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| Terror Networks |
| OBL Dreams Of EMP Bomb Attack On USA |
| 2006-06-23 |
| A former Pakistani intelligence agent who once worked closely with Osama bin Laden says that the U.S. may well be attacked with electro-magnetic pulse bombs. During a June 22 interview with Adnkronos International news agency Khalid Khawaja said, "The e-bomb shall be the new threat for the USA, not the nukes or gas attacks." Khawaja is a retired former member of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI. After retiring, he went to Afghanistan and fought with bin Laden. Khawaja said of bin Laden, "Osama is above all this politicking. He is a great man and will remain great." Khawaja is said to retain close ties with Kashmiri militants and former Taliban leaders. An e-bomb or electromagnetic pulse weapon is designed to disable electronic equipment over a wide area by generating an intense surge of electromagnetic radiation. The weapon generates an electromagnetic shock wave, inducing heavy currents in all electronic gadgets with semi-conducting materials, frying their circuitry. An e-bomb would disable electronic systems on which even mechanical devices, such as cars and airplanes are highly dependent in industrialized nations. The technology is well-known; in September 2001 "Popular Mechanics" published a cover story, "E-bombs and Terrorists," stating that such a weapon could be constructed for $400. An e-bomb attack would disrupt telecommunications networks and power supplies while leaving infrastructure intact. Khawaja told the news agency that he overheard the reference to the e-bomb in several conversations among Arab fighters in Afghanistan over the years after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. Khawaja said, "I never heard Osama or Dr. (Ayman al-) Zawahiri discuss a nuclear attack on the (United States) and neither did I hear that from any other person. To me, these kind of ideas are ridiculous. Only states can use nuclear technology to destroy any country. "No group or individual can apply these technologies for mass destruction. I never heard anything which was discussed with any depth concerning gas attacks on America. "However, I overheard conversations which strongly suggested that there is a section of the anti-American resistance which is seriously pursuing a project aimed at bringing America back to the Stone Age without harming human lives." |
| Posted by:john |
| #11 crosspatch
More than anything, I just wish that when these terrorist scumbags start crowing about attacking us with an EMP device we simply retort how that will get their home turf slagged. Then watch the local governments scramble to track down these vermin. Even boasting of such treachery needs to come with a pricetag. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-06-23 22:19 |
| #10 And I say that if such devices were so easy to build, many of them would have been built by now. People have no idea the amount of power that is required to actually do damage to something at any great distance. I would imagine someone could build something that might damage an electronic device in the same building, but I doubt they would be able to construct anything to damage a radius of a city block, and when you consider that as you double the distance you must square the power, each increase in distance away from the device requires huge increases in power. If it is so simple and cheap, do it! I say that if it was, someone already would have. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2006-06-23 22:08 |
| #9 If any of you read my posts yesterday (see thread: http://rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=156933&D=2006-06-22&HC=2), you now know that an EMP device is not very complicated to build. The advent of multi-farad electro-chemical capacitors makes a wide-area FCG (Flux Compression Generator) even more easy to construct. Long ago, Mrs. Davis wisely suggested that America assemble a laundry list of rogue and terrorism sponsoring nations and simply inform them that a single major nuclear or bio-chem attack upon the USA will result in all of them being incinerated. We should now include an EMP attack in that list of qualifying offenses. Let those who seek our destruction scramble to unmake their webs of treachery. They have sown the whirlwind, now comes the time where they must ride the tiger they've summoned up or die in its jaws. We must not flinch in holding these perfidious b@stards to their misdeeds. We have everything to lose and they have everything to gain from our downfall. We need to rebalance that equation and attach a momentous price to their fell works. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-06-23 21:49 |
| #8 Considering the penchant for Radical Muslims to blow themselves up, pragmatically speaking the only utility for an EMP strike would be as cover for armed conventional invasion. To use to influence domestic politics = NPE, or mere harassment just becuz they can, won't achieve much for Radical islamists except to anger Americans more. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-06-23 21:35 |
| #7 Something is seriously wrong with me and I may just need a break from RB. I've been reading JM's posts lately and they made sense. I apologize for any unintentional harm my delirium has caused |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-06-23 21:33 |
| #6 Many Muslims in America and around the world, Radicalized or not, anti-Amer/Western or not, are highly educated and trained in many engineering fields, including but not limited to nuclear engineering. In any case, this article is just more evidencia/indicia, AGAIN, that Amer's dedicated enemies are NOT fighting for a better world, but a regressed, darker, Socialist Totalitarian world where everyone is equal in their mutual poverty and universal lack of rights and freedoms. Any and all Clintonian adult Male Brutes have the right to die between ages 40-50 yo, or younger. Undoubtedly the futurist, pre-planned genocide of Western democracy and civilization will proceed. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-06-23 21:31 |
| #5 Right ... so a bunch of Paki hillbillies that can barely kick-start a goat are supposed to build an e-bomb with enough energy to knock out a bunch of our stuff. Okey-dokey, then. Image the most powerful bolt of lightning you have seen recently. Now beyond what it happened to actually strike, how much damage did it do to infrastructure in the surrounding area? Probably something close to 0. Now imagine one has to buld something MUCH more powerful than that. This is an example of someone making something up to sell a story. Horsecrap. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2006-06-23 20:18 |
| #4 "...a project aimed at bringing America back to the Stone Age..." This is the most accurate description of the goal of Islamists I have ever seen. For it is civilization itself that is their enemy, and until civilization itself is destroyed, theirs is a dying philosophy. They *want* the Stone Age for all mankind, a Stone Age with guns to *keep* it a Stone Age. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-06-23 19:28 |
| #3 "Osama is above all this politicking. He is a great man and will remain great." And your f*****g head will be sticking on a pole someday with OBL and Dr. Z. Their days are numbered. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2006-06-23 19:10 |
| #2 A former Pakistani intelligence agent who once worked closely with Osama bin Laden That this is said so matter of factly just amazes me. This ISI lowlife should be occupying a cage inside Gitmo, not giving interviews. |
| Posted by: john 2006-06-23 17:15 |
| #1 Khawaja said, "I never heard Osama or Dr. (Ayman al-) Zawahiri discuss a nuclear attack on the (United States) and neither did I hear that from any other person. To me, these kind of ideas are ridiculous. Only states can use nuclear technology to destroy any country. His lips were moving when he uttered this statement, deception clear indicated. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-06-23 17:13 |