Wmd

Ender

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Madeline Albright, Feb. 18, 1998: "Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face."

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., Oct. 10, 2002: "There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years."

Sandy Berger, Clinton national security adviser, Feb. 18, 1998: "He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has 10 times since 1983."

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Dec. 16, 1998: "Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region, and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."


Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., Oct. 10, 2002: "There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years."


Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and others, in a letter to President Bush, Dec. 5, 2001: "There is no doubt that ... Saddam Hussein has invigorated his weapons programs ... In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies."



From The David Kay report in which he briefed congress:

All of Iraq's WMD activities were highly compartmentalized ... with deception and denial built into each program. Deliberate dispersal and destruction of material and documentation ... began pre-conflict and ran trans- to post-conflict. Post-war looting destroyed or dispersed important and easily collectible material and evidence ...

Significant elements of this looting were carried out in a systematic and deliberate manner, with the clear aim of concealing pre-war activities of Saddam's regime. Some WMD personnel crossed borders in the pre/trans-conflict period, and may have taken evidence and even weapons-related materials with them.

Any actual WMD weapons or material is likely to be small ... and difficult to identify with normal search procedures. Even the bulkiest materials we are searching for ... can be concealed in spaces not much larger than a two-car garage.

Iraq's WMD programs spanned more than two decades, involved thousands of people, billions of dollars and were elaborately shielded by security and deception operations that continued even beyond the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom.


Be afraid if we can't find them.
 

Bob Hubbard

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Which should we fear more?

The over 200 missing Soviet nukes?
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/9/17/155150.shtml

Weapons grade nuclear materials that are currently missing?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1859560.stm

The N.Korean Nuclear program that is of growing concern and at an uncertain status?
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/s729643.htm

Missing Nuclear materials in the US?
(See quoted material below.)

How about the missing BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS material PRODUCED in the US by the US?
http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/bioter/anthraxmissingarmylab.html
http://www.rense.com/general3/misvac.htm

Or the Iraqi WMD that we have conflicting intellegence, have been lied to about and despite many months of searching, have yet to uncover anything more than a couple of trucks?


Personally, I'm more concerned with all the stuff that was produced IN the US that's disapeared, rather than the stuff produced over seas and imported. Myself, I refuse to live in fear or worry about it. If our government is doing its job, and our borders are secure like they were supposed to have been after 9-11, we've got little to worry about.

Right?



Originally from http://www.inq7.net/wnw/2002/aug/25/wnw_5-1.htm
US scientists raise alert
on missing nuclear devices
Posted: 8:12 PM (Manila Time) | Aug. 24, 2002
Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON - Several hundred devices containing radioactive materials that could be used in manufacturing "an effective terrorism device" are unaccounted for and presumed lost in the United States, a panel of US scientists has warned.

In a voluminous report titled "Making the Nation Safer: The Role of Science and Technology in Countering Terrorism" made public Friday, the National Research Council of the National Academies of Science, urged the government to tighten regulations for obtaining and possessing devices containing radioactive materials.


"Although radiological attacks would be unlikely to cause large numbers of casualties, the potential for inflicting economic loss and causing terror and panic warrants increased attention to the control and use of radiological sources by regulatory agencies and materials licensees," the panel warned.

According to the council, about two million sources of radioactivity are currently scattered around the United States, including Cesium-137, Cobalt-60, Iridium-192 and Strontium-90 that are used in hospitals, research laboratories and some industrial equipment.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC), which the US government has tasked with monitoring nuclear facility around the nation, has licensed their use.

But the report warns that the system "is not foolproof," adding that, according to USNRC records, "several hundred US sources are unaccounted for and presumed lost."

"Although labeled 'low-level,' some of this waste has high levels of radioactivity and could potentially be used to make an effective terrorism device," the panel noted.

The revelation follows a steady drumbeat of congressional warnings about what is seen by some lawmakers as lax security at US nuclear research, weapons production facilities and other institutions that work with fissile materials.

According to Democratic Congressman Edward Markey of Massachusetts, in more than 50 percent of security tests at the Energy Department's nuclear facilities, those playing "terrorists" won.

"The vaults used to store weapons grade uranium and plutonium, some of which are reportedly constructed out of drywall, may not be adequately protected against impacts from large commercial aircraft or the detonation of large truck bombs nearby," the
congressman warned earlier this year.

Last May, US Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrested in Chicago suspected al-Qaeda operative Jose Padilla, who, according to Attorney General John Ashcroft, was involved in a plot to build and detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the United States.

The National Research Council also expressed concern about the safety of nuclear materials in Russia, which, according to the report has about 150 metric tons of separated plutonium and 1,200 tons of highly enriched uranium.

The United States has spent hundred of millions of dollars since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union on boosting security at Russia's nuclear research facilities and preventing Russian weapons scientists from selling their expertise to rogue nations such as Iran, Iraq and North Korea.

But the council remained unimpressed.

"These safeguards are effective against casual thefts but may not be effective against higher-level threats, especially sophisticated insider threats," said the report, which also stressed that the threat of diversion of highly enriched uranium from Russia remained "significant."

The scientists pointed out that radioactive materials for a "dirty bomb" could also be produced clandestinely in Russia and other countries that have nuclear research reactors that could serve as sources of irradiated fuel.

"A small-scale program could potentially be hidden through careful facility design, however, and could, in principle, produce sufficient material for a weapon if operated for several years," the report said.


Now, for anyone who's read this far.... it all scares the crap outta me.

Peace.
 

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