just one month after that meeting in kandahar, september 11, 2001. as the united states reels from the attacks, those who know about that meeting in kandahar, reel over what might happen next. the big question becomes, how far along is al-qaeda in its pursuit of a nuclear bomb, and how can the united states stop them from sending one? that s a piece of cake if you have enough material. if you look at the hiroshima bomb, it was much bigger. if you think of a two-ton bomb, think of a thousand tons versus two tons. it s inconceivable. even if you look at the hiroshima pictures, it s inconceivable what a bomb that size can do. ralph larson had been planning on a new cia posting in
his al qaeda deputy ayman al zawahiri meet around a campfire in kandahar, afghanistan, with one of pakistan s top nuclear scientist. they discuss al qaeda s aspirations to build a nuclear bomb. the two apparently met, we referred to as the fireside chat, or had a dinner and talked about al qaeda s interest in nuclear bombs, where the al qaeda leader apparently was trying to gain some basic sense of what it would take. rolf larson. how hard this was and how difficult this was for pakistan. bin laden said if i had the material, then how i do build it? the pakistani scientist later confirms to u.s. officials that the meeting took place, and that he gave al qaeda leaders a pencil drawing of a crude nuclear bomb design. just one month after that meeting in kandahar, september 11th, 2001.
new effort instead. that is one of my most vivid memories. he said to me we re behind the 8 ball. and the reason he said that, which i didn t know why what he meant at that precise moment is we had information about this meeting with the pakistan scientist and bin laden before 9/11. november 2001. mill let larson and tenet at the direction of president george bush are dispatched to pakistan to confront pakistan s president pervez musharraf about the fireside chat that turned up in u.s. intelligence reports the possibility that pakistani nuclear scientists are assisting al qaeda in pursuing a nuclear bomb. president musharraf s initial reaction was men in caves can t do this incredulity, which we expected. it s the same incredulity we all felt. tenet and larson implore president musharraf to inventory
protect the country. and to defend the world from grave danger. but the dramatic action the bush administration takes is to invade iraq, which at the time has no active nuclear program or weapons of mass destruction or any connection to al qaeda. meanwhile, the real work of stopping the real threat of nuclear terrorism proceeds almost frantically with no public attention at all. rolf larson combines an agency. find out if al qaeda has a bomb, if the next attack could be nuclear. find out how their efforts to get one can be stopped. in 2003, a smuggler crosses from russia into georgia carrying 170 grams of very pure bomb-grade uranium. mowat-larson and the cia trace its origins back to an old soviet nuclear facility inside russia. three years another smuggler caught with more nuclear
beijing. but after 9/11, just after 9/11, he s drafted permanently by cia director george tenet to lead a new disaster instead. he said ware behind the 8-ball, which i didn t know what he meant at that precise moment, was that we had information about this meeting with pakistan and bin laden before 2001. at the direction of george w. bush are dispatched to pakistan to approach the president about the fireside chat that s turned up in u.s. intelligence reports, the possibility that pakistani nuclear scientists are assisting al-qaeda in pursuing a newman nuclear bomb. his first reaction was men in caves can t do this. tenet and larson order them to inventory all of pakistan s