Rep: Weldon: 'Dirty Nuke' Already Inside U.S., Experts Assume

NewsMax ^ | April 23, 2002 | Staff

[Bubba_Leroy]

Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., said Tuesday he believes that Osama bin Laden not only has the capacity to produce a "dirty nuke" radiation bomb, but that national security experts are operating on the assumption that he's already smuggled one inside the U.S.

"We are taking every possible precaution, both from the intelligence standpoint and the physical protection standpoint," Weldon told Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes."

"The question is: is it here? I don't know that answer," said Weldon, who serves as Military Procurement Subcommittee Chairman and sits on the House Armed Services Committee.

"But I think we have to assume it's here because we have to take every possible precaution to try to find it and locate where it would be so we can defuse it," he added.

Weldon's warning was prompted by reports that captured al Qaeda lieutenant Abu Zubaydah, who was chief of operations for bin Laden’s terror network, has told probers that bin Laden had developed a radiation bomb with an eye towards smuggling it into the U.S.

Weldon said the U.S. doesn't have enough radiation detection equipment to monitor every possible point of entry for a smuggled al Qaeda dirty nuke.

[OldFriend]

Weldon has been making the rounds of TV shows with his suitcase bomb in hand for months now.

[rwfromkansas]

I am just shaking in my boots. /sarcasm

[AM2000]

Atleast Israel knew which cities and which refugee camps to go into. We won't.

Btw, nice screenname. You really are a Gandu.

[Bullish]

Weldon said the U.S. doesn't have enough radiation detection equipment to monitor every possible point of entry for a smuggled al Qaeda dirty nuke.

Since aliens and drugs continue to pour across our borders they're shouldn't have been too many problems getting this thing in.

I blame a lot of our current problems on the left wing liberals who just couldn't stand for us to mind our borders. I also blame politicians of every stripe who have looked the other way and avoided confronting the problem of massive immigration. We have now been invaded by foriegn nationals of many nations who couldn't care less for America or Americans.

It's embarrasing to watch our politicians bumble our immigration problem.

Seal the borders and do a head count now!

[Ditter]

Don't you suppose that if the bomb was here & ready, they would have used it already? They would have used it on 9-11 if they had had it.

[Cicero]

I believe this is what has been motivating Bush to take such strong action. These people are certifiably evil, and there are a whole lot of them. And in a free society it's very, very hard to prevent them from doing this sort of thing.

If the Islamic terrorists were rational, they might refrain from doing this, because of the predictable reaction of the American people. The anger that followed 9/11 would be nothing compared to the anger resulting from a nuclear release in one of our cities. But, regretably, they are not rational.

As Bush has said, this is going to be a long and difficult war, and along the way there are going to be inevitable setbacks. What can we do but live with it and deal with the perpetrators as they deserve?

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

exactly, they would have used it already. On either a small town like in the heartland or in D.C.

[Colorado Doug]

If we find it, we really should give it back. I understand that there are quite a few radical Muslims at a place called Mecca. Because of the language problem, I say we return it wrapped in an American flag to the rightful owners at Mecca . By covering it with the symble of America we can be assured that they will treat it carefully and with respect until the proper authorities arrive. Gosh, it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, thinking of returning their lost property.

[section9]

Curt Weldon. Nice guy. Never stole a freight train. But he's peddling complete bollocks.

The ragheads would have used the nuke in New York or D.C. on the 11th to decapitate as much of the financial/governmental apparatus as possible.

They don't have it. Not yet. But they will.

Unless we kill them first.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Libertina]

You're a true gentleman! :)

[Chemnitz]

Never underestimate what these people can do or will do. We do not have the same mindset. We should assume the worst and use medical therapy to encourage all captured terrorists to share their true feelings with us...and all the facts as well.

[glock rocks]

i think vaporizing mecca would be a nice first gesture. hit it
on a relatively empty day. ho hum. consider the ramifications...
compared to nagasaki, i think the message would be immediate.

hey, war ain't pc.

[Colorado Doug]

You're a true gentleman! :)

Thank you but really, it's just the right thing to do.

[Orion]

I wonder how many more civil rights we will have to cough up to find this?

[AmerRepb]

While Weldon was on FOX a picture of one of these suitcase bombs was shown. It looked like a large pipe bomb laying diag in the suitcase. I was wondering what mat'l the casing was made of (alum, steel, titanium) and how much lead the interior was lined with to contain the radiation, etc. I'm just guessing but I would think that one of these suitcase bombs would contain quite a bit of weight to be lugging around. Any thoughts?

[krogers58]

The "Davey Crockett" ( W-54 ) Tactical Nuclear Warhead

The W-54 probably represents a near minimum size for a spherical implosion device (the U.S. has conducted tests of a 25.4 cm implosion system however). The W-54 is certainly light enough by itself to be used in a "suit case bomb" but the closest equivalent to such a device that U.S. has ever deployed was a man-carried version called the Mk-54 SADM (Small Atomic Demolition Munition). This used a version of the W-54, but the whole package was much larger and heavier. It was a cylinder 40 cm by 60 cm, and weighed 68 kg (the actual warhead portion weighed only 27 kg). Although the Mk-54 SADM has itself been called a "suitcase bomb" it is more like a "steamer trunk" bomb, especially considering its weight