umm, yeah. those are readily turned into UF6 :rolleyes:

Actually, some aluminum tubes Iraq ordered did have US intelligence folks in an uproar. But the application turned out to be relatively benign.

No one has yet answered why Iraq, with tons of uranium ore deposits on its own territory, tons of "semi-enriched" ore in its posession, and NO means of turning the stuff into a weapon would be pursuing yellowcake as alleged.

There are several explanations I can think of:

1. All of the 'yellowcake' info was made up. Several sources subscribe to this theory, and some have suggested Iran as the instigator of the forgeries.

2. Saddam was desperately trying to appear strong to his aggressive (and nuke-capable) neighbor, Iran, and wanted them (and the rest of the world) to think he had more powerful weapons at hand than he really did. This explanation would cover his lack of cooperation with the UN weapons inspectors. Saddam knew that if Iran attacked again, this time, he could not count on help from the US -- or any one else, for that matter.

I agree with Tech.

Bluff is a very big part of any nation's defense scheme. Showing a potential weakness to an adversary just tempts the adversary. If , however, he thinks you can respond in kind, an uneasy peace can continue to exist, at least for awhile.

ok, maybe that's a tad harsh, but it sure comes close.... perhaps he could be charged with a few things.... under international laws.

the point is this, the criteria he used to justify invasion could be used against a haldful of other nations. and so why did he choose Iraq?

leave it to me to totally overlook that yellowcake is a building material used to build cars, planes, boats, buildings, bridges, appliances, toys, climbing gear, railroads, computers, tools, hardware, ships, satellites, picture frames, sailboat masts, ski poles, and a host of others. not the least of which being beer cans

come to think of it, didn't Saddam have a new program for finding a cure for cancer?

I still don't understand why supposedly seeking yellowcake is such a big deal when Saddam:

1. Couldn't get more (he already had plenty)

2. Couldn't use it anyway.

It's a non-issue.