Al-Qaida said to possess nuclear arms

[Drunk]

Very scary.

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Al-Qaida said to possess nuclear arms

By The Associated Press

The al-Qaida terror network bought tactical nuclear weapons from Ukraine in 1998 and is storing them for possible use, the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat reported yesterday.

There was no independent corroboration of the report, which appeared under an Islamabad, Pakistan, dateline and cited sources close to al-Qaida, which the United States blames for the Sept. 11, 2001, airliner attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

The paper said al-Qaida bought the weapons in suitcases in a deal arranged when Ukrainian scientists visited the Afghan city of Kandahar. The city was then a stronghold of the Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan at the time but were pushed from power in late 2001 by the United States and its Afghan military allies for refusing to turn al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden over to the U.S.

Al-Qaida would use the weapons only inside the U.S. or if the group faced a "crushing blow" threatening its existence, such as the use of nuclear or chemical weapons against its fighters, the paper quoted its sources as saying.

Ukraine inherited nuclear weapons from the Soviet Union, but in 1994 it agreed to send 1,900 nuclear warheads to Russia and sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

After the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, a former Russian national-security adviser, Alexander Lebed, said that up to 100 portable, suitcase-sized bombs were unaccounted for. Russia has denied such weapons existed.

Lebed said each one was equivalent to 1,000 tons of TNT and could kill as many as 100,000 people.

Al-Hayat did not say how many weapons al-Qaida bought or say who exactly had provided them.

There was no specific response yesterday from U.S. officials.

In Jakarta, Indonesia, yesterday, the State Department's top anti-terror official said terrorists have the will and some of the expertise to make a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapon, and are "doing everything they can" to acquire the materials.

J. Cofer Black, U.S. ambassador at large for anti-terrorism, said al-Qaida is still dangerous even though more than two-thirds of its leaders have been killed or arrested since 9-11.

Black said he and other U.S. officials are "killing ourselves" to make sure terrorists don't get a so-called "dirty bomb" or other unconventional weapons, but the threat remains.

"We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that a number of these groups, if they had it, would use it," said Black. "They've got the will. A lot of these guys seek the expertise, and there's a reasonable amount of that out there, but what you're really looking for is the coming together of all the factors: the will, the expertise and the materials."

Authorities fear terrorists could create a dirty bomb, which would use conventional explosives to disperse a plume of radioactive dust over a city.

Unlike a nuclear weapon, a dirty bomb would not ignite an atomic chain reaction and would not require highly enriched uranium or plutonium, which are hard to obtain. The material could be a lower-grade isotope, like those used in medicine or research.

"If al-Qaida were to put together a radiological device, they're going to use it," Black said. "We know that they have the determination, they've killed large numbers before, their objective is to kill more, they're doing everything they can to acquire this type of weapon, and we are working to try to prevent it."

[pattbateman]

yeah scary

almost as scary is how the liberals are bitching that our government is taking away our liberites

and then when one of these bombs go off, they will bitch that our government didnt do anything to stop it

liberals are nothing but frauds

nice SN! its sums up my life the last 72 hours!!!!

[smcx04]

just because they have it doesnt mean that they'll use it. Terrorists do shit to make points and get attention to their cause... they couldve done similar to 9/11 years before it happened.

It is scary of what they're able to do but they are not doing it just to do it....terrorist groups are freedom fighters in someone's eyes. The fact is that the US is going after them and they will not just let it happen. The question is what kind of action/event in the first place caused a rebellion or the terrorist group to form.

There is lot of shit happening in the world that is lead by the US or strongly supported that we never hear about, I think any terror attack is horrible and their capabilities are scary. I'm just stressing the point of the other side a little to maybe open up some minds to consider other sides. I personally dont think that it will ever come to something like that mentioned in the article and hope that no innocent people but the guilty ones suffer in the end.

[mr mahs]

Very scary indeed but if they possesed the capabilities to inflict mass murder as a result of detonating a suitcase nuke in the U.S., it would have already been done...

Propaganda...

[mrmatas2277]

Originally posted by smcx04

just because they have it doesnt mean that they'll use it.

there should be "You Must Be This High To Ride" sign outside the current events forum...

[dnice35]

More reason to have a man with balls as our president, God help us if we let tree huging Kerry win the presidency

[igloo]

Originally posted by dnice35

More reason to have a man with balls as our president, God help us if we let tree huging Kerry win the presidency