The FBI and the Italian government now say they were the work of petty scammers, but – since Michael Ledeen or some other “evil” force is not involved – the MSM seems bored with the whole thing. When further details of why Joe Wilson was in Niger in the first place emerge, I predict they will be even more blasé. Rick Ballard puts it all in perspective.
PJ Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that PJ Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. Please note that comments are reviewed by the editorial staff and may not be posted immediately. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pjmedia.com.
Off topic but very (I think) interesting. Yesterday Bostonian posted the following under the story “France according to the New York Times”:
From the Beeb, a commentor named Alam said this:
“The French must turn over the disputed areas to the people who live there. Only Muslim law and leaders can control this violence. Police action is only making it worse. If they would announce that Imams were in control and send the murderous police home, a new era of peace would begin.”
The comments are quite interesting: Link…
Either I’m missing something or the Beeb has censored this out – it’s gone… the BBC is stopping Islamofascism embarassing itself.
Wilson was in Niger to see if Saddam had made any moves to buy the “yellowcake.” Yellowcake is a product of the milling of uranium ore in Niger. What all the spooks and stuff were afraid of is that yellowcake’s main claim to fame is that you can convert it to plutionium in the blink of an eye. If Saddam wanted yellowcake it followed that he could convert it to plutionium so he could build a plutonium bomb. Now, a plutonium bomb needs exquisite precision in order to set it off; only a first rate scientific organization could do it. So if Saddam could build a plutonium bomb we wanted to know. Wilson acted like he was on a mission to explore the nite life of Niger instead of the serious task that he just sluffed off like it was nothing.
Dubhail–that post is still there. My link was bad. If you search for “murderous,” you’ll find Alam’s post.
Duke,
Yellow cake supplies uranium from which the isotope U-232 can be separated, which is an arduous undertaking. Plutonium is created in nuclear reactors by irradiation of U-238. Its virtue is that it comes in a useful fissionable form and does not require the difficult separation of isotopes. However, it is poisonous, hard to machine (burns), and requires a more sophisticated bomb design.
Exactly, Chuck. If Saddam could do it he would have had to have had a very sophisticated operation. Yellowcake is concentrated uranium oxide, obtained through the milling of uranium ore. It is radioactive. It is a powder that contains about 80% uranium oxide, and melts at approximately 2878
Ya know, if the White House had only claimed those Niger memos were “fake but accurate,” we wouldn’t be having this discussion…
Isn’t it possible that Saddam was buying the yellowcake to ship to Libya which had outsourced the production of nuclear weapons for him? Isn’t it possible that Saddam’s nukes are now in Oak Ridge?
Ya know, if the White House had only claimed those Niger memos were “fake but accurate,” we wouldn’t be having this discussion…
LOL
That’s a keeper!