Posted on 07/14/2005 12:24:33 PM PDT by Sweetjustusnow
Then why would they bother to smuggle these nukes into the US?
Don't you remember the 200,000 Chinese on the border of Iraq waiting to attack our troops if we invaded Bagdad?
Fair enough.
Sorry for the snarkiness. Mostly.
Bit weary of the knee jerk assumptions spouted as Absolute Fact. Especially the one that seems most illogical to me--that the minute the Jihadi's get a nuke, they'd lite it off because so many FREEPERS ASSUME they would.
Sigh.
The argument that "if Al Qaeda had a nuke in the US, they would have used it long ago" is dangerously ignorant.
It is a self-defeating argument.
Look at the premise of the argument: IT IS A FACT that Al Qaeda wants to get a nuke into the US and use it.
We know that Al Qaeda is trying to acomplish this at its highest levels.
Based on what we all know about the availability of this material, regardless of how difficult it is to obtain and smuggle, it is also completely logical to assume it is only a matter of time until Al Qaeda deploys a nuke inside the US.
The probability is high that Al Qaeda has already moved the necessary components into the US.
It is completely possible that they are waiting for the best time and choosing the best place to deploy this weapon.
To assume they do not have one simply because they have not detonated one yet is pure folly and ignorance.
We know that Al Qaeda intends to nuke us and we know that it can be done. The only thing we don't know is how far along they are.
So what you are saying is "Don't worry. They can not be close to completing their goal . . . because they have not yet completed their goal."
What nonsense. And anyone who finds comfort in this nonsense is a bigger fool than you.
That's when all the pieces fell into place. Once the plan was ready and the hijackers were ready to go, they didn't wait very long, IIRC.
Who are you and why should it matter to me what you do or do not find realistic?
As for the notion of 5,000 sleeper cells, that number probably corresponds closely with the number of mosques in our nation.
In a country of 300,000,000 5,000+ people spread out around the country will go virtually unnoticed.
"Here's a thought. Maybe they do have several suitcase nukes right now, within America. But because of the scarcity of those with skills to do the maintanence the strategically planned day is well down the road until the maintanence can be done."
Wait too long, and the maintenance becomes a non-issue--you'd be better off replacing the nuke itself.
It would have been well within the province of Soviet weapons engineers to design a purpose-oriented device with the main criteria of low maintenance, low detectability, transportability and modest yield (the final criterion follows from the others). Such a device would not necessarily be known in its specifics to western intelligence, even now. Believe me, people paid to worry about such possibilities are plenty worried.
Sorry, but no. Helium neutron capture cross-section is very low. That's one of the reasons they use it as primary coolant in carbon-moderated HTGR's (High-Temperature-Gas-Reactors).
"It would have been well within the province of Soviet weapons engineers to design a purpose-oriented device with the main criteria of low maintenance, low detectability, transportability and modest yield (the final criterion follows from the others)."
We spent fifty years trying to make "low-maintenance" nukes.
It never happened. The critical components raidiate, oxidate, and deteriorate.
Thirty years of decay + Soviet manufacture = at most, dirty bombs.
Modernman wrote: "That's when all the pieces fell into place. Once the plan was ready and the hijackers were ready to go, they didn't wait very long, IIRC."
I totally agree. For whatever reason, they're waiting. And for all of us, its like waiting for a flu shot in the ass. You know its coming and its gonna hurt.
The Islamists had the means, motive and opportunity to perpetrate the attacks on New York and Washington long before September 11, 2001.
I'm not sure about these suitcase nuke stories either, but just because they haven't attacked doesn't mean they can't attack. The monsters have patience that most Americans can't even comprehend.
Huh? No it isn't. At present Al Qaeda has one possible source: Pakistan. Either the US helps Pakistan secure its weapons stockpile or it doesn't. But if it does, there isn't any way for Al Qaeda to get a nuclear weapon.
The probability is high that Al Qaeda has already moved the necessary components into the US.
Is it? Based on what, the TSchmereL Center for Intelligence? I think the probability is exceptionally low.
It is completely possible that they are waiting for the best time and choosing the best place to deploy this weapon.
Why? Al Qaeda has always attacked when it can. I think its more possible than Al Qaeda doesn't have any nukes.
I thought we had a bunch of fizzles in the 1950s from helium contamination.
Who are you and why should I listen to your claims that 5,000 AQ sleepers in America is a wholly bogus and unbelievable number?
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