Saddam's Yellowcake -- A Fitting Resolution -- To Some A Bridge Too Far

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.

Associated Press

Some are reporting this as a new unreported finding.  I think that is being blown out of proportion as this really is old news.

When I head this story this week I remembered the origins from a few years back.  I wrote about it in October 7, 2004 in passing (search page for yellow), and today I am glad they were finally dealing with this material and removing it from the region.

This material was discussed in the Iraqi Survey Group's report.  In addition it was a known quantity of material that was acquired and reported by Iraq in their declarations following the 1991 Gulf War.  We know where the material came from and where it was kept.

Known Iraqi uranium holdings have been accounted for by the Coalition and the IAEA. In June 2004, a joint IAEA and Coalition team verified the inventory of Iraqi uranium compounds—an inventory comprising both imported material and that indigenously produced prior to 1991 (see figure 4).

• During the 1970s and early 1980s, Iraq bought uranium in various forms from the international market. These materials included about 486 tons of yellowcake, 33,470 kg of “natural” uranium dioxide, 1,767 kg of “low-enriched” uranium dioxide (2.6 percent 235U), and 6,005 kg of “depleted” uranium dioxide from Portugal, Italy, Niger, and Brazil.
  

Prior to 1991, Iraq also acquired highly enriched uranium for its research reactors from France and Russia—material that was removed from Iraq following the 1991 Gulf war. Following the Husayn Kamil defection in 1995, Iraq admitted that in 1991 it had intended to use this highly enriched fuel as part of a “crash program” to develop a nuclear weapon (see Table 1).  (ed note: the difference in tonnage is accounted for in Iraq's pre 1991 domestic production facilities -- see link).

Additionally this was part of the material that the IAEA was pissed off about us disturbing in July 2004 as it was under their control and UN seal up till the invasion of the country, as pointed out in this American Thinker report dated July 15, 2004.

Now, the IAEA complains that the Department of Energy (DOE) shipped the radioactive materials to the US without UN permission.  The agency's rationale is that there was
some concern about the legality of the U.S. transfer because the nuclear material belonged to Iraq and was under the control and supervision of the IAEA.

That has to be an intricacy of the cease fire agreement, Iraq owned the material and would probably have been required to sell it under the supervision of the IAEA, but I'm just guessing here.  They can't have been allowed to keep it, right?  (From the AP story:)

The Iraqi government sold the yellowcake to a Canadian uranium producer, Cameco Corp., in a transaction the official described as worth "tens of millions of dollars." A Cameco spokesman, Lyle Krahn, declined to discuss the price, but said the yellowcake will be processed at facilities in Ontario for use in energy-producing reactors.

This material does not involve Wilson/Plame or their attempts to change history in any way.  Various agencies still support the story that Iraq was attempting to purchase yellow cake.  This simply is not that material.

That Iraq had a nuclear program before the Gulf War is a fact, they have the destroyed reactor to prove it thanks to the Israelis.  That Iraq had an ongoing program that was exposed in 1995 is also a fact as it was uncovered following the defection of Saddam's son in law.   That Iraq planned on reconstituting that program as soon as sanctions were lifted is also a fact.

However, this yellow cake is not a new revelation or a new admission of Iraqi guilt.  This is simply the fitting resolution of an old news story.
DKK

One More Time -- We Are At War, Not Just Out To Capture One Man!

I can't believe anyone has to say this again.

I am amazed that the Democrats don't get it and disgusted that the media refuses to reinforce it.

Here goes:

We are fighting all terrorism.  We are intent on eliminating international terrorism by eliminating the willingness of any nation to host the terrorists and fracturing the command and control of current terror operations.

Bin Laden doesn't matter in the war, just as the capture of a single general didn't halt WWII Bin Laden's capture won't halt this war (it would however be a PR coup and demonstrate the futility of al Qaeda).

It is frightening that Democrats are so limited in their strategic thinking.  They appear to be so set on vengeance that Bin Laden is their only focus in the war, or is it merely the belief that his capture is the end all, final goal?  (Bush initially had the desire for revenge but quickly realized that he had to address the illness and the symptom.)


President Bush has failed by not pounding this home each and every day, but the Democrats and the MSM have completely blanked on this simply because it isn't their goal.  They seemed to understand early on, but for them to remember they would have to admit that Iraq was part of the same war, and they can't do that or they would lose any political advantage they might have.
DKK

McCain Corrects The Record On Economic Knowledge

Your gonna hear this a lot between now and election day so here, in his own words, is John McCain correcting the record on his understanding of economics:



Reporter -- You have said your not exactly an expert when it comes to the economy...

McCain -- No I have not!  Actually I said I am stronger on national security because of all the time I have spent in the military.  I'm very strong on the economy, I understand it, I'm a lot more experienced then my opponent.
DKK

Ooow, Al (Gore), Sorry -- Wrong Again! -- Update -- Report: Biofuels Caused Food Crisis

Courtesy: RedLasso

A 17 year study indicates that it would take 1000's of years for the melting of Greenland's Ice Caps to affect sea levels. In addition in some spots melting has slowed or even stopped.

Special Report, Grapevine -- July 4, 2008

As I have said repeatedly, we really don't know enough about what's happening to formulate effective solutions that don't end up being worse then the perceived problem.
DKK

Update -- Case in point, biofuels did lead to world hunger!

Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian.

The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body.

The figure emphatically contradicts the US government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises. It will add to pressure on governments in Washington and across Europe, which have turned to plant-derived fuels to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce their dependence on imported oil. ...

"Political leaders seem intent on suppressing and ignoring the strong evidence that biofuels are a major factor in recent food price rises," said Robert Bailey, policy adviser at Oxfam.

Guardian UK -- Secret report: biofuel caused food crisis
DKK

Daily Trek -- June 5, 2008

What'd I miss?

Everything you need to know to stay informed each day in 5 minutes or less!  Read your regular news and include this and you will be able to participate in most any current events discussion.
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The US lifted it's moratorium on new solar energy projects out west.  There was concern about the environmental impact but they have wised up under pressure.

A 53 Second cartoon, Welcome Back Carter comparing Obama and Carter.  It's funny, but true.

"One of the fundamental differences between liberals and conservatives, perhaps the most important one politically, is what they think (or how they feel) about the United States. Conservatives think the U.S. is a great country. Liberals think it is a deeply flawed, but redeemable, country. Radicals think it is hopelessly bad and should be destroyed or remade."

Viacom may soon have access to YouTube user IDs, IP addresss and details of every video they've ever watched,  thanks to yesterday's district court order.  Blame Viacom, a huge media company, for not understanding 21st century media.

Obama was only able to buy his home because his friend, convicted felon Tony Rezko, purchased the lot next door.  Shortly thereafter Rezko received federal assistance in the purchase of 1000 rental units that became so rundown many weren't habitable.  Now there are questions about whether Obama received a sweetheart deal on his loan, possibly making him a member of the Subprime Six Seven.

Fascinating video of the worlds first computer design that was never built till now!

"Did you know that just a few months ago the government of Iraq signed a $5 billon dollar contract with Boeing for commercial airliners? Probably not. After all, this is a war for oil, right? Not a war for commercial airliners. Golly! Could it possibly have been a war to liberate a country and to create a beacon of freedom and entrepreneurship in the otherwise rancid Middle East?"

About those high oil prices, 14 members of the House and at least one Senator have holdings in the largest oil companies.  Locking up oil protects those investments no matter how much they criticize the CEO's.

Was successful Columbian hostage rescue only made possible because the fake NGO employees wore Che T-shirts?  Probably not, but it didn't hurt!

Obama has now flipped and moved right on abortion, nowclaiming that mental distress should not qualify as medical necessity for partial birth abortions.

"Barack Obama's policy switches are giving the Left whiplash -- The Democratic nominee's policy pivots are causing anguish among liberals. He is no fool."

With all these flips you have to wonder who the Rube is, the left, the MSM, or the American People. --
Plus this relating to misinformation in the NYT, "Dudes. In the just-decided Heller case, all nine of the Justices of the Supreme Court found that the Second Amendment describes an individual right to bear arms."

Ever wonder one of the ways they save money on Health care in Canada? They close nearby hospitals and pack them into the halls of the rest!

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DKK

Declaration of Independence

In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.  
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.  
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is in the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security.
(...)

Happy 4th of July, celebrate today "as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore." (John Adams)
 DKK

Obama -- The Final Betrayal Of The Left? -- Iraq Policy Flip -- UPDATE, Obama Denies Any Change

 Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Thursday backed off his firm promise to withdraw combat forces from Iraq immediately and instead said he could “refine” his plan after his trip to Baghdad later this month.

Earlier, a top Obama adviser had said that the senator is not “wedded” to a specific timeline.

Obama told reporters in Fargo, N.D., that he is “going to do a thorough assessment." 

DKK
Politico -- Obama to 'refine' Iraq plan

Update -- The Obama camp denies this report and claims there has been no change in his policy, still set to withdraw within 16 months.

But that is not what his campaign said earlier in the day.  Patterico has the details of all 3 or 4 or 5 or... policy statements on this issue.  Is Obama's strategy to confuse the hell out of everyone then they can't attack anything?  He's still gonna get the votes, he figures.
DKK

CAFE -- It's Gonna Cost You

Earlier this year, the Bush administration surprised a lot of green activists by actually surpassing the already challenging CAFE standards for 2011-2015. While automakers like Toyota, Ford, and GM are quietly going about the business of hitting those targets, BMW is speaking up and saying that the targets are unattainable. The German automaker has asked the Bush administration for an alternative plan that helps out the hardest hit automakers, and the new rules are a punch to the gut for the Bavarian Motor crew.

While the corporate average for cars and trucks is 35.7 mpg and 28.6 mpg by 2015, BMW has to hit 37.7 mpg and 31.7 mpg, respectively. The reason for the disparity is the sliding scale the government used to account for differences in size in each automaker's lineup. Since BMW doesn't sell pickup trucks and it has plenty of small and midsize offerings, BMW has to hit higher fuel economy standards. What the CAFE numbers don't take into account is the fact that all BMWs are RWD, and there isn't a four cylinder engine to be found (in the U.S., yet). The Bush administration says its final fuel economy numbers will become public by the end of the year, and if companies like BMW don't get special dispensations, look for there to be smaller engines on the horizion, or bigger fines. 

Autoblog -- BMW calls CAFE 'not feasible'

Ten months ago, Bob Lutz said GM cars would be $5,000 more expensive if the Bush administration got its way with fuel standards by raising fuel economy 4% every year through 2017. Bush didn't get his way, but Congress did with its newly-signed-into-law energy bill that requires automakers have a fleet average of 35 MPG by 2020. According to Lutz, that's going to be even more expensive: "This is going to be a net average cost of $6,000 per vehicle, which will have to be passed onto the consumer."

Lutz said that the premium would actually range from $4,000 to $10,000, and that "it won't come all at once, because 35 mpg doesn't kick in all at once." No one said that saving the world was going to be cheap -- but $6,000 per vehicle? We look forward to figuring out which vehicles will bear the brunt of the plan. Add $10,000 to the price of a ZR-1 and no one's really going to notice. Add $6,000 to the price of a CTS and, depending on how much more expensive its competition gets, things could get interesting. Add $4,000 to the price of an Aveo and you've probably sent a fair number of buyers elsewhere.

Autoblog Green -- Lutz says new CAFE standards will increase car price by $6 grand

Credit Where Credit Is CLAMIED -- In Spite Of The Facts

Barack Obama aligned himself with welfare reform on Monday, launching a television ad which touts the way the overhaul “slashed the rolls by 80 percent.” Obama leaves out, however, that he was against the 1996 federal legislation which precipitated the caseload reduction.

“I am not a defender of the status quo with respect to welfare,” Obama said on the floor of the Illinois state Senate on May 31, 1997. “Having said that, I probably would not have supported the federal legislation, because I think it had some problems.”

Obama’s transformation from opponent to champion of welfare reform is the latest in a series of moves to the center. Since capturing the Democratic nomination, Obama has altered his stances on Social Security taxes, meeting with rogue leaders without preconditions, and the constitutionality of Washington, D.C.’s, sweeping gun ban.

DKK
ABC News

Daily Trek -- July 3, 2008

What'd I miss?

Everything you need to know to stay informed each day in 5 minutes or less!  Read your regular news and include this and you will be able to participate in any current events discussion.
------------------
President Bush blasted the Democrats on oil yesterday: "One thing is for certain here in the United States, that we can help alleviate shortages by drilling for oil and gas in our own country -- something I've been advocating ever since I've been the President."

Was there a "meta-message" in Obama's patriotism speech and what is a meta-message?  American Thinker has both answers, (hint, yes, and the message between the lines are the answers).

Iraqi TV ran a Public Service Announcement blaming Iran for the violence as they move more toward American sphere of influence and away from Iran.

For some reason Fox News appears to be the only reporting on improvements in Iraq.  What is really strange is that those damn 'benchmarks' the Democrats were howling about earlier this year are now 15/18 completed!

Did you hear the one about the Democratic Congressman who put up a picture honoring WWII veterans --- of the Soviet Union?
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Just a short Trek today, it's the exhaustion.
DKK

About Those "Unused" Oil Leases -- A Lie By Any Other Name

To deflect the GOP effort to relax the offshore-drilling ban – and thus boost supply while demand will remain strong – Democrats also say that most of the current leases are "nonproducing." The idea comes from a "special report" prepared by the Democratic staff of the House Resources Committee, chaired by Mr. Rahall. "If we extrapolate from today's production rates on federal lands and waters," the authors write, the oil companies could "nearly double total U.S. oil production" (their emphasis).

In other words, these whiz kids assume that every acre of every lease holds the same amount of oil and gas. Yet the existence of a lease does not guarantee that the geology holds recoverable resources. Brian Kennedy of the Institute for Energy Research quips that, using the same extrapolation, the 9.4 billion acres of the currently nonproducing moon should yield 654 million barrels of oil per day.

Nonetheless, the House still went through with a gesture called the "use it or lose it" bill, which passed on Thursday 223-195. It would be pointless even if it had a chance of becoming law. Oil companies acquire leases in the expectation that some of them contain sufficient oil and gas to cover the total costs. Yet it takes years to move through federal permitting, exploration and development. The U.S. Minerals Management Service notes that only one of three wells results in a discovery of oil that can be recovered economically. In deeper water, it's one of five. All this involves huge risks, capital investment – and time.

If anything, the Democrats ought to be dancing in the streets about "idle" leases. It means fewer rigs. The days of hit-or-miss wildcatting have been relegated to the past by new, more efficient technologies, such as seismic imaging, directional drilling (wells that are "steered" underground) and multilateral drilling (multiple underground offshoots from a single wellbore).

At the same time, finding new reservoirs has become far more complex. Except for a few very large fields discovered decades ago like Prudhoe Bay, most recent discoveries have been smaller, deeper and less concentrated. The U.S. needs a continuous supply of discoveries to replace declining wells.

Yet companies are not allowed to explore where the biggest prospects for oil and gas may exist – especially on the Outer Continental Shelf. Seven of the top 20 U.S. oil fields are now located in analogous deepwater areas (greater than 1,000 feet) in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2006, Chevron discovered what is likely to be the largest American oil find since Prudhoe, drilled in 7,000 feet of water and more than 20,000 feet under the sea floor. The Wilcox formation may have an upper end of 15 billion barrels of recoverable oil and should begin producing by 2014 – perhaps ushering in a new ultradeepwater frontier.

Likewise, in April, the U.S. Geological Survey revised its estimate for the Bakken Shale, underneath the badlands of North Dakota and Montana. The new assessment – as much as 4.3 billion barrels of oil – is a 25-fold increase over what the Survey believed in 1995. Such breakthroughs confirm that very large reserves exist, if only Congress would let business get at them.

All of which has Democrats sweating bullets. The leadership is desperate to avoid debating a Department of Interior spending bill, because they know Republicans will offer amendments lifting the drilling moratorium that may peel off some Democrats. Last week, Chairman David Obey shut down the Appropriations Committee rather than countenance more domestic energy production. Given Democratic energy illiteracy, this is a fight the GOP can win if it keeps up the pressure.

DKK
WSJ -- Obama's Dry Hole

Markets Work -- US Oil Consumption Drops To 2002 Levels

For most of the post-WWII era US oil consumption went up year after year. One deviation from that came in the early 1980s. An even longer lasting and probably permanent deviation from that trend is developing. Americans have traveled back in a sort of time machine to 2002 levels of oil usage.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration revised downward U.S. April oil demand by 863,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 19.77 million bpd -- 3.9 percent below year-ago levels. The revision, which showed April demand was the lowest for the month since April 2002, came even before gasoline prices surged to new records in June.

But on a per capita basis the reduction in oil usage is even larger since the US population grows about 1% per year. So has US oil usage per capita gone down 10% since 2002? 

DKK
FuturePundit -- US Oil Comsumption Falls Back To 2002 Levels

Obama Approves Of Premptive Attacks -- On His Political Opponents That Is

Thus far, no one with any serious affiliation to John McCain’s campaign has resorted to the alleged “scare” tactics in which Republicans — and, apparently, only Republicans — have been perfecting since Richard Nixon was first elected. On the contrary, if the past few months have showed us anything, it’s that the Obama campaign is the one dealing in crude smears. … It’s curious how anyone could argue that a man with such visceral understanding of the capacity for what America’s enemies will do to our men and women in uniform doesn’t fully appreciate the cost of war. But even more troubling is the unmistakable pattern of these smears, all of them unsubtly alleging that McCain is an unhinged, mentally unstable warmonger who would deploy soldiers capriciously because he hasn’t truly experienced the horrors of ground battle. Indeed, the claims of these four men — and the short period of time in which they were all uttered — are so similar in tone that one would be foolish not to at least consider the possibility they were coordinated by the Obama campaign. Nevertheless, the fears of Obama supporters that their candidate lies eternally vulnerable to GOP smears exists only in their fevered imaginations. The evidence of dirty Republican tricks has been utterly absent this campaign season. And if anyone has tried to smear Barack Obama in the way that Thomas, Wolfe and other Democratic partisans allege, it was not the Republican National Committee, but rather Hillary Rodham Clinton and her surrogates. In February, the Drudge Report claimed that the Clinton campaign circulated photos of Obama in a traditional East African turban and robe, with the message that the images showed him “dressed.” Asked if there was any truth to the smear that Obama is a Muslim, she infamously replied, “As far as I know,” it wasn’t the case. After the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, she said the results showed that “Sen. Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again.”

This is a part of the same overall strategy that beat Hillary. DKK Via Hot Air

Columbian Troops Free 15 FARC Terrorist Hostages Including 3 Americans

Ms Betancourt, who was captured in 2002, and the three Americans held since 2003, were rescued along with 11 Colombian soldiers in a dramatic and bloodless operation when a Colombian military team posing as rebels removed them from the jungle by helicopter.

It was an impressive operation, read the whole thing.

It appears FARC  may be on its deathbed as was reported earlier -- despite their support of Hugo Chavez.
DKK
UN Telegraph

American Views On Energy And Environment Predictably Changing

A new poll shows high gasoline prices have dramatically changed Americans’ views on energy and the environment. More people now say expanding oil drilling and building new power plants is a bigger priority than energy conservation.
The poll by the Pew Research Center shows nearly half of those surveyed — or 47 percent — now rate energy exploration, drilling and building new power plants more important, compared with 35 percent in February.
The Pew poll of about 2,000 adults conducted in late June shows the shift toward energy development across the political spectrum including among Democrats, political independents, liberals and young people.

This was titled, "An unexpected result of high gas prices," but I'm not sure why Knoxvilletalks didn't expect it, it is an economic reality with the increase in demand and price.
DKK
Knoxville Talks

Timeless Words

America must get to work producing more energy. The Republican program for solving economic problems is based on growth and productivity.

Large amounts of oil and natural gas lay beneath our land and off our shores, untouched because the present administration seems to believe the American people would rather see more regulation, taxes and controls than more energy.

Coal offers great potential. So does nuclear energy produced under rigorous safety standards. It could supply electricity for thousands of industries and millions of jobs and homes. It must not be thwarted by a tiny minority opposed to economic growth which often finds friendly ears in regulatory agencies for its obstructionist campaigns.

Make no mistake. We will not permit the safety of our people or our environment heritage to be jeopardized, but we are going to reaffirm that the economic prosperity of our people is a fundamental part of our environment.

Our problems are both acute and chronic, yet all we hear from those in positions of leadership are the same tired proposals for more government tinkering, more meddling and more control -- all of which led us to this state in the first place.

Acceptance Speech at the 1980 Republican Convention
by Ronald Reagan July 17, 1980

  
(Emphasis added)
DKK

Utterly Exhausted -- Bounce Back Week

I'm really sorry I haven't posted more -- I experienced post exertional fatigue (exhaustion is a better word) after last week's testing.  I will get back to regular posting as soon as I can.
DKK

Gun Control Myths

DKK

Why Doesn't Obama Pay Women The Same As Men?

Obama claims he wants to eliminate the pay discrepancies between the sexes in America. But if that is the case then why does he pay the women on his Senate staff an average of $6000 less then the men on his staff? Who really works for women's pay rights? Senator John McCain who pays the women on his staff about $2000 more then the men on his staff. Change we can believe in, right? DKK CNS News

This, uh, Is, uh, The, uh, Most, uh, Articulate Man, uh, In Democratic, uh, Politics Today!

(click for larger image)

Prickly City Comic

DKK

Update -- as if to prove this point here is a video of today's Obama press conference via Hot Air. Just listen to this guy when he isn't reading, and he is a great reader isn't he!DKKUpdate -- In case you wondered why Obama agonizes over every word, as Prickly City points out, lets go to the video where he doesn't -- thanks to Rodger at Curmudegonly & Skeptical:DKK