Am I the Only One who is FREAKING OUT over the IAEA report???

[ursacorwin]

i'm on a lousy dialup, so i have to ask that helpful DUers can quickly find the latest links; i also admit that i'm often a bit behind- i just finished reading about this and i'm TERRIFIED. and i've been reading scary stuff about shrubco since 01...

basically, what i've read is that not only have we (the us and cpa) done nothing to guard the former iraqi nuclear facilities, but that the locals are getting sick over the rad poisoning from stripping the buildings to make shelters for themselves, and that HUGE quantities of materials are UNACCOUNTED FOR by either us, the former iraqi officials, or the IAEA!! and that there are reports by the IAEA that some of this stuff has already left iraq, and is turning up in the hands of god knows who! and sickest of all, the us won't let the IAEA team, the only ones with accurate before/after lists of what should be there, inspect the site!

add to this the recent sharon/bush lovefest. regardless of how you may feel, the "arab street" feels only one way about this: war.

people, is it finally ok to admit that it's no longer tinfoil time to suggest that the PNACers really do want it all to end? i just saw Douglad Feith in a speech here on campus, and he was utterly clueless (i should know, i'm a phd student in iraqi ancient studies). he just babbled obscene platitudes and ignored any salient debate. he has no idea of the mess he's making, or he's completely disengenuous about it.

you have imaginations, just think of what could happen with just one dirty bomb explosion over here. think about the elections, the patriot act, and reserve/military situation, the economy...

someone over at the atrios boards wrote, "shorter version: enjoy life now." this is how i'm feeling today, but with intense sadness. am i the only one?

[fertilizeonarbusto]

1. nope

Freaking out here too, fellow queer. I wonder what city will soon taste the joys of a dirty bomb. Thank God invading Iraq will prevent such a hecatomb! Thanks again, Chimp.

[tom_paine]

12. Sorry for you homosexuals, but I think it will be San Francisco

MIHOP = The Busheviks hate it for the concenbtration of homosexuals

LIHOP = Bin Laden hates it for the concenbtration of homosexualsm, the Busheviks will be happy to provide the same assistance they provided on 9/11 because THEY hate SF for the SAME REASON OSAMA DOES!

[Ruby Romaine]

18. strange post-Military Chaff over SF area???

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1423774

[drfemoe]

20. Some are guessing Chicago

>> (Posting for informational purposes only. I hold no opinion on the subject.)
...For guarantees you must turn to General Ralph Eberhart. He heads up Northern Command , and is responsible for U.S. airspace being secure. As secure, perhaps as when he ran Northcom's predecessor NORAD on September 11th , 2001.

Unlike us, he has no qualms about pronouncing guarantees. "They're gonna sucker punch us again. I guarantee it." he said recently. But then, he's not tied to a specific date. Surely? Whereas we are.

Anyway, it's clearly a question of "when."

Not "if."

The first in a series of significant recent developments took place only last Tuesday when John Ashcroft appeared before the 9/11 commission.
... more ...
http://www.breakfornews.com/sears.htm

[redqueen]

2. outrage overload

you are not the only one

[arcane1]

3. and with all that nuke-u-lar bs lying around

Saddam gave NONE of it to terrorists...

Fuck you George Bush. You have now made it SIMPLE for them to get their hands on this stuff.

A little "October surprise" lined up? And you will be able to say "Look! That there was Eye-racki nuke-u-lar material there! I told ya so!"?

:shrug:


Your brain-dead followers would lap it up, too, and not see nor care that you are RESPONSIBLE FOR IT!! :grr:

rot in hell George W Bush

[pinto]

4. link to Guardian article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3981804,00.html

[skypilot]

8. Quick!!! Send this article to the White House!!!

You know how they all say that no one tells them anything. What's Condi doing today?

[Lindacooks]

10. LOL

That's perfect....

[pinto]

5. ps, as a phd candidate in Iraq ancient studies, would love to hear your

take on the historical setting for the mess we are in.

[Robbien]

6. Raed is also writing about it in his blog

He is definitely freaked. They are trying to keep children from playing in the DUed tanks and stopping people from tearing them apart to make housing. He also mentions that twenty percent of our soldiers are effected and the radiation levels are tremendous anywhere near the blasted sites.

What can we be thinking?

[MoonRiver]

7. I read it on Buzzflash.

It's horrific. But the dittoheads in this country will find some damn way to blame Clinton if we get hit with this stuff. :mad: Heaven forbid the little brat running our government might ever be held accountable for all his crimes against humanity.

:nuke:

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. Well, if Bush wasn't thorough about protecting us before 9/11, what made

you think he was competent enough to secure a country after the boom-boom stoopped?

[Stephanie]

11. This has been going on since the first weeks of the invasion

Here are some previous threads on this from last summer/fall. There were more at the old DU, from last May & June.

Tuwaitha, PROOF that Bush LIED (repost)


The Iraqi Uranium Trifecta


Traitorgate + Tuwaitha = Total WH Meltdown

Here is one of my old posts on it:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A39500-2003Aug9?language=printer

In an interview with the New York Times published Sept. 6, Card did not mention the WHIG but hinted at its mission. "From a marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August," he said.

<snip>The day after publication of Card's marketing remark, Bush and nearly all his top advisers began to talk about the dangers of an Iraqi nuclear bomb.

Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair conferred at Camp David that Saturday, Sept. 7, and they each described alarming new evidence. Blair said proof that the threat is real came in "the report from the International Atomic Energy Agency this morning, showing what has been going on at the former nuclear weapon sites." Bush said "a report came out of the . . . IAEA, that they were six months away from developing a weapon. I don't know what more evidence we need."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/09/08/iraq.debate/

Rice acknowledged that "there will always be some uncertainty" in determining how close Iraq may be to obtaining a nuclear weapon but said, "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021007-8.html

Knowing these realities, America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud. - G. Bush, 10/7/02

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/6068775.htm
Looting of Iraqi nuclear facility indicts U.S. goals
If we feared the loss of radioactive materials, why not guard them?
TRUDY RUBIN
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Posted on Thu, Jun. 12, 2003

TUWAITHA, Iraq - On a dusty road, just outside of Baghdad, lies one of the great mysteries of the Iraq war.

<snip>The administration knew full well what was stored at Tuwaitha. So how is it possible that the U.S. military failed to secure the nuclear facility until weeks after the war started? This left looters free to ransack the barrels, dump their contents, and sell them to villagers for storage.

How is it possible that, according to Iraqi nuclear scientists, looters are still stealing radioactive isotopes? The Tuwaitha story makes a mockery of the administration's vaunted concern with weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. military hastened to secure the Ministry of Oil in Baghdad from looters. But Iraq's main nuclear facility was apparently not important enough to get similar protection.

<snip>And why, in facilities other than Location C, is the looting apparently continuing? Hisham Abdel Malik, a Iraqi nuclear scientist who lives near Tuwaitha and has been inside the complex, told me that in buildings "where there are radioactive isotopes, there is looting every day." He says the isotopes, which are in bright silver containers, "are sold in the black market or kept in homes." According to IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming, such radioactive sources can kill on contact or pollute whole neighborhoods.

How could an administration that had hyped the danger of Saddam handing off nuclear materials to terrorists let Tuwaitha be looted? Maybe the hype was just hype ... or maybe the Pentagon didn't send enough troops to Iraq to do the job right.

Either answer is damning.<more>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20030716_192.html
U.N. in Dark About Looted Iraq Dirty Bomb Material
July 16
By Louis Charbonneau

VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said Wednesday it had accounted for most of the low-grade uranium lost during looting at Iraq's main nuclear facility, but had no information about more dangerous radioactive material.

<snip>But an IAEA spokeswoman said the agency had not been permitted by U.S. occupation authorities to check the status of Tuwaitha's stocks of highly-radioactive cesium-137, cobalt-160 and other materials which could be used in dirty bombs.

"There were around 400 of these radioactive sources stored at Tuwaitha," IAEA's Melissa Fleming said.

Witnesses have said that villagers near Tuwaitha, especially children, have shown symptoms of radiation sickness.

"Any case of radiation sickness would probably be from these highly-radioactive sources, not from the low-grade natural uranium at Location C," Fleming said.<more>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.counterpunch.org/schwarz07172003.html
July 17, 2003
Bush's Pre-emptive Strike Doctrine
The Bane of Non-Proliferation Watchdogs
By MARTIN SCHWARZ

<snip>Bush's use of the specter of nuclear threat to legitimate his intimidation policy can also been seen as just another excuse if reports from occupied post-war Iraq are taken into account. When the reports about massive looting in Iraq's biggest nuclear facility Al-Tuwaitha emerged after the war, the U.S. administration rejected the IAEA's request to send inspectors to that facility for more than a month. El-Baradei didn't even get an answer to his letters to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. Meanwhile, strange things must have happened in Al-Tuwaitha: The IAEA in Vienna received several phone calls from U.S. soldiers based at the facility to secure it, who didn't know what to do with nuclear material they had found.<more>

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http://www.sierrasun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030718/OPINION/307180301
July 18, 2003
Bush's actions don't match the rhetoric
Guest Column by Kirk Caraway

<snip>Turn back the clock to the before the war. You "know" your enemy has 100-500 tons of chemical weapons, and you know where he is likely hiding them. Wouldn't you try to secure those sites as quickly as possible? After all, these chemical weapons posed a major threat to our advancing troops, and the big danger, they said, was if these fall into the hands of terrorists.

So why wasn't this done? Special Forces teams were flown into Iraq to secure the oil fields, but not the weapons. That speaks volumes about what the real reason for the war is.

And those weapons are still missing. Rumsfeld claims they are doing their best to search all those sites, but this is disconcerting. How many days have his 150,000 soldiers had to search the sites they already know about?

And what about the nukes? If Bush and his people really thought that Iraq had an active nuclear weapons program, why did the military wait for more than a week after taking over the region to even visit the country's main nuclear research facilities at Tuwaitha?

Why did they wait even longer to visit the neighboring Baghdad Nuclear Research Facility? Both sites were heavily looted, so if there were plans for a nuclear bomb or even some weapons-grade material, it would be long gone by now.<more>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.msnbc.com/news/912073.asp
WMDs for the Taking?
While U.S. troops pushed on to Baghdad, Iraqis were looting radioactive materials from once protected sites
By Rod Nordland
NEWSWEEK

May 19 issue — From the very start, one of the top U.S. priorities in Iraq has been the search for weapons of mass destruction. Weren’t WMDs supposed to be what the war was about? Even so, no one has yet produced conclusive evidence that Iraq was maintaining a nuclear, biological or chemical (NBC) arsenal.
<snip>

Some of the lapses are frightening. The well-known Al Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center, about 12 miles south of Baghdad, had nearly two tons of partially enriched uranium, along with significant quantities of highly radioactive medical and industrial isotopes, when International Atomic Energy Agency officials made their last visit in January. By the time U.S. troops arrived in early April, armed guards were holding off looters—but the Americans only disarmed the guards, Al Tuwaitha department heads told NEWSWEEK. “We told them, ‘This site is out of control. You have to take care of it’,” says Munther Ibrahim, Al Tuwaitha’s head of plasma physics. “The soldiers said, ‘We are a small group. We cannot take control of this site’.” As soon as the Americans left, looters broke in. The staff fled; when they returned, the containment vaults’ seals had been broken, and radioactive material was everywhere.

U.S. officers say the center had already been ransacked before their troops arrived. They didn’t try to stop the looting, says Colonel Madere, because “there was no directive that said do not allow anyone in and out of this place.” Last week American troops finally went back to secure the site. Al Tuwaitha’s scientists still can’t fully assess the damage; some areas are too badly contaminated to inspect. “I saw empty uranium-oxide barrels lying around, and children playing with them,” says Fadil Mohsen Abed, head of the medical-isotopes department. Stainless-steel uranium canisters had been stolen. Some were later found in local markets and in villagers’ homes. “We saw people using them for milking cows and carrying drinking water,” says Ibrahim. The looted materials could not make a nuclear bomb, but IAEA officials worry that terrorists could build plenty of dirty bombs with some of the isotopes that may have gone missing. Last week NEWSWEEK visited a total of eight sites on U.N. weapons-inspection lists. Two were guarded by U.S. troops. Armed looters were swarming through two others. Another was evidently destroyed many years ago. American forces had not yet searched the remaining three.

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http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-iraqnuke22may22001423,0,1600144.story
Dangerous Loot South of Baghdad
Iraqis close to a nuclear research site become ill after materials are pilfered. Doctor says symptoms point to acute radiation syndrome.
May 22, 2003, L.A. Times
By John Hendren, Times Staff Writer

Since early April, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, has repeatedly requested that the U.S. secure nuclear material at Tuwaitha. This week, the Bush administration agreed to make arrangements to allow the IAEA to return to Iraq to inspect the site.

American troops are now guarding the research center, but the looting has continued, and scientists are worried that missing nuclear material could result in a slew of safety and health problems.

"We're concerned about the health and safety of these people, and then we're also concerned about environmental contamination and we're also concerned that this material could be used for illicit use — a 'dirty bomb,' or even a nuclear bomb," said IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky in a telephone interview from Vienna.

<snip>

Inside a 10-foot-high chain-link fence, a platoon of U.S. troops guards the remains of the nuclear reactor destroyed by the Israelis. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Gasman says his job is to keep looters out, but with a platoon of just 40 men and a fence that runs as far as the eye can see, he admits it's a losing battle. Looters break through nightly; they are often released within a few hours of being caught.

"There's no way we can catch them all," said Gasman, from the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade. "For all I know, there are looters back there now."<more>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/159/nation/For_neighbors_atom_plant_may_inflict_scars+.shtml">Boston Globe
THE NUCLEAR FALLOUT
For neighbors, atom plant may inflict scars
By Ellen Barry, Globe Staff,
6/8/2003, Boston Globe

<snip>As the US invasion approached, the security measures frayed. The Iraqi soldiers left their guardposts around March 10, and by March 20, the civilian guards were gone as well. On April 7, two days before Baghdad fell, US Marines arrived, a senior military official said in a background briefing last week.

<snip>

A US Army spokesman, Colonel Richard Thomas, said yesterday that the looting of the warehouse ceased as soon as US Marines arrived on April 7. He warned against exaggerating the ill effects of the looting, and reported that in the case of the National Museum, losses were far less than initially thought.

In last week's background briefing, a senior military official said that the Americans had arrived to find the locks broken and the warehouse ''in the condition that it's in.''

But a group of local villagers argued yesterday that Americans had permitted the looting, even cutting the locks on the doors. Inad, the shopkeeper, said Americans had encouraged looters to take the material.

''They allowed children to go inside,'' Inad said. ''Then they said it might cause radiation, but that was one month later.''<more>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/06/02/wevian02.xml&sSheet=/portal/2003/06/02/ixportaltop.html">UK Telegraph
Chirac defies Bush at G8 summit
By Benedict Brogan and Toby Harnden in Evian
(Filed: 02/06/2003) UK Telegraph

France poured cold water last night on an American and British proposal to limit the spread of weapons of mass destruction as Tony Blair and George W Bush sought to outflank Jacques Chirac at the opening of the G8 summit.

While M Chirac, the host, sought to emphasise his vision of a multipolar world, Mr Blair and Mr Bush joined forces with other members of the Iraq coalition to try to force him to make combating terrorism a central agenda item of the gathering of industrialised nations.

Downing Street and White House aides said the "action plan" would help to stop terrorists detonating a radioactive "dirty bomb" in a western capital.<more>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/25/international/middleeast/25NUKE.html
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Theft of Cobalt in Iraq Prompts Security Inquiry
By JOHN F. BURNS
Published: November 25, 2003

MIRIYA, Iraq — A seeming lapse in surveillance by American forces has led to the looting of dangerously radioactive capsules from Saddam Hussein's main battlefield testing site in the desert outside Baghdad and the identification of at least one 30-year-old Iraqi villager, and possibly a village boy, as suffering from radiation sickness.

The two capsules, taken from a site once used by Mr. Hussein's government to test the effects of radiation on animals and perhaps humans, have since been recovered after an American sweep through the area.

But American officers fear that more cases of the sickness may follow, and that they will be powerless to help unless people in the villages of Amiriya and Shamiya break their silence and identify men who looted the desert site in early September.

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the American commander in Iraq, has ordered an investigation to discover why an arc of eight 75-foot radioactive testing poles at the site was not more closely guarded after American nuclear experts filed a report to the Pentagon identifying them as dangerous after a visit to the site on May 9, American officers said. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has also taken a personal interest in the case.<more>

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[Karenina]

15. There you are!!!

:loveya:

READ STEPHANIE'S POSTS! CHECK OUT HER METICULOUS DOCUMENTATION!

[Stephanie]

21. Yes of course!

:toast:


BushCO is determined to get thier dirty bomb attack,IMO. Preferably before the election.

[Karenina]

22. YOU are a Truth Teller, my dearest one!

:loveya: :hug: :loveya:

[Ruby Romaine]

13. Jeb Bush jokes people of San Francisco may be endangered

Jeb Bush jokes people of San Francisco may be endangered
Mayor Willie Brown laughs it off

By JACKIE HALLIFAX
Associated Press


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Gov. Jeb Bush joked during a Florida Cabinet meeting Wednesday that the people of San Francisco may be endangered and, "That's probably good news for the country."

http://ajc.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&expire=&urlID=8243099&fb=Y&partnerID=552

[lapfog_1]

14. Cold water

When I saw the first thread on this last night, I freaked too.

But today, I started thinking...

Iraq didn't have a weapons program according to both CIA and IAEA
inspectors. The most recent IAEA reports says that Iraq had no
material other than that used for medical and agriculture
(non proscribed) purposes. It doesn't mention any power plants or
research reactors. Might Iraq have some amount of "yellow cake"?
Yes, quite possibly, although as we now know that Niger was certainly
not the source nor were there attempts to purchase yellow cake from
there. So what facilities is the Guardian article referring to?

DU is a different issue altogether. While it may well poison
Iraq for a generation to come or longer, it is highly unlikely
that anyone can collect enough DU dust from exploded shells and
bullets to attempt to make an effective "dirty bomb". Possible,
and in a sad way, quite ironic, but not likely.

http://www.iaea.or.at/search97cgi/s97_cgi?action=Browse&Directory=iaeans&QueryText=Iraq&BrowseCategory=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iaea.org&ResultTemplate=Iaea%2Fiaea_stnd.hts&ViewTemplate=Iaea%2Fiaeacvw_smpl.hts&AdvOptions=true&ShowGroups=false&ShowSum=&image.x=12&image.y=10

So until I see this on the IA EA website, or some more confirming
news is generated, or even specific details of the facilities in
question are provided... I don't believe it.

OTOH, for conspiracy folks (I'm a LIHOPer myself), it would make
sense that Bushco allows terrorists to acquire material in Iraq
(thus "proving" that Saddam had WMD) and then build a dirty bomb
which is used in the US, like, say, LAX (since we know Bin Laden
never gives up on a target). If the bomb is detonated in October
(but early enough for the investigation to prove that it originated
in "Iraq" and was used by "Bin Laden" before the election), then
Bushco gets to hit the "trifecta" again... WMDs, links to terror,
stay the course on the worldwide crusade.

[anarchy1999]

16. You might want to spend some time reading Stephanie's post &

different links or just go google, Tuwaitha.

[lapfog_1]

17. was writing my post when she posted.

Still, no details on the amount or type of material.
no mention of this facility in the IAEA reports (that are
posted on their website).

Highly doubt a full scale nuclear weapon could be produced,
but what about a large dirty bomb? How large? How dangerous?

Of course, it is reprehensible that the US occupied this country
and did not secure this site. Add it to the long and growing
list of crimes committed by this administration.

[Stephanie]

19. Some more info for you:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Iraq's Nuke Poisoning Worries
BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 22, 2003
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/22/iraq/main555122.shtml

<snip>Iraq has about 1,000 sites where radioactive materials are used in industry or medicine. But Tuwaitha, where Iraqis worked on the final design of a nuclear bomb before the 1991 Gulf War, has drawn the most concern since the recent Iraq war ended.

The Iraqis had been using the dormant plant to store declared nuclear materials that were prohibited and sealed by the U.N. nuclear agency in 1991. During the short-lived inspection regime that ran from November to the start of the war in March, IAEA inspectors visited the site 19 times.

Iraqi nuclear experts blame Americans for failing to guard the site quickly enough and prevent the looting.

"They knew that there were nuclear materials in this site, and they were supposed to protect it," Mohammed al-Hamadani, a researcher at Tuwaitha, said in an interview Wednesday.

<snip>

The teams are already monitoring the air around the area, and Col. Tim Madere, a U.S. specialist in unconventional weapons, acknowledged that "a potential health hazard" remains. He said 80 percent of the barrels containing radioactive material such as uranium remained intact.

Uranium, if enriched, is a key ingredient in nuclear weapons. The IAEA was monitoring 2 short tons of enriched uranium and several tons of natural and depleted uranium stored at Tuwaitha.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IAEA Calls For Urgent Action On Nuclear Situation In Iraq
PR 2003/06 (19 May 2003)
http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/Press/P_release/2003/prn0306.shtml

Boston, 19 May 2003 -- The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, called on the United States and other Coalition authorities to allow IAEA experts to return to Iraq to address a possible radiological emergency there. "I am deeply concerned by the almost daily reports of looting and destruction at nuclear sites and about the potential radiological safety and security implications of nuclear and radiological materials that may no longer be under control." Such reports have described among other things yellow cake emptied on the ground from containers then taken for domestic use, and radioactive sources being stolen and removed from their shielding. "We have a moral responsibility to establish the facts without delay and take urgent remedial action," said Dr. ElBaradei.

As hostilities in Iraq were coming to an end, Dr. ElBaradei wrote on 10 April to the US government bringing its attention to the need to secure the nuclear material stored at Tuwaitha - Iraq's nuclear research centre - and under IAEA seal since 1991. The IAEA also provided the United States with information about the nuclear material, radioactive sources, and nuclear waste in Iraq. The IAEA received oral assurances that physical protection of the site was in place; but following reports of looting there and at other sites, Dr. ElBaradei wrote again on 29 April, emphasizing the responsibility of the Coalition forces to maintain appropriate protection over the materials in question. This includes natural and low-enriched uranium, radioactive sources such as Cobalt 60 and Caesium 137, and nuclear waste. Dr. ElBaradei regrets that the IAEA has to date not received a response. He again urged that the Agency be allowed to send a safety and security team to Iraq so that a potentially serious humanitarian situation can be addressed without further delay. The IAEA has experienced international teams of radiation safety, nuclear security and emergency response specialists who could be deployed immediately into Iraq.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraqnuke22may22,0,6673467.story?coll=ny-worldnews-headlines

<snip>Built in the 1960s for Iraq's Atomic Energy Commission, it housed Hussein's secret effort to build a nuclear bomb.
A nuclear reactor complex at Tuwaitha was bombed by Israel in 1981, but uranium not yet enriched for nuclear weapons has remained there. Since the material was not weapons-grade, it was not banned or removed under U.N. resolutions after the Gulf War, but it was checked regularly by the IAEA.

The main gates at Tuwaitha, once one of the highest-security locations in Iraq, were stolen by looters shortly after Baghdad fell to U.S. troops April 9.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraqnuke22may22,0,6673467.story?coll=ny-worldnews-headlines
Dangerous Loot South of Baghdad
Iraqis near a nuclear research site become ill after materials are pilfered. Doctor says symptoms point to acute radiation syndrome.
May 22, 2003

RIYADH VILLAGE, Iraq -- Elifat Rusum Saber, 14, has been nauseated, tired and bleeding from the nose since her brother brought home metal and chemicals from the neighboring Tuwaitha nuclear research center two days after the fall of Baghdad.

<snip>Dr. Jaafar Nasser Suhayb, who runs a nearby clinic, said that over a five-day period he had treated about 20 patients from the neighborhood near Tuwaitha for similar symptoms — shortness of breath, nausea, severe nosebleeds and itchy rashes.

Suhayb is worried that the residents may be suffering from radiation poisoning since several of the symptoms are consistent with those of acute radiation syndrome.

<snip>"Radiation is cumulative," Gwozdecky said. "It's been 40 days since the looting began. That's why we need to act."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/22/iraq/main555122.shtml
Iraq's Nuke Poisoning Worries
BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 22, 2003

(CBS) The Iraqi Health Ministry has ordered an immediate health assessment around the country's largest nuclear facility after scavengers said they came into contact with radioactive materials they removed from the site.

The situation around the Tuwaitha nuclear plant has drawn international scrutiny from nuclear experts concerned that materials such as uranium were stolen or dumped by thieves in the area.

<snip>The Iraqis had been using the dormant plant to store declared nuclear materials that were prohibited and sealed by the U.N. nuclear agency in 1991. During the short-lived inspection regime that ran from November to the start of the war in March, IAEA inspectors visited the site 19 times.

Iraqi nuclear experts blame Americans for failing to guard the site quickly enough and prevent the looting.

"They knew that there were nuclear materials in this site, and they were supposed to protect it," Mohammed al-Hamadani, a researcher at Tuwaitha, said in an interview Wednesday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13249-2003May19.html
U.N. Atomic Chief Again Warns U.S. About Iraq
By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 20, 2003; Page A08

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned the United States for the third time yesterday of the danger of radioactive contamination in Iraq because of looting at nuclear sites and called on the Bush administration to allow his safety and emergency response teams to enter the country.

In a statement, Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the Vienna-based IAEA, said he was deeply concerned that "nuclear and radioactive materials may no longer be under control" in Iraq. He said a safety and security team from the agency should be deployed immediately to avoid "a potentially serious humanitarian situation."

ElBaradei sent his first warning about the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center in Iraq to the administration on April 10 -- the day after Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's government collapsed. He also supplied U.S. officials with data about the nuclear material at the facility, 30 miles south of Baghdad. At that time, according to the IAEA, U.S. officials gave the agency "oral assurances" that U.S. forces were protecting the site.

The administration has been weighing for more than a month whether to allow inspectors from the IAEA or the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission to return to Iraq. A decision was first set aside until Iraq was secure enough to have the U.N. personnel return. More recently, it has been among the issues involved in internal U.S. discussions about a draft U.S.-sponsored U.N. Security Council resolution to lift international sanctions on Iraq.

Yesterday's statement from ElBaradei came after recent media stories reported on extensive looting at several Iraqi nuclear sites, including Tuwaitha. At Tuwaitha, the IAEA had stored under seal natural uranium oxide, also known as "yellow cake," low-enriched uranium and other radioactive sources. Media accounts said the materials had been spread on the ground, stolen or removed from their shielding.

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