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Hello All,

My name is Jeffrey T. Fowler. I am the Program Manager - Security Management at American Military University ( www.apus.edu ).  In this blog, I discuss a number of issues relevant to the GWOT and of interest to security professionals, military personnel, and law enforcement officers.  I begin with the following:

Is There Validity to the Supposition that bin Laden has Nuclear Weapons-

grade Material or Tactical Nuclear Weapons?

     The writer conducted a national homeland security workshop on the topic,“Chechen Terrorism: Russia’s Link to Al-Qaeda” in Orlando in September2006.  Extensive research indicates that while there is no lack of circumstantial evidence pointing to Al-Qaeda’s purchase of a tactical nuclear device or nuclear weapons-grade materials, there is no concrete evidence to this effect (at least not in unclassified circles).   The collapse of the Soviet Union provides a representative example of a possible scenario involving the transfer of tactical nuclear devices or weapons-grade materials to Al-Qaeda.

     Former members of the old Red Army, familiar with Russia’s nuclear arsenal, may have used contacts in the new Russian Federation military-industrial complex and the Russian and Chechen mafias to spirit away small nuclear weapons or weapons-grade materials from poorly guarded nuclear facilities. 

“Nuclear, chemical, and biological material stor­age facilities often were—and still are—protected by nothing more than a padlock, an impoverished conscript, or a retirement-age guard. Moreover, corruption among general officers, mid-rank offic­ers, and officials is still rampant, and law enforce­ment is highly selective” (Cohen, 2005, ¶ 17).

     Former members of the old Soviet military establishment such as General Aleksandr Lebed, the now-deceased security chief for the administration of Boris Yeltsin, claimed publicly that Russia could not account for all of its tactical nuclear devices.  Considering the amount of monies available to Islamic terrorist organizations, coupled with disenchantment and the dissolution of prestige, pay, and benefits in the Russian military and other elite state organs, it may well prove to be true that Al-Qaeda has the tools available to conduct an “American Hiroshima.”

Reference

Cohen, Ariel (2005, May, 20). Preventing a nightmare scenario: terrorist

      attacks using russian nuclear weapons and materials. Retrieved January 6,

     2007, from The Heritage Foundation Web site:

     http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/bg1854.cfm#_ftn3