Al-Qaida Leader Says They Have Briefcase Nukes

Truth or terrorist bluff?
Dave

SYDNEY, Australia (March 21) - Osama bin Laden's terror network claims to have
bought ready-made nuclear weapons on the black market in central Asia, the
biographer of al-Qaida's No. 2 leader was quoted as telling an Australian
television station.

In an interview scheduled to be televised on Monday, Pakistani journalist Hamid
Mir said Ayman al-Zawahri claimed that ''smart briefcase bombs'' were available
on the black market.

It was not clear when the interview between Mir and al-Zawahri took place.

U.S. intelligence agencies have long believed that al-Qaida attempted to
acquire a nuclear device on the black market, but say there is no evidence it
was successful.

In the interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp. television, parts of which
were released Sunday, Mir recalled telling al-Zawahri it was difficult to
believe that al-Qaida had nuclear weapons when the terror network didn't have
the equipment to maintain or use them.

''Dr Ayman al-Zawahri laughed and he said 'Mr. Mir, if you have $30 million, go
to the black market in central Asia, contact any disgruntled Soviet scientist,
and a lot of ... smart briefcase bombs are available,''' Mir said in the
interview.

''They have contacted us, we sent our people to Moscow, to Tashkent, to other
central Asian states and they negotiated, and we purchased some suitcase
bombs,'' Mir quoted al-Zawahri as saying.

Al-Qaida has never hidden its interest in acquiring nuclear weapons.

The U.S. federal indictment of bin Laden charges that as far back as 1992 he
''and others known and unknown, made efforts to obtain the components of
nuclear weapons.''

Bin Laden, in a November 2001 interview with a Pakistani journalist, boasted
having hidden such components ''as a deterrent.'' And in 1998, a Russian
nuclear weapons design expert was investigated for allegedly working with bin
Laden's Taliban allies.

It was revealed last month that Pakistan's top nuclear scientist had sold
sensitive equipment and nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea,
fueling fears the information could have also fallen into the hands of
terrorists.

Earlier, Mir told Australian media that al-Zawahri also claimed to have visited
Australia to recruit militants and collect funds.

''In those days, in early 1996, he was on a mission to organize his network all
over the world,'' Mir was quoted as saying. ''He told me he stopped for a while
in Darwin (in northern Australia), he was ... looking for help and collecting
funds.''

Australia's Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the government could not rule
out the possibility that al-Zawahri visited Australia in the 1990s under a
different name.

''Under his own name or any known alias he hasn't traveled to Australia,''
Ruddock told reporters Saturday. ''That doesn't mean to say that he may not
have come under some other false documentation, or some other alias that's not
known to us.''

Mir describe al-Zawahri as ''the real brain behind Osama bin Laden.''

''He is the real strategist, Osama bin Laden is only a front man,'' Mir was
quoted as saying during the interview. ''I think he is more dangerous than bin
Laden.''

Al-Zawahri - an Egyptian surgeon - is believed to be hiding in the rugged
region around the Pakistan-Afghan border where U.S. and Pakistani troops are
conducting a major operation against Taliban and al-Qaida forces.

He is said to have played a leading role in orchestrating the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks on the United States.

AP-NY-03-21-04 1608EST

"Dav1936531" wrote in message
...
Truth or terrorist bluff?
Dave

SYDNEY, Australia (March 21) - Osama bin Laden's terror network claims to
have
bought ready-made nuclear weapons on the black market in central Asia, the
biographer of al-Qaida's No. 2 leader was quoted as telling an Australian
television station.

If #2 had suitcase nukes he would have used one, instead of being killed
"attempting to escape".

From: "Tarver Engineering"


If #2 had suitcase nukes he would have used one, instead of being killed
"attempting to escape".

Um, not if the nukes are not immediately available due to their having been
allotted to some other "mission"......

There were reports some years ago (never confirmed AFAIK) of Soviet suitcase
nukes having disappeared from their inventory.
Dave

There were reports some years ago (never confirmed AFAIK) of Soviet suitcase
nukes having disappeared from their inventory.

What "inventory"? I've seen several reports where both ex-Soviet nuclear
scientists and ex-Soviet military officials repeatedly claim there were never
any suitcase nukes in the first place. This turn coat Ledbed (is that his
name?) seems to have been rewarded hansomely for scaring the crap out of
western nations.


BUFDRVR

"Stay on the bomb run boys, I'm gonna get those bomb doors open if it harelips
everyone on Bear Creek"

From: (BUFDRVR)


There were reports some years ago (never confirmed AFAIK) of Soviet suitcase
nukes having disappeared from their inventory.

What "inventory"? I've seen several reports where both ex-Soviet nuclear
scientists and ex-Soviet military officials repeatedly claim there were never
any suitcase nukes in the first place. This turn coat Ledbed (is that his
name?) seems to have been rewarded hansomely for scaring the crap out of
western nations.
BUFDRVR

We had/have "suitcase" nuke demolition charges.....it seems only fair to assume
that the Soviets had/have them too.

If they have lost control of them, denying they ever existed would be a good
way to attempt to save face and to try to avoid any liability for negligent
management of their armaments should the new owners use one in a terror attack.

Let's hope Al-Qaeda is blowing smoke.
Dave

"Dav1936531" wrote in message
...
From: (BUFDRVR)


There were reports some years ago (never confirmed AFAIK) of Soviet
suitcase
nukes having disappeared from their inventory.

What "inventory"? I've seen several reports where both ex-Soviet nuclear
scientists and ex-Soviet military officials repeatedly claim there were
never
any suitcase nukes in the first place. This turn coat Ledbed (is that his
name?) seems to have been rewarded hansomely for scaring the crap out of
western nations.
BUFDRVR

We had/have "suitcase" nuke demolition charges.....it seems only fair to
assume
that the Soviets had/have them too.

If they have lost control of them, denying they ever existed would be a
good
way to attempt to save face and to try to avoid any liability for
negligent
management of their armaments should the new owners use one in a terror
attack.

Let's hope Al-Qaeda is blowing smoke.
Dave

IIRC, they were termed Atomic Demolition Munitions. They were designed to
do things such as take out tunnels, and to demolish ports as they were
abandoned. The ADM's were not thermonuclear, which would be small comfort
to those close. The lightest one I ever read about was under 500 lbs, and I
think it may have been very close to 100. I seem to remember they could
also be submerged for up to 6 months on a timer. Those were ours. Theirs,
I never saw detailed at all. It's public information.

Don H.

"Dav1936531" wrote in message
...
From: (BUFDRVR)


There were reports some years ago (never confirmed AFAIK) of Soviet
suitcase
nukes having disappeared from their inventory.

What "inventory"? I've seen several reports where both ex-Soviet nuclear
scientists and ex-Soviet military officials repeatedly claim there were
never
any suitcase nukes in the first place. This turn coat Ledbed (is that his
name?) seems to have been rewarded hansomely for scaring the crap out of
western nations.
BUFDRVR

We had/have "suitcase" nuke demolition charges.....it seems only fair to
assume
that the Soviets had/have them too.

Big suitcase. SADM, with its W-54 warhead, was not something you could drop
into your American Tourister and waltz into some hotel with it. Did the
Soviets have small ADM's? We don't really know--Lebed's claims have been
pretty much discredited, though, so if that is what you (or the originator
of this "news" story) are basing this on, it is not much.


If they have lost control of them, denying they ever existed would be a
good
way to attempt to save face and to try to avoid any liability for
negligent
management of their armaments should the new owners use one in a terror
attack.

If AQ had them for some time, they'd have used them by now. And would not
have been wasting their time trying to foment "dirty bomb" plots. AFAIK, the
smallest Soviet device would have been a 152mm warhead for artillery
use--but that would undoubtedly have been a gun-type or linear implosion
device, so it would be kind of long, not to mention heavy (more than 100
pounds IIRC based upon US 155mm warheads)--and of a rather small yield.
Color me (very) dubious on this whole "suitcase nukes are lying around
everywhere" hysteria that periodically arises (this ain't the first time).

Brooks


Let's hope Al-Qaeda is blowing smoke.
Dave

In article ,
(Dav1936531) writes:
From: (BUFDRVR)


There were reports some years ago (never confirmed AFAIK) of Soviet suitcase
nukes having disappeared from their inventory.

What "inventory"? I've seen several reports where both ex-Soviet nuclear
scientists and ex-Soviet military officials repeatedly claim there were never
any suitcase nukes in the first place. This turn coat Ledbed (is that his
name?) seems to have been rewarded hansomely for scaring the crap out of
western nations.
BUFDRVR

We had/have "suitcase" nuke demolition charges.....it seems only fair to assume
that the Soviets had/have them too.

Hardly "Suitcase Nukes". More like "Steamer Trunk Nukes" or
"Footlocker Nukes". Our smallest nuke, the Small Atomic Demolition
Munition, wasn't really amenable to being carried about like luggage.
If they have lost control of them, denying they ever existed would be a good
way to attempt to save face and to try to avoid any liability for negligent
management of their armaments should the new owners use one in a terror attack.

Which wouldn't work worth a damn if they were ever used. Over the
last 6 decades, we've become very, very, good at puling radioactive
particles out of the air, and figuring out their provenance. We can
identify the parts of teh bombs that that dust was, originally. We
can identify the origin of the pit by assaying the various levels of
impurities and such that were part of teh original metal. I wouldn't
be a damned bit surprised if we could tell what production batch the
bomb pit was from.

Let's hope Al-Qaeda is blowing smoke.

Even the Russians don't do bombast quite like the Arabs.

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster

On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 16:16:01 -0800, "Tarver Engineering" wrote:


"Dav1936531" wrote in message
...
Truth or terrorist bluff?
Dave

SYDNEY, Australia (March 21) - Osama bin Laden's terror network claims to
have
bought ready-made nuclear weapons on the black market in central Asia, the
biographer of al-Qaida's No. 2 leader was quoted as telling an Australian
television station.

If #2 had suitcase nukes he would have used one, instead of being killed
"attempting to escape".

I am always amazed by the number of people that believe in "suitcase"
nukes. Can a physics package be small? Sure. Can one tote it around
in a suitcase? NO!!!

Al Minyard

In article ,
Alan Minyard wrote:

I am always amazed by the number of people that believe in "suitcase"
nukes. Can a physics package be small? Sure. Can one tote it around
in a suitcase? NO!!!

The "physics package" of a Minuteman III/Mk-12 is about 250 pounds once
you take it out of the reentry vehicle, and has a yield of 170 kilotons
or so.

It's small enough to fit into one of my suitcases, and weighs less than
some things I've shipped airfreight during road shows. For example, it
weighs about half that of a professional video projector in a road case,
and is about three times the bulk.

The W-44 ASW warhead was about 170 pounds, and was certainly small
enough to fit into a suitcase or trunk (less than 1 foot diameter), with
a yield of 10 kilotons or so.

The W-25 warhead for the Genie AAM was about 220 pounds, and gave a
yield of about 1.7 kilotons.

Any of these could be considered a "suitcase" nuke, but not a
"briefcase" one.

But you also have to consider that the actual "pit" is very small
(grapefruit or thermos sized, according to the design), with explosives
wrapped around it (not that much, actually) and triggered with some
high-precision electronics. The problem in the past was that the
electronics and power supply were a major weight addition to the weapon,
and that we've had a half-century of electronics advance to make that
part pretty small.

The whole apparatus would have to be no larger than a couple of
footballs (or a basketball plus a laptop computer), and less than 50
pounds, for a yield of a kiloton or so.

And a thousand tons of explosives, plus radiation effects? Pretty hard
to ignore.

--
cirby at cfl.rr.com

Remember: Objects in rearview mirror may be hallucinations.
Slam on brakes accordingly.