Posted on 10/22/2001 6:20:06 AM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
" 02 October 2000
Secretary of Defense Cohen (remember him?) Cites Russia, China, Weapons of Mass Destruction as Top Foreign Policy and Defense Challenges Link to discussion of terrorism
Addressing an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) October 2, Defense Secretary Cohen: "With regard to weapons of mass destruction, we are now seeing at least 20, 24 countries let's call it two dozen countries who either have developed or are in the process of developing weapons of mass destruction. That's a word that doesn't mean a lot, I suppose, to most people who hear it.
And that's the reason why, when I went on television a couple of years ago, I held up that five-pound bag of sugar, because it loses its meaning when you use that phraseology.
If you take a five-pound bag of sugar and you say, assuming this were filled with, let's say, anthrax instead of sugar and you spread that with the right kind of temperatures and right kind of wind over a city the size of Washington DC, you could wipe out almost 70 percent of the population just with five pounds.
There are tons of anthrax in existence. There are tons that have been manufactured. And so this is just one element that we have to contend with for the future. How do we gain control over these weapons of mass destruction, which are proliferating and will continue to proliferate?" (Then Poet Cohen just had to lapse into girlie-man gobbledeegook )"If you recall the words of the poet Auden, he talked about a "man clutching a little case who walks out briskly to infect a city whose terrible future may have just arrived."
The Israelis recently intercepted one individual carrying such a device in a backpack trying to enter Jerusalem via Ramallah.
Shouldn't the failed faux intruders have died? Do the defenders use mock defenses? Mock bullets?
If they really had nukes, why would they have put us on our guard with the 9/11 attacks? Why wouldn't they just put them in place and make that their first strike? They stand a much greater chance of failure now than they did before 9/11. It doesn't make sense.
The leaders of these groups have either gone to the best schools in the west or come up through the ranks of para-military groups having survived dozens of conflicts and or terror attacks. Often both.
A third level of leadership are the mullahs or Imams. Only the smart ones make it to the top. Knowing this has also lead me to believe that for the leaders other than the religious leaders, this campaign is not as much about religion as it is about power. Religion is just necessary to unite Moslems across national boundries.
The other thing that amazes me is their level of dedication. Many of these guys have been going hard at it for thirty years or more. And it is not nationalistic fervor because their main focus is always Pan Arabic and or multi national. Why give over one's life to such a cause? I do not think it is religious fervor. It is not something that can be accomplished in a single lifetime. Even if accomplished, a united Islam would never hang together for more than a few years. I suspect a giant hidden hand behind the curtain. The same hand which caused fasicsm to spring up all around the globe in the '30s.
The yield on one probably wouldn't be much, but used on a building it would be the ultimate irresistable force. Used in 1993 instead of the truck bomb, a SADM would have easily brought down one of the Twin Towers.
Now, whether you could actually move something spewing tell-tale radiation around the country is another matter (search on "Nuclear Emergency Search Team").
They said a suitcase bomb like this could cause as much damage as the nuclear bomb in Hiroshima. Also that the bombs could be carried in a back pack.
Always answer with ... REBUTAL No.1.****there has not been any credible information released that shows an attack of this type imminent ****
Follow up with SUBREBUTAL No.1-a is recommended if dealing with anyone with a nationalistic bent.:**** Spreading fear on false threats is not the only horrible tactic of big-media. They are also down-playing real threats toward the United States and trying to undercut all preparations for such a threat.****
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