Shoe bomber explosion simulation vs. Murrah building explosion simulation
Okay, so I am watching MSNBC this morning present prosecution evidence in the Richard Reid shoe bomber case. Apparently, the simulators took the same amount of plastique explosives that were in the guy’s shoes, placed it where he was sitting, and ignited the fuse. The explosion caused a massive hole in the fuselage of the plane, which broke in half. Larry Johnson, an ex-deputy director of the State Department's office of counterterrorism, was the guest, and he didn’t think the simulation was accurate. As an aside, Johnson is one of many people who believe that there is a connection between the Sept. 11 attacks and Oklahoma City bombing but heaven forbid MSNBC should allow that information over it's cable lines.
However, as I was watching this simulation, all I could think about was another simulation that was never presented by the mainstream press.
That simulation was the reenactment of the bombing of the Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City. According to numerous published reports, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms [BATF] spent months simulating the Ryder truck explosion in order to present evidence to the jury determining the fate of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. But unfortunately, despite numerous attempts to mix thousands of pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and diesel fuel oil [ANFO], the BATF was never able to duplicate the Ryder truck explosion and this “evidence” was never presented to the jury and has never surfaced.
However, one former military official, an explosives expert may have had the key all along.
Former Air Force Brigadier General Ben Partin looked at the damage of the building and pointed to the third floor columns and said that he knew an air blast from a truck on the street level would have never destroyed the reinforced concrete and steel of the building. Partin said he believed that charges had been planted in order to collapse columns.
Now granted, Partin is a former cold warrior who probably believes that the Democratic Party is a bunch of communists. But that doesn’t mean that a simulation shouldn’t have been reported, analyzed, or exposed by the press. We never saw this and hence were never able to question whether or not a Ryder truck filled with manure could actually destroy a huge building.