Posted on 09/23/2002 10:32:57 PM PDT by newsperson999
TONY Blair will today release documents saying that Saddam Hussein has succeeded in acquiring enough uranium to make a primitive nuclear bomb.
The Prime Minister is to make public his 51-page dossier against Iraq - which will argue that it is already too late for United Nations weapons inspectors to stop Saddams nuclear ambitions.
Mr Blair last night won the support of Cabinet, but only by backing away from the full US position - that an attack will be sanctioned even if it is against the will of the UN.
Mr Blair yesterday called a special Cabinet meeting on Iraq where all ministers were shown his dossier.
Before the meeting, he summoned four ministers to Downing Street and spoke to them individually.
One was Clare Short, the International Development Secretary, who, last weekend, expressed her concerns about Britain engaging in a game of "cowboys" over Iraq.
Ms Short did not repeat this view in Cabinet and left the meeting saying only that "we are all agreed".
Robin Cook, the Leader of the House of Commons and another sceptic on Iraq, also offered his support for the Prime Minister.
Downing Streets dossier will be published at 8am this morning, giving MPs four hours to read its contents before holding a full day of debates in the reconvened House of Commons.
The long-awaited document will be the only case against Saddam containing facts which are not in the public domain; most of them provided by MI6.
It will argue that Saddam already has uranium, but not of the sufficient quality needed to make a full nuclear bomb. It will prove Iraq has already completed the other parts for a bomb and is only missing the high-grade fissile material.
The dossier is expected to add that the uranium which has already found its way to Baghdad was either acquired from Libya or Chad. Nuclear triggers have also gone missing in Kazakhstan, according to officials, and may have ended up in Iraq.
It will also endorse reports suggesting that Saddam could build a bomb within 90 days if he acquired the right fissile material which would allow him to complete a full nuclear bomb.
President George Bush, who is now arguing his case to US Congress, said in a speech yesterday that he will not be bound by the UN and that it can either threaten action against Saddam or become irrelevant.
"I told them [the UN] that ... if they wouldnt act, the United States will," the president said. "We will not allow the worlds worst leaders to threaten us with the worlds worst weapons."
Britain is set to release a draft UN resolution within days, which asks its Security Council to threaten force on Iraq if Saddam refuses to comply with existing UN sanctions.
Mr Blair will today face the Commons and argue that this is, in effect, Britain and the United States enforcing the will of the UN. He will not repeat Mr Bushs threat to ignore any UN veto.
Rebel Labour MPs have said they will attempt to force a vote at the end of todays proceedings - arguing that public opinion is against Mr Blair, and that the will of the Commons must be formally measured.
A Guardian/ICM poll today shows that Labours lead over the Tories has fallen to five percentage points - its lowest since the fuel protests of two years ago. The poll shows Labour falling two points, and the Conservatives climbing by two.
The Lib Dems, who hold their conference in Brighton this week, are down one point.
Charles Kennedy, the Lib Dem leader, used his keynote speech yesterday to accuse the US of "imperialism" in threatening regime change in Iraq.
Stay Safe !!!
Yep, and 9/11 didn't quite cut it for them. It's evidently going to take an American city incinerated in a nuclear furnace to convince them.
Except to say that it all is very troubling. I'm hoping things don't get too hairy on us here, there's an awful lot at stake. Many many people are probably going to die, so I hope everyone knows what they're doing.
Then again WWIII might shake things out a bit, who knows.
Um...so where did they get it from?(scary if they have it too)
I must admit I'm very pleasantly surprised at the way GWB has handled UN issues. He is NOT the globalist that he's been made out to be.
Now that truly is irrelevant. Saddam is more relevant than Alvin, or at least should be treated as a serious threat. Alvin "Hangin' Chad" Gore would get his quasi-serious letter shoved up his rectum were he to deliver it to Saddam personally.
TONY Blair will today release documents saying that Saddam Hussein has succeeded in acquiring enough uranium to make a primitive nuclear bomb.Which is it?...
It will argue that Saddam already has uranium, but not of the sufficient quality needed to make a full nuclear bomb.
What is the difference between a primitive nuvclear bomb and a full nuclear bomb? My guess it that they mean he has enough to build a 'dirty' or radiological bomb. Any amount of radioactive material is sufficient for that.
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