Posted on 12/05/2013 4:28:04 PM PST by raptor22
National Security: The theft of a truck carrying dangerous radioactive material combined with terrorist group activity in the hemisphere shows that the need for a secure border involves more than illegal immigration.
Mexican authorities said Wednesday they found the stolen truck and likely recovered all of the radioactive cobalt taken by a group of thieves who were probably after the truck, unaware it carried a deadly cargo.
Cobalt-60, which is used in radiation therapy to treat cancer, was being transported from a hospital in the northern city of Tijuana to a radioactive waste storage center. But what if the thieves were terrorists who knew what the truck was carrying and targeted it to gain material for a so-called "dirty bomb"?
At a nuclear security summit in South Korea last year, Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), identified cobalt-60 as one of the materials that could be used with conventional explosives to make such a weapon.
"A dirty bomb detonated in a major city could cause mass panic, as well as serious economic and environmental consequences," Amano said, according to a copy of his speech. Detonation of such a bomb in a big city, he warned, "could cause mass panic, as well as serious economic and environmental consequences."
Bombs made with cobalt-60 "pose a threat mainly because even a fraction of a gram emits a huge number of high-energy gamma rays; such material is harmful whether outside or inside the body," according to a 2011 report by the Congressional Research Service.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
Nuclear Jihad Ping
And Obama and the EU and just about everyone in the West allows Iran to work on nuclear technology like it’s really no big deal at all.
This cobalt-60 sounds bad. It could ruin your whole day. What Iran is working on could ruin your whole millennium.
If I was a terrorist looking for a way to do grievous harm to the U.S. this story would be an inspiration. It tells me, first, there’s an nearby source of very dangerous radioactive material. Second, it broadcasts the fact it’s easy to trace and hijack. All that’s left is to find a deserted place to cross the border, far from the now-publicized nuclear detectors at major border crossings. Of course terrorists never watch TV or read newspapers, do they?
Nuclear Jihad Ping
And DHS just hired 26 pro-immigration lawyers (24 women and 2 men) who are immigration activists, some of whom are associated with MALDEF and LULAC (two notoriously pro-latino organizations). Clearly, these new appointments were not hired to uphold our nation’s immigration laws, but to change them.
Nuclear Jihad Ping
Bipartisan criminal negligence.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.