Answer is "escalation". AQ still has state sponsorship. My guess is that those states are telling AQ, that if they detonate nukes, they themselves will obliterate them, because they know that the US won't sit by.
(P.S. my tagline is truer, than most people are willing to believe)
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/3/10/111302.shtml Lunev Advised Bush on Drawing Up Nuclear Plans
Christopher Ruddy
Monday, March 11, 2002
The recent "leak" of a classified Pentagon report that the U.S. military recently has drawn up plans to use nuclear weapons against seven nations was no accident.
The Pentagon report identifies China, Russia, Iraq, North Korea, Iran, Libya and Syria as nuclear targets, and directs military planners to begin preparing nuclear strike plans in case of a nuclear, biological or chemical weapons attack on the U.S. or "in the event of surprising military developments."
U.S. officials were quick to confirm the report, which no doubt sent a serious signal to rogue states about what will happen if the U.S. is hit with a nuclear device.
This "news" of the nuclear war plans should not be surprising to NewsMax readers.
President Bush and the Pentagon are only following the advice given to them by NewsMax columnist and Russian defector Col. Stanislav Lunev.
On Sept. 24, Col. Lunev's column headlined: Bush Must Warn Rogue States of Nuclear Retaliation.
Lunev, the highest-ranking military spy ever to defect from Russia, warned the White House that the terrorist threat would not abate: "These groups clearly have received sufficient funds, supplies, support and hospitality from rogue nations – all of whom have close ties to Russia's military and intelligence agencies."
Lunev continued ominously: "... we are in a full-blown war, the stakes are high for each side. No one can rule out that these terrorists may have biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. No one can rule out their use. International terrorism currently has enough power to challenge the West and, using weapons of mass destruction, perhaps hit us with a devastating blow."
Col. Lunev also said, "The planning, network and resources involved in the operation of Sept. 11 suggests to me that one or more countries were behind this, and also that Russian intelligence agencies were likely aware of the possibility of these attacks."
Lunev argued that the Sept. 11 attack was simply a precursor to a much larger attack.
The terrorists and their backers are clever propagandists and realized that a mass destruction attack against the U.S. would rouse Muslim and world opinion in the U.S.'s favor.
The terrorists, Lunev thinks, "realized America would retaliate."
Only in the aftermath of U.S. retaliation, which the world has since witnessed in Afghanistan, Lunev wrote that "we must worry about the next attack, which may be an escalation in scope and severity over the ones of Sept. 11."
Lunev then gave advice that has now been heeded by the Bush administration: "My suggestion is that the U.S. must warn rogue states, i.e., Iraq, Iran, Syria and Libya, that if these groups use a weapon of mass destruction on an American city, the U.S. military will not do any investigations, there will be no delay – the U.S. will use similar weapons on their population centers and military targets."
On Oct. 16, just over a month after Sept. 11, Lunev worried again about a nuclear attack, in an urgent memo to President Bush, which was published on NewsMax.com (see: Memo to Bush: A Plan to Prevent Weapons of Mass Destruction).
Lunev candidly informed President Bush: "Right now, there is no way to assure America that such weapons [of mass destruction] will not be used. We must be honest and admit that time may already have run out.
"The terrorists have had a huge time advantage over us. They had almost the whole past 10 years to move without sanction from the U.S. government. For all practical purposes, these terrorists may have already deployed weapons of mass destruction here."
It should be remembered that it was Lunev who, as a GRU defector, first told the CIA that Russia had already deployed suitcase nuclear bombs inside the U.S.
In the wake of the al-Qaeda attacks, Lunev was justifiably troubled that other rogue operators, such as Iraq and North Korea, would use the opportunity to detonate a nuclear device in America – with the hope that it would be conveniently blamed on bin Laden.
"Already, I have encouraged you to warn all backers of al-Qaeda, including any and all backers of terrorist groups and nations, including Iraq, Iran, Syria and others, that the use of weapons of mass destruction on American soil will cause the U.S. to use such weapons against any and all backers of these terrorists.”
Lunev added, in his Oct. 16 memo, "You should tell them the U.S. will retaliate without investigation and go after 'likely suspects.' "
Lunev then advised the president on a critical tactical maneuver: He should not simply warn rogue nations of a potential nuclear retaliation, he must draw up plans to do so.
Lunev wrote, "You should not just warn rogue nations, you must have your Pentagon begin to prepare to use such weapons against these nations.
"If you do, the many spies in the U.S. government will report back to rogue nations that you are serious and if a weapon of mass destruction is used against America, you will respond with fury. Then no one will be safe.
"I can assure you that this will be unsettling to America's enemies."
I wish I shared your optimism. I tend to think that the possibility seems so unthinkable, that even intelligence agencies mention the threats that seem conceivable and write the others info off as preposterous. (But I would like to know what is being said on the secure phone lines.)
That's what I'm thinking. Even if they do have the 30 devices, it seems they have the dreamer's eyes. No matter what they say about 9/11 now, they probably thought that would have hurt us alot worse than it did. They may detonate these, taking out alot of people, and I'm sure they think that would bring us to our knees. It might, but it would certainly not be total destruction, as you said, but I'm sure that's what they're expecting. I read something that was posted here earlier that said AQ had nukes, but was saving them for their own protection. Kinda makes sense. That Traveller2002 expects the strike to happen in 4 waves, and also doesn't believe actual nukes are placed. He's not an AQ agent, and those are things he's pieced together. I'm sure he can get to more info than most of us here, but I'm still not placing my trust in him. But from what I pieced together it sounds much more logical for the four wave attack, with large scale attacks (comparable to 9/11, as stated) nationwide with hardly any breaks. Having constant large attacks, probably through chemical plants and the like, across the nation would cause alot of chaos and would seriously hurt. We would have a hard time dealing with everything at once. I'm also along the lines that if they had them, they did have ample opportunity. They keep saying it's soon, but they had some of the best opportunities this month come and go, and they could have fulfilled their prophecy as well. I don't know what to make of this, so I guess I'll just have to wait.
One thing that this this whole Al Qaeda discussion has brought to my mind is that people are more easily manipulated and herded when they are under fear...through out history, fear has been used over the common people over and over...examples Cold War, French revolts, current terrorism, possible even back with the British trying to keep US colonies under their thumb...this is also a major tool used in communism...is fear being promoted in these discussion threads...just thinking out loud...
PS. But I do think something could happen in the next 5 years.