Why terrorist would use nuclear weapons last.

Me

[Smogger]

People if you think they don't have nukes because they haven't used them yet you are crazy. If YOU had NUKES and other non-conventional means of attack wouldn't you use up everything else first? Of course you would. If I am the terrorist I am going to use up all of other means of attack first. I am going to use my plane attack, shoot off my Anthrax and whatever else I have AND save the BEST for LAST.

There are a number of good reasons for this. First of all after Washington gets NUKED planes crashing into buildings doesn't have the same psychological value. Ditto with Antrhax. Pretty much every things else you use pales in comparison so you better use it first. Second, It would be much much more difficult after having used a NUKE to implement these other attacks (NOT VICE VERSA). The most likely result of a NUKE being detonated on US soil would be the internment of every Arab and Muslim in the country. Third, Osama is looking at the big picture. He has baited us into attacking Afghanistan (which I believe we have to do) in order to JUSTIFY what he is going to do next. Once he has the SYMPATHY of the MAJORITY of MUSLIMS in the world (cause we are bombing Afghan children) they will APPLAUD when he NUKES us. It should be obvious at this point that this war has been in the offing for years. If you were the terrorist and you had and opportunity to obtain and deploy nuclear weapons ,even if it meant you had to bide your time for a few years, wouldn't you wait until you could obtain and deploy them before firing the first salvo?

In short I think it is VERY VERY likely there are alreay nuclear weapons of one form or another already in the country, and they have been here for quite some time. I think it's simply a matter of time before they are used.

[Smogger]

Anyone else have an opinion out there? All indications are that this war has been planned for years by Bin Laden. Presumably everything he needs to wage it is already in place.

[RaceBannon]

Actually, it makes no sense to me to use it last. I wont go into details, I dont want to give anyone ideas.

[cactmh]

They are very cleaver to a point. I think you and many others give them way too much credit though...

[seeker41]

Good points and my thinking as well. Terrorists do not value life and if I had such things one last resort would be to use them for a maximum effect. If people think they don't have many alternate plans, they are just naive. They will stop at nothing to destroy the USA. The more desperate they become the higher the likelyhood is that nukes and other WMD will be used.

[blackbag]

Assuming Terrorist use logic I tend to agree. The big bang would be saved for last. But that doesn't mean more big bangs won't come later.

[Nov3]

I think it does make sense. I think it will be his trump card

[Loopy]

He has baited us into attacking Afghanistan (which I believe we have to do) in order to JUSTIFY what he is going to do next. Once he has the SYMPATHY of the MAJORITY of MUSLIMS in the world (cause we are bombing Afghan children) they will APPLAUD when he NUKES us.

Hey, you swiped this one from me!!! I posted this exact line of reasoning earlier today (can't remember where though)....

BTW just kidding about the "swiped" remark. Great minds think alike.

[4CJ]

I agree. If they have them, they would have used them first. No explanation necessary.

[Stentor]

In short I think it is VERY VERY likely there are alreay nuclear weapons of one form or another already in the country

Why?

[Smogger]

Actually, it makes no sense to me to use it last. I wont go into details, I dont want to give anyone ideas

Do you agree that the psychological/propaganda value of another type an attack would be greatly weakened if it was preceded by nuclear attack?

[Smogger]

I agree. If they have them, they would have used them first. No explanation necessary

Give me one good reason.

[My Identity]

...save the BEST for LAST...

I think it is important to remember that al Queda is "cell" based. That is, a lot of small groups operating independently and in parallel. Whoever was ready first was the lead-off hitter. Only minor schedule adjustments might be made. Coordinating a half-dozen major assaults would require too much centralized communications. OBL knows what assets he had in place, but doesn't know which are still in place (i.e., unaffected by FBI roundups) or what will happen next.

Also, OBL supposedly shorted the market before 9-11. That would be tough to do if the market was converted to a glass-covered parking lot :-0

[RaceBannon]

From a former military perspective, these attacks make no sense to me at all. I cannot elaborate. Loose Lips nuke ships!

[Smogger]

They are very cleaver to a point. I think you and many others give them way too much credit though...

If there is one thing that is obvious it is that we have grossly underestimated the terrorist up until this point. Continuing to do so would be folly.

As far as I am concerned that 9/11 attack was brilliant, fiendishly clever, and a total success. In many ways this Antrhrax sideshow is also fiendishly clever. Something about turning are own infrastructure against us. The terrorist are not stupid people and it is folley to assume that they are.

[finnman69]

Let's see in the next month what happens. If we don't see any mushroom clouds during the World Series or Thanksgiving, when else would Osama set one off? Why wait till Christmas or New Years and take a chance of getting caught if you assume the bombs are already in the US?

[Smogger]

From a former military perspective, these attacks make no sense to me at all. I cannot elaborate. Loose Lips nuke ships!

I don't think that the terrorist are looking at things from a military perspective. I think that they are looking at things propaganda perspective. The purpose of their attacks is to generate support among muslims around the world. I don't think they are trying to defeat us militarily.

[4CJ]

Did the Japanese save the best for last in WWII?

[CA-kgrif]

Good logic. I also think they have nukes in the US and are waiting for the right time to use them. If they set them off too early, it will turn moderate Muslims against them. If these lunatics nuke DC, it will be the beginning of the end. Revelation time.

[wtc911]

Although your guess is as good as mine and anything could happen I disagree that OBL is keeping a suitcase a-bomb as his hole card. Here are my reasons:

They planned for years, since they failed in '93, to take the Twin Towers down. They were like a fighter getting ready for the championship but training for a first round KO. If they had the means to kill 70,000 or 700,000 instead of 7,000 they would have used them.

OBL's goal is to foment Islamic revolution on a global scale. His best tool is propaganda. Look at the reaction in the muslim world to this attack. They are encouraged, emboldened and inspired to see that OBL, and by extension, they can reach out from a cave and hurt the great satan like this. If he could have destroyed the City instead of one symbol it seems to me that the reaction would have been exponetially more vehement.

OBL needs a massive, seemingly irrationally violent response by us to push the fence sitting moslem world over to his side. A nuclear attack would have likely provoked such a response.

No, I think they took their best shot on 9.11. What we face now is an IRA/PLO/HAMAS type of terror campaign on a smaller but wider scale. This campaign of car bombs, boat bombs in harbors, suicide bombers, etc will last for years or decades.

The real a-bomb threat is to our troops in Uzbekistan next spring. By then we will have 20,000 or more people on the ground in prep for the spring offensive. Pakistan has the means to strike Uzbekistan with atomic weapons. By spring it could be an OBL sympathetic finger on the trigger.

[Michael Barnes]

I go back and forth on the whole idea. It does make some sense though that the terrorists would fly planes into our buildings, expecting us to unleash all hell. If we nuked them, then they nuked back, it would rally support for the cowardly scumb bags and give them a new set to reach down and grab a hold of. After all, they would think it has become a level playing field. If they now decide to use a dirty nuke (provided they have one or three), I would assume all bets are off with us and they KNOW many regions would be glowing shortly following their introduction of nukes.

Then again, they may not have any, or a few of such low yield, it would merely sway that last 10% of hold out's in our country to actually climb on board and call this thing what it is, a self described holy war on their part. Hence, we eliminate all associated with those beliefs, because at that point, only eradication is logical.