Analysts see major investment in a complex, coordinated, devastating terror attack plan. From WND:
WASHINGTON — Recent al-Qaida attacks using primitive bombs and inflicting relatively small numbers of casualties have persuaded some that Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network has been unable to secure weapons of mass destruction or has been unable to smuggle them into the U.S. and other key target countries.
In the wake of a series of reports from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin about the nuclear terrorism threat, some skeptics of al-Qaida’s ability to detonate nuclear weapons inside the U.S. most often suggest the problems with maintenance and technical attention.
Others suggest Osama bin Laden may have purchased duds on the black market. Others point out that the triggers on suitcase nukes decay rapidly and have short half lives. The nuclear cores, after a time, fall below the critical mass threshold, say the optimists. Even the shells are subject to contamination over time if not properly maintained, they say.
Unfortunately, finds Paul Williams, author of the upcoming book, “The Al Qaeda Connection: International Terrorism, Organized Crime and the Coming Apocalypse,” there’s little point in assessing the possibilities with rose-colored glasses….
Williams dismisses suggestions that bin Laden hasn’t taken into account some obvious problems with nuclear weapons.
“Bin Laden has been extremely mindful of proper maintenance,” he writes. “As soon as he obtained the weapons, he paid an amount estimated from $60 to $100 million for the assistance of nuclear scientists from Russia, China and Pakistan. From 1996 to 2001, bin Laden also kept a score of Spetznaz technicians from the former Soviet Union on his payroll. These technicians had been trained to open and operate the weapons in order to prevent any unauthorized use. To simplify the process of activation, the scientists and technicians came up with a way of hot-wiring the small nukes to the bodies of Muslim agents who long for immediate martyrdom and immediate elevation to the seventh heaven.”…
“The next attack, according to al-Qaida defectors and informants, will take place simultaneously at various sites throughout the country,” he writes. “Designated targets include New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Houston, Las Vegas, and Valdez, Alaska, where the tankers are filled with oil from the Trans-Alaska pipeline. To orchestrate such an incredible event requires not only the shipment of the nukes into the United States but also the establishment of cells, the training of sleeper agents, the selection of sites, and the preparation of the weapons without detection from federal, state or local law enforcement officials. Unlike 9-11, that cost less than $350,000, this event already has cost a king’s ransom, and bin Laden will not waste the billions in expenditures, the years of planning and his coveted ‘crown jewels’ on an attack that is ill-planned, poorly timed and carelessly coordinated.”…
Williams also speculates that the delay in launching attacks with weapons already smuggled inside the U.S. could be due to reports al-Qaida is determined to locate tactical nuclear weapons that were forward-deployed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. These weapons were reportedly buried at remote sites throughout the country for recovery by Soviet agents.
“There is no doubt that the Soviets stored material in this country,” says Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Research. “The question is what and where.”…