9/11 #1 lesson... Do not give the threat a chance to materialize.... 500 tons seems to me more than enough justification to claim stockpiles... Why aren't the Republican pundits jumping on this?
I cannot imagine why the pubbies let the demoncrats have this issue...500 tons is a pile...a big pile....142 weapons yikes....sounds like they could have enriched it given enough time. I hate pubbies for taking illegimate shots from Demons.
Do not give the threat a chance to materialize.... 500 tons seems to me more than enough justification to claim stockpiles... Why aren't the Republican pundits jumping on this?"
I agree - don't let a threat materialize. While we're still STILL focusing on what Saddam had/didn't have, the N. Koreans already have nuke capability, which they've refined while we've been freeing Iraq.
The North Korean threat HAS materialized and Iran isn't far behind. If either of these two foolish nations use a nuke on us, the blame will rightfully be placed at the feet of both Clintax AND Bush. One for appeasing them in 1994 (nod to Jiminy Carter too) and the other for completely doing nothing to stop the nuke threat from 2001-present, even though (unlike Iraq) there's zero doubt of N. Korean nuke capability.
The reason is simple. Yellowcake is not a weapon. Calling
a pile of yellowcake a stockpile of WMDs is like calling a
pile of Hematite a stockpile of assault rifles.
Now, the Iraqi yellowcake was NOT a matter to be ignored.
If my arithmetic is correct, depending on the efficiency
with which it is separated, the efficiency of the weapon
design, 500 tons of yellowcake contains enough U-235 to
make between 100 and 150 simple fission bombs.
The separation of the U-235 from the Natural Uranium is a
difficult task. Indeed, it is the ONLY dificult task
involved when making a simple U-235 bomb.
What the original poster did not mention is that the
500 tons of yellowcake had been inventoried by the IAEA
under UNSCOM. It was reinventoried by the IAEA under
UNMOVIC. It was intact up until the inspectors left
shortly befor the invasion began.
Perhaps the original poster failed to mention this
because NewsMax.com published the blatant lie:
And press reports going back more than a decade
give no indication that weapons inspectors had
any idea the Iraqi dictator had amassed such a
staggering amount of nuke fuel until the U.S.
invaded.
That's when the International Atomic Energy Agency
was finally able to take a full inventory, and
suddenly the 500 ton figure emerged.
Here is a link to a pre-invasion (1997) report that addresses, in part, the quantity of yellowcake which,
as of that time "remains in Iraq, under the control
of the IAEA".
http://www.iraqwatch.org/un/IAEA/s-1997-779-att-1.htm
My arithmetic indicates a total of about 556 tons.
Reading is a powerful tool.
--
FF