check out some of the FR "Threat Matrix" threads - they go back for years, covering lots of issues regarding terrorism issues in the US.
regarding some of the points your cousin made - soon after 9-11, there was a "tip" that one of these nukes was on its way to NYC. many people got the "tip", one of them being author Christopher Hitchens who went public about it (he didn't believe it).
the bottom line is this - an organization that had all these nukes this claim alleges, would be using them. even the weapons they used on 9-11 - they had to hijack them to obtain. why?
maintaining and hiding a real nuke is not an easy task. there is more to fear from a dirty bomb - you just need material and regular explosives to disperse it.
And really, you're missing the point of my posting that article. I was not posting it because I thought it was "breaking" or even newer than the past couple weeks. And I wasn't posting it because I believed it to be totally accurate word for word how it WILL occur. I was posting it because the way it was lined out in that article, 100% fact or not, is chilling, no matter how new or old it is, and just the idea of it happening even somewhat like that, is chilling to the bone, and would cause irrepairable damage to the country, and if it was a 9 or more city attack like that article supposes, it could cause the collapse of the United States. The possibility of that was why I posted it, and I was posting it for people like me that hadn't seen that particilar article, to get their opinions. I wasn't posting it for those who had already seen it, or ones like it, so they could tell me what I already knew, that it wasn't breaking new, or that the possibility of nukes being used by terrorists had been talked about a couple years ago. I already knew both of those things. And they weren't why I posted it. :) Thanks though.