Posted on 08/08/2005 8:19:07 AM PDT by wesley_windam-price
WASHINGTON – Recent al-Qaida attacks using primitive bombs and inflicting relatively small numbers of casualties have persuaded some that Osama bin Laden's terrorist network has been unable to secure weapons of mass destruction or has been unable to smuggle them into the U.S. and other key target countries.
In the wake of a series of reports from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin about the nuclear terrorism threat, some skeptics of al-Qaida's ability to detonate nuclear weapons inside the U.S. most often suggest the problems with maintenance and technical attention.
Others suggest Osama bin Laden may have purchased duds on the black market. Others point out that the triggers on suitcase nukes decay rapidly and have short half lives. The nuclear cores, after a time, fall below the critical mass threshold, say the optimists. Even the shells are subject to contamination over time if not properly maintained, they say.
Unfortunately, finds Paul Williams, author of the upcoming book, "The Al Qaeda Connection: International Terrorism, Organized Crime and the Coming Apocalypse," there's little point in assessing the possibilities with rose-colored glasses.
"The belief that bin Laden simply purchased these weapons for millions of dollars and stored them within his cave without concern for maintenance has its basis in the erroneous and prejudicial notion that he is a backward Bedouin warrior without knowledge of sophisticated weaponry, rather than a highly trained engineer and one of the most gifted military tacticians in the annals of modern history," he writes.
Williams dismisses suggestions that bin Laden hasn't taken into account some obvious problems with nuclear weapons.
"Bin Laden has been extremely mindful of proper maintenance," he writes. "As soon as he obtained the weapons, he paid an amount estimated from $60 to $100 million for the assistance of nuclear scientists from Russia, China and Pakistan. From 1996 to 2001, bin Laden also kept a score of Spetznaz technicians from the former Soviet Union on his payroll. These technicians had been trained to open and operate the weapons in order to prevent any unauthorized use. To simplify the process of activation, the scientists and technicians came up with a way of hot-wiring the small nukes to the bodies of Muslim agents who long for immediate martyrdom and immediate elevation to the seventh heaven."
Other skeptics ask: "If bin Laden has nukes, why hasn't he used them? Why would he wait? If he has successfully smuggled them into the U.S., why haven't any gone off yet?"
Williams and other G2 Bulletin intelligence sources explain that one of bin Laden's defining characteristics is patience.
"He started plotting the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania when he was in Sudan in 1993," points out Williams. "The attack on the USS Cole was more than two years in the making; and 10 years passed between the first attack on the World Trade Center and the second."
Williams said recruits at al-Qaida training camps are instructed to repeat this throughout the day: "I will be patient until Patience is outworn by patience."
Intelligence analysts and sources disagree on the details of the way bin Laden's "American Hiroshima" plan unfolds. Some G2 Bulletin sources emphasize bin Laden's commitment to re-enacting the 1945 attack on Japan with one nuclear detonation, followed by another days later.
Williams, however, sees a much more devastating, coordinated, all-out, surprise attack coming.
"The next attack, according to al-Qaida defectors and informants, will take place simultaneously at various sites throughout the country," he writes. "Designated targets include New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Houston, Las Vegas, and Valdez, Alaska, where the tankers are filled with oil from the Trans-Alaska pipeline. To orchestrate such an incredible event requires not only the shipment of the nukes into the United States but also the establishment of cells, the training of sleeper agents, the selection of sites, and the preparation of the weapons without detection from federal, state or local law enforcement officials. Unlike 9-11, that cost less than $350,000, this event already has cost a king's ransom, and bin Laden will not waste the billions in expenditures, the years of planning and his coveted 'crown jewels' on an attack that is ill-planned, poorly timed and carelessly coordinated."
Other sources interpret some of the same information, based on captured al-Qaida operatives and documents as well as defectors, differently. They project an escalating series of attacks, each followed by blackmail demands upon the U.S. government and the American people.
In any event, both kinds of spectacular nuclear terror attacks require pinpoint coordination and secure communication.
Williams also speculates that the delay in launching attacks with weapons already smuggled inside the U.S. could be due to reports al-Qaida is determined to locate tactical nuclear weapons that were forward-deployed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. These weapons were reportedly buried at remote sites throughout the country for recovery by Soviet agents.
"There is no doubt that the Soviets stored material in this country," says Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Research. "The question is what and where."
Bin Laden may have a considerable head-start in the search given his predilection toward hiring former Soviet special forces officers whose job it was to know something about these plans.
U.S. officials have reportedly ordered the excavation of several sites believed to be possible depots.
Click Here.
Russian defector Stanislav Lunev told congressional investigators nuclear suitcases had been buried throughout the U.S., and that he could not pinpoint the locations because Russian military leaders continue to believe a nuclear conflict with the U.S. is still "inevitable." He said the only hope of finding them would be if the Russian government disclosed the locations.
During the same hearings, Belgian officials testified they found three secret depots containing tactical nukes buried by the Soviets in the 1960s.
WND and G2 Bulletin previously reported, based on captured al-Qaida leaders and documents, that the terrorist group has a plan called "American Hiroshima" involving the multiple detonation of nuclear weapons already smuggled into the U.S. over the Mexican border with the help of the MS-13 street gang and other organized crime groups.
According to the reports, al-Qaida has obtained at least 40 nuclear weapons from the former Soviet Union – including suitcase nukes, nuclear mines, artillery shells and even some missile warheads. In addition, documents captured in Afghanistan show al-Qaida had plans to assemble its own nuclear weapons with fissile material it purchased on the black market.
The plans for the devastating nuclear attack on the U.S. have been under development for more than a decade. It is designed as a final deadly blow of defeat to the U.S., which is seen by al-Qaida and its allies as "the Great Satan."
At least half the nuclear weapons in the al-Qaida arsenal were obtained for cash from the Chechen terrorist allies.
At least nine major U.S. cities, including New York and Washington, are prime targets for the al-Qaida nuclear terrorists. Osama bin Laden's preferred dates for attacks include Aug. 6, the anniversary of the Hiroshima nuclear bombing in 1945, Sept. 11 and May 14, the anniversary of the re-creation of the state of Israel in 1948.
There's no way bin Laden would not have at least shown some photos of the suitcase nukes or given their serial numbers if he had them. He doesn't have them.
bttt
Is it possible that he might fake out China into thinking there is a nuke on the way from us to them?
I suspect that if the Chechens had ever had even a single nuke there would be a really large crater in Moscow.
" suspect that if the Chechens had ever had even a single nuke there would be a really large crater in Moscow."
And knowing the Russians, Chechens would cease to be an ethnic group.
Well, you seem like kind of an ass to me.
How much does Farah get for pimping Williams' book?
This is nothing but fearmongering promotion for Williams' book.
Ignorning the "do they have nukes / do they have the means to use them" argument, I've never understood the logic behind this particular response, which gets repeated ad nauseum on FR. I don't know about the nukes issue, but this response never provides any comfort or any meaningful counterpoint.
"If the Japanese inteded to invade Pearl Harbor, they would have done so already."
- Sponken by some brilliant armchair analyst in Nov. 1941.
"If Al Quaeda intended to fly planes into the WTC, they would have done so already.
- Spoken by some brilliant armchair analyst in Aug. 2001.
You get the point.
Yes, hijacking planes with boxcutters really took a degree in Quantum Mechanics didn't it pal? Sit down and let the adults talk.
I'd make the thread even more simple and not specificially anti-Muslim. The US get's nuked and we nuke every mad-dog regime that (A) harbors or supports terrorists or (B) has nuclear weapons that pose any threat to the US. Give the mad dogs a reason to keep the other mad dogs in line. Because once we decide to let nuclear weapons fly, we need to take care of business in one shot.
"If they used a nuke in this country it would tend to unite us again. As it is now, they have about 1/2 of the Senate and House of Representatives working on their side along with every Volvo or Subaru owner in Seattle that has space for a bumper sticker. Why mess with success."
Bingo....! It will take longer than nukes but eventually, if al queda lays low or only bombs here and there...the liberals will eventually turn the country over to them via political correctness. Al Queda must have patience though.
> If al-Qaida has nukes, why wait to use them?
The title is the answer. They wouldn't wait.
With the present rate of attrition of al-Qaida #2s and #3s,
not to mention an entire former al-Qaida-owned country, and
that of an al-Qaida supporter, binnie-L could not risk
having the operation exposed if he waited weeks, much less
months or years.
If he had 'em, he'd use 'em almost immediately (and Iran
wouldn't be so anxious to get into the biz).
Speaking as an ex Pershing and Titan launch officer (I was in both the Army and Air Force at different times.) I'm not really worried about a nuke going off due to all the various correct comments about how hard it is to maintain them and how difficult it would be to move them due to the size.
However, I am very worried about someone taking the radioactive material out of them, packing it around some C-4, getting on top of a skyscraper and setting it off.
"Bin Laden has been extremely mindful of proper maintenance," he writes. "As soon as he obtained the weapons, he paid an amount estimated from $60 to $100 million for the assistance of nuclear scientists from Russia, China and Pakistan. From 1996 to 2001, bin Laden also kept a score of Spetznaz technicians from the former Soviet Union on his payroll. "
Nutcase or not I have a very hard time believing Bin Laden could or would trust all these people.
Ever notice how these conspiracy loons always manage to incorporate new "News" items into their hallucinations? Did Farah ever include "MS-13" into his hallucination before they became newsworthy a year or so ago?
Ignoring the general ridiculousness of the story, why would AQ be searching for buried Soviet tactical nukes here if they've already smuggled in 20-40 with the help of MS-13 (giggle)...
There is a term for every one of your questions. That term is "straw man."
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