The Real Threat: Grapefruits

"Anuclear bomb can be built with a relatively small amount of nuclear material. A trained nuclear engineer with an amount of highly enriched uranium or plutonium about the size of a grapefruit or an orange, together with commerical available material, could fashion a nuclear device that would fit in a van like the one Ramzi Yousef parked in the garage of the World Trade Center in 1993. Such a bomb would level lower Manhattan."

-from the 9/11 Commission Report.

A few nights ago, I was talking with my friend and fellow moderate Republican, Jim. He offered this scenario:

A fishing trawler makes its way to the US coast. On board are members of a terrorist cell as well as a shielded suitcase carrying a crude nuclear device with weapons-grade plutonium about the size of a grapefruit. The trawler avoids major ports and goes to a small port in a small city. There waiting is a car which transports the members of the cell and the suitcase to a safehouse in a large city. The next day, the device is detonated, killing hundereds of thounsands and leaving a major city destroyed.

My friend was proving a point: you don't need an Arab-owned shipping company to deliver a nuclear bomb; all you need is some determined people.

What is our government doing to prevent this? Where is Congress?

Oh, I forgot they are busy trying to prevent the government of UAE to manage some ports.