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Iraqi "Yellowcake" saga

LazersGoPEWPEW said:
Older article from July but it was news to me when I received the link in an email. It's a legitimate article. My respect for President Bush has increased quite a bit after reading it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25546334

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/u/uraniumyellowcake.htm
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This has been hashed out on here before. Simply put, it is nothing new and it certainly not a smoking gun. The yellowcake that the articles talk about was a known stockpile that existed before the '91 Gulf War and was monitored regularly after the war.

You have to keep in mind that yellowcake needs to be processed before it can be used in a power plant or for nuclear weapons. There are several processes to weaponize it and there was no evidence that Iraq attempted any of them after the Gulf War. And while the UN was publicly monitoring the storage area where the yellowcake was kept, I am certain they were not alone in doign that. You need a lot of raw material to make a nuke, and that kind of activity at the site would have been noticed by everyone and their brother.

As for why it was not moved before, maybe because no one was willing to move or take it. It was a lot of material, and it was not easy to move it. Easier to leave it there and monitor it.

So no, this is not the smoking gun that many are looking for. It doesn't change the fact there was no WMD, other than some scattered leftovers everyone forgot about, Saddam included. And no, it didn't go to Syria either.

Don't take my word for it though, here is the official report:

DCI Special Advisor Report on Iraq's WMD (the 'Duelfer Report')
 
Bomb damage in 1991 destroyed the uranium extraction facility at the Al-Qa’im Superphosphate Fertilizer Plant. In 1991, inspectors found that Al-Qa’im had been heavily damaged in the war and the structure was unsafe. Visits to the site in interim years did not reveal any attempt to reestablish the plant to produce yellowcake.
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Ah, Al Qa'im, I knew thee well... USAF F-15E drivers called it "SAM Town" (they lost one of their own up that way duking it out with SA-2 and SA-3 batteries defending it). Easily the most heavily defended Superphosphate Facility in the world and the most heavily bombed fertilizer plant anywhere. That place was pummeled by everything from B-52s to first operational use of SLAM.

alqaim3.jpg


Photo of Al Qa'im in 1991 by HJ
 
HH-60H said:
What's the picture of? I can't see it.
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How about now?

Al Qa'im from 20K and Mach 1.2 after TARPS photo pass to discern results of SLAM mission conducted the night prior.
 

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