# Al-Qaida on brink of using nuclear bomb



## 57Chevy (1 Feb 2011)

'Al-Qaida on brink of using nuclear bomb'

Al-Qaida is on the verge of producing radioactive weapons after sourcing nuclear material and recruiting rogue scientists to build "dirty" bombs, according to leaked diplomatic documents.

A leading atomic regulator has privately warned that the world stands on the brink of a "nuclear 9/11".

Security briefings suggest that jihadi groups are also close to producing "workable and efficient" biological and chemical weapons that could kill thousands if unleashed in attacks on the West.

Thousands of classified American cables obtained by the WikiLeaks website and passed to The Daily Telegraph detail the international struggle to stop the spread of weapons-grade nuclear, chemical and biological material around the globe.

At a Nato meeting in January 2009, security chiefs briefed member states that al-Qaida was plotting a program of "dirty radioactive IEDs", makeshift nuclear roadside bombs that could be used against British troops in Afghanistan.

As well as causing a large explosion, a "dirty bomb" attack would contaminate the area for many years.

The briefings also state that al-Qaida documents found in Afghanistan in 2007 revealed that "greater advances" had been made in bioterrorism than was previously realized. An Indian national security adviser told American security personnel in June 2008 that terrorists had made a "manifest attempt to get fissile material" and "have the technical competence to manufacture an explosive device beyond a mere dirty bomb".

Alerts about the smuggling of nuclear material, sent to Washington from foreign U.S. embassies, document how criminal and terrorist gangs were trafficking large amounts of highly radioactive material across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

The alerts explain how customs guards at remote border crossings used radiation alarms to identify and seize cargoes of uranium and plutonium.

Freight trains were found to be carrying weapons-grade nuclear material across the Kazakhstan-Russia border, highly enriched uranium was transported across Uganda by bus, and a "small time hustler" in Lisbon offered to sell radioactive plates stolen from Chernobyl.

In one incident in September 2009, two employees at the Rossing Uranium Mine in Namibia smuggled almost half a ton of uranium concentrate powder - yellowcake - out of the compound in plastic bags.

"Acute safety and security concerns" were even raised in 2008 about the uranium and plutonium laboratory of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the nuclear safety watchdog.

Tomihiro Taniguchi, the deputy director general of the IAEA, has privately warned America that the world faces the threat of a "nuclear 9/11" if stores of uranium and plutonium were not secured against terrorists.

But diplomats visiting the IAEA's Austrian headquarters in April 2008 said that there was "no way to provide perimeter security" to its own laboratory because it has windows that leave it vulnerable to break-ins.

Senior British defence officials have raised "deep concerns" that a rogue scientist in the Pakistani nuclear program "could gradually smuggle enough material out to make a weapon", according to a document detailing official talks in London in February 2009.

Agricultural stores of deadly biological pathogens in Pakistan are also vulnerable to "extremists" who could use supplies of anthrax, foot and mouth disease and avian flu to develop lethal biological weapons.

Anthrax and other biological agents including smallpox, and avian flu could be sprayed from a shop-bought aerosol can in a crowded area, leaked security briefings warn.

The security of the world's only two declared smallpox stores in Atlanta, America, and Novosibirsk, Russia, has repeatedly been called into doubt by "a growing chorus of voices" at meetings of the World Health Assembly documented in the leaked cables.

The alarming disclosures come after Barack Obama, the U.S. president, last year declared nuclear terrorism "the single biggest threat" to international security with the potential to cause "extraordinary loss of life".

                                      (Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)


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## jeffb (1 Feb 2011)

Obviously Al-Qaida getting a hold of these weapons would be horrible but there have been reports like this since 9/11.


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## OldSolduer (1 Feb 2011)

Right out of a Tom Clancy novel.

Interesting.


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## Journeyman (1 Feb 2011)

jeffb said:
			
		

> ......there have been reports like this since 9/11.


Even before; the 1999 CSIS document, "Trends in Terrorism" notes that a nuclear attack or even a dirty bomb, while potentially bad, is not likely. 

Will it happen? Sure. Someday.

But even following the 1995 Aum Shinrikyo chemical attack in Tokyo, which caused the chicken little crowd to bemoan an NBC threshold being crossed, not much has occurred since. 

I suspect I'll still sleep nights.


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## Brutus (1 Feb 2011)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears as if the article is not making one very important distinction - a bomb with radioactive material, but no nuclear fission (ie - dirty bomb) vs. a bomb with specific radioactive material and HAS nuclear fission (a nuclear bomb).

The article flips back and forth between 'dirty bomb' (the former) and 'nuclear bomb' (the latter). But really, it appears as if they are talking about the scary but FAR less destructive 'dirty bomb'.

AQ or other terrorist elements pursuing this (and even coming close to acquiring this) is not a revelation.


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## GAP (1 Feb 2011)

The "West" will sit on its' hands until something happens and then act shocked....this has been a possiblity for decades, even more so now.... :


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## Towards_the_gap (1 Feb 2011)

Jim Seggie said:
			
		

> Right out of a Tom Clancy novel.
> 
> Interesting.



I remember being quite startled (obviously!!) when 9/11 happened. Not only for the scale of the tragedy......


...but also because a few years previously, I read a Tom Clancy book in which a resurgent Japanese nationalist faction crashed a fully loaded passenger jet into the White House. Debt of Honour I think it was.

Let's hope he's not right about a 'Sum of All Fears'  situation..


Anyways, I'll be in the basement fit testing my respirator and taping garbage bags over all the windows.


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## McG (1 Feb 2011)

57Chevy said:
			
		

> 'Al-Qaida on brink of using nuclear bomb'


The headline implies a fusion or a fission weapon ... I felt a little bit robbed when I was only able to read about radiological weapons.  

This is not a new potential threat.


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## 57Chevy (1 Feb 2011)

I got the same mental mushroom effect when I first read the title  ;D
Which is far from the reality of the situation. 
So then; What is a dirty bomb ? <---link

Terrorist groups realize that merely having the capability to put together a radioactive IED can tap into public fear.
From the article: Case study: A radioactive IED 
Modern terrorist perspectives change. Previously, "killing was an outcome of an operation, now killing is an operation itself." As RAND (a well known research organization) defined it in 1999, we witness the paradigm of terrorism-war. More and more terrorists adopt tactics that allow them to achieve the highest possible number of victims. Such a perspective, no doubt, inspires them to obtain weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

In modern use, the term "WMD" includes biological, nuclear, chemical, and radiological weapons. In reality, biological and nuclear weapons have the potential for mass killing and causing large-scale damage. Chemical and radiological weapons, however, have somewhat limited potential from this point of view. For example, in many scenarios, neither of the two latter types of weapons can cause the same dramatic damage to the infrastructure or biosphere. On the other hand, use of conventional weapons (e.g., explosives) against specific targets might cause significant damage. 

Therefore, WMD has the potential of being misleading when used in general discussion. Widely overused and sometimes confusing, WMD in the context of terrorism, however, reflects the possibility of massive destruction to civil society. Not only the actual use of WMD, but the threat of use and claims of possession by terrorists cause anxiety among the population and could provoke civil disturbances.

Development of nuclear technologies, especially for peaceful purposes, unfortunately multiplies the number of locations or access vectors that terrorists can use to take possession of WMD or their components. Even in countries with stable political situations and advanced security controls, there are incidents of loss of control and disappearance of some components that can be used by criminal or terrorist groups for threatening or even killing on a large scale. But countries experiencing political or civil unrest or insurgency movements, or countries where civil institutions cannot fulfill their roles, the risk of clandestine groups accessing WMD components becomes higher.

In addition to the acquisition of components for the creation of improvised WMD, terrorists will likely continue to attempt to acquire manufactured WMD. Both NATO and Warsaw Pact forces fielded special atomic demolition munitions (SADMs). These man-portable nuclear weapons were designed to be employed by infiltrating special operations personnel. Though rumors regarding missing Russian devices that have circulated are unproven and denied by the Russian government, one can imagine the terrible consequences of these types of devices falling into terrorist hands or similar devices being provided by emergent nuclear powers.

Fortunately, the actual creation and effective use of many WMD requires advanced skills. The majority of terrorist groups do not possess and cannot easily gain access to these skills. The followers of the Japanese sect Aum Shinrikyo attacked the Tokyo metro with Sarin gas in 1995. Russian troops experienced two "lowscale" chemical attacks in Chechnya in 1999. Neither of these attacks caused a high toll of casualties or serious damage to infrastructure and the environment. However, it is not only the actual use, but rather the perceived capability of a terrorist group to access real WMD components, create WMD, and then use them that may profoundly change society.

Terrorists understand that well and seem eager to obtain WMD capabilities (even groups that may not intend to use the weapons). Possession of a "dirty bomb" employing radiological components seems to be a popular claim and a popular fear. A dirty bomb can create contamination and, subsequently, the disruption and anxiety that terrorists desire to pressure authorities and to realize their objectives. Not surprisingly, dirty bombs are often referred to as "weapons of mass disruption." While downplayed by governments and having had no dramatic impact on an already anxious society, the Izmaylovsky Park case of 1995 illustrates the viability of these threats. 

                                     (Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)


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## Bo (1 Feb 2011)

That article is meant to spread fear amongst its readers. For once, it would be nice to see an article written with the intent to INFORM its readers rather than mislead them.




> The Al Qaeda threat is "exaggerated": 120,000 US Troops fighting "No More that 50 Members of Al Qaeda"
> 
> by Eric Margolis
> 
> ...



http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=21059


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## Retired AF Guy (2 Feb 2011)

Bo said:
			
		

> That article is meant to spread fear amongst its readers. For once, it would be nice to see an article written with the intent to INFORM its readers rather than mislead them.
> 
> 
> http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=21059



I would hardly call Eric Margolis as being a authoritative source on anything.


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## Chilme (2 Feb 2011)

GAP said:
			
		

> The "West" will sit on its' hands until something happens and then act shocked....this has been a possiblity for decades, even more so now.... :



Its the Canadian way.  We don't need it until "we could have used it".


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## a_majoor (14 Feb 2011)

Not sure if this is the place for this. Rather nebulous and interrupted at an interesting point in time. Makes you go WTF?:

http://jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/2011/02/san-diego-port-director-claims-wmd.html



> *San Diego Port Director Claims WMD Found in U.S.*
> 
> This report was on San Diego television a few days ago but this is the first I've seen of it ... in a British newspaper. Strange how this hasn't become major news.
> 
> ...


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## Retired AF Guy (14 Feb 2011)

According to  this paper  Weapon's of Mass Effect "_are weapons capable of inflicting grave destructive, psychological and/or economic damage to the United States. These include chemical, biological, nuclear, radiological, or explosive weapons."_ 

That definition can be used to describe just about anything (e.g. anthrax aimed at the livestock industry). Heck, the Christmas bomber of a couple of years ago could fit the description since it had a psychological and economic impact on western society.


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## cybercheck (18 Feb 2011)

If the 'alluded' refers to a Tom Clancy novel, the deterrent comes from a Le Carre Novel, "A Most Wanted Man". Do not be complacent.... Exciting novel I read..


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