[GonzoGOP]

The letter inside said, “The Al-Qaeda organization has planted 160 nuclear bombs throughout the U.S. in schools, stadiums, churches, stores, financial institutions and government buildings.” It also said, “This is a suicide mission for us.”

If they said they had one or perhaps two I would be more concerned. But 160, come on. China is only estimated to have between 180 warheads in service. Pakistan has built no more than 110 given the amount of material they started off with. And there aren't more than 90 still in service.

Where would they have gotten them from? You aren't going to build 160 nuclear bombs in a garage or the basement of some mosque. We are talking about major industrial complex to do that kind of construction.

And they aren't old cold war Russian nukes. The highly enriched plutonium or uranium in the trigger breaks down over time. Any weapon build before 1990 is a paperweight now unless new triggers have been put in place. And the trigger is the hardest part of the bomb to build. Again you might be able to build one or two at a university without everyone knowing. But 160, no freaking way.

[library user]

Good post w/ excellent points. Thanks.

[babygene]

Nuclear bombs don’t have to be fissionable to be destructive...

[Tonytitan]

The highly enriched plutonium or uranium in the trigger breaks down over time. Any weapon build before 1990 is a paperweight now unless new triggers have been put in place. And the trigger is the hardest part of the bomb to build.

Can you source this info? I'm curious to learn more.

[spaced]

Maybe it’s a pschological ploy. If you only have a few nukes, one way to maximize the terror would be to claim more, set your nukes off at erratic intervals and watch people go crazy waiting for the non-existent ones to take out another target.

[wizzardude]

And the trigger is the hardest part of the bomb to build. Again you might be able to build one or two at a university without everyone knowing. But 160, no freaking way.

The idea of "dirty bomb" comes to mind - it doesn't have to be Nagasaki to be a mess...

[reed13]

I’m still trying to figure out 160 cities....ok 50 state capitols, DC...major citites outside of capitols LA, NY, Chicago,SF, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Tampa, San Diego Jacksonville....Cleveland, Detroit?, Toledo?, Louisville?

I suppose I could come up with 100 - but I’m thinking they must be looking at redundancy within the major ones...

[Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid!]

It is crazy I agree but so were the news reports that Obama/US gave Hamas millions and that when we just kineticked Libya missles were stolen? With Obama giving them miranda rights and many were released from Gitmo who knows what they have cooked up...

[darth]

What if they were Russian nukes that have been maintained properly?

During the Cold War the Russkies cached nukes in a number of Western countries for use by Spetznaz. They even smuggled nukes into CONUS.

What if the Russkies used Al Quaeda as a front in order to regain their superpower status? Nuke the USA and let the muslims take the blame. If the USA was nuked, the Russkies could use their arsenal to dominate Europe, Central Asia, and even China.

I was peripherally involved in the program to de-commission Russian nukes in the 1990s. There were so many holes in the process that it would have been easy for them to cheat and keep a large number of weapons.

Regarding the letter, maybe some Al Quaeda bit player wanted to get his 15 minutes of fame and spread a little terror. Maybe he was not authorized to threaten us; they have a problem with discipline among the crazies.

With Obama in office, the Russkies or Al Quaeda will not get a better shot at us.

[MRadtke]

“And they aren’t old cold war Russian nukes. The highly enriched plutonium or uranium in the trigger breaks down over time. Any weapon build before 1990 is a paperweight now unless new triggers have been put in place. And the trigger is the hardest part of the bomb to build. Again you might be able to build one or two at a university without everyone knowing. But 160, no freaking way.”

Perhaps I’m wrong, but I think you’re referring to fusion warheads. Fission bombs are set off by conventional high explosive, I think.

[mrreaganaut]

If they said they had one or perhaps two I would be more concerned. But 160, come on. China is only estimated to have between 180 warheads in service.

They don't have to be actual warheads to be nuclear bombs - 'dirty' bombs are just as terrifying to a nuke-frightened public. Dirty bombs are probably all they can make, anyway.

[matt04]

If they did have nukes, my feeling is that it would be a few dirty bombs. Radio active materiel and some explosives to spread it. Basically a mini-Chernobyl. A fully functional nuke seems to be stretching it, more so if we are talking 160 of them. It doesn’t take much to make a dirty bomb compared to a nuclear warhead.