Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Thomas M. who wrote (344652)	7/28/2007 3:42:10 PM
From: longnshort	Respond to of 1572377

No doubt everyone is tired of the Niger uranium story. But this article by Terence Jeffrey in Human Events, linked to this morning by Real Clear Politics, caused me to think again about the practical reality of trade between Iraq and Niger. Jeffrey's article notes that in 1999, according to the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, an Iraqi named Wissam al Zawahie was sent on a "trade mission" to Niger. The article's main theme is that al Zawahie was one of the chief Iraqi advocates for the development of nuclear weapons by that country. Jeffrey also recounts that he tried to get more information on Zawahie's contacts with Niger from the U.N., which interviewed him in Baghdad, but the U.N. refused to disclose any information that had not already been made public. One of the unanswered questions that Jeffrey posed to the U.N. was: What did Zahawie say Iraq hoped to import from Niger? This caused me to wonder about Niger's export economy. Niger is one of the world's poorest countries; what, exactly, might it have to sell that Iraq would want to buy? Bearing in mind, of course, that there is no question that Iraq bought large quantities of uranium from Niger in the 1980's. Here is what the World Bank tells us: In 1991, Niger's exports totaled a minuscule $270 million, of which $199 million was uranium. By 2000, exports had crept up to $283 million, of which $90 million was uranium--the decline largely the result of falling prices. Other than uranium, the only exports substantial enough to merit mention by the World Bank were livestock products, at $49 million.

To: Thomas M. who wrote (344652)	7/28/2007 3:43:16 PM
From: longnshort	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1572377

OK, let's put this together. Apart from livestock that cross over into Nigeria, it is hard to find any reference to an export product other than uranium. Iraq had bought uranium from Niger in the 1980's, and in 1999 one of Iraq's principal advocates of nuclear weapons development was sent on a trade mission to Niger. (He was also accredited as Ambassador to Niger.) If he wasn't trying to buy uranium, then what was he trying to buy? The French, who would be in the best position to know since they operate Niger's uranium mines, apparently told the British that he was trying to buy uranium. Would someone please tell me what known facts have "discredited" the claim that Iraq tried to buy uranium in Niger?

To: Thomas M. who wrote (344652)	7/28/2007 3:47:03 PM
From: longnshort	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1572377

Disinterring a Dead Horse, and Beating It Some More The New York Times continued its obfuscation on the Niger/uranium issue this morning. The latest article is based on the declassification of a State Department memo written in 2002 that concluded, on the basis of logistical factors, that it was unlikely that Iraq could successfully obtain uranium from Niger. As it has on various occasions in the past, the Times pretends that this somehow contradicts the famous sixteen words in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address, to the effect that the British had reported that Saddam tried to buy uranium in Africa. It doesn't, of course, and we have been over this ground so many times that it is disheartening to have to plow it again. It seems clear that, in fact, Saddam did try to buy uranium from Niger. That's what Joe Wilson reported to the CIA when he returned from his famous mint-tea-sipping excursion there. And, as we pointed out a long time ago, there really wasn't any plausible purpose to an Iraqi trade mission to Niger, which we know took place, other than to try to buy uranium. This is no doubt one of the reasons why the intelligence agencies' Consensus Intelligence Estimate of October 2002 concluded that Iraq had been "vigorously trying to procure uranium ore and yellowcake." So, there really isn't any doubt about the facts: Iraq tried to buy uranium in Africa, but didn't succeed. For the Times to pretend that the fact that it would have been difficult for Iraq to successfully obtain uranium from Niger contradicts the fact that it nevertheless tried, is ridiculous. And just about anyone should be able to understand that the fact that Saddam tried to obtain uranium, albeit unsuccessfully, was itself of great importance, since it indicated an intention to re-start his nuclear weapons program. These points are so obvious, frankly, that it is difficult to understand how a newspaper reporter, operating in good faith, could confuse them.

To: Thomas M. who wrote (344652)	7/30/2007 11:57:36 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1572377

Just a little game I like to run every now and then. I go post some facts on the "Just the Facts" thread. Within a very short time, my facts get the moderator into a childish tizzy of denial and he bans me, demonstrating the right-wing's hatred of facts. Message 23741427 :-) The unanswered question: What quantity of uranium did Saddam seek from Niger? Thomas, you are making a mt out of a molehill. It wasn't uranium; it was yellow cake......for a wedding. Apparently the ingredients were in short supply in Iraq. Saddam wanted the cake, his daughter's favorite, for her wedding and tried to bribe a UN official. President Bush didn't think he should have such luxuries.....understandably. Besides, Mr. Bush doesn't like bribery. So he invaded! Here......let me see if I can find the Fox link that tells the whole story.......I don't want you to be confused. I'll post it back to you when I find it.