Is al Qaeda Preparing a Nuclear Hit?

The author misses the most simple action at all in his column. He does not include my 'Hang-the-Luck' American response.

This is where we let loose a dozen nuclear-tipped, Cruise Missiles from our subs and reduce Islam to a distant memory... and warn the world to 'live with it or you'll get the same!'

Sometimes, the answer is so basic and so direct the think-tanks dismiss it for it's utter simplicity.

You are dreaming. We will ask - why do they hate us??? Islam is really a religion of peace., etc etc.

Well, you know, we all want to change the world.....

If it happens, the POTUS will have no choice but to resume the Crusades.

BUMP

Kerry will negotiate our way to peace, and love. It must be a Prozac moment.

ping

Very sobering. What's more sobering, is the state of affairs in our own country and the political correctness which is contributing to it.

We need to cover our country in prayer.

"Gotta believe if they had them since the late 90's they'd have used them already."

Terrorists are very patient.

You offer what?¿ to support that opinion?

Support Al Qaeda's use of coordinated attacks? ummm, 9-11, the two african embassy bombings...

OK,

What would you do?

You are Ayman Zawahiri (he calls the shots, Osama brings in the donations):

Your attack on the WTC produced damage to your immediate logistical support network (Afghanistan). A friendly regime, though one that you spent 2/3’s of your cash on to prop up, was taken out in a proxy war. You had foreseen the possibility of the proxy war, so you took out Ahmed Shah Massood, the leader of the Northern Alliance coincident with the attack on the WTC. After Afghanistan fell, you were forced to move to the next most hospitable place for a Sunni organization, the tribal regions of Pakistan.

Next, Iraq was eliminated in very short order. You had some ties with Iraq, but the Baathist were historically loath to get in bed with religiously based organizations, even ones with shared goals. It was an “enemy of my enemy is a friend” situation. But still the Americans were wildly successful in their overthrow of an Arab country, even one that had been militarily strong in its heyday. Democracy is being transplanted, and, as each day goes by, a Sharia law based state is becoming more and more a remote possibility.

You also have nuclear weapons.

You know that they are currently inert due to a lack of a neutron source (it has since passed its expiration date).

You know that once you obtain a suitable neutron source to start the chain reaction, you will have a limited window of opportunity to use them.

You would then select a target to use the weapons against. War is about many things, one of which is money. If the money of the west could be denied to Isreal, Isreal would cease to exist. One simply has to look at the population count of Isreal, vs the population count of Arab countries. Without their sugardaddy, Isreal would be easy to conquer, and its holy sites would be intact. If the money of the west could be harnessed to your purpose, then a world wide Caliphate with Sharia law would be a possibility. No, at this stage of the war, we are the target.

You would forward position your nuclear weapons in advance of trying to obtain the trigger material. If your attempts to obtain a neutron trigger were detected, then the weapons would be item #1 on the “do not allow into the USA” list, with a highlight, and an underline (instead of just #1 on the “do not allow into the USA” list)

You would have to very carefully plan every aspect of the attack. The most critical aspect being the timing of the event to coincide with your attack.

You would then obtain the neutron trigger, and ship that into the USA, and assemble the components here.

Then the clock would be ticking. You would have one chance. If the attack was not carried out properly, or poorly done, or poorly planned, it would mark your doom. The window of opportunity for the attack must be centered around an event that was predictable in nature (scheduled), and the disruption of which would be devastating to the entire nation.

You test your theory about the weakness of democracies on the country of Spain. Your theory, that a properly timed attack can destroy the will and strength of an entire nation, is proven beyond all expectations. Your non-nuclear prototype (your own small scale Trinity test) has exceeded all hope.

Once the target event is selected, then you take a page from your 9/11 after action review study, and begin moving all your assets just prior to the nuclear attack. Moving targets are hard to find and hit. You move to another host nation that you can control/influence with your money. Sudan is the most likely place, as you already have connections there from Osama’s early terrorist days. Note that Sudan is not a perfect country to move to as there is a possibility that infidel troops will be sent there because your Muslim brothers have been too vigorous in their killing of Christians. Then again, perhaps that makes it a place that you would like to be.

Once you see in the news that the Pakistani Army has eliminated the “Foreign Fighters” from the Tribal regions, then you know that the shell game of the terrorists moving their assets has begun, and that the attack on the USA is imminent. Al Queda will simply slip away, like a ghost in the night, leaving the Pakistani Army to claim victory.

What will the USA do after the nuclear event? The USA will not nuke Mecca and Medina. That would inflame a quarter of the world against the USA, including some key allies. The USA will not nuke Tehran or the Iranian nuclear sites (and if the USA does, so what - Iran is Shiite). The USA will not nuke Fallujah because of the damage it would do to Iraq (and if the USA does, so what it’s a small price to pay). No, there will be more talk of finding the terrorists and bringing them to justice

From your point of view, as Ayman Zawahiri, it seems that everything is on your side. However, Ayman Zawahiri has a terrible record of understanding the capacity of the sleeping giant called the USA. And the actual outcome of events is certain to be quite different than the terrorists envision.