[Brilliant]

If al Qaeda has a nuke in the US, you will know it on the same day it arrives. It'll make a big bang. They aren't going to keep it hidden in someone's garage for months.

[TomGuy]

If al Qaeda has a nuke in the US, you will know it on the same day it arrives. It'll make a big bang. They aren't going to keep it hidden in someone's garage for months.

That depends on the stakes and the purpose.

I can see a plan might want to get a few in strategic places. That would take a while. Then wait until a strategic time to blackmail and threaten. Maybe something as significant as the Nov election. Dirty bomb a small city a week before the election and threaten to set of 4 or 5 or 10 more in various cities if GWB is re-elected.

It took them over 5 years to plan 9-11, and they did that with box cutters. Give them some credit. Their minions may be a few bricks shy of a load, but the al-Qaeda planners aren't stupid. Many are PhD's trained at our own universities.