[FairOpinion]

The Germans again.

I bet we will find some French made stuff too.

[FairOpinion]

ping

[Peach]

Officials have confirmed that a German-flagged ship was carrying parts to build a nuclear bomb from a Persian Gulf country to Libya in October.Which country?

[the invisib1e hand]

the germans don't appear to be interested in playing fair, do they?

[Cicero]

The newspaper cited officials saying the German company which owns the ship, Hamburg-based BBC Chartering and Logistic, had been extremely cooperative with investigators after they were alerted to intelligence that the ship might be carrying the parts.

If true, this somewhat mitigates the offense. I can't imagine a French company caught with the goods being "extremely cooperative."

[demsux]

U.S. and British intelligence agents had learned the ship would be leaving a Persian Gulf state with the parts and an ultimate destination of Libya.

Would the port have been located in Iraq???

[AdamSelene235]

The Germans again.

Is it just me or are the Germans and French attempting to murder Americans by proxy?

[Prodigal Son]

Here's the website of that shipping service:

http://www.bbc-online.de/

[greenwolf]

If we wanted to be mean about it we could have just dropped a hydrogen bomb on Berlin and told the Krauts we'd eliminated the middle man...

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Nice re-write of facts recovered by the Wall Street Journal 8 days ago.

[Godfollow]

I don't think I've ever heard this conspiracy theory spouted before but I bet a lot of people have thought about it. It goes like this... The French, Germans and the Russians have conspired together to diminish the power of the United States though the use of terrorism, i.e. through surrogates.

The reason, not necessarily to over-through the US and supplant it with anther form of government, but to draw down the efficacy of America's power in the world, thereby bringing their stock up a bit as world powers. Why whirled human nature be any different in todays world than at any other time in history.
Why, I'll be OBL is in Russia right now not Iran. Though it would be easy enough to shuttle him around from Russia and Iran and back.

[putupon]

Officials have confirmed that a German-flagged ship was carrying parts to build a nuclear bomb from a Persian Gulf country to Libya in October.

Too bad, Germany. You were that close to being removed from my boycott list (probationary of course).

[LoudRepublicangirl]

I won't judge Germany's role in this latest debacle until I hear more about the facts. However, I am still curious about Germany and France's relationship with Sadam pre-war. The oil for food program violations have been brought up and I am wondering who helped keep Sadam going when the rest of his country was doing without.

[sheik yerbouty]

They need their memories refreshed.

[winker]

Gadhafi stays on a short leash(not to be trusted under any circumstances) Germans go to the wall with no blindfold! Scrap and bury the ship in davey jones locker!

[anymouse]

Schroeder is deeply saddened.

[GretchenEE]

Libya is seeking to fool the world when they say they are ready to / going to dump their nuclear preparations in return for a lifting of US economic sanctions against them. I believe their treachery will be revealed, and before it is too late.

[Lady Heron]

This article does not state that it was German parts that were being shipped, just that a German shipping company was moving the parts, that when asked, went to Italy instead of Libya and let the Americans inspect what was being shipped. You can get mad at Germany when if it is discovered that they were German parts, not just some German shipping company moving crates of goods.

The real question did they know what they were shipping?

[desertcry]

French made, german ship, that's why libya decided to give up it's plan for building nuclear bombs. The libyans thought it was not worth the risk, using french made parts. It was a bait and switch deal that Gaddafi's got, he thought he was going to get german parts shipped via a french ship. HAHAHAH!

[marron]

I would like a lot more information before going too far with my comments. The article leaves out some important information. Where were the parts from, where did the parts ship from, and will that company be prosecuted by their country of origin...

The fact that it was a German ship may or may not mean much, the ships captain certainly knows whats on the manifest but if you are shipping nuclear processing machinery it may or may not be obvious to a seaman what the ultimate purpose of a piece of machinery may be.

The fact that the company, and the German government cooperated with our actions may or may not mean much. They were evidently helpful, but once we had intelligence on that ship, they really couldn't have denied us, we would have seized the ship on the high seas if necessary.

Germany is well known to have aided Saddam's nuclear program prior to the first Gulf War, and people are suspicious that some German companies may have continued to assist the Iraqis after that time, trans-shipping important components by way of the Balkans and other middle men. There were reports of this kind of thing prior to the war, although I haven't heard much since the war. Does this mean it wasn't true, or does it mean we are getting our ducks in a row before confronting the governments involved? I can't answer that, obviously. But the suspicion remains.

If German companies were providing Libya with nuclear technology, it remains to be seen if they are effectively prosecuted. I remember the German nuclear engineer who was given a suspended sentence for his work on Iraq's nuclear program, because it was essentially done with the knowledge of the German government. I wonder if the same thing will happen again here.