you have the issue of schools and scientist publishing everything just to get their name out there in a journal. While most published works should be in peer reviewed journals, some things should not be, or should not be explained in detail.

This also goes to the media, there are many things that shouln't be reported publicly, like troop movements or anonymous un-verified information (insider tips), but ratings doesn't stop them.

But who draws the line what is good or OK to publish?


RE: No use
By FITCamaro on 9/20/2007 12:42:36 PM , Rating: 2
Yes but you see we live in a free society where the media feels the public needs to know everything.


Wash your hands or your a terrorist!
By alanore on 9/20/2007 12:19:59 PM , Rating: 2
urea nitrate, is the stuff you make from processing urine, so it would also turn red if you have pee on your hands, although urea nitrate in bomb making would be far more consentrated.




By pnyffeler on 9/20/2007 12:43:46 PM , Rating: 2
Apparently you have always been able to throw off bomb detectors by peeing on your hands.

This invention may go down as being as useless as soap in the men's bathroom.


RE: Wash your hands or your a terrorist!
By dgingeri on 9/20/2007 1:00:37 PM , Rating: 3
No, it's not. Urea Nitrate is based on urine, but that is only a minor component. It must be processed to release the urea, then have nitric acid and nitrate type fertilizer added. (why do you think nitric acid and nitrate fertilizer are controlled substances under the jurisdiction of the ATF?) I can't tell you the whole process to make it, partly because I don't know and partly because it would be a federal offense, but I know enough to know what to avoid. However, it is a fairly easy substance to make. It just isn't very safe to transport.


By drank12quartsstrohsbeer on 9/20/2007 6:36:55 PM , Rating: 2
Farmers and lawn care workers are gonna get nailed


What if
By blackseed on 9/20/2007 11:19:51 AM , Rating: 2
What if the bastard who makes the bomb is different than the bomb carrier?




RE: What if
By Mitch101 on 9/20/2007 11:47:43 AM , Rating: 2
I was thinking the same thing.


RE: What if
By dgingeri on 9/20/2007 1:04:57 PM , Rating: 2
it would stick to both. this stuff is quite messy. think about transporting a large container of soggy oatmeal that eats through its container. it would leak from most containers, eating through most metal due to acidic content, and get all over everything.

besides, who cares? both would be as guilty. get them both.


New strategy
By Chadder007 on 9/20/2007 1:03:23 PM , Rating: 3
The hands turn red....shoot them in the head! :D




RE: New strategy
By andrinoaa on 9/20/2007 9:54:46 PM , Rating: 2
I thought you guys did that already? LOL LOL

Interesting conflict resolution tactics you guys have.
Must be in the water!!


Subject to misuse
By mindless1 on 9/20/2007 2:09:57 PM , Rating: 2
"Simply wipe the hands of the suspect with a sterile cloth, then apply the chemical detector agent. If the user has had recent contact with urea nitrate, then the chemical will turn a blood red hue."

OR, simply wipe the hands of the suspect with a sterile cloth that has urea nitrate on it, to deliberately cause a false detection.




RE: Subject to misuse
By FITCamaro on 9/20/2007 3:03:28 PM , Rating: 3
You have figured out our plan and will be killed in the next 48 hours.


Dictatorship and colonization
By GlassHouse69 on 9/20/2007 9:37:15 PM , Rating: 2
I think that we should stop investing in technology to catch sneaky mofo's and just set up a colony there.

take the oil.
Force them into labor.
Kill half a million the first year.
It works in that part of the world.
We are the only moronic country that is so involved with oil that doesnt have a budget SURPLUS, but instead, a massive debt and massive deficit.

subjugate the annoying.




RE: Dictatorship and colonization
By andrinoaa on 9/20/2007 10:27:06 PM , Rating: 2
There is a better long term solution. Fix America's foreign policy disasters by changing the emphasis from what is "in American interests" to accepting others have their own ideas. Mind your own F*&^%$G business and stop interfering in other countries. Who funded Osama, who funded Saddam, who started the Iran shit: man the list goes on and on. Stop trying to fix the F*&^%*&G the world, your making it worse!
A good start would be to stop depending on foreign oil. You then don't have to start another war to defend the shit.
Man , for such a smart country you have the dumbest politicians. Definitly must be in the water.
Accept the fact, THERE IS NO SIMPLE SOLUTION. The lunatics reside on both sides, look in the mirror. This is a theme we have been bombarded with in classic science fiction ie "The forbidden planet", " Event horizon" etc etc
Put the terrorist threat in perspective. How many Americans die every year on the roads? How many Americans every year die from gun shot wounds? Stop acting with your dick and start using your brain. SHEESH


By TimberJon on 9/20/2007 11:29:59 AM , Rating: 2
Even if it gets on their clothes, or the smell sticks to their arm, the fluid should turn color on their hands just because it is reacting to that agent or material in close proximity.

This is a kickass development. I hope they can be able to detect gunpowder, or explosive chemicals from a distance and mount such sensors on some of those unmanned killers.

Just a thought, have they tried yet to identify where radio signals are coming from within a city or building? So that a possible communication link can be broken?




A few comments
By Nik00117 on 9/23/2007 1:19:34 PM , Rating: 2
Whats criticial in the middle easy? Law and order saddam provided that. Sure he killed millions to do it, but we didn't have our brave american soliders wasting their lives there did we? Nope we sure didn't.

Now lets twist this a bit, if it was such a great thing for us americans to invade iraq and stop saddam in his tracks then hey, shouldn't america be worshipped athe protector of human rights? But its not?

Ok Saddam was bad, but i'd much rather have saddam and his friends having control over Iraq then our soliders.




Terrorists...
By derwin on 9/21/2007 3:47:41 AM , Rating: 1
Im not trying to starte a flame train here or anything, but...

quote:
Worldwide, terrorism is one of the key threats to world peace, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths each year.


Aside from the resistance/insurgance in iraq, how many terror insidents have happend and how many people have died from them in the last two years?




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