Apocalypse Now, or Alottanukes Soon

Asia Times ^ | November 15, 2002 | Pepe Escobar

[Campion]

Initiators do not last several years.

I believe modern ones do. The variety used in the Fat Man device used Polonium, which decays in a few months. Modern initiators use Dt-T reactions, and last as long as their tritium does, which is years.

[Jim Noble]

>>And whatever America does, "it's too late"<<

Unless we do this:

GET 'EM OUT!!!

Cancel all visas from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Pakistan. Give holders of cancelled visas 48 hours to report for internment and repatriation.

Turn INS Interior Enforcement over to DOD. Begin arrests of any holders of cancelled visas immediately upon expiration of the 48-hour reporting period.

Begin military action against non-visa holding nationals of the above countries. Execute any males from the above seven countries aged 17-50 apprehended without papers or evading pre-repatriation detention.

GET 'EM OUT!!!

[Poohbah]

I believe modern ones do. The variety used in the Fat Man device used Polonium, which decays in a few months.

The polonium initiators generated a fizzle yield inside of one week.

Modern initiators use Dt-T reactions, and last as long as their tritium does, which is years.

The half-life of tritium is 12.3 years; however, tritium decays in to ³He₂, which has a truly voracious appetite for neutrons and will generate fizzle yields in very minute quantities. A D-T initiator is going to need new tritium in less than one year.

[Grampa Dave]

Well we are starting to see the first connect the dots from the Islamofacists and Opecker Princes and the Enviral Whackos of America and the World with this comment:

Al-Usuquf starts by criticizing Washington's disrespect of the Kyoto Protocol on climatic change.

The Kyoto Protocol was an Enviral Whacko Proctocol to economically weaken if not destroy America. One of these days we will be able to connect the dots from the Islamofascists and the Opecker Princes and their blood money to create the Kyoto Protocol and to make us more dependent on Opecker Oil the last two decades since Jimmy Carter started on that road.

[doc30]

But it will be too late. Moreover, what will remain of an American soldier's morale to fight knowing that his whole family died and his country ceased to exist? To fight for what?"

The guy has no understanding of the U.S. After being nuked, every American man (except the girly-man, cowardly pacificst) would do whatever they could to help this nation. The outpouring of patriotism after 9/11 was incredible and that was in a situation where there wasn't a whole lot the average American could directly do in the aftermath because the terrorist attacks were in just two cities. Americans did do the very best they could through donations of money and blood to relief organizations and the local people put their lives on the line to find survivors. If whole cities were devastated, that patriotism would manifest itself in the greatest show of fellowship, support and help this nations has ever seen. Nuking would galvanize the U.S. in ways never seen before. The world of Islam could never conceive of the holy hell they would experience thereafter.

[mondonico]

Al-Usuquf says, "We have more than 500 first-rank and 800 second-rank [operatives] inside the US." "First rank" are considered ones that have lived in the US for more than 10 years, most of them married with children. "They have an idea about the plans, and they are just waiting for a call." "Second-rank" operatives arrived in the past five years and "have no idea about the plans". They are all willing to die.

John Ashcroft, you know what to do.

[RightWhale]

The primary use of nuclear weapons is for deterrence

That works if the owner of the nukes has something to lose. Alqaida doesn't.

[Teacher317]

Good questions... If we don't retaliate in kind, then we've spent a few hundred billion on a weapon that we don't have the courage to use... and one that is useless since MAD depends on the "other guy" thinking that you will return fire.

If we were to use them, they would be sent to Mecca and Medina. We would probably give 24 hours notice to minimize civilian losses. Muslims worldwide would be whipped into a frenzy, and the shooting war begins in earnest.

The nutjob Jihadist who wrote the piece is wrong on a few counts, however. The economy would not collapse, the nation would not cease to exist, and wild horses couldn't drag a SINGLE American, ESPECIALLY the soldiers, from the fight after these cultists murder 800,000 more innocents.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

Yes, what you point out certainly seems more logical. 9/11 was the most opportune time to strike the U.S. with all the might they could muster because we were caught virtually unawares then. If they wished utter destruction, then 9/11 was their easiest opportunity. I can't think of any good reasons why they would wait... Perhaps they were hoping we would meet their demands and convert? I think not!

[Lloyd227]

"...Someone has obviously given the plan a lot of thought"

We should certainly be mindful of how evil and rotten to the core these people can be...

But, let's not give them any more credit than they've earned

Two 12 year old boys could come up with every detail in the plan described by this story. This is the stuff of stories told in middle school and not the plan of a sophisticated military attack.

[DoughtyOne]

There are those why deny every threat to this nation. Their denials provided a fertile ground for 09/11 perps. Now their denials will provided fertile ground for the acts to come. To them denial is just a large river in Egypt. They mean well. They cost us much!

[caa26]

The response in Afghanistan was definately anticipated, the leader of the Northern Alliance was assasinated two days prior to 9/11. Not sure if Bin Laden is alive. Why would he have waited in Tora Bora to be killed, when it was quite easy to sneak into Pakistan. And, there is no reason for him to appear on videotape until after any major terrorist strike to the USA. Bin Laden is merely a figurehead and not the brains of Al Qaeda. Even if he is dead it doesn't weaken Al Qaeda in the long run, unless the USA keeps attacking remaining Al Qaeda operatives.

Dubious about the nukes, I think a large scale Anthrax or small pox attack is more likely and can cause just as much damage as nukes.

[DoughtyOne]

Bingo

[Man of the Right]

Until the Islamist ideology and the people who espouse aren't around, this country has no future.

[Carry_Okie]

The half-life of tritium is 12.3 years; however, tritium decays in to 3He2, which has a truly voracious appetite for neutrons and will generate fizzle yields in very minute quantities. A D-T initiator is going to need new tritium in less than one year.

Ye olde pin on the Holy Hand Grenade. Good call.

Question, how much apparatus and infrastructure does it take to do this kind of work? Pressure bottles, controls, flow meters... that sort of thing? How big and sophisticated does the shop have to be? Could you fit that into a container? Is there a way to stabilize the tritium for storage and transportation? Are there large power requirements?

[DoughtyOne]

...a single American.

Bud I wish you were right. There are folks within our borders who would be smiling down deep inside if such an event took place. They protest loudly in Washington, D.C. quite often. No I'm not kidding.

[Hanging Chad]

"...what will remain of an American soldier's morale to fight knowing that his whole family died and his country ceased to exist? To fight for what?" ..."

The autohor obviously never heard of R-E-V-E-N-G-E.

I would not want to reap the whirlwind of the US Military
with nothing left to lose.

[Poohbah]

Question, how much apparatus and infrastructure does it take to do this kind of work?

Tritium is generated in a nuclear reactor. The market price is $50,000 an ounce. Controls are TIGHT because it can be stolen.

Pressure bottles, controls, flow meters... that sort of thing? How big and sophisticated does the shop have to be? Could you fit that into a container?

You need a fuel-processing facility. Not exactly portable.

Is there a way to stabilize the tritium for storage and transportation?

Tritium is easily transported as lithium tritide (chemically identical to lithium hydride). Just keep it dry (it sucks moisture out of the air). However, it still decays--you can't stop that.