Posted on 07/13/2004 7:11:31 PM PDT by wagglebee
A new book written by a former FBI consultant claims that al-Qaida not only has obtained nuclear devices, but likely has them in the U.S. and will detonate them in the near future.
These chilling allegations appear in "Osama's Revenge: The Next 9/11: What the Media and the Government Haven't Told You," by Paul L. Williams (Prometheus Books).
Williams claims that al-Qaida has been planning a spectacular nuclear attack using six or seven suitcase nuclear bombs that would be detonated simulantaneously against U.S. cities.
"They want the most bang for the buck, and that is nuclear," Williams told NewsMax.
"I expect such an attack would come between now and the end of 2005," the author said.
In addition to writing several books on terrorism, Williams, an investigative journalist, has worked as an FBI consultant.
Williams' contention is not far from what U.S. intelligence believes, a source close to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has told NewsMax. The source said Ridge claimed that U.S. intelligence believes terrorists already have smuggled into the U.S. actual atomic devices as opposed to so-called “dirty nukes” that simply are conventional bombs that help spread radiation.
The Bush administration has warned for years that terrorists pose a nuclear threat to America.
Williams' book presents a review on the increasing spread of nuclear weapons technology, which the author says can be traced to India's nuclear tests in the early 1970s. It accelerated when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
Shortly after the Indian nuclear tests, Pakistan made an all-out effort to join the nuclear club, the author says. Islamabad received "help" from sympathetic nations, namely China and North Korea.
Williams traces the rampant spread of nuclear bomb development to a leading Pakistani scientist, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan.
Khan, described as an "Islamic extremist," has also been depicted by former CIA chief George Tenet as "the father of Pakistan's nuclear program."
It is believed the Pakistani gained his expertise while working in the Netherlands, where he allegedly stole technology used in uranium reprocessing, a key procedure for building an atomic bomb.
Pakistan successfully detonated two nuclear weapons inside a northern mountain range in the late 1990s.
Khan, arrested by Pakistani police in February, under White House pressure, admitted selling nuclear technology to numerous foreign countries including North Korea and Libya.
Williams reports that Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was investigating Khan at the time he was kidnapped and later killed (2003).
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, fearing a backlash from radical Muslims, granted Khan a pardon but restricted his travels.
According to Williams, another beneficiary of Khan's "contacts" was al-Qaida. The author reports that the U.S. got its first "hard" evidence of a connection when it invaded the Afghan capital of Kabul in 2001.
A former al-Qaida safe house was found to be loaded with documents detailing dealings with the Pakistani scientist.
The finding was so serious, says Williams, that Tenet traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan to follow up on the discovery.
Tenet: 'They Are Coming'
Perhaps it was such intelligence that led Tenet to say in October 2002: “The threat environment we face is as bad as it was before September 11. It is serious. They have reconstituted. They are coming after us."
Almost from the moment 9/11 happened, the U.S. has been on heightened state of alert and worry over the possible use of nuclear weapons. On the day of the attack, President Bush left Florida and began criss-crossing the country in Air Force One in maneuvers consistent with a president preparing for a nuclear attack.
Shortly after Sept. 11, Taliban leader Mullah Omar claimed to BBC that the main intent of al-Qaida was the “bigger cause,” which he described as the “destruction of America.”
Asked pointed if this meant the use of nuclear weapons againt the U.S., he responded: “This is not a matter of weapons. We are hopeful for God's help. The real matter is the extinction of America. And, God willing, it will fall to the ground.”
Omar cryptically suggested a nuclear plan was already under way at the time of Sept. 11. “The plan is going ahead and, God willing, it is being implemented. But it is a huge task, which is beyond the will and comprehension of human beings. If God's help is with us, this will happen within a short period of time; keep in mind this prediction.”
The Russian Connection
The author points out that the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 only made matters worse:
"The Chechen Mafia reportedly sold twenty nuclear suitcases in Grozny to representatives of Osama bin Laden and the Mujahadeen [in 1996]. For their weapons, bin Laden paid $30 million in cash and two tons of heroin."
Al-Qaida's leader, says Williams, is a major drug producer and runner in Afghanistan.
"It is the drug money, not the bin Laden family fortune, that is the financial engine for al-Qaida," he points out.
Today, Williams says, more than 40 Russian "nuclear suitcases" cannot be accounted for.
The suitcases are miniaturized tactical nuclear bombs (in some cases weighing less than 40 pounds) that were originally planned by the Cold-War-era Kremlin to be detonated inside the U.S. in the event of war.
These bombs were estimated to have an explosive power of between 1-10 kilotons, says Williams.
Most could cause damage equal to or greater than the crude device Washington dropped on Hiroshima during World War II.
The author says some of these weapons still remain stateside in a "sleeper" status controlled by Russian military officials who believe a war with the U.S. "is still possible."
Others, as many as 10, might be under al-Qaida's control, says Williams.
What kind of damage could such a weapon do? The CIA estimates the Russian nuclear suitcases to have an explosive yield approaching 10 kilotons.
Williams, referring to estimates by Theodore Taylor, a prominent American physicist who miniaturized the atomic bomb and visited the site of the World Trade Center in 1993, says a suitcase bomb could "emit intense thermal radiation, creating a fireball with a diameter that would expand to 460 feet. The core of the fireball would reach a maximum temperature of 10 million degrees Celsius ... ." The author says the heat that collapsed the Twin Towers never exceeded 5,000 degrees Celsius.
Had such a bomb been used in 9/11, Williams claims, "The World Trade Center towers, all of Wall Street and the financial district, along with the lower tip of Manhattan up to Gramercy Park and much of midtown, including the theater district, would lay in ruins."
Of those who might survive the blast, 50 percent of the survivors could expect to die at the rate of "250,000 people on any given day," Williams reports.
And how could al-Qaida manage to transport such weapons into the U.S.?
Williams points out that the borders with Mexico and Canada are still dangerously porous and not equipped to detect the smuggling of nuclear materials.
U.S. seaports are even more vulnerable, he argues.
Though New York City would seem to be the No. 1 target of another attack by al-Qaida, Williams points out other U.S. cities have been mentioned in intercepted intelligence chatter.
Among those discussed: Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Miami, Washington and Rappahannock County, Va.
Why a small rural county in Virginia? Williams says it houses the underground command center the White House would use in time of war.
He hastens to add that time "may not be on our side."
"It was eight years between the World Trade Center attacks. Islam preaches patience. They will attack when they want," Williams concluded.
More chilling was the response from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog.
One official, speaking on background told NewsMax: "We have no comment. It is not within our responsibility to track atomic bombs."
From Publishers Weekly The plot outlined in this lurid exposé is a frightening one: Osama bin Laden has nuclear weapons—lots of them—and is preparing to use them to create "an American Hiroshima." Williams, a journalist, former FBI consultant and author of The Vatican Exposed: Money, Murder and the Mafia, contends that bin Laden has purchased of dozens low-yield Russian "suitcase" atomic bombs and gotten his hands on enough weapons-grade uranium to build Hiroshima-sized 10-kiloton devices, and that one nuclear device may already have been smuggled into America. Contrary to the subtitle, Williams relies heavily on media reports to flesh out the arch-terrorist’s nuclear intrigues, detailing bin Laden’s lucrative heroin trafficking operations, his ties to the Chechen mafia and to Pakistani nuclear scientists, and his network of thousands of sleeper agents in the United States. He criticizes the Clinton and Bush administrations for inept attempts to apprehend bin Laden, but offers little advice on what to do. As if to heighten readers’ anxiety, Clark reprints several al-Qaeda manifestoes calling down destruction on America and includes a lengthy treatise on the devastation an atom bomb would wreak on lower Manhattan. He doesn’t tie up all the loose ends in this hasty treatment; on the question of why, if it has nukes, al-Qaeda hasn’t yet used them, he can only assume that bin Laden is patiently awaiting the perfect moment for a multiple-target strike. But after 9/11, alarmist scenarios have to be taken seriously, and the disquieting evidence Clark has amassed provides a useful reminder of the gravest threat in the war on terror. Photos Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
considering that the Bojinka information was known before 9-11, for those that knew that, the hijacking of planes to use as weapons was not an "out of this world" idea.
If they try that technique we will see how quickly we can search every building in the country and it won't be Hans Blix running the show.
| Anti-Terror Coalition Urges Nuclear Preparedness |
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| Posted by atcoalition On 07/13/2004 9:23:14 PM CDT with 2 comments Johnny P News ^ | July 13, 2004 | John S. Pappas Anti-Terror Coalition Urges Nuclear PreparednessSites "Internet Chatter" As Rationale for Recommendation by John S. PappasWashington - 07/13/04Sighting "chilling" Internet chatter within the past few days, cyber-terror watchdog group Anti-Terrorism Coalition (http://atci.showsit.info/) is recommending that Americans familiarize themselves with information on dealing with a nuclear attack.The ATC is sighting recent Internet chatter as cause for their recommendation that people study the procedures for dealing with a nuclear or radiological attack. One threat in particular, posted on a message group believed to be operated by al Qaeda sympathizers contained a specific threat of nuclear/radiological attack against America. The message announced July 14th |
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And Medina, Oom and the several dozen other "holy cities", particularly those of particular significance to the Wahabies. For Jerusalem, a couple of LGBs to the Mosque that sits on the Temple Mount will have to suffice. Then the Israelis can build whatever they like upon the ruins.
dirty bombs are different, this is not what the author is talking about if he is referring to true nuclear weapons.
Vladivostok - and yes the story is for the most part true although several key details are missing.
Can you say October Surprise? Hoping for the Spanish effect writ large, very large.
The entire Islamic world is all over the world. Are you shooting for a nuclear winter?
This sounds like another good excuse to take out Iran!
I can think of a reason they haven't been used. They are in position for future use with Hezbola involvement. Iran probably as the nuclear expertice to keep them tuned as I have heard is required. Al-Qaida may have obtained them but Iran, through its expertice controls the units.
Just a thought.
It may have happened already! One never know!
Employing a retard who couldn't even light a fuse on his tennis shoe on an American Airlines flight to employing nuclear technicians who could set off a series of nuclear devices is quite the quantum leap.
There are radiation monitors in every major city and on every highway. They can detect a person undergoing thyroid scans. Any nukes are going to be far out in the boonies, and I'm pretty sure they can be detected by satellite imaging.
Waiting around for a specific date would be suicide without the payoff.
Either they never had them and still don't, or they didn't have them here until more recently. Which assumption is best to proceed with? If you are wrong about them having them now, you've wasted some effort looking for something that isn't there, if you are wrong about them never having them, you might be wasting a few cities.
Yeah, PhDs can be fearsome. We have a few on our side, too. I would worry more about the frustated MS candidate who is still working on his degree after 9 years.
not that I believe the underlyding story - but specific to your post, they could be shielded I would imagine. a lead lined room in the basement of an islamic center someplace?
Obviously, al Qaeda didn't develop nukes by itself and IF it has them, it got them with the assistance/negligence our nuclear enemies. North Korea, China, Russia and Pakistan must know they cannot attack us through surrogates and get away with it.
As I understand it, small nukes have to be serviced almost weekly. It's inconceivable that al Qaeda could have serviceable suitcase nukes without the active, ongoing assistance of Russia, China, N. Korea or Pakistan (should we include France in there?).
Yes, but even neutrino oscillation can be detected now through the entire planet, and . . . we have beebers.
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