Terrorists May Hide Bombs in Bombers' Bodies
HENDRICKS: U.S. security officials tell CNN terrorists may have explosives surgically implanted inside of their bodies to conduct suicide attacks. As CNN's Brian Todd reports, new intelligence points to the possibility of human bombs, but nothing appears imminent.</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Security officials tell CNN of a chilling tactic terrorists might try next -- Targeting commercial aircraft by surgically implanting explosives or bomb components inside the bodies of attackers.</s>JOHN PISTOLE, TSA ADMINISTRATION: We see this as the latest iteration or the evolution of what terrorist groups are trying to do to circumvent our security layers and to perhaps defeat our societal norms.</s>TODD: Officials say there is fresh intelligence showing terrorists have a renewed interest in planting bombs in bodies but there is no specific or imminent let. One U.S. official says man suspected in involvement in this effort is Ibrahim Asiri, bomb-making mastermind for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Asiri is believed to have planned the 2009 plot to kill Saudi Arabia's interior minister by placing a bomb in the rectal cavity or underwear of his own brother. Asiri's brother was killed, but the minister escaped. I asked Rafi Ron, Israel's former top aviation security official, about surgically implanted bombs. (on camera) What does this tell you about where the terrorists are versus where security officials are right now?</s>RAFI RON, NEW AGE SECURITY SOLUTIONS: Well, it tells me that we have exhausted the capabilities of the technology available to us because there's no way we can take the next step after the body scanners to figure out when a person carries a device inside his body.</s>TODD (voice-over): Ron and other experts say those full body scanners, which we once tested out, can see through clothing, can find prosthesis, breast implants, contours, but cannot detect bombs inside the body. I spoke with Dr. Jack Sava, chief trauma surgeon at Washington Hospital Center, about how terrorists might try to pull this off. (on camera) Do you need a hospital to do this, or can you do it in some kind of a terrorist field camp? What kind of training do you need?</s>DR. JACK SAVA, CHIEF TRAUMA SURGEON, WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER: I think, again, the fundamental question is how well do you want to do it? If you want to do it to have 20 people 19 and have 19 die and one success you can send on their mission, that would be easier. You can do that sloppy. But if you wanted to do it well and expect them all to remain sterile, not cause infection, I think then you're largely going to be talking about a hospital or at least a clinic sections.</s>TODD (voice-over): Explosives, he says, could be placed in the abdomen or elsewhere. (on camera) Dr. Sava says an explosive could be planted in a prosthetic device like a fake hip, a breast implant. He says a non- sophisticated implanted bomb might last three to four days inside the body before complications set in. But if it's a sophisticated surgery and implant, it could last weeks, months, or even longer. (voice-over) Experts disagree on whether a bomb inside a body would need an external detonator to ignite or if it could be set off with a timer. It's also not clear if the body itself could blunt the impact of an explosion. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.</s>HENDRICKS: Our thanks to Brian Todd. Appreciate that. Coming up, NASA has big plans for the future, including new vehicles, robots, and a mission to Mars. We'll take a closer look at those post-shuttle plans, next. Here's something to think about, how many shuttle missions have taken place in the last 30 years. I'll have the answer right after this.