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November 11, 2004

Possible Shitstorm Detected 

The news agency ADNKronos International reports (in Italian) that al-Quaida released two days ago a communication declaring that they have acquired nuclear capabilities, and their first target is the USA:

''Informiamo la nazione islamica che la produzione e l'arricchimento (di uranio, ndr.) per quanto concerne la fabricazione di bombe nucleari non sono piu' appannaggio solo dei crociati tiranni del mondo. I nostri tentativi di creare piccole bombe con grande potenza distruttiva sono riusciti''. L'inquietante annuncio e' contenuto in un comunicato apparso su Internet in un nuovo forum islamico firmato da Al-Qaeda. Il documento, che porta la data di due giorni fa, e' indirizzato in particolare al popolo americano.
''Sappiate che noi di Al-Qaeda risponderemo con un'azione dolorosa al vostro rifiuto nei confronti del consiglio che vi e' stato offerto dallo sceicco Osama Bin Laden attraverso il suo ultimo discorso - si legge nel documento - nel quale vi ha chiesto di non eleggere lo sciocco Bush alle ultime elezioni. Vi diciamo allora che questo rifiuto vi costera' la collera divina. Ed Allah vi rendera' il primo obiettivo che sara' colpito nel cuore dell'America''.


We inform the Islamic nation that uranium production and enrichment are no more an exclusive of the crusade tyrants of the world (sic). Our attempts at creating small but higly destructive bombs have finally succeeded. [...] We, al-Quaida, will respond with a painful action to your (American) refusal to pay heed to Osama Bin Laden electing that fool Bush (sic) as President (Translation mine).

The piece opens with a citation from the Koran (Al-Anfal verse 60), and goes on ranting about Allah's wrath - no blood running down the streets this time. The statement was released on a oscure jihadi online forum - something like "The Jihad's Lions' Pit". The release ends saying that the modalities chosen for the publication are "anomalous and totally exceptional".

Now, I find a bit hard to believe it: making nukes is a very difficult task, and it requires competent people, facilities and testing. It's almost impossible for a nuclear explosion, even underground, to remain unnoticed. Still, the jihadis may have obtained a working nuke from some other subject - although the message seems to imply that these alleged bombs are homemade.

We can only wait and see - while the intelligence guys will haul their butts off investigating. But it's going to be a tense wait. In any case, if a nuke will go off in the USA, we'll then see the biggest and most dreadful fireworks since thousands of years.

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