'Only A Matter Of Time Before Terrorists Use Weapons Of Mass Destruction'

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 1-17-2006 | Con Coughlin

[Peach]

And Henry "Hank" Crumpton, the newly-appointed head of counter-terrorism at the US State Department, believes that it is simply a matter of time before international terrorist groups such as al-Qa'eda acquire weapons of mass destruction and use them in attacks.

Talk about stating the obvious. I hope he didn't spend a lot of time studying the issue to come to that conclusion.

[Perdogg]

We hear this so much I just tend to let it in one ear and out the other.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

This should be read aloud to Algore.

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[taxesareforever]

But but but, there are no WMDs.

[FreedomPoster]

My impression: Longtime State Dept. hands are having a conniption that this guy is at State.

[PISANO]

Yeah........kinda like that profit of doom Rescorla who predicited 911.......it is all just BS designed to keep the masses in a constant state of panic.

< /sarcasm >

[voletti]

Whatever it be, its BUSH's FAULT!!!!!

/sarc off

I trust the professional diplomat class is doing its job passing around the notion that a WMD attack on a US city will freakin' finish islamocancer as know it, forever....

[southernerwithanattitude]

This HAS to be repeated and repeated over and over to the American people! When was the last time you seen footage of the Twin Towers falling? The American people have forgotten already! How else can the Dimocraps scream for the impeachment of the President over N.S.A. eavesdropping KNOWN terrorist phone calls.

If I had MY way every newscast would start with those towers falling down!

[Perdogg]

I think you misunderstood me. I think it will happen, but people keep saying an attack is going to happen soon and it never does. Like the guy who said that Al Qaeda had nukes for Ramadan.

[RayChuang88]

The most likely WMD used though: a canister or bomb filled with nerve gas.

Why? Because it's the easiest to make and also has the longest shelf life (people forget that biological agents have limited shelf life, even powdered anthrax). If the Aum Shinrikyo could make Sarin from homemade stills, I'm sure al-Qaeda probably has the knowledge and access to materials to make Tabun, the easiest to make nerve gas. One whiff of Tabun and you'll be dead in 10-12 minutes in a pretty excruciating manner.

[BigFinn]

Mr(z). Peach,
I'm with you, pal.. it doesn't take much to figure out what they are up to and what they will do if they do get the bomb. The appeasers will lead us to destruction.

[PeteB570]

I'm sure the Jews would be OK with the idea of having the temple on the mount as our third target in the case of a WMD hit on the US.

[Chode]

please, my bookie coulda told me that and the odds tooo...!!!

[The Great RJ]

I think a "dirty bomb"..conventional explosives laced with radioactive material to be the most likely next weapon. There was a British made for TV movie about such an attack on London that aired on HBO..very chilling.

[COEXERJ145]

A radiological bomb (a "dirty bomb" is actually a nuclear weapon that creates a large amount of radioactive fallout) might scare the crap out of everyone but it really isn't that effective in killing large numbers of people. The conventional explosives will do more damage than the radioactive materials will do as they can be cleaned up.

The best WMD for the terrorists to use is a chemical weapon. Easy to make, easy to transport, and used correctly will cause mass casualties.

[geopyg]

Very chilling indeed. And it may not be the deadliest weapon, but will really make a long-term mess of any place and cause an economic disastor.

[Our man in washington]

All of Al-Qaeda's attacks are predicated on the idea that the west would rather let Al-Qaeda continue their operations than have mass civilian casualties in the Arab world.

If we had modern weapons and a medieval mindset, the war in Iraq would have been over in a week. Terrorist attack in Fallujah? Goodbye, Fallujah.

The reality is that western ethics will change if we have a WMD attack on any western nation. The medieval mindset will return. We may end up destroying large sections of Muslim countries just on rumors that terrorist operations were being planned. And most westerners won't care.

I'm not delighting in the possibility of the deaths of millions of innocent Muslims. But the reality is the west will do what it must to survive.

[Sender]

I think it will happen, but people keep saying an attack is going to happen soon and it never does.

It hasn't yet. Give it time. It's time to be thinking about what we will do when it happens.