What have we here

Gonz

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
By Colum Lynch Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 15, 2004; Page A22

UNITED NATIONS, April 14 -- Large amounts of nuclear-related equipment, some of it contaminated, and a small number of missile engines have been smuggled out of Iraq for recycling in European scrap yards, according to the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog and other U.N. diplomats.

Mohammed ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned the U.N. Security Council in a letter that U.N. satellite photos have detected "the extensive removal of equipment and, in some instances, removal of entire buildings" from sites that had been subject to U.N. monitoring before the U.S.-led war against Iraq.

ElBaradei said an IAEA investigation "indicates that large quantities of scrap, some of it contaminated, have been transferred out of Iraq, from sites monitored by the IAEA." He said that he has informed the United States about the discovery and is awaiting "clarification."

After the 1991 Persian Gulf War, U.N. inspectors discovered, inventoried and destroyed most of the equipment used in Iraq's nuclear weapons program. But they left large amounts of nuclear equipment and facilities in Iraq intact and "under seal," including debris from the Osirak reactor that was bombed by Israel in 1981. That debris and the buildings are radioactively contaminated.

The U.N. nuclear agency has found no evidence yet that the exported materials are being sold to arms dealers or to countries suspected of developing nuclear weapons. But ElBaradei voiced concern that the loss of the materials could pose a proliferation threat and could complicate efforts to reach a conclusive assessment of the history of Iraq's nuclear program.

"It is not clear whether the removal of these items has been the result of looting activities in the aftermath of the recent war in Iraq, or as part of systematic efforts" to clean up contaminated nuclear sites in Iraq, ElBaradei wrote. "In any event these activities may have a significant impact on the agency's continuity of knowledge of Iraq's remaining nuclear-related capabilities and raise concern with regards to the proliferation risk associated with dual use material and equipment disappearing to unknown destinations."
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Washington Post
 
link isnt working. you have to be a registered member there gonz.


and also is this more saying that they have them? or that they never left Iraq?
 
chcr said:
So what you're saying is that the UN found something we missed?
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They found, and lost, that stuff before we went in. The important thing about this is the fact that they never told anybody about the nuclear/radioactive substances that went missing.
 
:hmm: that is kind of scary to me. If they were there and could have been if not were a threat to the world or other nations anyway(not just us mind you but European countries, Asian countries, African etc...) they should have told or done something about it
 
Inkara1 said:
Someone DID do something about it, if I recall. And you weren't very supportive of it.
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yea cause he was using violence. who is to say they wont use them on us now.
 
freako104 said:
yea cause he was using violence. who is to say they wont use them on us now.
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I can guarantee you if we had done nothing over 9/11 they'd have already attacked us again. They aren't playing soccer in your backyard because our leader did something which is more than the previous several administrations. The only language understood by all terrorists is violence.
 
Gonz said:
I can guarantee you if we had done nothing over 9/11 they'd have already attacked us again. They aren't playing soccer in your backyard because our leader did something which is more than the previous several administrations. The only language understood by all terrorists is violence.
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There was nothing to be done until we were attacked. We're supposed to be better than them. Oh, never mind.
 
:lol2:

IAEA Says Iraqi Nuke Material Now Dangerous
(2003-05-04) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency says that harmless Iraqi nuclear materials it catalogued during months of inspections have suddenly become dangerous since looters may have removed some from U.S.-guarded research facilities.

The IAEA criticized the U.S. for letting former employees return to the Baghdad Nuclear Research Facility and the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center where its inspectors had documented tons of uranium suitable for use in a nuclear weapons or so-called 'dirty-bombs'.

"These materials were not dangerous in the hands of the Iraqi regime," said an unnamed IAEA spokesman. "That's why we said that Iraq poses no nuclear threat. However, now that they may be in the hands of looters and criminals, they have morphed into highly radioactive materials that may be sold on the black market and turned into weapons of mass destruction."

The spokesman said he hopes that any stolen nuclear matter falls into the hands of another responsible government like Iran, Syria or North Korea.
 
chcr said:
There was nothing to be done until we were attacked. We're supposed to be better than them. Oh, never mind.
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I agree. What's the problem?
 
You made it seem like you want us to attack them before they attack us. the problem with that is as he said we are supposesd to be better than that.
 
I hope so.

The difference between having the entire Japanese Navy drop from our radar & turn up in a surprise attack over Pearl Harbor is massively diferent than some freaks with bent ideals using any means necessary to attack & kill civilians.

When they play fair, we should play fair. When they don't they won't get a first chance.
 
then you should get the problem. we are supposed to be above that. we dont start the fights. or we shouldnt.
 
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