The primary use of nuclear weapons is for deterrence. Al Queda was in some serious need of deterrance after 9/11, when they were getting pounded like a cheap cutlet in Afghanistan. Didn't happen.
We have always suspected another shoe was going drop after 9/11 ....maybe we rolled up the next wave when the FBI swept the country.
We will never know how many escaped that net and what their orders were.....so just don't dismiss anything out of hand is all I'm saying.
Perhaps, the response in Afghanistan was anticipated. (We are pretty predictable) And maybe, we really weren't wreaking that much hurt on them. The guys lost and rounded up were probably only cannon fodder anyway. These jihadist are a dime a dozen and easily dispensable.
We really have no way of knowing if Bin Laden was even in Afghanistan at the time of the 9.11 attacks.
That works if the owner of the nukes has something to lose. Alqaida doesn't.
I agree, if those bone heads had'em, they'da used'em