Talk:Car bomb
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[edit] 'Target' field for table
Perhaps there could be a 'target' field for the table? This would be especially useful for detailling assassinations, but I can see layout issues with the table becoming overly large. Comments? James D. Forrester 02:21 May 13, 2003 (UTC)
- How about two separate tables, one for assassination attempts and the other for untargeted bombs?
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- Sounds goods to me.
- James D. Forrester 02:40 May 13, 2003 (UTC)
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- Have now impemented. Thoughts?
- James D. Forrester 02:51 May 13, 2003 (UTC)
Am I the only one that think the table is bloody rediculous. Any potential terrorist could come on hereand get ideas as to the best vehicle to use for a car bombing. There is no need for this table.
[edit] Location before target?
I'd disagree about putting location before target for assassinations, as, well, the 'important' part is the person, not where it occured. Also, locations should always specify the country, shouldn't they? Quite apart from anything else, specifying Beirut being in Lebannon, but not doing so for other countries makes it look like the only reason this policy is being implemented is to make exactly 2 location links for each event... James D. Forrester 03:03 May 13, 2003 (UTC)
- The reason the location comes first is so the second table looks like the first table. I took the countries out because the table was getting too wide. Chadloder 03:31 May 13, 2003 (UTC)
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- OK, I've reached a compromise, of sorts; sublocation+country, exactly 2 references. This is still a typographical constraint, however, and it irks me not insignifcantly. Ah well.
- James D. Forrester 03:39 May 13, 2003 (UTC)
[edit] King David Hotel
The King David Hotel was not a car bombing. The explosives were hidden in milk cans that were placed in the basement of the hotel. They were delivered by truck. Danny
- Yes, you're right. Chadloder 03:31 May 13, 2003 (UTC)
[edit] Triggering types
I am not going to state my authority for the following, for obvious reasons, but you should find it plausible on its merits anyway.
Ignition triggering is now rare as it is easy to detect and hard to install - interfering with the circuitry is time consuming and places detectable drains on the circuitry, which can trigger alarms. Also, the target can start the car remotely (inadvertently or otherwise), and the target may be a passenger who is a safer distance away when the ignitio starts. It is more reliable to set off the bomb when the car is underway, and easier to fasten it quickly and unobtrusively if no fittings have to be made to the car (one single central pull is braced against pressure points at the ends or corners of the bomb; it is quite easy to connect a single tie for this).
Therefore it is now more usual to use a combination of engine vibration, acceleration, and timing. The vibration starts a timer and works as a safety; the bomb arms when the engine is running steadily and disarms otherwise. Then, acceleration is picked up by (say) a mercury switch and sets off the bomb (this double triggering approach is a principle of wider application than just car bombs). Airey Neave's bomb went off when the mercury switch was triggered by going up a ramp from a car park; technically this is acceleration too. Security services monitor purchase patterns of components like mercury switches for this reason.
So, don't remove references to how car bombs work these days and substitute obsolete ones. PML.
[edit] First car bomb?
What is the earliest reference to a car bombing that you can find?
- That would have to be the March 11, 1948 car bombing of the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem. 11 people died in the attack, which was carried out with a stolen American consul's car. This is the earliest one I could find.
- It should be noted that this page is probably the largest--and most accurate--list of car bombings on the 'Net.
- PBP, 21 February 2004
I'm not sure if the usage was widespread, but I do know that it was Jewish militant groups in present day Israel (Formerly a British protectorate) that were the first to use car-bombing as a tactic in the Middle East against the British. I'm not sure if they were used for assassinations of specific individuals or acts of terrorism. However I am almost certain (99.9%) that it was pre-Israel Jewish militant groups that created the tactic. Is there any salt to the idea that they were the first to use it widely. The question sin't whether the Lebanese used it more widely but if it was used in that conflict by Irgun widely first.Angrynight 17:53, 11 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Madrid Attacks
I am going to take out the most recent entry on this list, the foiled Atocha Station car bombings related to the Madrid Attacks. Seeing as this is a list of actual car bombings, and not foiled ones, they really shouldn't be on this list. If someone can tell me why they should, they can stay on. PBP, 11 April 2004.
[edit] Assassination?
This article is written presuming that a car bomb is being used as a weapon against an external target, rather than against the occupants of the vehicle itself. I believe that assassination of the occupants was originally a far more common use of such bombs, dating back at least to the Prohibition era in the U.S. -- I think there were organized crime killings by bombs rigged to ignition switches and the like dating back to at least the mid-1920s. Some additional historical perspective seems in order. ArgentLA 18:25, 12 December 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Wish away the long list
The short list of car bombs, or abortions too, is a figment of the imagination.Gregorydavid 07:40, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
