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DOD Nuclear Blast (RealPlayer):
Posted on 03/03/2002 7:15:24 AM PST by TheRedSoxWinThePennant
OCTOBER BULLETIN SAID AL-QAEDA TERRORISTS THOUGHT TO HAVE 10 KILOTON NUCLEAR WEAPON TO BE SMUGGLED INTO NEW YORK CITY Sun Mar 03 2002 10:40:24 ET **TIME MAGAZINE**
New York -- In October, an intelligence alert went out to a small number of government agencies, including the Energy Department's top-secret Nuclear Emergency Search Team, based in Nevada. The report said that terrorists were thought to have obtained a 10-kiloton nuclear weapon from the Russian arsenal, and planned to smuggle it into New York City, a special TIME magazine investigation reveals.
Publishing sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT, the next cover story of TIME will headline: "Can We Stop the Next 9/11?"
The report hits newsstands Monday, March 4th.
MORE
The source: a mercurial agent code-named DRAGONFIRE, who intelligence officials believed was of "undetermined" reliability, TIME reports. But DRAGONFIRE'S claim tracked with a report from a Russian general who believed his forces were missing a 10-kiloton device.
That made the DRAGONFIRE report alarming. So did this: detonated in lower Manhattan, a 10-kiloton bomb would kill some 100,000 civilians and irradiate 700,000 more, flattening everything in a half-mile diameter.
Counterterrorist investigators went on their highest state of alert, TIME reports. "It was brutal," a U.S. official told TIME.
It was also highly classified and closely guarded.
MORE
Under the aegis of the White House’s Counterterrorism Security Group, part of the National Security Council, the suspected nuke was kept secret so as not to panic the people of New York. Senior FBI officials were not in the loop. Former mayor Rudolph Giuliani says he was never told about the threat. In the end, the investigators found nothing, and concluded that DRAGONFIRE'S information was false. But few of them slept better.
Counterterrorism experts and government officials interviewed by TIME say that for all the relative calm since Sept. 11, America’s luck will probably run out again, sooner or later. "It's going to be worse, and a lot of people are going to die," warns one U.S. counterterrorism official. "I don't think there's a damn thing we're going to be able to do about it."
The DRUDGE REPORT has been briefed on other revelations coming from TIME's investigation:
The Coast Guard is arming itself against a possible terrorist attempt to destroy a major U.S. coastal city by detonating a tanker loaded with liquified natural gas.
The Administration has recalled old CIA hands with experience in Central Asia. Says an Administration official: "You ended up going back to retirees because the bench was so light on Afghanistan. We’re still trying to get up to speed."
This week, Tom Ridge’s office plans to announce a new color-coded alert system to warn local law enforcement and the public about threats within U.S. borders, sources tell TIME.
While there is a genuine debate inside the government about whether Osama bin Laden is still alive, there is far less argument about what will happen after Washington is able to confirm that he is dead. A U.S. official told TIME last week that it is widely presumed that al-Qaeda sleeper cells will take retaliatory action once the terrorist leader is killed or proven dead.
"We're as vulnerable today as we were on 9/10 or 9/12," says presidential counselor Karen Hughes. "We just know more."
Developing...
Geez. You had me all excited there for a moment. Thought they'd chained the dog :).
Don't know how Drudge got the scoop, don't trust this Time report
Me neither. Reports of missing nukes, nukes being sold on the black market, nukes being "shown to western journalists" and stuff like that has been coming out of Russia for ten years now. With pictures. Never amounted to much, I think ;).
In the end you are assuming :1)the investigators are omnipotent
2)this lead, if false, is the only potential nuke that is being readied to sneak in the US 3)nukes, bios, chems arent already here
These terrorists have no regard for life and the only reason we havent been nukes to this point is they haven't had the opportunity ....YET. Vigilance should be the word for the Year.
Fortunately there are only a handful of minivans, pickups, and SUVs per highway foot in this country. Should be easy to spot crossing over from New Jersey.
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DOD Nuclear Blast (RealPlayer):
They're at least smart enough to figure out that an informant is full of shit or not. This is a talent you seem not to have even though the evidence is staring you in the face. This story is tabloid nonsense.
Do you know what responsibilities come with that office? I bet you really don't. Suffice it to say, I would NOT want the job.
The job entails coordinating all of the federal, state and local authorities have something to do with counter-terrorist activies. They include FBI, CIA, DoD, FAA, etc. Departments that are kingdoms of their own and they are all supposed to give Ridge their utmost attention and resources (yeah, right).
Oh, and on top of all of that, he doesn't have a budget, that's right, he gets hand outs from the WH Chief of Staff. No budgetary money inside the beltway means no pull, no power and influence. He's lucky to get any cooperation. The White House is kind enough to have the text of the Executive Order that created this office and outlines it's duties and resources here.
...in an off-the-record elaboration, Time editor Jim Kelly explained that keeping the public in a constant state of hysteria meant boffo bucks at the newstand. 'We're giving the American public what they want', said Kelly. 'Anxiety. Anthrax was worth a 40% jump in sales, and I'm predicting a good radiation scare will equal or surpass that record.'
Jawohl, herr Sturmbannfuhrer!
You vant zem loaded into ze trucks, now?
Uh huh.
And my guess is, your Prozac bottle's empty.
DD, think this scare campaign will make as much money for military contractors as Y2K did for programming contractors?
Lol, Time Magazine liberal but not really a tabloid, also there is a real source/agent, and a real investigation...Apparently, you didnt read my post in it's entirety or you can't comprehend what I wrote, since your post doesnt really relate to what I said.
Again:
In the end you are assuming :1)the investigators are omnipotent
2)this lead, if false, is the only potential nuke that is being readied to sneak in the US 3)nukes, bios, chems arent already here
These terrorists have no regard for life and the only reason we havent been nukes to this point is they haven't had the opportunity ....YET. Vigilance should be the word for the Year.
Perfect analogy. Yes. Moreso in fact.
Correct. All of New York City would have stood to attention and pointed angrily at the culprits if anyone tried to slip a box that size into the city.
/sarcasm
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