Who's next?
Mar. 24th, 2006 01:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lurkittyOne of the excuses that lead us to the current unpleasantness in Iraq (are we allowed to call it a war now?) was the Saddam Hussein was accumulating materials with which to manufacture a nuclear weapon. This notion came from the now infamous Nigerian Yellowcake report, which I believe they got by sending $10,000 to an address some Nigerian sent them in an email….
The point here is that this administration expresses the belief in public that nuclear weapons grade materials in the hands of terrorists is a bad idea. A rational person might believe, then, that the administration might take steps to make that more difficult.
According to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, this is apparently not the case. In a stunning article, they outline how the republican congress, under pressure by lobbyists, have undermined decades of work to tighten controls on the export of weapons grade uranuim. The recent Energy Bill passed in 2005 contained the Burr Amendment, which loosened restrictions on the export of highly-enriched uranium isotopes (HEU) despite treaties long in place to phase them out and convert reactors to low-enriched uranium (LEU).
To quote one of the more ominous passages:
“All told, annual worldwide HEU commerce could increase by several hundred kilograms--sufficient for multiple nuclear weapons each year--and continue indefinitely instead of being phased out as envisioned previously… In light of the relatively lax security at civilian nuclear facilities, the technological ease of making a nuclear weapon with HEU, and the expressed will of groups like Al Qaeda to acquire and use such weapons, the specter of increasing HEU commerce raises grave concerns. The extent of damage to U.S. interests will depend on how Congress follows up this shameful performance.”
This is yet another example of the Pushkin Town “war on terror” this administration is fighting. When you look behind the rhetoric, you see they opposite of what they are telling you. This is not about our safety at all. This is about money, and whose pocket that money goes into.
The point here is that this administration expresses the belief in public that nuclear weapons grade materials in the hands of terrorists is a bad idea. A rational person might believe, then, that the administration might take steps to make that more difficult.
According to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, this is apparently not the case. In a stunning article, they outline how the republican congress, under pressure by lobbyists, have undermined decades of work to tighten controls on the export of weapons grade uranuim. The recent Energy Bill passed in 2005 contained the Burr Amendment, which loosened restrictions on the export of highly-enriched uranium isotopes (HEU) despite treaties long in place to phase them out and convert reactors to low-enriched uranium (LEU).
To quote one of the more ominous passages:
“All told, annual worldwide HEU commerce could increase by several hundred kilograms--sufficient for multiple nuclear weapons each year--and continue indefinitely instead of being phased out as envisioned previously… In light of the relatively lax security at civilian nuclear facilities, the technological ease of making a nuclear weapon with HEU, and the expressed will of groups like Al Qaeda to acquire and use such weapons, the specter of increasing HEU commerce raises grave concerns. The extent of damage to U.S. interests will depend on how Congress follows up this shameful performance.”
This is yet another example of the Pushkin Town “war on terror” this administration is fighting. When you look behind the rhetoric, you see they opposite of what they are telling you. This is not about our safety at all. This is about money, and whose pocket that money goes into.
