The following comments from Osama bin Laden and his followers as well as from adversaries illustrate the determination of the Al-Qaeda movement to obtain a nuclear weapon, and their intentions should they indeed possess a nuclear bomb:
“Acquiring nuclear weapons for the defense of Moslems is a religious duty. If I have indeed acquired these weapons, then I thank Allah for enabling me to do so.”
-Osama bin Laden, in an interview with Time magazine conducted in 1998
“We have the right to kill 4 million Americans, two million of them children”
-Abu Gheith, Al-Qaeda spokesman
“If a bomb was dropped on them that would annihilate 10 million and burn their lands…this is permissible.”
-Sheikh Nasir bin Hamid al-Fahd, prominent Saudi cleric close to Al-Qaeda
“The real matter is the extinction of America. And, Allah willing, it will fall to the ground…keep in mind this prediction.”
-Mullah Omar, Taliban leader and ally of Osama bin Laden