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Graham Allison on Nuclear Power & Nuclear Weapons

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Chautauqua Institution

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What if the 'Dragonfire Bomb' Detonated in Times Square?

01 min 51 sec

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Graham Allison, Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, demonstrates the potential devastation the "Dragonfire bomb," a 10-kiloton nuclear weapon allegedly smuggled into NYC by Al Qaeda shortly after 9/11, would have caused if detonated in Times Square. The bomb, which turned out to be a false alarm, would have "vaporized" everything within a one-third of a mile radius.
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01 hr 13 min 16 sec

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Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe

Encyclopædia Britannica Articles

nuclear weapon: Bomb or other warhead that derives its force from nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, or both and is delivered by an aircraft, missile, or other system. Fission weapons, commonly known as atomic bombs, release energy by splitting the nuclei of uranium or plutonium atoms; fusion weapons, known as hydrogen bombs or thermonuclear bombs, fuse nuclei of the hydrogen isotopes tritium or deuterium. Most nuclear weapons actually combine both processes. Nuclear weapons are the most potent explosive devices ever invented. Their destructive effects include not only a blast equivalent to thousands of tons of TNT but also blinding light, searing heat, and lethal radioactive fallout. The number of nuclear weapons reached a peak of some 32,000 for the United States in 1966 and some 33,000 for the Soviet Union in 1988. Since the end of the Cold War, both countries have decommissioned or dismantled thousands of warheads. Other declared nuclear powers are the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea. Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons. Some countries, such as South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, and Iraq, have acknowledged pursuing nuclear weapons in the past but have abandoned their programs. See also Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty; Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty.; nuclear weapon on britannica.com
terrorism: Systematic use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective. It has been used throughout history by political organizations of both the left and the right, by nationalist and ethnic groups, and by revolutionaries. Although usually thought of as a means of destabilizing or overthrowing existing political institutions, terror also has been employed by governments against their own people to suppress dissent; examples include the reigns of certain Roman emperors, the French Revolution (see Reign of Terror), Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union under Stalin, and Argentina during the “dirty war” of the 1970s. Terrorism's impact has been magnified by the deadliness and technological sophistication of modern-day weapons and the capability of the media to disseminate news of such attacks instantaneously throughout the world. The deadliest terrorist attack ever occurred in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001 (see September 11 attacks), when members of al-Qaeda terrorist network hijacked four commercial airplanes and crashed two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City and one into the Pentagon building near Washington, D.C.; the fourth plane crashed near Pittsburgh, Pa. The crashes resulted in the collapse of much of the World Trade Center complex, the destruction of part of the southwest side of the Pentagon, and the deaths of some 3,000 people.; terrorism on britannica.com

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Previous FORAtv comments:

donleonard

Posted: 11.09.10, 04:44 PM

AL Qaeda is a CIA construct...This is just more fear mongering by the US officials to justify their terrorism on the citizens of the world and their own country. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daNr_...eature=related The General in charge of intelligence says the official 9/11 story is a lie. Noam Chomsky supports that statement, so do I. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzNhA...layer_embedded Time to lose the fear and take back your rights and freedoms from the corporate fascists who control your money and your life.

Dforce

Posted: 08.01.10, 07:35 AM

Yet more prpoganda from the ruling elites to keep people passive and fearful: The real enemies of the world reside in wall st & the shite house

bremont

Posted: 07.30.10, 05:08 PM

i wonder if thinking is still part of the community! firebombs what a nonsense, empires do not fall because of bombs, they disappear because of internal entropy. they get sick inside and they die. no need of terrorism or criminals. space-time compacts (the empire dies) space-time expands ( new empire is born) perhaps aliens are closer or already here, because an alien would indeed confuse a society, the same way the main media confuses the common folks. hope it is just an internal deviation because aliens they could be quite nasty, or they could be very generous (who knows)(nasty they will drive us to commit communal suicide. (generous) they will save us.

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