Bombs And Bombings

Bombs and Bombings is the definitive text regarding the construction of bombs and the motivation for bombings in the U.S. Although some law enforcement-sensitive material is excluded from this book, it still presents a thorough understanding of why bombs and bombings remain a constant threat. The chemistry of explosives and how such affects the performance of explosives are an essential part of the text. The reader is taken through a short course on explosive engineering and the chemistry of explosives. A brief history of bombings provides insight as to how improvised explosive devices were used to shape history and how the situations of the early 1900s are repeating themselves today. While many believe that suicide bombings are something seen only in the Middle East, this text explores the suicide bombings in the U.S. and the motivation of the bombers. Various profiles of several famous bombers such as the Unabomber and the Mad Bomber are reviewed along with other psychological issues that might inspire bombers. The use of bombs to disperse radioactive materials in the radiation dispersion device configuration is addressed along with the technique used to disperse chemical and biological agents with explosives. Booby traps, especially those targeting law enforcement, are explained, and methods to detect booby traps are developed to allow a rudimentary understanding of the process. Methods to identify clandestine laboratories manufacturing explosives or other drugs such as methamphetamine are identified providing the reader with an understanding of the items to identify and differentiate the types of laboratories. Numerous bombings are examined providing an insight as to why and how the attacks were successful. Mitigation techniques such as using alcohol resistant aqueous film-forming foam to suppress blast and fragment formation are explained along with deployment methods. The text is richly illustrated with photographs depicting IEDs, explosives, and booby traps to assist in the identification of suspicious objects, suspect packages, or potential mail bombs. The book provides and overview that those involved in law enforcement, security, and counterterrorism will find elucidating and beneficial in bomb-related operations and mitigation efforts.

An unconventional history of aerial bombing and the profound and terrible effects of its aftermath on the modern world.

This edition contains 56 additional new illustrations from actual cases to further describe the examples as reasons for the methods used in the text. Written by an internationally recognized expert on bombs, bombings, and bomb disarmament, this classic text serves as the primary reference on the subject for law enforcement, criminal justice, and security professionals in both the public and private sectors."--BOOK JACKET.

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are a type of unconventional explosive weapon that can be deployed in a variety of ways, and can cause loss of life, injury, and property damage in both military and civilian environments. Terrorists, violent extremists, and criminals often choose IEDs because the ingredients, components, and instructions required to make IEDs are highly accessible. In many cases, precursor chemicals enable this criminal use of IEDs because they are used in the manufacture of homemade explosives (HMEs), which are often used as a component of IEDs. Many precursor chemicals are frequently used in industrial manufacturing and may be available as commercial products for personal use. Guides for making HMEs and instructions for constructing IEDs are widely available and can be easily found on the internet. Other countries restrict access to precursor chemicals in an effort to reduce the opportunity for HMEs to be used in IEDs. Although IED attacks have been less frequent in the United States than in other countries, IEDs remain a persistent domestic threat. Restricting access to precursor chemicals might contribute to reducing the threat of IED attacks and in turn prevent potentially devastating bombings, save lives, and reduce financial impacts. Reducing the Threat of Improvised Explosive Device Attacks by Restricting Access to Explosive Precursor Chemicals prioritizes precursor chemicals that can be used to make HMEs and analyzes the movement of those chemicals through United States commercial supply chains and identifies potential vulnerabilities. This report examines current United States and international regulation of the chemicals, and compares the economic, security, and other tradeoffs among potential control strategies.

A provocative assessment of the practice of indiscriminate bombing as a warfare method explores the reasons why military strategists of the past century shifted their focus from military to civilian targets, in an account that poses key arguments about international law and the morality of war. 10,000 first printing.

Presented as a series of well-researched historical case studies, a veteran detective and bomb technician offers a revealing look at just a few of the many bombs, bombers and bombings that have plagued the Los Angeles area every decade for more than a century.

Bombing Civilians examines a crucial question: why did military planning in the early twentieth century shift its focus from bombing military targets to bombing civilians? From the British bombing of Iraq in the early 1920s to the most recent policies in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon, Bombing Civilians analyzes in detail the history of indiscriminate bombing, examining the fundamental questions of how this theory justifying mass killing originated and why it was employed as a compelling military strategy for decades, both before and since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.