u/Butterfliesandlies

What is well-supported historically:
Bin Laden publicly stated multiple times in the late 1990s and early 2000s that obtaining weapons of mass destruction was a religious duty.

Al-Qaeda operatives tried to contact black market sellers and intermediaries connected to former Soviet nuclear material after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

U.S. intelligence later found documents showing interest in:
enriched uranium,
“dirty bombs” (radiological weapons),
and crude nuclear concepts.

Say they succeeded in obtaining a nuke- what happens? Do they use it? And on who? What is the retaliation like?

I was only 6 years old when 9/11 happen so needless to say I don’t remember a whole lot about the overall vibe of the us at the time. I do remember having nightmares of terrorists attack happening at my school, I think this was mainly because my parents watched news heavily. In general was the country very fearful? I know in general no one wanted to fly but idk I’m thinking if something like that happened today I would be scared to go any large building in major cities. How long did it take for a sense of safety to come back?