Cheney said Britain has "re-valuated" the Niger/Iraq/Uranium claim and

[karlschneider]

that it was true...and that we have sealed up 500 tons of Uranium in Iraq that was found. Has anybody heard about this? I think it's just another goddamn lie...

[lindashaw]

1. whatever he says won't be legitimate, not without inspector...

confirmation... sadly, the world and even this country won't accept anything the administration says without 2 to 3 witnesses.

[TahitiNut]

2. The question then becomes ...

... how long did it take them to ship in such yellowcake? If this is supposedly a WMD, then so is any rock, stick, or stone. There is absolutely no demonstration whatsoever that the industrial processes and infrastructure necessary to convert such slightly-enriched uranium into an actual weapon existed or exists. Where's the weaponry, Sneer?

[JohnyCanuck]

3. IIRC, the UN had accounted for Iraqi stocks of uranium

(They've even got Uranium mines in northern Iraq). However my understanding was that the UN inspections had pretty well accounted for it all and it was being stored under UN seal. Remember the hulabaloo during the war when the nuclear storage sites were looted and the UN complained that US troops had broken into the UN sanctioned storage sites where radioactive material was stored and consequently allowed the material to be looted. Dollars to donuts this is the same stuff Big Dick is referring to.

[punpirate]

4. This is a sleight-of-hand trick...

... using the existing uranium which UNSCOM found years ago and was under IAEA seal, until our Marines broke that seal in the early stages of the war.

If Cheney said this on a news program today, why is the London Times reporting, in today's edition, that the Kay report is on hold? This smells to high heaven.

Moreover, this information supposedly comes from the British--why hasn't 10 Downing St. come screaming to the Hutton inquiry with this information? There's absolutely no indication in the British press that Blair's government has made this claim that I know of.

This sounds like pure disinformation meant to be thrown out and then forgotten. And, as you say, if they will not let the IAEA in to verify, Cheney's assertion is just that.

Cheers.

[hedda_foil]

5. The Kay Report is on hold huh?

What do you want to bet that it's being "edited" by the same PNAC folks who phonied up the intel before the war.

[are_we_united_yet]

6. Where when did you hear this?

Link?

I would have thought news would be reporting it if it were true but I don't see anything to this effect.

[cosmicdot]

8. Sneer was to be on MTP today

I'm sure GE Russert was right on top of the facts and nailed him on the lie .... not.

[salin]

7. Please tell me he did NOT say this

and not on his one hour show today with Russert.

Even he could not be so craven a liar. OR could he (actually he has - so I guess it is possible he has said this).

[Jacobin]

9. Oh yeah. He said it. I heard him. Not only that

he dragged out the two "mobil weapons labs" as "proof" of the existence of a WMD program and said WMD were there all right, just hidden in civilian places.

Timmy pushed him a bit, but then backed off.

He looked particularly nervous when asked about the no-bid Halliburton criminal contracts, but said he had "nothing to do" with them.

[FloridaPat]

10. You misquoted him on the Uranium. He said that the AIEU (or

whatever their name is sorry) found 500 tons and had them under seal. He didn't say when they did this. He pulled a lot of history and a lot of today stuff and made them all current.

As for the British, you would have think we would have heard of it before now.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. He may be refering to Parliament's ISC report

which said:
The SIS continues to believe that the Iraqis were attempting to negotiate the purchase of uranium from Niger. We have questioned them about the basis of their judgment and conclude that it is reasonable.
http://media.guardian.co.uk/huttoninquiry/story/0,13812,1039982,00.html
The basis for this, of course, remains secret. Which is convenient. While there was a good case for all sources being confidential while Saddam was still in power - he'd obviously kill anyone disloyal to him - there's much less reason for this now.

I don't know how much impact the report had in the US - coming out on Sept 11th, probably not that much.

[pansypoo53219]

12. more BULLSHIT

they didn't NEED any yellowcake as IWaq already HAD uranium, lots of uranium that they could not use in any way. this is all more BULLSHIt to convince people who don't pay attention.

[htuttle]

13. Put that man under oath!

Then let him say what he wants....but with consequences for lying.

I don't believe a damned word Cheney says. He's the most blatant liar in the Administration. Let him spew this sh*t under oath, and then we'll see.

The Uranium he's talking about is the stuff that was already under UN seal before the invasion (which only got looted, BTW, because we invaded and left it sitting there without guards).

Remember when he said he'd 'just' read a report about the UK intelligence dossier, and the phrase 'just' actually meant 'over 8 months ago'?