Free Republic

Very interesting stuff going on in the Mary McCarthy files. It appears many of us missed a few important connections: One aspect of her background so far comparatively unexamined is her West African uranium connection. She served in a key government position concerned with West African nations producing yellowcake uranium at the same time that Joseph Wilson was working in the area. The two may be considered members of the “yellowcake community” within the Clinton national security apparatus of the 1990s.There are more questions than answers for the moment, but yellowcake uramium is not only of strategic importance for WMD...

NIGERGATE: A FRENCH 007 ACCUSES THE CIA AND SISMI Il Giornale’s Marco Chiocci takes a look at the accusations made by the disgraced ex DGSE agent, Alain Chouet, in yesterdays Repubblica. The ex Spy master from Paris got his facts, faces and dates completely wrong. It’s interesting to see how a French socialist jumps at the opportunity to accuse the USA of deception. Unfortunately for Chouet the following article explains and exposes his and the Repubblica’s lies one by one. ARTICLE BEGINS -- A FRENCH 007 ACCUSES THE CIA AND SISMI WITHOUT ANY PROOF By GIAN MARCO CHIOCCI AND MARIO...

Global News Wire Africa Analysis February 5, 1999 LENGTH: 294 words HEADLINE: AND THEN THERE WERE THREE...: FRANCEVILLE, GABON. BODY: Cogema's closure of the Mounana uranium mine near here leaves sub--Saharan Africa with only three producers of radioactive material -- Niger, Namibia and South Africa (where it is a by--product of gold mining; Africa Analysis, no.307). With uranium prices depressed, and unlikely to pick up in the immediate future, Cogema (Compagnie Generale des Matieres Nucleaires de France) has abandoned plans for a short--life open--pit operation at the nearby Mikouloungou deposit, which contains an estimated 1,100 tonnes of uranium. Mounana's 150--strong...

When thieves stole a steel watch and two bottles of perfume from Niger's embassy on Via Antonio Baiamonti in Rome at the end of December 2000, they left behind many questions about their intentions. The identity of the thieves has not been established. But one theory is that they planned to steal headed notepaper and official stamps that would allow the forging of documents for the illicit sale of uranium from Niger's vast mines. The break-in is one of the murkier elements surrounding the claim - made by the US and UK governments in the lead-up to the Iraq war...

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) - Two or three times each week, a convoy of flatbed trucks loaded with drums of mined uranium heads south from the Sahara Desert in Niger on a 10-day journey to the port of Cotonou in neighbouring Benin. Two lightly armed Nigerien gendarmes accompany the tarp-covered trucks on their 1,995-kilometre trip. They have no satellite phones or other ways to communicate in case of trouble. On their prearranged stops for the night the drivers must notify the mining companies, but they take no special precautions to secure the drums against theft. This low-grade security for the powder...