Thanks for the tidbit! I think I saw him talking, but I had the volume turned down so I missed it. Bevelacqua is one of my favorites, too. He tells it like it is and doesn't mince words. Here's the transcript:
Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.
Fox News Network
SHOW: FOX ON THE RECORD WITH GRETA VAN SUSTEREN (22:10)
May 31, 2002 Friday
News; DomesticInterview With John Torres, Bob Maginnis, Bob Bevelacqua
(snip)
VAN SUSTEREN: Now to the Stinger missiles.
Joining us from Washington: retired Army Lieutenant Bob Maginnis and former Green Beret and Fox News military analyst Major Bob Bevelacqua.
Bob Maginnis, first to you: Stinger missile, what is it? Tell the viewers exactly what it is and whether or not you think there could be Stinger missiles illegally in this country.
RET. LT. COL. BOB MAGINNIS, U.S. ARMY: Greta, it's a fire-and-forget weapon system that can reach up, say, 10,000 feet, or actually beyond.
A fast-mover aircraft, an airliner, a helicopter, it was incredibly successful for the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan. it shot down about 80 percent of the aircraft they fired it at. If it's in the hands of al Qaeda in this country, they could easily stand, say, where aircraft are going to land or take off and knock them out of the sky very quickly.
It's a sophisticated air-defense system, especially the more -- the better ones today that can actually go to the soft place on an aircraft and know how to knock it out of the sky. So, this is very serious, if in fact we have clear evidence.
Now, I don't want to be alarmist here. If it's not there, then our government shouldn't be leaking information suggesting that they're the hands of these terrorists. However, if they are out there, then we have a serious law enforcement problem. We have a serious intelligence problem, because these things do work. And they will bring down hundreds of people. And there's little chance they'll survive.
VAN SUSTEREN: Major Bob Bevelacqua, what are your thoughts on what is the likelihood of this recent report that there could be these Stinger missiles here in the United States in the hands of people, of terrorists?
MAJOR BOB BEVELACQUA, FOX MILITARY ANALYST: Greta, I think it's old news. I think we've known about this for a while. I would tell you that there have been certain acts in the past, Flight 800, for example. An airplane just typically doesn't blow up in mid-flight and crash. And there was different pieces of information that circled around that whole thing that led to a Stinger-type scenario.
The fact that they have them is not a shock. We gave the Afghans thousands of these. We trained them, with the CIA and the special forces group. Some of those Mujahedeen soldiers later went into an organization known as the Taliban and al Qaeda. So, the fact that they have them: not a shock.
How do you get them into the country? Seventeen million containers a year come into the country. Less than 2 percent get inspected. That's no real intel work. That's just some minor analysis. So, I think it's a pretty plausible scenario that we could see this as a real threat.
VAN SUSTEREN: And, Bob Bevelacqua, how easy is it to use a Stinger missile? And I know there's a Russian version, an SA-7, as well, that is another weapon that the intelligence community is worried about. How easy to use it?
BEVELACQUA: Well, Greta, I'm not a sophisticated guy, but I've actually fired one. And it was at a drone. Had a hit. They come with instructions. You can get the manual on the Internet for about 12 bucks.
So, it's not a difficult weapon. Colonel Maginnis described it as a fire-and-forget. That's exactly what it is. You get reasonably close to the aircraft, you have a good chance of hitting the aircraft. It's a revenge weapon system. It's not designed to shoot at the aircraft as it's coming at you, imposing a threat. Typically, the aircraft has passed you or is in a pretty steady flight path. It goes by you. This thing hones in on it. It picks up a heat signal and it hits it.
VAN SUSTEREN: Bob Maginnis, in the 45 seconds we have left, do you agree with Bob Bevelacqua in terms of the ease to get it in this country, and the fact that this may, in some ways, be -- quote -- "old news" that there may be these in the country?
MAGINNIS: Yes, Greta, they're 5 feet long. They could fit in the back of a vehicle in the trunk.
They've been used, I think, twice in Nablus, in April against an Israeli gunship. That's been reported. We also believe that one was found, a discarded shell of one, near a U.S. Air Force base in Saudi, and also one in Great Britain. So, they are literally on the black market. You can trade them for pounds of heroin or thousands and many thousands of dollars.
So, if you want one, you can buy one, either an SA-7 or the Egyptian or the Chinese version, or, of course, the more sophisticated Stinger that is readily available in many countries around the world today.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, gentlemen, thank you both very much for your information tonight on this latest alert. Appreciate it.
(snip)