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| Terror Networks |
| Zubaydah sez al-Qaeda knows how to build dirty bomb |
| 2002-04-22 |
| Abu Zubaydah, who until his capture March 28 was bin Laden's chief of operations, has told interrogators al Qaeda knows how to build a so-called dirty bomb that would spew radiation into the atmosphere. He also said al Qaeda knows how it could be smuggled into the United States. Since a "dirty bomb" is nothing but a mixture of common explosive and radioactive material, it's a foregone conclusion that they "know how" to make one. I have a hard time understanding that panic over this - it seems manufactured. A dirty bomb doesn't carry with it any explosive power greater than the dynamite or C4 or whatever is used as the boom agent, only the filthy detritus, which is confined within a small area. It also isn't dependant on having its component parts smuggled into the country. God knows there are enough Pakistani and Saudi physicians in this country that radioactive cobalt, for instance, could be procured without raising undue suspicion. The use of such a thing would be an incredibly stupid move on the part of the Bad Guys, since the retaliation for, say, a McVeigh-style truck bombing with radioactive chaser would result in some real radioactivity being applied to the perpetrators, probably in the form of neutron bombs or nuclear artillery. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |