U.S. ending Saddam's nuke legacy
Last stash of uranium removed from Iraq reaches Canadian port.
U.S. ending Saddam's nuke legacy
By The Associated Press
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Published: July 6, 2008
The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program — a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium — reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Iraqi premier shows confidence in security gain
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday that the government has defeated terrorism in the country, a sign of growing confidence after recent crackdowns against Sunni extremists and Shiite militias.
Bolstered by this confidence, al-Maliki plans to visit the United Arab Emirates today and also Italy and Germany later in the month — hoping improved security at home will pay dividends in greater international support.
Afghan lawmaker assassinated
Gunmen in a dangerous part of southern Afghanistan assassinated an Afghan lawmaker, while a roadside bomb militants were planting detonated prematurely, killing 10 Taliban, officials said Saturday.
The gunmen killed parliament member and former military commander Habibullah Jan after he visited an Afghan army compound in the Zhari district of Kandahar late Friday, said Kandahar provincial council member Bismillih Afghanmul.
Also in the news ...
•SOLDIER DIES: The U.S. military says an American soldier in Iraq died Saturday of a noncombat cause. The Sunday statement says the soldier was assigned to Multinational Corps-Iraq.
•WEATHER: Basra, Iraq: High of 114, low of 89, clear; Kabul, Afghanistan: 95, 68, clear; Kuwait: 116, 78, clear.
The Associated Press
What about yellowcake?
While yellowcake alone is not considered potent enough for a so-called "dirty bomb” — a conventional explosive that disperses radioactive material — it could stir widespread panic if incorporated in a blast. Yellowcake also can be enriched for use in reactors and, at higher levels, nuclear weapons using sophisticated equipment.
The Iraqi government sold the yellowcake to Canadian uranium producer Cameco Corp.
The deal culminated more than a year of intense initiatives — kept hushed in fear of ambushes or attacks once the convoys were under way: first carrying 3,500 barrels by road to Baghdad, then on 37 military flights to the Indian Ocean atoll of Diego Garcia and finally aboard a U.S.-flagged ship for a 8,500-mile trip to Montreal.
The mission also linked the current attempts to stabilize Iraq with some of the high-profile claims about Saddam's weapons capabilities in the buildup to the 2003 invasion.
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Alongside Saddam, people need to ask about other tyrants and dictators such as why the US tried to assassinate Castro from the 1950's onward (he would not take orders from the US political machine) or what happened to Qaddafi, who was among the most hated at one time to being almost invisible today.
Castro was hated by almost every president from Ike to Bush II and most tried many methods of having him murdered. There were over 600 verified plots hatched to get rid of Castro. Why? Then again, why did the US impose sanctions if not to try to punish the Cuban people enough to spur them into action to remove him, which if course, failed?
Stalin, Ferdinand Marcos (Phillipines), Pinochet (Chile), Shah Pahlevi (Iran), Mobutu (Zaire), Diem (S. Viet Nam), Park Yung Hee (S. Korea), Hussein II (Morocco), "Papa Doc" and "Baby Doc" Duvalier (Haiti) and many more were considered "friends" of the US despite many instances of murder (political purges and mass murder, often with the assistance or at the urging of the CIA), embezzlement and other atrocities aimed at their own people.
The only thing that matters to whichever party is in power is that these tyrants and dictators are "friendly" with the US. They are no better than those the US opposes and which are sometimes switched from "friend" to "enemy" or vise versa.
Y'all need to remember that Saddam was a 'friend' of the US not too long ago.
I don't hate Bush any more or less than any other lying politician but I know manure when someone tries to feed it to me.
From what we know about Iraq, are they capable of enriching it to the point of use in nuclear weapons? I doubt it if what I hear is true, that they don't even have reliable phone or electric service.
Phil - you sound a little like a member of the the Bushhater crowd.