The Conservative Cave
Current Events => Terrorism In the US and Around the World => Topic started by: FreeBorn on February 15, 2011, 05:39:59 PM
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The Daily Caller has this piece about port security and "weapons of mass effect". It seems something indeed has turned up but when pressed authorities get a little antsy about divulging details. Certainly I can understand them not wanting to compromise their techniques but don't we have a right to know when a plot has been foiled or the presence of nuclear or other materials of "mass effect" have been detected?
http://dailycaller.com/2011/02/14/a-weapon-of-mass-destruction-was-found-in-the-u-s-shock-confession-of-customs-officer/
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I'm a HAZMAT certified WMD Technician on an active WMD Response Unit and I'm here to tell you that I am SHOCKED we have not been hit with a dirty bomb yet. Terrorists are eons away from being able to set off a nuke....we hope.
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I hope you're right about that TC, I certainly hope you're right.
With the enormous volume of imported goods, shipping containers, etc. coming into the country everyday at so many points the authorities certainly have their hands full watching over it all.
One thing that makes me nervous is a show I remember seeing on T.V. some years back, 20/20 maybe, I can't remember for sure. It was about the Soviet's nukes in the immediate aftermath of the demise of the Soviet government and what happened to all those warheads. Apparently some Russian Generals in the various regions kept a very tight lid on the security of the nukes they had under their command while others didn't. Some facilities were found to have been left entirely unguarded at least temporarily.
We supposedly knew, up until the fall of the Soviet government, exactly how many there were and where they all were but things got murky when the Soviet government evaporated. This documentary went on to explain how we had dispatched teams (CIA I presume) into Russia to track them down and keep tabs on it all. These folks reportedly actually purchased several right off the tailgates of pick up trucks as they were openly for sale to the highest bidder. Not all of them were accounted for, some of them apparently had been sold to God knows who and disappeared. That what bothers me.
Try googling that story up today and I can't find anything on it, like it never happened.
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Causing fusion is so damned difficult. Look how long the North Korean scientists worked hard at it and couldn't figure it out. Now imagine a bunch of goat herders living in caves trying to do the same thing. Unless they somehow lay their hands on an old Cold War suitcase nuke (which has such low yield it would barely be bigger than a conventional weapon), I don't see it happening.
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Causing fusion is so damned difficult. Look how long the North Korean scientists worked hard at it and couldn't figure it out. Now imagine a bunch of goat herders living in caves trying to do the same thing. Unless they somehow lay their hands on an old Cold War suitcase nuke (which has such low yield it would barely be bigger than a conventional weapon), I don't see it happening.
There is that.....however, knowing a bit about nuclear weapons, I can say that the Soviets were never big on maintaining theirs......and the most common (and smallest) design that was used was the "synchronous shock-wave compression" type, which unless receiving constant maintenance, will simply not work.
The idea that some clown selling a compact cold war warhead out of the back of a pickup truck.....and having it actually function is on its face ludicrous.
That said, there ARE designs that are simple enough to build in a well-equipped machine shop......all that is required is a critical mass of weapons-grade U-235 or Plutonium, however, building one without killing everything within a mile (except the cockroaches), isn't easy either.
Further, smuggling one into a port with sufficient shielding to evade a radiation sensor (and virtually all ports use them) has some practicality issues as well.
It's far more likely that some homegrown jihadis can get their hands on enough radioactive medical material, or reactor waste products to build a "dirty bomb", than it is to consider the probability of an actual weapon detonation.
It isn't impossible however, particularly with the rapidly eroding stability of Pakistan.
doc
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Just pray that you aren't down wind of the nuclear/gas/germ attack when it comes.....then get the hell even with the bastards.
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I'm a HAZMAT certified WMD Technician on an active WMD Response Unit and I'm here to tell you that I am SHOCKED we have not been hit with a dirty bomb yet. Terrorists are eons away from being able to set off a nuke....we hope.
There are some extremely fine points to getting a fission explosion to work that go undiscussed in all readily-available physics texts, the information is ultimately available though. Thing about an attempt to construct a fission weapon by any group that doesn't have the fine points down quite right is that it still is a very, very dirty bomb even when it goes low-order.
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I've always been of the opinion it is damn near inmpossible to protect our ports from everything these asshole could try to smuggle in.
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I've always been of the opinion it is damn near inmpossible to protect our ports from everything these asshole could try to smuggle in.
Let's not forget the southern borders. I hear that Hezzbollah are working with the Cartels. Scary stuff. These people want us dead and the Obozo is not doing a thing about it. It's sickening and a shame. It really is.
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Let's not forget the southern borders. I hear that Hezzbollah are working with the Cartels. Scary stuff. These people want us dead and the Obozo is not doing a thing about it. It's sickening and a shame. It really is.
Well, he won't get all those votes to keep in oin office if he shuts down the border!!
Ya know, I just had a brain fart and I'm wonderin' if all this unrest through out the world, isn't happenin' right now so it can cause the most chaos between now and the 2012 election.
After all, if another pro American Pres gets into office, it might be really difficult to pull all this shit off!
Hmmmmmmmm, think I'll start a thread in General.
Sure would explain why he's intentionally droppin' the ball in foreign policy, wouldn't it?