Al Qaeda Preparing for Another Attack in U.S.

April 11, 2005 in Information, Analysis and News : Terrorism : Global Terrorist Groups
http://www.jinsa.org/articles/articles.html/function/view/categoryid/1701/documentid/2916/history/3,2360,655,1701,2916

Al Qaeda Preparing for Another Attack in U.S., WMD Use Probable
Defense Officials Cite New Intelligence, New WMD-detecting Technologies Revealed

New warnings that al Qaeda is preparing for another attack on the United States, likely making use of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), has spurred America’s scientific community to develop new technologies capable of detecting, tracking, and neutralizing these threats.

“The extremists continue to plot to attack again. They are at this moment recalibrating and reorganizing,” Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told the House Armed Services Committee on February 16, 2005. Rumsfeld’s warning comes as a newly released intelligence report highlighted the increased likelihood that a stolen or illicitly purchased nuclear weapon will be used against the United States within the next 15 years.

Stunning Report Issued by NIC

The National Intelligence Council report predicts that most terrorists will continue to employ conventional attacks with greater emphasis on exotic operational concepts - such as multiple and simultaneous attacks spanning larger geographic areas, “the most worrisome trend has been an intensified search by some terrorist groups to obtain weapons of mass destruction. Our greatest concern is that these groups might acquire biological agents or less likely, a nuclear device, either of which could cause mass casualties.” Because of “advances in the design of simplified nuclear weapons, terrorists will continue to seek to acquire fissile material in order to construct a nuclearweapon. Concurrently, they can be expected to continue attempting to purchase or steal a weapon, particularly in Russia or Pakistan.” The NIC, the U.S. intelligence community’s center for mid-and long-term strategic thinking, concluded that, “given the possibility that terrorists could acquire nuclear weapons, the use of such weapons by extremists before 2020 cannot be ruled out.” Moreover, “the religious zeal of extremist Muslim terrorists increases their desire to perpetrate attacks resulting in high casualties. Historically, religiously inspired terrorism has been most destructive because such groups are bound by few constraints.”

In early February, federal investigators revealed that Saifullah Paracha - a 57-year-old Pakistani businessman operating an import company in New York - attempted to aid al Qaeda’s acquisition of 50 nuclear weapons for use against the United States, according to a United Press International report, February 14, 2005. Paracha, detained at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba since his arrest 19 months ago, told al Qaeda operatives he knew how and where to obtain nuclear weapons.

“Serious Flaws” in Russian Nuclear Security

In the annual report to Congress on the Safety and Security of Russian Nuclear Facilities and Military Forces, released this past December, newly appointed Director of Central Intelligence Porter Goss stated that while security at Russian nuclear facilities has increased, “we remain concerned about vulnerabilities to an insider who attempts unauthorized actions as well as potential terrorist attacks.” The report reveals that since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Russian officials have acknowledged that, “terrorists have targeted Russian nuclear weapon storage sites ... [and] twice [Russia has] thwarted terrorist efforts to reconnoiter nuclear weapon storage sites.” Moreover, according to U.S. intelligence reports made public in the report, “we assess that undetected smuggling has occurred, and we are concerned about the total amount of material that could have been diverted or stolen in the last 13 years,” as “we find it highly unlikely that Russian authorities would have been able to recover all the material reportedly stolen.” Also mentioned in the report was that, “two Chechen sabotage and reconnaissance groups reportedly showed a suspicious amount of interest in the transportation of nuclear munitions. The groups were spotted at several major railroad stations in the Moscow region, apparently interested in a special train used for transporting nuclear bombs.”

A report issued to the Russian Parliament by the Russian governments’ Federal Inspectorate for Nuclear and Radiation Safety in March 2003, stated, “The analysis of inspections carried out last year shows that there are serious flaws in the physical protection of nuclear risky facilities in the industry ... the system of accounting, control, storage and transportation of radioactive materials is not fully operational yet. As a result, the unauthorized use of radioactive materials and their theft cannot be ruled out.”

When Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman John Rockefeller (D-WV) asked Goss if he could assure Americans that no nuclear materials from Russia have fallen into terrorist’s hands, Goss replied, “No, I can’t make that assurance. I can’t account for some of the material.” Not only does the United States face an increasing threat from a terrorist strike using a weapon of mass destruction, according to the NIC, but efforts to thwart such attacks are becoming increasingly complicated and more difficult.

“Major advances in the biological sciences and information technology will probably accelerate the pace of BW (bio-weapon) agent development, increasing the potential for agents that are more difficult to detect or to defend against.” In addition, the research required to defend against such threats currently exceeds the capabilities of any single nation, according to Dr. Sal Bosco, Deputy Director for Science and Technology at the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Speaking at the three-day “Decon Downunder” conference on chemical and biological contamination held this February in Melborne, Australia, Dr. Bosco warned that not only does the threat of a chemical or biological attack exist, but there is also a major shortfall in scientific research designed to formulate an effective response - including the ability to verify that de-contamination efforts are successful. “We need to ensure the public has confidence in the results (of any clean up efforts) and the advice that we’re giving is accurate and correct,” Dr. Bosco said, according to the Australian Associated Press, February 14, 2005. “There are multi-national venues that you [can] get a consortium of nations together to discuss these problems.”
Interpol Chief Ronald Noble.

“No Entitiy in the World” Prepared for Biological Attack
http://www.jinsa.org/articles/articles.html/function/view/categoryid/1701/documentid/2916/history/3,2360,655,1701,2916

The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
1779 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Suite 515
Washington, D.C. 20036

(202) 667-3900
(202) 667-0601
info@jinsa.org

====================

JINSA has a Two-Fold Mandate:

1. To educate the American public about the importance of an effective U.S. defense capability so that our vital interests as Americans can be safeguarded; and

2. To inform the American defense and foreign affairs community about the important role Israel can and does play in bolstering democratic interests in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
http://www.jinsa.org/about/about.html

\\\\\\\\\\\\\

THE DEATH OF GARY WEBB = NOMINATION OF JOHN NEGROPONTE
http://www.apfn.org/APFN/NEGROPONTE.HTM