'US must expand efforts to track illegal nukes'

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A New York counterterrorism official on Tuesday called for an expanded focus on the various methods terrorists could use to deliver nuclear or radiological weapons into the US, arguing current efforts were too narrow in scope. US officials and agencies are focused on international shipping containers delivering potential weapons, Richard Falkenrath, the New York Police Department's deputy commissioner for counterterrorism, told delegates from 28 countries at a nuclear terrorism conference. "This is the big focus. I don't know why they've gotten so much attention," Falkenrath said at the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism Law Enforcement Conference. "They are important and I am not suggesting to ignore them, but they should not be the focus of attention above and beyond all others as a potential delivery vehicle." Falkenrath said another delivery method could be a truck or van driving into Manhattan because it blends into the background and is easy to acquire.