Posted on 05/06/2002 12:48:05 AM PDT by kattracks
May 6, 2002 -- Saddam Hussein is working "feverishly" to build a nuclear bomb but hasn't succeeded yet, Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday.Powell spoke after a new report said Iraq's nuclear program was back in full swing as Saddam prepared his arsenal for a U.S. attack.
Charles Duelfer, who was the second-ranking official on the United Nation's Special Commission on Iraq, said Iraq's nuclear scientists were "gravitating" to the country's five nuclear-research sites.
"That doesn't appear to be coincidental," he told Time magazine.
Powell said he had no reason to believe that Saddam had obtained a sufficient supply of weapons-grade enriched uranium.
"I haven't noticed that he's made any breakthroughs, but I'm sure he's working feverishly," he told NBC's "Meet the Press."
"And that's why the United States, irrespective of what the United Nations might do with inspectors or sanctions, continues to believe that regime change is the best solution."
While the International Atomic Energy Agency dismantled 40 Iraqi nuclear-research facilities plants in the 1990s, Duelfer said U.N. inspectors were unable to account for Saddam's complete bank of chemical and biological weapons.
Prior to the Gulf War, Baghdad produced 8,400 liters of anthrax, 19,000 liters of botulinum and 2,000 liters each of aflatoxin and clostridium, the Iraqi government says.
A single gram of anthrax - about 1/30 of an ounce - is enough for 100 million fatal doses if properly dispersed.
A single gram of anthrax - about 1/30 of an ounce - is enough for 100 million fatal doses if properly dispersed.
Oh, dear.
Yeah, we may be ticked off at Israel for throwing off our plans to get Saddam, but their action in 1982 saved us big time. And by wiping out a lot of West Bank terror infrastructure, Israel has not only bought themselves some breathing space but may actually have done us a big service by securing our flank better when we go for Iraq.
"Properly dispersed" in a dream-world optimial dispersion that could never happen. But it still gives you a good idea of how deadly this stuff is, doesn't it?
LOL! Does he mean he's certain Saddam hasn't tested one yet, or that he doesn't fully trust the intelligence community to notice...?
as in anthrax, etc. dispersal via a nuke blast ?
that seems counterintuitive.
wouldn't the radiation/heat fry the stuff ?
Another "Saddam nuke" story.
Let's run the usual checklist?
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published in newspaper not known for veracity : check
quotes obscure boffin whose career will be enhanced by fearmongering : check
includes absurd doomsday scenario :check
completely free of any documented independent facts : check
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Soooo....what's up, with Brad and Jennifer?
Tomkat's right, the heat and radiation would kill the spores. Anyway, it's not speed that matters, but perfectly even dispersal over a perfectly even population.
I believe that casualty number is based on how much anthrax it takes to kill one person, which is a very minute amount. The problem is getting exactly that amout to that many people, which is impossible -- you get one person taking 1,000,000 times the lethal amount of spores (1/100th gram) and others getting nothing.
For a visual, let's say one small bag of flower contains anthrax capable of killing 10 billion people (100 grams). Crowd 1,000 people onto a football field, throw up the bag, and shoot it above them. Most people will get dust on them and inhale some (not counting wind, rain, etc.). Now do the same with the theoretical dosage needed to kill 1,000 people, which is 1/100,000 gram. Do you think more than one or two people will get hit?
I tossed my NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) school materials long ago, so don't quote me as an authoritative source. I'm just going on what I remember.
What newspaper is?
The Reykjavik Times.
When they say the cod are running, stop whatever you're doing, grab your rod and reel, and git down to the wharf.
flower = flour......
interesting reading otherwise
:-)
AMEN!!!
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