April 2, 2016 ·
“Islamic State terrorists are planning on using drones to spray nuclear material over Western cities in a horrific “dirty bomb” attack,” Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron warned during the Nuclear Summit meetings in Washington D.C. this week. Ben Riley-Smith, writes on the April 1, 2016 website of London’s The Telegraph, that “world leaders are concerned that jihadists want to buy basic drones that are widely available online — to transport radioactive material into the heart of major cities in a strike that could kill thousands. Prime Minister Cameron warned (Nuclear Summit attendees) that “the dangers of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) getting a hold of nuclear material was “only too real.”
Mr. Reily-Smith notes that “video footage has reportedly emerged showing ISIL using drones — and, the threat was deemed so serious that — in a highly unusual move — world leaders (gathered at the Nuclear Summit) were asked to take part in war games to plan on how they would respond,” to such an event. One scenario U.S. officials briefed to the summit attendees, “imagined radioactive material had been taken from a medical facility by “insiders,” and sold to (Islamic) extremists through the Internet’s secretive — “Dark Web.” Prime Minister Cameron warned the summit attendees that “we have already seen Daesh [also known as ISIL, & ISIS) trying to look at whether they can get their hands on low-level, crop-using [dusting]-type drones.” Bloomberg News reported on its April 1, 2016 website that “at least 130 countries have radiological material, stored at such places as universities, hospitals, companies, and research centers,” — that could be used to construct a dirty bomb.
The Telegraph notes that “ISIL is believed to have seized 90 pounds of low grade uranium from Mosul University in Iraq, after taking over the city in 2014, though its limited toxicity means its use [by this method] would likely cause panic [rather] than serious harm.
Robert Hutton wrote on the April 1, 2016 website of Bloomberg News, that the “Federal Aviation Administration predicts 2.5 million drones will be sold [in the U.S.] this year; and annual sales will climb to 7 million by 2020. And, drones are proliferating around the globe as some 90 countries have reconnaissance/surveillance drones; and, at least 30 countries are in various stages of developing armed variants, according to The Center for New American Security.
Drones may well become the new improvised explosive device (IED), and can be used in so many different types of scenarios, that the threat is limited only by the imagination. It is a problem that is going to get more complex, sophisticated, and difficult to confront. We definitely need a drone-threat-mitigation strategy because it is probably only a matter of time before a terrorist, or deranged individual deliberately flies a drone into a passenger airliner — in an attempt to bring the aircraft down.
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