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Let Them Eat Yellowcake - Reflections On A Failed Political Smear
PipeLineNews.org ^ | July 15, 2003 | William A. Mayer

Posted on 07/15/2003 10:58:45 AM PDT by johnqueuepublic

Let Them Eat Yellowcake - Reflections On A Failed Political Smear

By William A. Mayer

A consequence of the rush to judgment by much of the media over the now controversial juxtaposing of the trip-wire terms "Iraq", "yellowcake" and "Niger" in the Bush administration's 2003 State of the Union address, is the fact that in their haste to crucify George W. Bush on a cross of uranium, they may well have made both a major tactical as well as a factual blunder.

That blunder is two-fold.

1. They have either misread or more likely intentionally misinterpreted CIA Director Tenet’s July 11, 2003 statement as having made the conclusion that the Niger – Iraq fissile material transfer did not take place.

2. They have ignored the very clear facts surrounding the case, facts which – far from supporting any assertion that it was the intention of the Bush administration to stampede a nation into war – reveal a very long, and independently verifiable, Iraqi pattern of seeking out and obtaining the most critical nuclear bomb making component – uranium - either on the open market or clandestinely from underground sources for nearly a quarter-of-a-century.

Confidential sources close to the intelligence community have confirmed to us that the Tenet clarification in no way rules out the possibility that the Iraqi-Niger transaction took place. All that it states is that the high standards upon which such a determination should have been made were not sufficient for it to have been included in a speech as important as the State of the Union address.

In short the supposition cannot currently be verified.

Tenet’s main point is unambiguously clear; it was the sense of the Intelligence Community [IC] – as set out in a 90-page National Intelligence Estimate report - that Iraq was indeed quickly jump-starting its nuclear weapons program:

“…most agencies of the Intelligence Community judged that Iraq was reconstituting its nuclear weapons program…”

It is this very “reconstitution” process which was so troubling to the Bush administration and appears to have been one of the primary motive forces behind the Iraq liberation operation. Noteworthy also is the clear impression that this “sense of the IC” rested not at all on an alleged uranium deal between Saddam and an impoverished African nation.

The decision to go to war would have been the same irrespective of this little bit of unsubstantiated intelligence.

It was not necessary for the administration to quote from allegedly forged British documents or in any way assemble a case built on deception to prove Iraq’s long history of seeking uranium wherever it was available.

As is the case in many of these “controversies” the public record is already replete with information that can be quite compelling. In the present case the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] catalogued at least 8 instances wherein fissile material was imported into Iraq.

The following from: Fact Sheet: Iraq’s Nuclear Weapon Programme – International Atomic Energy Agency, 25 April 2002

1. Imported 4,006 kg of natural uranium and 6,005 kg of depleted uranium (DU) from Italy in 1979

2. Imported 1,767 kg low enriched uranium (LEU) from Italy in 1982

3. Imported almost 50 kg of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Russia and France

4. Procured 429 drums containing 138,098 kg yellowcake from Portugal in 1980

5. Procured 487 drums containing 148,348 kg yellowcake from Portugal in 1982

6. Procured 432 drums containing 137,435 kg of yellowcake from Niger in 1981

7. Procured 426 drums containing 139,409 kg of yellowcake from Niger in 1982

8. Imported 24,260 kg of uranium dioxide from Brazil between 1981-82

What was Saddam doing with 550 tons of bomb making material, approximately 250 tons of which had been obtained from the very country mentioned in the President's State of the Union Address?

The answer lies within the same report; which details Saddam's successful efforts in enriching this treasure trove of contraband, with the obvious intent of producing a working nuclear device, the ultimate WMD.

  • Produced 109 tonnes of uranium in 168 tonnes of yellowcake at Al Qaim uranium recovery plant, which was constructed between 1982-84

  • Produced 420 drums containing 99,457 kg uranium dioxide at Al Jesira uranium conversion facility

  • Produced UF6 at Rashdiya Engineering and Design Centre

  • Processed uranium dioxide to produce UF4, uranium metal and UF6 at Tuwaitha Chemical Laboratories

  • Processed UO2 and yellowcake to produce UO2, U3O8, UO3, UO4, UF4, and uranium metal at Tuwaitha Experimental Research Laboratory for Fuel Fabrication

  • Processed UO2 to produce UCl4 at Tuwaitha Chemical Engineering Research laboratories

To any but the most dull - or more likely, ideologically blinded, partisan - the fact that Niger and Saddam had an ongoing nuclear arrangement spanning over 20 years should have been a red flag, cautioning restraint in any criticism of what Mr. Bush said in his national address.

That such criticism would come from Joseph C. Wilson, an individual [former acting ambassador to Iraq and the man who put together Clinton’s hysteric, $42+ million 1998 Great White Father tour of Africa] with an apparent ideological axe to grind [what diplomat tries to embarrass his president by crafting Op-Ed pieces in the New York Times?] is in no way surprising.

On March 3, 2003 this “career diplomat” wrote the following in an article for The Nation magazine, a lefty wet-dream periodical:

“Then what's the point of this new American imperialism? The neoconservatives with a stranglehold on the foreign policy of the Republican Party, a party that traditionally eschewed foreign military adventures, want to go beyond expanding US global influence to force revolutionary change on the region. American preeminence in the Gulf is necessary but not sufficient for the hawks. Nothing short of conquest, occupation and imposition of handpicked leaders on a vanquished population will suffice. Iraq is the linchpin for this broader assault on the region. The new imperialists will not rest until governments that ape our worldview are implanted throughout the region, a breathtakingly ambitious undertaking, smacking of hubris in the extreme.”

Intemperate language and barely suppressed hostility from an obviously left-biased political operative.

Mr. Wilson is now affiliated with a pro-Palestinian, DC based think tank - again hardly the profile one would expect of one who has dedicated his life to the deft art of international political negotiation.

The audacity of the press to once again engage in a seemingly vain attempt to create a smoking gun to grant the mantle of legitimacy to the cacophonous whining of the "stolen" election crowd is somewhat surprising.

Having failed in the, half-dozen or so, of their most recent efforts has neither decreased their lusty embrace of anything even remotely anti-Bush, nor has it in any way damaged the credibility and historically high approval ratings of the man who sends them into paroxysms of uncontrollable hate.

It smacks of a terrible desperation on their part and is a wondrous and beautiful thing to behold!


©2003 PipeLineMedia, all rights reserved.



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: africa; bush; bushdoctrineunfold; iraq; josephcwilson; left; media; niger; nigergatescam; nuclear; uranium; warlist; yellowcake
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To: arkfreepdom
I missed F & F this am. I hope she nailed Baghdad Bob Graham. He is so dull witted,he sounds like he is still under anesthesia from heart surgery.
21 posted on 07/15/2003 11:22:17 AM PDT by samantha (Don't panic, the adults are in charge.)
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To: RobFromGa
I agree that this is a good article, but at least one careless mistake: Bush said "Africa" not "Niger" in SOTU.

Perhaps two mistakes. I don't believe that W said "yellowcake" either. I'll have to look that up to be 100% sure.

22 posted on 07/15/2003 11:22:39 AM PDT by Bob
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To: johnqueuepublic
What struck me most about Mr. Mayer's article was this ...

To any but the most dull - or more likely, ideologically blinded, partisan - the fact that Niger and Saddam had an ongoing nuclear arrangement spanning over 20 years should have been a red flag, cautioning restraint in any criticism of what Mr. Bush said in his national address.


Precisely. In the race to save the failing socialist agenda, facts are neither needed or desired. What doesn't exist in fact, can be created as a believable work of fiction.

It all comes down to power - who has it and who is desperate to get it back.

And the "who" which don'tt have it are perfectly content and more than willing to do anything including drag this nation down should serve as a sharp contrast to those with eyes & not afraid to see for themselves.
23 posted on 07/15/2003 11:23:42 AM PDT by mgc1122
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To: johnqueuepublic

IF they want to.

That's a mighty big IF.

24 posted on 07/15/2003 11:23:52 AM PDT by Madcelt (Tis better to starve free,than live a fat slave- Aesop)
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To: johnqueuepublic
I have seen Graham misquote Bush on TV.Pathetic.
25 posted on 07/15/2003 11:26:48 AM PDT by MEG33
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To: johnqueuepublic
thanks for bring this to us.
26 posted on 07/15/2003 11:27:34 AM PDT by Iowa Granny (Well behaved women seldom make history)
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To: Miss Marple; Utah Girl; Howlin
take a look at this
27 posted on 07/15/2003 11:28:36 AM PDT by Iowa Granny (Well behaved women seldom make history)
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To: johnqueuepublic
Not pre-stretched. You want them to think they have more rope than what they really have. This way they can "bounce" a little after they land.
28 posted on 07/15/2003 11:28:36 AM PDT by Madcelt (Tis better to starve free,than live a fat slave- Aesop)
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To: mgc1122
Thank you very much, sir, will pass it along.
29 posted on 07/15/2003 11:30:37 AM PDT by johnqueuepublic
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To: Iowa Granny
All the way from Io-Way!

thanks, I'm just the messenger, so to speak.
30 posted on 07/15/2003 11:31:56 AM PDT by johnqueuepublic
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To: Madcelt
Oh you are a cruel one, aint ya?
31 posted on 07/15/2003 11:32:28 AM PDT by johnqueuepublic
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To: johnqueuepublic

Holy Crap!!

You mean that the DemocRATs are making all of this up!? That they're inventing a scandal out of whole cloth to damage the credibility of the United States in order to hurt a Republican President!? Say it isn't so

32 posted on 07/15/2003 11:33:28 AM PDT by Spiff (Liberalism is a mental illness - a precursor disease to terminal Socialism.)
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To: samantha
My daughter, non-political person of 23, was watching this morning.

All she had to say was, "Why does that guy think he is even remotely qualified to be president?"

33 posted on 07/15/2003 11:35:05 AM PDT by Miss Marple
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To: Bob
Here is the one sentence in Bush's SOTU speech, referring to Iraq's seeking uranium from Africa:

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

And here is the section of the speech dealing with Iraq.
This should be reprinted on the front pages. Bush gives a lot of good reasons for the war against Saddam, not as the Democrats would have people believe, that we went to war based on that one tiny shred of information.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030128-19.html


"A brutal dictator, with a history of reckless aggression, with ties to terrorism, with great potential wealth, will not be permitted to dominate a vital region and threaten the United States. (Applause.)

Twelve years ago, Saddam Hussein faced the prospect of being the last casualty in a war he had started and lost. To spare himself, he agreed to disarm of all weapons of mass destruction. For the next 12 years, he systematically violated that agreement. He pursued chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, even while inspectors were in his country. Nothing to date has restrained him from his pursuit of these weapons -- not economic sanctions, not isolation from the civilized world, not even cruise missile strikes on his military facilities.

Almost three months ago, the United Nations Security Council gave Saddam Hussein his final chance to disarm. He has shown instead utter contempt for the United Nations, and for the opinion of the world. The 108 U.N. inspectors were sent to conduct -- were not sent to conduct a scavenger hunt for hidden materials across a country the size of California. The job of the inspectors is to verify that Iraq's regime is disarming. It is up to Iraq to show exactly where it is hiding its banned weapons, lay those weapons out for the world to see, and destroy them as directed. Nothing like this has happened.

The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had biological weapons sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax -- enough doses to kill several million people. He hasn't accounted for that material. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed it.

The United Nations concluded that Saddam Hussein had materials sufficient to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin -- enough to subject millions of people to death by respiratory failure. He hadn't accounted for that material. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed it.

Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent. In such quantities, these chemical agents could also kill untold thousands. He's not accounted for these materials. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

U.S. intelligence indicates that Saddam Hussein had upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents. Inspectors recently turned up 16 of them -- despite Iraq's recent declaration denying their existence. Saddam Hussein has not accounted for the remaining 29,984 of these prohibited munitions. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

From three Iraqi defectors we know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several mobile biological weapons labs. These are designed to produce germ warfare agents, and can be moved from place to a place to evade inspectors. Saddam Hussein has not disclosed these facilities. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in the 1990s that Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a nuclear weapon and was working on five different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb. The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production. Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities. He clearly has much to hide.

The dictator of Iraq is not disarming. To the contrary; he is deceiving. From intelligence sources we know, for instance, that thousands of Iraqi security personnel are at work hiding documents and materials from the U.N. inspectors, sanitizing inspection sites and monitoring the inspectors themselves. Iraqi officials accompany the inspectors in order to intimidate witnesses.

Iraq is blocking U-2 surveillance flights requested by the United Nations. Iraqi intelligence officers are posing as the scientists inspectors are supposed to interview. Real scientists have been coached by Iraqi officials on what to say. Intelligence sources indicate that Saddam Hussein has ordered that scientists who cooperate with U.N. inspectors in disarming Iraq will be killed, along with their families.

Year after year, Saddam Hussein has gone to elaborate lengths, spent enormous sums, taken great risks to build and keep weapons of mass destruction. But why? The only possible explanation, the only possible use he could have for those weapons, is to dominate, intimidate, or attack.

With nuclear arms or a full arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, Saddam Hussein could resume his ambitions of conquest in the Middle East and create deadly havoc in that region. And this Congress and the America people must recognize another threat. Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda. Secretly, and without fingerprints, he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own.

Before September the 11th, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents, lethal viruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained. Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons and other plans -- this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known. We will do everything in our power to make sure that that day never comes. (Applause.)

Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option. (Applause.)

The dictator who is assembling the world's most dangerous weapons has already used them on whole villages -- leaving thousands of his own citizens dead, blind, or disfigured. Iraqi refugees tell us how forced confessions are obtained -- by torturing children while their parents are made to watch. International human rights groups have catalogued other methods used in the torture chambers of Iraq: electric shock, burning with hot irons, dripping acid on the skin, mutilation with electric drills, cutting out tongues, and rape. If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning. (Applause.)

And tonight I have a message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq: Your enemy is not surrounding your country -- your enemy is ruling your country. (Applause.) And the day he and his regime are removed from power will be the day of your liberation. (Applause.)

The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. America will not accept a serious and mounting threat to our country, and our friends and our allies. The United States will ask the U.N. Security Council to convene on February the 5th to consider the facts of Iraq's ongoing defiance of the world. Secretary of State Powell will present information and intelligence about Iraqi's legal -- Iraq's illegal weapons programs, its attempt to hide those weapons from inspectors, and its links to terrorist groups.

We will consult. But let there be no misunderstanding: If Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm, for the safety of our people and for the peace of the world, we will lead a coalition to disarm him. (Applause.) "

34 posted on 07/15/2003 11:35:47 AM PDT by FairOpinion
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To: johnqueuepublic
This is a great find! I have bookmarked it and will ping those who should know about it.

Thank you!
35 posted on 07/15/2003 11:40:20 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (Please invest 17 cents a day/5$ per month in Free Republic as a monthly supporter.)
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To: johnqueuepublic
No. It would just be a "learning experience". that is IF they get up.
36 posted on 07/15/2003 11:40:24 AM PDT by Madcelt (Tis better to starve free,than live a fat slave- Aesop)
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To: Spiff
I, too am deeply shocked, whooda thunk it?

37 posted on 07/15/2003 11:42:59 AM PDT by johnqueuepublic
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To: johnqueuepublic
All that remains is the desire to discern the truth...

Ahhh, you see, there's the rub.
38 posted on 07/15/2003 11:43:24 AM PDT by baseballmom
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To: Grampa Dave
Grampa, thanks!
39 posted on 07/15/2003 11:44:01 AM PDT by johnqueuepublic
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To: baseballmom
Ah yes the rub!!!

Go NL, lol.
40 posted on 07/15/2003 11:44:35 AM PDT by johnqueuepublic
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