Dirty war

Saturday night we watched a BBC made-for-TV movie called "Dirty War," about
the explosion of a dirty bomb in London. The Chief of security in the UK
predicted 2 years ago that a dirty bomb or similar device will be exploded by
Islamic extremists in a major western city within the next few years. This
film was a realistic attempt to show what it would be like if this indeed did
happen. It was very scary!
The action starts with an Islamist in Istanbul, Turkey, filling large lead
canisters with nuclear materials, putting these inside larger cans, and then
filling the cans with olive oil. He then drives to Sofia, Bulgaria, where the
cans labeled as olive oil are transferred to a British lorry, and are driven
to London. They pass customs without a second look (the lead canisters
mask any external radiation).
A young Muslim man in London ostensibly to study, rents a room and a cellar.
He and a friend then receive the shipment of the cans, and put them in the
cellar. The Security police in London hold an exercise to test their
readiness for such a dirty bomb explosion, and while the exercise is
inadequate and doesn't go well, nevertheless the Minister for London makes
very positive and reassuring statements about how well prepared London is,
but we see otherwise.
Because of a security alarm not connected with this situation, a situation
room is set up in London and a Muslim policewoman is included as a translator.
She goes to interview an old Pakistani lady who has called the police because
she saw the cans being delivered at night across the street to the two men who
she suspects are extremists because they criticized her for how she allows her
daughter to dress. The head of the Islamist cells, each one separate from the
other, meets with the student, and gives him instructions. But, now the
police are watching them and so they film the encounter and identify the man
as a potentially dangerous terrorist.
The next day another pair of Muslims who fly in specially are detailed to
transfer the radioactive material to the bombs. The terrorist spills some of
the radioactive material so he cannot make more than two bombs. These are
transferred to rented white vans and then the next morning the two pairs of
terrorists drive off with the bombs. Meanwhile the student and his mate and
the head of the cells are arrested, but it is too late, while they are being
interrogated one of the vans is exploded outside Liverpool Street station in
the center of London. Hundreds are killed and a radioactive cloud hangs over
London. The police try to restrain the crowds inside the contaminated area so
that they can pass through decontamination, but the numbers are overwhelming,
and they just break through the cordon, spreading the contamination.
The police trace the second van through CCTV and manage to shoot the two
terrorists before they can detonate the second bomb. Finally an area of
central London is declared off-limits for 30 years! People continue to die
from exposure to radioactive materials.
The really scary thing about this docudrama is that it all seems quite
feasible, and indeed was based on known facts. Expect it at a city near you
soon.