[HarryCaul]

You know...just being totally theoretical here, but...

A suitcase nuke could do it, and a strike on an American carrier at sea is about the only way you could use a nuke and not get overwhelmingly negative world reaction while establishing your credibility as a major threat. You'd get condemnation, of course, but nowhere near what you'd get if you nuked Boston, for example. If al-qaeda is more world opinion savvy than they seem, it would be a way to go.

All random speculation, of course.

[HitmanLV]

Harry,

A good plan, I suppose. Of course, those suitcase nukes I keep hearing about, without maintenence, would have become large doorstops sometime in the mid 1990s. But who knows? They are small enough to put on a small boat and get close enough and KABOOM, I suppose.

I loved The Conversation, by the way! Do you consider that Gene Hackman-Will Smith film the unofficial sequel? Just curious.