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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: combjelly who wrote (297734)	8/1/2006 7:00:18 PM
From: Brumar89	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574483

The trade visit was in 1999. Note that Iraq had purchased uranium from Niger before back in 1980. These are important questions for at least two reasons. First, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission, Niger exported only $260 million in goods in 2000 and $251 million in 2001. Its only export likely to interest Saddam is uranium (its other top exports, according to the CIA, are livestock, cowpeas and onions). Secondly, as ElBaradei himself pointed out, IAEA interviews with Iraqis were conducted within Iraq, and were often done in the presence of an Iraqi government monitor or were tape-recorded by the subject in lieu of a monitor. If Iraq's emissary to Niger sought trade, the implication is obvious: Did Saddam want Niger uranium, or did he want Niger cows or cowpeas? I contacted IAEA Senior Information Officer Melissa Fleming. On July 22, in response to my written questions, she provided written answers that she said were "to the best of my knowledge and to the degree I am authorized to provide internal information." Here they are: Q: "Who was the Iraqi official who went to Niger in 1999?" A: "He was Ambassador to Rome, Ambassador Al Zahawie. He retired in August 2000." Q: "Was he the only Iraqi official who went to Niger in the 1999 to 2001 time frame?" A: "I don't know. But he was the one named in the forged documents as having visited Niger and carried out the transaction, so he was most interesting to our inspectors." Q: "Why did the Iraqi government send him to Niger?" A: "They said his visit was a part of a trade mission and also he was accredited to Niger as Ambassador (some country's (sic) Ambassadors cover a number of countries in a region)." Q: "Who in the Iraqi government provided the IAEA with the explanation for this Iraqi's trip to Niger?" A: "IAEA inspectors worked with counterparts at the liaison body in Baghdad, The National Monitoring Directorate." Q: "Did the Iraqi government back up their explanation with documentation?" A: "They provided information on its relations with Niger as well as information on a 1980 purchase of uranium (known to the IAEA) from Niger." Q: "Did the IAEA request an interview with the Iraqi official who went to Niger?" A: "Yes, he was interviewed in Baghdad by IAEA inspectors." Q: "Did the IAEA get to interview the Iraqi official who went to Niger?" A: "See above." Q: "If so, did they get to do an interview with him in private, without a monitor from the Iraqi government, and without a tape recording being made by the interviewee? Was the interview inside or outside the territory of Iraq?" A: "The interview was monitored." talk.ocregister.com

To: combjelly who wrote (297734)	8/1/2006 10:04:41 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1574483

How many years has Bush had since 9/11 to insure the border checks are well covered? For how many years, have we heard the Bush administration has been responsible for there not being any more terrorist attacks since 9/11? In reality the reason we have not had any more terrorist attacks is due solely to pure luck and the cost of mounting one from oustdie the US. Is there anything they can do right other than win elections? Investigation: U.S. borders perilously porous Federal investigators easily pass border checks using fake identification By Lisa Myers Senior investigative correspondent NBC News Along the northern and southern borders, undercover federal investigators tried to enter the United States using fake driver’s licenses and fake birth certificates. The results? Staggering. At all nine border crossings tested, investigators got in easily. Not a single border agent detected the phony IDs. In fact, at two crossings, agents didn't even check any IDs at all. "Well, this is totally unacceptable,” says Thomas Kean, former chairman of the 9/11 commission. Kean notes that some 9/11 hijackers used fraudulent IDs. He says someone must finally be held accountable for lapses at the border. "It’s happened too often," Kean says. "And the American people aren’t safe because of it.”" In fact, this investigation by the Government Accountability Office is a follow-up to one three years ago in which three crossings were tested, and all the agents failed to detect the fake IDs. continued........... msnbc.msn.com