Osama bin Laden is Planning Nuclear Attack Against US, Says Expert

[Eric J in MN]

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that a terrorism expert says Osama bin Laden is planning a nuclear attack against the United States ("Is Osama Bin Laden planning a first strike against U.S.?" by Greg Gordon, Washington Bureau Correspondent, November 20, 2004)

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1576/5096071.html

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A newly retired CIA terrorism expert said Friday he has no doubt that Osama bin Laden wants to unleash a nuclear attack on the United States, perhaps with one of about 100 "suitcase bombs" believed missing from the former Soviet Union.

Moreover, Bin Laden's Al-Qaida network likely has operatives in the United States who could obtain radioactive material from a research laboratory or medical facility and set off a "dirty bomb," said Michael Scheuer, who headed the CIA's Bin Laden unit from 1996 to 1999.

Scheuer said Al-Qaida concluded it was "too darned hard" to obtain the plutonium and equipment to build a nuclear weapon, "so they're after a kind of off-the-shelf device, if they could find one," and the Soviet Union seems the most likely place.

"What we know is that he's always said it was a religious obligation to have the same weapons as their enemies," Scheuer said. "He clearly has said he would use it. He doesn't intend it as a deterrent. It's going to be a first strike."

Catching Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar, and protecting nuclear materials, should be our top priorities.

Put more translators and other intelligence officers on Osama bin Laden's trail.

Help the Soviet Union to secure their nuclear material.

Do more to guard the radiocative material in the US.

[xultar]

1. Ooops, I thought * was making us SAFER! n/t

[TahitiNut]

4. Well, John Ashcroft said we were safe because of Glorious George.

(And then went and prayed to his Golden Calf.)

[buff2]

32. That's right......

I'm not worried. Jesus Bu$h will protect us.Praise his Holy name.

[Eurobabe]

2. thanks for making my sunday...

i knew there was a reason i have been hanging out in the cooking and baking forum. :(

Okay, I ventured over to the StarTribune to read this, and I am seething now. WHY HAS BU$H wasted millions of dollars on Iraq when OBL is still out there? And why did 59M stupid people fail to grasp this fact?

I'm going back to the apple bread now, I can't take this...

[EnfantTerrible]

3. Same message on Meet The Press

this morning by Michael Sheuyer former CIA analyst.

[George_S]

5. War is Peace.

Bush knows what he is doing. This is by the book: 1984.

[genieroze]

38. You mean Mein Kampf

http://www.crusader.net/texts/mk/

[George_S]

43. No, Hitler didn't have to worry about a pesky Bill of Rights.

Bush does and needs to be more covert.

[Cobalt Violet]

6. And then we have martial law and the chimp forever our president.

And never once was he elected.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

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[Deja Q]

17. Red and blue, he'll make us all purple. In the face, if nothing more.

Still, you are right. * and dickless said that there'd be an attack if Kerry won. Kerry lost. And if Alquade nukes us, Afghanistan gets nuked in return. What happens after that is up for conjecture, but if the world is about to become a radioactive 'shake'n'bake' recipe...

We live only once. May as well have fun before they kill us.

[wtmusic]

8. Crops are ready

time to reap what we've sown

[UL_Approved]

9. Well, anybody remember the days of the Bomb?

It looks like some more Cold War climate. Dark days ahead. I wonder if we get attacked what our national reaction will be. Will people just sway with the propaganda even more, or will they finally realize the failure that this administration has become?

[drdtroit]

36. The former, more embracing of the party line.

This is a majority that was formed and whipped into shape by allowing them to embrace and practice all of their biases and prejudices.
You don't think there is any room for reason, do you?

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

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[Eric J in MN]

21. Osama bin Laden was considered a US ally in the 1980s, but

that doesn't make the threat of his nuking us any less serious.

[pretzel4gore]

39. c'mon..why would he nuke us?

the threat to do it gets bushinc what it wants...no need to do anything....also, Osama's dead, he's been dead for years....

[fedsron2us]

11. So we should invade Iran, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, N. Korea etc

Make list of countries as appropriate.

[Deja Q]

12. Well, if OBL is lying, he's getting a good laugh. If he's serious and we

are bombed, well it's nice been knowing you. Remember, * and the repukes have been cutting budgets for state and (trickling down to) local governments, and police and firefighters have been fired.

This shit ain't Clinton's fault.

Fun thing is, when did the Soviet nukes disappear? After 9/11? Anybody remember how the US renegged on their offer to help the Soviets get rid of the nukes, saying it cost too much? The cost of life in our culture of life...

[hippiechick]

15. I remember that as one of Dean's issues with * ....

:hi:

:hippie:

[Eric J in MN]

20. One of the first things Bush did was cut money

to secure nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union.

What a creep Bush is.

[7th_Sephiroth]

14. TERROR! TERROR! OSAMA!!

LETS INVADE IRAN OR OSAMA WILL NUKE THE U.S.!!

[leanin_green]

16. The first inkling of the future set-up.

Get ready folks, this is the first installment towards a growing fear message that will be used to create a state of acceptance for the new American reality,MARSHALL LAW!!!

[Ardee]

18. Suitcase bombs are a myth, you know

They are actually more like foot locker bombs, very heavy and very large.

Now dirty bombs are a bit more likely,imo.But my President said that bin Laden is irrelevant, didn't he? So unimportant that we let him get away once in the mountains on the Pakistani border.....Bush needs bin Laden, Bush needs an attack on our soil, how else to drive restrictive legislation through a panicked congress and a frightened electorate?

[da_chimperor]

23. Not to mention dirty bombs are no more dangerous than a normal bomb

It'll be interesting to see how chimpy and the gang spin this, if they even bother to comment.

[lil-petunia]

19. Quick, invade Chile!

They must be supporting AQ. You can tell how evil their security guards are.

damned chilis think their hot stuff. We'll show them and win this war on terra.

[Deja Q]

26. Not Chile, France! 31% of Americans think they're an enemy.

That's a good enough percentage, right? :crazy:

[jobycom]

22. Hey, if Bush doesn't worry about Usama, why should we?

I mean, Bush let him go in Tora Bora, Bush pulled back our submarines before 9-11, Bush squashed every other attempt to get Bin Laden before 9-11, and even after 9-11 Bush refused to seize UBL's assets because they were too intricately tied to other people's assets (like Bush Daddy's).

So why worry? Bush has made us safe from little children in Iraq, I'm sure we are safe from UBL.

Question, though. Why does it take an "expert" to say that UBL would use nukes on us if he had them?

[grace0418]

24. If this does happen

It'll be blue states that suffer, as usual. LA, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, NYC (again), DC. Oh, but I'm sure the fucking idiots in the Red States will be the ones buying more duct tape and calling for war against some country that had nothing to do with it.

I live in Chicago and I just want to thank all the red states in advance FOR BEING SUCH FUCKING MORANS.

[donsu]

25. as soon as the bushgang's crimes are exposed (and they will be)

the bushgang will cause a greater 9/11 because they will need a greater distraction

[go west young man]

28. Heres my prediction......

Osama Bin laden on a jet ski with a suitcase bomb sinks the entire U.S. 6th fleet in the Persian Gulf, say, in the year 2011. Mullah Omar rides shotgun.

[still_one]

27. This is purely historical, as rice would say

[NashVegas]

29. Not Breaking News

Hi Eric -

This story is a day and a half old.

[maddezmom]

34. and was posted last week

first drudge, then NYT and then CBS.

[Zen]

30. I already had a vision of this happening

It's going to be awful.

[bunny planet]

33. Who's Chimpy going to get to impose Marshal law? I thought our military

and Guard was stretched too thin. Is he going to draft us to impose Martial law on our own people, I don't think that's going to work. Where do the storm troopers come from? He needs Wall Street to continue the Corporatocracy, so he can't allow that again. Of course, this logic doesn't allow for his royal stupidity unfortunately.

[GetTheRightVote]

35. Schrub to the rescue

But schrub will rescue us, he will reach beyond Osama and grab the nukes and pull them over to our side, hurray, notttttttttttt.

[fujiyama]

37. .

.

[SOS]

40. Too late

to secure Soviet-era nukes.
From Nunn Lugar website:

"For a private citizen, the best way to support NUNN-LUGAR is to make sure that the money authorized by the United States Congress for such an important task is being spent efficiently. Unfortunately, Defense Enterprise Fund ("DEF"), a Program funded with NUNN-LUGAR money, fell victim to gross mismanagement, and the US government's investigation of DEF has been, at best, half-hearted. DEF was closed on December 31, 2003, its mission not accomplished at all and its $67M grant shamefully and criminally wasted.

The documents related to the continuing DEF investigation are found on this website. It is our belief that those who mismanage the funds that were supposed to be used to enhance the security of the world should be held accountable."

http://www.nunn-lugar.com

[demokatgurrl]

41. I'm sure those are just " historic" remarks Bin Laden is

making. Just ask Condi, she'll tell you.

[genieroze]

42. This was from last week

This site reports on terrorist chatter. I feel most is just talk but it's good to know what these people are thinking.

http://www.trackingterrorism.com/default.asp?foobar=945&dismode=article&artid=847

[Moderator]

44. Last updated Nov 19, not actual headline

Not LBN