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[jya@pipeline.com (John Young)]

   8-2-96. WaJo: 
 
   "More Bombs Are Exploding Across the U.S." 
 
      What also worries law-enforcement officials are the 
      comparatively unspectacular bombs exploding at a rising 
      rate in neighborhoods across the country. Indeed, with 
      homicides declining, bombings may have become the 
      fastest-growing category of violent crime. "In the old 
      days, kids would break windows," says John O'Brien, an 
      agent in Washington with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, 
      Tobacco and Firearms. "Now, they're making pipe bombs." 
      Police say one of the most popular bombs among 
      youths -- one combining acid and other ingredients in a 
      bottle -- is called the "McGyver" because many learned 
      about it from the television show. David Estenson, head 
      of a bomb-crisis management firm and former head of the 
      Minneapolis police bomb squad, observes that many of the 
      pipe bombs in Israel contain only match heads. 
 
   "U.S. Studies Use of Chemical Tracers To Track Explosives 
   in Terrorist Blasts." 
 
      The Treasury Department is studying a family of trace 
      chemicals -- first developed by U.S. weapons scientists 
      to track the fallout of nuclear weapons -- as a way to 
      give terrorist explosives an identifiable trail. The 
      trace chemicals are newer and much smaller than plastic 
      "taggants," which have provoked resistance from the 
      explosives industry and gun lobbies. Desmonde Cowdery, 
      vice president of Isotag L.L.C., a small Houston company 
      that has obtained commercial rights to the process, 
      claims the chemical tracers are so small they can be 
      blended with all types of explosives, including 
      fertilizers and gunpowders, without interfering with 
      chemical reactions. 
 
   "Can America Stomach a War on Terror?" 
 
      The lessons from the world's battlefields of terror are 
      sobering. Not only have few countries been able to make 
      much of a dent in a determined terrorist campaign, but 
      their efforts also often incur a heavy price. 
      Due-process rights have been suspended, freedoms of 
      speech curtailed, police powers beefed up. 
 
      Tommy Sands, a Belfast folk singer, praises America's 
      caution. He says that in Northern Ireland and other hot 
      spots, authorities have often overreacted to the initial 
      threat. "It's like driving a car and seeing a red light 
      come on that means you're short on oil. If you take a 
      hammer to it, the red light will go out, but you're 
      still short on oil," Mr. Sands says. "Sometimes there 
      are answers other than the big hammer." 
 
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