ABC News - U.S. officials had once thought there was little chance that terrorists could get their hands on many of the portable surface-to-air missiles that can bring down a commercial jet liner.
But now that calculation is out the window, with officials at a recent secret White House meeting reporting that thousands of them have gone missing in Libya.
"Matching up a terrorist with a shoulder-fired missile, that's our worst nightmare," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D.-California, a member of the Senate's Commerce, Energy and Transportation Committee.
The nightmare has been made real with the discovery in Libya that an estimated 20,000 portable, heat-seeking missiles have gone missing from unguarded Army weapons warehouses.
The missiles, four to six-feet long and Russian-made, can weigh just 55 pounds with launcher. They lock on to the heat generated by the engines of aircraft, can be fired from a vehicle or from a combatant's shoulder, and are accurate and deadly at a range of more than two miles.
The ease with which rebels and other unknown parties have snatched thousands of the missiles has raised alarms that the weapons could end up in the hands of al Qaeda, which is active in Libya.
Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch first warned about the problem after a trip to Libya months ago. He took pictures of pickup truckloads of the missiles being carted off during another trip just a few weeks ago.
Blog author's comments - This could be a real "nightmare." And, a definite terrorism game changer.
There have been reports that units attached to Iran's Revolutionary Guards force have seized many of the surface-to-air missiles from Libya and smuggled them across the border into Sudan.
White House spokesman Jay Carney downplayed concerns about the missing missiles. “We have … worked closely with the Libyan rebel leaders as well as NATO in investigating and dealing with the issue of conventional weapons in Libya … we are exploring every option to expand our support.”
I don't believe the statement from Carney will help the current situation.
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