15-11-2004 14:02									#1
	Al-Queda: We Now Have One Nuke, and We are Going to Blow Up the Midwest! Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

quote: Al Qaeda threatens to detonate Atomic Bomb in US As a new and dire warning appeared from Al Qaeda, the Central Intelligence Agency has been thrown into what former senior CIA officials are describing as “turmoil” by the friction between newly appointed CIA Director Porter Goss and career CIA personnel, especially key senior officers. Meanwhile, a small Arabic-language website is reported to have posted what is believed to be a message from Al Qaeda to the effect that the organization possesses at least one nuclear weapon and is poised to detonate it in the center of the US. The report comes from the respected Italian news organization la Reppublica. It has been ignored by US media. The ability to produce and enrich uranium to make nuclear bombs is no longer the prerogative of the world's "tyrannical crusaders", a statement signed by the the al-Qaeda terror network and published on a new Islamic 'Jihad Lion's Den Forum' website. "Our attempts to make small nuclear bombs with great potential for destruction have succeeded", said the statement, which its authors said was targeted at the American people. "Al-Qaeda will respond harshly to your refusal to heed sheikh Osama bin Laden's warning not to re-elect the foolish Bush in the presidential elections. We tell you that this refusal will bring Allah's divine wrath upon you. He will make you the the prime target of an attack that will strike at the heart of America", the statement continued. The message begins with the 60th verse from the 'Al-Anfal' ['The Spoils of War] chapter of the Koran: "And prepare for them you Muslims all you can recruit of strength: armed forces and mounted troops to strike terror into the hearts and minds of Allah's enemy who is your enemy, and into the hearts and minds of others whom you do not know but Allah knows them. And remember that whatever you spend in divine service you shall be reimbursed and never shall you be wronged".

http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1278183/posts
http://translate.google.com/transla...ml&prev=/search The La Republica Link

Time will tell if this is just a bluff on their part. It sounds like the CIA is genuinely worried about it though.

	15-11-2004 14:16									#2
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it's a bluff. If they had one they'd brag AFTER they use it. It's just a way to keep TSA scra,bling around harassing tourists.

	15-11-2004 14:17									#3
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monkspider, I have a nuke in my pants for you.

	15-11-2004 14:32									#4
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quote: Originally posted by Azazel monkspider, I have a nuke in my pants for you.

	15-11-2004 14:40									#5
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I can think of no greater way to galvanize pretty much the entire world against them than to detonate a nuke in America's breadbasket.

Hell, it would make the support the US got after 9/11 look like a pimple on the ass of a mosquito.

They probably don't care - religious fundies don't tend to be rational people, after all, but blowing off a nuke just isn't in their best interest. Hell, I probably wouldn't even object to torturing those responsible, once we caught them.

Which brings up an interesting point - what would be an appropriate punishment for those responsible? Crucifixion might be good, but I'm sure someone can come up with something better

	15-11-2004 14:57									#6
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I'm not sure half of America would give a **** if Al Qaeda detonated a nuke in Kansas or Nebraska, let alone the rest of the world. We're all just a bunch of bigoted rednecks, remember? I'm sure a "they deserved it" meme would catch on pretty quick...

	15-11-2004 14:57									#7
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Idiocy for several reasons. As others mentioned, if it were true, nobody would issue a warning like this beforehand. And the choice of the target is completely moronic. First, because the midwest is thinly populated and a nuke here would do next to no damage. A nuke is a weapon of mass destruction, and a quite expensive one. Who would waste it in a region where are no masses to destroy? And second, they would never nuke the republican states, who are their friends, because they make sure the stream of new recruits does never abate. If they had a nuke indeed (which I doubt) and wanted to nuke the United States (which I also doubt), the target would be much more likely the dense populated blue states. Either New York again, or, which is even more likely, some city on the west coast, like SF or LA.

	15-11-2004 15:08									#8
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quote: First, because the midwest is thinly populated and a nuke here would do next to no damage. A nuke is a weapon of mass destruction, and a quite expensive one. Who would waste it in a region where are no masses to destroy?

WTF are you talking about? Jesus, there are cities in the Midwest. Honest to god. Ever heard of a little town called Chicago?

	15-11-2004 15:15									#9
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I thought the Heart of America was somewhere in California...

	15-11-2004 15:16									#10
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quote: Originally posted by Drake Tungsten WTF are you talking about? Jesus, there are cities in the Midwest. Honest to god. Ever heard of a little town called Chicago?

Yea, there's an exception in every rule. But you are right, Chicago could be as good as a target as NY or LA.

	15-11-2004 15:19									#11
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There's a hell of a lot of "exceptions". St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Omaha, etc...

	15-11-2004 15:21									#12
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Again, you have a blue state there.

So given both points to be valid, Al Qaeda could be targetting Chicago.

	15-11-2004 15:26									#13
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quote: Originally posted by Drake Tungsten There's a hell of a lot of "exceptions". St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Omaha, etc...

Too unimportant, too unspectacular to target for Al-Qaeda. Sorry, but "AQ nuked Minneapolis" doesn't carry as much of a message as "AQ nuked New York" or "AQ nuked Los Angeles". Or Chicago, I give you this one.

	15-11-2004 15:29									#14
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Hiroshima and Nagasaki were pretty unimportant cities in Japan before they got nuked. Nukes are spectacular in their own right; you don't need to hit a city that Europeans have heard of to get your message across.

	15-11-2004 15:39									#15
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Drake is right...

	15-11-2004 15:41									#16
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quote: Hiroshima and Nagasaki were pretty unimportant cities in Japan before they got nuked. Nukes are spectacular in their own right; you don't need to hit a city that Europeans have heard of to get your message across.

I didn't know that Al Qaeda destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thank you for the heads up.

But did Al Qaeda last time target Chattanooga, TN or New York? Did they target Palma de Mallorca, or Madrid? Sorry to burst your importance bubble, but your midwestern hellholes will rather be targets for your homegrown terrorists a la Oklahoma City, than Al Qaeda.

	15-11-2004 15:45									#17
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I was going to question your insights into the terrorist psyche, but then I remembered that you are German...

	15-11-2004 15:48									#18
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to trolling.

	15-11-2004 15:48									#19
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Kansas City would be an interesting choice, since it's nearly in the exact center of the contiguous United States, was featured in the anti-nuke film The Day After, and is where my parents live.

	15-11-2004 15:49									#20
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quote: I was going to question your insights into the terrorist psyche, but then I remembered that you are German...

	15-11-2004 15:50									#21
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quote: Originally posted by Sir Ralph quote: Hiroshima and Nagasaki were pretty unimportant cities in Japan before they got nuked. Nukes are spectacular in their own right; you don't need to hit a city that Europeans have heard of to get your message across. I didn't know that Al Qaeda destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thank you for the heads up. But did Al Qaeda last time target Chattanooga, TN or New York? Did they target Palma de Mallorca, or Madrid? Sorry to burst your importance bubble, but your midwestern hellholes will rather be targets for your homegrown terrorists a la Oklahoma City, than Al Qaeda.

Some are now saying McVeigh had an Al Qaeda connection.

	15-11-2004 15:53									#22
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quote: Some are now saying McVeigh had an Al Qaeda connection.

Perhaps he had, it's surely worth to be investigated. But then, one has an Al Qaeda connection if he had one single phone call. It doesn't say that it was approved, planned and done by AQ.

	15-11-2004 16:00									#23
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Really. While flattening Kansas city would be spectacular, blowing up NYC or LA would be more spectacular. Additionally, by not being in the frikken geographical centre of the continental US, they'd be easier get the nuke too. The first rule of terrorism is maximizing the spectacularity/effort ratio.

Anyway, there didn't seem to be any particular reason to suppose that "the heart of America" refers to the geographic centre, did there?

	15-11-2004 16:15									#24
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This only happens in Tom Clancy novels. (But so did smashing jumbo jets into buildings)

	15-11-2004 16:18									#25
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quote: Originally posted by Sir Ralph quote: Some are now saying McVeigh had an Al Qaeda connection. Perhaps he had, it's surely worth to be investigated. But then, one has an Al Qaeda connection if he had one single phone call. It doesn't say that it was approved, planned and done by AQ.

They're saying it's a bit more than a phone call.

	15-11-2004 16:20									#26
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quote: Originally posted by Drake Tungsten I'm not sure half of America would give a **** if Al Qaeda detonated a nuke in Kansas or Nebraska, let alone the rest of the world. We're all just a bunch of bigoted rednecks, remember? I'm sure a "they deserved it" meme would catch on pretty quick...

If they detonated it on NY, on the other hand...

	15-11-2004 16:20									#27
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Interesting, thanks!

	15-11-2004 16:23									#28
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quote: If they detonated it on NY, on the other hand...

People in the red states are still angry about 9/11. And we never said that they deserved it; that fell to you guys...

	15-11-2004 16:23									#29
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quote: Originally posted by The Mad Monk Some are now saying McVeigh had an Al Qaeda connection.

So that's where he was getting all of that sweet Afghani hash.

	15-11-2004 16:48									#30
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quote: Originally posted by Drake Tungsten quote: If they detonated it on NY, on the other hand... People in the red states are still angry about 9/11. And we never said that they deserved it; that fell to you guys...

Please, I was going in your direction. Can't I help you troll?