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Good points. I do wonder about next-gen chemical/genetic weapons that advanced countries could create with the motivation though. Like some crazy airborne viru

Good points. I do wonder about next-gen chemical/genetic weapons that advanced countries could create with the motivation though. Like some crazy airborne virus but only the good guys™ have the antidote/vaccine. >how many more lives would have been lost if they had detonated similar quantities of explosives Wasn't it just a few guys with suitcases, and I think one of them didn't even puncture the container? With conventional weapons there might be more deaths but maybe not.

tsimionescu 5y ago
It's possible, but still unlikely to be as effective or safe as bombing your target to the ground. > Wasn't it just a few guys with suitcases, and I think one of them didn't even puncture the container? With conventional weapons there might be more deaths but maybe not. They had several liters of sarin gas, most of which was splashed on the ground entirely. If they had had some way to spread it as an aerosol the death toll would have been much greater, but still sarin is apparently the most volatile nerve agent, so even in liquid form it evaporates relatively quickly. Even so, if they had started a fire with a few liters of fuel, even without an explosion, they would have probably killed more than 14 people. If they had pulled out guns, or detonated bombs, the death toll would certainly have been worse.