US Marines Find Underground Nuke Facility In Iraq

[Jedi Knight]

US Marines find an underground nuclear facility (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=31966) that has very high concentrations of radioactivity inside Iraq.

The UN weapons inspectors ate lunch there one day but forgot to include the site in their UN weapons inspection report lol.

JK

[Gem]

I'm a little skeptical of this article, sounds like a tabloid or something.


The first page of the news was all about the middle east. I doubt it's credible news source.

Besides, if it was true, don't you think Old Rummy would be screaming this out loud by now?

"Hidden beneath the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission's Al-Tuwaitha facility." Are the Iraqis dumb enough to have that kind of agency?

"It's amazing," Flick said. "I went to the off-site storage buildings, and the rad detector went off the charts. Then I opened the steel door, and there were all these drums, many, many drums, of highly radioactive material."

And he didn't bother to take a picture? Frankly, if I don't hear any of this stuff from Bush or Cheney I'll put it in the recycle bin.

Gem

[subgenius]

Originally posted by Gem
I'm a little skeptical of this article, sounds like a tabloid or something.


The first page of the news was all about the middle east. I doubt it's credible news source.

Besides, if it was true, don't you think Old Rummy would be screaming this out loud by now?

"Hidden beneath the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission's Al-Tuwaitha facility." Are the Iraqis dumb enough to have that kind of agency?

"It's amazing," Flick said. "I went to the off-site storage buildings, and the rad detector went off the charts. Then I opened the steel door, and there were all these drums, many, many drums, of highly radioactive material."

And he didn't bother to take a picture? Frankly, if I don't hear any of this stuff from Bush or Cheney I'll put it in the recycle bin.

Gem
Haven't you heard? Bush and Rumsfeld are slaves to the liberal commie matriarchal totalitarian conspiracy.
P.S. Welcome to JK World. He's skeptical of all such news reports until they're verified.
And as far as opinions based on fact, you know what they say: Garbage In, Garbage Out.
P.P.S "There are no battered women."--JK

[Gem]

Haven't you heard? Bush and Rumsfeld are slaves to the liberal commie matriarchal totalitarian conspiracy.
Oh no! The base upon which I built my reality has been destroyed! Is there no Right Wingers left in power?!:eek:

[aerocontrols]

For what it's worth, here (http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/news/s_128200.html) is another story about the same find.

MattJ

[reprise]

I just emailed Carl Prine at the Tribune-Review for more information. Will let you know if I receive a response.

[corplinx]

Alright, who wants to make bets on whether or not this pans out? Any takers?

50 bucks says this turn out to be exaggerated or pure bogosity. JK?

[reprise]

I've read both reports linked to here, and I think that "if this pans out" really needs to be defined.

One reason I emailed the journalist who wrote one of the articles is because he DIDN'T jump to the conclusion that having an equivalent of the Atomic Energy Commission automatically means that Iraq was attempting to develop nuclear weapons. If he responds, I'll be very interested to hear what his take on this is.

[aerocontrols]

Another (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1573-2003Apr9.html) story.

[Tmy]

$20 says it turns out to an abandoned IMAX theater.

Remember the teh chemial weapons plant that wasnt? The anthrax that turne out to be pesticide?

These reporters fail to wait on any true facts.

[Wile E. Coyote]

It looks from the articles that the coalition forces have merely secured a known place where Iraq was permitted to dump nuclear waste.

It is not news that we found it, but that we have control of it.

[Bjorn]

The last story seems to be more or less the debunking of the previous ones.

Iraq's only internationally sanctioned repository for nuclear material warehouses that are sealed and monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog also served as a repository for about 150 pieces of radioactive equipment that Iraq was permitted to keep for medical or industrial applications They found what was legally there?

[Segnosaur]

I won't believe it until I get a confirmation from FoxNews.

[BillyTK]

Originally posted by Bjorn
The last story seems to be more or less the debunking of the previous ones.

They found what was legally there?

Damn. I was hoping it was an underground bunker for the flying saucers of our Martian ancestors.

[Mel]

Originally posted by Segnosaur
I won't believe it until I get a confirmation from FoxNews.

LOL!!!!

Originally posted by Tmy
These reporters fail to wait on any true facts.

In the rush to 'beat' the competition, this has been steadily becoming a media problem of disgusting proportions.

24/7 news coverage is bound to suffer during the lulls in "real" news..... why wait for confirmation when you can always fill up another couple of hours explaining why you got a story wrong in the first place?

[Tricky]

Originally posted by Bjorn
The last story seems to be more or less the debunking of the previous ones.The last story seems to be more or less the debunking of the previous ones.



quote:
----------------------------------------
Iraq's only internationally sanctioned repository for nuclear material
-------------------------------------

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------
warehouses that are sealed and monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog
---------------------------------------------------------

quote:
-------------------------------------------------
also served as a repository for about 150 pieces of radioactive equipment that Iraq was permitted to keep for medical or industrial applications
----------------------------------------------------------------

They found what was legally there?
Yeah, I got intrigued when I saw a link to a reputable news source, only to find out that there was nothing to the "we found the nukes" story. I guess checking the facts is how you get to be a reputable news source.

[Reginald]

Doh! And there was me, looking expecting to see some huge underground complex a la James Bond, blokes in silver suits with clicking geiger event counters. I sort of almost expected there to be a big red switch, that the bad guys could pull as they left, sending the place sky high.

Oh well, sounds like a dump.

;)

Not even a bikini clad lady, languishing near the Pirhana pit.

[Gem]

I have to admit though, I was wrong. I was proven wrong. I doubted that the news were actually real, and for that, I apologies.
and yes, I heard it on Fox News.

As to what's down there, there is some speculation, and we'll have to wait.

Gem

[Jedi Knight]

Originally posted by Gem
I have to admit though, I was wrong. I was proven wrong. I doubted that the news were actually real, and for that, I apologies.
and yes, I heard it on Fox News.

As to what's down there, there is some speculation, and we'll have to wait.

Gem

Never doubt The Force.

Jedi Knight

[LTC8K6]

Someone rang for Fox news?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,83821,00.html

[Supercharts]

I have a question - perhaps better asked in Science.

If you have a bunch of weapons grade plutonium doesn't that stuff degrade over the years so it is no longer weapons grade? I am very fuzzy in recall but I seem to remember that US Nukes have to be changed every 7-10 years?

[aerocontrols]

Originally posted by Supercharts
I have a question - perhaps better asked in Science.

If you have a bunch of weapons grade plutonium doesn't that stuff degrade over the years so it is no longer weapons grade? I am very fuzzy in recall but I seem to remember that US Nukes have to be changed every 7-10 years?

Pu-241 has about a 13-14 year half-life.

MattJ

[Wayne Grabert]

"Discovery" of nuclear materials already well known. (http://news.nasdaq.com/news/newsStory.aspx?&cpath=20030410%5CACQDJON200304101645DOWJONESDJONLI NE001083.htm) VIENNA (AP)--U.S. troops who suggested they uncovered evidence of an active nuclear weapons program in Iraq unwittingly may have stumbled across known stocks of low-grade uranium and illegally broken U.N. seals, officials said Thursday.

(snip)

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, which has inspected the Tuwaitha nuclear complex at least two dozen times and maintains a thick dossier on the site, had no immediate comment.

But an expert familiar with U.N. nuclear inspections told The Associated Press that it was implausible to believe that U.S. forces had uncovered anything new at the site. Instead, the official said, the Marines apparently broke U.N. seals designed to ensure the materials aren't diverted for weapons use - or end up in the wrong hands.

"What happened apparently was that they broke IAEA seals, which is very unfortunate because those seals are integral to ensuring that nuclear material doesn't get diverted," the expert said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Several tons of low-grade uranium has been stored at Tuwaitha, Iraq's principle nuclear research center and a site that has been under IAEA safeguards for years, the official said. The Iraqis were allowed to keep the material because it was unfit for weapons use without costly and time-consuming enrichment.

The uranium was inspected by the U.N. nuclear agency twice a year and was kept under IAEA seal - at least until early this week, when the Marines seized control of the site.

"It's hard to believe that the U.S. military would not be well aware of this site - it's the center of Iraq's nuclear research activities," the expert told AP. "Just as you wouldn't be surprised to find hamburgers at McDonald's, no one should be surprised to find nuclear materials at this site."

The U.N. nuclear agency's inspectors have visited Tuwaitha about two dozen times, including sending inspectors with special mountaineering training who went underground, according to IAEA documents.

So it doesn't pan out to be a significant find. As usual.

[subgenius]

Originally posted by Wayne Grabert
"Discovery" of nuclear materials already well known. (http://news.nasdaq.com/news/newsStory.aspx?&cpath=20030410%5CACQDJON200304101645DOWJONESDJONLI NE001083.htm)
So it doesn't pan out to be a significant find. As usual.
Never doubt the Farce.

[armageddonman]

No WMDs found...again.

Funny how people are starting to be apologetic about this. :)

If there are no WMDs the US government has lied to the world, the UN and to it's own people to get a pretence for starting the war, face it.

[subgenius]

Not only that but this was a facility well known to the inspectors, and the marines broke a seal on it.

[Wayne Grabert]

Originally posted by armageddonman
If there are no WMDs the US government has lied to the world, the UN and to it's own people to get a pretence for starting the war, face it.
At least it's consistent.

[Troll]

Originally posted by armageddonman
No WMDs found...again.

Funny how people are starting to be apologetic about this. :)

If there are no WMDs the US government has lied to the world, the UN and to it's own people to get a pretence for starting the war, face it.

Lied about one aspect or reason for it, yes. That freaking added on "Liberation" thing seems to be working well enough so far though. When do we get the oil I hear this was all about?:rolleyes:

[ceo_esq]

The alarmist nuke find story is still in "credibility quarantine" as far as I'm concerned, but one bit in the Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,83821,00.html) version does worry me a little bit:" went through that site multiple times, but did they go underground? I never heard anything about that," physicist David Albright, a former IAEA Action Team inspector in Iraq from 1992 to 1997, told the [i]Tribune-Review.
Now that the inspectors have a freer hand to go through these sites at leisure, I think it's plausible that some overlooked items will emerge.

[Wayne Grabert]

Originally posted by ceo_esq
The alarmist nuke find story is still in "credibility quarantine" as far as I'm concerned, but one bit in the Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,83821,00.html) version does worry me a little bit: "[International inspectors in fall 2002] went through that site multiple times, but did they go underground? I never heard anything about that," physicist David Albright, a former IAEA Action Team inspector in Iraq from 1992 to 1997, told the Tribune-Review.
Now that the inspectors have a freer hand to go through these sites at leisure, I think it's plausible that some overlooked items will emerge.
The answer to that question was in the last paragraph of the extract in my earlier post:
The U.N. nuclear agency's inspectors have visited Tuwaitha about two dozen times, including sending inspectors with special mountaineering training who went underground, according to IAEA documents.

[ceo_esq]

Originally posted by Wayne Grabert
The answer to that question was in the last paragraph of the extract in my earlier post:

That'll teach me to speed-read threads! I stand corrected. (Although query whether "mountaineering" was the right term to describe their training.)