Kerry: Nuclear Terrorism Is Gravest Threat to U.S.

Nuclear terrorism is the gravest threat the United States faces, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said on Tuesday as he offered a plan to secure atomic arsenals and materials around the world. “The enemy is different and we must think and act anew,” Kerry said in excerpts of remarks prepared for delivery in West Palm Beach, Florida. “We have to do everything we can to stop a nuclear weapon from ever reaching our shore and that mission begins far away.” In the second of three speeches on national security, Kerry is expected to propose a new high-level White House job to oversee efforts to prevent a terrorist attack using nuclear weapons and recommend speeding up a current program to secure nuclear material in the former Soviet Union. “The greatest threat we face today (is) the possibility of al Qaeda or other terrorists getting their hands on a nuclear weapon,” Kerry said. “Osama bin Laden has called obtaining a weapon of mass destruction a ‘sacred duty.”‘ Full Story