al-Qaida No. 2: We Have Briefcase Nukes

Yahoo News ^

[sonsofliberty2000]

SYDNEY, Australia - Osama bin Laden's terror network claims to have bought ready-made nuclear weapons on the black market in central Asia, the biographer of al-Qaida's No. 2 leader was quoted as telling an Australian television station.

In an interview scheduled to be televised on Monday, Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir said Ayman al-Zawahri claimed that "smart briefcase bombs" were available on the black market.

It was not clear when the interview between Mir and al-Zawahri took place.

U.S. intelligence agencies have long believed that al-Qaida attempted to acquire a nuclear device on the black market, but say there is no evidence it was successful.

In the interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp. television, parts of which were released Sunday, Mir recalled telling al-Zawahri it was difficult to believe that al-Qaida had nuclear weapons when the terror network didn't have the equipment to maintain or use them.

"Dr Ayman al-Zawahri laughed and he said `Mr. Mir, if you have $30 million, go to the black market in central Asia, contact any disgruntled Soviet scientist, and a lot of ... smart briefcase bombs are available,'" Mir said in the interview.

"They have contacted us, we sent our people to Moscow, to Tashkent, to other central Asian states and they negotiated, and we purchased some suitcase bombs," Mir quoted al-Zawahri as saying.

Al-Qaida has never hidden its interest in acquiring nuclear weapons.

The U.S. federal indictment of bin Laden charges that as far back as 1992 he "and others known and unknown, made efforts to obtain the components of nuclear weapons."

Bin Laden, in a November 2001 interview with a Pakistani journalist, boasted having hidden such components "as a deterrent." And in 1998, a Russian nuclear weapons design expert was investigated for allegedly working with bin Laden's Taliban allies.

It was revealed last month that Pakistan's top nuclear scientist had sold sensitive equipment and nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea (news - web sites), fueling fears the information could have also fallen into the hands of terrorists.

Earlier, Mir told Australian media that al-Zawahri also claimed to have visited Australia to recruit militants and collect funds.

"In those days, in early 1996, he was on a mission to organize his network all over the world," Mir was quoted as saying. "He told me he stopped for a while in Darwin (in northern Australia), he was ... looking for help and collecting funds."

Australia's Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the government could not rule out the possibility that al-Zawahri visited Australia in the 1990s under a different name.

"Under his own name or any known alias he hasn't traveled to Australia," Ruddock told reporters Saturday. "That doesn't mean to say that he may not have come under some other false documentation, or some other alias that's not known to us."

Mir describe al-Zawahri as "the real brain behind Osama bin Laden."

"He is the real strategist, Osama bin Laden is only a front man," Mir was quoted as saying during the interview. "I think he is more dangerous than bin Laden."

Al-Zawahri — an Egyptian surgeon — is believed to be hiding in the rugged region around the Pakistan-Afghan border where U.S. and Pakistani troops are conducting a major operation against Taliban and al-Qaida forces.

He is said to have played a leading role in orchestrating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

[sonsofliberty2000]

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Patriot Paradox

[FReepaholic]

Well, they may have them now but they didn't on September 11, 2001 or they would have used them.

[brooklin]

If they had 'em, they would have used 'em.

[xJones]

This reminds me of the old joke: "The Soviets have a nuclear bomb capable of being fitted into a suitcase. But first, they have to find someone to make the suitcase for them."

[Dog Gone]

I own the Brooklyn Bridge.

[McGruff]

I agree that if they had them there have been too many opportunities to use them before they loose them.

[RandallFlagg]

But, I'VE got the RECEPIT!!

BWAAAHAHAHAHAAA!!!

[palmer]

"smart briefcase bombs"

I'm sorry Achmed, I'm afraid I can't do that.

[Sloth]

Bring it on.

[rellimpank]

--yes--and we have had some pretty convincing information from non-classified sources that the "suitcase" weapons don't "keep", but require maintenance largely beyond what the casual possessor can give--

[Thinkin' Gal]

Al-Zawahri — an Egyptian surgeon — is believed to be hiding in the rugged region around the Pakistan-Afghan border where U.S. and Pakistani troops are conducting a major operation against Taliban and al-Qaida forces at room temperature.

[The Mayor]

[whereasandsoforth]

If they use one, mecca will be the next crater.

[Criminal Number 18F]

I can think of three reasons why this report is false.

1. The US has been the world leader in warhead miniaturization for fifty years, and the smallest American Atomic Demolition Munition would not fit in a briefcase or even a suitcase. (This particular device was discontinued by the USA in the mid-1980s and all were dismantled).

2. If al-Qaeda has had such a weapon, they have shown uncharacteristic restraint in not employing it. That makes no sense. If Zawahiri got his grubby, goat-caressing hands on a nuke. it would be hotter than hot and every day they held it in inventory would be a very great risk of losing it. They would lose no time in employing this weapon. That they haven't is to me conclusive proof that they don't have such a weapon.

3. Such reports always suggest that the weapons are ex-Soviet in origin. Sometimes authors point to Russian and former Soviet republics' abandonment of nuclear delivery systems such as subs and bombers as proof of poor inventory control of these weapons. But the warheads were never handled by the military: they were under the control of the KGB. That organization came through both Russia's democratic revolution and the ongoing totalitarian counterrevolution of Putin without significant disruption.

I don't know that Mr Hamid Mir is necessarily spinning here. I think that he has been spun by al-Z. But, of course, both of them stand to gain by this report.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[Euro-American Scum]

If they use one, mecca will be the next crater.

If they use one, we'll be hearing from every liberal loon about why, exactly, we deserved it.

[Trickyguy]

If they had 'em, they would have used 'em.

Not necessarily. We have the ability to make Mecca and Medina uninhabitable for a thousand years, and they know it.

[doug9732]

Logic suggests if Al Qaeda actually had a nuke that fact would be their most closely guarded secret.
However if they had failed to purchase a nuke boasting of having one would be a cheap and simple way to spread terror.

[CzarNicky]

"al-Qaida No. 2: We Have Briefcase Nukes"

And I have an enchanted jockstrap.

[AF68]

I can imagine the Russian mafia counting their money and telling these raghead morons that it's a "smart" suitcase bomb. Yeah, that's the ticket! It's a "smart" suitcase bomb!

[not_apathetic_anymore]

I know nothing about weapons systems.

What is a "smart" breifcase nuke? Set aside the issue of whether or not they're small enough to be briefcase vs. suitcase. Set aside the issue of maintenance needed. What does the descriptor "smart" mean relative to nukes?