reply to post by Donny 4 million
To answer your question.
"Shock and Awe".
In reverse!
Now personally, if
I were a terrorist, so inclined to "nuke" a high-value target somewhere in the continental US, I'd skip the whole
"Cessna-as-a-bomber" scenario as being
way too
expected.
I mean, it's so darn cliched that it amounts to a complete waste of a perfectly good WMD; assuming, of course, that you could get your hands on a
working nuclear weapon.
Think about it: the last successfull attack on America involved the use of planes, right?
So dont you all think that the "authorities" have already taken measures to prevent even private planes from being used as weapons?
And even if they haven't, any half-a**edly decent terrorist with a nuke had better plan his delivery scenario
As If They
Have.
Or risk losing his precious nuke, as well as his worthless life, before he gets anywhere near his objective.
Personaly, I'd use a high-altitude balloon, and drop the "package" using an on-board GPS-based release mechanism.
Fly it high (out of range of most aircraft) and slow (like any one of thousands of other weather balloons launched every day), and drop it once the
winds carried it over a suitable target city.
It's not as "sexy" as a Cessna or Learjet buzzing low over a terrified populous. But it's unexpected and difficult to develop counter-measures
against.
As to your specific question;
If you nuke Israel, you can count on the combined might of the US military to hunt you down, most likely
Before you even have a chance
to celebrate your attack.
But, if you hit the US
First, you can count on the "Shock and Awe"-effect to delay the US response. The country will want, no,
NEED
to recover from its pain and horror, gather and assess its dead, and argue about an "appropriate" response before it gets around to hunting you
down.
Precious days in which you can execute your next gruesome atrocity.