You are kidding yourself, if you think that Iraq under Saddam Hussein was not attempting to obtain nuclear weaponry. We just went round and round about this, not too long ago.
What I was referencing, and I am no expert here. There was five hundred fifty tons of Yellow Cake that went to Canada, from Iraq, I believe sometime in 2007. There was not a lot of news coverage about the story, and the far left web sites immediately came out and claimed that this yellow cake was known about for years, and that it was not going to be utilized for weapons of mass destruction. How can yellow cake NOT be used for some type of nuclear weaponry? More importantly, how do you deny that there are still large quantities of biological weapons that are not accounted for? How do you account for the five hundred cannisters that were found in 2006? Pretty much puts egg on Justin Raimondo's face, and every other far left socialist-elitist I would think. On Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 10:32 PM, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > > What about the yellow cake? > > > > > *Niger Uranium Forgery > **Mystery Solved? > *by Justin Raimondo <http://original.antiwar.com/author/justin/>, October > 20, 2005 > > *A*mid all the > brouhaha<http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:en&q=rove%2Blibby>over > whether I. > Lewis “Scooter” Libby <http://rightweb.irc-online.org/ind/libby/libby.php>, > Karl Rove <http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=6677>, or any number > of Bush administration insiders had a hand in > leaking<http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=1031>the name of covert CIA > agent Valerie Plame, the essential crime at the core > of the investigation – and its probable starting point – often gets lost in > the shuffle. The “outing” of Plame was not an end in itself: the outers > didn’t just one day decide that they were going to go after her and > Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, her husband, because they were in a vindictive > mood. They were out to get them because Wilson drew attention to the > provenance of the > infamous<http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/07/20/sprj.irq.wmd.investigation/>“16 > words” > uttered <http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030128-19.html>by > President Bush in his 2003 state of the union address, in which Bush > claimed that Iraq had sought out uranium in “an African country” in order to > make a nuclear bomb. Perhaps without knowing it, Wilson – in taking an > interest in this subject – was getting too close to the enormous > fraud<http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=3737>at the center of the War > Party’s propaganda > campaign<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/17/content_3622477.htm>. > > > The African country Bush spoke of is > Niger<http://land.heim.at/toskana/210137/LandkWestAfrika/nigerk.jpg>, > where much<http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ng.html#Econ>of > the world’s uranium is mined under the watchful eye of a French > consortium<http://www.cogema.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=cogema_en/home>– > and where it would be extremely difficult, if not close to impossible, for > the Iraqis to walk off with the tons of uranium required to produce > weapons-grade materials. This accountability issue was no doubt a major > reason for the skepticism the Niger uranium story engendered in Ambassador > Wilson, who was sent to Niger by the > CIA<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/10/AR2005081001918.html>to > check out the facts – and came back with a negative report. Wilson was > therefore shocked to hear the president reiterate a claim that had been > previously and definitively debunked, and went > public<http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0706-02.htm>with his mission and > its results – but not before the source of that claim > had been brutally and > publicly<http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/03/07/sprj.irq.un.transcript.elbaradei/>refuted > by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). > > In early October 2002, Italian journalist Elisabetta > Burba<http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2003_07/001693.php>, > a writer for Italy’s *Panorama* > <http://www.panorama.it/home/index.html>magazine, delivered some > documents <http://cryptome.org/niger-docs.htm> to the U.S. embassy in > Rome: a cache of letters and other papers purporting to be correspondence > between officials of the Niger government and the Iraqis relating to the > acquisition of uranium “yellowcake <http://slate.msn.com/id/2085848/>.” > The documents soon found their way to Washington, D.C., where key > administration officials were quick to incorporate them into their “talking > points <http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/13/news-cooper.php>” for war with > Iraq – and into Bush’s Jan. 28, 2003 speech. > > When the IAEA asked to see evidence of the administration’s contentions, > they were put off <http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0706-05.htm>, > until finally the Niger uranium documents were handed over. It took IAEA > scientists just a few hours to demonstrate that the > documents<http://cryptome.org/niger-docs.htm>were not only > forgeries <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowcake_Forgery>, but were > particularly > crude <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6073449/site/newsweek/> ones at that – > an amateur could have debunked them using Google. As the* Washington > Post*reported, one administration official’s response was “We fell for > it.<http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/unmovic/2003/0308someevid.htm> > “ > > And *how*! – but that wasn’t the end of it, by any means. After all, > someone had deliberately set up the American government with false > information and badly embarrassed George W. Bush, who had taken the Niger > uranium canard and run with it in a very public way. An investigation was > launched <http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030719-120154-5384r.htm>just as > Robert Novak’s > column<http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/robertnovak/2003/07/14/160881.html>outing > Plame appeared – mid-July 2003. Whoever leaked Plame’s name and CIA > affiliation was trying to scare off any further inquiries into the whole > Niger uranium funny business, underscoring the key question in all this: who > was behind the Niger uranium forgeries? > > Even as the FBI was > following<http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_09_19.php#003490>the > trail of the forgers, the Italians were looking into the matter from > their end. A parliamentary committee was charged with investigating, and > they issued a heavily redacted report: now, I am told by a former CIA > operations officer, the report has aroused some interest on this side of the > Atlantic. According to a source in the Italian embassy, Patrick J. > “Bulldog” Fitzgerald <http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=6711> asked > for and “has finally been given a full copy of the Italian parliamentary > oversight report on the forged Niger uranium document,” the former CIA > officer tells me: > > *“Previous versions of the report were redacted and had all the names > removed, though it was possible to guess who was involved. This version > names Michael Ledeen as the conduit for the report and indicates that former > CIA officers Duane Clarridge and Alan Wolf were the principal forgers. All > three had business interests with Chalabi.” > > *Alan > Wolf<http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:ZWgSAc37YWQJ:www.keepmedia.com/pubs/USNewsWorldReport/1994/10/10/233431%3FextID%3D10026++cia+%22alan+wolf+%22+-fred&hl=en>died > about a year and a half ago of cancer. He served as chief of the CIA’s > Near East Division as well as the European Division, and was also CIA chief > of station in Rome after > Clarridge<http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:D1brPp_LTgUJ:www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_18.htm%2BClarridge&hl=en>. > According to my source, “he and Clarridge and Ledeen were all very close and > also close to Chalabi.” The former CIA officer says Wolf “was Clarridge’s > Agency godfather. Significantly, both Clarridge and Wolf also spent > considerable time in the Africa division, so they both had the Africa and > Rome connection and both were close to Ledeen, closing the loop.” > > A veteran of the Iran-Contra > scandal<http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLG,GGLG%3A2005-22,GGLG%3Aen&q=Iran-Contra%2Bledeen&btnG=Search>, > Ledeen played an important role in the “arms for hostages” scheme by setting > up > meetings<http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/Iran_Contra_Affair.html>between > the American government and the Iranian arms dealer Manucher > Ghorbanifar <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manucher_Ghorbanifar>. Not all > that unexpected coming from a > self-proclaimed<http://www.nationalreview.com/ledeen/ledeen200411180823.asp> > advocate <http://www.amconmag.com/06_30_03/feature.html> of Machiavelli’s > amoralism <http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince.txt>. Today, Ledeen is > among the most visible and > radical<http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLG,GGLG%3A2005-22,GGLG%3Aen&q=ledeen%2Bcauldron>neoconservative > ideologues whose passion for a campaign of serial > “regime-change” in the Middle East is undiminished by the Iraqi debacle. > Just as the Roman senator Cato the Elder finished his perorations with the > command “ Carthage must be > destroyed<http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/punicwar/17.shtml>,” > so Michael “ Creative > Destruction<http://www.nationalreview.com/contributors/ledeen092001.shtml>” > Ledeen closes his hopped-up warmongering essays with “ Faster, > please!<http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLG%2CGGLG%3A2005-22%2CGGLG%3Aen&q=ledeen+%22faster%2C+please%22>,” > an exhortation presumably addressed to his confreres in the Bush > administration. > > Ledeen has kept the neocon faith – and the same friends – for all these > years. He’s still buddies with Ghorbanifar. In December 2001, he had a > meeting in Rome with > Ghorbanifar<http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0410.marshallrozen.html>in > the company of the Pentagon’s top Iran specialist, Larry > Franklin <http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=7454>, and Harold > Rhode<http://www.tnr.com/blog/campaignjournal?pid=1724>, > assigned to the Office of Net > Assessment<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Net_Assessment>, > a Pentagon think tank. Also at the Rome conclave: a number of Ghorbanifar’s > Iranian friends, including a former senior official of the Revolutionary > Guard. Rounding out the distinguished guest list, we have the Italian > delegation, consisting of SISMI <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SISMI> head > honcho Nicolo > Pollari<http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.lum.it/docenti/pollari.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3DNicolo%2BPollari%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26rls%3DGGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:en>, > the head of Italy’s military intelligence agency, and Italian Defense > Minister Antonio > Martino<http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.governo.it/Governo/Biografie/martino_antonio.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3DAntonio%2BMartino%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26rls%3DGGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:en>, > a neocon favorite. Once again, Ledeen plays the middleman – but what kind of > a deal was he trying to negotiate? > > Franklin, we now > know<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/05/AR2005100501608_pf.html>, > was busy spying for Israel during this > period<http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/reports/2005/franklin_indictment_04aug2005.htm>, > handing over classified information to AIPAC officials Steve > Rosen<http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:wIzmGOrZ9loJ:www.forward.com/articles/3097%2BSteve%2BRosen&hl=en>and > Keith > Weissman<http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:jNKEXZUOAKgJ:www.forward.com/articles/3082%2Bkeith%2Bweissman&hl=en>: > he has been indicted and has turned state’s evidence: the trial is set to > begin in January. To this day, Franklin > maintains<http://www.jewishreview.org/Archives/Article.php?Article=2005-10-01-1712>he > was just trying to get AIPAC’s assistance in moving a more pro-Israel > agenda in policymaking circles. > > Rhode is an ideologue of a similar > coloration<http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2004/01/12_405.html>. > Together with Franklin, Rhode > helped<http://www.tnr.com/blog/campaignjournal?pid=1724>set up the Defense > Department’s Office > of Special > Plans<http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLG%2CGGLG%3A2005-22%2CGGLG%3Aen&q=Office%2Bof%2BSpecial%2BPlans%2Bsite%3Awww.antiwar.com&btnG=Search>, > which stove-piped <http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?031027fa_fact>phony > “ > intelligence <http://www.realdemocracy.com/iraqidef.htm>” provided by Ahmed > Chalabi <http://www.prospect.org/print/V13/21/dreyfuss-r.html>‘s Iraqi > National > Congress<http://slapnose.com/archives/2004/05/22/dia_reports_chalabi_works_for_iran/>and > hyped the case for war. Rhode and Franklin worked hand in hand with > Chalabi, and, as United Press International intelligence correspondent > Richard Sale > reports<http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040824-102938-1916r.htm>, > they had certain interests in common: > > *“According to one former senior U.S. intelligence official who maintained > excellent contacts with serving U.S. intelligence officials in the Coalition > Provisional Authority in Baghdad, ‘Rhode practically lived out of (Ahmed) > Chalabi’s office.’ This same source quoted the intelligence official with > the CPA as saying, ‘Rhode was observed by CIA operatives as being constantly > on his cell phone to Israel,’ and that the information that the intelligence > officials overheard him passing to Israel was ‘mind-boggling,’ this source > said. It dealt with U.S. plans, military deployments, political projects, > discussion of Iraq assets, and a host of other sensitive topics, the former > senior U.S. intelligence official said.” > > *No wonder my source tells me that “Fitzgerald asked the Italians if he > could share the report with Paul McNulty,” the prosecutor in the AIPAC case. > There are plenty of links between the two investigations: they are, in a > sense, the same investigation<http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=2795>, > since many of the same people are involved. McNulty is delving into a single > aspect of the cabal’s activities, while Fitzgerald seems to have broadened > his probe to include not only the outing of Plame, but also the origin of > the Niger uranium forgeries and other > instances<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/17/AR2005101701888_pf.html>of > classified information leakage via the vice president’s office. > > I am hardly the first to implicate Ledeen in connection with the Niger > uranium forgeries. Former CIA counterterrorism officials Vince > Cannistraro<http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/21704/>and Larry > Johnson <http://www.tpmcafe.com/contributors/main> have pointed the finger > in Ledeen’s direction. As the latter put > it<http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/10/10/20458/059> > : > > *“Italy’s SISME [sic] also reportedly had a hand in producing the forged > documents delivered to the U.S. embassy in Rome in early October 2003 [sic: > should be 2002 – Ed.] that purported to show a deal with Iraq to buy > uranium. Many in the intelligence community are convinced that a prominent > neocon with long-standing ties to SISME played a role in the forgery. The > truth of that proposition remains to be proven. This much is certain, either > SISME or someone with ties to SISME, helped forge and circulate those > documents which some tried to use to bolster the case to go to war with > Iraq.” > > *Cannistraro, asked by an interviewer if Ledeen was involved with the > forgers, said “you’d be very close.” > > The cast of characters involved in Niger-gate is like old home week in the > government scandal sweepstakes. Aside from Ledeen, whose storied (or is that > *checkered*?) history is well-known, we have > Clarridge<http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLG%2CGGLG%3A2005-22%2CGGLG%3Aen&q=duane%2Bclarridge&btnG=Search>, > first head of the Counterterrorism Center set up by Bill > Casey<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Casey>under Reagan, who deserves a > column all by himself. His close > relationship<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Michael_Ledeen#Dewey_Clarridge_On_Michael_Ledeen_and_.22The_Terror_Network.22>with > Ledeen dates from his time as chief of station in Rome in the late > 1970s. Clarridge was indicted for lying to prosecutors during the > Iran-Contra imbroglio, but given a presidential > pardon<http://www.fas.org/irp/news/1992/41614222-41618536.htm>. > His book, *A Spy for All > Seasons*<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743245369/antiwarbookstore>, > was the first real “tell-all” book about the Agency. During the Reagan > administration, he > purportedly<http://www.parascope.com/articles/0297/dewey.htm>was the > intellectual author of the notorious “Psychological Operations in > Guerilla Warfare,” a CIA how-to manual instructing the Nicaraguan > contras<http://www.antiwar.com/blog/comments.php?id=P2240_0_1_0>in the fine > art of terrorism, including bombings, assassinations, and > violence directed at > noncombatants<http://www.thenation.com/doc/20010702/corn>. > It was Clarridge <http://www.consortiumnews.com/archive/lost14.html> who > came up with the bright idea of mining Nicaragua’s harbors, which led to the > unprecedented > condemnation<http://wherewearebound.typepad.com/in_our_name/2004/11/us_intervention_2.html>of > the U.S. government’s actions in the World Court. He was reportedly > slated to become a top counterterrorism official in the National Security > Council, but was nixed <http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020311/corn>. He > now lives in San Diego, Calif., and pursues a number of business and > ideological<http://www.defenddemocracy.org/in_the_media/in_the_media_show.htm?doc_id=230554&attrib_id=7377> > interests <http://www.nysun.com/article/3173>, including Dax > Resources<http://daxresources.com/about.htm>Corp., which runs a 24-hour > Global Response Center and advertises its > facility at kidnap prevention and counterterrorism, noting that “we can > also undertake special operations, including technical > countermeasures<http://www.daxresources.com/cap7.htm>.” > > > The Niger uranium forgeries <http://cryptome.org/niger-docs.htm> surely > qualify as “technical countermeasures,” popping up as they did just as the > administration<http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/09/08/iraq.debate/>‘s > assertions<http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021007-8.html>about > Iraq’s alleged nuclear > ambitions<http://www.iraqsnuclearmirage.com/YellowTimes/Cheneys_Bogus_Nuclear_Weapon.htm>and > capability were being > questioned <http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news4/nuclear-card.html>. As > Seymour Hersh pointed > out<http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?030331fa_fact1>, > CIA director George Tenet appeared at a crucial congressional briefing, on > the eve of the vote on authorizing the war, and > > *“Declared, as he had done before, that a shipment of high-strength > aluminum tubes that was intercepted on its way to Iraq had been meant for > the construction of centrifuges that could be used to produce enriched > uranium. The suitability of the tubes for that purpose had been disputed, > but this time the argument that Iraq had a nuclear program under way was > buttressed by a new and striking fact: the CIA had recently received > intelligence showing that, between 1999 and 2001, Iraq had attempted to buy > five hundred tons of uranium oxide from Niger, one of the world’s largest > producers.” > > *The story of how the Niger uranium forgeries got past all the safeguards, > how the actual documents were never seen by the CIA until > after<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A9011-2003Mar22>the > president’s 2003 speech, and who was pushing to include a reference to > Saddam’s alleged efforts to procure uranium in “an African nation” as one of > the president’s major talking points – these are all subjects of interest to > a prosecutor attempting to prove charges of conspiracy to lie us into war. > There must be a special law that covers government employees, including high > officials, who transmit tainted information and poison the well of U.S. > intelligence-gathering efforts. I’m sure > Fitzgerald<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55560-2005Feb1.html>will > have no trouble finding it. > > Fitzgerald’s reported interest in the Italian parliamentary report > indicates just how his investigation is broadening. The forgeries, the lies > fed to us by Ahmed > Chalabi<http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/05/04/chalabi/index_np.html>and > his fellow “heroes in > error<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/02/19/wirq19.xml>,” > the leakage of vital U.S. > secrets<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/20/iraq/main618637.shtml>to > the Iranians – all point to the existence of the conspiracy the > prosecutor is tasked with uncovering. In the course of their campaign of > deception, the conspirators not only outed a CIA agent who was > working<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Plame>in the vital area of > nuclear proliferation, they also passed on classified > information to foreign nationals, including the Israelis and the Iranians. > They committed forgery and God knows what other crimes. > > Before Fitzgerald is done, we’ll see the warlords of Washington hauled > before a court of the people. We’ll hear the whole sordid story of how a > band of > exiles<http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:en&q=iraqi%2Bnational%2Bcongress>, > at least <http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,999737,00.html> > two<http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1224075,00.html>foreign > intelligence agencies, and a > cabal <http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?030512fa_fact> of > neoconservatives <http://www.antiwar.com/orig/lind1.html> inside the > Pentagon <http://www.howardlabs.com/7-03/Dreyfus.htm> and the vice > president’s office <http://www.antiwar.com/ips/lobe080703.html> bamboozled > Congress and the American people into going to war. As the indictments come > down, so will the elaborate narrative so carefully constructed by the War > Party in the run-up to war be exposed as a tissue of fabrication, forgery, > and fraud. > > > http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2005/10/19/niger-uranium-forgery-mystery-solved/ > > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at > http://www.PoliticalForum.com/<http://www.politicalforum.com/> > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more. > -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
