That's why every nuclear bomb needs one of these:
Posted on 07/06/2007 4:23:33 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Attack likely to exploit existing network of cross-border human, drug traffickers.
A nuclear terrorist attack on the U.S. is better than an even bet in the next 10 years, says a former assistant secretary of defense and author of a book on the subject.
"Based on current trends, a nuclear terrorist attack on the United States is more likely than not in the decade ahead," says Graham Allison, director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and author of "Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe."
Allison, who has testified before Congress on the subject, says the illicit economy for narcotics and illegal alien trafficking "has built up a vast infrastructure that terrorists could exploit" in delivering a nuclear weapon to its target in the U.S.
Al-Qaida, which has threatened to launch an "American Hiroshima" attack on the U.S., remains Allison's No. 1 suspect to pull off such a mission.
"Former CIA Director George J. Tenet wrote in his memoirs that al-Qaida's leadership has remained 'singularly focused on acquiring WMD' – weapons of mass destruction – and willing to 'pay whatever it would cost to get their hands on fissile material,'" Allison wrote in an opinion piece appearing in the Baltimore Sun prior to Independence Day.
Allison says there are several viable options open to terrorists determined to secure nuclear weapons.
"They could acquire an existing bomb from one of the nuclear weapons states or construct an elementary nuclear device from highly enriched uranium made by a state," he wrote. "Theft of a warhead or material would not be easy, but attempted thefts in Russia and elsewhere are not uncommon."
Allison says terrorists are capable of building their own nuclear weapons if they can simply secure the fissile material.
"Once a terrorist group acquires about 100 pounds of highly enriched uranium, it could conceivably use publicly available documents and items commercially obtainable in any technologically advanced country to construct a bomb such as the one dropped on Hiroshima," he states.
The threat is imminent, says Allison.
"If terrorists bought or stole a nuclear weapon in good working condition, they could explode it today," he explains. "If the weapon had a lock, detonation would be delayed for several days. If terrorists acquired 100 pounds of highly enriched uranium, they could have a working elementary nuclear bomb in less than a year."
WND first broke the story of Osama bin Laden's plans for a nuclear terrorist attack on multiple cities in the U.S.
President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and the 9/11 commission have all concluded a nuclear terrorist attack is not only the nation's No. 1 nightmare but also something of an inevitability at some time in the future.
Earlier this year, WND reported how the most extensive study of the effects of nuclear detonations in four major U.S. cities paints a grim picture of millions of deaths, overwhelmed hospitals and loss of command-and-control capability by government.
But the three-year study by researchers at the Center for Mass Destruction Defense at the University of Georgia says a concerted effort to teach civilians what to do in the event of a nuclear attack is the best – perhaps only – thing that could save an untold number of lives that will otherwise be needlessly lost.
"If a nuclear detonation were to occur in a downtown area, the picture would be bleak there," said Cham Dallas, director of the program and professor in the college of pharmacy. "But in urban areas farther from the detonation, there actually is quite a bit that we can do. In certain areas, it may be possible to turn the death rate from 90 percent in some burn populations to probably 20 or 30 percent – and those are very big differences – simply by being prepared well in advance."
I don’t buy it. How would they get the device into the country? Other than just walking across either border, of course.
Well, one 9/11 was not enough to convince the Dems and the MSM that we have an enemy.
One 9/11 was also not enough to get the Bush administration to lose the Care Bears rules of engagement.
Hate to even think it, but it may be that the fact we've not been successfully attacked since then is a mixed blessing.
I would say that Pakistan is the most likely source of a nuke, with Russia being the next most likely source.
I dunno....the article makes sweeping assessments and wild guesses.
First, getting your hands on a “good, used nuke” is not difficult, it is impossible. Nuclear handling is very regimented and controlled, everywhere. Nukes are routinely dismantled into sub assemblies when not deployed, to prevent them from being misused. If the safeties are tripped, it would never detonate with nuclear yield. Anti-handling devices also keep the device from detonating with nuclear yield. So that is out.
Second, getting the material is only part of the fun. Usually, the material is not in the correct configuration to begin building your bomb. Think small pellets for U235. It must be forged and machined using special techniques. That act alone would fatally expose the people and heavily contaminate the surrounding environment before it could be completed.
Building one is pretty hard, as the North Koreans found out. Theirs failed utterly.
It would take a state to sponsor such an undertaking. One with experience in such devices, the willingness to share it, and the proper disregard for human life in order for an attack of this type to occur, much less succeed.
The US would figure out the culprits in short order. Whether the President would take the appropriate action is the only question. All must know that the price of nuking the US is too high to contemplate.
That price must be complete annihilation.
Houston would cause severe disruptions in oil refinement and distribution.
As would New Orleans (the gateway to the bread basket) or Portland ME, one of the most significatn gateways for fuel in the Northeast.
There is not a “bad choice” if you are a whack-job.
This is just about the same story that was posted on September 12th or 13th, 2001. I have no doubt these guys are trying to get their hands on nukes, but I am pretty sure if they had one, we would have found out about it by now.
Interesting and scary, but I am not losing sleep over this. Yet.
“Other than just walking across either border, of course.”
Precisely.
It’s terrible to say, but it would almost be a relief. We could finally take the gloves off. At least, I hope that we would take the gloves off. If an end is ever to be put to Islamic terror, it will take something like this to precipitate the necessary force.
I’d venture not Dallas, as it is the lowest-density city in the country, and a lot less likely to be totally shut down by such an attack. LA on the other hand, although just as spread-out, has a much higher population, and therefore a much higher disruption potential.
Re post 3, and that would be, let’s see: IRAN, PAKISTAN, SYRIA, SAUDI ARABIA. A real good testing ground for the neutron bomb. Kills the “people” and leaves the energy infrastructure virtually intact.
If they put it on a barge and floated it up any of the inland waterways such as the Mississippi, Tennessee or Ohio Rivers, the Muzzies could wipe out a city like Cincinnati or Memphis without much chance of being detected.
According to a friend who works on a tug boat that pushes barges up and down those rivers, no one is watching the cargo on barges at all. The river system is a huge security hole.....Chertoff, please answer the white courtesy phone....
Hollywood is safe — all of their fellow travelers and propagandists are there.
Maybe it won’t be a nuke. A really nasty bio would be easier for the forces of evil to obtain. If I recall, a recent MSM article said there wer 45 doctors in the US with al-Qaeda ties and a mission to kill. A bio would be right up their alley.
The thing we don’t see is the secret services around the world working major overtime to see that none of these nut jobs acquire nuke material.
When one looks at the U.K. and see the massive surveillance all over the country, yet still suffer so many terrorist attacks.
It’s an island, relatively small, lotsa surveillance.....yet they seem unable to stop the attacks.
Makes ya wonder what kind of intelligence operation is occurring here in this country to stop terrorist from repeating a 911.
This country is very large, porous borders, lotsa resources....?????
Yeah sure. We’d be told to go shopping and we’d get really low interest rates on Cars.
I thought I had read somewhere Ukraine and Kazakhstan still have a dozen or so. Remember, nuclear bombs have a shelf-life, and their components must be restored to very exacting specifications. The terrorists might not have equipment to do it... yet.
That's why every nuclear bomb needs one of these:
I thought the gloves would come off as of 9/11. At the very least I thought all Muslim non-citizens would be shown the door, and the borders secured. No dice. Not even close.
Not much of a prediction really is it?
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