Editing CIA A Study Of Assassination (1953) (section)

====7. Explosives. ====

Bombs and demolition charges of various sorts have been used frequently in 
assassination. Such devices, in terroristic and open assassination, can 
provide safety and overcome guard barriers, but it is curious that bombs have 
often been the implement of lost assassinations. 

The major factor which affects reliability is the use of explosives for 
assassination. The charge must be very large and the detonation must be 
controlled exactly as to time by the assassin who can observe the subject. A 
small or moderate explosive charge is highly unreliable as a cause of death, 
and time delay or booby-trap devices are extremely prone to kill the wrong 
man. In addition to the moral aspects of indiscriminate killing, the death of 
casual bystanders can often produce public reactions unfavorable to the 
cause for which the assassination is carried out. 

Bombs or grenades should never be thrown at a subject. While this will 
always cause a commotion and may even result in the subject's death, it is 
sloppy, unreliable, and bad propaganda. The charge must be too small and 
the assassin is never sure of: (1) reaching his attack position, (2) placing the 
charge close enough to the target and (3) firing the charge at the right time. 

Placing the charge surreptitiously in advance permits a charge of proper size 
to be employed, but requires accurate prediction of the subject's movements. 

Ten pounds of high explosive should normally be regarded as a minimum, 
and this is explosive of fragmentation material. The latter can consist of any 
hard, [Meg] material as long as the fragments are large enough. Metal or rock 
fragments should be walnut-size rather than pen-size. If solid plates are used, 
to be ruptured by the explosion, cast iron, 1" thick, gives excellent 
fragmentation. Military or commercial high explosives are practical for use in 
assassination. Homemade or improvised explosives should be avoided. While 
possibly powerful, they tend to be dangerous and unreliable. Antipersonnel 
explosive missiles are excellent, provided the assassin has sufficient technical 
knowledge to fuse them properly. 81 or 82 mm mortar shells, or the 120 mm 
mortar shell, are particularly good. Antipersonnel shells for 85, 88, 90, 100 
and 105 mm guns and howitzers are both large enough to be completely 
reliable and small enough to be carried by one man. 

The charge should be so placed that the subject is not ever six feet from it at 
the moment of detonation. 

A large, shaped charge with the [Meg] filled with iron fragments (such as 1" 
nuts and bolts) will fire a highly lethal shotgun-type [///eg] to 50 yards. This 
reaction has not been thoroughly tested, however, and an exact replica of the 
proposed device should be fired in advance to determine exact range, pattern-size, and penetration of fragments. Fragments should penetrate at 
least 1" of seasoned pine or equivalent for minimum reliability. 

Any firing device may be used which permits exact control by the assassin. 
An ordinary commercial or military exploder is efficient, as long as it is rigged 
for instantaneous action with no time fuse in the system. 

The wise [Meg] electric target can serve as the triggering device and provide 
exact timing from as far away as the assassin can reliably hit the target. This 
will avoid the disadvantages of stringing wire between the proposed positions 
of the assassin and the subject, and also permit the assassin to fire the 
charge from a variety of possible positions. 

The radio switch can be [Meg] to fire [Meg], though its reliability is somewhat 
lower and its procurement may not be easy.