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Good article, but the president didn't mention "Niger" in his State of the Union Address. He said Africa:

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

Africa has other countries with significant Uranium mining:

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World Uranium Mining

Nuclear Issues Briefing Paper 41

June 2003

Over half of the world's production of uranium from mines is in Canada and Australia.
An increasing proportion is produced by in situ leaching.
After a decade of falling mine production to 1993, output has generally risen, and the rising trend continued in 2000 and 2001.

Canada produces the largest share of uranium from mines (32% of world supply), followed by Australia (19%).

Production from mines (tonnes U)

country	2001	2002

Canada	12520	11604
Australia	7756	6888
Niger	2920	3075
Russia (est)	2500	2900
Kazakhstan	2050	2800
Namibia	2239	2333
Uzbekistan	1962	1860
USA	1011	919
South Africa	873	824
Ukraine (est)	750	800
China (est)	655	730
Czech Republic	456	465
India (est)	230	230
Brazil	58	270
Romania	85	90
Spain	30	37
France	195	20
others	76	252
Total world	36 366	36 097
	(42 886 t U₃O₈)	(40 569 t U₃O₈)

WNA Market Report data

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Of note, the "stan" countries in the former USSR also have major Uranium production.

Great find.

There's far more credible intelligence on Saddam's attempts to aquire uranium and the public will know for a VERY long time.

I also need to correct a previous post : I think it might have been El Bodyboy who broke the story on the receipt forgery and DeVillain just ran with it.

Some Namibia facts:

Economy: The economy is heavily dependent on the extraction and processing of minerals for export. Mining accounts for 20% of GDP. Namibia is the fourth-largest exporter of nonfuel minerals in Africa and the world's fifth-largest producer of uranium. Rich alluvial diamond deposits make Namibia a primary source for gem-quality diamonds. Namibia also produces large quantities of lead, zinc, tin, silver, and tungsten. About half of the population depends on agriculture (largely subsistence agriculture) for its livelihood. Namibia must import some of its food. Although per capita GDP is five times the per capita GDP of Africa's poorest countries, the majority of Namibia's people live in pronounced poverty because of large-scale unemployment, the great inequality of income distribution, and the large amount of wealth going to foreigners. The Namibian economy has close links to South Africa. Agreement has been reached on the privatization of several more enterprises in coming years, which should stimulate long-run foreign investment.

Unemployment:30% to 40%, including underemployment (Tell Willie Green)

Religons: Christian 80% to 90% (Lutheran 50% at least), indigenous beliefs 10% to 20%

International Disputes: None

From CIA - The World Fact Book