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US not fully prepared for nuclear terrorist attack

The article linked to mentioned an "improvised nuclear device." But it didn't define what that would be, so I'm not sure just what the government thinks we're not prepared for. An "improvised nuclear device" could describe something as minor as some low-level radioactive waste and some conventional explosive to scatter it through the air. As complex as real nuclear weapons are, I don't see how anyone could "improvise" one.

The simplest atom bomb design ever was the "gun type" used in the Hiroshima bomb, and the designers were so confident it would work that they never tested it beforehand. But the problem with it is that what it gains in simplicity, it loses in the amount of very highly enriched uranium it requires. The Hiroshima bomb, for example, used about 140 pounds of uranium enriched to about 80% U-235. Somewhat less is needed if the uranium is even more highly enriched, but that's not so easy to do--and getting hundreds of pounds of highly enriched uranium is not quite like buying so much cast iron, or lead.

It seems to me it's much less likely that terrorists will have some rogue scientists make them a bomb, than that some rogue nation will someday use terrorists to deliver one or more bombs from its stockpile to a nation it considers an enemy. One big disadvantage of using aircraft and missiles to deliver nuclear weapons has always been that the nation you're targeting, if it also has these weapons and delivery systems, will probably discover where the attack was launched from in time to strike back. That's why talk of North Korea, or Iran, or Pakistan, or some other such country developing missiles that could deliver nuclear weapons to U.S. soil has always seemed kind of silly to me. What earthly point would there be in launching your handful of nuclear-armed missiles at the U.S., when you knew for certain that long before they could arrive, the U.S. would have sent many times more back at you--enough to obliterate you, yours, and every last thing in your piss-ant country?

But what if an atom bomb just went off in an American coastal city one day? Any large pleasure boat with a suicide crew could bring one to a harbor here, maybe at night, and be blown up before anyone knew a thing about boat or crew. Nuclear explosions don't leave any distinctive residue, or fingerprints, or little tags saying "product of country X." Whatever nation the U.S. might suspect was behind the attack, where would the proof be? Even the strongest suspicions probably would not be enough. It's hard to imagine any U.S. President ordering a nuclear counterstrike that would kill hundreds of thousands or even millions, unless he were absolutely certain what country was responsible.
 
If by 'fully prepared' someone means taking away even more rights just so a few spineless wimps can feel safer...FORGET IT.

Since 9/11, America has given in too much already to these Americans sans backbones.

If the only way America can be safe is to deny her people the rights that once made America so great, then let America die.

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
 
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If by 'fully prepared' someone means taking away even more rights just so a few spineless wimps can feel safer...FORGET IT.

Since 9/11, America has given in too much already to these Americans sans backbones.

If the only way America can be safe is to deny her people the rights that once made America so great, then let America die.

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

Exactly what rights have you given up? Me I have given up none.........'Giving up rights" is a left wing talking point."
 
You can improve that figure, there is no way to improve the deaths of 3,000 people on 9/11.

No way to improve the over 37,000 people who lost their lives in cars in 2001 either, is there a point? If you're not concerned with deaths at an order of magnitude above what you're complaining about, then why should one care. And that was 1 time. Since 911 over 400,000 people died in car wrecks. We care about that?

It's not that we should excuse death, but why should I be more concerned with 3000 in a one time event vs 30000+ annually? It seems that maybe our efforts are misplaced. Certainly didn't need to get more than 3000 more Americans dead in a 13 year long war that's still going on. Imagine if we spent that money on driver education or roads or ways to make driving safer, we could have saved way more lives. If you don't care about 30,000 then why would you care about 3000?

And not only that, now you want me to freak out over 0 deaths? Some imagined plot of nuclear attack or whatever I'm supposed to be scared of and thus be OK with government doing anything it wants. Please. Terrorism is not even close to our big killers, those probabilities are rather low. I don't think that going all Chicken Little will behoove us in the least.
 
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No way to improve the over 37,000 people who lost their lives in cars in 2001 either, is there a point? If you're not concerned with deaths at an order of magnitude above what you're complaining about, then why should one care. And that was 1 time. Since 911 over 400,000 people died in car wrecks. We care about that?

It's not that we should excuse death, but why should I be more concerned with 3000 in a one time event vs 30000+ annually? It seems that maybe our efforts are misplaced. Certainly didn't need to get more than 3000 more Americans dead in a 13 year long war that's still going on. Imagine if we spent that money on driver education or roads or ways to make driving safer, we could have saved way more lives. If you don't care about 30,000 then why would you care about 3000?

And not only that, now you want me to freak out over 0 deaths? Some imagined plot of nuclear attack or whatever I'm supposed to be scared of and thus be OK with government doing anything it wants. Please. Terrorism is not even close to our big killers, those probabilities are rather low. I don't think that going all Chicken Little will behoove us in the least.


There is really no comparisons..........The people that died in accidents made a conscious decision to ride or drive a car.......They knew that although small the chances of dying in and accident were were there.......The people that died on 9/11 in t hose buildings weree not concerned about dying...what happened with those airliners never happened before.......

Surely someone as spaced out on whateven you sniff can see the difference. Probably not.
 
Exactly what rights have you given up? Me I have given up none.........'Giving up rights" is a left wing talking point."

If you think Americans are as free now as before 9/11, you are politically blind and useless.
 
I don't give two hoots in hell whether we are as free after 9/11, or not. Inter armas silent leges, and we will damned well do whatever we need to do to destroy the enemies of the United States. The real threat to this country's freedoms comes from the dim, ignorant, America-hating hordes in the lumpenproletariat who--irony of ironies--dare to call themselves "liberal."
 
I don't give two hoots in hell whether we are as free after 9/11, or not. Inter armas silent leges, and we will damned well do whatever we need to do to destroy the enemies of the United States. The real threat to this country's freedoms comes from the dim, ignorant, America-hating hordes in the lumpenproletariat who--irony of ironies--dare to call themselves "liberal."

Barack Obama and the Communist Party - KeyWiki
 

I didn't know all those details about this man's communist affiliations, but they don't surprise me. There are millions now taking up space in this country, which was still great only several decades ago, who, just like this disgraceful, un-American President, resent it and do not wish it well. Obama should have been impeached a long time ago, but I can't see that happening to His Highness, America's First Black President. I see he just released five more jihadist SOB's from Guantanamo--wonder what the men in uniform think about that.
 
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There is really no comparisons..........The people that died in accidents made a conscious decision to ride or drive a car.......They knew that although small the chances of dying in and accident were were there.......The people that died on 9/11 in t hose buildings weree not concerned about dying...what happened with those airliners never happened before.......

Surely someone as spaced out on whateven you sniff can see the difference. Probably not.

There is comparison, it's called magnitude and probability. Death is what we're dealing with and on some level preventable death is preventable death. Do we spend massive time and money chasing down low probability dynamics, or do we invest it into something that could potentially have a much greater impact? I'd say the latter is likely the wiser move.

What are we to do with your latest scare tactic here? This low probability event that you thnk should be forefont, what do you want us to do? Freak out like we did over Ebola? Do you want more government agencies? I mean we have what DoD, DoE, NSA, TSA, HLS, FBI, CIA and the Patriot Act giving them all sorts of power. Another agency, is that going to solve this problem? Should we be bombing more people, expanding our infinity war, will that help? What do you want here?

I'm tired of fear mongers peddling their mathmatically insignificant tripe trying to excuse more and more government, spend more and more dollars, and get a greater number of Americans dead. Why am I supposed to freak out? We've accepted all sorts of probabilities that could kill me well before "terrorists". Why should I care, and what are you going to do about it? Because forever war...that **** don't work. If you have a reason and a plan, I'll hear you out. But this Chicken Little garbage needs to stop. It's getting us nowhere...actually no, it's taking us backwards.
 
If you think Americans are as free now as before 9/11, you are politically blind and useless.

Again what rights have you lost to keep our country safe?
 
If you think Americans are as free now as before 9/11, you are politically blind and useless.

Are you referring to the Patriot Act?
 
Are you referring to the Patriot Act?

God bless the Patriot Act, it has probably save thousands of lives..........I think he is one of these lefties who throws **** up against the wall and hope something sticks........There are a lot of them in DP.
 
God bless the Patriot Act, it has probably save thousands of lives..........I think he is one of these lefties who throws **** up against the wall and hope something sticks........There are a lot of them in DP.

The Patriot act has saved lives, true. However, it also has given various agencies the green light for unwarranted snooping. I find that to be a violation of my rights. It says it right there in the Bill of Rights.
 
The Patriot act has saved lives, true. However, it also has given various agencies the green light for unwarranted snooping. I find that to be a violation of my rights. It says it right there in the Bill of Rights.

Sometimes you have to give up something to get something..........Me I have noticed no difference in my life since 9/11 and I thought there would be a huge difference with attacks happening every other week. We can never be fully protected against and attack but it has helped us a lot.
 
Sometimes you have to give up something to get something..........Me I have noticed no difference in my life since 9/11 and I thought there would be a huge difference with attacks happening every other week. We can never be fully protected against and attack but it has helped us a lot.

Most of us won't notice much of a difference. Me personally? No I have not. However, the fact that unwarranted searching and snooping is happening and has been, gives me mixed feelings.
 
Your probably right but we can be a hell of a lot better prepared then we are.

Since that's not really even possible, thanks for volunteering to throw our money down a toilet for nothing.

You'd be safer petitioning for better traffic enforcement in your neighborhood.

"Grasp of reality score": 0

Or: I read an article that made Obama look bad and I loved it so I ate it up.
 
Sometimes you have to give up something to get something..........Me I have noticed no difference in my life since 9/11 and I thought there would be a huge difference with attacks happening every other week. We can never be fully protected against and attack but it has helped us a lot.

And there is quantitative evidence of this? Or you're just throwing out a statement while government balloons, wastes more of our money, increases aggressive tactics against US citizens, etc?
 
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