YaHooka Forums - View Single Post - Saddam/Plame WMD 550 tons "yellowcake" Another Iraq Natural Resource Exploited

ProfessorMurder · 07-05-2008, 06:13 PM

The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program — a huge
stockpile of concentrated natural uranium — reached a Canadian port
Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation.

The removal of 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" — the seed material for higher-
grade nuclear enrichment — was a significant step toward closing the books
on Saddam's nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities
who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to
Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.

What's now left is the final and complicated push to clean up the remaining
radioactive debris at the former Tuwaitha nuclear complex about 12 miles
south of Baghdad — using teams that include Iraqi experts recently trained in
the Chernobyl fallout zone in Ukraine.

"Everyone is very happy to have this safely out of Iraq," said a senior U.S.
official

The Iraqi government sold the yellowcake to a Canadian uranium producer,
Cameco Corp., in a transaction the official described as worth "tens of millions
of dollars." A Cameco spokesman, Lyle Krahn, declined to discuss the price,
but said the yellowcake will be processed at facilities in Ontario for use in
energy-producing reactors.

"We are pleased ... that we have taken (the yellowcake) from a volatile
region into a stable area to produce clean electricity," he said.

The deal culminated more than a year of intense diplomatic and military
initiatives — kept hushed in fear of ambushes or attacks once the convoys
were under way: first carrying 3,500 barrels by road to Baghdad, then on 37
military flights to the Indian Ocean atoll of Diego Garcia and finally aboard a
U.S.-flagged ship for a 8,500-mile trip to Montreal.

And, in a symbolic way, the mission linked the current attempts to stabilize
Iraq with some of the high-profile claims about Saddam's weapons capabilities
in the buildup to the 2003 invasion.

Accusations that Saddam had tried to purchase more yellowcake from the
African nation of Niger — and an article by a former U.S. ambassador refuting
the claims — led to a wide-ranging probe into Washington leaks that reached
high into the Bush administration.

The yellowcake issue also is one of the many troubling footnotes of the war
for Washington.

A CIA officer, Valerie Plame, claimed her identity was leaked to journalists to
retaliate against her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, who wrote that
he had found no evidence to support assertions that Iraq tried to buy
additional yellowcake from Niger.

07-05-2008, 06:13 PM	#1 (permalink)
ProfessorMurder Jackal Ghoul Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Rio Grande Valley, Texas Posts: 888 Thanks: 10 Thanked 69 Times in 56 Posts	Saddam/Plame WMD 550 tons "yellowcake" Another Iraq Natural Resource Exploited The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program — a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium — reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation. The removal of 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" — the seed material for higher- grade nuclear enrichment — was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam's nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions. What's now left is the final and complicated push to clean up the remaining radioactive debris at the former Tuwaitha nuclear complex about 12 miles south of Baghdad — using teams that include Iraqi experts recently trained in the Chernobyl fallout zone in Ukraine. "Everyone is very happy to have this safely out of Iraq," said a senior U.S. official The Iraqi government sold the yellowcake to a Canadian uranium producer, Cameco Corp., in a transaction the official described as worth "tens of millions of dollars." A Cameco spokesman, Lyle Krahn, declined to discuss the price, but said the yellowcake will be processed at facilities in Ontario for use in energy-producing reactors. "We are pleased ... that we have taken (the yellowcake) from a volatile region into a stable area to produce clean electricity," he said. The deal culminated more than a year of intense diplomatic and military initiatives — kept hushed in fear of ambushes or attacks once the convoys were under way: first carrying 3,500 barrels by road to Baghdad, then on 37 military flights to the Indian Ocean atoll of Diego Garcia and finally aboard a U.S.-flagged ship for a 8,500-mile trip to Montreal. And, in a symbolic way, the mission linked the current attempts to stabilize Iraq with some of the high-profile claims about Saddam's weapons capabilities in the buildup to the 2003 invasion. Accusations that Saddam had tried to purchase more yellowcake from the African nation of Niger — and an article by a former U.S. ambassador refuting the claims — led to a wide-ranging probe into Washington leaks that reached high into the Bush administration. The yellowcake issue also is one of the many troubling footnotes of the war for Washington. A CIA officer, Valerie Plame, claimed her identity was leaked to journalists to retaliate against her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, who wrote that he had found no evidence to support assertions that Iraq tried to buy additional yellowcake from Niger. __________________ "No contaban con mi astucia!"