Neutralize Nuclear Terrorists, not the U.S. Deterrent

Fifty nations’ leaders in Washington will focus today on the suddenly urgent prospect of terrorists getting their hands on so-called “dirty bombs.”

Their nuclear summit was planned before last week’s jihadist attacks in Brussels and the revelation that the perpetrators may have planned to gain access to, and disperse, deadly radioactive materials.

The fact that they could have done so in a number of ways – perhaps by kidnapping a nuclear scientist, getting inside medical facilities or nuclear reactors – means we’re dealing with literally ticking time-bombs.

We can only hope that President Obama and the other summiteers will focus their efforts on trying to devise realistic and effective measures for countering such threats – and dispense with a fool’s errand that has long topped their agenda: ridding the world of nuclear weapons, starting with ours.