Posted on 10/26/2001 5:04:38 AM PDT by careyb
| FRIDAY OCTOBER 26 2001 |
| Bin Laden's nuclear threat |
| BY PHILIP WEBSTER AND ROLAND WATSON |
| OSAMA BIN LADEN and his al-Qaeda network have acquired nuclear materials for possible use in their terrorism war against the West, intelligence sources have disclosed. The Western sources say that the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks on America does not have the capability to mount a nuclear attack but fear he would do so if he could. They believe that he obtained the materials illegally from Pakistan, which has a nuclear capability. The knowledge that bin Laden has components for a nuclear weapons device in his arsenal is believed to lie behind the regular warnings from President Bush and Tony Blair that he would commit worse atrocities than the suicide assaults on New York and Washington if he were able to. They may also explain the speed with which the decision was taken to go after bin Laden and his terrorist network, even if that meant toppling the Taleban regime in Afghanistan first. The disclosure comes as MPs prepare to learn today the details of British troops earmarked for deployment to Afghanistan. They will include a commando group of about 1,000 Royal Marines, currently on exercise in Oman, as well as a large contingent of special forces and specialist support units. The force will be based on ships that have also been participating in the huge tri-Service exercise. They are expected to include the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, stripped of her Harrier jets so she can be used as a platform for helicopters, or HMS Ocean, a dedicated helicopter carrier, two anti-aircraft destroyers to protect the carrier, the assault ship HMS Fearless, and two Royal Fleet Auxiliary support vessels. Yesterday Mr Blair sought to reassure Muslim leaders that the military action in Afghanistan should be over as quickly as possible. He told the Islamic Response to Terrorism Conference in North London: “I hope you understand that what is important is that we make sure at the same time we take the action necessary now in order to hold to account those who committed the actions of September 11.” There has been clear evidence for several years that bin Laden’s agents have been trying to buy, steal or smuggle nuclear systems in order to attack the West. He has said that it was his “religious duty” to seek to acquire chemical, biological and nuclear weapons of mass destruction. An informed source has told The Times that bin Laden appeared to have amassed a “terrifying” range of weapons although he was insistent that he did not have the capacity to launch a nuclear attack. Intelligence sources, however, have voiced concerns about bin Laden obtaining radioactive material for a “dirty bomb”. Rather than being used in an atomic weapon, the material would be dispersed in a way that would seriously contaminate a small area. In an urban environment hundreds of people could die and thousands more be exposed to radiation poisoning. In 1993 a senior bin Laden operative, Jamal al-Fadi, met a Sudanese military commander in Khartoum to try to negotiate the sale of a cylinder of enriched South African uranium for a black market price of $1.5 million (£1.2 million). A separate al-Qaeda attempt to buy weapons-grade nuclear material through the Russian mafia was foiled in Prague when several kilograms of highly enriched uranium were seized, according to a German TV report last week. Earlier this week two former government nuclear scientists in Pakistan were detained amid fears about their links with the Taleban. Bashir uddin Mahmood was project director in Pakistan’s nuclear programme before its 1998 tests. Since retiring from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission three years ago, he ran a group which carried out relief work in Afghanistan, and was known to be supportive of the Taleban. Chaudry Abdul Majid was a director of the commission in 1999. Intelligence officials have long been aware of the potential for contraband uranium to be turned into an atomic “suitcase bomb”. An easier outcome is a radiological weapon — a conventional weapon with a radioactive core — which has the ability to contaminate large areas. George Tenet, Director of the CIA, told the Senate Intelligence Committee last year that bin Laden was trying to obtain nuclear materials. However, some are convinced bin Laden already has a nuclear capability. According to a book about the terrorist leader, The Man Who Declared War on America, Chechen rebels facilitated the sale of nuclear suitcase bombs in the late 1990s from a range of former Soviet republics including Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia. Quoting Russian and Arab intelligence sources, the author, Yossef Bodansky, says that bin Laden’s go-betweens paid the Chechens $30 million in cash and gave them two tonnes of heroin with a Western street value of up to $700 million for a number of bombs. In 1998 bin Laden issued a statement entitled “The Nuclear Bomb of Islam”, which said: “It is the duty of Muslims to prepare as much force as possible to terrorise the enemies of God.” |
Where were all these geniuses before 09-11?
People eat this dribble, like kibble and bits out of a dog food bowl.
If these Islamic terrorists could push one button and kill every man, woman, and child in America, they would have no hesitancy in doing so.
CHILLING thought.
Chilling yes, and probably accurate. Isn't it strange that we have the capability and haven't (yet)? It's a race that we had better win. There's no alternative. 6 years of gutting our intelligence network has put us where we are.....The Clinton administration tried harder to put Microsoft out of business than protect our citizens. Hopefully, it isn't too late.
Looking on the bright side, I have to think that if they had the capabilities, they would have used it already. I hope I'm not being too naive in my assesment.
This is the most critical news of our time, perhaps in the history of the world. The Times of London is one of the oldest and most respected newspapers in the world. The story is undoubtedly true. It required the concurrence and fact checking of some very staid editors to print it. It was probably quietly released to the Times by the Ministry of Defense to prepare the British people for what lies ahead.
The bottom line is that for the first time in the history if the world, there is a madman lose with the capability of destroying the entire Western world. I served two tours in Vietnam and I am now more scared for my children and my country than I ever was in 24 months of LRRPs.
This is not the time for quips or smart answers from FReepers, myself included. This is a time of challenge for the entire world.
Bin Laden would not have acquired nuclear materials if he did not intend to use them. The science and technology necessary to make a nuclear bomb is well known. Russian physicians make $90 a month. Does anyone doubt Bin Laden could hire Russian scientists to build him a few bombs, for say, $10,000 a month? The difficult part is acquiring the fissionable materiel and now Bin Laden has done that.
We as a nation have the most difficult choice ever faced by a people. Nagasaki and Hiroshima were cities that were part of an Empire. Now, not just cities are threatened, but 2/3 of the world. In order to prevent the destruction of the entire Western world, we must probably destroy part of another world. Can anyone guarantee that any other course than extinction will stop Bin Laden?
Afghanistan, Iraq and the other countries that support terrorists must cease to exist. They have lost their right to exist by their failure to stop the Islamic psychotics who would now kill all of us. Limited nuc strikes against his hq infrastructure might do it, but we must be prepared to continue until we are absolutely sure the entire cancer is removed. Just like surgery, sometimes you must take a limb to save a life.
Think of it this way. Bin Laden wants to kill your children because they are "infidels." He now has the capability to do so. What should we do to stop him from killing your children? Does anything other than total destruction guarantee he will be stopped?
Simply put, if we fail to stop them now, and I mean right now, we will lose our right to exist, and we will all probably die in Bin Laden's newly developed mushroom cloud.
It's very simple. It's war and it's them or us.... just like it is in any war.
Will it necessitate killing many people, probably millions? Yes. If we do not, how many millions will die when New York and Washington are vaporized, rather than just attacked with airliners.
How soon do we need to do this? How long will it be until Bin Laden is ready to kill all of us? Will there be an international outcry? Yes, but at least we will be alive to hear it.
Do I realize what I propose would be considered insanity two months ago. Yes, but these are insane times... and it's them or us.
I remember how scared I was by those Cold War nuclear crises when I was a kid. I wonder how children are reacting to this now.
Either the terrorists try to kill us with a thousand cuts, and hope they never push to the point where we feel jusitified in razing the Middle East, or else, they manage to get a 'kill shot' and waste several cities at once, crippling us, and letting the chips and the retaliatory nukes fall where they may.
I cannot see things getting better before they get worse. In some ways, I think it may have been better to unleash a nuclear assault from the outset to get all the cards out on the table at once, and take our losses up front in order to set a precedent and diminish the long-term Middle East terror capacity.
NUKE THESE BASTARDS NOW
Unfortunately I think your assesment is naive.Whether or not it happens directly on our soil or an embassy or an allie.
Let's hope your right. I am still wondering where the missing suitcase bombs may be. Listening to the many "terrorism experts" they predicted the next attack would be more devastating then 9/11. This IS scary.
I think this is the more likely scenario.
Imagine a "dirty bomb" being exploded, in say St. Louis or Chicago - and what the prevailing winds would do with the fallout.
I believe there's no such thing as a "gentlemanly war".
Nukes will, in the end, probably be the way we'll have to go.
Not being familiar with the technology - size, yield, fallout amounts/patterns I don't know what size nukes would have to be used. I assume they'd have to be pretty small so the fallout wouldn't poison the earth and other countries so as to avoid launches from every country who has nuclear capabilities.
Could the dirty-bomb scenario be the reason for the recent statement by the Taliban, asking the US to please send 100,000 troops to Afghanistan?
I don't see as that's so shocking. Right now, if I could push one button and empty the Middle East, I'd do it too.
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