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| India-Pakistan |
| Al-Qaeda Has Dirty Bomb, Report Says |
| 2006-05-02 |
| BS, Editor says. If they had one, they'd have tried to use it. Islamabad, 2 May (AKI) - Osama bin Laden possesses a "dirty bomb" and nuclear devices bought on the Russian black market prior to 2001, according to Hamid Mir, the journalist who interviewed bin Laden shortly after the 11 September attacks. "Material useful for building a dirty bomb was smuggled from Russia to Georgia and then on to Afghanistan," Mir said in an interview with the website of satellite network al-Arabiya. He added that the device was built with various materials, including uranium, by an Egyptian engineer known as Saad. "I met this engineer only once, in 2000, when the Taliban controlled Kabul" he said. In the interview, Mir also said the Saudi terror leader had changed his mind at the last minute on the idea of making one of the hijacked 11 September planes crash into a US nuclear plant. This next part has a ring of truth to it. The Pakistani journalist, also said he has precise and up-to-date information on how the Saudi terror leader lives. "Last September I met the bodyguard of Osama Bin Laden, Abu Hamza, who told me that he had married an Afghan woman with whom he had three children. On the same day he told me of the death of one of Bin Laden's wives during childbirth in a mountainous zone where there were no doctors. It seemed that her death was not a major problem for bin Laden as death in childbirth is quite frequent among Afghan women," Mir recounted. It is unclear to which of bin Laden's wives his bodyguard was referring, even if it seems probably it was the daughter of Abu Hafs al-Masri. Reasonable, we've had many reports of al-Qaeda arabs marrying into Afghan and Pakistani tribes. Builds family bond and gives cover and protection. Abu Hamza al-Jazeeri - an Algerian who in 2003 was in Iraq but later returned to Afghanistan - also indicated that combatants go from Afghanistan to Iraq and back through Iran. Middle management and the gunnies, I'd wager the bigs stay put in their safe houses Regarding the life of bin Laden and his followers in Pakistan, bin Laden's body guard recounted that the Arab fighters bought food from the local Pashtun tribes who sell them bread, milk and meat. Probable "Abu Hamza told me that Osama bin Laden keeps in touch with his fighters and follows news via satellite television and the statements which appear on the Internet. He is well and spends his days praying and reading the Coran inside a cave," he continued, adding that he had left the Afghan mountain stronghold of Tora Bora at the end of December 2001. Asked how he could be informed about what is going on in the world from inside a cave, the journalist replied: "Where he is located, he can listen to the radio, and al-Qaeda has four bases in the main cities of Pakistan from where he can see the satellite channels and he can use Internet." "Bin Laden's envoys regularly prepare reports with the main news developments and send them to his hideout," he added. I read that as he's in a remote region where he gets radio only. His boyz in Pakistan collect news briefs from TV and the internet (Hi, Osama!) and send them to him via courier. He in turn would give them messages to relay to the troops from back in Pakistan. Sounds about right. "After leaving Tora Bora he spent much time in the mountainous region dividing Pakistan and Afghanistan, then he was in Khost, Konar, Baktia, Baktika and in Waziristan. That border area is safe, while that with Iran is not," he said, noting that one of bin Laden's sons, Saad, lives in Iran. Another probable Regarding bin Laden's relationship with Jordanian militant and leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Hamid Mir said the two men are in regular contact. "They communicate through CDs - inside which are compressed files in which there are the plans of operations to be carried out. They are carried to and from by couriers passing through Iran," he concluded. Possible, we captured one of Zargawi's messages to Binny. I wonder if he means a compressed text file hidden on a music CD? That would pass through most normal security measures |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #16 Concur with your assessment John. Kinda like Viagra, if ya got it, you'll prolly use er. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-05-02 18:22 |
| #15 nuclear devices bought on the Russian black market prior to 2001 BS. They would used these devices if they had them. Would Osama hesitate one second if he could detonate a nuke in Manhatten? There is no black market. If there was such a market for nukes, Iraq would have bought them, Iran would have bought them, Libya would have bought them. These are nation states with billions of dollars to spend, air force transport aircraft to ferry the weapons, diplomatic immunity for their "cultural attaches" intelligence operatives, scientists at universities to work on them etc. None of them has bought a nuke because none are for sale. |
| Posted by: john 2006-05-02 18:13 |
| #14 I call Bullshit, It's been known a very long time that Osama has to have Dyalisis on a regular basis, a place with NO doctors would be the LAST place Osama would be hiding. Dunno. I've heard the dialysis story is fake. Keep in mind, if it came from the CIA, it might have come from Scheurer, etc. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2006-05-02 18:12 |
| #13 not a joke: did anyone see the dirty bomb version with an Egyptian who was "there" and lost an eye [bona fides] when they tested it [dirty bomb] in Kabul 1980s? yep, same cast of smelly characters and BS. |
| Posted by: RD 2006-05-02 13:38 |
| #12 Abu Hamza, who told me that he had married an Afghan woman with whom he had three children. On the same day he told me of the death of one of Bin Laden's wives during childbirth in a mountainous zone where there were no doctors. I call Bullshit, It's been known a very long time that Osama has to have Dyalisis on a regular basis, a place with NO doctors would be the LAST place Osama would be hiding. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2006-05-02 13:35 |
| #11 LOL, tu3031! |
| Posted by: Slomomp Crinese4661 2006-05-02 13:30 |
| #10 Think they'll ring the doorbell before they set it on fire and throw it on some guy's porch? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-05-02 11:54 |
| #9 (As a side note, the first Soviet "nuclear" missile was a dirty bomb. Literally, it was a warhead filled with nuclear waste. Didn't even have conventional explosives. It would land with a 'splat'.) AFAIK, the first nuclear weapon to appear in public text was a dirty bomb. One of Heinlein's stories had both sides spreading radio isotopes to kill troops. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2006-05-02 11:09 |
| #8 |
| Posted by: Jaiter Clolulet1389 2006-05-02 10:51 |
| #7 Dirty bombs are another scare blown way, way out of scope by the press. They are difficult to do and as Amoose said, you have to have the right stuff to kill and sicken people. There is radioactive waste all over the place where uranium was mined. It is known as Uranium mine tailings (I've worked to help clean up the stuff). Even though it is labeled radioactive, the radiation is Alpha and Beta with very little Gamma. You can walk all over it and be fine. The big danger is the heavy metals used to process the Uranium, such as Mercury and Arsenic. Highly toxic crap. However, put in a bomb it would be next to worthless unless you inhaled a large portion of dust so the Alpha particles can do their work. Not a lot of casualties per bang. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-05-02 10:45 |
| #6 Al-Qaeda Has Dirty Bomb AKA Standing HeadlineTM. |
| Posted by: Raj 2006-05-02 10:44 |
| #5 read that as he's in a remote region where he gets radio only you think that's funny kufr? I only get Rush Limbaugh, that infidel Dr. Laura, and Michael Savage. If I had an explosive vest I'd be tempted to use it! |
| Posted by: Osama 2006-05-02 10:32 |
| #4 A "dirty bomb" is a joke. Technically, if you get *anything* radioactive and tie it to a piece of explosive, you have a "dirty bomb". This does not mean it can do squat, contaminate a large area, or pose even a minimal health risk. Compare it to a bag of ordinary dry dust tied to a block of dynamite. A serious "dirty bomb" has to not only have a type of explosives designed to disperse your radioactive particles, it has to have the right kind of radioactive isotope, it has to be detonated in just the right place with just the right weather conditions. And most of all, it must have publicity. If it is not publicized, unless it is a very advanced weapon that will actually make people sick and die quickly, nobody will notice it. The rain will wash the radioactive particles down the sewer like dust. There are many commonly available industrial chemicals that if detonated would be far more lethal and create much worse contamination. (As a side note, the first Soviet "nuclear" missile was a dirty bomb. Literally, it was a warhead filled with nuclear waste. Didn't even have conventional explosives. It would land with a 'splat'.) |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-05-02 10:25 |
| #3 If they had a dirty bomb or a nuke, they'd use it on the nearest convenient target. |
| Posted by: Mike 2006-05-02 10:24 |
| #2 I read that as he's in a remote region where he gets radio only. *chuckle* |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-05-02 09:55 |
| #1 I wonder if he means a compressed text file hidden on a music CD? That would pass through most normal security measures Take a music CD and rip it to a raw audio file. Take a text file. Now, replace the low-order bits in the audio files with bits from the text file: AB1,bit0 = TB1,bit0 AB2,bit1 = TB1,bit1, etc. Burn audio files to a new CD. I'd bet you wouldn't be able to hear a difference between the original and the new CD, but someone who knew there was a message on it could recover it quite easily. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2006-05-02 09:37 |