OK, Barack Obama, a “suitcase bomb” doesn’t actually fit in a suitcase. It’s a figure of speech.
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No it's not. There probably aren't any nuclear bombs that fit in a suitcase, but not for lack of trying. Both the US and the USSR built miniaturized weapons that were small enough to fit in (very) large backpacks. The US is rumored to have built a true suitcase bomb; though the veracity of this is debatable. You need nearly a critical mass of plutonium for a bomb and that's already fairly large relative to the size of suitcases.
However, if you don't need a real bomb, but only something that (weakly) blows itself up before full ignition yet spreads a great deal of lethal radiation around, that would be relatively easily achievable in a suitcase or even briefcase size.
At any rate, experts talk about "suitcase bombs" because theoretical ones might fit in a suitcase and actual ones almost will. It's not a figure of speech.
Posted by Keith M Ellis on Sat 27 Sep 2008 at 10:18 AM