Little-Acorn
07-07-2008, 04:22 PM
There have been several reports of coalition forces removing 500+ tons of concentrated uranium ore ("yellowcake") from Iraq. But the Wall Street Journal draws an interesting comparison between our efforts to get nuclear fuel away from Iraq, and our efforts to get it away from Iran.
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http://opinionjournal.com
from "Best of the Web", by James Taranto
The Inspections Are Working
One of the rationales for liberating Iraq in 2008 was to eliminate the Baathist dictatorship's weapons of mass destruction. The Associated Press reports on an important milestone toward that end:
The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program--a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium--reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.
The removal of 550 metric tons of "yellowcake"--the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment--was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam's nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.
Had Saddam been left in power, it's quite possible that his regime would today be locked in an arms race with Tehran--two rival powers, both intensely antagonistic toward America, Israel and to a lesser extent the rest of the West.
The Bush administration's approach to Iran has not yielded satisfactory results.
But half a loaf is better than none.
----------------------------------------
http://opinionjournal.com
from "Best of the Web", by James Taranto
The Inspections Are Working
One of the rationales for liberating Iraq in 2008 was to eliminate the Baathist dictatorship's weapons of mass destruction. The Associated Press reports on an important milestone toward that end:
The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program--a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium--reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.
The removal of 550 metric tons of "yellowcake"--the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment--was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam's nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.
Had Saddam been left in power, it's quite possible that his regime would today be locked in an arms race with Tehran--two rival powers, both intensely antagonistic toward America, Israel and to a lesser extent the rest of the West.
The Bush administration's approach to Iran has not yielded satisfactory results.
But half a loaf is better than none.