Nuclear Nightmare

“Welcome to Tehran, gentleman. We are building here what will become the model for all nations in the Middle East, and eventually the world. You probably noticed the strict adherence to Islamic law. Those who break the law, are dealt with quickly and efficiently. Convicts were not allowed to lie around in jail cells. They are put to work at arduous labor. Many crimes are punishable by death, or physical mutilation. The sentences are carried out the same day they are imposed. Crime in the new Iran, is almost unheard of. This is our model that we intend to export to the entire world. How can we help you?”

“Our family subscribes absolutely to all of your principles. We have heard that the Ayatollah has declared Jihad against the Great Satan, the United States. We have ideas, on how to carry that out.”Assad Hussein said. “My brother Abrahim understands the technicalities of what we planned much better than I. He will explain our plan:”

“One of my children, Mohammed Hussein, is absolutely brilliant. He is only a child of 14. But he is studied natural sciences with a passion. We have hired the finest tutors for him, and he devours books on nuclear physics, like American teenagers devour rap music. He has been fascinated with nuclear fission for several years now, and he possesses equivalent of a Masters degree in physics even at his early age. Last week he came to me with an idea for creating atomic bombs inside the United States. He believes he can develop technology that will allow uranium to be enriched right at a mine. If this can be achieved, we can build bombs in the United States, using their own materials.

People think an atomic bomb requires some very high technology. At the heart of it that is not true. To make an atomic bomb all you have to do is have two pieces of highly enriched uranium each of which is a little larger then half of a critical mass. If you can find a way to bring those two halves together with enough force to fuse them together into one mass, you have a critical mass that spontaneously explodes. The weapons we will build will be crude by their standards, but all we will do is haul them out to the center of their cities, build some kind of a vault to house them, set a timer and leave.”

“That certainly seems like a worthy objective!” Sheikh Rashid exclaimed.

The biggest thing that your country could do to assist us is to give us your wisdom and help us with the creation of documents that will help in our operations”

“We would be happy to provide that service for you.” Sheikh Rashid replied. “We are providing that type of service for many organizations. Here you can rest, plan their next moves, and obtain the kind of help you have asked for. We have expert engravers here, who can create any document that will look and feel just as real as any governmental document produced anywhere in the world. Those kinds of activities are difficult to do in a country where they are illegal. But here they are not only legal, they are part of the Jihad!

We have a network of others who will not be directly involved in your plan that we would like you to keep informed of your progress.”. Sheikh Rashid continued. “Before you leave here, I will give you a list of 500 valid email accounts held by unrelated people in the United States and Europe. Every year we will provide you with a new list.

These people have all been foolish enough to send their passwords to strangers who asked for them. To date nothing has ever been done with these passwords. I will also give you a list of 75 email addresses for our associates.

My name is on the last as are several others here in Iran. Many of those on the list are active in our movement, and you can assume that the Americans already have their names. Anything you send to this network can safely be assumed to end up at the National Security Agency in America. They already know we hate them. They already know we have declared jihad against them. All they will be able to tell by reading your emails is that somebody somewhere is actively working for their destruction. They won’t be able to tell who you are, nor will they be able to uncover anyone else involved in this operation. Never send a message to this network unless you are at a public Internet access port. There are thousands of such places already and more are being added every day. You can assume that the Americans will follow up and try to track down the IP address where you sent the message. Before you send a message make sure there are no surveillance cameras that will catch your image as you send a message.. Use one of the stolen Internet accounts for each message, and never use that account again.

I would like you to come up with a code to mask the meaning of any Internet message you send. The code need not be complex, a simple word substitution would do. Pick a completely unrelated subject like automotive design or the European space program. Substitute terms that you need to use, like uranium for another word about that other subject. I will give you an address in Saudi Arabia. When you have perfected your code, send it to that address by US Mail. Do not use the network for planning. Think of it as a blog for like minded people who may want to coordinate their efforts with yours. We will communicate infrequently in face-to-face meetings. Those meetings will be held in your European offices, some of them will be held here, and a few may be held in your own secure offices. None of those meetings should be held at the mine or at any facility where you are actively handling the weapons you are building.”