What happened to looted Iraqi nuclear material? --->>>

[Stephanie]

It's time to revisit this article from 2003. A sub-discussion in this thread brought up the old question - if the Bush administration's claims about Iraqi nuclear activities were true, WHY didn't the U.S. secure Iraq's known nuclear sites immediately upon occupying the country? They did not. They only guarded the Oil Ministry.

Just another SMOKING GUN in the BUSH LIES department.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2003-10-05-wagner_x.htm

What happened to looted Iraqi nuclear material?
By Brett Wagner
Posted 10/5/2003 6:59 PM

The release Thursday of chief U.S. weapons inspector David Kay's report detailing America's six-month search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has reinflamed the debate over whether anyone will ever uncover that country's alleged stockpiles of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.

A great irony, however, seems to have gotten lost in that debate: As a direct result of President Bush's decision to invade Iraq without sufficient forces to secure and protect its nuclear research and storage facilities from rampant looting, enough radioactive material to build scores of dirty bombs now is missing and may be on its way to the international black market.

***

The White House knew all along, for example, that enormous quantities of dangerous nuclear materials were at the Tuwaitha nuclear storage facility near Baghdad, sealed and accounted for by the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency. Soon after the war began, the IAEA warned the White House that it should strive to secure the facility quickly. When word of looting at the site began to leak out through the international media, the IAEA again warned the White House.

The looting, however, went on for more than two weeks before the U.S. took any action. When the site was finally secured and U.S. authorities permitted a brief inspection by IAEA officials, the inspectors were inexplicably forbidden to check the status of highly radioactive materials that could be used in dirty bombs. Many of these materials are now unaccounted for. What the inspectors were allowed to verify is how much uranium is now missing: at least 22 pounds.

Other looted nuclear sites include the Baghdad Nuclear Research Center, where significant quantities of partially enriched uranium, cesium, strontium and cobalt were stored. U.S. survey teams have not been able to determine how many of those materials are missing.

<more>

Brett Wagner is president of the California Center for Strategic Studies and a professor at the U.S. Naval War College

More links in these old DU threads:

Wed Jul-16-03 07:22 PM
The Iraqi Uranium Trifecta
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=52593

Tue Jul-22-03 05:12 PM
Tuwaitha, PROOF that Bush LIED (repost)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=63025

Sun Oct-05-03 06:21 PM
Traitorgate + Tuwaitha = Total WH Meltdown
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=476777