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WAR: Nuclear Capabilities May Elude Terrorists, Experts Say

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posted on Dec, 29 2004 @ 03:36 PM
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Despite recent warning that Osama Bin Laden is after a nuclear weapon, many experts believe that is a distant rather than an immediate threat. Bin laden recently made headlines when intelligence reports indicate he received religious approval to use an atomic device against the United States. Experts are pointing to the technical and logistical hurdles that would face Al Qaeda if they tried to build and use such a device. Many experts feel that chemical and biological agents are being focused on.

 



story.news.yahoo.com
Of all the clues that Osama bin Laden is after a nuclear weapon, perhaps the most significant came in intelligence reports indicating that he received fresh approval last year from a Saudi cleric for the use of a doomsday bomb against the United States.

For bin Laden, the religious ruling was a milestone in a long quest for an atomic weapon. For U.S. officials and others, it was a frightening reminder of what many consider the ultimate mass-casualty threat posed by modern terrorists. Even a small nuclear weapon detonated in a major American population center would be among history's most lethal acts of war, potentially rivaling the atomic destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Despite the obvious gravity of the threat, however, counterterrorism and nuclear experts in and out of government say they consider the danger more distant than immediate.

They point to enormous technical and logistical obstacles confronting would-be nuclear terrorists, and to the fact that neither al Qaeda nor any other group has come close to demonstrating the means to overcome them


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So, what is worse? The nuclear blast is by far what seems to terrorize me when I think about a strike on U.S. soil. However, the threat of a biological outbreak seems just as bad. Small Pox if allowed to run free could infect millions before we even knew about the outbreak. I for one an a bit skeptical about the diluted serum or expired serum working well. Dirty bomb seem more likely, but NOVA on PBS did a show dedicated to them and scientists seem to feel the threat of that is overstated as well. Lets hope that they are right. Or better yet, lets hope that the continued war keeps them running around and does not give them time to develop this type of capacity.



 
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