Apparently Joe (liar) Wilson and Saddam had royalties coming from Joe Plames book of lies all split up between them. So Saddam went along for the cash He needed so much.

Now that Saddam has been lynched, Joe intends to cash in on His life insurance policy that they each had on the other. And carry on Saddams good works in the mold of Jimmy Carter.

Make sense?

I'm sure that all that yellowcake came from a natural rock formation within Iraq. Joe had no reason to lie, did he? I'm pretty sure he had no hidden agenda. Did he?

but...but....but....BUSH LIED!!! THERE WERE NO WMDS!!!!

/leftard

If you had read the entire article you would have seen
Israeli warplanes bombed a reactor project at the site in 1981. Later, U.N. inspectors documented and safeguarded the yellowcake, which had been stored in aging drums and containers since before the 1991 Gulf War. There was no evidence of any yellowcake dating from after 1991, the official said.

It would have been nice if it was more recent.

I'm sure the Democrats will apologize to President Bush immediately. Right?...hello?...

Bush has had the worst public relations in history.

One of the ways the Left used Plame to undermine Bush was to make out that Yellowcake from Niger was necessary to make the case to Invade. That wasn't true to begin with, but this information would have dispelled that in an instant.

Idiots.

It would have been nice if it was more recent.

I figured it was stuff that had been documented and was under inspections from before 1991. It is current though in that the stuff was still there in Iraq, even though not weapons grade. It's probably a good idea to not have it in the Middle-east anymore.

Jay Tea,
I'm thinkin' Halliburton too.

Notice that the AP story fails to mention the fact that former Ambassador Joe Wilson was deceiving people when he wrote that he had found no evidence to support assertions that Iraq tried to buy additional yellowcake from Niger. The Washington Post admitted that Wilson was deceptive. Of course, we shouldn't hold our breath while waiting for the AP (and the NYT) to admit that Wilson lied.

Yellowcake has been under guard since '03, only now has the security situation improved enough to consider moving the stuff.

Bah -- my long post detailing the history of Tuwaitha and the yellowcake that was there was blocked for having too many links. While I wait for that to be approved, let me ask a question of my own:

If Saddam had 550 metric tons of yellowcake just sitting around since 1991, then why would he be trying to purchase more from Nigeria. If you have the yellowcake, then you need high tech equipment to process it and refine it, you don't need more yellowcake. Please keep in mind that Iraq's questionable delegation visited Niger on Feb. 8, 1999, significantly after Hussein had kicked out all IAEA inspectors. So, at that point, all that stood between him and tons and tons of yellowcake were IAEA seals and there was no one to stop him. He wouldn't have to pay for it, transport it across borders, deal with the very stringent oversight on Nigeria's production of radioactive material, or anything like that. He could just have guys walk in and get it. That seems like it would have been a little easier.

A added the post that I referenced above about the history of Tuwaitha and yellowcake here.

If he wanted to make more, he'd eventually need a supplier like Niger, but not immediately.

To add, it makes a relationship with Niger, a nice to have, not a must have in the short-term.

Joe the reason is that some yellow cakes are more equal than others. The yellow cake they just removed from Tuwaitha was not weapons grade. The IAEA had already removed all of the weapons grade nuclear material they could find.

"If Saddam had 550 metric tons of yellowcake just sitting around since 1991, then why would he be trying to purchase more from Nigeria."

Because it was under UN seal, and was one of the few things in Iraq that got regular inspections by the IAEA.

The attempt to buy more uranium was to replace the yellowcake with something that the UN inspectors didn't know about.

Wow, this story puts the invasion and occupation of Iraq into a whole new light. Mr. Bush's approval rating should soar to 24 or 25%.

I think people are falling into a trap here. They so want to go to the mat on the Joe Wilson/Plame thing, they are fulfilling the purpose of Wilson & Plame which is to complicate the story to create opportunity for doubt and to serve as a distraction. A distraction from the main issue of whether Saddam posed a threat.

This material largely render that whole issue incidental. And gives credence that Saddam's Nuclear Program, even in an 'on the shelf' state was a threat.

Yes, it was inspected, but Saddam had ejected inspectors in the past. There was also some findings during the invasion that IAEA seals may have been bypassed on various facilities. Perhaps this material may not have been weapons grade, but that much material can be made yield about 3-4 tonnes of weapons grade material.

We can go down the Joe Wilson path which is where the Left wants us to go. They don't care what your conclusion is or how well you can prove it. Its where they want you to spend your time.

Between the bribes, crumbling sanctions, and inspector ejections, this gives Saddam another straightforward option for a source of material for his program.

This story is further evidence that Saddaam was being framed for a Niger operation that didn't need to be undertaken by the trans-Atlantic neocon network of Berlosconi's Italian intelligence service (with aid from Michael Ledeen) and Cheney's Pentagon stovepipe operation (the Libby front).
No wonder even the UN said the Niger manifest documents were laughably fraudulent.
Thus Cheney blew a gasket and sicced his flying monkeys on that hotties human babe, Plame.

Monkey brains

The outcome was a foregone conclusion.

Is it just me, or was that last post a paranoid scream of denial?

Now that we have more fuel, can we build more reactors?

We knew about the reactor and it's fuel, but how did rocket engine parts get out of Iraq into a scrapyard in the Netherlands? These were part of the WMD's that "were never found" which were found, just outside the country. I just checked Yahoo and they didn't anything list after 2004 on the subject.

This story is further evidence that Saddaam was being framed for a Niger operation that didn't need to be undertaken by the trans-Atlantic neocon network of Berlosconi's Italian intelligence service (with aid from Michael Ledeen) and Cheney's Pentagon stovepipe operation (the Libby front).

What evidence? Only in that grassy knoll of your imagination.

This stuff can't be made up fast enough for the HuffPo/Kos looney left. You guys, at the end of the day, are going to make the Fifties era Birchers look liberal.

The timing of this article is more interesting in light of this:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120182537976533691.html

This is basically 'raw' yellow cake, the finely refined, along with tons of equipment (some BIO/Chem weapons included), was delivered to Oak Ridge Tn a few years ago. Special flights were set up and flew it direct. The BDS infected media simply forgot to inform the BDS infected democrats. Actually it was news in a 'few' media outlets and promply ignored by the BDS sufferer's. I think there are a few posters on here that know this but like Hussein Obama, Osama, and Saddam Hussein they chose to lie about it. Saddam's fate should come to all of them. I don't have to name the lying BDS infected posters on here, they know who they are and have been called liars many times by family and friends, either to their face or behind they're backs.

Sounds like bryanD accidentally splashed some bong water on his tin foil hat. Seriously, his comment at #19 was one of the most breathtakingly delusional tirades I have ever read on this blog, and keep in mind we have weapons-grade moonbats like JFO and Lee Ward posting here.

Congrats, I think.

I wonder how many members of the Associated (with terrorists) Press shot each other trying to avoid printing this story. I'll bet fear of the blogs telling the truth had a big hand in it. They just couldn't allow another scoop by the blogs, added to the thousands that have already came out of Iraq.

Jay,
This is old news. It was uncovered in 2004 and reported.

While Saddam planned on reconstituting his nuclear program, this is not it.

This has nothing to do with the Wilson/Plame farce.

Here is a summary of the yellow cake.
David

Oh, Jay, did you happen to check on this post and correct the SAW assertions?

The yellow cake they just removed from Tuwaitha was not weapons grade.

Because it was under UN seal, and was one of the few things in Iraq that got regular inspections by the IAEA.

While that's a possible reason, as I noted above, Saddam had already taken the step of kicking out inspectors before any Iraqi delegation went to Niger. At that point, there is little reason not to reclaim the yellowcake if you have need of it, unless you're planning on letting inspectors back in. Although he did let the IAEA have limited visits a few more times, if he had denied these, I doubt that Clinton would have done much more than he was already doing.

That brings up another question. Other than the documents that everyone now admits are forgeries and unrevealed evidence that the British supposedly have, what actual evidence is there that Saddam or his delegation ever tried to negotiate anything having to do with yellowcake with Nigeria. I agree with jpm100 that Wilson is a total distraction. However, it's the (very rational) dislike of him on the right that has led a lot of people to buy into this NigeriaIraqyellowcake connection with the flimisist of evidence. Even Bush has said that "those 16 words" should not have made it into the State of the Union address, so why do so many people still have such a dcesperate need to believe this story, when the foundation for it is known to be false?

The BDS infected media simply forgot to inform the BDS infected democrats. Actually it was news in a 'few' media outlets and promply ignored by the BDS sufferer's.

Saddam's fate should come to all of them.

I wonder how many members of the Associated (with terrorists) Press shot each other trying to avoid printing this story. I'll bet fear of the blogs telling the truth had a big hand in it.

Lifetrek, I dropped you an e-mail about that article on Friday. Did you give a bogus e-mail address in your comment, or do you not read your mail?

J.

Jay, Email address should have been accurate but it may be outdated -- I signed up for my Wizbang account (Typekey I think?) long ago, I just tried to check it but there isn't a place to edit the profile.

Just to clarify, your one line was:

"Finally, in the waning years of the 19th century, we got into the act. But we decided it was too much work to build our own empire. Rather, why not just take someone else's? That led to the Spanish-American War,"

You may think it is pedantic to point out that we didn't decide to take an empire but it is a fundamentally false accusation that is still used today against the US for the Iraq invasion.

That was a fundamental error that altered the facts supporting your post and it should have been corrected not replied to with a snarky comment.

"I wanted to talk about the long-term consequences of our acquisition of those Spanish possessions and make a larger point. I had no interest in the minutiae of the roots of the conflict, and less now."

And Dan Rather wanted to talk about the TNG not some pedantic font! "Fake but accurate," right?

But I guess that's just me being, "pedantic," as you put it.
David

It still doesn't answer why the Iraqi delegation was in Niger. While the left insists there was no talk of procuring yellowcake uranium and continue to harp on the fake documents as another distraction to prove that assertion, they never ask themselves (or anyone else for that matter) why the Iraqis were there. The document in question was so poorly done, one has to wonder if it wasn't done deliberately by someone to make sure it was caught.

...what actual evidence is there that Saddam or his delegation ever tried to negotiate anything having to do with yellowcake with Nigeria.

They never negotiated anything at all because Niger officials wouldn't even talk to them. Apparently they knew something no one else wants to admit.

What else does Niger offer that the Iraqis were interested in? Cow peas? Live stock? Onions? If he was interested in feeding his people then he could have lightened up on fleecing the OFF program. The only other thing, besides yellowcake, was to maybe procure more gold for water faucets in his palaces.

This may seem too elementary, but sometimes the obvious is the answer. Bringing up Joe Wilson is certainly a distraction, but the Iraqi visit to Niger is completely relevant. Saddam probably assumed that even if sanctions were lifted no one was going to allow him to keep 550 metric tons of yellowcake currently under seal. I doubt he had any intention of having anything transported from Niger while he was being monitored, so the Niger visit was just an attempt to get set up for the future.

Oregon Muse

Thanks for the compliment. It's a delight to know I'm inside a wingnuts head though I hadn't even made a comment on the post. Any other voices regularly talking to you? There's medication and help even for wingnuts you know.

Oyster,

The document in question was so poorly done, one has to wonder if it wasn't done deliberately by someone to make sure it was caught.

I don't understand the point here. Are you saying that Iraq or Iraq symapthizers forged the document as an elaborate cover-up so that it would be discovered and then invalidated? I'd say that's a little bizarre to cover up a trip that no one was talking about before the document.

Or are you saying that it was a bad forgery to alert people to look more deeply into this trip (I believe Mary Mapes/Bill Burkett operate under a similar theory)? In that case, why not make a really good forgery that couldn't be dismissed out of hand?

As far as actual evidence goes, you didn't really present any. I think that if the document never existed, that the delegation to Nigeria would never have made anyone's radar, and would simply be a hugely obscure historical footnote. The same would hold true if US intelligence had actually done their job and properly examined the forgery instead of being easily fooled by it.

In any event, even your theory points to long term plans for Hussein once sanctions were removed, and that was if Nigeria talked with him. Since they didn't (they did actually have a meeting, but it was brief, not much was discussed, and there was no follow up), I guess his nuclear ambitions would have been pretty stalled, if the rest of your theory holds.

Of course, we all know the reality of the situation is way different than what the forgeries purported, and the CIA apparently believed, namely that Nigeria and Iraq had actually negotiated a deal for uranium.