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."
Of the former Soviet republics, only Russia has declared itself a Nuclear Weapon State.
If either Kazakhstan or Ukraine had nuclear weapons they would be violating the treaty. While we are all adults here and realize that sometimes countries violate treaties they sign, in this case it seems very unlikely.
WE don’t deserve it.
Do YOU? Do I? Do all the other patriotic Americans who can’t overwhelm the stupid?
Only two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity. And I’m not sure about the Universe.
Yes. But they are also a command economy. Plus, once the Chinese internal market starts to sustain itself, then what?
I know, the situation is way more complex than the reasoning I’ve proposed. Very interesting times ahead!
they can absorb more damage
Wouldn’t one or two of those former Soviet republics have the facilities and the scientists to whore one out to the terrorists? The number of bombs Ukraine had until 1996 was huge- about 5000 units or so.
I’ve thought since 9/11 that if they were smart, they’d do as many simultaneous attacks as possible on smaller, second and third-tier cities. Hitting NYC and DC is one thing, and certainly bad enough, but it’s very far removed from most of America. Hitting places like Cleveland, Buffalo, Baltimore, Des Moines, Milwaukee, Portland, etc. would be, I think exceedingly frightening in a way that hitting NY, DC and LA might not be.
True enough, but that works both ways. One would assume that China would also try to avoid such a conflict, which would threaten their economic viability. FYI: China holds the world's largest foreign debt, i.e., foreign debt owed to non-residents and repayable in foreign currency.
Wouldn’t an embargo with China instantly cripple the manufacturing base of most companies? Most everything has a ‘made in China’ tag these days.
Maybe, but the world's biggest exporting nations by far are Europe, the US, and Japan. It would not be the end of the world if China were to be taken out of the equation. It would take time to adjust and the global economy would suffer a recession at the very least, but what would happen inside China would be catastrophic.
This Chinese threat will only grow with no one being able to steer or mitigate it.
As I said, it is a two-edged sword. Will China risk its growing prosperity and affluence to pursue policies that could plunge the country into economic ruin and political instability? What is the risk versus the reward?
And Kazakhstan is islamist...
They might opt to hit Middle America - places like Omaha, Wichita, Cincinnati, Denver.
The WE I am referring to is America. If the majority of the people vote for this course of action/policy, then WE deserve to suffer the consequences. I don't agree with the results, but unless we change the Constitution and the way our government works, then we must accept [not without a fight] the results. We must become a majority so we can use the democratic process to change the direction of the country.
Here’s the plan:
Sterilize all Muslims and self-proclaimed liberals.
Arm ourselves.
Yes, valid points there. The situation is complex. Economies today are such that they would avoid a war to prevent a cold. China is also avoiding confrontation... for now.
As for foreign debt, does their holding of over a trillion dollars in foreign exchange help them?
The more I watch “Thunderball” and “True Lies”, it is amazing how Hollywood has provided assistance to these mooslem nutballs. Any city is at risk once within the border. Our Govbernment is very limited on detectin radioactive devices once it is loaded on a small truck the size of these Hicubes rented by Budget, Penske, or Hertz.
Just stay off the Interstates and your choices are unlimited.
Have a nice day.
It helps them by giving them capital to develop their economy. Their foreign debt is about $250 billion and their official reserves are around $625 billion in foreign exchange, SDRs, IMF, and gold at market prices.
...yet another reason to move out of south San Diego County...
I really remember seeing a trillion-plus dollar figure for their FE reserves. Anyway, thanks for the information!
CHINA
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$1.034 trillion (2006 est.)
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html#Econ
“...yet another reason to move out of south San Diego County...
“
As though you really needed another reason.
World Net Daily ignores the safety of the Ford Taurus. The Ford Taurus will keep your family safe.
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