Uranium And Cyanide Found In Drums At Bin Laden Base

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 12-24-2001 | Barbie Dutter/Ben Fenton

[blam]

Uranium and cyanide found in drums at bin Laden base

By Barbie Dutter in Kandahar and Ben Fenton
(Filed: 24/12/2001)

URANIUM has been found in an al-Qa'eda base outside Kandahar - the first evidence that Osama bin Laden had obtained materials for a nuclear arsenal, it was revealed yesterday.

The discovery gives some credibility to the fear that he could unleash a weapon of mass destruction as his dying act.

Anti-Taliban leaders in Kandahar revealed that the uranium and other materials, including cyanide, had been discovered in a tunnel complex beneath the former base near the city's airport. The find was confirmed by American officials.

It was also revealed that when tribal forces took the al-Qa'eda complex earlier this month they found hundreds of jars, drums and metal cases in an underground labyrinth at the desert compound where Arab fighters staged a bloody last stand before Kandahar was surrendered by the Taliban.

The cache included low-grade uranium 238, which could be used to make a so-called "dirty bomb" if wrapped around a conventional explosive. It would spread radiation over a large area.

Specialised equipment and facilities would be needed to turn uranium 238 into a fissile device like the Hiroshima bomb, and so it would not be suitable for building such a weapon.

American intelligence officials told Newsweek magazine that al-Qa'eda had enough of the material to make a "dirty bomb" and it seems certain that their knowledge is based on the discovery at Kandahar airport.

Haji Gullalai, now the interim intelligence chief for Kandahar province, told The Telegraph that immediately after capturing the airport area, his men had entered one tunnel and discovered the materials in a vast underground workshop.

The find was reported the same day to "international military personnel", thought to be American special forces, who sent experts wearing masks and protective clothing to examine the substances, Mr Gullalai said.

He added: "We knew we were not well equipped to deal with these things so we called in foreign experts who told us it was uranium.

"For our own safety we did not touch the bottles but from a distance we saw there were hundreds of different kinds of containers - small jars and big jars, sealed with metal lids and containing powders and liquids, white and yellowish in colour.

"There were big drums the size of petrol drums and metal boxes with sides seven or eight inches thick. The bottles were labelled in four different languages - Chinese, Russian, Arabic and English."

American officials said that Russia, the states of the former Soviet Union, China and Pakistan were all possible sources for the uranium.

It has been estimated that several hundred Arab al-Qa'eda fighters were killed in the battle for the airport, led by Gul Agha - now Kandahar's new governor - with Mr Gullalai playing a senior commanding role.

The area where the tunnels were found is known locally as Turnak Farms. It is thought to have been the al-Qa'eda network's principal training and military base in southern Afghanistan and and held up to 1,800 people.

Kandahar airport has now been taken over by around 1,500 US marines and coalition forces.

[rboatman]

I don't know if it helps, but I seem to recall that there was a WND artical metioning the occurrance. I hope this isn't a WGC (Wild goose chase).

[ironman]

Badaboom! Actually, not very funny.

[Delmarksman]

I'm no expert, but I did stay at a Holliday Inn Express last night. ; )

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Actually, not very funny

I agree it is NOT very funny wish we could find this bastard and string him up by his entrails

[ninonitti]

What would the cyanide be used for?

Some Jonestown Kool-Aid?

[Blood of Tyrants]

The source is most likely the former Soviet Union. Since the material is not fissionable, it was likely under far less stringent security. Also, I am not sure of the numbers but I believe that you have to process several hundred pounds of U-238 to get a pound or two of U-235. That means that for the thousands of nuclear bombs we and the Russians have, there are several hundred THOUSAND pounds of U-238 sitting around.

[Rockinfreakapotamus]

I wouldn't trust The Telegraph as much of a source as this is the same rag for which Robert Fisk pens his pro-palestinian anti-Israel diatribe.

[irish_lad]

Another postulate was that 9/11 was his big bang, thinking that the US would not respond as strongly and that other Muslims would side with him. There could be something else in the works, but it may also be that this was his one and only plan. Only time will tell.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

I doubt it, but if it happens, I hope OUR "dying act" is to nuke Mecca.

Wait until Bunker is finished taking a dump right in the middle of the town square.

[Smogger]

Welcome to the dark side. This comes as know suprise to those of us that have followed this topic closely. I hope this wakes up more of the "if he had them he would have used them" crowd, but alas I doubt anything but a nuclear detonation on US soil will do so.

We are now entering the most dangerous time of OBL's campaign against the United States. The PSYCHOLOGICAL and ECONOMIC damage caused by a nuclear detonation in say downtown Manhattan not to mention the incredible loss of life would take many years to recover from.

You can forget about a "dirty bomb" also folks. I fear the devices the OBL has obtained are of the fission variety and will be considerably more destructive then we could imagine. OBL has not unleashed his nuclear arsenal so far because there are political and military considerations. However, he has removed one political and military obstacle to his use of nuclear weapons. By forcing us to remove the Taliban from Afghanistan he has created an enviroment in which if he used nuclear weapons there would be NO OBVIOUS TARGET which we could retaliate against with our own nukes.

The question is not whether or not OBL has nukes. He has stated that he does and we must take him at his word (we cannot afford to assume otherwise). The question is how many, when, where, and how he plans to use them.

A 1 kiloton airburst over the SuperBowl? A nuke in downtown Manhattan, Washington D.C.? No fire department in the world could extinguish the fires that such a device would ignite. The possibilities boggle the mind. Stay vigilant.

[Nogbad]

I wouldn't trust The Telegraph as much of a source
as this is the same rag
for which Robert Fisk pens his pro-palestinian anti-Israel diatribe.

Robert Fisk writes for "The Independent".

"The Telegraph" is a good conservative newspaper.

[StriperSniper]

Before 9/11 it would have been rather simple to sail it into NY harbor and detonate it, but I bet that is not the case any longer.

It has been tightened up, but only a small fraction of the ships that come in can be inspected to any degree. Between the Coast Guard, NYPD, NJSP, and the Port Authority Police the harbor is well patroled. The down side is that my favorite fishing spots and times are now off limits.

Waterway and port info

[RightWhale]

A well planned nuclear attack on domestic North America

A nukular note for those who just tuned in:

---

All the nuclear weapons on earth used on a single country, say, the size of France, would barely be enough to excavate it to a depth of 3 feet if the weapons were set to excavate mode. Since the weapons available to Alqaida are transportable by terrorists and nuclear bombs are not, Alqaida can use only radioactive pipebombs. These would have the power to blow up a disco and spew radioactive material all over the sidewalk. A mess, but hardly the end of North America. Even the much-feared suitcase nuke is small potatoes in the nuclear league, suitable to wreck a city block, not much more.

---

Alqaida could do much more damage by registering as a political party [which would be banned everywhere except America, of course,] and running a slate of liberal candidates.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[harrowup]

If he was trying to cook Radon Gas he is probably a shadow of himself now...har, de har har har.

[anniegetyourgun]

re #36 - actually, no. I suspect if we were in heightened state of concern, we would have received another one of those statements out of D.C. To my knowledge, no such statement has been issued for Christmas.

[Zathras]

FYI: U238 is a mild alpha emitter and would be totally useless as a "dirty bomb"
Unless it ended up in Dashole's office and then of course it would be "...a national disaster"

[Stallone]

YES

Conservatives. Wake Up.

The Achilles Heel for DemocRATS is RIDICULE!

It has been sorely missing in the Conservative arsenal for too long.

Stop playing Mr. Rogers to Hillary, Billsh!t, Dassh@le and the rest of the mother f@ckers in the DemocRATic party.

Time to be CRUSADERS, i.e. Warriors for Good, once again.

Let's Roll!

[anymouse]

Probably was using it to do just that, load his troops shells with dipleted Uranium to cut through the US armor he expected to be chasing down his cowardly behind. Good thing we didn't give him the opportunity to use it.