Iraq's 'gold' mostly copper

Reuters ^ | August 2, 2003

[sarcasm]

WASHINGTON -- Gold-colored bars seized by US forces in Iraq appear to be melted-down shell casings made mostly of copper, rather than gold, the White House said in a report obtained yesterday.

The US military announced the discovery of truckloads of the gold-colored bars in May.

[ALASKA]

"It's only a model........"

[DPB101]

Didn't anyone pick one of the bars up?

[Eagle Eye]

And all the bundles of cash were counterfeit.

Yeah, right.

[RIGHT IN SEATTLE]

Fu$k Iraq !!!!!!!!!!!!

Islam, the moon cult!!!!!!!!!!

[FreedomPoster]

I doubt they have many folks on hand who have actually moved gold and have a "feel" for the right weight. A Cu/Zn ingot would be pretty heavy to a casual observer.

[joanil]

I would gladly have those Cu/Ng bars! I could make a killing with them at the local ironyard! Sure would beat hauling all those aluminum cat food/pop cans around!

[BushCountry]

This is just silly, it been what months and nobody noticed before this! Once again, it proves the wisdom of an old saying, "All that glitters is not gold."

[NetValue]

Hmmm. If you find "look alike" gold in the vault of the Iraq central bank, it shoud make an inquiring mind wonder, what Swiss bank holds the real Iraq gold?

[Highest Authority]

Excellant point, but maybe it's a french bank. That would explaine plenty!

[The_Media_never_lie]

Didn't anyone pick one of the bars up?

Maybe they didn't because they were hot. The weight should have been a dead give away.

[Thebaddog]

What is the purpose of the deception?

[Howie]

If this is the same batch that was in the flooded lower basement of the Bahgdad Bank, the room was full of Iraquis and journalists and they took turns handling the bars.

They all seemed to be in awe as they hefted the bars. They sure fooled me.

[DPB101]

Looked it up to see how much more gold weighs.

1,200 lbs a cubic foot vs around 500 for brass. These guys must have handled DU and/or other metals. Besides, gold has a luster and a surface feel nothing else has. They should have known.

[ARCADIA]

Who stores brass bars in a bank?

[BluH2o]

Gives new meaning to the term "Fools Gold".

[DPB101]

Darn...I skimmed an article again. That is a good question.Wonder if there were markings on the bars

[e_engineer]

What is the purpose of the deception?

It goes with the rest of Saddam's collection of fake and fraudulent things:

Fraudulent claims on Kuwait
Fake compliance to the gulf war cease fire agreements.
Fake elections where he gets 99.999% of the vote.
Fraudulent list of WMD supplied to UN.
Fake Saddams. (his doubles)

It also fits well with the arab/moslem culture of lies, which begins with a fraudulent religion, and corrupts almost every part of their society. The quran specifically allows moslems to lie to infidels.

On a more practical note, Saddam probably showed this "gold" to visitors from France, Russia, China, North Korea, etc. to convince them of his great wealth and win their continued support. He may have also shown it to his own people to bolster faith in his currency.

Perhaps it was all a lie. A lie so convincing, that it even has freepers wondering where the real gold went, when the real wealth was all spent building palaces and buying off his loyalists with perks.

[StriperSniper]

the real wealth was all spent building palaces

And wasn't nearly everything in them gilded?

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

Something doesn't add up. Why the gilded palaces but fake bars of gold?