Suitcase nukes, while they did/do exist, are extremely advanced forms of nuclear explosive. If they aren't maintained by a highly-skilled maintenance organization on a regular basis, they degrade to the point that they are nothing more than unusually heavy luggage. Even if some jihidiot managed to get his hands on one, the odds of it being armed, and in a good enough state of maintenance to go off, are practically nil. It is even more unlikely that any terrorist organization has access to a Nation advanced enough to produce a new one for them, since the US, the old Soviet Union, and possibly the Israelis are the only ones who ever developed such weapons or are/were capable of such.
Would there be enough conventional explosive to kill the bomber? (I assume it would be a suicide bomber.)
Nukes are not that high-maintenence. A suitcase nuke would have to be VERY low-maintenence in order to not be useless under any conditions. What? Are you going to wait for a declaration of war to smuggle these in behind enemy lines? Hoping these are past their "best if used by" date is no protection.
Interesting point: I listened to the show yesterday, and at one point Savage asks him why he's doing this three months before the book comes out. He says, "I'm an old man. I want to face God justified."
Now, Williams also wrote a book accusing the Vatican of being in bed with the Sicilian Mafia. Ironically, he accuses the Sicilian Mafia of being in on this so-called suitcase nuke scenario. Now permit me to deduce (my best guess) the following:
1. Paul Williams is a fundamentalist Christian.
2. Being such, he has a keen interest in eschatology.
3. He may even harbor ill will towards the Catholic Church.
4. Williams allows his beliefs ("I want to be justified") to give credibility to the notion that the Apocalypse (because that's what 40 nuclear bombs would cause) is upon us.
He's nuts. There may be elements of truth (hey, a broken clock is right twice a day), but this has zero credibility beyond the theoretical truth that Al Qaeda would like to nuke our asses.
The only way I can picture terrorists having a working mini-nuke is if they bought an old Soviet basket case (and there are probably at least a few 'missing'), and hired some ex-Soviet nuke engineer with a PHD and making $50 a month to refurbish it. Not easy, but not impossible either.
What type of maintenance would they require and what skill set would be needed to maintain the nuke? - Thanks
wouldnt you also need the codes?