Posted on 01/31/2002 2:05:32 PM PST by SamAdams76
WASHINGTON- The United States could face terrorist surprises "vastly more deadly" than the Sept. 11 attacks that killed more than 3,000 people, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Thursday.
On a day in which other administration officials said the nation is likely to remain on a high state of alert for some time, Rumsfeld said terrorists who managed to get unconventional weapons and deliver them great distances with ballistic missiles could kill hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Amid evidence that the al-Qaida terrorist network may have been studying U.S. nuclear plants, dams and water-supply systems as potential targets, Rumsfeld said the magnitude of danger will grow if terrorists are allowed to link up with rogue nations willing to provide them with nuclear weapons.
"These attacks could grow vastly more deadly than those we suffered," he said in a speech at the National Defense University, a graduate school for senior military officers and government officials.
Rumsfeld suggested that the answer to such threats may be pre-emptive strikes.
"The best, and in some cases, the only defense is a good offense," he said, since the New York and Pentagon attacks showed it is not possible to defend against every conceivable threat.
Separately, a government official speaking on condition of anonymity said that about two weeks ago an intelligence advisory warned of a possible attack on a nuclear plant or other nuclear facility. The warning, which did not specify a location, was based on questioning of a single person and was not otherwise corroborated, the official said. Nuclear plant operators were notified.
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller told reporters he believes there are "sleeper cells" of terrorists waiting for word to attack, and thus the nation remains on high alert. He said information about possible threats to America has emerged from interviews with captured al-Qaida fighters and an enormous cache of documents, videotapes and other materials recovered in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Rumsfeld, in a question-and-answer session after his speech, alluded to what President Bush in his State of the Union address called a peril that "draws closer and closer."
"The real concern at the present time is the nexus between terrorist networks and terrorist states that have weapons of mass destruction," he said.
He named no countries but has said before that Iran, Iraq and North Korea - a trio that Bush called an "axis of evil" - have such links to terrorists.
"Let there be no doubt, there is that nexus, and it must force people all across this globe to realize that what we're dealing with here is something that is totally different," he said. "It poses risks to not thousands of lives but hundreds of thousands of lives, when one thinks of the power and lethality of those weapons."
Elaborating on Bush's pledge to hold North Korea, Iran and Iraq accountable for actions that support terrorist networks, Condoleezza Rice said Thursday those nations have been "put on notice."
She called North Korea the world's No. 1 seller of ballistic missiles; the Pentagon accuses the North Koreans of selling missiles to Iran and Pakistan and fears these weapons could spread.
Rice for the first time gave some hint of the steps the Bush administration might take against Iran, Iraq and North Korea. It will work toward international agreements banning the spread of dangerous weapons, use a "new and budding" relationship with Russia to push for changes in those countries and move ahead with missile defense, she said.
In a speech in Florida, Bush made the case for allied cooperation against terrorism.
"The rest of the world needs to be with us because these weapons could be pointed at them just as easily as us," he said.
Rumsfeld used his speech to lay out the Bush administration's justification for proposing a $48 billion increase in the 2003 defense budget. He revealed no dollar specifics but said priorities include missile defense, better systems for protecting space satellites against attack and new earth-penetrating weapons that Rumsfeld said could render terrorists' underground bunkers vulnerable.
Rumsfeld's remarks coincided with new indications that terrorists have considered a range of possible attacks. The FBI warned on Wednesday that al-Qaida terrorists may have been studying American dams and water-supply systems in preparation for new attacks. And in a report to Congress made public Wednesday, CIA Director George Tenet said rudimentary diagrams of nuclear weapons were found in a suspected al-Qaida safehouse in Kabul, Afghanistan. Other evidence uncovered in Afghanistan includes diagrams of American nuclear power plants, although it is unclear if an attack was planned.
All I can say is, if there is another attack as deadly or deadlier than that of 9/11, it will be time to unleash our nuclear arsenal.
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Yep, GW needs to have Ambassador Powell let the following despot Arabic countries, Irag, Iran, Syria, Lebannon and their financial backers the Saudis, a single attack of mass destruction on America will be instant good night/good by to the Islamics who hate America. No one will live in those areas for decades within minutes after any major attack on America. Target those areas with ICBMs from our Polaris subs. The moment any attack happens to America, it is launch time. The real Jihad!
Then we will let Israel flush the toilets around them while we flush Yemen, Somalia and Lybia.
Then we round up and shoot all the supporters of terrorists in America, from universities to the streets of America.
Now I agree Dave that we should have it implicitly conveyed to a certain group of nations that we will not consider any detonation of a nuclear device to be anonymous. We will ascribe responsibility to these hostile nations and respond will devastating force several degrees above the kilo-tonnage of any bomb used against us. I think this needs to be conveyed by way of letting their spooks in our defense and state dept see re-positioning data on our considerable nuke force.
I hoped that we would never have to use our nuclear weapons after WW2. But I never bargained for attacks and threats of attacks on our major cities either. This must not stand. And as President Bush said himself, we should not "wait on events" either. It would be a hollow victory if we waited for New York City and Washington to be leveled and rendered uninhabitable for centuries before we finally did something drastic.
If nuclear or biological weapons of mass destruction are used, we don't have time to hire Johnny Cochran to see which Arabic terrorist nation fits the glove. Just let these despotic cowards know that if this happens, they are all history!
Before Ike became president, he had Dulles talk to the ChiComs explaining that they helped to defuse Korea or meet the bomb! They listened and the Korean thing was wrapped up quickly.
Before Ronald Reagan was sworn in, a similiar message went to the Iranian Islamic terrorists, and our embassy people were freed when Carter left and Reagan came in!
Neither of us want to see a half million or more innocent Americans mass murdered by these Islamic terrorists. The message must be loud and clear to all Islamic nations that back and give money to terrorists. Any use of mass destruction on us is the end of you people. We will then use spec ops people to hunt you down where ever you as a leader goes. They will kill you on the spot when found!
Absolutely Sam. Only the self destructive mind of the liberal would say we mustn't do anything to prevent DC, NY or LA from being leveled and made uninhabitable for centuries.
It is obvious that our intel has some very scary data re the three evil countries, Iran, Iraq and N Korea. President Bush would not have labeled as evil countries and made the comments you posted here unless he had some scary data. Rumsfeld would not have made his comments today if the potential was not there.
The bully thugs who rule these despot countries, understand one thing, raw power that will kill them and their families. They love to send young zealots on suicide missions while they own villas around the Med.. They and their financial backers, the Saudis must be told that if a single incidence of mass destruction hits America, they are gone seconds afterwards. Then, our spec ops guys hunt down all their leaders and financial backers who got away to Switzerland or eurotrash countries. They will killed when found. Their number accounts will depleted and seized. That will be our Jihad!
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