GovernmentExecutive.com

Two high-level government intelligence experts testified Wednesday that al Qaeda is intent on attacking the United States with a nuclear weapon but has not developed a nuclear device.

In a hearing, Charles Allen, chief intelligence officer for the Homeland Security Department, said there is no doubt that al Qaeda wants a nuclear weapon. But, he told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, "I do not believe that any terrorist organization currently has developed a nuclear device." He said, however, that this capability "could change drastically" with the recruitment of people with knowledge of nuclear materials and design.

His testimony was buttressed by Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, director of the office of intelligence and counterintelligence of the Energy Department. Before Sept. 11, 2001, he said, many in the intelligence community believed it was too hard for terrorists to develop a nuclear bomb.

"We should not, however, assume that the technology of a nuclear weapon is beyond the capability of a terrorist group," Mowatt-Larssen said. "A terrorist group needs only to produce a nuclear yield once to change history."

Both experts plan to testify before the committee later Wednesday to discuss classified material. "We do not yet know when and where they intend to strike us next," Mowatt-Larssen testified, "but past experience strongly suggests that they are seeking an attack more spectacular than 9/11."

Mowatt-Larssen said a global effort must be undertaken to get nuclear materials off the black market and stop global trafficking in them. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., summed up the testimony of both men as sobering.

Matthew Bunn, a nuclear exert at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, said that nuclear stockpile security in Russia "has improved dramatically in the past 15 years" but called for more global nuclear security. He too warned of the threat from a terrorist group.

"This is a real danger," he said. Homeland Security Department's Allen said any terrorist nuclear bomb would lack the sophistication of one developed by a country and be of unknown yield. But, he warned, "A nuclear device of any yield could produce thousands of casualties, significant damage to the infrastructure and render large areas uninhabitable."

Similarly, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ranking member Susan Collins of Maine supported that assessment, saying that a 10-kiloton nuclear device in Manhattan's Times Square at noon would result immediately in the loss of half a million lives.

COMMENTS

• In October and into November of 2006 we had the first in history nucelar attack on democratic soil. Alpha radiation was used because democracies don't screen for it. The attack came from Russia! Right now Russian agents such as Lockheed Martin are controlling most of our government's grants programs and select what Broad Agency Announcement Requirements are asked for, as well as control the evaluation process. Russian agents such as Lockheed Martin refuse to ask in grants programs for radiation detectors to be developed that screen for alpha radiation. Furthermore, Lockheed is controlling most of our credentialing programs and refused to let inventions superior in all ways to the biometric smart card be considered b/c all biometric smart card suppliers sold the source code used in federal credentialing contracts to the Kremlin, but the superior inventions refused. Right now b/c of Lockheed Martin's control of our most important homeland defense programs (awarded no-bid...illegally!) and loyalty to the Kremlin--a non-democracy there isn't any radioactive contraband the Russians and their crime gangs can't move through our borders, throughout the US, including right into the Pentagon! Watch the Dusty Foggo trial next Nov. Lockheed Martin is far worse than I described and is a 911 insider! Dawn Posted April 18, 2008 10:16 AM
• I read the article and these comments and wondered… Jeffry was right in pointing out this article only addressed DEVELOP’ing, but the call to arms of “we should be putting our ability to keep them from OBTAINING, PURCHASING, STEELING, or as a last resort MANUFACTURING a Nuclear device. ” leaves me wondering how much more should we be doing? We entered this conflict over WMD that refused to materialize, and then this call comes as if we aren’t doing enough? What are/were those 4,000 lives lain down on the sand if not a definite statement of our concern? Still, to my mind, McCall was partially correct. While I think such an incident as in the article, needs our utmost efforts and attention to prevent; we should not be going off half cocked (again). Development may or may not be possible for any clandestine organization. I would draw your attention to Tom Clancy’s “The Sum of All Fears” as a more likely scenario than the independent development of nuclear weapons. Regardless, a nuclear bomb need not reach critical mass to be highly effective. The “Dirty Bomb” scenarios lessen the technological threshold for any self-respecting terrorist. I have to agree with The H-Man as I wonder; is this the beginning of another disinformation campaign? Is this the possible round 2 of McCain’s Hundred Year “War”? Just wondering… Tip off Posted April 4, 2008 10:57 AM
• For a fact there have been a few items missing in the past from Russias Nuclear Arsenal. Why DEVELOP when you can BUY a pre-made device like the suitcase Nukes that Russia had for the cold war. Second thought is that didn't we mis-issue a nuclear weapon or almost issue a nuclear weapon to Taiwan after they got the stock numbers mixed up for a battery? We are putting too much trust in the ability to DEVELOP when we should be putting our ability to keep them from OBTAINING, PURCHASING, STEELING, or as a last resort MANUFACTURING a Nuclear device. I suspect they will target another area that also lends itself to Capitalism...like Vegas, a Military Base, or even in front of the White House. My sincere hopes is that this never happens and we capture the heads of these organizations that would cause the US any harm... Jeffry McCall Posted April 3, 2008 7:04 PM