Is there a radiological dirty bomb in our future? Sadly, almost certainly.
Intelligence agencies have reported no reliable, specific threats involving dirty bombs or nuclear weapons, but senior U.S. and European officials and outside experts said several factors have heightened fears in recent weeks.Posted by Alan at May 9, 2004 09:39 AMThey said concerns are focused on three al-Qaida operatives who led experiments involving dirty bombs and chemical weapons and on widely held suspicions that a special wing of the network is planning a spectacular attack.
They added that chatter justifying the use of nuclear weapons against the United States. has increased on radical Islamic Web sites as the occupation of Iraq stretches into its second year.
One focus of anxiety is the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, in August. Recent security exercises there concentrated on mock attacks involving a dirty bomb, a chemical explosion and a hijacked jetliner.
Another potential target is the NATO summit scheduled for the end of June in Istanbul, Turkey, which will be attended by President Bush and other leaders. The threat was underlined by Turkey's disclosure Monday that it had arrested members of a group linked to al-Qaida who reportedly planned to bomb the summit.
The threat of attack is high enough that a senior European intelligence official, speaking on condition that his name not be used, said it is "not a matter of if there is a nuclear-related attack by al-Qaida, but when it occurs."