It May Sound Crazy, But I Can’t Not Post It In Good Conscience – A Nuclear 9/11?

I got an article from Deseret News in my email inbox a couple of days ago.  I thought it sounded pretty crazy at first, but then after I thought about it a while, I didn’t think it was all that crazy after all.  Then I did a bit more research and the source, Daniel J. Hill, seems to be pretty darn credible.

Here’s part of that article from Deseret News:

Is another 9/11 set to unfold?

By Lee Benson

Deseret News
Published: Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009 9:32 p.m. MDT

Earlier this year, quite by happenstance, I read a book written by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter James B. Stewart.

“Heart of a Soldier” tells the story of two men who, well before it happened, foretold not only of the terrorist attack of 9/11 but also the 1993 bombing in the World Trade Center parking garage that preceded it.

One of the men, Rick Rescorla, was chief of security for Morgan Stanley with an office in the World Trade Center. He died on 9/11, but not before he shepherded all but six of Morgan Stanley’s 2,700 employees to safety because of a well-prepared and well-executed evacuation plan. He’d have made it out, too, had he not gone back in the building looking for those six.

The other man, Daniel J. Hill, is still alive.

With another Sept. 11 approaching I wanted to talk to The Man Who Predicted 9/11.

Although the primary focus in Stewart’s book is on Rescorla — a bona fide hero for his actions on 9/11 — I found Hill to be an even more fascinating character.

It was Hill who converted to Islam as a young U.S. Army paratrooper stationed in Beirut in 1958. It was Hill who learned fluent Arabic. It was Hill who joined the Mujahedeen Freedom Fighters in Afghanistan and fought the Soviet invasion there in the 1980s. It was Hill who personally met Osama bin Laden. It was Hill who used information from Islamic extremists to warn Rescorla that terrorists would use the underground parking garage for a car bomb attack on the World Trade Center. It was Hill who asked the U.S. government to assist him in an assassination attempt on bin Laden in 1998 (the request was rejected). And it was Hill who warned the FBI just weeks before Sept. 11, 2001, that his Mideast contacts told him “something big” was about to happen in the United States, in New York, Washington, D.C., or Philadelphia — maybe all three.

He didn’t want to talk about the past. He wanted to talk about the future.

The very near future.

The man who predicted 9/11 is worried that its sequel is imminent.

“Muslims that I talk to say things like, ‘America thinks they’re safe now. They’ve forgotten about 9/11. But watch, Daniel. Stay near your TV. It’s going to be bigger than 9/11,’?” he said.

Hill said the next terrorist attack will involve suitcase nuclear bombs that will be detonated in small, low-flying two-seater private airplanes manned by men hanging onto the belief that, like the 9/11 hijackers, they are about to die as martyrs and enter paradise.

He is not alone in suggesting such a scenario. A 2007 book, “The Day of Islam,” spells out the details, as do any number of Internet sites about a plot called “American Hiroshima.”

The nukes, he said, will be detonated over New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Miami, Houston, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

I asked Hill, “Why now?”

“Eight years from 1993 to 2001, eight years from that 9/11 to this 9/11,” he said. “Symbolism. They’re big on symbolism.”

“I don’t know the second, hour or day. I just know they have the means, will, motivation and desire to do it,” he said, noting that it’s believed that years ago the suitcase nukes, acquired from former USSR operatives, were smuggled into America across the Mexican border.

Hill said he has warned the FBI, the CIA and others in government. For the past two years, he’s sent out proposals for a book on the subject. All he’s gotten back are rejections.

“To most people, I am a deviant personality,” he said.

But there’s no arguing his credentials.

“I’m a Muslim,” he says. “I’m a special ops expert, I’m a terrorist and I’ve lived among Muslims. I fought the Russians with the same guys we’re now fighting in Afghanistan. I met Osama. I volunteered to assassinate him. I know (the enemy) so well because I’ve worked, slept and prayed alongside them for years. I’ve become one of them. I know their nature, I know their culture, I know how they think. I can quote the Koran like a Southern Baptist minister can quote the New Testament. I know these are people who do not tire, who do not quit. There are odds this won’t happen, but they aren’t big odds.”

“I hope you’re wrong,” I told him.

“Yeah. I hope so, too,” he said.

Did y’all notice that Las Vegas is on that target list?  I sure did.

Now, I’m not planning on running for Winnemucca or Tonopah or anything like that. At least, not unless something concrete happens. I just figure it this way – on 10 September 2001 I’d have been called a nut job for suggesting that a group of terrorists would or could carry out what happened on 9/11. If this doesn’t happen and I’ve said something to my friends, then it’s an interesting concept and maybe I got prepared like I should have been anyway. Maybe they’ll have gotten a bit more prepared, too. Maybe it will help one of us in the future. I don’t have to worry about them thinking I’m crazy – they already think that

But what if it does happen and I didn’t say anything? I don’t want to know what that would be like.

What it all boils down to is this – I’d rather look like a fool than to have something horrendous on my conscience.

So, what should you do if this horrible event comes to pass? I found some good info on Global Security Newswire.  Go read the whole thing.

Some of the basics include:

• Stay out of the downwind area to avoid fallout
• Don’t get caught in a traffic jam – you could be killed by the fallout radiation
• If you can’t get away from the downwind area, shelter in place (see the article for suggestions)
• Listen to the radio for instructions
• Make your way to a school or another facility with lots of showers – the government will likely have commandeered these facilities for the purpose of decontamination which is what you should be worried about.

I would add these suggestions as good ideas in general and they’d help you in any emergency, be it a nuclear event, hurricane, tornado or earthquake:

• HAVE A PLAN AHEAD OF TIME AND COMMUNICATE IT WITH YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS – Normal lines of communications will likely be down.
• Have 72 hours minimum of food and water on hand.
• Have a radio that doesn’t need batteries and that it works.
• Have a GOOD pocket knife or two and a way to sharpen them.
• Make sure you have some source of light.  Flashlights are good, just make sure you have extra batteries.  Chem lights are great – no heat or danger, but make sure you have plenty of them.
• A sleeping bag is a good idea
• It might not be a bad idea to have a carton or two of cigarettes and cans of chewing tobacco to use in bartering for supplies.
• This may not be politically correct, but have at least one firearm, a decent stock of ammo, and gun cleaning supplies.  Have more guns if you can.  My minimum is the AK-47 and the Hi-Point 9mm for personal protection.  If I can, I’ll bring my Ruger 10/22, Heritage Rough Rider revolver (I’ve got lots of ammo for those and they can get food if needed), and my M-44 (I have a decent ammo supply including soft point which will take down even big game).  Actually, I’d prefer to take all my guns.  I can’t carry them all myself, but I may not be the only one around who can carry and use a gun and it doesn’t hurt to share with good people, especially when the police are likely to be overwhelmed or non-existent.  Remember what happened after Hurricane Katrina?

So there you have it.  I pray that nothing like this ever happens, but if it does at least I’ve said something.  If it doesn’t happen, then there’s been no harm done and maybe the preparations will help in the future.

Take care, stay safe, and be prepared everyone.