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THE LIKELIHOOD OF A NUCLEAR TERRORIST ATTACK IS HIGH- SUCH AN
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| THE LIKELIHOOD OF A NUCLEAR TERRORIST ATTACK IS HIGH- SUCH AN ATTACK WOULD GUARANTEE MASSIVE DESTRUCTION. Michael A. Levi, David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment and Director of the Program on Energy Security and Climate Change, Deterring State Sponsorship of Nuclear Terrorism published by the Council on Foreign Relations 2008, pg. 1 The threat of a nuclear attack by terrorists has never been greater. Over the past two decades, terrorist violence and destructiveness have grown. As the September 11, 2001, attacks demonstrated, al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda–inspired terrorists desire to inflict mass casualties. Al- Qaeda and other terrorist organizations have expressed interest in and searched for unconventional means of attack, such as chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons. Of these weapons, only a nuclear detonation will guarantee immediate massive destruction. A nuclear explosion would immediately devastate the heart of a city and could kill hundreds of thousands of people. In the longer term, hundreds of thousands more could suffer from radiation sickness and cancer, and thousands of square miles of property would experience radioactive contamination requiring several years and billions of dollars to decontaminate. The broader economic costs of the attack could soar into the trillions of dollars, potentially threatening the national economy and even disrupting the global economy. The probability of nuclear attack has increased because traditional deterrence—threatening assured destruction against a valued asset such as a national territory—does notwork against the terrorist groups most likely to covet nuclear weapons. Such groups are usually not tied to a particular geographic location. Moreover, 10NFL1-Nuclear Weapons Page 81 of 199 www.victorybriefs.com these terrorist organizations are often guided by religious, quasi-religious, or cult leaders who align themselves with a supreme being rather than with a nation-state that needs protection. Download 1.23 Mb. Share with your friends:
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