Turkish Police Seize Weapons-Grade Uranium

Former Member

Turkish Police Seize Weapons-Grade Uranium

Source: Reuters
September 28, 2002 10:24 AM ET

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish paramilitary police have seized more than 33 pounds of weapons-grade uranium and detained two men accused of smuggling the material, the state-run Anatolian news agency said on Saturday.

Officers in the southern province of Sanliurfa, which borders Syria and is about 155 miles from the Iraqi border, were acting on a tip-off when they stopped a taxi cab and discovered the uranium in a lead container hidden beneath the vehicle's seat, the agency said.

The incident happens at a time of mounting speculation the United States could launch a military attack on neighboring Iraq for its alleged program of weapons of mass destruction.

U.S. President George Bush has accused Baghdad of clandestine efforts to develop a nuclear bomb as his administration works to build international support for an operation to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Officials at Ankara's Atomic Energy Institute would not confirm they had been notified about the material, which Anatolia had reported.

"Our investigation on whether the uranium was destined for a neighboring country is continuing," a Sanliurfa police official was quoted as saying by Anatolian.

Police officials in Sanliurfa and Ankara declined to comment on the case.

Authorities believe the uranium came from an east European country and has a value of about $5 million, Anatolian said.

It was not immediately clear when the operation was carried out. Anatolian only gave the first names of the suspects, which appeared to be Turkish.

Smugglers use Turkey's porous eastern border to import drugs, and hundreds of thousands of migrants each year illegally cross the rugged frontier on their way to more affluent European Union nations.

Police in Istanbul seized more than 2.2 pounds of weapons-grade uranium last November that had been smuggled into Turkey from an east European nation. The smugglers were detained after attempting to sell the material to undercover police officers.



Captured weapons-grade uranium weighing more than 33 pounds is on display at the paramilitary police headquarters of southeast province of Sanliurfa, Turkey, September 28, 2002. Turkish gendarmes seized the uranium and detained two men accused of smuggling the material, Anatolian Agency said. Authorities believe the uranium came from an eastern European country and has a value about 5 million U.S. dollars. (Anatolian/Reuters)

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=1508708

The whole world is watching and it does not slow the man down one iota...

He truely earns the name, Sodam Insane...


Of course, we can ask some of our more knowledgeable posters.. No doubt they will inform us that this is radiological materials for use in cancer treatment...

Former Member

...and from DEBKAfile (take it with a grain of salt!):

28 September: The mysterious tip-off that led Turkish paramilitary police to the taxi cab, transporting 33 lbs of enriched uranium in a lead container hidden under a seat, came from the joint US-Russian undercover team that has for five weeks been tracking Iraqi operatives who were sent by the Iraqi ruler to hunt for the essential ingredient in the manufacture of nuclear weapons. The news released Saturday, September 28, does not say when the seizure took place.

This joint team, working out of Moscow, was first uncovered by DEBKA-Net-Weekly Issue 74 on August 23:

Operatives of the American and the Russian SVR secret services are jointly engaged in an epic hunt for a band of undercover Iraqi operatives racing up and down Russia, Belarus, the Ukraine and Kazakhstan this past week. According to DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s exclusive sources, the Iraqis have been sent by Saddam Hussein on an illicit hunt for nuclear material, particularly weapons-grade enriched Uranium-235. They are also trying to buy black market missile parts.

American and Russian task forces have set up a joint command center in Moscow to coordinate the high-stakes chase.

The alarm was first sounded in Washington and Moscow in early August by reports of Iraq agents splashing out with multi-million dollar offers for nuclear material. They did not take the information too seriously at first. But then came further reports that 15 Iraqi agents had split up into three groups, two covering Kazakhstan and the Ukraine and the third, Belarus.

The American and Russian presidents put their heads together and decided their intelligence operational divisions would mount a hot pursuit of the Iraqi agents, hoping to get to them before they reached their objective.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s sources say the chase is still on.

The haul in the southern Turkish province of Sanliurfia, which borders on Syria, may have given President George W. Bush the conclusive evidence he needs to prove that Saddam Hussein is racing to build up a nuclear warfare capability and may use it in the approaching war. It may be the clincher in Washington’s bid for support at home and abroad in its decision to use military force against Iraq.

On Saturday, American and British representatives, having been rejected by France, arrived in Moscow to win the Russians round to Washington’s case against Saddam Hussein.

There is little doubt that the Turkish smugglers who had been promised $5 million for the uranium were on their way to the Syrian or Iraqi borders to hand it over to their Iraqi clients.

Despite the US-Russian success in tracking down one shipment of enriched uranium sufficient for the fabrication of several small bombs, there is no knowing for certain if previous consignments have not got through to destination and were already being processed.

www.debka.com

Former Member

Alladin an' Clan'estine,
Whar is th' wo'ds of denial??

Is it th' turks fabricatin', on account o' they is controlled by US oil interests??

Please, use yer superfine sources of magik juju t'set us back on th' path of se'f denial, ah reckon...


Wal, at least yo' ain't stooped t'a CIA plot, yet...



Here let me start your answer: Once upon a time

Former Member

Using the exquisite results of America's "War On Drugs" to factor in the likelihood of contraband material ALL falling to interdiction before arriving into Hussein's hands, and knowing that Hussein has billions of dollars revenue stored away from smuggled oil...

How exactly would that imply that Iraq might have nuclear capability?

Former Member

What does the war on drugs have to do with the issue, pray tell??

With all that is happening, its not the smartest move. But the man does truely earn the monnicker, sodam insane...

Oh but all are it doesn't mean anything... Tell us so that we can all be sure it means Iraq needed some radioactive materials for medical purposes, or perhaps to fuel the local power plant..


Can you purchase bottled water where you live?? Here one of the brandnames is Evian...

Spell it backwards and you'll see my opinion..

Former Member

Originally posted by reverse
What does the war on drugs have to do with the issue, pray tell??

Perhaps that the vaunted "War On Drugs" proclaims success when it stops a mere 10% of the contraband?

Me thinks it is less important what is stopped, than what certainly must have already gotten through...

Former Member

Originally posted by sopite


Perhaps that the vaunted "War On Drugs" proclaims success when it stops a mere 10% of the contraband?

Me thinks it is less important what is stopped, than what certainly must have already gotten through...

Me thinks what you thinks is most certainly true...

Next, will be Iraq's very public communications and entertainment satellite program..

Obviously the iraqi people want satellite TV and better coverage for their cell phones...

Logically, next they will need intercontinental missiles to put their communications and entertainment satellites in orbit...

To think the UK and US stands in the way of world progress...

Alladin or Clandestine could not have painted a better picture.. :razz: :razz:

Former Member

I believe Sophite's point is that if a quantity of weapons grade radioactive material has been intercepted, other quantities have almost certainly reached their destination, and we don't know whether that destination was Iraq, Syria or John Hopkins University. We also cannot guarantee that a 'suitcase' atomic device couldn't be smuggled into US territory.

In such circumstances, how lucky do you feel about undertaking a military intervention in Iraq which the majority, if not all of the arab world, are opposed to?

Former Member

Originally posted by Uncle Joe


In such circumstances, how lucky do you feel about undertaking a military intervention in Iraq which the majority, if not all of the arab world, are opposed to?

When threatened, some surrender and become slaves to their fears.
Others? Stand up and destroy what threatens them.

My grandfather used to tell me: "If you are afraid of it, KILL IT, and then you never need be afraid of it, again."

Some cower, and some fight. I know which course I take.

And you. Pray tell...?

Former Member

Originally posted by sopite
My grandfather used to tell me: "If you are afraid of it, KILL IT, and then you never need be afraid of it, again."

Your grandfather must have been a deeply stupid man. Which side of the family do you take after, pray tell..?

Former Member

Originally posted by Uncle Joe
Which side of the family do you take after, pray tell..?

The side of the family which engaged and destroyed enemies, rather than submitting to them.

Former Member

"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer... and destroy them!!"

Former Member

btw, did I not get your point, since you're being so contentious with the conclusion I drew from it?

Former Member

sopite, you're a man after my own convictions..

Uncle Joe,
"Your grandfather must have been a deeply stupid man"


Thet was rather cheap an' tawdy on yer part... Especially af'er yo' displayed a case of aggravated hemo'rhoids on over mah reference t'th' wo'd pore in yer augest direckshun.... Is thet yer bess vahshun of "allus make sho'nuff yo' screw t'other guy while screamin' foul t'th' umpires..."


To avoid being separated by a common language or your rather common use of the language...
A loose translaction follows:

That was rather cheap and tawdy on your part...

Especially after you displayed a case of aggravated hemorrhoids over my reference to the word poor in your august direction....

Is that your best version of "always make sure you screw the other guy while screaming foul to the umpires..."

Former Member

Originally posted by Uncle Joe
btw, did I not get your point, since you're being so contentious with the conclusion I drew from it?

I thought the point was rather obvious, at least to those who do not cower at the thought of a threat directed toward them.

Irag HAS nuclear capability, and only a supreme idiot would deny it. Do you back off and allow them the time to develop the delivery systems to enable them to attack ANYWHERE in the world - as reverse suggested - or do you meet the threat with the fruition of a promise, and wipe them (who have demonstrated their willingness to USE those weapons) from the face of the earth.

THAT simple.

You appear to suggest that if the uranium was being transported into Iraq, then it could be transported covertly into the US, and the US should cower within its own nation because it might be threatened...

Other thing my grandad said? "Do not make threats; KEEP your promises." GWB made a promise, and now we keep it...

Wiggle and squirm. Wiggle and squirm. You do not deal with the Husseins, the Pol Pots, the Hitlers from a position of weakness. You flush them.

Former Member

Irag HAS nuclear capability, and only a supreme idiot would deny it

Ah so now youre not only Greenhats little yes man but youre smarter than the combined expertise of the IAEC too? How wonderful it must be to be you!

Former Member

Originally posted by Clandestine


Ah so now youre not only Greenhats little yes man but youre smarter than the combined expertise of the IAEC too? How wonderful it must be to be you!

Greenhat's intel, and my intel come from independent sources, and the same conclusion. It is called reality. For you to be denied such really demonstrates not only how far out of the loop you are, but your inability to form a cogent conclusion.

Deny it if you wish, but you cannot change the reality.

Did someone call you "Neville"?

Former Member

Originally posted by Uncle Joe
I believe Sophite's point is that if a quantity of weapons grade radioactive material has been intercepted, other quantities have almost certainly reached their destination, and we don't know whether that destination was Iraq, Syria or John Hopkins University. We also cannot guarantee that a 'suitcase' atomic device couldn't be smuggled into US territory.

In such circumstances, how lucky do you feel about undertaking a military intervention in Iraq which the majority, if not all of the arab world, are opposed to?

Significantly better than about not undertaking such action. No one else in the Arab world has shown a willingness to use weapons of mass destruction, and the Arab leaders (Saddam is not Arab, nor is Iraq) have shown a healthy desire to not have Mecca turned into glass.

Former Member

Sopite, whoever you are you know as little about me as does Greenhat. You only the only one with independent sources, nor do you do more than dodge any legitimate issues i raise as hass Greenhat all along. Since youre new to this debate here ill let you rant on however you like, but your analysis of the situation is no less coloured than my own. I do not consider your urgent rush to make war as anything less than adding fuel to an already difficult fire. It certainly wont enhance our Western security one iota, only diversify the quarters from which threats will emerge.

I suppose at that point you and the Greenhat brigade will start screaming for us to nuke the planet, just to be sure! lol.

Former Member

Originally posted by Clandestine
I do not consider your urgent rush to make war as anything less than adding fuel to an already difficult fire. It certainly wont enhance our Western security one iota, only diversify the quarters from which threats will emerge.

Hmmm... Please allow me to research Neville Chamberlain's speeches. Seems to be an amazing similarity, there...

Of course, you really could be a clandestine character, and working to delay US intervention until Sodam Insane might loose the weaponry he is working on.

That make you happier? Thought it might...

Former Member

Originally posted by Greenhat

Saddam is not Arab, nor is Iraq

Ignorance showing through as usual...

Iraq is an Arab country. :rolleyes:

Former Member

Your obvious paranoia is reading wayyyyy to much into a sn, my dear boy. But if it fuels your fervor for war and domination by all means continue to make assumptions. Heck, Bush has shown that enough repeating of assumptions and allegations must make them fact, so you have learned that methodology well!

Former Member

Vox, careful now. I myself pointed that out earlier. Iraq is not racially Arab, it is Persian. Let us not confuse Islamic with Arab lest we insult numerous other Islamis peoples like the Berbers of North Africa.

Former Member

What a horrid moment... compelled to observe that a fool is correct in responding to an ignorant assertion. :eek:

Well, even a broken clock is correct twice a day... :rolleyes:

Former Member

Originally posted by Vox populi, vox Dei


Ignorance showing through as usual...

Iraq is an Arab country. :rolleyes:

No, it is not. Iraq is not Arabic. The people of Iraq are the descendants of Persia, and closer related to the Aryans of Germany than to the Arabs of Egypt.

Former Member

sopite, you are an annoying little bugger arent you?

Former Member

Originally posted by Greenhat


No, it is not. Iraq is not Arabic. The people of Iraq are the descendants of Persia, and closer related to the Aryans of Germany than to the Arabs of Egypt.

I think you're thinking of Iran, which isn't Arab.

Most of Iraq’s population is Arab.

From: http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761567303

Why would a non-Arab state have Arabic as its national language? :rolleyes:

Former Member

Originally posted by Vox populi, vox Dei


I think you're thinking of Iran, which isn't Arab.

Perhaps you should get into a huddle with the clandestine persona, and get your gameplan straight...

Originally posted by Clandestine
sopite, you are an annoying little bugger arent you?

Oh, my feelings are sooo hurt!

Former Member

Originally posted by Clandestine
Vox, careful now. I myself pointed that out earlier. Iraq is not racially Arab, it is Persian. Let us not confuse Islamic with Arab lest we insult numerous other Islamis peoples like the Berbers of North Africa.

Aren't you a bit pompus..

However do not interrupt Vox, its rather funny in a droll sort of fashion.

Former Member

Just following your fine example pal. If you expect a tone change, start with yourself.

Former Member

Reverse, if you really are the clandestine person's "pal", I have lost my respect for you...