TERRORISM: E-BOMB IS 'NEW THREAT' TO U.S.
Karachi, 22 June (AKI) - (by Syed Saleem Shahzad) - The next terror threat facing the United States is not a nuclear or gas attack but an electro-magnetic bomb or e-bomb - which would shut down telecommunications networks, disrupt power supplies, and destroy countless computers and electronic gadgets, yet still leave buildings, bridges and roads intact. This is according to Khalid Khawaja, a former Pakistani intelligence officer who once worked closely with Osama bin Laden. "The e-bomb shall be the new threat for the USA, not the nukes or gas attacks," said Khawaja in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI).
Khawaja was a senior official of Pakistani secret service ISI when they were fueling jihadi resistance movements against the Soviets in Afghanistan, and after being forced to retire from the air force, he went to Afghanistan and fought along side with Osama bin Laden. the leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
Khawaja told AKI that he overheard the reference to the e-bomb in several conversations among Arab fighters in Afghanistan over the years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001.
“I never heard Osama or Dr. [Ayman al-] Zawahiri discuss a nuclear attack on the USA," he said "and neither did I hear that from any other person."
"To me, these kind of ideas are ridiculous. Only states can use nuclear technology to destroy any country. No group or individual can apply these technologies for mass destruction. I never heard anything which was discussed with any depth concerning gas attacks on America," he added.
"However, I overheard conversations which strongly suggested that there is a section of the anti-American resistance which is seriously pursuing a project aimed at bringing America back to the Stone Age without harming human lives," said Khawaja.
Khawaja said he overheard references to a plan to use an e-bomb and a project to destroy US satellites, all with the single objective of crippling the American system without actually harming anyone.
An e-bomb destroys most machines that use electricity. The weapon is designed to overwhelm electrical circuitry with an intense electromagnetic field. In a matter of seconds, a big enough e-bomb could thrust an entire city back 200 years or cripple a military unit.
Reports say that the United States has been developing such a bomb. According to a CBS news report, the US deployed an experimental e-bomb on March 24, 2003 to knock out Iraqi satellite television and disrupt the broadcast of propaganda.
Khawaja was a senior official of Pakistani secret service ISI when they were fueling jihadi resistance movements against the Soviets in Afghanistan, and after being forced to retire from the air force, he went to Afghanistan and fought along side with Osama bin Laden. the leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
Khawaja told AKI that he overheard the reference to the e-bomb in several conversations among Arab fighters in Afghanistan over the years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001.
“I never heard Osama or Dr. [Ayman al-] Zawahiri discuss a nuclear attack on the USA," he said "and neither did I hear that from any other person."
"To me, these kind of ideas are ridiculous. Only states can use nuclear technology to destroy any country. No group or individual can apply these technologies for mass destruction. I never heard anything which was discussed with any depth concerning gas attacks on America," he added.
"However, I overheard conversations which strongly suggested that there is a section of the anti-American resistance which is seriously pursuing a project aimed at bringing America back to the Stone Age without harming human lives," said Khawaja.
Khawaja said he overheard references to a plan to use an e-bomb and a project to destroy US satellites, all with the single objective of crippling the American system without actually harming anyone.
An e-bomb destroys most machines that use electricity. The weapon is designed to overwhelm electrical circuitry with an intense electromagnetic field. In a matter of seconds, a big enough e-bomb could thrust an entire city back 200 years or cripple a military unit.
Reports say that the United States has been developing such a bomb. According to a CBS news report, the US deployed an experimental e-bomb on March 24, 2003 to knock out Iraqi satellite television and disrupt the broadcast of propaganda.
posted by Marko at 6/22/2006 07:15:00 AM
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