August 10, 2003
Iraq Threat was Exaggerated
“[I]t would have been extremely difficult to make these tubes into centrifuges. It stretches the imagination to come up with a way. I do not know any real centrifuge experts that feel differently.” Said by Houston G. Wood III in late 2001, an alumnus of Oak Ridge, and founder of the Oak Ridge centrifuge physics department. Experts like Wood were sidelined and ignored during the build-up to the Iraq War. They argue that the facts were egregiously manipulated and played on public ignorance instead of relying on scientific reality.
In the Oak Ridge world of science, facts are paramount to speculation, hypothesis and conjecturing. So when an engineer-turned-CIA analyst reported that the tubes were "overspecified," "inappropriate" and "excessively strong", the speculation was that Saddam would not waste money using the tubes for rockets and would reserve them for nuclear application. Expectedly, the experts blinked.
They contend that CIA analysts ignored facts. Facts such as the existence of an Italian designed rocket called the Medusa 81 that Iraq was copying, and within a fraction of a millimeter, matched the disputed aluminum tubes. Or, that the tubes were too narrow, long and thick-walled to fit a known centrifuge design. And that aluminum had not been used for rotors since the 1950s. And Iraq already had more up-to-date centrifuge blueprints (but not the means to reproduce them) that were stolen from Europe. Their designs used a hard steel alloy for rotors and carbon fiber which would have been just as difficult to import or produce.
Posted by Stephen VanDyke at August 10, 2003 05:05 PMThere is such a subversion of power going on under this administration, it’s at time frightening. And even more frightening is Congress is divided by partisan politics that is powerless to act, and the federal courts are reluctant (surprisingly) to get involved…The losers in all of this, is of course, the American Republic, which is under attack from her own government…
Posted by: V. Edward Martin at August 11, 2003 08:52 AMV,
I was riding into work this morning and heard a story about the WP piece on NPR’s Morning Edition.
It is so shocking to me that the entire country is not enraged over Iraq and the rest of the Bush lies. There certainly is available bandwidth — The Terminator has taken more than his share of it.
Yet, today we learn 3 more American soliders dies in Iraq this weekend.
And the country just goes along with it…
I am disgusted.
Robbie
Posted by: Robbie D at August 11, 2003 09:31 AMIt’s not shocking at all. Most people I am personally acquainted with who were pro-war were pro-war because of reasons OTHER than nuclear weapons threats.
Among those reasons considered valid enough to promote war by average citizens:
- Iraq has oil. We need it.
- Iraq has a bunch of crazy Muslims in it, led by a crazy Muslim… let’s get rid of them.
- The people of Iraq will be better off under U.S. domination than Saddam’s.
- Foreign war helps the economy at home, so why not.
I kid you not - I’ve heard ordinary people say THESE things as their reason for being pro-war with Iraq.
So I don’t know who was hoodwinked with the nuclear weapons theory… or who was supposed to be duped… but it wasn’t every average American who was pro-war that was manipulated into a pro-war stance.
People have plenty of reasons for wanting war, sadly.
The saddest reason I heard was from my own father who was excited at being able to see all the new technology the military had come up with.
Personally, I think we could have had a more effective shock and awe if we had employed a team of special effects directors from hollywood and equipped ten UAVs with laser lights and had them flying non-stop over Baghdad. Add some UAVs with eerie UFO sounds and glowing lights and we could have scared them into running off without having to kill them.
Posted by: Stephen VanDyke at August 11, 2003 12:52 PMChloe,
Do they *still* think Saddam is a Muslim?
Sad.
Robbie
Posted by: Robbie D at August 11, 2003 04:01 PM
