Zarqawi Nuclear Terrorism Threat
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James Joyner | Wednesday, April 20, 2005 |
Bill Gertz reports that al Qaeda’s chief Iraqi terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi may have obtained a nuclear or radiological device.
Reports reveal Zarqawi nuclear threat
Recurrent intelligence reports say al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi has obtained a nuclear device or is preparing a radiological explosive — or dirty bomb — for an attack, according to U.S. officials, who also say analysts are unable to gauge the reliability of the information’s sources. The classified reports have been distributed to U.S. intelligence agencies for several consecutive months and say Zarqawi, al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, has stored the nuclear device or dirty bomb in Afghanistan, said officials familiar with the intelligence.
One official said the intelligence is being questioned because analysts think al Qaeda would not hesitate to use a nuclear device if it had one. However, the fact that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has reported the nuclear threat in several classified reports distributed since December indicates concern about it.
I, too, tend to think that Zarqawi and gang would use such a device immediately if they had the capability. Still, a nuclear-armed al Qaeda is our post-9/11 nightmare scenario.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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And, of course, you know that they don't have to get it here. All the have to do is detonate it somwhere, anywhere, and the world markets are going to collapse for a while. Even the middle of the Sahara will suffice, and I'm fairly certian we don't have any radiological sensors there yet.
It is likely that they have some radioactive material. Our buddies in Pakistan were practically selling it on eBay.
Zarqawi doesnt exist. This story reads like a typical psy-ops. Who is writing these "classified intelligence reports"? Perhaps the same folks trumpeting WMDs in Iraq?
Um... the tin foil hat is slipping... off... a little...
If this asshole Zargawi does exist and if we learned for sure that he has a nuke, we should be able to track him down, turn a SEAL team loose on him and burn the bastard and all his friends where they stand. Who is chicken little in DC...Don or George?
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