SequSpur
07-15-2004, 11:57 AM
Author: Al-Qaida Has Nuclear Weapons Inside U.S.
A new book written by a former FBI consultant claims that al-Qaida not only has obtained nuclear devices, but also likely has them in the U.S. and will detonate them in the near future. These chilling allegations appear in "Osama's Revenge: The Next 9/11: What the Media and the Government Haven't Told You," by Paul L. Williams. Williams claims that al-Qaida has been planning a spectacular nuclear attack using six or seven suitcase nuclear bombs that would be detonated simulantaneously in U.S. cities. "They want the most bang for the buck, and that is nuclear," Williams told NewsMax. "I expect such an attack would come between now and the end of 2005," the author said. In addition to writing several books on terrorism, Williams, an investigative journalist, has worked as an FBI consultant. Williams' contention is not far from what U.S. intelligence believes, a source close to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has told NewsMax. The source said Ridge claimed that U.S. intelligence believes terrorists already have smuggled into the U.S. actual atomic devices, as opposed to so-called "dirty nukes" that simply are conventional bombs that help spread radiation. Williams traces the rampant spread of nuclear bomb development to a leading Pakistani scientist, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan. Khan, described as an "Islamic extremist," also has been depicted by former CIA chief George Tenet as "the father of Pakistan's nuclear program." Williams reports that Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was investigating Khan at the time he was kidnapped and later killed in 2003. According to Williams, another beneficiary of Khan's "contacts" was al-Qaida. The author reports that the U.S. got its first "hard" evidence of a connection when it invaded the Afghan capital of Kabul in 2001. A former al-Qaida safe house was found to be loaded with documents detailing dealings with the Pakistani scientist. The finding was so serious, says Williams, that Tenet traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan to follow up on the discovery. The author points out that the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 made matters worse: "The Chechen Mafia reportedly sold twenty nuclear suitcases in Grozny to representatives of Osama bin Laden and the Mujahadeen [in 1996]. For their weapons, bin Laden paid $30 million in cash and two tons of heroin. "Al-Qaida's leader, says Williams, is a major drug producer and runner in Afghanistan. "It is the drug money, not the bin Laden family fortune, that is the financial engine for al-Qaida," he points out. Today, Williams says, more than 40 Russian "nuclear suitcases" cannot be accounted for. The suitcases are miniaturized tactical nuclear bombs (in some cases weighing less than 40 pounds) that originally were planned by the Cold War-era Kremlin to be detonated inside the U.S. in the event of war. Most could cause damage equal to or greater than the crude device Washington dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. The author says some of these weapons still remain stateside in a "sleeper" status controlled by Russian military officials who believe a war with the U.S. "is still possible." Others, as many as 10, might be under al-Qaida's control, says Williams. What kind of damage could such a weapon do? The CIA estimates the Russian nuclear suitcases to have an explosive yield approaching 10 kilotons. Williams, referring to estimates by Theodore Taylor, a prominent American physicist who miniaturized the atomic bomb and visited the site of the World Trade Center in 1993, says a suitcase bomb could "emit intense thermal radiation, creating a fireball with a diameter that would expand to 460 feet. The core of the fireball would reach a maximum temperature of 10 million degrees Celsius ... ." The author says the heat that collapsed the Twin Towers never exceeded 5,000 degrees Celsius. Had such a bomb been used in 9/11, Williams claims, "The World Trade Center towers, all of Wall Street and the financial district, along with the lower tip of Manhattan up to Gramercy Park and much of midtown, including the theater district, would lie in ruins." Of those who might survive the blast, 50 percent of the survivors could expect to die at the rate of "250,000 people on any given day," Williams reports. And how could al-Qaida manage to transport such weapons into theU.S.? Williams points out that the borders with Mexico and Canada are still dangerously porous and not equipped to detect the smuggling of nuclear materials. U.S. seaports are even more vulnerable, he argues. Though New York City would seem to be the No. 1 target of another attack by al-Qaida, Williams points out other U.S. cities have been mentioned in intercepted intelligence chatter. Among those discussed: Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Miam and Washington. He hastens to add that time "may not be on our side." "It was eight years between the World Trade Center attacks. Islam preaches patience. They will attack when they want," Williams concluded.
A new book written by a former FBI consultant claims that al-Qaida not only has obtained nuclear devices, but also likely has them in the U.S. and will detonate them in the near future. These chilling allegations appear in "Osama's Revenge: The Next 9/11: What the Media and the Government Haven't Told You," by Paul L. Williams. Williams claims that al-Qaida has been planning a spectacular nuclear attack using six or seven suitcase nuclear bombs that would be detonated simulantaneously in U.S. cities. "They want the most bang for the buck, and that is nuclear," Williams told NewsMax. "I expect such an attack would come between now and the end of 2005," the author said. In addition to writing several books on terrorism, Williams, an investigative journalist, has worked as an FBI consultant. Williams' contention is not far from what U.S. intelligence believes, a source close to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has told NewsMax. The source said Ridge claimed that U.S. intelligence believes terrorists already have smuggled into the U.S. actual atomic devices, as opposed to so-called "dirty nukes" that simply are conventional bombs that help spread radiation. Williams traces the rampant spread of nuclear bomb development to a leading Pakistani scientist, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan. Khan, described as an "Islamic extremist," also has been depicted by former CIA chief George Tenet as "the father of Pakistan's nuclear program." Williams reports that Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was investigating Khan at the time he was kidnapped and later killed in 2003. According to Williams, another beneficiary of Khan's "contacts" was al-Qaida. The author reports that the U.S. got its first "hard" evidence of a connection when it invaded the Afghan capital of Kabul in 2001. A former al-Qaida safe house was found to be loaded with documents detailing dealings with the Pakistani scientist. The finding was so serious, says Williams, that Tenet traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan to follow up on the discovery. The author points out that the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 made matters worse: "The Chechen Mafia reportedly sold twenty nuclear suitcases in Grozny to representatives of Osama bin Laden and the Mujahadeen [in 1996]. For their weapons, bin Laden paid $30 million in cash and two tons of heroin. "Al-Qaida's leader, says Williams, is a major drug producer and runner in Afghanistan. "It is the drug money, not the bin Laden family fortune, that is the financial engine for al-Qaida," he points out. Today, Williams says, more than 40 Russian "nuclear suitcases" cannot be accounted for. The suitcases are miniaturized tactical nuclear bombs (in some cases weighing less than 40 pounds) that originally were planned by the Cold War-era Kremlin to be detonated inside the U.S. in the event of war. Most could cause damage equal to or greater than the crude device Washington dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. The author says some of these weapons still remain stateside in a "sleeper" status controlled by Russian military officials who believe a war with the U.S. "is still possible." Others, as many as 10, might be under al-Qaida's control, says Williams. What kind of damage could such a weapon do? The CIA estimates the Russian nuclear suitcases to have an explosive yield approaching 10 kilotons. Williams, referring to estimates by Theodore Taylor, a prominent American physicist who miniaturized the atomic bomb and visited the site of the World Trade Center in 1993, says a suitcase bomb could "emit intense thermal radiation, creating a fireball with a diameter that would expand to 460 feet. The core of the fireball would reach a maximum temperature of 10 million degrees Celsius ... ." The author says the heat that collapsed the Twin Towers never exceeded 5,000 degrees Celsius. Had such a bomb been used in 9/11, Williams claims, "The World Trade Center towers, all of Wall Street and the financial district, along with the lower tip of Manhattan up to Gramercy Park and much of midtown, including the theater district, would lie in ruins." Of those who might survive the blast, 50 percent of the survivors could expect to die at the rate of "250,000 people on any given day," Williams reports. And how could al-Qaida manage to transport such weapons into theU.S.? Williams points out that the borders with Mexico and Canada are still dangerously porous and not equipped to detect the smuggling of nuclear materials. U.S. seaports are even more vulnerable, he argues. Though New York City would seem to be the No. 1 target of another attack by al-Qaida, Williams points out other U.S. cities have been mentioned in intercepted intelligence chatter. Among those discussed: Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Miam and Washington. He hastens to add that time "may not be on our side." "It was eight years between the World Trade Center attacks. Islam preaches patience. They will attack when they want," Williams concluded.