AQUIRING NUCLEAR WEAPONS ISNʼT IN THE AGENDA OF TERRORIST GROUPS [John Parachini, RAND Policy Analyst, The Washington Quarterly, pg. 37-50, Autumn, 2003 http://www.twq.com/03autumn/docs/03autumn_parachini.pdf] An apparent lack of interest on the part of terrorist groups in acquiring unconventional weapons also helps explain why unconventional weapons attacks are so rare. In the case studies on the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the FARC, and Hamas, political vision, practical military utility, and moral codes all restrained them in part from seeking and using unconventional weapons. In some cases, group leaders indicated to members that the use of chemical or biological weapons would not be legitimate to their struggle. Hamas leader Abu Shannab, for one, stated that the use of poison was contrary to Islamic teachings. 22 Although Hamas is a religiously based organiza- tionx to establish a Palestinian state on Israeli territory and to eliminate Israel as a state is decidedly political.
