[extropy-chat] let's say

[Mike Lorrey]

Last time I heard about it was on mainstream media. Lemme check:
http://www.acronym.org.uk/dd/dd19/19nukes.htm
http://www.ideosphere.com/fx/lists/fx-discuss/1997/1171.html
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/02/18/013.html

I don't think you'd try to claim that the Center for Nonproliferation
Studies is some sort of wacko militia outfit... ;)
http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/week/020923.htm

"The "suitcase nukes saga" began in the fall of 1997, when General
(Ret.) Alexander Lebed made several statements to the effect that
during his short tenure as the Secretary of the Security Council in
1996, he received information that the separatist government in
Chechnya possessed small nuclear devices.[8] In an attempt to clarify
the situation, he created a special commission under the chairmanship
of his assistant, Vladimir Denisov. According to Lebed, the commission
was only able to locate 48 such munitions of a total of 132, an
indication that 84 were lost (subsequently Lebed changed the total
number of suitcase nukes several times, stating in the end that the
number was between 100 and 500, but probably closer to 100).[9] 

A well-known leader of the Russian ecological movement, academician
Alexei Yablokov, immediately confirmed and expanded on Lebed's
statements. He announced that 700 such devices, which he called
"nuclear mines," had existed in the Soviet Union. Responding to
statements from Ministry of Defense (MOD) officials that there were no
portable nuclear devices in the records, Yablokov announced that these
devices had been in the hands of the KGB, and thus, by definition, MOD
records could not include them.[10] 

Official and semi-official Russian sources immediately denied Lebed's
and Yablokov's stories, but their testimonies gradually revealed bits
and pieces of information, raising suspicion that small nuclear devices
did exist and even providing a glimpse of their properties. For
example, the press secretary of Minatom, Georgi Kaurov, stated that,
like the United States, the Soviet Union produced "very small nuclear
weapons," and that "the ability to manufacture miniature nuclear
weapons demonstrates a state's high level of technology and its ability
to create multipurpose and even aesthetically attractive nuclear
weapons."[11] Another official said that these devices did not exist,
but that if they had existed, their production and maintenance would
have been very expensive.[12] The chief of the 12th GUMO, Igor
Valynkin, recently disclosed that the serial number of one of the
"suitcases" that Lebed made public, RA-115, represented a "production
index" (i.e., the type of munitions) and that the whole type had
already been eliminated.[13] 

Nuclear mines are a well-known class of nuclear weapons. They were used
by the Engineering troops and deployed along Soviet borders, primarily
along the border with China. Nuclear mines were intended to create
obstacles in the path of advancing enemy troops by altering the
landscape and creating areas with high levels of radioactive
contamination. The total stockpile was 700[14]--incidentally, the
number Yablokov claimed represented the stockpile of suitcase nukes
(and, potentially, evidence that Yablokov did not have adequate
knowledge of the subject). Russian official sources reported that, in
accordance with the 1991 Presidential Nuclear Initiatives (PNIs), all
nuclear mines had been withdrawn to central storage facilities, and
their elimination was "almost complete."[15] Judging from the available
information, including from official and semi-official Russian sources,
some of these devices were relatively small and could be portable. The
often-cited weight was 90 kilograms (kg),[16] and they could have low
yield (0.02 to 1 kt).[17] 

On the other hand, the existence of smaller devices custom-designed for
Special Forces, probably analogous to American small atomic demolition
munitions (SADMs), should not be ruled out either. Lebed apparently
referred to such munitions in his statements (some sources, including
himself, mentioned the weight of 30 kg). Several broad considerations
suggest that the story about portable nuclear devices should be taken
seriously, with a caveat that their existence cannot be viewed as an
established fact. "

I also doubt you'd accuse Senator John Rockefeller a 'militia wacko':
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1665376,00.html

http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/News/Lebedbomb.html

Lebed was apparently offed for his disclosure:
http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/News/LebedDeath.html
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/04/29/28082.html

--- Joseph Bloch <jbloch at humanenhancement.com> wrote:
> No doubt you have a couple of legitimate citations you can point me
> to?
> 
> (That does not include survivalist whacko websites...)
> 
> Joseph
> 
> Enhance your body "beyond well" and your mind "beyond normal":
> http://www.humanenhancement.com
> 
> New Jersey Transhumanist Association:
> http://www.goldenfuture.net/njta
> 
> Mike Lorrey wrote:
> 
> >It isn't me. The Russians have admitted that as many as 120 backpack
> >nukes are missing from their inventories at a facility which was
> >attacked and compromised by Chechnyan guerrillas on one occasion.
> >
> >  
> >
> _______________________________________________
> extropy-chat mailing list
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo/extropy-chat
> 

Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com


		
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