Iran + Al Qaeda = Nuclear Attack on America?

According to Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin (a premium intelligence newsletter that's part of WorldNetDaily), Iran plans to respond to any American attack on its nuclear facilities by deploying Al Qaeda sleeper agents to detonate Soviet-era suitcase-size nuclear devices (purchased on the black market) in American cities. This information, as reported by G2 contributor Paul Williams (himself the author of a book on the same topic), comes from Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir, who heard it directly from an Egyptian engineer who worked on nuclear tests for Osama Bin Laden.

Is this credible? If so, it's mighty scary stuff, especially since Mir claims that the sleeper agents and nukes are already in America, with the agents simply waiting for orders.

I'm not quite sure, though, that I buy the theory. Certainly the intention exists - Iran and Al Qaeda would nuke America in a heartbeat if they had the capability. But this also pokes a great hole in Mir's claims, because if the weapons have already been smuggled into our cities, then why wait? If Iran wants to defeat the U.S. (and no question, it does), then it would make full sense to attack first, before America could strike back, rather than responding only after absorbing a hit.

Williams has responded to this in the past by claiming that Al Qaeda is simply patient, as Bin Laden prefers to wait so he can attack on meaningful dates. But even if that's true, every new day increases the possibility of any plot being discovered, which strongly points against waiting. Indeed, Williams has been advocating his theory for several years, which is more than enough time for Bin Laden's favored dates to occur, and yet nothing happened.

So no, I don't believe that suitcase nukes have already been deployed to America. Admittedly I can't declare this with full certainty, but the evidence certainly seems to point against it. Nevertheless, we absolutely shouldn't get comfortable, as the terrorists are no doubt trying, and if Iran succeeds in creating nuclear weapons themselves, the risk will increase dramatically. (I think, in fact, that Iran could be spreading the sleeper agent rumors as misinformation, to try and deter the U.S. from attacking while the Mullahs are still pre-nuclear and vulnerable.)

Our best course of action, then, remains as it has been: pursue and defeat all terrorists, and stop Iran's nuclear program ASAP. They're moving full speed ahead, and we're the ones who can't afford to be patient.