Posted on 09/14/2002 9:02:19 PM PDT by Bad~Rodeo
Officials, nuclear experts say aluminum traced to Jordan may be linked to Iraqi atomic weapons program A shipment of specially configured aluminum tubing sent from China to Jordan may have been destined for Iraq's atomic weapons program, an international nuclear official said Friday.
The shipment was found sometime in the last 14 months, said the official, who works for an international organization in Western Europe, and who demanded anonymity.
Washington has charged that consignments of thousands of pieces of such tubing have been intercepted on their way to Iraq over the same period, and that the configuration of the tubes led its experts to believe they were meant for Iraq's centrifuge program. But U.S. officials have not provided details or say what about the tubing made them suspicious. Nor has the administration offered any details on the origin or number of any attempted shipments.
The nuclear official said the tubing intercepted in Jordan fits a profile that would raise alarm bells in Washington, but he said it was not clear if U.S. officials were referring specifically to the shipment when they made their accusations.
"The end user was never officially identified," the official told The Associated Press. "But this may be one of the shipments they are referring to."
Administration officials charged earlier this week that Iraq was attempting to circumvent U.N. sanctions and smuggle in aluminum tubes for use as centrifuge components.
On Thursday, U.S. President George W. Bush touched on the issue in a speech to the United Nations warning that Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction posed a threat to the world. While asking for international support, he suggested the United States be prepared to confront Iraq alone.
A U.S.-based expert with close ties to the Bush administration who worked with the International Atomic Energy Agency during the 1990s to monitor Iraq's nuclear arms program, told the AP he had not heard of the China to Jordan shipment.
But he said U.S. officials have told him of at least two attempts by Iraq to secure such tubing over the past 14 months.
In one instance, Washington suspected the parts were meant for use as rotors for centrifuges that spin gaseous uranium and separate the heavier isotopes needed in nuclear warheads.
In the other, more recent shipment, the aluminum parts intercepted appeared to be meant for use as the outer casing of such centrifuges, said the expert, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.
Before the 1991 U.S.-led attack on Iraq, plans by Baghdad called for 1,000 machines designed to produce 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of enriched uranium annually, half of what it would take to create a nuclear bomb. U.N. inspectors subsequently supervised the destruction of centrifuge components as part of international attempts to end Iraq's nuclear weapons program.
Tim Brown of the nonprofit group Global Security.org, based in Alexandria, Virginia, said that if the tubes were meant as casings they would hold the centrifuges together at speeds of 1,000 revolutions per minute. He described the appearance of the centrifuges themselves as similar to "spinning Coke cans ... the size of two wastepaper baskets."
But Garry B. Dillon, part of the IAEA Iraq nuclear inspection team from 1993 to 1998 — including a stint as head of the team — said the lack of information coming from the U.S. administration made it difficult to independently determine the significance of the alleged Iraqi attempts.
"Aluminum tubes come in all shapes and forms, from crutches to centrifuge" parts he said in a phone interview from London. "Nobody has enough information to decide what was the objective of this piping."
If China sold the finished product, the complete technology, the expertise, or a product that wasn't dual use, then they would be liable for violating the UN embargo and they could very well make themselves an economic or military target for those who are enforcing the UN embargo, namely the US and Britain. China couldn't deny that they knew what Iraq was going to do with the items.
By selling items which have a dual use, however unlikely the 'legal' use is, they have enough deniability to escape being held responsible. Iraq can take full responsibility for using the product- not in the legal way- and the sellers can still make money selling things that are just a little too questionable for an honest company or country to sell.
The radio isotopes could be traced to China.
Stay Safe Piasa !
Maybe it's the processing that creates the fingerprint?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.