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I originally posted this on another thread, I figure I should post it here. These are all direct quotes from the book. If you have contention with any of the quotes, please don't come crying to me. ;-) I am just the messanger. Happy Reading, and good luck sleeping afterwards!
In reference to the Drug Trade that has financed much of UBL's terror operation against the west:
"Thanks to western decadence, bin Laden began to earn an amount estimated anywhere from $500 million to $1 billion a year. He could now purchase through his Russian connections the object of his heart's desire: several nuclear suitcases and the requisite technology that would bring about a triumphant "Day of Islam," whan all of creation would fall in submission before the judgment seat of Allah."
Information regarding nuclear suitcases bought from the Chechen mafia came from Boris M. and Alexy D. (two members from the Chechen Mafia):
"The Chechen Mafia purportedly sold twenty nuclear suitcases in Grozny to representatives of Osama bin Laden and the mujahadeen. For the weapons, bin Laden paid $30 million in cash and two tons of heroin that had been refined in his laboratories in Afghanistan. The street value of the heroin was in excess of $700 million."
"In 2002, al Majallah published an update, claiming that bin Laden had succeeded in obtaining a total of 48 nuclear suitcases from the Russian Mafia over the course of several years."
Brief synopsis of the weapons themselves:
"During the 1980s, Soviet and US nuclear technicians respectfully made refinements until the weapons came to measure 24 inches by 16 inches by 8 inches with a weight of less than 60 pounds. Each small suitcase contained at least one kiloton of fissionable plutonium and uranium."
Reasons to believe UBL obtained weapons:
"Concern about the nuclear suitcases first arose in 1994, when Dzhokhar Dudayev, leader of the Chechen separatists, notified the US state department that he possessed tactical nuclear suitcases. Dudayev said that he was willing to sell to hostile countries or groups if the United States failed to recognize Chechnya's independence."
"Dudayev's demands were not met, and in 1996 the Chechen Mafia negotiated the sale of suitcases to representatives of Osama bin Laden. It was an amicable deal between Muslims. Bin Laden got the weapons to destroy the Great Satan and the Chechens got the cash to drive away the Russian Bear."
"In a December 1999 interview with journalists from Time Magazine, he let it be known in an oblique way that he had secured nuclear weapons. He said, 'Acquiring weapons for the defense of Muslims is a religious duty, if I have indeed acquired these weapons, then I thank God for enabling me to do so.'"
"Some answers came with the arrest of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, al Qaedas military operations chief, in Karachi, Pakistan, on March 2, 2003, the launch date for Operation Anaconda. After days of interrogations, the terrorist chief admitted that bin Laden's goal was to create a "nuclear hell storm" like the 1945 blast in Hiroshima that killed 140,000 Japanese. Unlike other attacks that could be planned and conducted by lower-level a Qaeda leaders, the terrorist chief said, the chain of command for the nuclear operations answered directly to bin Laden, al Zawihiri, and a mysterious 'Dr. X.'"
"The interrogations, coupled with the findings from UTN's headquarters, seemed to verify for the CIA that al Qaeda had produced several nuclear weapons from highly enriched uranium and plutonium pellets the size of silver dollars. At least one weapons was smuggled out of Afghanistan before 9/11. The weapon was transported to Karachi, where it reportedly was shipped out to America in a cargo container."
Other Nuclear Material:
"As they combed the tunnels near a former al Qaeda base in Kandahar, US troops made an important discovery: low-grade uranium-238 in a lead-lined canister."
Possible operatives in the nuclear plot:
"Four purported al Qaeda operatives - Adnan el Shukrijumah (emphasis added), Anas al Liby, Jaber A. Elbaneh, and Amer el Maati - had been sent to Hamilton, Ontario, where they either enrolled or posed as students at McMaster University, a state-of-the-art technological institution that housed a 5-megawat nuclear research reactor."
Here is some information I found while doing a bit more research on this subject
The author discusses the story of a soldier-for-hire traveling near Peshawar, Pakistan (Mr. Reed):
"When asked if the offer was legitimate, the chieftain assured Reed that the mujahadeen were in possession of even-greater weapons-nuclear weapons-that were being prepared for the next attack on America."
"The chieftain, according to Reed, went on to say that Russian, Pakistani, and Chinese scientists were training al Qaeda "suicide bombers" in the means of detonating the nuclear devices."
Targets (European):
"Spain remained the second European target because a goal of al Qaeda is the recovery of the lost Muslim kingdom of "Andalusia." At the start of the great crusades in 1096, three-quarters of Spain was Muslim."
"After Spain, according to the fatwas, the next target in Europe will be Rome, the world center of heresy because of the Vatican and the pope. And the fourth European target will be Vienna because the advancing Muslim armies were defeated there before they could engulf the heart of Europe."
The Creator of the Islamic Bomb (Abdul Qadeer Khan):
"Much of the funding for Dr. Khan's laboratories in Pakistan purportedly came from Saudi Arabian businessmen who were anxious to see the development of the Islamic Bomb."
"From 1998 to 2001, the esteemed scientist made more than thirteen separate trips to Pyongyang to consult with scientists and technicians at the Yongbyon Uranium Enrichment Plant."
Pakistani/Russian Scientists:
"But Pakistan's community of nuclear scientists and technicians remains "profoundly fundamentalist" and anti-American. They remain particularly resentful of the economic and military sanctions against Pakistan's nuclear weapons program that were imposed by the Bush Administration following the discoveries of proliferation."
"Intelligence sources have confirmed that SPETSNAZ officials from the former Soviet Union were on bin Laden's payroll from 1996 to 2001 to maintain and prepare the nuclear suitcases for activation. Moreover, following the invasion of Afghanistan and the loss of his laboratories, bin Laden reportedly sought out and obtained the technical assistance of twelve leading Pakistani scientists, including Dr. Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, Dr. Chaudry Abdul Najid, and Dr. Mirza Ysus Baig. On November 25, 2001, Taliban leader Mullah Omar assured BBC reporters that the nuclear destruction of the United States was well underway. '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."
Brief synopsis of all suspected nuclear material in AQ possession:
"In 1993 bin Laden began his search to build a nuclear arsenal by attempting to purchase highly enriched uranium out South Africa - a country that had a nuclear program under its previous government. The search culminated in the purchase of 48 nuclear suitcases from the Russian Mafia, along with 20 kilos of uranium-236 from Semion Mogilevich, a Ukranium arms dealer, and enough radioactive material from such black market sources in Russia, China, Kazakstan, and the Ukraine to build a multitude of dirty nukes. This finding has been affirmed by US, British, Pakistani, Saudi, and Israeli intelligence."
The Author does go into detail about the fact that these suitcase weapons need at least some maintenance (how much is debatable). He claims that bin Laden, through his Pakistani scientist connections, has acquired the man-power and logistical know-how to keep the weapons ready for usage.
Williams even gives the example of a suicide bomber who entered Israel on September 14, 2001 wired to a radioactive bomb assembled to fit on the body of the bomber. He claims that this never reached the media because it was kept from the public by the President [Bush] and Israeli security forces.
Some weapons already possibly in place:
"On October 11, 2001, George Tenet, director of CIA, met with President Bush to present news that at least 2 nuclear suitcases have reached AQ operatives in the US. The news was substantiated by Pakistan's ISI, the CIA, and the FBI. Each suitcase weighs eight kilograms and contains at least 2 kilotons of fissionable plutonium and uranium. One suitcase bears the serial number 9999 and Russian manufacturing date of 1988. The design is simple. The plutonium and uranium are kept in separatecompartments that are linked to a triggering mechanism that can be activated by clock or a call from a cell phone."
"On January 7, 1998, Shaykh Hisham Kabanni, chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America, testified before a committee of the US Department of State that more than twenty nuclear warheads carried in suitcases have arrived in the United States and that more than five thousand suicide bombers have been trained for the next attack. His statements are supported by Pakistani and Israeli Intelligence."
Regarding Nukes Arriving by Ship:
"Stephen Flynn, senior fellow for national security studies at the US Council of Foreign Relations, said: "The United States has 16,000 ships entering its ports every day. Adding shipments entering by truck, train, or air freight, the total number of import shipments to the US is 21.4 million tons a year. You could put a nuclear or chemical weapon aboard a ship leaving Karachi, and that ship will land at Vancouver, Oakland, San Francisco, or the Gulf Coast and we would never know the difference."
Quotes from random people:
Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan (the father of the Islamic bomb):
"Dr. Khan has responded to such criticism by saying: 'All Western countries, including Israel, are not only the enemies of Pakistan but, in fact, of Islam.'"
Dr. Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood: (One of Khan's top associates)
"Dr. Mahmood maintained that natural catastrophes occur in places where moral degradation becomes rampant. In Cosmology and Human Destiny, published two years later, he argues that sunspots determine the course of human events, including World War II, the revolution against colonial power in India, the Soviet invasion of Eastern Europe, and the rise of the mujahadeen."
"In 2001, he expressed his belief to members of the foundation [Holy Koran Research Foundation] that the US invasion of Afghanistan represented the beginning of 'the last war between Islam and the infidels.'"
"After months of questioning, Dr. Mahmood at last admitted that he had met bin Laden and other AQ officials, including al-Zawihiri, in Kabul on several occasions, including two to three days in August 2001 and on the fateful morning of September 11. The purpose of the meetings, he confessed, was not to discuss the nutritional benefits of whole wheat bread but the benefits of an atomic blast in an American city."
The CIA uncovers plans in one of Mahmood's corperation offices:
"They also discovered illustrations running the length of the room that showed how high altitude balloons could be used to release large quantities of anthrax and bubonic plague bacilli over major metropolitan areas."
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith (bin Laden's Press Secretary):
"We have the right to kill four million Americans - two million of them children - and to exile twice as many and wound and cripple hundreds of thousands."
"The current American administration every once in a while releases terrorist attack warnings. I say yes, yes, to what the American officials are saying that we are going to launch attacks against Americans ... I assure you that bin Laden and Zawihiri are in good health and were not injured in Tora Bora."
A quote from Saad al-Fagih:
"Saad al-Fagih, a Saudi dissident and al Qaeda insider, told a Time reporter than bin Laden now speaks with 'strange confidence' about the next attack against America. 'Before 9/11,' al-Fagih said, 'bin Laden would talk in general terms about a major attack coming and a major, major attack following.' He [bin Laden] would say, 'The first attack is going to be this size,' pointing to the tip of his finger, and, 'The next attack is going to be this size,' indicating the whole length of his finger."