Saturday, March 10, 2007
Al Qaeda requisitions some expertise
The Taliban, who as a matter of ideology reject the schooling necessary to support a modern industrial economy or military, have gone out and kidnapped up some expertise that they could not create on their own in a thousand madrassas:
Two top nuclear scientists of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) are currently in Taliban custody. The two were working at PAEC’s facility in North West Frontier Province. Zee News investigations reveal that the two scientists were kidnapped about six months ago. To avoid international embarrassment Pakistan Government has kept this information under wraps.
According to information available with Zee News, nuclear scientists have been kidnapped by Taliban at the behest of Al-Qaeda. Further investigations reveal that Al-Qaeda may be using the expertise of the scientists to produce nuclear bombs. The two scientists are reportedly being held somewhere in Waziristan, near Afghanistan border.
Two scientists cannot possibly build a bomb in a cave in Waziristan. Perhaps, though, they could figure out how to assemble one from pieces that have already been acquired, or arm one that al Qaeda may have purchased. Regardless, it is scary to learn that Pakistan operates an atomic research facility in a part of the country that it does not actually control. It invites the obvious question, what else has al Qaeda been able to "requisition" from PAEC's North West Frontier Province facility?
8 Comments:
By 
Lanky_Bastard, at
Sat Mar 10, 01:03:00 PM:
Cruel as it may sound, I hope they were kidnapped and not "kidnapped".
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Sat Mar 10, 01:28:00 PM:
I would set off any working bomb in the cave. The numerous Muslims in my circle of friends would do the same thing.
Note: I said the Muslims in my circle of friends. I didn't say all Muslims.
By Purple Avenger, at
Sat Mar 10, 04:43:00 PM:
I would think getting 3-phase power into the mud huts to operate a credible milling machine will be a big hurdle.
Gonna require a lot of gerbils to run that that generator.
By 
, at
Sat Mar 10, 06:19:00 PM:
The idea that all of Waziristan is a cave is a misnomer. More likely the scientists were moved from one facility to another by the same security people who were guarding them. Who are obviously Al Qaeda / Taliban (how else could the scientists be abducted).
Very likely these scientists are working in a facility in a city with electricity, running water, etc. Probably internet connections as well. The streets may be full of garbage and beggars, and open sewage running down the middle of the road, but nevertheless I have no doubt there is power.
As far as building a bomb from scratch, no. That requires a lot of people to either refine uranium for a gun type bomb (Little Boy) or process plutonium (purify, and precisely mill) plus put together millisecond timed explosive charges for the implosion type bomb (Fat Man). The latter very difficult to do but desireable as it has more yield, and can be fitted onto a missile.
VERY LIKELY what these guys are doing is preparing "dirty bombs." Imagine Alexander Litivenko times twenty thousand. The Final Four. Baseball's Opening Day. A NASCAR race. The Mall of America. Fourth of July celebrations.
THAT my friends is well within the capacity of two scientists with power and semi-trained assistants.
By Papa Ray, at
Sat Mar 10, 07:43:00 PM:
aQ has access to a lot of money. They also have access to every country in the world.
There are people in this world that will sell anything for the right amount of money.
They can and will buy anything they need.
They have said so and they have said that they will use it against us.
If I had a gun pointed at my head, I wouldn't help build a bomb, but no doubt, the Pakistan scientists will.
They may already be in the process of building one.
We have to defend against their intentions, not their capabilities.
Papa Ray
West Texas
USA
By Purple Avenger, at
Sat Mar 10, 08:00:00 PM:
VERY LIKELY what these guys are doing is preparing "dirty bombs."
Don't need scientists for that, just jihadis willing to be the radiation sponges that do the work.
By Dawnfire82, at
Mon Mar 12, 01:13:00 AM:
That's assuming that they have the ingredients necessary in working condition. If they have to "aggitate" the materials or otherwise prepare them, that might necessitate the aid of experts.
By , at
Mon Mar 12, 03:56:00 AM:
There's dirty bombs, and dirty bombs.
If you really, really want to kill a lot of people you need highly radioactive elements, which by its very nature is shortlived, so you need to generate them basically as the bomb is made, or even better, when it goes off.
This requires someone who knows reactions and how to set them up.
The other sort of dirty bomb just needs a bunch of radioactive waste and some high explosive. But possibly A.Q. doesn't even know that.
