U.S. warns airlines flying to Russia about explosives in toothpaste tubes

In 2001 we had the shoe bomber. 2009 gave us the underwear bomber. And now in 2014 we have ... [drumroll] ... the toothpaste bomber.

Most people won't be brushing their teeth anyway when they see the sort of water that comes out of the tap.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2552200/Welcome-Sochi-Journalists-horror-finding-hotels-awash-stray-dogs-brown-water-bugs-no-lightbulbs-days-ahead-Games.html

Here we go again. All liquids and pastes and so on will be banned again. Pain in the rear end.

And now in 2014 we have ... [drumroll] ... the toothpaste bomber.

No, not yet we don't, and we probably won't and it won't have anything to do with vigilance of police and security personnel because I suspect this is just another fabrication or dramatization of some snippet of something somewhere.

How many times can the boy who cried wolf get away with it?

... is there any credible reason to believe that this a real threat? Conceivably a paste-based explosive could be smuggled almost anywhere, not just a tube of toothpaste.

If I was a terrorist wanting to smuggle stuff past customs I'd sculpt the paste into a HUGE purple vibrator, and watch as the customs officials scrupulously tried to ignore it and refused to touch it. It would also make complete sense for it to show up on the x-ray as containing batteries and wires. A little latex spray and a wipe-down and it would smell right too.

But yes... clearly TOOTHPASTE is public enemy number one.

Crying "Wolves, Wolves, Wolves...?"

They need to invent a tri-corder that can identify explosives in any form.

Aren't they already checking for explosives anyway? If so, and one would hope so, what is the point of this warning?

slumdogFeb. 06, 2014 - 08:21PM JST Aren't they already checking for explosives anyway? If so, and one would hope so, what is the point of this warning?

The current methods can't detect explosives in sealed containers, like toothpaste containers, deodorant cans, shampoo bottles, tiny bottles of whiskey... and latex covered purple vibrators.

I thought those machines and dogs at the airport could detect them in items like that. Well, maybe not if they are in latex covered purple vibrators. That might be an exception.

Oh, this flag MUST be for real. Better check the Preparation H tubes, too.

And they've already said that there could be terrorist threats from the Caucus region. Siberians seem to have cool heads!

slumdogFeb. 06, 2014 - 08:41PM JST I thought those machines and dogs at the airport could detect them in items like that. Well, maybe not if they are in latex covered purple vibrators. That might be an exception.

The way that a very helpful man at the airport explained it to me was that the explosive detectors work like sniffer dogs. They analyze air samples for trace amounts of the explosive. If the container isn't air-tight, or wasn't washed down with something like ethanol after it was sealed, or if the person didn't shower and exfoliate several times after handling the explosives, then that's enough to detect the explosives. This is why construction workers (who sometimes do work in buildings recently demolished with explosives) are often hauled over for searching, because there are minute quantities of dust laden with explosive residue on their clothing.

Of course there's also the x-ray machines, but given the quantity of portable electronics that the average person drags around, plus the huge variety of ways that an explosive can be wired... well, its pretty hard to spot an explosive that way unless the terrorist is an idiot and does something like put wires in their shoes...

unless the terrorist is an idiot and does something like put wires in their shoes...

Well, here's hoping that if there are terrorists that they are all idiots and discovered before they can do any harm to anyone.

Still can't see how this announcement helps anything though.

It was an announcement from the government to the airlines, nothing more.

lol. Next time they will warn about explosives in cheese.

I slept on this and when I woke up this morning a very simple question occurred to me, "Why would any terrorist try to smuggle arms or explosives INTO Russia??". This is, after all, RUSSIA, the ex-USSR, the place where you can buy an AK-47 out in the country-side and for a bit more you could pick up an RPG-7. No need to pay for a ticket, just stand near the airfield and take your pick then call it a day and go home.

@Frungy It is unlikely that Russians would be the target of any attack. The reason is that a false flag attack on an airline or airport gets media attention to the max, this puts the public in a state of shock ready for the next stage of repressive measures to be enforced, the next time they fly

The public is in a state of shock over this?

Only an idiot fool would go on about crying wolf etc..wait to you are in the middle of the Pacific, Atlantic etc..and some crazy brain washed fanatical terrorists decides he is gonna brush he teeth for the last time and KABOOM!! I would rather be safe than sorry, and if my teeth are a bit dirty, well we can wash it down with beer, etc...right??

" The public is in a state of shock over this?"

Not at the moment. But, if something occurs, you can expect post-9/11 uber-"security" measures to go into high gear in every transportation system, for everyone's "safety". Expect far more intrusive checkpoints in many more places.

So, who invented the toothpaste bomb? Why, the ever-so-creative CIA, of course. Remember 1976 Cubana 455？

" The bombing of Cubana Flight 455 was but one of many atrocities committed by US-backed anti-Castro Cuban exiles during a decades-long war of terror waged with the goal of ousting Fidel Castro from power and replacing him with a US-friendly dictator. Beginning in 1959, US-based aircraft began bombing runs over Cuban sugar plantations, killing innocent civilians and causing widespread property damage. Declassified documents reveal how the CIA conspired with Chicago mafia boss Momo Salvatore, Al Capone’s successor, to assassinate Castro.

After his election, President John F. Kennedy wanted to unleash “the terrors of the earth”upon Castro’s Cuba. In 1961, a group of US-armed, CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion. Among the planners of the doomed attack was Luis Posada Carriles, he of Cubana Flight 455 infamy."

Sound familiar?

Sounds like you have quite a lot of fear. And then something about Cuba.