Originally Posted by Bart
I don't know how to respond because I'm not sold on the idea that a batch of explosives could be concocted inside the lavatory of an airplane. Assembling an improvised explosive by attaching detonators, timers and switches, yes; but mixing solution A with solution B outside of a sterile laboratory or other controlled environment, only in the movies.
I base my skepticism on my military service and intelligence background. While I don't underestimate the ingenuity of the bad guys, I just can't see this sort of thing occurring with all the Murphy's Law variables.
Bart -- Agree 100%. I can't help thinking that this baggie thing is like what happened in WWII. The government invented all sorts of ways for the civilian population who weren't in the military to "do their part" and "participate" in the war effort. There were initiatives like women not wearing nylons in order to make parachutes, dismantling wrought iron fences to be melted down and turned into tanks, etc. Hindsight reveals that very little of this had any military utility other than to assure that the civilian population bought into the war effort.
On most days of the week, I'm convinced the baggie idea with all its attendant rules was conceived as a way to allow passengers to participate in the war on terror by doing something tangible that the government (i.e. TSA) could give them a passing grade upon. Passengers go out of their way to make sure they do it right, and I've got to believe many of them feel a termendous sense of accomplishment when their baggie and its contents is deemed worthy. The Shoe Carnival really didn't do it because there was no sense of accomplishment and participation. The baggie and its contents, on the other hand, requires effort and creativity, much akin to an elementary school project presented to a teacher. (The above was part of recent a conversation I had with a cultural anthropologist friend who had recently observed Operation Baggie for the first time. FYI, she simply checked her bag to avoid the hassle.)