Posted on 10/19/2001 7:13:42 AM PDT by spycatcher
Israelis Capture Man With Radiological Backpack Bomb 10-19-1
ISRAEL - Israeli security last month arrested a man linked to suspected terrorist coordinator, Osama bin Laden, armed with a radiological backpack bomb.
The man was arrested in the last week of September as he attempted to enter Israel from the Palestinian Territories at a border crossing point at Ramallah, according to U.S. government officials.
"There was only one individual involved. He was from Pakistan," a government official said.
An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to give the exact date of arrest. Two other sources interviewed by United Press International confirmed the incident, but also declined to give further details.
"People know how to walk a dog back," one said, meaning that relating too exact an account could lead to the identification of the source of the information.
Another source said U.S. officials believed that the suspect had probably reached the territories by way of Lebanon.
Information on the arrest went immediately to President Bush and a close circle of advisers, another U.S. official said. He described the appearance and character of the top-secret report circulated among the Cabinet members and signed by each official present.
Former Pentagon terrorism expert Peter Probst described a radiological bomb as a device with a small explosive core that is encased in radioactive material. "It would not kill a great many people, but it would contaminate a considerable area with radiation," he said.
A U.S. government expert said that the weapon captured by Israel was a backpack device that CIA officials learned about through Russian intelligence agents in place in 1995. He emphasized it was not a so-called nuclear suitcase bomb.
Backpack bombs were designed for Russian Spetznaz special forces and have such an intricate and complex system of activation that the ability of a terrorist to detonate one would be incredibly limited, according to one U.S. government official.
"There is such a complicated sequence you have to perform that some terrorist isn't going to be able to get it to work. You have to be very highly trained," an intelligence official agreed, describing the chances that the device could have been activated as "practically miniscule."
Probst is nevertheless convinced that radiological bombs are still a danger for New York City. "Bin Laden is fascinated by Wall Street. My fear is that he will attempt to smuggle in some "dirty" bomb that wouldn't kill many people but would dangerously contaminate the area," he said.
If this were true, the terrorists would just disassemble the bomb and rebuild it using less complicated control mechanisms. Given the number of Arabs & Pakistanis who have studied in the USA and earned graduate degrees in engineering, this is not beyond their capabilities. We are not talking about an implosion-type fission bomb here (which is VERY difficult to do just right), but rather a simple explosive surrounded by radioactive material.
I'm not sure if it is the case that these "officials" think we are all idiots, or if THEY are all idiots, but neither one is a particularly comforting thought.
But I am CERTAIN that ABCNNBCBS would go hyper crazy if ANY rads were spread around Manhattan, and that would be a victory for the terrorists.
I do believe they were talking about the firing sequence of a non-fission, dirty bomb.
But former CIA counter-terrorism official Vince Cannistraro has no patience with such accounts: "All talk of bin Laden having a nuclear suitcase bomb is crap," he said.
So we've even got these anti-tinfoil types in the CIA. At least he's a "former" CIA official...
What exactly does this do?, screen all the enemy for breast cancer?
fun aside, what is a radiological bomb?
Good find. I did a quick search trying to track the story down and found nothing.
I did, however, find a nice UN page describing all the different kinds of nuclear weapons available. It's: Nuclear and Radiological Weapons: What's What?
Interestingly enough, the above page is on the UN website, under the catagory of "United Nations Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention" I'm not exactly sure WHAT to make of that...
Mark W.
You don't need a bomb to distribute radioactive powder anyhow. It's actually a stupid way to do it unless it is on the tip of a rocket. Otherwise distributing it by hand is more effective and far less detectable during the commission.
Maybe for a suitcase nuke, but if it has conventional explosives, then that is not so hard to set off...just put a grenade or other bomb next to it.
Nah. Still sitting here on the plate. I'll have a sniff when it gets cold ;).
The Russian mob has been known to use radioactive material as a murder weapon, for example. There was a rather nasty one a couple years ago in which someone put a plate of very hot stuff into the headrest of some official's office chair.
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