we didn’t think they could develop nuclear bomb capability in the third world either—and it takes a lot more sophisticated technology than biologicals.
To me, it is whistling past the graveyard to think that over a number of years they couldn’t manage to develop or buy some bio-warfare or chem warfare capability. Maybe not in the caves of Tora Bora, but in a lab in Pakistan.
Remember the old adage about an infinite number of typing monkeys will eventually come up with Shakespeare.
Apples and oranges. A Nation can develop just about anything. Even backward, totalitarian regimes like North Korea can do it. A terrorist group in caves without the shield of government....not so easy.
Please do not underestimate the complexities involved in home growing these types of weapons. If those jokers had acquired a nuke, or a canister of VX, they would have used it.
No government, not even one that hates us like Iran, would provide advanced weaponry to a terrorist organization. The US would track it back to and hold responsible any government that would do so. Our boomers can reach almost any point on the planet.
These guys are desperately trying to generate headlines. Their attempts are being thwarted at every turn, and for the most part their command structure is completely compromised. Only an out-of-left-field actor has gotten through, and after that, things are going to get a lot harder for them.
That said, I think that we will see more attempts to attack the US, and it is a horrible possibility that one might succeed. But I do not let the practically impossible possibilities worry me. Much easier to stuff explosives up ones butt than assemble a working nuclear device when you have a 4th grade education.