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American Morning
38 Soviet-Era Missiles Reportedly Missing
Aired December 08, 2003 - 08:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: At least 38 Soviet era missiles modified to carry radioactive material reportedly are missing. That is according to the "Washington Post." These rockets, potential dirty bombs, are small, are thin and easy to conceal, and they're being sold on the black market to terrorists.
Joining us this morning from Washington with more is Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Joby Warrick of the "Washington Post."
Good morning.
Nice to see you, Joby.
Thanks for joining us.
JOBY WARRICK, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Good morning.
O'BRIEN: You talk about these Alazan bombs. Explain to me exactly what these missiles' original use was for and how do you know that theyve actually, are falling into the hands of terrorists?
WARRICK: Well, these are small rockets that were actually not meant to be weapons at all. They were originally weather rockets. The Soviets actually built them to fire them into storm clouds to prevent hail from falling. They didn't work very well for that purpose, but the Soviets built hundreds of these things and they ended up throughout the old Soviet Union in places like the Balkans and the Caucuses, where, after the Soviet Union fell apart, these things fell into some -- the hands of some rather unsavory people, some guerrilla groups and some ethnic separatists and others.
And today these radioactive rockets are in the hands of a very small enclave known as Transnistria. It's part of the old Soviet Moldova and it's a dangerous place that basically is run by a criminal element that likes to sell these kinds of weapons to black market dealers around the world.
O'BRIEN: We talked about the number 38 of them.
Does anyone have a concrete sense of how many of them are actually in hands and how many of them are just completely unaccounted for?
WARRICK: The 38 figure comes from documents that we've obtained from some Transnistrian sources. Military records show there were 24 rockets with warheads attached and another 14 warheads that were available for use. And the Transnistrian Army at the time had concerns about these weapons because they were very radioactive and some of the troops were actually getting radioactive exposure from these things.
Since then we don't know what's happened to them. The last known location was in this little enclave in the mid-'90s, and after that time there's been no record, no information available of what came of them.
O'BRIEN: Why do you think that these are the perfect sort of weapon to be a dirty bomb as opposed to any other sort of warhead?
WARRICK: OK, a dirty bomb is any kind of device that can release radiation deliberately in a terrorist attack. Usually we think of maybe a car bomb or just some kind of explosive package that has radioactive material in it. But with these things, they have their own delivery system. You can fire them from several miles away. They're not very accurate, but you can lob one of these into the heart of a city and cause potentially extensive radioactive contamination and, of course, panic and fear.
O'BRIEN: And, in fact, as you write about, they're actually notoriously inaccurate.
So what is the sense of who has their hands on these bombs at this point?
WARRICK: Well, U.S. officials wish they knew. Right now there's not much we can do to even find out where these things are. The Russians have some influence with this enclave. There is the potential that the U.S. administration could use the Russians to help try to get some information about these things, to begin an investigation. But the truth is there are many things like this, not just the Alazans, but all kinds of other radioactive sources that are loose in that part of the world, and even in this country, and any of them could be potentially used in a dirty bomb.
O'BRIEN: What have the experts told you about how likely it is that a dirty bomb will explode somewhere within the United States soon?
WARRICK: Well, the problem with dirty bombs is it's very easy technology. Nuclear weapons are hard. Biological and chemical weapons can be difficult. But these things, anybody can do it. All you need is a conventional explosive and some of this material. In fact, it's so easy that a lot of experts now think it's almost inevitable that it'll happen someplace, somewhere in the world, if not in this country, then perhaps in the Middle East or in Russia or in Europe.
O'BRIEN: Ominous warnings.
Joby Warrick, It's nice to have you.
Thanks for joining us this morning from the "Washington Post."
WARRICK: Thanks, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 8, 2003 - 08:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: At least 38 Soviet era missiles modified to carry radioactive material reportedly are missing. That is according to the "Washington Post." These rockets, potential dirty bombs, are small, are thin and easy to conceal, and they're being sold on the black market to terrorists.
Joining us this morning from Washington with more is Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Joby Warrick of the "Washington Post."
Good morning.
Nice to see you, Joby.
Thanks for joining us.
JOBY WARRICK, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Good morning.
O'BRIEN: You talk about these Alazan bombs. Explain to me exactly what these missiles' original use was for and how do you know that theyve actually, are falling into the hands of terrorists?
WARRICK: Well, these are small rockets that were actually not meant to be weapons at all. They were originally weather rockets. The Soviets actually built them to fire them into storm clouds to prevent hail from falling. They didn't work very well for that purpose, but the Soviets built hundreds of these things and they ended up throughout the old Soviet Union in places like the Balkans and the Caucuses, where, after the Soviet Union fell apart, these things fell into some -- the hands of some rather unsavory people, some guerrilla groups and some ethnic separatists and others.
And today these radioactive rockets are in the hands of a very small enclave known as Transnistria. It's part of the old Soviet Moldova and it's a dangerous place that basically is run by a criminal element that likes to sell these kinds of weapons to black market dealers around the world.
O'BRIEN: We talked about the number 38 of them.
Does anyone have a concrete sense of how many of them are actually in hands and how many of them are just completely unaccounted for?
WARRICK: The 38 figure comes from documents that we've obtained from some Transnistrian sources. Military records show there were 24 rockets with warheads attached and another 14 warheads that were available for use. And the Transnistrian Army at the time had concerns about these weapons because they were very radioactive and some of the troops were actually getting radioactive exposure from these things.
Since then we don't know what's happened to them. The last known location was in this little enclave in the mid-'90s, and after that time there's been no record, no information available of what came of them.
O'BRIEN: Why do you think that these are the perfect sort of weapon to be a dirty bomb as opposed to any other sort of warhead?
WARRICK: OK, a dirty bomb is any kind of device that can release radiation deliberately in a terrorist attack. Usually we think of maybe a car bomb or just some kind of explosive package that has radioactive material in it. But with these things, they have their own delivery system. You can fire them from several miles away. They're not very accurate, but you can lob one of these into the heart of a city and cause potentially extensive radioactive contamination and, of course, panic and fear.
O'BRIEN: And, in fact, as you write about, they're actually notoriously inaccurate.
So what is the sense of who has their hands on these bombs at this point?
WARRICK: Well, U.S. officials wish they knew. Right now there's not much we can do to even find out where these things are. The Russians have some influence with this enclave. There is the potential that the U.S. administration could use the Russians to help try to get some information about these things, to begin an investigation. But the truth is there are many things like this, not just the Alazans, but all kinds of other radioactive sources that are loose in that part of the world, and even in this country, and any of them could be potentially used in a dirty bomb.
O'BRIEN: What have the experts told you about how likely it is that a dirty bomb will explode somewhere within the United States soon?
WARRICK: Well, the problem with dirty bombs is it's very easy technology. Nuclear weapons are hard. Biological and chemical weapons can be difficult. But these things, anybody can do it. All you need is a conventional explosive and some of this material. In fact, it's so easy that a lot of experts now think it's almost inevitable that it'll happen someplace, somewhere in the world, if not in this country, then perhaps in the Middle East or in Russia or in Europe.
O'BRIEN: Ominous warnings.
Joby Warrick, It's nice to have you.
Thanks for joining us this morning from the "Washington Post."
WARRICK: Thanks, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
