January 19, 2003

Forbes.com: U.S. worries North Korea will sell nuclear bombs

North Korea's arms bazaar soon may boast an enticing new product -- a nuclear bomb which U.S. officials fear could be available to the highest bidder.

With the communist nation's decision this month to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the pact aimed at curbing the spread of atomic weapons, U.S. defense officials and military analysts are worrying that North Korea might sell a nuclear bomb to a willing customer with a lot of cash.

They say North Korea, through its past arms sales, has shown a willingness to sell just about anything to anyone, and fear that potential customers for a nuclear bomb could include hostile countries or even groups such as al Qaeda.
[...]
Any nuclear weapon that North Korea may decide to sell likely will command a large price, said military analyst John Pike, director of the GlobalSecurity.org think tank.

"The bidding starts at a billion dollars," Pike said.

The world's nuclear powers are Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, Russia and the United States; Israel also is believed to have such weapons. Israel on June 7, 1981, bombed an Iraqi nuclear power plant in a pre-emptive strike to deny Iraq the capability of building atomic bombs.

Pike said interested parties might include al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"Would Osama buy one?" Pike said. "Osama is reputed to have several hundred million dollars on hand. Would he pay half of his endowment to be able to nuke Washington? Yeah, I think he would probably pay $100 million dollars for one. How much would Saddam Hussein pay for one? I think he'd pay several billion dollars. What's he got to lose?

Mr. Pike forgot to mention the Iranians, now developing nuclear facilities with Russian help (are we going to confront this problem anytime soon???), and he forgot good old Yassir Arafat, whose personal fortune is now estimated at $2 billion and who's reaching the point very quickly of having nothing left to lose, either-- his advancing age and declining health plus his waning personal influence as well as the decreasing viability of the "Palestinian" "cause" all make him a prime customer for a nuclear "I'm taking you all with me" type conclusion to his failed Intifada.
And with the election of "Lula" the pro-Communist in Brazil, he talks about taking Brazil nuclear, too.
How was that the world kept quiet and relatively happy without nukes since they were used in 1945 and all of sudden, 55 years later, it seems every country's worth its flag has gotta have at least one--Nuke envy.
What a trend.