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Originally posted by RockerDom
While I do not doubt that Al-Queda would love to have 20 suitcase nukes, I highly doubt that is the case. The only governments on earth I would think have the resources to build them are the U.S., Russia, China and England. The U.S., England and Russia would never have anything to do with Al Queda, and the possibility of China helping them is incredibly slim. Why would China want to help anyone destroy the country that supports the major part of their economy?
It's a scary thought, but not very plausible.
Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid
i honestly wouldn't be surprised if there were 50 nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons stashed throughout the united states by terrorists. and do you know why? the canadian border. thousands and thousands of miles of border that is, with the exception of major ports, unpatroled. all you would have to do is sneak it in through some backroads once it got into canada. not to mention security on the great lakes is almost nil. did you know that if someon boats over here from canada and comes to port they don't have to check in with customs? nope, it's only optional. and here in detroit the border is just too hard to keep in check. over a thousand freight trucks come across the border a day, making it a very daunting task for about 100 mena and women to check.
Originally posted by DEEZNUTZ
Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid
about 100 mena and women to check.
Look at the war on drugs and how long that has been going on and look at the results. All the $$BILLION$$ spent and can you honestly say that it has had any effect.
Should have been in NYC during the 80's...yes...it has had great effects...atleast in my city...
Originally posted by neomoniker
If Al-Qaeda had nukes they'd have used 'em already.
Originally posted by Paul
Not necessarilly. A co-ordinated attack on multiple cities could take years to plan. 9/11 was in planning for 5 years. You could argue that if such devices were in the US, the military would be desparately trying to locate the devices, but for all we know they could be trying to do so covertly.
...portable refers to a low yield device with casing that would require an 18 wheeler to transport! "Suitcase device" is a misnomer
none of these devices are missing; We know exactly where these devices are located at any given point in time. This is how we know: During the 1980's I worked as a Senior Systems Engineer for several DOD companies in San Diego (Advanced Digital Systems and SAIC). While in this position I was tasked with developing a "Fleet Satellite Catastrophic Restoral Plan" for the Joint Chiefs of Staff
My group was to develop a method for satellite intelligence restoral in the event of a space born nuclear strike by the Soviet Union. In the course of this study, we had to review all satellite capabilities and characteristics: both current and projected through the early ninety's.
A series of satellites planned to begin deployment in 1989 (temporarily delayed by the Shuttle explosion) are now aloft (2nd phase of the MILSTAR Program) They carry special sensor devices (Developed by SAIC) that can detect high-velocity spin-off particles from enriched uranium (necessary for nuclear devices).
Due to the small size and velocity of these particles, no amount of shielding can block them: not lead, not earth (sub-terrainian). Radiation hazards from these particles are minimal due to limited quantity. Our satellites are fool-proof in detecting and pin-pointing the locations of enriched uranium throughout the world. The nuclear verification process employed in monitoring Iraq and other nations via NATO and the United Nations uses these satellite joint detection systems (the NSA controls and tracks the data). Many articles concerning these satellites have already been written in specialty magazines (Defense Science and Electronics-for one).
Any attempt to bring a nuclear device into our country would be instantly detected (not to mention the track of its mobile transport). Once again, the major US media resorts to half-truths for the benefit of ratings: "Stay tuned for more on our impending annihilation!" their unspoken headlines read.
On 7 September 1997, the CBS newsmagazine Sixty Minutes broadcast an alarming story in which former Russian National Security Adviser Aleksandr Lebed claimed that the Russian military had lost track of more than 100 suitcase-sized nuclear bombs, any one of which could kill up to 100,000 people.
"I'm saying that more than a hundred weapons out of the supposed number of 250 are not under the control of the armed forces of Russia," Lebed said in the interview. "I don't know their location. I don't know whether they have been destroyed or whether they are stored or whether they've been sold or stolen, I don't know."
Asked if it were possible that the authorities did know where all the weapons were and simply did not want to tell Lebed, he said, "No."
Lebed stated that these devices were made to look like suitcases, and could be detonated by one person within half an hour. According to Lebed, he learned of the existence of these weapons developed for special operations only a few years before. While national security adviser to Yeltsin he commissioned a study to report on the whereabouts of these devices. Lebed was fired as national security adviser 17 October 1996 amid intense political jostling while President Boris Yeltsin was awaiting heart surgery. He admits that he had only preliminary results of his investigation at that time, and these results are the basis of his subsequent claims.
The bombs, measuring 60 x 40 x 20 centimeters (24 x 16 x 8 inches), had been distributed among special Soviet military intelligence units belonging to the GRU, Lebed said
The official response of the US government was given by State Department spokesman James Foley on 5 September (based on CBS' pre-release of the interview transcript).The official response of the US government was given by State Department spokesman James Foley on 5 September (based on CBS' pre-release of the interview transcript).
The government of Russia has assured (us) that it retains adequate command and control of its nuclear arsenal and that appropriate physical security arrangements exist for these weapons and facilities.
Russia's atomic energy ministry further rejected Lebed's claims on 10 September.
"We don't know what General Lebed is talking about. No such weapons exist," a ministry spokesman told AFP. "Perhaps he meant old Soviet nuclear artillery shells, which are all being safely guarded."
Questions about Lebed's credibility were immediately raised. Abruptly cast out of power, presumably leaving him with grudges, he was likely to be a leading contender in the next presidential election. In elections in June 1996 he placed third, behind Yeltsin.
State Department spokesman Foley said Lebed's allegations carried "not a lot of credibility."
He said US officials have often raised the matter of nuclear security with their Russian counterparts and that "we've been assured by the Russian authorities that there's no cause for concern."
Lebed later testified before the Congressional Military Research and Development Subcommittee at a hearing on 1 October 1997 where he stated that the bombs were made to look like suitcases and could be detonated by one person with less than 30 minutes preparation. Lebed's claim that such devices had been manufactured were corroborated on 3 October by testimony from Russian scientist Alexei Yablokov, former environmental advisor to President Yeltsin...
Yablokov stated that he personally knows individuals who produced these suitcase-size nuclear devices under orders from the KGB in the 1970s specifically for terrorist purposes. As a result of their being produced for the KGB, Yablokov has stated that they may not have been taken into account in the Soviet general nuclear arsenal and may not be under the control of the Russian Defense Ministry.
For Yablokov's comments on suitcase nukes and Lebed given on WGBH/Frontline see www.pbs.org...