Grain of salt
Even though I am skeptical of any claim made by Al Qaeda, it is important to note that their number two whacko is going around telling people they have a suitcase nuke:
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.
March 22nd, 2004 at 1:21 pm
I don’t buy the suitcase nuke issue because while we have some small (i.e., 100 pound or so) atomic bombs that could be inserted by special forces or something, those are the most sophisticated (and therefor hardest to maintain) ones there are. I’m sure the Soviets made some, too. But the bombs that are going to be out on the market are those which are probably the older, rear deployed reserve ones — actual atomic BOMBS, not missile warheads — and in any event, the bigger heavier ones, not the state of the art stuff.
March 22nd, 2004 at 4:33 pm
I read somewhere that some folks think that interview actually happened back in Nov. 2001.
March 22nd, 2004 at 4:41 pm
But did they buy the suitcase nuke at an gunshow? ;>