Posted on 07/12/2005 1:14:59 PM PDT by hipaatwo
I'm at the point where I'm just going to wait till this is over. I don't think Rove is stupid enough to do what the Dem's are accusing him of. It's all speculation until the prosecutor ends this case.
However, ore alone does not yellowcake make. This contraband ore had to be processed somehow, presumably in a plant located in the immediate neighborhood (the yield from unprocessed ore being so low as to mitigate against its shipment over any distance).
So, were they running a clandestine third shift? How was the ore processed into yellowcake in such a way as to be not only "off the books" but clandestine, as well? Or were they augmenting the input by, say, 1%, then skimming 1% of the production?
The point being that somebody at COGEMA knew what was going on, while the dupes in the Nigerien government probably knew nothing.
Wilson's "intelligence" gathering by his own admission was limited to a weekend of sipping sweat tea and conducting interviews at his hotel. Wilson also failed to file a written report of his "intelligence" gathering.
Thank goodness that the Bush administration requires a little more proof and documentation before setting any national policy.
One might say that, in today's journalists, there seems to be a certain lack of curiosity...
I was kidding, I am not aware that Rove plans to run for anything...
Evidence of Niger uranium trade 'years before war'
Piasa noted this in #11:
Another interesting tidbit is that the documents are alleged to have arrived in the hands of the Italian journalist in precisely the same month- October- that the US NIE was completed and released- and the same time as the UK media reports defector's claims that an Iraqi agent named Nadhim Jabouri had been sent to arrange for the acquisition of specialized aluminum tubes for its enrichment process from South Africa. The info comes from an INC source who, if I'm not mistaken, was apparently correct about Iraq's effort to obtain magnets from Germany.
My note: Also in October there were rumblings about a North Korean attempt to procure uranium from Congo.
I'm also wondering if Glencore might have played a role here:
Shady Iraq oil deals: The ANC connection
Majali was drawn into controversy in 2001 when a Swiss company, Glencor International, was ordered to pay the United Nations $3-million for violating sanctions on Iraq. Glencor's South African partner at the time was Montega Trading, headed by Majali.
Gee, none of these people had a problem with Sandy Berger when he stuffed classified documents down his pants, took them home, and shredded them. Instead, it was dismissed as "sloppiness" on the part of Berger - nothing more.
Everyone in the media is screaming for Karl Roves head because they said he leaked the information. But theres poor Judith Miller rotting in jail. If Rove is the leaker, if Judith sold him out by saying he was the leaker, she would rise to a level that scank Helen Thomas could only dream about! The libs would crown her as the next Edward R. Morrow with boobs! Yet she remains totally silent. Very interesting!
So Miller is writing for the NYT on issues of WMD.
Plame is working for the CIA as an analyst on issues of WMD.
We know Pincus and his wife have these elite media DC cocktail parties that Wilson and the little Mrs. have attended.
It can't be too far off the reservation to think that Miller and Plame had met at one of these parties and that Plame may even have been a source in the past for some of Miller's writings.
I say Miller's the leaker and the NYT knows it. They have her bundled up in jail as they try to hold on to their last shred of credibility with anybody anywhere in the world.
Bump fpr a later read
I love this stuff...
What constitutes an "abandoned" mine could just be a paperwork exercise, it doesn't necessarily mean its actually played out. You simply show on your company records that you are no longer working that site.
The people working that site don't work for you, they work for Acme Uranium Scavengers Incorporated, which no one can prove has anything to do with you.
And, in any case, who is going to prove anything one way or another? IAEA wasn't operating in the country, despite what Wilson said. Travel into the mining area requires a special permit, which you can't get. Wilson says he didn't travel to the site; he didn't mention that you aren't allowed to travel there.
Because Time, Inc itself was subpoenaed for the documents and did not want to go bankrupt paying contempt fines.
ping
I guess the definition of an abandoned mine is a mine that no one is working on when the inspectors drop by :-)
From considerations such as the ones you mention, it's clear Wilson's investigation could've at best produced a limited amount of information about Iraqi attempts to purchase uranium from Niger, and certainly could not have settled anything definitively. And Wilson surely knew this, yet he chose to portray his investigation as decisive anyway.
What are the odds of that?
This is actually going to be a tough one for the libs to pull off, and I wish McClellan would have the cojones to hit back on this with "The leaking of facts is one thing, but why would you reporters exacerbate the problem by reporting them?" Plame was in no "danger" while the reporter was talking to Rove--she was in danger when the reporter and Novak wrote their stories.
I'm not not not talking about curtailing the free press; I'm talking about putting the blame where it belongs.
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