flicts. Since the international struggle against Islamist terrorism is not internal,
those provisions do not formally apply, but they are commonly accepted as basic
standards for humane treatment.
develop a common coalition approach toward the detention and
humane treatment of captured terrorists. New principles might draw
upon Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions on the law of armed con-
flict. That article was specifically designed for those cases in which
the usual laws of war did not apply. Its minimum standards are gen-
erally accepted throughout the world as customary international law.
The greatest danger of another catastrophic attack in the United States will
materialize if the world's most dangerous terrorists acquire the world's most
dangerous weapons. As we note in chapter 2, al Qaeda has tried to acquire or
make nuclear weapons for at least ten years. In chapter 4, we mentioned offi-
cials worriedly discussing, in 1998, reports that Bin Ladin's associates thought
their leader was intent on carrying out a "Hiroshima."
sidered the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction to be a "religious obli-
gation." He warned that al Qaeda "continues to pursue its strategic goal of
obtaining a nuclear capability."Tenet added that "more than two dozen other
terrorist groups are pursuing CBRN [chemical, biological, radiological, and
nuclear] materials."
or plutonium about the size of a grapefruit or an orange, together with com-
mercially available material, could fashion a nuclear device that would fit in a
van like the one Ramzi Yousef parked in the garage of the World Trade Cen-
ter in 1993. Such a bomb would level Lower Manhattan.
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).We recommend sev-
eral initiatives in this area.
trade and the nuclear smuggling networks of Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan have
revealed that the spread of nuclear weapons is a problem of global dimensions.
Attempts to deal with Iran's nuclear program are still underway.Therefore, the