Bin Laden Nuke Bomb Shock ( "dirty bomb" was a factor in the terror alert )

skynews ^ | 12/04/2001 | Staff

[KQQL]

Bin Laden Nuke Bomb Shock

Evidence has emerged that Osama bin Laden is closer than first thought to developing a crude nuclear weapon. Fear that bin Laden's al Qaeda network might be close to developing a "dirty bomb" was a factor in the United States' decision to issue a new warning of possible attacks, the Washington Post reported.

Fuel rods

The so-called dirty bomb could be made by taking highly radioactive material, such as spent reactor fuel rods, and wrapping it around readily-available conventional explosives.

The newspaper said the alert was raised from interrogation of captured al Qaeda members and evidence gathered in the last month at al Qaeda facilities in Afghanistan by CIA officers and US special forces.

It said a diagram of a "dirty bomb" was found in a Taliban or al Qaeda installation in Afghanistan in recent weeks.

'Radioactivity'

"US intelligence agencies have recently concluded that Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorist network may have made greater strides than previously thought toward obtaining plans or materials to make a crude radiological weapon that would use conventional explosives to spread radioactivity over a wide area," the Post said, quoting US and foreign sources.

"The concern is sufficiently deep that some countries have adopted extreme security procedures at their borders, including the increased use of devices that measure radioactivity."

[MindBender26]

That's the reaction your leaders are hoping for. A bonus for them would be the whimpers and cries for protection.

Yeah, We know, it's all a plot to take away our freedoms, give us to the Red Chinese, the tin hat brigade could have stopped WTC all by itself, gotten Bin Laden, etc. Oh, I forgot, The US Gmvt did WTC as an excuse to take away more freedoms, etc. < /sarcasm>

[LiberteeBell]

"The concern is sufficiently deep that some countries have adopted extreme security procedures at their borders, including the increased use of devices that measure radioactivity."

That would be a "duh!" in most countries, but not our own.

[snorkeler]

The concern is sufficiently deep that some countries have adopted extreme security procedures at their borders, including the increased use of devices that measure radioactivity,

Gee....maybe we should do that too? < /sarcasm>

[backhoe]

Thank you for looking! A point I try to make is that WMD are at heart terror weapons, and the first step towards defusing that is education. I firmly believe the anthrax attacks were probing manuveres designed to gauge our response.

[bulldog905]

I firmly believe the anthrax attacks were probing manuveres designed to gauge our response.

Bingo!

Also the barbarians did what they did on Sept. 11 to determine how far they could go. I suspect they though Bush would be like Clinton: talk a good game, but in the end, bend over.

They were wrong!

[backhoe]

They were wrong!

Yes, they forgot that us 'decadent democracies' are a terrible thing when aroused. We pounded the Thousand-Year Reich into smoking rubble in less than 4 years. We can do this all over again, no sweat.

[4wvueers]

Thanks backhoe for the survival links and I bookmarked them for quick access. Charleston, WV has a big plant called, oops "loose lips" but in India a few years ago there was a "small" leak from the very same plant that is in Charleston that killed thousands of people and to think what could happen if this large plant was attacked. Super yikes. BTW I like your articles and comments I think you add some good insight to the forum. Thanks again.

[FreeLibertarian]

Rather, officials say they suspect negligence by a member of the department’s Nuclear Emergency Search Team, NEST, which is located at the lab and is trained to respond to nuclear terrorist incidents and other nuclear emergencies.

That has nothing to do with the discussion of Bin Laden and dirty bombs.

[freefly]

"...Osama bin Laden is closer than first thought to developing a crude nuclear weapon..."

Wow! sounds serious!

"It said a diagram of a "dirty bomb" was found in a Taliban or al Qaeda installation in Afghanistan in recent weeks."

You mean they were all the way up to drawing pictures?!

"The so-called dirty bomb could be made by taking highly radioactive material, such as spent reactor fuel rods,
and wrapping it around readily-available conventional explosives."

I wonder if a written description like the one above qualifies as "evidence" of developing a weapon of mass destruction.
If this is an example of the sort of thing that the fed is calling "developement" then I would like to see some of the other
"evidence" that they are using to justify that "patriot act".
Sounds like the fed is into fear-propaganda.

[American in Canada]

Must be the Canadian/US Border. Supposedly National Guard and Helicopters will be patrolling. This speaks for itself as to where they will enter. I am crossing the border for the holidays Saturday.....will inform those here of what I encounter.

[randita]

I am crossing the border for the holidays Saturday.....will inform those here of what I encounter.

Did same earlier this fall from a camping/canoeing excursion. They asked us to open our suitcases and rubbermaid storage bins and they poked around in them. I wouldn't attempt to take any booze, cigs or firearms across the border--they're being much more thorough than they usually are. Luckily, they didn't confiscate our many cans of maple syrup--yum.

[paulsy]

"It would just make for an environmental mess, but again, over a relatively small area."

kind of like Love Canal?

[backhoe]

I certainly appreciate your kind words.... I do my dam'dest, for an old ex-wrecker operator, to spread information- the most valuable commodity. During the nearly nine years I drove that old red truck all over the South, I got to meet a lot of people, and you know what? Most Americans are really fine folks... better, IMHO, than most of our so-called "leaders."

[freefly]

"it's all a plot to take away our freedoms,"

The "patriot act" DID take away your freedoms.
Was it a plot? Doesn't matter. You still lost them.

"...give us to the Red Chinese,..."

That happened on clinton's watch.
Of course, nobody wants to talk about it now.
Let alone do anything.

"...the tin hat brigade could have stopped WTC all by itself..."

I havn't heard that one. But armed flight crews certainly could have.
Or passengers that weren't taught to be victims.

"...gotten Bin Laden, etc..."

Cutting off his funding when he was 1st labeled a "terrorist" years ago would have made him irrelevant.

"I forgot, The US Gmvt did WTC as an excuse to take away more freedoms, etc."

Well, the fbi DID run the sting operation that resulted in the 1st WTC bombing.
What their reasoning was for refusing to allow the explosives to be exchanged for inert material has yet to be made public.

Surely the fed isn't interested in circumventing it's Constitutional restraints
and expanding it's power and influence over the citizens of this country?
We have no evidence that it is happening so far, do we?

[MetalHeadConservative35]

I repeat, this article is a crock.

maybe,maybe not never the less all possible scenerio's should be looked at.

[freefly]

"I got to meet a lot of people, and you know what? Most Americans are really fine folks...
better, IMHO, than most of our so-called "leaders."

VERY true.
And it can probably be said about people throughout most of the world.
It's seldom the people who are the problem, it's "leaders" and their propaganda" that create the problems.

Also, thank you for the links...
I print off a lot of that info and hand it out. As you said, education is the key.
We are a lot more effective at providing ourselves with protection than the government could ever be.

[backhoe]

Thank you for your efforts.... I really think getting people to learn how to educate themselves ( bypassing the corrupt, celebrity-worshipping media ) is the key to all this. And I agree with everything else you mentioned- I traveled a lot in younger days, and people are surprisingly decent everywhere I have been. A lot of the problems in the World are not from citizens, but rather from their dam' governments!

[zog]

-I guess it depends where it's set off and how. Like suppose they set one off at another place that has the potential to create more smoke and fire over an even larger area. Like, suppose they set one off at a LNG storage tank or refinery,or at one of the other chemical places you mentioned. Suppose it's attached to a rail tanker car and setoff as that car passes through another area with something else flammable/and or explosive in nature. An alternative might be setting one off in a major city's water reservoir. Hmmm, how about downtown wall street, how much collateral damage is there if that area was dirty nuked, even for only a few block area, and for how long would the "inconvenience" last.

Bottom line is these guys have proven that they are completely competent when it comes to the "force multiplier" effect. They tend to use one small attack to create a larger attack, which leads then again to an even larger final outcome. It's their variation-in a way- on the daisy cutter. A smaller bang leads to much larger results. Their attacks 'directly" seem to be primers for the real goal. One inch bladed knives led to what, 7 major US important buildings down, huge loss of life, and we are still under the ramifications of what happened. All from one inch long knives. If they can do that, starting out with a bigger weapon might be possible for them to have a huge outcome.

I'm not saying that it would be either totally devastating, but I guess I dispute the notion that it could "only" be minimal.

[snorkeler]

Lat time we went to Canada (pre-911), we were towing our boat, packed with equipment and supplies and the Jeep was likewise. We weren't bothered on the way out or on the way back. I was sweating, but only because of all the work it would take to cram all that stuff back. We don't travel light (grin). We would do it differently now, for sure.

[Mixer]

If he has it, he will likely use it in pakistan , because hates them these days.

I agree. I think they are more likely to use it on one of our allies then they are to make it to the States with one. As m,uch as they hate us I am sure they hate muslim nations that help us even more.