Posted on 09/24/2001 4:13:22 PM PDT by DrLiberty
Foreign Affairs News Source: WORLD TRIBUNE.COM Published: Monday, August 9, 1999 Author: Staff Posted on 08/09/1999 01:31:08 PDT by JohnHuang2
Bin Laden has 20 nuclear bombs: Expert
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM Monday, August 9, 1999
WASHINGTON -- Saudi fugitive Osama Bin Laden is believed to have up to 20 nuclear bombs and is seeking to launch a massive terrorist strike against the United States, a congressional investigator and author says.
Yosef Bodansky, a researcher of the House Task Force for Counterterrorism and author of a new book on Bin Laden, told a news conference on Friday that Bin Laden has been seeking to follow up on his bombings of two U.S. embassies in east Africa one year ago. Echoing U.S. officials, Bodansky said Bin Laden was thwarted in plans to blow up the U.S. embassy and two consulates in India in last December and January. Bin Laden has biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, Bodansky said. The nuclear weapons include suitcase bombs acquired through Chechniyan rebels and received technical help from Iraq.
"The Russians believe that he has a handful [of nuclear weapons], the Saudi intelligence services are very conservative, perhaps they are friendly to the United States, believe that he has in the neighborhood of 20," Bodansky said.
"As far as the acquisition and obtaining, there's the multiple sources of that, dealing with the actual purchase of suitcase bombs. His collection of individuals knowledgeable in activating the bombs and he is looking for and recruiting former Soviet special forces in learning how to operate the bombs behind enemy lines." "As far as decision-making in Washington is concerned, we should assume that he has them," he added. "Most of them have been transferred through Pakistan." "Let me stress here: We don't have any indication that they are going to use it tomorrow or any other day," added Bodansky, whose analyses are considered controversial in Washingon. "But they have the capability, they have the legitimate authorization, they have the logic for using it. So, one does not go into the tremendous amount of expenditures, effort, investment in human beings, in human resources, to have something that will be just kept somewhere in storage for a rainy day."
Bodansky said Bin Laden has strong ties with Islamic fundamentalists throughout the Middle East, the Balkans, Britain in the Untied States. He refused to name any specific organization in the United States.
"There's a distinct minority within the Moslem community in the United States that is very sympathetic to his cause, to his analysis and interpretation of the relationship between the hub of Islam and the penetration of Westernization, Western culture and the like," he said. "And a minority among this minority are known to have crossed the threshold of willingness to commit terrorist acts or commit violence.
Many have been trained in Afghanistan, Bosnia and elsewhere throughout the Moslem world, so that they are capable. They have the skills and capabilities to carry out an operation as required." Bodansky said Bin Laden remains in Afghanistan. He said the Saudi is located in Islam Darva, about 80 kilometers northwest of Kandahar. When he wants to communicate with the outside world, he travels to Jalalabad.
And didn't Bin Laden supposedly just communicate with the outside world? Your thoughts Freepers.
If you believe everything you read, please read the following:
You will give me all your money.
Bin Laden has been escalating his attacks. If you beleive as I do, He was probably involved in OK City and TWA 800, along with what we know of WTC first bombing, Saudi barracks, and USS Cole.
I only offer this up for conjecture.....you haven't heard much about his capability...it might explain a few things about our response to date (or lack thereof)
Bin Laden can't be accused of being stupid. He apparently thinks and acts like a chessplayer (could he be KGB influenced - we know he had CIA contact)
Suicide bombers pop a nuke on our troops, killing most of them and destroying all of the tanks, trucks, equipment, supplies, etc. And, simultaneously, suicide bombers take out all of Washington D.C. with the 2nd nuke.
The ensuing anarchy defies the imagination.
We know there are low-yield nukes, and miniturization is continually occurring in all other tech fields.
It is possible though, that they may have been popularized to the outside world (and thru movies like "The Peacemaker") to help gain acceptance by the public to the dangers of the spreading of nukes and terrorist use.
3He contamination in the tritium is a VERY big issue, particularly with "fractional-crit" devices.
We are forgetting that this guy's moves aren't a means to an end. He is David, we are Goliath. How do you defeat Goliath???
You get Goliath to overcommit and spread his forces far and wide. We are a giant straining for a gnat with a huge overkill of forces. We are allowing him to get us out of position and I fear we are not guarding our perimeter against possible ambushes.
Special forces should take their time, isolate them and kill them one by one. We should be careful of Bin Laden and his 60-nation network.
And if the Chechens actually had some nukes, they would have used them on Russia before they would have let the Russians blast Grozny into rubble--or they would have used them as revenge.
You beat me to it. These pukes always use the biggest gun in their bag. That they haven't used such weapons is a pretty good indication that they don't have them. Not that they aren't trying to get them; all the more reason to smash them into tread grease.
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.