SALT
RESEARCH
CIA Training and exposure to improvised explosive devices-
All CIA Operations Officers are trained in making simple explosive devices. The bottom-line point they want to make in teaching the skill to officers is that these devices, “are really easy to make. Anyone can do it.”
Our contact can’t remember the specific chemical combinations but they are taken through various compounds, with an emphasis on the kinds of things that can be purchased at the supermarket and are readily available.
They are also instructed on what trigger devices look like. Seiko watches, for example, are popular with terrorists.
More recently terrorists are using remote trigger devices like those that send electronic signals to a garage door opener.
They also learn about certain kinds of circuits and which ones are preferred by specific terrorist groups.
One of the simplest triggers is to break a light bulb, don’t break the filament, string it up to a power cord, give the explosive some juice and it’s gone.
All you need to create an improvised explosive is something to create an electric charge that will ignite your explosive material.
