[blam]

"What do you think we would do if al Qaeda did light off a nuke? "

If they had one, they'd have already used it. They are scrambling to put together a 'dirty' bomb.

[Angelus Errare]

I'm not quite so certain that they don't have the ability to obtain at least one nuke thanks to their ties with the ISI, but I think that even the nutcases in Pakistani intelligence aren't crazy enough to turn one over to them until they can guarantee a 100% chance of detonation. If the nuke was intercepted en route and then traced back to Pakistan, there'd be hell to pay.

A far more terrifying scenario, IMO, concerns either the use of rockets to shoot down US passenger jetliners or the use of chemical weapons through crop dusters to kill hundreds of people.

We should also distinguish between them having the weapon and being able to deliver it here.