Canadian Company Snatches Up Uranium From Iraq

[Shady]

But wait? There was no Iraqi nuclear program, right?

Cda company snatches up last remnants of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program

MONTREAL - A Canadian company that has acquired a massive amount of concentrated natural uranium from Iraq says the U.S. military was behind the secrecy surrounding the transaction.

Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp. (TSX:CCO) purchased the reported 550 tonnes of "yellowcake", the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment, in a deal reported to be in the tens of millions of dollars.

Cameco spokesman Lyle Krahn said the hush-hush nature of the transaction was at the request of the U.S. military, who supervised the transport of the raw material out of the volatile region.

"We were following the request of the U.S. government," Krahn said of the clandestine route the material took to get out of Baghdad and to Canada.

Krahn confirmed the yellowcake uranium shipment arrived in Montreal by ship Saturday and is scheduled to be transported by truck to the company's facilities in Ontario

The stockpile has been described as the last major remnant of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's nuclear program.

Link

Remember the uproar from President Bush's State of the Union speech, involving Iraq and yellowcake from Niger? Intelligence the British still stand by, by the way. Well, maybe they didn't need to buy any yellowcake from Africa, because they had a crap load of it already. Oh, and btw, does this qualify as WMD?

[bush_cheney2004]

...Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp. (TSX:CCO) purchased the reported 550 tonnes of "yellowcake", the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment, in a deal reported to be in the tens of millions of dollars.

A while back, I use to walk by the Cameco offices every weekday on my way to lunch (they have a US branch in Eden Prairie, MN.) Always wondered why the hell they had a US office so close to home. They keep a very low profile....now I know why!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameco

Edited July 7, 2008 by bush_cheney2004

[jdobbin]

But wait? There was no Iraqi nuclear program, right?

Remember the uproar from President Bush's State of the Union speech, involving Iraq and yellowcake from Niger? Intelligence the British still stand by, by the way. Well, maybe they didn't need to buy any yellowcake from Africa, because they had a crap load of it already. Oh, and btw, does this qualify as WMD?

I think you forget that this was nuclear material that the U.N. and the U.S. already knew about and sequestered.

The claim the U.S. had made was additional yellowcake was being purchased for a nuclear bomb. That was false.

[bush_cheney2004]

I think you forget that this was nuclear material that the U.N. and the U.S. already knew about and sequestered.

"Sequestered" by whom after the 1998 expulsion of UN inspectors?

The claim the U.S. had made was additional yellowcake was being purchased for a nuclear bomb. That was false.

Maybe yes...maybe no. Christopher Hitchens makes the case for not so benign intentions by Iraq:

...On Oct. 31, 1998, Iraq announced the end of its cooperation with the U.N. inspectors, who were effectively barred from the country. A few days later, the U.N. Security Council condemned this move in Resolution 1205, dated Nov. 5, 1998. The following month, the Clinton administration ordered selective strikes in and around Baghdad. A few weeks after that—on Feb. 8, 1999, to be precise—an Iraqi delegation visited Niger. It was headed by the improbable figure of Saddam Hussein's ambassador to the Vatican. But the improbability becomes more intelligible when it is understood that this diplomat, Wissam al-Zahawie by name, was a very experienced Iraqi envoy for nuclear-related matters.

http://www.slate.com/id/2146475

[Shady]

"Sequestered" by whom after the 1998 expulsion of UN inspectors?

Maybe yes...maybe no. Christopher Hitchens makes the case for not so benign intentions by Iraq

Not only that, but British Intelligence still stands by the information they gathered. And since Iraq has gone to Niger in the past to purchase uranium or yellowcake, one doesn't have to be a rocket scientist, or nuclear scientist for that matter, to connect the dots as to why they'd be going there again.

[bush_cheney2004]

Not only that, but British Intelligence still stands by the information they gathered. And since Iraq has gone to Niger in the past to purchase uranium or yellowcake, one doesn't have to be a rocket scientist, or nuclear scientist for that matter, to connect the dots as to why they'd be going there again.

Exactly! Where the hell do people think Iraq procured the "sequestered" yellowcake in the first place? Canada?

[GostHacked]

Not only that, but British Intelligence still stands by the information they gathered. And since Iraq has gone to Niger in the past to purchase uranium or yellowcake, one doesn't have to be a rocket scientist, or nuclear scientist for that matter, to connect the dots as to why they'd be going there again.

It's a good thing I am here, yellow cake from Niger, debunked long time ago. Those Nigerian documents were forged.

http://www.time.com/time/columnist/karon/a...,463779,00.html

Is a fib really a fib if the teller is unaware that he is uttering an untruth? That question appears to be the basis of the White House defense, having now admitted a falsehood in President Bush's claim, in his State of the Union address, that Iraq had tried to buy uranium in Africa. But that defense is under mounting pressure from a variety of sources claiming that the White House could not have been unaware that the claim was false, because it had been checked out — and debunked — by U.S. intelligence a year before the President repeated it.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...754C0A9659C8B63

Michael N. Anton, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said today, ''The documents alleging a transaction between Iraq and Niger were not the sole basis for the line in the president's State of the Union speech that referred to recent Iraqi attempts to acquire uranium from Africa.''

He said that at the time a ''national intelligence estimate'' cited ''attempts by Iraq to acquire uranium from several countries in Africa,'' adding, ''We now know that documents alleging a transaction between Iraq and Niger had been forged.''

This yellow cake is not new and was from the nuclear program that they had in the 80's before Israel bomed the Osirak reactor. Iraq never had the chance to rebuild it's program after that, let alone the first Gulf War where the infrastructure to make a nuke was taken out for good. If Iraq had actually bought yellow cake from Niger, it would have been in the 1980s. Not in the 90's like the Bush Admin was pimping. It's all about choosing what facts to look at to creat a picture that matches your vision. This is not how our countries should be run.

Time article is really more compelling and along with the truth than what BC has posted.

We know now that WMDs were not even that high on the Coalitions list. Most of us are starting to wake up to the fact it is about oil. People will lie their asses off to get what they wanted. And Bush et al lied their collective asses off to get into Iraq.

And since the war is really about oil and controlling it... all this we see above is 100% irrelevant anyways.

[jdobbin]

Not only that, but British Intelligence still stands by the information they gathered. And since Iraq has gone to Niger in the past to purchase uranium or yellowcake, one doesn't have to be a rocket scientist, or nuclear scientist for that matter, to connect the dots as to why they'd be going there again.

The yellowcake that is going to Canada still had the U.N. inspection labels on them that the inspectors put on. They were not moved and remained in the same place they were left and were subsequently discovered there when the U.S. invaded.

At the time, the claim was made that the U.S. had found weapons of mass destruction and that was true to a point. However, it was hard to claim it was a re-started program when the U.N. labels remained on the yellowcake and they sat at the U.N. depot exactly where they were left by inspectors.

There was no new program of nuclear weapon building.

[bush_cheney2004]

The yellowcake that is going to Canada still had the U.N. inspection labels on them that the inspectors put on. They were not moved and remained in the same place they were left and were subsequently discovered there when the U.S. invaded.

At the time, the claim was made that the U.S. had found weapons of mass destruction and that was true to a point. However, it was hard to claim it was a re-started program when the U.N. labels remained on the yellowcake and they sat at the U.N. depot exactly where they were left by inspectors.

There was no new program of nuclear weapon building.

Doesn't matter.....the materials were not under UN control and could not be independently verified as secure after the inspectors were expelled. That's what all the fuss was about in 1998 (i.e. Desert Fox), and it took 200,000 troops going camping in Kuwait to get the inspections re-instated by 2002. More fun and games with Saddam over his material breach of resolution requirements led to invasion and his demise.

PMs Howard and Blair agreed......

[jdobbin]

We know now that WMDs were not even that high on the Coalitions list. Most of us are starting to wake up to the fact it is about oil. People will lie their asses off to get what they wanted. And Bush et al lied their collective asses off to get into Iraq.

What we do know is that the reasons for the war have kept changing when it was obvious that Iraq was not about to make a bomb. Some on the right keep talking about weapons of mass destruction and how they were discovered but that is just not a convincing argument even to Americans now.

It is probably why this yellowcake is being moved and so many people want it hush hush. It just emphasizes the extremes that the Bush government went to to go to war in Iraq.

[GostHacked]

Doesn't matter.....the materials were not under UN control and could not be independently verified as secure after the inspectors were expelled. That's what all the fuss was about in 1998 (i.e. Desert Fox), and it took 200,000 troops going camping in Kuwait to get the inspections re-instated by 2002. More fun and games with Saddam over his material breach of resolution requirements led to invasion and his demise.

PMs Howard and Blair agreed......

I can't take this at face value anymore. Because BC you are the one saying all this is irrelevant because it was about oil and never about WMDs. So more fun and games over who thinks what is important. Saddam never breached anything because the reasons for war kept changing because the so called 'smoking gun' was never there in the first place.

jdobbin

It is probably why this yellowcake is being moved and so many people want it hush hush. It just emphasizes the extremes that the Bush government went to to go to war in Iraq.

Exactly, but you know ... Plame Canada.

[bush_cheney2004]

I can't take this at face value anymore. Because BC you are the one saying all this is irrelevant because it was about oil and never about WMDs. So more fun and games over who thinks what is important. Saddam never breached anything because the reasons for war kept changing because the so called 'smoking gun' was never there in the first place.

You are very mistaken....the "smoking gun" was plausible enough to get the job done, including fretful cries for more inspections! It's not just about oil.....hat's only one component of a long standing US policy for Iraq and the region. How can very credible WMDs in 1998 become incredible by 2002? That's why the pretext worked like a charm....to say that you "knew" all along is ridiculous.

Saddam breached the 1991 surrender instruments in several ways....Hans Blix confirmed that (e.g. extended missile ranges). What Saddam didn't count on was a new US president who didn't dick around (literally).

[Shady]

Doesn't matter.....the materials were not under UN control and could not be independently verified as secure after the inspectors were expelled.

Bingo! And those facts cannot be disputed.

[Remiel]

Every country in the world that mines uranium produces this " yellowcake " stuff.

[Shady]

Every country in the world that mines uranium produces this " yellowcake " stuff.

Yes, but every country that mines uranium, hasn't signed a cease-fire agreement pertaining to a war they started and lost, as well as 14 United Nations resolutions forbidding it to possess such material.

Edited July 7, 2008 by Shady

[Remiel]

If Iraq had produced this stuff before the 1991 Gulf War, and was targetted by sanctions afterward, how exactly to you propose they could of gotten rid of it? If they couldn't sell it, and it was probably too valuable to destroy, then there was no choice but to stockpile it. This is hardly a smoking gun.

[bush_cheney2004]

If Iraq had produced this stuff before the 1991 Gulf War, and was targetted by sanctions afterward, how exactly to you propose they could of gotten rid of it? If they couldn't sell it, and it was probably too valuable to destroy, then there was no choice but to stockpile it. This is hardly a smoking gun.

Whenever I find myself with too much "yellowcake" for my needs, I never have difficulty finding someone to take it off my hands Me thinks the IAEA could have helped Saddam in this endeavor, but instead he kicked their asses out of the country! What was Saddam saving it for?

[jdobbin]

Bingo! And those facts cannot be disputed.

What can't be disputed is that the United States didn't care what the inspectors said after they returned in 2002. What the inspectors found was the same yellowcake in the same place that they had left it in 1999.

[Shady]

What was Saddam saving it for?

Hmm, I'm gonna guess a reconstituted nuclear weapons program, after sanctions were coming to an end. One thing that kind of tipped me off, was the centrifuge/centrifuge plans buried around the country. But that's just me.

[jdobbin]

If Iraq had produced this stuff before the 1991 Gulf War, and was targetted by sanctions afterward, how exactly to you propose they could of gotten rid of it? If they couldn't sell it, and it was probably too valuable to destroy, then there was no choice but to stockpile it. This is hardly a smoking gun.

It was placed right where the inspectors left it and not moved in four years.

[bush_cheney2004]

What can't be disputed is that the United States didn't care what the inspectors said after they returned in 2002.

Of course the US cared...the inspectors found ample evidence of material breaches. That's all they needed to make the invasion legal-like. And why were the inspectors permitted back into Iraq?

What the inspectors found was the same yellowcake in the same place that they had left it in 1999.

Gosh...I sure hope so. A lot can happen in four years.

[GostHacked]

Of course the US cared...the inspectors found ample evidence of material breaches. That's all they needed to make the invasion legal-like. And why were the inspectors permitted back into Iraq?

Gosh...I sure hope so. A lot can happen in four years.

So what you are saying is that it was a total set up?

[bush_cheney2004]

So what you are saying is that it was a total set up?

Not sure what you mean by this....the former US/UK policy of containment was not acceptable to the Bush administration. Terrorist attacks provided the pretext and politics for more aggressive policy execution in Iraq. The UN inspection circle jerk was just an exercise made possible by the threat of military invasion. Saddam could have put an end to it by simply rolling over.

[jdobbin]

So what you are saying is that it was a total set up?

I have no doubt that Saddam was in breach of many of the U.N. mandates. However, I happened to agree with Cheney when he said this:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/192908_cheney29.html

In an assessment that differs sharply with his view today, Dick Cheney more than a decade ago defended the decision to leave Saddam Hussein in power after the first Gulf War, telling a Seattle audience that capturing Saddam wouldn't be worth additional U.S. casualties or the risk of getting "bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq."

I'd say he was accurate about getting bogged down.

I agreed with Bush and the western governments for putting the squeeze on Saddam to get the inspectors back in Iraq. However, that was not good enough for Bush who wanted to invade Iraq and occupy it.

[bush_cheney2004]

I have no doubt that Saddam was in breach of many of the U.N. mandates. However, I happened to agree with Cheney when he said this:

Dick Cheney is not the US president. and he sure sang a diffeent tune in 2002.

I agreed with Bush and the western governments for putting the squeeze on Saddam to get the inspectors back in Iraq. However, that was not good enough for Bush who wanted to invade Iraq and occupy it.

Correct....those who wish to use American power to force the issue had better be careful what they wish for.