Terrorists 'have the will to use dirty bomb'<\/p>\n
Steven Gutkin, Associated Press, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Terrorists have the will and \"a reasonable amount\" of expertise
\nto employ a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapon
\nand will do so if they acquire the necessary materials, the U.S.
\nState Department's top antiterror official said.<\/p>\n
J. Cofer Black, U.S. coordinator for counterterrorism with a
\nrank of ambassador at large, also said that despite the arrest or
\nkilling of more than two-thirds of the al-Qaeda leadership of the
\nSept. 11, 2001, period, the group remains \"very dangerous.\"<\/p>\n
Speaking to The Associated Press in Jakarta on Saturday, Black
\nsaid U.S. officials are \"killing ourselves\" to prevent a \"dirty
\nbomb\" and other unconventional weapons from falling into the
\nhands of terrorists, but said the threat remains.<\/p>\n
\"We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that a number of these
\ngroups if they had it would use it,\" said Black, who accompanied
\nU.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to an Asia-Pacific antiterror
\nsummit on the Indonesian island of Bali last week.<\/p>\n
\"They've got the will. A lot of these guys seek the expertise,
\nand there's a reasonable amount of that out there, but what
\nyou're really looking for is the coming together of all the
\nfactors: the will, the expertise and the materials,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Authorities say terrorists could create a \"dirty bomb\" by
\nusing conventional explosives to disperse a plume of radioactive
\ndust over a city. Unlike a nuclear weapon, a dirty bomb would not
\nignite an atomic chain reaction and would not require highly
\nenriched uranium or plutonium, which are normally hard to obtain.
\nThe materials could be a lower-grade isotope, like those used in
\nmedicine or research.<\/p>\n
Black's comments follow recent revelations that the father of
\nPakistan's nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, had sold equipment
\nrelated to centrifuges, used to enrich uranium for nuclear
\nweapons, to Iran, Libya and North Korea.<\/p>\n
Experts say the same black market that enabled those countries
\nto obtain nuclear weapons technology might also have supplied
\nbomb components or plans to terrorists.<\/p>\n
\"If al-Qaeda were to put together a radiological device,
\nthey're going to use it. We know that they have the
\ndetermination, they've killed large numbers before, their
\nobjective is to kill more, they're doing everything they can to
\nacquire this type of weapon and we are working to try to prevent
\nit,\" Black said.<\/p>\n
He said that antiterror officials use the initials CBRN to
\nrank the threats' order of probability: \"chemical,
\nbacteriological, radiological and nuclear - chemical the most
\nlikely and nuclear the least.\"<\/p>\n
Unless the U.S. government quickly develops a coherent
\nstrategy to fight the threat, \"a nuclear terrorist attack on the
\nUnited States will be more likely than not in the decade ahead,\"
\nwrote Harvard University's Graham Allison in the latest issue of
\nForeign Affairs magazine.<\/p>\n
According to the best estimates, the global nuclear inventory
\nincludes more than 30,000 nuclear weapons and enough highly
\nenriched uranium and plutonium to build 240,000 more, wrote
\nAllison, a former assistant U.S. secretary of defense.<\/p>\n
\"Hundreds of these weapons are currently stored in conditions
\nthat leave them vulnerable to theft by determined criminals, who
\nwould then sell them to terrorists,\" he wrote.<\/p>\n
Al-Qaeda's apparent interest in acquiring nuclear technology
\ncame to the fore in 2001 when two Pakistani nuclear scientists
\nwere arrested after meeting Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan on
\nsuspicion of giving away secrets. The scientists were later
\nreleased without being charged.<\/p>\n
Al-Qaeda, said Black, has been badly damaged since Sept. 11,
\n2001, and now has \"less leadership personnel with which to plan
\nand validate operations\" but \"that still doesn't stop them from
\nbeing very dangerous.\"<\/p>\n
\"We are concerned about the next generation, guys seven to 12
\nyears younger, who are flush with disturbed radical emotion but
\nless well trained,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Ministers and other senior officials from more than two dozen
\ncountries attending last week's antiterror summit on Bali - site
\nof a devastating attack in 2002 by the al-Qaeda linked Jamaah
\nIslamiyah terror group - called on Asia-Pacific states to work to
\nprevent the illegal movement of nuclear, chemical and biological
\nmaterials.<\/p>\n
But delegates said the threat of unconventional weapons
\nfalling into the hands of terrorists was not discussed at any
\nlength during the two-day event.<\/p>\n
Black said he believed Jamaah Islamiyah remains the most
\ndangerous terrorist threat in this region because of its
\n\"association with al-Qaeda, the substantial training received in
\nAfghanistan, their contact and connection to these radicalized
\ngroups in the Middle East.\"<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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