Is this the smoking gun?

News Story on ABC | Me

[UnChained]

The same day the UN inspectors made their "no smoking gun" comment, ABC aired a sidebar about some Aluminum tubes that Bush had listed as evidence of Iraq doeing nuclear weapons development.

The inspectors found the tubes with fins attached and said that the US was wrong. The tubes were for conventional weapons developemnt only.

The problem I had with the whole story was the fact that the tubes in question were described as "high purity Aluminum" Pure aluminum has a very low tensile strength. Tensile strength should generally be as high as possible for a rocket body. High purity Aluminum is more expensive than alloys with many times the strength of hyperpure Aluminum.

I believe that these tubes with the fins welded on are an indication of Iraq's deceptiveness to the UN inspectors.

That's a smoking gun IMHO.

Comments?

[Support Free Republic]

To Freep or not to Freep

Click The Logo To Donate

[wdkeller]

The U.N. wouldn't know a smoking gun if they were shot in the but with it.

[bigfootbob]

1000 ounce flying beer can, perhaps?

[Solamente]

If that's a fact, you may want to forward your statement to every newspaper that accepts letters to the editor.

[txhurl]

Bump for further freeper analysis.

[UnChained]

I was hoping that some of the weapons experts type here could say whether I'm on target here. I doubt that Saddam'd guys were really planning the make Rokkects out of those tubes. If we got or hands on one of those assemblies to analyze we'd find that they are a deliberate act of deception.

That would be grounds for the forced regime change.

[Ragirl]

Uhmmmmm....bump to the top

[txhurl]

You got a good weaponry ping list you can sic on this?

[Argus]

At the time of the Gulf War, the Iraqis already had everything they needed to make uranium bombs of the Hiroshima type - crude but effective. I forget the details, but this was amply established at the time, and there's no reason to think they haven't got them by now.

[Lessismore]

The "high-purity aluminum" bit is bogus. There was a news story posted months ago that gave the specific type of aluminum alloy. It is a high-strength alloy, but it is widely available and used for such purposes as making bicycle frames.

[punster]

The high purity aluminum is used in the tubes for irradiating uranium to make plutonium. Alloying agents or impurities will tend to absorb neutrons, making the production of plutonium less efficient.

[piasa]

When used in aircraft, high-purity aluminum is generally "alclad." A thin coating of the pure stuff over sheets of other alloys. I'm not sure if the tubing in question is pure or clad.

Other than that it is used in other industries for reflectors and in making electronic items, amid other things.

[Howlin]

No, I don't have the weaponry one....I'll try to figure out who does.

[UnChained]

The "high-purity aluminum" bit is bogus.

What was it about the tubes that Iraq bought that made Bush's people think they were for nuclear weapons?

I thought that high purity aluminum wouldn't become radiactive when exposed to radiation and that made that side of the story credible to me.

[Howlin]

Let's try these two.

[UnChained]

When used in aircraft, high-purity aluminum is generally "alclad." A thin coating of the pure stuff over sheets of other alloys

Pure aluminum has good anticorrosive properties that could make it a good choice for long term environmental exposure.

That doesn't make much sense for a small rocket though.

[txhurl]

Ideas?

[piasa]

Since that report conflicts with every other report, which says the material in the form it was ordered is a custom made item and uncommon, it sounds more like your lone report is suspect. Perhaps you can find it and post it when you come by it again. From what other reports state, these were not common or standardized round tubes "used in bicycle construction," as in lowly Schwinn mountain bikes. If they were, they wouldn't need to be custom made but would instead be in stock so as to be ready to ship to manufacturers worldwide on a moment's notice. Their composition is not the only factor which makes them suspicious- it is their uncoomon specifications. As I understand it, these were tapered, IOW, their diameter varies, something hardly neccessary in making common kid's bikes, which generally use tubing of consistent diameter.

Since it is obvious that tubing which can be camouflaged as a missile or bomb fuselage is way too large for making bikes, tapered or not, the writer of your report is being misleading, or you misunderstood his meaning. The physical material may be the same as used in other industries, but Iraq didn't order raw material- it ordered material to rigid specifications. That narrows its uses down considerably, and eliminates harmles bicycles as a possiblity use. So once again, I point out that it's not just composition that is important here, it is shape and size and quantity. If I order saltpeter, charcoal and sulphur, and pipes, endcaps, wire, timers, nails, diesel fuel and nitrogen fertilizer, for example, people can assume I am going to make fishing weights, aquarium filters and molasses, or go into farming, carpentry, plumbing or other harmless things. That's possible, but incredibly naive, particularly if I have a long and proven reputation for making and using weapons and explosives, terrorizing opponents, and funding palestinian terrorist organizations and people like Abu Nidal.

[piasa]

The tubes are consistent with use in making centrifuges. Centrifuges of the sort needed to refine heavy metals into weapons grade materials.

Maybe Southhack can answer your questions.