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Apr 9th, 2010


Al-Qaida Exemplifies New Nuclear Threat

Summit is aimed at keeping weapons out of terrorists’ hands

Video

Obama, Medvedev sign nuclear arms treaty (NBC Nightly News, April 8, 2010) – With the Russians on board, White House aides hope to get China to agree to new sanctions against Iran. NBC’s Chuck Todd reports. (02:15)


April 9, 2010

WASHINGTON — The White House on Friday warned that al-Qaida is quietly hunting for an atomic bomb, adding urgency to a historic summit next week where President Barack Obama will try to persuade world leaders to step up efforts to keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands. …

Sharon Squassoni, a nuclear expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, estimates there are 500 tons of weapons-usable materials in civilian and military reactors that could be targets for sabotage or diversion.

The summit’s main focus, Samore said, will be on keeping two key ingredients for a nuclear bomb — plutonium and highly enriched uranium — from traffickers and terrorists. …

Fear of nuclear terror crystallized after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. Obama last week declared that it poses a graver danger than the risk of war between nuclear nations.

Not all countries share the Obama administration’s view of the threat; some worry more about countries like Iran, North Korea and Syria illicitly developing a nuclear arsenal.

Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, said Friday that the threat of nuclear-armed terrorists is urgent.

“We know that terrorist groups, including al-Qaida, are pursuing the materials to build a nuclear weapon and we know that they have the intent to use one,” Rhodes said. …

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Related reports on this site

Al-Qaida Aims to Hit U.S. with WMD (Jan. 26, 2010)

The White House roof in all its glory

Al-Qaida’s Next High-Value Target (Jan. 18, 2010)

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Threat assessments on this site


Osama bin Laden


Ayman al-Zawahiri


Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Image: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il
Kim Jong-Il

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U.S. Aircraft Crashes in Afghanistan, Killing 4


April 9, 2010

KABUL — A U.S. Air Force Osprey went down in southeastern Afghanistan, killing three service members and one civilian contractor in the first crash of the costly tilt-rotor aircraft in a combat zone, the U.S. military said.

It’s unclear what caused the crash of the U.S. military’s latest generation transport aircraft — beset for years by cost overruns and design flaws.

A NATO statement Friday said “numerous other service members” were injured when the aircraft crashed late Thursday seven miles from Qalat, capital of Zabul province about 200 miles southwest of Kabul.

A Taliban spokesman said militants shot down the aircraft, but the insurgents often make exaggerated claims. NATO said the cause was still under investigation. A Pentagon spokesman, Marine Maj. Shawn Turner, said it was the first time that an Osprey, which take off and land like helicopters and cost nearly $70 million each, has crashed during operations in a war zone. …

A Marine Osprey flew then-candidate Barack Obama from Iraq to Amman, Jordan, during his visit to the Middle East in July 2008.

The Air Force version is believed to be used in Afghanistan primarily for resupply missions and for transporting special operations troops hunting Taliban and al-Qaida figures. …

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — April 9, 2009

A ‘Rash of Lies and Falsehoods’

PolitiFact Truth-O-Meter
PolitiFact.com

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that PolitiFact debunked Rep. Michele Bachmann’s claim, in an April 7, 2009 op-ed in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, that President Barack Obama’s cap and trade proposal would cost every household in America more than $3,000 in energy costs a year. (Still, I don’t believe it’s good policy, but it’s wrong to go and lie about it.)





3 Responses to “Al-Qaida Nuclear Terror Threat”
  1. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Al-Qaida Plans Swarm Attacks Says:

    […] Al-Qaida Nuclear Terror Threat (April 9, 2010) […]

  2. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Bin Laden Issues New Threat Says:

    […] Al-Qaida Nuclear Terror Threat (April 9, 2010) […]

  3. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Muqtada Al-Sadr Threatens to Unleash Mahdi Army Militia Says:

    […] Al-Qaida Nuclear Terror Threat (April 9, 2010) […]

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