This 2001 report tells of the nuclear materials and scientists that OBL had.......
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The Islamic Bomb and Jihad against
Non-Muslims
Date Written : Dec 29, 2001
Date Modified : Dec 29, 2001
The "Dirty bomb" manufacturing plant of Al-Qaida.
In the first evidence that Osama bin Laden (OBL) had obtained
materials for a nuclear arsenal, Uranium has been found in an
Al-Qaida base in the tunnel complex outside Gandhar (Kandahar).
The cache included low-grade Uranium 238 and cyanide. Earlier
hundreds of jars, drums and metal cases in an underground labyrinth
at the desert compound were found when Arab and pakistani fighters
abandoned Gandhar.
To make a nuclear bomb one requires superior technological facilities
to turn Uranium-238 into a fissile device like the Hiroshima bomb. OBL
men lacked the specialised equipment for building such a weapon. But
a small so-called "dirty bomb" can be made out of this Uranium, if
wrapped around a conventional explosive. This small device is capable
of spreading radiation over a large area and can be easily transported
to carry out terrorist activities.
Who else can give the nuclear technology to Taliban, other than its
Al-Qaida network operating from the Pakistani soil?
US President Bush seems to have confirmed this, not in specific words,
but by blocking the assets of UTN. UTN, a non-governmental
organization was founded by Pakistani nuclear scientists that provided
information to Osama bin Laden and the Taliban about chemical,
biological, and nuclear weapons.
Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood, who was formerly the director for nuclear
power at the Pakistani Atomic Energy
Commission (PAEC) was the founder of UTN and one of the key
directors. Other two were Abdul Majeed, a former high- ranking
official at the PAEC and an expert in nuclear fuels; and S.M. Tufail, an
industrialist. The blocking of assets might have been the part of
Operation Green Quest (OGQ) launched on Oct 25, 2001.
Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood had discussed the infrastructure required for
a nuclear weapons programme and its effects with OBL and Mullah
Omar. The US fact sheet released on Dec 20, 2001 says "During 2001,
Mahmood met with Mullah Omar and with Usama bin Laden. During a
follow-up meeting, an associate of Usama bin Laden indicated he had
nuclear material and wanted to know how to use it to make a weapon.
Mahmood provided information about the infrastructure needed for a
nuclear weapons program and the effects of nuclear weapons."
The Islamic Bomb and Jihad against non-muslims
Mahmood had left the PAEC during the Nawaz Sharif government in
Pakistan. Mahmood was in strong opposition during the discussions
held on the signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). He
had advocated equipping Islamic countries with enriched Uranium and
plutonium , with a strong feeling that the Pakistani nuclear bombs
also belong to the Islamic world which can be used for Jihad against
the non-muslims.
Mahmood was also a director with Pakistan's Khushab Atomic Reactor
and was involved in the early days of Pakistan's uranium enrichment
program. The Khushab atomic plant now produces enough plutonium
for making at least two nuclear bombs a year. For his work at
Khushab, Mahmood received one of the prestigious awards in
Pakistan, the Sitar-e-Imtiaz.
After the Uranium being found in the hide-outs of Al-Qaida bases in
Gandhar, it is now clear that the Nuclear formula might have fallen
into the hands of the islamic terrorists. The world needs to realise the
dangers of this. The Bush administration had earlier asked Pakistani to
take Mahmood and Majeed into preventive custody. These two have
been detained and released at least twice. Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi
has on records admitted that the authorities were investigating links
between the Taliban and UTN. But along with the UTN, US needs to
pressurise the Musharraf government to expose the nexus between
the pro-taliban ISI and the Al-Qaida network.
On October 6, Musharraf as president, extended his own term as chief
of staff of the Pakistan army, the most powerful post in Pakistan. He
moved to consolidate his hold on the administration and the army. The
the most notable thing was that he removed or re-allocated key army
personnel known to be sympathetic to the Taliban, Al-Qaida and to
Osama bin Laden, who is wanted by the US dead or alive. more
The sequence of
a) Nuclear bomb specialists leaving PAEC and joining Al-Qaida
network.
b) September 11 attacks on WTC and the Pentagon
c) Re-shuffling of Pakistani Army Personnel and "premature
retirement" of ISI Chief on Oct 6
d) Detention of Pakistani Nuclear scientists for interrogation
and recent
e) evidence of "dirty bomb" (also called "poor man's nuke" )
manufacturing hide-outs in Gandhar,
prove the nexus between various members of Al-Qaida
network viz. ISI, Taliban and the hardliners in Pakistani
Military.
US needs to support Musharraf in his so-far unsuccessful attempts of
curbing the Jihadis in the ISI and the hardliners in pakistani military.
US should give an offer to Pakistan for securing the nuclear
installations of Pakistan under US control to protect them from falling
them into wrong hands. US is already establishing air bases in
Pakistan, starting with an air base in southwest Pakistan which will
serve as a "key U.S. facility" in the region. Jacobabad might have
been chosen as it is relatively close to Afghanistan, but also far from
Pakistan's nuclear weapons facilities in the far southwest.
The Musharraf government needs an urgent help!!! ... and the
world needs to support US for every step it takes in its war on
terrorism, the next phase of which needs to be on Pakistani soil.
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Ummmm.... I wonder. If it's really reasonably pure U-238, it won't be very radioactive - not at all useful for a "dirty bomb." If one went off near me, as long as I was outside the blast zone I'd probably get more radiation from the bricks in my house than from the U-238. For that matter we'd probably get more radiation from the C-14 in our bodies than we would from such a bomb.
If it's got significant radioactive impurities then all bets are off but it will be those impurities that are generating the radiation, not the U-238. For example, spent nuclear fuel rods, whose high radiation content is primarily due to the fission products in the rod, which have a very short half-life and give off a LOT of radiation.
Mentioning U-238 without saying whether any other radioisotopes might be present is a pure red herring. The question is whether the misunderstanding was in al Qaeda (thinking that their bomb would be dangerous if they just used some kind of Uranium) or with the reporter.