[extropy-chat] IRAQ: Weapons pipeline to Syria

[J. Andrew Rogers]

Damien Broderick quoted:
> The network ran videotape taken by a reporter embedded with the US Army 
> 101st Airborne Division nine days after the fall of Baghdad. The footage 
> shows US troops examining barrels of what appeared to be explosives
inside 
> bunkers that had been sealed by UN inspectors.


There are some interesting threads out there on the 'net regarding this
particular video footage.  The footage clearly shows all the marking
details on the containers, including all the hazard tags and
classification codes attached to or painted on them.  This has given
interested topical experts on the Internet plenty of opportunity to do
their own verification and discuss the matter.

What has been noted is that not only are some of the tags not applicable
to HMX or RDX (the explosives of debate), but that the combination of
tags and markings is really only applicable to TNP explosives.  These
are demolition explosives, commonly used as a cheap substitute for TNT
and with similar power (but nastier chemical properties).  And in this
specific case they appear to be booster charges, usually used to improve
the performance of low-power bulk industrial explosives like ammonium
nitrate.  In short, to topical experts the explosives shown in the video
footage are only consistent with demolition boosters, and inconsistent
with RDX and HMX.  To the extent that I've double-checked the analysis
(go Google!), it seems to be correct.


The really important point here is the power of the Internet as a
counter-force to the de facto truth-making of the mainstream media
outlets.  There was a time when the media could make nearly any
assertion it wished without defending the accuracy of its claim.  Now
that people have realized that they have the power to question the media
(see CBS and Dan Rather), it has become a new hobby for many people and
changes the dynamics and quality of information in the public sphere. 
This is a great thing, but it is clear that the popular media is not
comfortable with this shift.

cheers,

j. andrew rogers