why do terrorists try to blow up airplanes?

ok, here's a problem i have had with this entire situation, why do these "terrorists" feel the need to be onboard the planes they are going to be blowing up?

in the us you can not take any liquid or jell on a plane now, makes sense considering all the explosive jells and liquids, but why even go to such great lengths to blow up a plane?

an RPG or a SAM would be plenty enough to take a plane down from the ground
for that matter why even focus on the plane?
you'd think these terrorists would simply target the terminals as they could just walk in, drop off their "luggage", walk out, and boom
no one would even have to be hurt for the effect to be made
people would hear news about a terminal being attacked and they would regain their fear of airports and airplanes for another 5 years



somehting else that has been bothering me is this, how/why has the government gotten so luckey?
the statistics just don't seem to add up, to me at least

sure, foiling a "terroist plot" here and ther is one thing, but they have caught every single one, in the usa, in the past few years.
seems kind of fishy to me

if these terrorists are smart enough to be planning coordinated attacks then how is it they never have fail-safe mechanisms to fall back on?
surely someone smart enough to plan something like this would be able to plan a backup plan incase the origional plan is discovered!

but no, the "terrorists" (never "suspected terrorists" even though they would only be suspects until they are found guilty of conspiracy and even then they are conspirators and not terrorists) are always caught and wisked away, never to plot evil again, assuming they did in the first place...

in 1 month exactly there will not have been a terrorist attack on american soil for 5 years

i did not believe there was going to be one and so far i have been right
i firmly believe this is a strategic move by both the governments of europe and the usa to force us to remember how much we need them to protect us

i guess the question i should really be asking is what is going on that needed to be covered up and drowned out so badly that they would sound the terrorist alert?

clinton bombed iraq when he needed to cover something up or make the people quickly shift their attention elsewhere
bush co. just has the fbi/cia drop the "foiled terrorist plot" line and instantly his misdeeds are forgotten about as people cheer about the evil terrorist being caught, even though no one has seen the terrorists nor even heard thier names, let alone heard a judge convict them of "conspiracy to commit terrorism".

so what are your thoughts on this?
is there any reason to believe what the fbi/cia/mi5 say?
is "terrorist" just the new buzzword to throw people into a frenzy much like the word "hacker" in the 90's or "communist" before that?

i believe you can infer my stance on these questions

The government got "lucky" with this one because, according to an article I read at msnbc.com, a concerned, fellow muslim contacted London police about possible terror activity with people they knew.

Terrorist are running a well thoughtout game plan against the rest of us and are executing it to a tee.

Country vs country, no one can beat/take on the United States. Terrorists exist in all countries INCLUDING the US so we have no clear target to attack.

With no TRADITIONAL army, tools of war (tanks, planes, boats) they use our own hardware against us i.e. US jetliners hijacked and flown into buildings. Don't forget, blowing up a plane not only kills the people in the plane but I'm sure they are hoping people on the ground get hurt/killed too. Most people are already a little to a lot scared to fly to begin with so add on a terror attack and, well..........they take an already scary situation (flying) and augment it 100 times. You wondered why they just don't blow up an airport terminal as opposed to an airplane. People aren't afraid to drive to a terminal but most are scared to fly.

Terrorists can't defeat any country with their hardware/weapons.

Terrorists are trying to cripple US economy. I am sure if this would have happened, nasdaq / dow might have lost around 100/ 300 points resp.

they are targetting economy than infrastructure.

I have some of the same questions Wondernut.
In another post (can't remember which now) I posed the same question about Plan B. If average old me can think of this why then does an organized terrorist group not? Or perhaps this was a diversion and the real plan is in the works.

I had heard on my news this am that they planned to do a dry run this weekend to see if they could pull it off. Then what was yesterday if the the "dry run" was planned for this weekend?

In terms of your question about planes. I suppose it's the easiest target if you want to affect alot of people from alot of different areas.
The following are just my opinions:

1. It propagates fear of flying
2. You have more "control" in the air in terms of negotiation because of the people.
3. You can board a plane anywhere without the worry of crossing borders.

I could think of more but my brain is a little foggy at 7am.

Originally posted by DDay


2. You have more "control" in the air in terms of negotiation because of the people.

I would just like to extend on that; Negotiation is certainly not a reason why, my opinion. The United States isn't going to negotiate with them anyway. Their sole purpose on the plane is to blow it up. Get media attention, and take out some airplanes. With that said, it just seems wierd that SOME terrorists haven't just said "screw it" , went to mexico, crossed the border with explosives, strapped one to their chest and walked into a mall. The only rational explanation I can think of for this not to happen is 1) US Security or 2) They are devoting everyone to killing soldiers in Iraq and Christians in Isreal and Abroad.

i guess i wasn't specific enough in what i meant

why even bother getting on the plane when you can shoot it down?

you could attach strong magnets to remote detonated grenades and lob them at planes while they are on the runway

once the plane is in the air, hit the detonator and boom!

yet these "terrorists" plan to bring onboard 2 or more seperate chemicals, mix them onboard, and detonate them with their carry-on electronic devices such as a cellphone or a laptop

i'm sorry, i just don't buy that story.
it is way too complicated to complete the task at hand, blowing up a plane.
also, why blow up the plane at all?
why not use it as a giant projectile weapon as they did on 9/11/01?

the entire story is very fishy to me
seriously, if these guys went to all the trouble to learn how to mix chemicals together to make them explode like this then why would the "terrorists" sacrifice these guys?

this reeks of government involvement and more than likely fabrication of the entire event.

like i said already, clinton bombed iraq to distract the public's attention from what he did wrong
bush just finds someone to scream terrorist and a couple of scapegoats

so the real question is, what is going on that we are not hearing about as a result of this "terror plot"

I live less than a quarter mile from an airport. Last year, one of my neighbors, an Iraqi national, was arrested by the FBI and ATF for trying to buy illegal weapons from an undercover agent. They said he was trying buy a automatic weapons and ammunition.
Actually the guy was a bit of a nut job that worked nights, drove around in a minivan covered with antiwar slogans, and often went to local public events to protest the war.
My brother-in-law thried to convert him to the Catholic church... Maybe that pushed him over the edge.

Originally posted by niklaus
I live less than a quarter mile from an airport. Last year, one of my neighbors, an Iraqi national, was arrested by the FBI and ATF for trying to buy illegal weapons from an undercover agent. They said he was trying buy a automatic weapons and ammunition.
Actually the guy was a bit of a nut job that worked nights, drove around in a minivan covered with antiwar slogans, and often went to local public events to protest the war.
My brother-in-law thried to convert him to the Catholic church... Maybe that pushed him over the edge.

because everyone who buys guns illegally is a radical and should be watched...
you know many states ban sales of certain guns?
assult weapons were just reciently allowed again un ohio for example
maybe this guy just wanted it to hang it on his wall or protect his family, he has a right to that called the second ammendment.

why try to convert people to your beliefs?
if you live the live you should be according to your beliefs then people will notice and ask you about it
if you are going out trying to convert people then you most clearly are not doing the will of god as he will bring them to you if he wants them to hear what you have to say

Originally posted by wondernut

you could attach strong magnets to remote detonated grenades and lob them at planes while they are on the runway.

Yes clearly chemical bombs that can slip past security are absurd after reading that idea.

Originally posted by snoopy

Originally posted by wondernut

you could attach strong magnets to remote detonated grenades and lob them at planes while they are on the runway.

Yes clearly chemical bombs that can slip past security are absurd after reading that idea.

actually, yes, yes they are
who is not going to notice someone mixing chemicals on the plane?
for that matter where is there room to do this on a plane?
what explosive chemicals would they make, and from what?

this is real life, not a james bond or mission impossible flick.
real life terrorists use bombs to inflict terror, as a side effect the bombs kill people
blowing up a plane over internaitonal waters makes no sense at all in this reguard, a good movie plot but a bad terrorist strategy as it would probably never be found out what really happened.

however, magnetically sticking a bomb to the plane then remote detonating it from somewhere near by would be child's play for these "terrorists"
but for some reason they would rather sacrafice themselves than live to do it again and again.

my point is not to criticize the absurdity of the "mixing chemicals to make a bomb" plot, it is to point out that it is completely fictional and would never happen in real life
this is a movie plot and you apparantly bought into it
did you hear one of the guys arrested already was let go?
it was on cnn earlier

this was a "conspiracy" alright!
our own governments are conspiring agianst us to cause us to feel afraid so we will need them and pay any price for safety and security

i for one am tired of seeing my tax dollars go overseas where our troops buy things at local shops, further draining our economy and helping to build up theirs

i am also tired of being stripped of my freedoms
in just the past few days we have lost the ability to climb to the crown of the statue of liberty because of the threat of "terrorism" and we have lost the ability to bring our own beverages and lotions on planes

god only knows what we have lost in the past 5 years.

Originally posted by wondernut

actually, yes, yes they are
who is not going to notice someone mixing chemicals on the plane?
for that matter where is there room to do this on a plane?
what explosive chemicals would they make, and from what?

this is real life, not a james bond or mission impossible flick.
real life terrorists use bombs to inflict terror, as a side effect the bombs kill people
blowing up a plane over internaitonal waters makes no sense at all in this reguard, a good movie plot but a bad terrorist strategy as it would probably never be found out what really happened.

however, magnetically sticking a bomb to the plane then remote detonating it from somewhere near by would be child's play for these "terrorists"
but for some reason they would rather sacrafice themselves than live to do it again and again.

my point is not to criticize the absurdity of the "mixing chemicals to make a bomb" plot, it is to point out that it is completely fictional and would never happen in real life
this is a movie plot and you apparantly bought into it
did you hear one of the guys arrested already was let go?
it was on cnn earlier

this was a "conspiracy" alright!
our own governments are conspiring agianst us to cause us to feel afraid so we will need them and pay any price for safety and security

i for one am tired of seeing my tax dollars go overseas where our troops buy things at local shops, further draining our economy and helping to build up theirs

i am also tired of being stripped of my freedoms
in just the past few days we have lost the ability to climb to the crown of the statue of liberty because of the threat of "terrorism" and we have lost the ability to bring our own beverages and lotions on planes

god only knows what we have lost in the past 5 years.

Where would the mix the chemicals? In the bathroom. One person passes the gel to the person with the liquid, as does the person with the detonation device (cell phone, ipod, whatever), and that person can put them together in the bathroom by pooring the two together and using the detonator to create an ignition spark. We're not talking about some exotic chemicals, but everyday stuff that when combined could produce a big enough explosion to hopefully take down a plane.

But yet somehow they are supposed to get onto the tarmack without being noticed and stick magnetic bombs on the side of a plane? Which scenario is more like james bond?

Sacrificing themselves is have the reason for doing it. For these people, this is their only way to be a hero and insure martyrdom in heaven. And they are doing god a service by killing the unclean and striking fear into people. And not only is it not impossible, it almost happened 10 years ago.

Sorry, I meant that the checmicals can be disguised as every day stuff as opposed to being obvious. (put in toothpaste, soda, whatever).

My opinion is that the terrorists found a way they believe to cause a big enough explosion on board the planes that would make it crash in their opinion. Since Al-Qaeda has some kind of ego among terrorists to maintain or something like that, they don't want any attack smaller than 9-11. Therefore they would need to kill over 3,000 people in their attack. If 10 large planes could be taken down at one time and each plane was full with say 430 people or more, they could reach their objective to beat 9-11. I don't want to give the terrorists any ideas but I'm a bit thankful that their plans involve a lot of people and organization to be able to carry off successfully.

As far as to why they want to kill Americans, I suppose in their evil minds they have convinced themselves that we are evil. They're really stupid and/or evil and will pay for their deeds sooner or later. I wouldn't be surprised if Satan is even saving a special place of eternal torture for Osama as soon as he gets there.

[edit on 12-8-2006 by orionthehunter]

Maybe they got this plan? Many terrorists each carrying a small part of a bomb aboard a plane. It takes 200 terrorists to assembly the final bomb. *BOOM*, they've achieved their goal. They've blown up the plane with some spectacular fireworks and gone to heaven. The hard part is to arrange for all 200 to be on the same flight...

I'll add that I believe mixing chemicals may be more practical and effective if the explosion is big enough and in a strategic location when it goes off. Missiles are expensive and may be easier to track and locate. Then there is the possibility of missing the target. Al-Qaeda doesn't want to lose face among their terrorist friends in my opinion. I'm wondering just how much liquid it would take and how big the explosion would be by mixing chemicals taken aboard a plane. I'm wondering if the plan was doomed to fail from the beginning because the explosions may not have succeeded in crashing the planes. I think the terrorists are a bit stupid anyway. hmmm, maybe that's why the US is letting Osama stay in charge.

terrorists want to induce paranoia and internal strife by causing a superficial wound.

planes are incredibly safe on their own, and it's noted when they go down. if they blew up a car, it wouldn't be as big of a deal because we have car accidents ALL the time.

so man blowing up plane=big deal

also, they don't have to do much to take a plane down

maybe this was answered i dont know but...

they cannot use RPGs to blow up a plane because they would need to be at least near the runway at takeoff or landing to get a clear shot, which is impossible not to get noticed.

and they cannot use sam installation missles because....can you think of one aircraft that would be dumb enough to fly close to a sam? knowing they are controlled by the opposition?

"Terrorists", as we call these middle easteaners, are used to blowing themselves up for several kills of their own people. So why wouldnt any of them want to blow themselves up for a chance of Americans, or any westeners?? It would be like winning the lotto for them. And an airiplane is an ideal place, its a nice secluded place high up in the sky away from anyone that can stop you, and nobody can run away, you cant take cover anywhere. Thats why they like airplanes. You are guaranteed to get kiills, and even if they hide from the explosives, they cant hide from the sky high dive down.

peace.

[edit on 8/12/2006 by H34T533K3R]

Originally posted by snoopy
But yet somehow they are supposed to get onto the tarmack without being noticed and stick magnetic bombs on the side of a plane? Which scenario is more like james bond?

actually the liquid one still sounds more liek james bond as a magnetic explosive could be "launched" at the plane from a distance , simular to an artillary shell or a "spudgun"(pringles can, hairspray, wick, match, potato, you figure out how to use it)
one need not be on the tarmac at all
you could design a large pneumatic gun to fire the round and it need only be the size of a golfball to do some serious damage to the plane if placed in the right places

also, the people who load the cargo on the planes could be bribed to plant said bomb if you insist on doing it form the tarmac

these people generally don't get paid all that much so i'd assume it wouldnt take much to pay them off, a few hundred thousand perhaps (remember, there are rich people who fund these terrorist gorups)

either way blowing up a plane over open ocean is foolish itself as it may never be found out that the plane was attacked as the weckage may not be completely recovered and the crash might get attributed to systems failure
if it's not realized as a terrorist attack then the terrorists fail in their effort to hear their name on the news!

Why blow up planes? It's garanteed to make the news. Terrorists try get as much free air time as possible. 100 peopled killed in a plane crash and the network news spwnds the next month showing plane crashes going back for years from around the world. Something bad happens, and every little group jumps in trying to get free advertising for their "Cause". Maybe they should put little blurbs on the footage like "This disaster was brought to you by Ahmed Abu-Hamid Ibn Mohammed and Hiz'Bollah, sponsored in part by a grant from the Syrian government".

I'm not saying such attack should not be reported, but some things get a disproportionate amount of media coverage. It has been almost 5 years since the collapse of the WTC. We still have movies being made, TV specials being produced, and everyone is being lead to worry for "another 9/11". Give it a rest.

In an earlier posting about my suspected terrorist neighbor.. I failed to mention that the local media played up the fact that one end of the main runway of the airport is less than a quarter mile from my neighborhood, while nothing he had bought could bring down a plane.

BTW I also failed to mention that my wife and her brother are Palestinian Christian immigrants.

I was kind of wondering the same thing....

why blow up the plane?? you have to be in an airport terminal before you go through the hassle of all that security, and well, there's probably a hundred times the number of people there....

what do they have against planes??