Well, someone has been reading FR.
While we're exposing dirty laundry, where did Libya get its uranium from?
Its original stash came from Niger. Where did its newer stash come from?
If you notice that Libya borders with Niger, you're cheating. Niger would never engage in contraband uranium sales, Wilson assured us that. Its all been checked out by the IAEA, Wilson assured us that also.
Except that IAEA itself said that they did not monitor Niger at all for three reasons; one, they didn't have legal permission from the government of Niger; two, they didn't have the personnel; and three, its just low-grade yellowcake, after all.
So, where did Libya get its yellowcake?
I'm not sure he has read these FR pages.
1. He did not mention it was Wilson himself who was sent to Niger (on suggestion of his wife) in 1999. Presumably thgat dealt with the Zahawie matter. That is referenced in the Sentate intelligence report. I'd think he would have mentioned that.
2. He mentions Wilson's flippant spin on the al-Sahaf meeting in Algeria. The spin is it was al-Sahaf, alias Baghdad Bob, so how serious could that meeting have been?
But Baghdad Bob's blustering days were a post-2001 gig. What position did Al-Sahaf hold at the time of the meeting? Foreign Minister of Iraq. Nothing to sneeze at I'd say.
"Niger would never engage in contraband uranium sales, Wilson assured us that."
Especially because the mines are controlled by French companies. FRENCH companies.
/sarc
From Niger, of course. Thanks to...
a. French corruption or...
b. French incompetence.
Take your pick...
I have wondered a lot about a possible Libya-Niger connection on uranium, and about the sources and support for Libya's nuke program in general. So little has been written about that - everyone's gone silent on Libya.... WHY? Didn't we bring all kinds of equipment back to Oak Ridge (from Libya's program)?? I guess it's being kept super-classified, but is there nothing that could be released to inform the public about how these clandestine WMD networks operated with IMPUNITY during the Clinton years?
As for the border between Libya and Niger, I've wondered about that too, but when I look up what maps I could find awhile back, there did not seem to be any roads at all for that area (unless they just aren't significant enough to appear on most maps). I don't know whether or not it would be physically possible to truck uranium from Niger's mines into Libya, but in any case Libya presumably got uranium from somewhere...... WHO arranged that and how?
Pieces falling into place like Koffi cup's food for oil skimming and the reason Russia and France didn't want military action against Saddam.