In an interview with Osama bin Laden on November 8, 2001, Pakistani journalist Hamid “Mir asked bin Laden to comment on reports that he had tried to acquire nuclear and chemical weapons, to which the al-Qaeda leader replied: ‘I wish to declare that if America used chemical or nuclear weapons against us, then we may retort with chemical and nuclear weapons. We have the weapons as deterrent.’ Mir asked, ‘Where did you get these weapons from?’ Bin Laden responded coyly: ‘Go to the next question.’ ”
– Peter Bergen, The Longest War, Pages 214-215