Fw: Another Scenario?

["Nello Margiotta" <animarg at tin.it>]

 http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=6/12/02&Cat=2&Num=027
 
 Tehran Times
 June 12, 2002
 
 Another Scenario? 
 
 
 TEHRAN -- After the September 11 incidents in the
 United States, Washington blamed the Al-Qaeda network
 for those acts of terrorism and waged its devastative
 war on Afghanistan that resulted in high casualties
 among innocent civilians. However, after several
 months of intensive bombings and even following the
 downfall of the Taliban militia, whom the U.S.
 administration blamed for harboring Al-Qaeda members,
 Osama bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda leaders described
 by Washington as masterminds of the September 11
 attacks are still at large.
 
 However, instead of feeling depressed at having failed
 to capture those they have called their arch-enemies,
 the White House officials even appear fairly pleased,
 as they have managed to establish military bases and
 gain a foothold in Central Asia and the Caucasus on
 the pretext of fighting terrorism. Furthermore, the
 recent revelations indicating that U.S. President
 George W. Bush as well as senior FBI and CIA officials
 had been given warnings about the possibility of
 terrorist attacks on the United States long before
 September 11, 2001, but did not take any effective
 measures to prevent the incidents make one wonder
 whether the United States actually needed a scenario
 such as the attacks on New York and Washington in
 order to advance its belligerent policy and military
 adventurism.
 
 But at this stage, it seems that the new U.S. military
 policy under the Republican administration is not
 going to be confined to just establishing military
 bases in Afghanistan and some other countries in
 Central Asia and the Caucasus. In other words,
 Washington is apparently seeking more objectives than
 just boosting its political and military presence and
 influence in the region through another scenario. To
 grasp the point, the following news reports are worth
 considering.
 
 U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said on Monday
 that investigators thwarted a plot to detonate a
 radiation-laced 'dirty bomb' in the United States by
 arresting a U.S. "terrorist" linked to Osama bin
 Laden's Al-Qaeda network. Ashcroft said Abdullah
 al-Muhajir, 31, a U.S. citizen born in New York as
 Jose Padilla, who was allegedly plotting the attack,
 was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport
 on May 8, after flying in from Pakistan. "We have
 captured a known terrorist who was exploring a plan to
 build and explode a radiological dispersion device, or
 'dirty bomb' in the United States," Ashcroft said,
 according to an AFP dispatch from Washington.
 
 According to a BBC television report, a crude nuclear
 bomb can be carried on a truck and its explosion can
 affect at least 20 percent of the population in a
 large U.S. city. The report said the explosion could
 also cause great panic and make the U.S. citizens flee
 their homes.
 
 And finally, the Arabic language daily **Al-Hayat**
 yesterday reported that the Al-Qaeda has admitted on
 its Internet site that it has access to weapons of
 mass destruction through raw materials and equipment
 obtained from Russia. The first report, in which
 Ashcroft revealed the news about Muhajir's arrest
 after more than one month, and this in itself is quite
 questionable, seems to be aimed at preparing U.S.
 citizens for another tragedy similar to the September
 11 incidents or even worse. The BBC television report
 also seems to be following the same objective.
 Furthermore, this report also came at a time when U.S.
 officials are asserting that the Al-Qaeda network has
 obtained access to crude nuclear weapons, and that it
 is seriously planning another attack on the U.S. As
 for the possible source of radioactive materials, U.S.
 officials have claimed that the network has acquired
 these materials form Pakistan and Russia. But what is
 **Al-Hayat** trying to convey? It is clear that it
 intends to put the blame for any possible nuclear
 attacks on the United States on Al-Qaeda, as the
 network was blamed for the September 11 incidents, but
 without any concrete evidence.
 
 These reports indicate that a new scenario is in the
 offing. It is no hidden fact by now that independent
 states refusing to submit to U.S. domination have long
 been a target of U.S. propaganda and baseless
 accusations such as sponsoring terrorism or seeking
 weapons of mass destruction. However, so far nations
 throughout the world, even some U.S. European allies,
 have mostly ignored such propaganda and accusations
 because they are well aware of the self-serving U.S.
 motives behind these allegations.
 
 But what would happen if the United States becomes the
 target of a nuclear attack by so-called Al-Qaeda
 terrorists? It is clear that Washington will be
 provided with a suitable pretext, similar to the one
 after the September 11 incidents, to launch a
 devastative campaign against any group that it labels
 as terrorist or any country that it calls a sponsor of
 terrorism. Therefore, it seems that a horrible
 scenario is in the offing, horrible in the first place
 for the innocent U.S. citizens who may become the
 victims of another tragedy in their country. Another
 point worthy of consideration is that all three
 reports claim Al-Qaeda has obtained the raw materials
 for its nuclear weapons from Russia. But why Russia?
 The answer is simple. If this tragedy occurs and the
 U.S. tries to launch a campaign against independent
 states on the above pretext, countries like Russia may
 not be so willing to take part in the campaign and may
 even raise objections. Thus, the claim that the raw
 materials for making the nuclear weapons have been
 obtained from Russia will help to turn public opinion
 in the United States and Europe against Russia and
 force Moscow into submission or at least silence about
 the unilateral and domineering U.S. campaign against
 countries critical of U.S. policies.