New York Sun: Iraq's Uranium

Jim · Post by **Jim** » July 7th, 2008, 7:45 am

Here's a story you may have missed over the long holiday weekend: 550 metric tons of yellowcake uranium worth tens of millions of dollars were shipped out of Iraq to Canada. The material was transported in 37 military flights in 3,500 secure barrels, according to the Associated Press.

Jacob Silberberg/AP

There hasn't been much of a fuss about this material because it had been discovered already by United Nations inspectors after the first Gulf War. But it took a second American war in Iraq to move the material out of the Middle East. For all the talk about America's failure to discover Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, this is a big deal. We've reported on claims by top Israeli officials speaking on the record that Iraq smuggled its chemical weapons to Syria before America invaded in 2003.

The uranium issue is not a trivial one, because Iraq, sitting on vast oil reserves, has no peaceful need for nuclear power. Saddam Hussein had already invaded Kuwait, launched missiles into Israeli cities, and harbored a terrorist group, the PKK, hostile to America's NATO ally, Turkey. To leave this nuclear material sitting around the Middle East in the hands of Saddam and the same corrupt United Nations that failed to stop the genocide in Darfur and was guilty of the oil-for-food scandal would have been too big a risk.

From the beginning we have called for making the Iraq War a case study in democratization rather than disarmament, realizing that nuclear weapons, like any other weapons, are only dangerous in the hands of outlaws. Iraq's government is no longer hostile to America. It is grateful to us for freeing them from Saddam, who would rather spend money on palaces and yellowcake than on feeding the Iraqi people. But should America retreat prematurely from Iraq and a hostile regime again take hold there, we all will be safer for the act that 550 tons of nuclear fuel are now being put to peaceful use in Canada rather than being stored a few miles from Baghdad.

Full Story

Jim · Post by **Jim** » July 7th, 2008, 7:49 am

Iraq removes uranium left over from Saddam era
Mon Jul 7, 2008 6:43am EDT
BAGHDAD, July 7 (Reuters) - Iraq's government has removed 550 tonnes of natural uranium left over from Saddam Hussein's era and sold it to a Canadian company, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

The uranium, called yellowcake, had been stored in a compound at Tuwaitha, south of Baghdad, which was once the centre of Saddam's nuclear weapons programme.

"The Iraqi government decided to get rid of the uranium, which amounted to 550 tonnes, because of its potentially harmful affects on Iraq and the region and because it causes pollution," Dabbagh said on Iraqiya state television late on Sunday.
More below

http://www.reuters.com/article/featured ... SL07684968

Silverback · Post by **Silverback** » July 7th, 2008, 7:56 am

My unit was responsible for Tuwaitha for about 5 months.

Jim · Post by **Jim** » July 7th, 2008, 8:04 am

Silverback wrote:My unit was responsible for Tuwaitha for about 5 months.

Is that why you glow in the dark?

Silverback · Post by **Silverback** » July 7th, 2008, 8:14 am

Jim wrote:
Silverback wrote:My unit was responsible for Tuwaitha for about 5 months.
Is that why you glow in the dark?

It's just odd how long it takes things to "get out" and then when it is "out" how people can absolutely ignore it. Not too mention it also proves that we are a diverse group of people with a vast amount of knowledge and most of it we cannot talk about.

Silverback · Post by **Silverback** » July 8th, 2008, 5:36 am

Wade wrote:One of our companies was responsible for Tuwaitha and Yellow Cake as well.

It was a fun place to hang out...

My favorite thing was all the kids around the area with an extra finger on each hand and an extra toe on each foot.

Did you see the guy with the abnormally long index finger?

Rock Island Ranger · Post by **Rock Island Ranger** » July 8th, 2008, 6:07 am

Silverback wrote:
Wade wrote:One of our companies was responsible for Tuwaitha and Yellow Cake as well.

It was a fun place to hang out...

My favorite thing was all the kids around the area with an extra finger on each hand and an extra toe on each foot.
Did you see the guy with the abnormally long index finger?

You mean Dr. Sayed...my proctologist? He lives here in Houston now. Think his finger is like 2 feet long. Funny, I didnt notice that on his PPO credentials.

Silverback · Post by **Silverback** » July 8th, 2008, 6:11 am

Rock Island Ranger wrote:
Silverback wrote:
Wade wrote:One of our companies was responsible for Tuwaitha and Yellow Cake as well.

It was a fun place to hang out...

My favorite thing was all the kids around the area with an extra finger on each hand and an extra toe on each foot.
Did you see the guy with the abnormally long index finger?
You mean Dr. Sayed...my proctologist? He lives here in Houston now. Think his finger is like 2 feet long. Funny, I didnt notice that on his PPO credentials.

If you feel two hands on your shoulders....he doesn't have long fingers!

Jim · Post by **Jim** » July 9th, 2008, 9:52 am

Back on message, more details:

ENERGY: CAMECO'S COUP

A chain reaction that put Iraq's nuclear hoard in Canada's hands
550 tonnes of fuel en route to Ontario
ANDY HOFFMAN

July 8, 2008

MINING REPORTER -- It was not your typical business meeting.

Last February, a group of Cameco Corp. executives jetted to Paris for a secret rendezvous with officials from the government of Iraq.

The topic of discussion was the Saskatoon company's interest in 550 tonnes of uranium, also known as yellowcake.

The radioactive material represented the last vestiges of a nuclear program initiated by Iraq's former leader, Saddam Hussein. Iraq was looking for the right buyer for the yellowcake and with guidance from the U.S. State Department, Cameco had made the short list.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... l/Ontario/