Former WMD Chief: al-Qaeda Waiting For Nukes

A new report by retired longtime intelligence officer Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, who served as chief of the CIA’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Department, accuses the U.S. government of seriously misreading al-Qaida’s operational objectives.

“Al-Qaida’s reasoning,” according to Mowatt-Larssen’s new report from Harvard’s Kennedy School, “runs counter to analytic convention that equates the ease of acquisition of chemical, biological or radiological weapons with an increasing likelihood of terrorist use — i.e., a terrorist attack employing crude weapons is therefore more likely than an attack using a nuclear or large scale biological weapon.”

“In fact, it is the opposite” of that conventional wisdom, according to the analysis, entitled “Al-Qaida Weapons of Mass Destruction Threat: Hype or Reality.” Al-Qaida’s motivations suggest “the greatest threat is posed by the most effective and simple means of mass destruction, whether these means consist of nuclear, biological, or other forms of asymmetric weapons.”

That makes all the scarier the scolding that came this week from the congressionally authorized Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation. That panel gave the Obama administration an F grade for its performance in preparing the U.S. homeland for a terrorist attack that utilized biological warfare.

Mowatt-Larssen was stationed in Moscow and other critical venues in the course of his long career gathering intelligence. The details he provides of al-Qaida’s scheming in this report are nothing short of chilling.

via Read Full Article.

U.S. to Make Stopping Nuclear Terror Key Focus

In a surprising policy shift, the Obama administration’s classified review of nuclear weapons policy will for the first time make thwarting nuclear-armed terrorists a central aim of American strategic nuclear planning, according to senior Pentagon officials.

When completed next year, the Nuclear Posture Review will order the entire government to focus on countering nuclear terrorists — whether armed with rudimentary bombs, stolen warheads or devices surreptitiously supplied by a hostile state as a task equal to the traditional mission of deterring a strike by major powers or emerging nuclear adversaries.

Read Full Article

Pakistan Turns Down Key U.S. Antiterrorism Requests

Washington’s relationship with Pakistan suffered a fresh blow this week with reports that Pakistan’s leader has rejected a personal request from U.S. President Barack Obama to expand the army’s operations in tribal areas where members of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban are known to enjoy safe haven.Pakistani military officials and diplomats say President Asif Ali Zardari told Obama in late November, before the White House’s new “Af-Pak” strategy was announced, that the country’s military would move against the Islamic extremists in the border areas on its own schedule, and not the accelerated pace Washington requested.

Pakistan’s military chief, General Ashfaq Kiyani, has also reportedly told General David Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command, that no major military operations are planned anytime soon in North Waziristan.The area is a known sanctuary for the Afghan-Taliban-allied Haqqani network run by Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Siraj, a Taliban commander. According to U.S. military officials, Siraj’s fighters pose the biggest threat to U.S. forces in the eastern part of Afghanistan.

Source

Are Pakistans Nuclear Weapons Safe?

The prospect of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of al Qaeda or the Taliban in Pakistan is perhaps the most immediate threat facing the US. It’s thought that Pakistan has an arsenal of nearly 100 missiles, however; no one is certain of the total, or for that matter where many of the nuclear weapons are located. While government officials have publicly stated that our military is poised and ready to enter the country should it appear the safety of Pakistan’s nukes is at risk, the challenge to locate and protect each missile and missile site would be daunting if not impossible should this nuclear nightmare ever begin to unfold.

Seymour M. Hersh has written an article in the New Yorker detailing the situation

In the tumultuous days leading up to the Pakistan Army’s ground offensive in the tribal area of South Waziristan, which began on October 17th, the Pakistani Taliban attacked what should have been some of the country’s best-guarded targets. In the most brazen strike, ten gunmen penetrated the Army’s main headquarters, in Rawalpindi, instigating a twenty-two-hour standoff that left twenty-three dead and the military thoroughly embarrassed. The terrorists had been dressed in Army uniforms. There were also attacks on police installations in Peshawar and Lahore, and, once the offensive began, an Army general was shot dead by gunmen on motorcycles on the streets of Islamabad, the capital. The assassins clearly had advance knowledge of the general’s route, indicating that they had contacts and allies inside the security forces.

Pakistan has been a nuclear power for two decades, and has an estimated eighty to a hundred warheads, scattered in facilities around the country. The success of the latest attacks raised an obvious question: Are the bombs safe? Asked this question the day after the Rawalpindi raid, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “We have confidence in the Pakistani government and the military’s control over nuclear weapons.” Clinton—whose own visit to Pakistan, two weeks later, would be disrupted by more terrorist bombs—added that, despite the attacks by the Taliban, “we see no evidence that they are going to take over the state.”

via Read The Full Article.

Nuke-o-meter, How Many Nukes Within Range of Your Location

North Korea has sent tension soaring across Asia by launching missiles and testing warheads.

So, what does the nuclear world look like? These figures are from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and show the best estimates for the big five nuclear powers: the US, Russia, China, France and the UK. We’ve also included estimates for other nuclear powers like India, Pakistan and Israel – and for the so-called rogue states like North Korea and Iran. These are just the active warheads – both Russia and the US have thousands more in storage and pending dismantling.

Hit the link on the spreadsheet for how the figures changed between 1945 and 2006. In the mid-1980s, there were over 70,000 warheads out there – each with the power of eight times that which destroyed Hiroshima at the end of the second world war. There are many less now – but do you feel any safer?

Wondering how many nukes are within range of your location? Check out the nuke-o-meter

Source

Nukes Can Fall Into Talibans Hands

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has said there is a possibility that its nuclear arsenal could fall into the hands of the Taliban if democracy “fails” in his country and the world doesn’t help.

“If democracy in this country fails, if the world doesn’t help democracy — then any eventuality is a possibility,” he said in an interview to German newspaper Der Spiegel when asked whether he, like his late wife Benazir Bhutto, feared that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of Islamist extremists.

“But as long as democracy is there, there is no question of that situation arising. All important installations and weaponry are always under extra security,” Zardari said.

“Nuclear weapons are not Kalashnikovs – the technology is complicated, so it is not as if one little Taliban could come down and press a button,” he said.

“I want to assure the world that the nuclear capability of Pakistan is in safe hands,” he said, referring to growing concerns in the West over safety of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.

via ‘Nukes can fall into Taliban’s hand’: India Today – Latest Breaking News from India, World, Business, Cricket, Sports, Bollywood..

Netanyahu Says Iran Will Not Get Hands On Nukes

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s leading candidate for prime minister, said Saturday that Iran “will not be armed with a nuclear weapon.”

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 2 TV, Netanyahu said if elected prime minister his first mission will be to thwart the Iranian nuclear threat. Netanyahu, the current opposition leader and head of the hardline Likud party, called Iran the greatest danger to Israel and to all humanity.

When asked if stopping Iran’s nuclear ambitions included a military strike, he replied: “It includes everything that is necessary to make this statement come true.”

Iran has denied it is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons and says it is pursuing nuclear power for peaceful uses. It also denies it is engaged in terrorism, instead accusing Israel of terrorist policies against the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, which were occupied by Israel after the 1967 Mideast War.

via Source