- Four months ago I posted an article to
the BlackOps Reporter in which a prominent German Intelligence Officer
passed on information concerning the movement of Weapons Grade Plutonium
into the United States. In that article entitled "McVeigh Guilty...What
A Surprise", the Foreign Intelligence Officer warned of mishandling
of Soviet Nuclear Weapons and Components. What we must remember is the
statement made by this Ex-BND Officer. "Terrorism has no conscience...it
only has purpose!"
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- Russia Missing 100 Nuclear Bombs September
5, 1997 Associated Press
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- WASHINGTON - Russia's military has lost
track of 100 suitcase-sized nuclear bombs, the nation's former national
security chief has told American lawmakers, who expressed alarm to the
Clinton administration.
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- But U.S. and Russian officials discount
the claims by retired Gen. Alexander Lebed, the ousted one-time foe of
President Boris Yeltsin.
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- "We don't have any evidence to support
what (Lebed) said and responsible Russian officials have specifically denied
it," a White House official said Thursday. "We have no credible
information any nuclear weapon, suitcase or not, has even been available
on the black market."(Sounds like a Clinton/Reno Spin to me)
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- The official, speaking on condition of
anonymity, confirmed, however, that the Russian military has such portable
nuclear bombs, which security experts describe as the "perfect terrorist
weapon" in the wrong hands.
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- Lebed described the devices as Special
Atomic Demolition Munitions that are designed for sabotage behind enemy
lines - blowing up bridges or command centers, for example. The 1-kiloton
nuclear bombs, which weigh 60-100 pounds and can fit into a suitcase or
backpack, can kill 50,000-100,000 people and devastate a portion of a city,
according to Lebed.
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- In May, Lebed told a congressional delegation
led by Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., that as Yeltsin's top defense expert last
year he discovered the Russian military couldn't account for 48 of 132
of suitcase bombs.
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- In going public, Lebed upped the total
of missing suitcase bombs to 100 out of 250 in an interview with CBS's
"60 Minutes."
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- "I don't know their location,"
Lebed told CBS in a program scheduled to air Sunday. "I don't know
whether they have been destroyed or whether they are stored or whether
they've been sold or stolen. I don't know."
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- Lebed added that when he told Yeltsin,
"I did not see any reaction" and the Russian military didn't
institute an inventory check.
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- Former Defense Minister Igor Rodionov
told CBS he "never had any information, a single report" that
the suitcase bombs were stolen.
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- Deputy Defense Minister Andrei Kokoshin,
who met with the congressional delegation after Lebed, also assured lawmakers
no nuclear weapons were missing. Last week, Yeltsin named Kokoshin head
of the powerful Defense Council as he shook up his cabinet to institute
military reforms.
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- Last October, Yeltsin fired Lebed amid
charges the former paratrooper was trying to form a private army. Yeltsin
had appointed Lebed his security chief after the general withdrew from
challenging the president for re-election.
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- Rep. Weldon, who concedes Lebed may have
an ax to grind, said he believes that at the very least the Russian government's
control has grown lax over its nuclear stockpile since the dissolution
of the Soviet Union.
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- "The potential for very sophisticated
nuclear technology and weapons to get into the hands of Third World nations
and other groups is very real, and it's something I don't think the administration
follows up on," Weldon said in an interview. "The Russian government
doesn't have control."
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- In April, Defense Secretary William Cohen
said the United States relies on Russian assurances - and not independent
checks - that Moscow has full control over its nuclear weapons.
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- "We don't know the exact nature
of the command and control that's in place," Cohen told reporters.
"We have been assured by the highest officials that they have very
strict controls over their systems."
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- In August, Weldon, who is a Russian expert
and sits on the House National Security Committee, wrote letters to CIA
Director George Tenet and National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, expressing
his concerns about Lebed's allegations about the security of Russia's nuclear
weapons.
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- "I was particularly alarmed by his
disclosure that he is unable to account for many nuclear weapons,"
Weldon wrote, detailing the charges.
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- Weldon also met with Energy Secretary
Federico Pena in July before the Cabinet secretary went to Moscow and the
congressman urged Pena to bring the matter up again with Russia military
officials.
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- The DOE didn't respond immediately to
requests for comment on what Pena discussed in Moscow.
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- Jay Stewart, the director of foreign
intelligence operations for the DOE from 1990 through 1994, said the U.S.
government and international community have much reason for concern regarding
Russia's nuclear program.
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- "It's my belief that the Russian
Ministry of Defense itself doesn't know where all the tactical nuclear
weapons are and cannot account for them," Stewart said in an interview.
"If these suitcase devices have fallen out of national government
hands, the question becomes where are they, who had them and what are their
intentions. In the former Soviet Union everything is for sale."
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- By The Associated Press
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- I urge you to read the other articles
which I have posted on the BlackOps Reporter...they too have purpose. "This
Is Lawrence Kansas...Is Anybody There?"
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