Two European Nuclear Scientists Arrested as Al-Qaeda Suspects
Last week I was in Las Vegas attending a banquet honoring retired intelligence officers, many of whom once worked for the CIA. Some of the guests were still active. Others currently work for the Department of Defense. There were four of us from the press.
I got to chatting in a three-way conversation with a former U-2 pilot and a current defense contractor who frequents the Pentagon (and therefore asked to remain anonymous).
“What’s going to happen if al-Qaeda gets their hands on WMD?” the pilot asked.
“They already have,” the defense contractor said. Then he told the story of how, just last January, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) had bungled a WMD experiment using bubonic plague.
“None of you press wrote about that,” the man said, eyeballing me.
I had to correct him because I did write about that story — for Pajamas Media. My article cited two papers, the Sun and the Washington Times; I couldn’t locate any firsthand sources with access to the information. “How do you know that the information was correct?” I asked my fellow banquet guest.
“I was at the military briefing,” he said. Then he added that the briefing was not classified and included several members of the press.
“Why do you think that story wasn’t more widely reported?” I asked.
He said something to the effect of: there are some things the public finds easier to ignore.
I had the same reaction when I returned home from my trip on Friday night to read a single-line item on the Counterterrorism Blog: “Switzerland: Terror cops arrest Collider scientist linked with al-Qaeda,” it said. The Collider is the largest nuclear research facility in the world. For at least the next forty-eight hours the story did not appear anywhere in the U.S. press, despite the fact that the arrested nuclear scientist, a 32-year-old Algerian-born French man named Dr. Adlene Hicheur, was being described by France’s Central Directorate of Interior Intelligence as a “very high-level” operative with AQIM. That’s the same group who’d been experimenting with bubonic plague earlier in the year. Adlene Hicheur had attended Stanford University, in California, in 1999 and 2002.
This is why we shouldn’t let 3rd world islamotards into our countries. The same exact thing happened before. A muslim immigrant from the 3rd world was welcomed with open arms, was probably given college spots and job offerings he was less qualified for than other applicants due to leftist Europeans yearning to be “diverse” and he then took advantage of that warm welcome and free ticket to build nuclear weapons for Pakistan and sell nuclear secrets to every screwed up islamist and leftist organization and country on the planet. These people are too dangerous to be allowed to walk around freely. They should be assassinated.
The PC driven west is now living in a parallel universe, one in which they will be in no small measure responsible for whatever catastrophe we face in the near future.
It is not for nothing that the Islamists scoff at the west and their see no evil, hear no evil way of life. They understand our achilles heel, our inability to look beyond PC multicultural claptrap.
One has to wonder how an Algerian was able to gain admission to Stanford, and why so MANY foreigners from hostile regions are able to penetrate-yes penetrate-the best institutions in the world.
Algeria, like many other terror colluding hot spots is known for their Islamist sympathizers. Why does the west think that by educating them, especially in our most sensitive areas, it will aid in our dialogue?
Shouldn’t there be a persona non grata policy, to at least the nuclear sciences, in US universities towards those who hail from countries which sponsor/harbor terrorists? Are we supposed to give them the rope to hang us too?
No one should dare forget the foreign Muslim graduate student(I believe her last name was Siddiqui) who had access to ALL of MIT’s stellar facilities, only to end up being one of the most wanted women in the world because she aided Al Qaeda in the 9/11/01 plot, and who knows what else! How stupid are MIT’s ‘leading lights’ to allow this to happen?
Unfortunately they have not learned their lesson. As the mother of a recent alumni I know for a fact that MIT’s MSA (of which many Islamists come from!) is merrily humming along, with nary a glance from the MIT administration.
Annie,you might want to do an investigation on this heretofore untouchable issue. I would not be surprised at all if you were to uncover that the next wave of US terrorists created their mischief from the PC confines of the ‘other’ school in Cambridge, MA.
“The Collider is the largest nuclear research facility in the world”
What a load of rubbish.
“… was being described by France’s Central Directorate of Interior Intelligence as a “very high-level” operative with AQIM”
Then they’ve gilded the lily somewhat, haven’t they? Or, to put it bluntly, they’ve been telling lies. This guy has been in contact with known bad guys – that’s all that’s been (legitimately) reported. He isn’t a “member” of any terrorist group. He’s definitely not an operative (not having actually done anything yet) and he’s hardly high level.
The LHC is not a nuclear facility. There’s nothing there that can help you obtain nuclear material, enrich nuclear fuel, build a fission or fusion device of ANY kind, detonate or deliver it. Take a big deep breath and start reporting responsibly.
Now – I’m not defending the guy in question. I know no more than you do (which is apparently not very much). But I am a bit sick of the endlessly breathless tom-clancy-esque pseudo-realities that get reported whenever one of these cases pops up. Lets wait and see what the facts are. The guy’s screwed no matter what – he’s been arrested in france, lets not forget. But given the recent rate of spectacular terrorist-case let-downs, I’m willing to bet that this guy turns out to be as dangerous as an old cardigan. And CERN’s about to have to deal with a big pile of unwarranted grief about its security for absolutely no reason at all.
Here’s a tip, guys – if it’s being reported, he’s probably not a real terrorist. If you doubt that, take a closer look at the reporting of the cases that have been prosecuted over the last few years. There must be SOME serious terrorists out there, but they’re apparently not getting reported. It seems to any rational observer that the greatest terrorist threat to the US (for example) right now are paid FBI informants.
From Matthew @ #3 : “Here’s a tip, guys – if it’s being reported, he’s probably not a real terrorist. If you doubt that, take a closer look at the reporting of the cases that have been prosecuted over the last few years. There must be SOME serious terrorists out there, but they’re apparently not getting reported. It seems to any rational observer that the greatest terrorist threat to the US (for example) right now are paid FBI informants.”
It seem that you are suggesting one of three things:
a) We’re catching bad guys and not reporting it (and in your mind [before Jan. 20 '09] they were probably sent to Gitmo for severe torture).
b) We’re arresting a bunch of innocent people and ALL the bad guys are still out there.
c) The FBI are the bad guys.
I am also curious as to your statement about “being reported”. In your opinion, is this a problem with the journalistic media, or should the blame be elsewhere?
That is correct, Michael:
We have nothing to worry about;
Everything is _just_fine_. NOT
To give one public example,
the US Navy has been quietly
funding research on alternative
approaches to fusion;
Simpler, easier, more suited
to terrorist operations.
“The Collider is the largest nuclear research facility in the world”
VERY misleading. A scare tactic for a subject that doesn’t need any. The Collider is a PHYSICS research lab. While it is true ALL physics involves some sort of process that could be loosely termed ‘nuclear’, nothing done by CERN directly involves nuclear weapons.
http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/LHC/LHC-en.html
Iran WILL develop an atomic bomb, if they haven’t already. I say that because last October, there was some signs of a nuclear test in Iran. Seismic activity that was abnormal, hidden in a series of earthquakes. No evidence that it wasn’t some sort of aftershock, just the fact that it looked like no aftershock ever seen and was MUCh larger then most aftershocks.
If you are a kind and trusting soul, it was an anomaly. If you are a paranoid, realist type, it was a nuclear test. No smoking gun, just the echo of a gunshot and a whiff of cordite.
Iran WILL use a nuke. They will use it on the Great Satan. The Mad Dog Mullahs see America as lacking in moral courage. They don’t think we have the political will to nuke them back. Plus if they use a terrorist group and a surreptitious delivery system, it is unlikly they will ever be ‘evidence’ to track back to them.
So you might as well relax and learn to love the bomb. It will be a Blue City in a Blue State that gets the surprise. One of the larger Bi-Coastal cities. One where a sport fishing boat with a nuke in it’s belly and a dead man switch can get close to shore. 90% of those killed will be Democrats, so in the greater scheme of things, it is a good deal for us Red Staters.
Plus it will be justice, since it was the rabid left of America that prevented President Bush from doing Iran back in ’04. It’s only fair that they bear responsibility for their actions.
“He’s definitely not an operative”, not yet, but this that kind of guis that terrorists organisations are looking for now, and internet is the mean through where they make their recruitment.
Many French from north african origin are highly educated nowadays, some are quite good researchers. I meet quite a few of the kind in my business, generally they remain discret on their beliefs. Except yesterday, got a Tunisian national, who was a former Basket international player, and now is a trainer who writes books on how to motivate collective games players.
With my hubby and him, we started a general discussion, and it finished on religion. He was telling us that the true muslim fidels don’t want to kill people, those who want aren’t true muslims.
This is funny as I took part in a discussion about Muslims in Europe and where I spoke of Tunisia. Therefore I finally ask him what is the real tunisian constitution, he replied me that Tunisia is an islamic republic, but the persons who govern are pro-western world, and empech Tunisians to live according to the normal muslim rules.
Quite a nice guy, to whom you could give your soul if you had not a strong base of good sense. But talking of the diverse religions, he obviously hold the bias discourse of islamists about them, also that the nowadays conflicts are arisen by the US/sionnist association.
Though I don’t think that this guy would become violent , or a terrorist, he is better than that, he is persuading that his religion’s goals are peace.
I was also interiorly smiling, he had the same discourse as the American conservatives about moral, family, religion
6. John “birther” Samford:
Sources for your claims on Iran?
Meanwhile Obama dithers with fantasies of “dialogue” with the Islamists. But wait ,he’s gotten the Ignoble Prize for Peace so everything must be just jake.
“The LHC is not a nuclear facility. There’s nothing there that can help you obtain nuclear material, enrich nuclear fuel, build a fission or fusion device of ANY kind, detonate or deliver it. Take a big deep breath and start reporting responsibly.” That much of Matthew #3′s comment I can agree with.
You write, “The results, the scientists hope, will create mini black holes and allow scientists to further explore theories about what happened after the Big Bang created the universe 14 billion years ago. Throw terrorists into that mix and a lot could go wrong.”
What you write about something I know a little about is flagrantly wrong. Why, then, should I rely on your judgment about things I know nothing about?
It’s not a good idea to cry wolf when the threat is real.
TO: All
RE: Living In a Tom Clancy Novel
I’m reminded of Sum of All Fears.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they AREN'T out to 'get you'.]
It’s certainly going to be a show when the lucky eight or ten Islamists hit the big one. Our superiors, both in government and intellectually have begged to be slaughtered. Since they are of age, my view is, Mohammed go for it.
He said something to the effect of: there are some things the public finds easier to ignore.
It’s hard for the public to “ignore” something if no one has bothered to tell them about it.
The LHC cannot be used directly for any WMD purposes, this is true. But think what a half-kilo linear cutting charge on a beam pipe (or worse, a bending magnet) during full-scale operation could do? Instant loss of confinement, beam dump into the tunnel, large-scale radiation hazard (7 TeV protons are going to cause a lot of induced radioactivity), possible damage to the facility such that repairing it becomes economically infeasible. Islamists are wreckers. If they could destroy the artefacts of Western intellectual and technological superiority out of jealousy, they would, even if it immiserate the entire species.
It is a 17-mile underground tunnel track where scientists are trying to create anti-matter by smashing atoms together. The results, the scientists hope, will create mini black holes and allow scientists to further explore theories about what happened after the Big Bang created the universe 14 billion years ago. Throw terrorists into that mix and a lot could go wrong.
Annie, I’m sorry, but no. Oh, having serious physicists involved with al-Q is certainly a worry, but neither antimatter nor mini-black-holes are the reason. People have been making antimatter for years, in tiny amounts; hell, you can make it in your kitchen if you really want to. In fact, the space around you has antimatter in it, every second, all the time.
The fuss about antimatter is coming from Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons, but that’s fiction. Fiction. The total amount of antimatter made at CERN over its whole lifetime is less than the ink in a printed period. And mini-black-holes, if they happen at all, will exist for only billionths of a second.
Please. Al Qaeda in Europe is worth worrying about. Getting taken in by something like this just makes the rest of your article harder to credit.
(Hands over ears) I can’t hear you! We all just want to get along but thanks to the evil Bush, we can’t. Have hope and change, however, dear comrades! BHO and his NPP will save us from all harm.
Peace on you
Vapid S.
Since they wanted info about CERN and the LHC, and since it’s not weapons research, isn’t it logical to conclude that al-Q wanted to kill or capture the scientists, or just do a lot of killing in a famous landmark?
It’s not as though your average CERN scientist keeps an automatic rifle in his desk, or a grenade taped to his laptop. Get past security, and there’s a lot of defenseless people to target. (Albeit highly resourceful people, so probably it wouldn’t entirely go the terrorists’ way.) And killing some of the best physicists in the world would be a real blow to Western civilization, as well as just causing terror and disruption. So yes, people should feel nervous about this – especially physicists who work at high-profile labs.
uh, I forgot :
“Switzerland: Terror cops arrest Collider scientist linked with al-Qaeda,” it said. The Collider is the largest nuclear research facility in the world.”
olright, it’s Switzerland cops that are awaking !
Here is another example of the the extremists moon god worshipers I have been posting about desiring murder.
I fully support the Muslims who worship the G-d of the Jews who made heaven and earth, as well as us, and hope for peace.
One of the major reasons that there are so many foreign students in our technical programs is that American students can’t be bothered to major in those areas. The high school culture doesn’t give much status to kids who like physics or math, the job and income prospects for these fields are rotten compared to MBA and law programs, and if a kid perseveres and doesn’t come out at the top of his class at a top school, his employment chances are miserable.
On the other hand, a kid from, say India, who gets an MS or PhD from an American university can go home to status and relative prosperity. Most of them are not potential terrorists, but 20 years ago the muslims may not have been either. With such a large number being trained in fields that may not be dangerous now but could be later (eg. nanotech), there are bound to be some rotten apples.
The solution obviously isn’t more government programs and I don’t expect much from the public school system. Perhaps home schooled kids may be our best hope. I wish there was more science material in the home schooling curricula – the little I’ve seen seems to be pretty light on the hard sciences.
It’s not that the brothers could or would do something with nuclear material at one of the sites. Rather, if it would be a great terrorist coup to pull the pin on a grenade in a shopping mall, on a commercial flight, or at Boulder Dam, why would they not want to help their brothers in arms target CERN or some other nuclear facility?
Just think of the news coverage with “Al Qaeda” and “nuclear” in the headline.
Here’s another tidbit- building an atomic bomb isn’t that hard if you have the materials. Any nuclear engineer would have no trouble doing it.
Marie Claude:
The simple declaration that “true muslims don’t want to kill people” actually tells very little about that person’s attachment to Shariah or susceptibility to islamist arguments. It is no more meaningful than saying, “true American’s don’t want to kill people.” It’s a truism. Of course we don’t – and yet we DO kill people. We kill murderers, terrorists, etc. So the proper follow-up to a declaration of “true muslims don’t want to kill people” would be, “under what circumstances would a muslim feel obliged, justified or religiously non-culpable in killing someone?” In answer to this second question, the questioner may be surprised to learn that the moderate muslim sitting in front of him or her favors stoning, death for apostates, death for homosexuals, death for those who insult islam, etc. etc. Never assume that the meaning you ascribe to a given vocabulary is the same meaning that a muslim ascribes to the same vocabulary. In an islamic context, IMO, it is always necessary to define terms.
Is this really surprising in an era when a guy named “Mohammed” is the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)??
Omar,
you’re a details lover, PJM isn’t so far a place where people have the habit to say that Muslims are non-violent or peace-lovers, but rather that sort of jihadist murderers, who can stone women, rape little girls, behead infidels… you could get more croustillant details on specialised sites.
So “Iveribodi” here can understand what I wrote, by my term, “true or falsh muslim”.
Now, if you had wanted me to tell you if I asked him these questions about islamist violence, I did ! and he didn’t seem to know about such cases, to which I responded him that they are related on internet, TV, and even filmed on videos. The raison might be because of Tunisian political regime, also I never heard our former compatriots in these “colonies” telling such stories about the north African muslims. As I already said on another topic, the tunisian islam is a bit different and more tolerant, it’s malekism.
Also Jews that were living in Tunisia and emigrate to France after the independance, almost all are saying that life in Tunisia was joyful !
Next Tueday, 30 March 2010, the CERN LHC has scheduled their first attempt at 7 TeV collisions, this is the current maximum energy. DO you know that there is a serious CERN LHC critics movement and one of it’s most prestigious members, Professor Otto E. Roessler gave an interview to notepad publishing senior journalist Armin Albarracin?
Key exerpts:
On Black Hole may destroy the Earth:
‘If CERN is successful producing them it would be producing about one per second. Many, many, many of them. And most of them would fly away. Only one in every million or so would stay inside the Earth because it would be slow enough not to escape. So its intrinsic velocity and there will be almost no friction they all would go right through the Earth and go away, except when it is slow enough. It would then be circling inside the Earth and if it would be growing fast enough – which I think that I can proof – it would eat the Earth from the inside out in a few years time. ‘
On Black Hole may destroy the Sun and the Moon:
‘The size of any mass, of any black hole which has the mass of the Earth, is 1.9 centimeters. But of course much of the energy would be radiated away so it would eventually be a little bit smaller than 1.9 centimeters. But we were talking about the danger to the Sun and the Moon. To the moon for example. So some of these many little black holes that would be radiating away they would be going in all directions. I didn’t know that when I said the moon would be safe. I learned that from Professor Landua in CERN. And therefore as to the Moon: Enough would be hitting the moon and one would be slow enough to stay on the Moon. It’s not very probable but if there are many enough it would also happen with one hitting the Moon and also with the Sun. So the Sun would go out as well.’
Selected press coverage of interview with Prof. Roessler:
Media: The Register
Link: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/16/lhc_sun_moon_doom
Title: The LHC will implode the Moon or PUT OUT THE SUN’
Quote: ‘Professor Rössler wouldn’t make our list just for this, however: what’s really brought him up on our radar is an excellent interview he gave to Swiss anti-LHC tinfoiler blog (sorry, “non profit news agency”) notepad.ch. In it, the prof reveals some new and splendid notions on how the great Collider will doom us all’
Media: Scientias.nl
Link: http://www.scientias.nl/lhc-kan-de-zon-vernietigen/5890
Title: “LHC kan de zon vernietigen” – ‘LHC can destroy the sun’
Al Qaeda will be destroyed soon. Every organization, even terrorist groups have their weaknesses and we will
find them and deal with them very shortly. Have faith people.