17 Dec
2003
17 Dec
'03
11:17 p.m.
"Perry E. Metzger" <pmetzger@lehman.com>:
By the way, the standard method for destroying embassy documents in case of siezure (not done during the Iran hostage crisis) is reportedly Thermit grenades. (Thermit would likely reduce a filing cabinet to slag in moments.)
Yup. Actually you don't even need the gernade, you could just store some thermit in the filing cabinet and then ignite it when necessary. It's very stable and very unlikely to ignite by accident. In fact, just dropping a burning match on it usually won't ignite it, usually you need some sort of accelerator to make it explode. Plus, it's easy to make (Iron oxide (rust) + aluminum).