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Marines find underground nuke complex
by WorldNetDaily
Wednesday, Apr. 09, 2003 at 7:44 PM
PEACENIKS - POSSIBLE "SMOKING GUN"? - Captain guarding facility: 'How did the world miss all of this?'
U.S. Marines have located an underground nuclear complex near Baghdad that apparently went unnoticed by U.N. weapons inspectors.
Hidden beneath the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission's Al-Tuwaitha facility, 18 miles south of the capital, is a vast array of warehouses and bombproof offices that could contain the "smoking gun" sought by intelligence agencies, reported the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
"I've never seen anything like it, ever," said Marine Capt. John Seegar. "How did the world miss all of this? Why couldn't they see what was happening here?"
Marine nuclear and intelligence experts say that at least 14 buildings at Al-Tuwaitha indicate high levels of radiation and some show lethal amounts of nuclear residue, according to the Pittsburgh daily. The site was examined numerous times by U.N. weapons inspectors, who found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction.
"They went through that site multiple times, but did they go underground? I never heard anything about that," said physicist David Albright, a former International Atomic Energy Agency inspector in Iraq from 1992 to 1997.
In a 1999 report, Albright said, "Iraq developed procedures to limit access to these buildings by IAEA inspectors who had a right to inspect the fuel fabrication facility."
"On days when the inspectors were scheduled to visit, only the fuel fabrication rooms were open to them," he said in the report, written with Khidhir Hamza, an Iraqi nuclear engineer who defected in 1994. "Usually, employees were told to take to their rooms so that the inspectors did not see an unusually large number of people."
Chief Warrant Officer Darrin Flick, the battalion's nuclear, biological and chemical warfare specialist, said radiation levels were particularly high at a place near the complex where local residents say the "missile water" is stored in mammoth caverns.
"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."
Iraq began to develop its nuclear program at Al-Tuwaitha in the 1970s, according to the Institute for Science and International Security. Israel destroyed a French-built reactor there in 1981 and a reactor built by the Russians was destroyed during the 1991 Gulf War.
Hamza testified before Congress last August that if left unchecked, Iraq could have had nuclear weapons by 2005.
Noting that the ground in the area is muddy and composed of clay, Hamza was surprised to learn of the Marines' discovery, the Tribune-Review said. He wondered if the Iraqis went to the colossal expense of pumping enough water to build the subterranean complex because no reasonable inspector would think anything might be built underground there.
"Nobody would expect it," Hamza said. "Nobody would think twice about going back there."
Michael Levi of the Federation of American Scientists said the Iraqis continued rebuilding the Al-Tuwaitha facility after weapons inspections ended in 1998.
"I do not believe the latest round of inspections included anything underground, so anything you find underground would be very suspicious," said Levi. "It sounds absolutely amazing."
The Pittsburgh paper said nuclear scientists, engineers and technicians, housed in a plush neighborhood near the campus, have fled, along with Baathist party loyalists.
"It's going to take some very smart people a very long time to sift through everything here," said Flick. "All this machinery. All this technology. They could do a lot of very bad things with all of this."
Marine Capt. Seegar said his unit will continue to hold the nuclear site until international authorities can take over. Last night, they monitored gun and artillery battles by U.S. Marines against Iraqi Republican Guards and Fedayeen terrorists.
The offices underground are replete with videos and pictures that indicate the complex was built largely over the last four years, the Tribune-Review said.
www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=31966
trib?
by trib
Thursday, Apr. 10, 2003 at 12:57 PM
Tribune-review crack reporting? why haven't any other sources picked up this "breakthrough." you'd think the corp. media would be all over this cause this is supposedly what they are looking for.
well well well
by me
Thursday, Apr. 10, 2003 at 3:13 PM
How come Saddam's forces didn't use this then??????????
setup
by J
Thursday, Apr. 10, 2003 at 3:14 PM
seems like a set up to me
.
by .
Thursday, Apr. 10, 2003 at 3:19 PM
Yes, it must be a set up. We secretly snuck in there over the past 4 years (read the article, they have video of the complex being constructed) and built this massive complex in soil so difficult to dig in the Russians and French couldn't do it.
WMD?
by .
Thursday, Apr. 10, 2003 at 3:50 PM
but we have found no evidence of weapons of mass destruction, our military has even said this.
We went in because he was violating a UN resolution about WMD. Or at least that was our reason before we realised he didn't have any and then changed it into "liberating" the Iraqis. Liberating, you know, from order, their lives, having to care for thier children we kill, laws, safety, etc.
You can't go in without a plan for what happens next, I hope someone in Washington learns this.
Nuclear Smoking Gun???
by Skeptical
Thursday, Apr. 10, 2003 at 7:25 PM
So far, all stories about WMD in Iraq have not turned out to be real. According to an article from the Christian Science Monitor, the same might be true of this latest "radioactive" story. The article indicates that the Marines might have simply stumbled upon low-grade uranium that the UN already knew about and previously sealed. Here is the link:
http://www.csmonitor.com/newsinbrief/brieflies.html
AP news article today
by DJ Sylvis
Thursday, Apr. 10, 2003 at 10:15 PM
deejbard@telerama.com
Published on Thursday, April 10, 2003 by the Associated Press
Experts Say US 'Discovery' of Nuclear Materials in Iraq was Breach of UN-Monitored Site
by William J. Kole
VIENNA, Austria -- American 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, officials said Thursday. They said the U.S. troops may have broken U.N. seals meant to keep control of the radioactive material.
Leaders of a U.S. Marine Corps combat engineering unit claimed earlier this week to have found an underground network of laboratories, warehouses and bombproof offices beneath the closely monitored Tuwaitha nuclear research center just south of Baghdad.
The Marines said they discovered 14 buildings at the site which emitted unusually high levels of radiation, and that a search of one building revealed ''many, many drums'' containing highly radioactive material. If documented, such a discovery could bolster Bush administration claims that Saddam Hussein was trying to develop nuclear weaponry.
Lt. Cmdr. Charles Owens, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command, said officials there have not heard anything through military channels about a Marine inspection at Tuwaitha.
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.
The Army Times, meanwhile, reported that troops with the 101st Airborne Division have unearthed 11 shipping containers, filled with sophisticated lab equipment, buried at a chemical plant in Karbala. It said the equipment's value and evidence that some of it may have been smuggled into Iraq raised suspicions that the facility had been used to manufacture chemical weapons.
U.N. arms inspectors visited a facility in the immediate vicinity of the chemical plant Feb. 23, but did not find the buried equipment. Officials at the U.S. Central Command suggested that no conclusions should be drawn.
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.
Tuwaitha contains 1.8 tons of low-grade enriched uranium and several tons of natural and depleted uranium.
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.
The U.N. nuclear agency's inspectors have visited Tuwaitha about two dozen times, including a dozen checks carried out since December, most recently on Feb. 6. It was among the first sites that IAEA inspectors sought out after the resumption of inspections on Nov. 27 after a nearly four-year break.
On at least one occasion, inspectors with special mountaineering training went underground there to have a look around, according to IAEA documents.
David Kay, a former IAEA chief nuclear inspector, said Thursday that the teams he oversaw after the 1991 Gulf War never found an underground site at Tuwaitha despite persistent rumors.
''But underground facilities by definition are very hard to detect,'' he said. ''When you inspect a place so often, you get overconfident about what you know. It would have been very easy for the inspectors to explain away any excessive radiation at Tuwaitha. The Iraqis could have hidden something clandestine in plain sight.''
American intelligence analysts said before the U.S.-led campaign began that new structures photographed at Tuwaitha might indicate a revival of weapons work. IAEA inspectors checked but found nothing.
The Tuwaitha complex, run by the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission on a bend in the Tigris River about 18 miles south of Baghdad, was the heart of Saddam's former nuclear program and was involved in the final design of a nuclear bomb before Iraq's nuclear program was destroyed by U.N. teams after the 1991 Gulf War.
The IAEA, charged with the hunt for evidence of a nuclear program in Iraq, told the Security Council just before the war that it had uncovered no firm evidence that Saddam was renewing efforts to add nuclear weapons to his arsenal.
IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei, clearly wary of any coalition claims, said this week that any alleged discoveries of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq would have to be verified by U.N. inspectors ''to generate the required credibility.''
ElBaradei said the inspectors should return as soon as possible, subject to Security Council guidance, to resume their search for banned arms.
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press
Underground Nuke is oxymoron
by phsycisstudent
Thursday, Apr. 10, 2003 at 10:42 PM
So-called "low grade" Uranium can't be used to make an atomic bomb. It needs to be processed into plutonium by a nuclear reactor. Iraq doesn't have a nuclear reactor.
I can't imagine putting a nuclear reactor underground and hiding it. A nuclear reactor is really quite large and gives off a huge amount of heat usually in the form of steam.
Hot choclate mix??
by Dave Z
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 9:10 AM
I guess they were going to use this stuff for making hot chocolate then?? Underground??
DZ
read, please
by .
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 9:55 AM
the stuff was put underground by the UN and sealed so they couldn't polish it up to weapon grade. The Marines broke the seal set by the UN on the underground storage.
god forbid they might just be trying to use nuclear energy in Iraq, at least they haven't had a TMI or Chernobyl incident.
Underground Uranium
by Answer to Dave Z
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 10:13 AM
The UN inspectors knew that this Uranium existed. They decided to allow Iraq to keep it since it could not be made into bombs They also sealed the Uranium barrels and monitored them to make sure that the Uranium was not used for anything. It is reasonable to store this stuff underground.
The UN Inspectors visited this site many times.
In North Korea, in a similar situation, the UN installed cameras so that they could keep watch on the Uranium. Unfortunately, the North Koreans removed the cameras. The situation in North Korea is far more dangerous, from the standpoint of nuclear proliferation.
IRAQIS Can't Blow a Bridge
by Prodigal Yunzer
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 12:27 PM
Worth a damn. Who thinks they could master a five axis turning center to fabricate a thermonuclear warhead? Not me. I don't believe the North Koreans have either. I dare them to test it. By the way, one of the bombs we dropped on Japan had no plutonium whatsoever in it. It was an atom bomb, not a hydrogen bomb, and yes, it can be done without plutonium. Also, dirty bombs would be made from exactly what was found. It doesn't have to be a thermonuclear hydrogen fusion bomb to wreak havoc. Ask Nagasaki.
understood
by .
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 12:33 PM
but these materials were under the protection and monotoring of the UN IAEA, and not in the hands of Iraq, that is, until we broke open the vault and 'discovered' all of this.
.
by .
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 3:18 PM
Do we know for sure this was under the control of the UN? I would think our military would be smart enough to recognize a UN seal on these barrels. It just seems odd that everyone is claiming to know exactly what is there when none of them have actually seen the site.
Nukes Again
by ...
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 5:44 PM
It just seems that the media is quite anxious to find nuclear material or WMD.
Maybe that stuff is really there, but so far, there has been absolutely nothing found and verified.
Also, it is hard to imagine that a political organization, like Sadam's Baath Parth, that has so little humanity that it would resort to torture and resort to suicide bombings would not also use WMD is they really had such weapons, especially when they knew that all was lost.
.
by .
Friday, Apr. 11, 2003 at 6:15 PM
Also, it is hard to imagine that a political organization, like Sadam's Baath Parth, that has so little humanity that it would resort to torture and resort to suicide bombings would not also use WMD is they really had such weapons, especially when they knew that all was lost.
It all depends. Saddam knew that no matter what the outcome of this war would be the destruction of his government and most likely his death. If he used WMD he had to know that NO ONE would be against the US invading anymore. By not using them he has helped create more hatred for the US in the Middle East (oh the US had a large role in that too)
So either way he loses, but by not using them he creates tons more strife for the US and its allies.
worldnetdaily
by brian
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2003 at 1:53 AM
arent they pro-iraq war? I would doubt the truth of this.
ARABS Havent Won a Victory
by Prodigal Yunzer
Saturday, Apr. 12, 2003 at 11:10 AM
Since the days of cannon and mounted cavalry. Arabs are only clever at talking. Where were Iraq's soldiers? Where was the resistance? I quote from a newly humiliated Arab whom I saw on Sky News. Arabs have been crushed into submission by their dictators. Their entire culture displays their lack of manly confidence, with all the female repression. There would probably be a Palestine now if Arabs had not lost two wars to Israel in 67 and 72. Arabs should adopt the philosophy of the people who read this board. It could not serve them any worse than their big talk and no action militancy with the fringe element killing themselves for the promise of virgins in paradise. The last suicide bomber in Israel only killed himself- he allowed an unarmed man to shove him out of his targeted restaurant. Talk about weak.
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