Posted on 07/13/2003 5:14:06 PM PDT by Pokey78
The French secret service is believed to have refused to allow MI6 to give the Americans "credible" intelligence showing that Iraq was trying to buy uranium ore from Niger, US intelligence sources said yesterday.
MI6 had more than one "different and credible" piece of intelligence to show that Iraq was attempting to buy the ore, known as yellowcake, British officials insisted. But it was given to them by at least one and possibly two intelligence services and, under the rules governing cooperation, it could not be shared with anyone else without the originator's permission.
US intelligence sources believe that the most likely source of the MI6 intelligence was the French secret service, the DGSE. Niger is a former French colony and its uranium mines are run by a French company that comes under the control of the French Atomic Energy Commission.
A further factor in the refusal to hand over the information might have been concern that the US administration's willingness to publicise intelligence might lead to sources being inadvertently disclosed.
US sources also point out that the French government was vehemently opposed to the war with Iraq and so suggest that it would have been instinctively against the idea of passing on the intelligence.
British sources yesterday dismissed suggestions of a row between MI6 and the CIA on the issue. However, they admitted being surprised that George Tenet, the CIA director, had apologised to President George W Bush for allowing him to cite the British government and its claim that Saddam had sought to acquire uranium from Africa in his State of the Union speech last October.
The apology follows the International Atomic Energy Authority's dismissal of documents given to it by the CIA, which purported to prove the link, as fakes.
Those documents have been widely identified with last September's British dossier on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, which said Saddam Hussein was trying to buy uranium ore from an unnamed country in Africa.
British officials admitted that the country was Niger but insisted that the intelligence behind it was genuine and had nothing to do with the fake documents. It was convincing and they were sticking with it, the officials said.
They dismissed a report from a former US diplomat who was sent to Niger to investigate the claims and rejected them. "He seems to have asked a few people if it was true and when they said 'no' he accepted it all," one official said. "We see no reason at all to change our assessment."
The fake documents were not behind that assessment and were not seen by MI6 until after they were denounced by the IAEA. If MI6 had seen them earlier, it would have immediately advised the Americans that they were fakes.
There had been a number of reports in America in particular suggesting that the fake documents - which came from another intelligence source - were passed on via MI6, the officials said. But this was not true.
"What they can't accuse MI6 of doing is passing anything on this to the CIA because it didn't have the fake documents and it was not allowed to pass on the intelligence it did have to anyone else."
The sixties is what happened to the Democrats.
The doctors tried to warn them too much acid would cause their offspring to have birth defects.
The doctors were right.
"Does the Administration wish to call witness? Just one Mr Chairman, Double-Agent aka Chief Inspector Closeau."
Well, not exactly. Remember, Bush only said the British intelligence had information indicating that Iraq TRIED to purchase uranium from Africa. He never said the information indicated they succeeded, nor that the Iraqis were making contact with people who were really capble of providing it, or just getting caught in a sting or a scam- in which case the docs would naturally be forged in order to convince the Iraqis the sellers had the goods.
The untold story is that the press seems to always fail to mention that Iraq did succeed in getting yellowcake from various sources before, including Niger, Braziland Portugal. It is this yellowcake which was stashed at that site under "international supervision" of el Baradei's IAEA after the Gulf War:
FEBRUARY 8, 1981 : (NIGER SHIPS YELLOWCAKE TO IRAQ) Niger ships yellowcake to Iraq in two batches. Batch one, which consists of 432 drums and 137,435kg of yellowcake, is received. —Fourth Consolidated Report of the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency under paragraph 16 of Security Council resolution 1051 (1996), S/1997/779, 8 October 1997, pp. 25-26, ; Fact Sheet: Iraq's Nuclear Weapon Programme, IAEA Action Team
1982 : (IRAQ GETS YELLOWCAKE FROM NIGER & PORTUGAL) Iraq obtains 426 drums containing 139,409kg of yellowcake from Niger and 487 drums containing 148,348kg yellowcake from Portugal. —Fact Sheet: Iraq's Nuclear Weapon Programme, IAEA Action Team
MARCH 18, 1982 : (IRAQ GETS YELLOWCAKE FROM NIGER) Iraq receives is second shipment of yellowcake from Niger. It consists of 426 drums containing 139,409kg yellowcake. —Fourth Consolidated Report of the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency under paragraph 16 of Security Council resolution 1051 (1996), S/1997/779, 8 October 1997, pp. 25-26
The interesting thing is, according to el Baradei, Iraq does admit it had an official in Africa apparently at the time of this new disputed attempt to purchase who "might have given rise to the allegations" :
FEBRUARY 1999 : (AN IRAQI OFFICIAL WAS IN NIGER AND OTHER AFRICAN COUNTRIES AT THIS TIME, IRAQ WOULD SAY, IN EARLY 2003- AT LEAST ACCORDING TO UN'S EL BARADEI) The head of the U-N nuclear agency ElBaradei [in 2002] said Baghdad suggested the visit by an unidentified Iraqi official to a number of African countries, including Niger, in February 1999, might have given rise to the allegations. " - Source : VOA News Report, VOA Correspondent ALEX BELIDA, 03/07/03, via http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/2003/iraq-030307-2d189eab.htm.
But Chirac is absolutely irrational about his opposition. I thought it strange at the time. They were way too obvious in their opposition to the US...not the usual sneering criticism and refusal to cooperate, but actively trying to get allies who would oppose us.
Remember when Chirac told the Eastern Europeans to shut up, and threatened them with not being able to join the EU? That was not smooth diplomacy, but rather a ham-handed threat.
I still think that there is something really bad yet to be discovered, and the French are in it up to their eyeballs.
They sure are. I thought it odd Chirac went to such an extreme to protect Saddam. He was literally obsessed with protecting him - knowing he was a butcher.
Maybe they were lovers. Heh heh heh.
Oh, wait... they all show up at A.N. S.W.E.R. rallies and gripe about jooos, don't they?
These days named sources aren't doing much better. . .
The consonance of what would otherwise appear to be so many independent groups is both shocking and instructive.
For my part, I see a pattern being woven by what I call "International Socialism", but the exact identity of the power centers driving it remains somewhat unknown to me. I suspect that tools such as the Clintons, Schroeder, Chirac, Annan, McAuliffe and company (aka the 'Rats), former KGB operatives (but I repeat myself), ad nauseum, are beholden to the same masters.
The trick is determining just who exactly those masters are. I very much wish to find out, because once that information becomes public, identifying and severing the other tentacles of their pernicious organization will be much, much easier.
Let's not forget...it was FRANCE who provided the Iraqis with the Nuclear Reactor and all the technology behind it at Osirac...under Jacues Chiraq in the late 70's!
It took Israel to take it out before it became operational.
Now, doesn't it make a whole lot of sense that since France had no problem violating ALL the embargo terms and sold weapons illegally to Hussein, that a FRENCH owned mine in Niger MIGHT be willing to sell the Uranium Yellowcake?
Passes MY smell test big-time!!!!
They're the ones ordering the thought police to carve 666 into everyones forehead.
Now this is really interesting!
Bush Doctrine Unfolds :
| To find all articles tagged or indexed using Bush Doctrine Unfold , click below: | ||||
| click here >>> | Bush Doctrine Unfold | <<< click here | ||
| (To view all FR Bump Lists, click here) | ||||
However, Conservatives and REAL Americans have NEVER "over-interpereted" Hans Blix's intelligence...we know the man couldn't find his a$$ with both hands, a map, and Barney Frank's intimate assistance!!!
That could be it. Your theory is more than logical. It could very well be prophetic.
Why else would Chirac go totally insane at the thought of the U.S. going into Iraq.
Nope it is something that would destroy Chirac and his government. It is something beyond the pale.
What if France was aware of 9/11 and did nothing? Or worse, what if they were part of the plot?
Could this be the same "yellow cake" that Saddam was trying to buy from outside sources?
DING-DING-DING!!!!!
This is a CRUCIAL point! Remember, the IAEA and UN waivered between saying the US "broke UN seals", and that they had never been to that site!!!!!
Then the media dropped the WHOLE issue!
Get the WORD out! This is BIG!!!
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.