Ex-Aide: Powell Misled Americans (60 Minutes II)

[huckleberry]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/14/60II/main577975.shtml

(CBS) The person responsible for analyzing the Iraqi weapons threat for Colin Powell says the Secretary of State misinformed Americans during his speech at the U.N. last winter.

Greg Thielmann tells Correspondent Scott Pelley that at the time of Powell’s speech, Iraq didn’t pose an imminent threat to anyone – not even its own neighbors. “…I think my conclusion now is that it’s probably one of the low points in his long distinguished service to the nation,” says Thielmann.

Pelley’s report will be broadcast on 60 Minutes II, Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

[proud patriot]

1. ack

I was supposed to watch Whoopi ..

Decisions decisions

on edit duh different night :dunce:

[Sliverofhope]

2. Wow. Will this be another of those

good news weeks? interesting.

[eablair3]

3. thanks

i'll have to tune in.

[diamond14]

4. drip, drip, drip....GUSH..GUSH...GUSH....everyone is finding their

conscience...and bailing out before they get hauled away to the war crime tribunal....

[calimary]

33. CALL YOUR CONGRESS-CRITTERS TO KEEP TRAITOR-GATE ALIVE!

1 (800) 839 - 5276 - TOLL FREE Capitol Hill Switchboard!

They'll transfer you, free, to anybody's office in the House and/or Senate.

I'd recommend asking for a republican's office. THEY'RE the ones who need to hear more of this - that we NEED an independent prosecutor!!! And we need to STOP THIS WAR, STOP THE FUNDING OF IT, AND STOP THE WASTING OF OUR TROOPS' LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DO IT! IT'S FREE, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKES!

[Barrett808]

5. It's amusing how the "liberal" media dance around the word "lied"

"Misled", my ass.

[dbt]

25. Right on, Barrett808!

If it were Clinton, "LIED" would have been in use since Day One--on Page One.

"Liberal Media," my ass!

:bounce:
dbt

[lindashaw]

6. We kinda figured that out when he was confronted with the WMD

thing and said, "This is bullshit. I'm not saying that." It referred to an upcoming speech. But if memory serves me, he did say it, but he omitted in in all future speeches.

on edit: I've never watched Sixty Minutes II...what channel? Just CBS?

[Fovea]

7. This, along with the latest

on the Wilson Plame case or maybe we should call it the Gardinier disclosure, makes me think that the company is gettin a little payback.

I think these are just the teasers to get them stirred up and not thinking right. Just a bit of shock and awe for some upcoming Monday when they really drop the bomb on them, as it were.

I think to really be effective, the company needs to package the congressional PNAC supporters in with this, but that may be asking a bit.
Still, DeLay is unlikely to merely get the sniffles if the Executive comes down with a case of impeachment.

Remember, there are some Republicans in congress that would like to be re-elected in 2004. There is a look of near panic in their eyes lately that does not bode well for Dubya.

By the way, I had a moment of joy, hearing of Ted Olsen's bitch slapping in SCOTUS today. I almost respected them again for a moment. I think there was a sea change there. I think Rhenquist has realized how history is going to treat him.

[never cry wolf]

13. I missed it

what did SCOTUS do today?? Any news that has "bitch slap" and "Ted Olsen" in the same sentence lightens my day!!

[JackSwift]

8. No, Powell has a long history of lowpoints in his miserable

career. This one had the saving grace being that the public had every opportunity at the time to know he was lying his ass off, and many here said exactly that, and why we knew that.

Powell, when he was a Major in Vietnam, whitewashed the Mai-Lai investigation in an attempt to cover it up.

During Iran-Contra he participated in the cover up of the illegal war.

[Rose Siding]

9. Thielman and Wilson with the old one-two?

They are complimenting each other nicely. :party:

[Julien Sorel]

10. Subject: Powell and Rumsfeld are now perfectly positioned to take the fall

[damnraddem]

11. Of course, he did.

And consider that he rejected some of the claims that Dubya made in the SOTU and the the WH was proclaiming generally.

[Jack Rabbit]

12. This is breaking news?

Well, I guess the fact it was on a mainstream television news program is.

However, Powell's speech, delivered on a Wednesday, was thoroughly discredited by the end of week. People who paid attention and got their news from credible alternative sources knew this.

[maggrwaggr]

14. Well that's a huge minority, pal

Millions believed his bulls**t.

The more people come out with the truth now, the better.

[Carolina]

49. Millions believed his bulls**t

because sad to say, Uncle Colin has had many of you white folks fooled for ages. He may wear a veneer respectability and moderation (bestowed on him by the fawning media, incidentally) but his very participation in this regime --from those early visits and photo-ops at the Crawford ranch in November 2000 (while election was still unsettled) through the current morass-- speaks volumes. He's as bad as the rest of them, and he is indeed a complicit liar. If the Bushistas scapegoat him and kick him to the curb (hopefully with his partner in crime, Condoliar), it'll be just what he deserves. And I'll laugh out loud all the way to the next NAACP meeting.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

20. Don't you think it's helpful to hear what people close to Powell thought?

[Jack Rabbit]

29. I think that's very helpful

I agree, it's time to see the man behind the curtain. However, that suggests another question: Why was the fourth estate so compliant with the Bush administration? They are in the business, putatively, of informing the public. They acted as a propaganda arm for the Bushies. To talk about this now rather than before the invasion is a little like barring the barn door after the horses have escaped.

This war was made possible by the institutional failure of US mainstream journalism. We need to know what happened and to seek ways to remedy this failure.

[grytpype]

15. This is pretty big.

I wonder how Thielmann will get slimed?

Maybe his wife works for the CIA or something.

Can't wait to find out.

Should be by about noon tomorrow, Washington time.

[TruthIsAll]

23. No, this is HUGE...

Colin gets reamed in the Bowels..

[cliss]

16. "His long distinguished service to the nation"

I object to this statement. It should read, "his long disgusting disservice to the nation".

I've read about his cover-up about My Lai. Stan Goff writes about his current dealings in CounterPunch. Too long, too sordid, too entrenched.

[robbedvoter]

17. Thielman was also on Frontline (War&Consequences?)

And Powell has been already revealed by AP this summer

Point by Point, a Look Back at a 'thick' File, a Fateful Six Months
Later The Most Detailed U.S. Case for Invading Iraq Was Laid
By Charles J. Hanley The Associated Press
Published: Aug 9, 2003



http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAO4TLT5JD.html
And then there's the video fron 2001 where he says Saddam is not dangerous - but that has still to be "discovered" in this country.

[TacticalPeek]

18. Kick Night.

:kick:

[David Zephyr]

19. This is Why the Colin Powell Cheerleaders Here Need to Wake Up

Powell is so dirty with his treasonist whitewashing of in the My Lai massacre that anyone who has expected him to EVER act differently is buying into the good cop/bad cop routine from this White House.

Powell lied to the U.N. with his fraudulent documents of his own that matched those presented in Bushes State of the Union Address. At least Bush had the sense not to refer to a decade old and plagiarized essay by an American student as "intelligence" of Saddam Hussein's then-current WMD capacities.

Powell is a fraud and a very, very weak man who apparently loves to be pushed around.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

22. Actually, of all of the Bushies, Powell scares me the most because...

...it takes a very strong man to rise to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. That means that he has survived years of nasty infighting among the senior management of the Army...infighting that would make a corporate boardroom look like a day-care center. He has also managed to be involved in covering up some of the Army's worst moments, to include My Lai and Desert Storm Syndrome. Unlike the so-called career politicians among the Bushies, Powell rarely speaks out publicly unless he is has been directed to do so and he can prove it.

I suspect that Powell is currently working behind the scenes to help strong factions of the CIA, FBI, military, and civilian military personnel in releasing a ton of damaging information to the press about the Bushies. Of all the Bushies that have gotten negative press recently, he has been virtually ignored by the media. That is not by accident, I can assure you.

Let's suppose for a moment that Rummy takes more hits and is forced to resign along with Rice and Bremer in Iraq. Let's also suppose that the White House gets gutted by the continuing leaks from the CIA and other agencies, and Cheney, Rove and Libby are also booted. In such a large political vacuum who would become VP at a time when the GOP is looking for a large block of minority voters along with the military voters alienated by Rummy?

[sonias]

21. One Person Can Make a Difference

Good for Thielmann to tell Powell he has hit the bottom of his career, and good that we get some more media attention to the bu$h regime lies.

On a related note BuzzFlash commentary (Greg Thielmann is a member of VIPS)
One Person Can Make a Difference
by Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/03/10/con03146.html
(snip)
Of all the Australian, British, and American intelligence analysts with direct knowledge of how intelligence was abused in the run-up to the war -- Wilkie was the only one to resign in protest and speak truth to power.

Those who dismiss such efforts as an exercise in futility should know that, on October 7 the Australian Senate, in a rare move, censured Howard for misleading the public in justifying sending Australian troops off to war. The Senate statement of censure noted that Howard had produced no evidence to justify his claims last March that Iraq had stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons, and castigated him for suppressing Australian intelligence warnings that war with Iraq would increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks. One senator accused Howard of "unprecedented deceit."
(/snip)

He is putting his head on the line too. Thielmann and Wilson are true patriots. Brave men both and I thank them and appreciate their courage.

Sonia

[DeepModem Mom]

24. Rummy, Condi, Cheney, now Powell,

have competence and/or integrity openly questioned in the mainstream media. Possibility raised of Rove being under criminal investigation. As Bush's enablers and handlers are discredited, calls from all sides for him to lead. We know he can't. Will the country begin to put two and two together, and realize how scary this situation is? And that the root cause of the situation is an incompetent fraud in the White House?

[leftchick]

28. kick

:kick: Be sure to Watch tonight!

[Gman]

26. "Faith-Based Intelligence"

“…The main problem was that the senior administration officials have what I call faith-based intelligence,” says Thielmann.

this is gonna be great!

[TahitiNut]

27. kick

:hi:

[J B]

30. I'm thrilled he's making "faith-based intelligence" MAINSTREAM.

I'm just so glad there's some progress on the political front about this. I mean, these neocons really need to be smacked around...

[protect freedom impeach bush now]

31. quotes show Colin Powell Lied to the U.S. & the U.N.

A BuzzFlash News Analysis
September 24, 2003

http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/03/09/24_powell.html

Did Colin Powell Lie to the U.S. and the U.N.?
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

Below are two excerpts from speeches given by Colin Powell. The first in 2001, in which he asserts Iraq could not possibly have weapons of mass destruction, and the second in 2003, two years later, asserting that Iraq had plenty of weapons of mass destruction.

And now we know they haven't found any weapons of mass destruction, just like Colin said in 2001.

Did Colin Powell lie to the U.S. and the U.N.?

* * *

Press Remarks with Foreign Minister of Egypt Amre Moussa

Secretary Colin L. Powell
Cairo, Egypt (Ittihadiya Palace)
February 24, 2001

"...the Foreign Minister and I and the President and I, had a good discussion about the nature of the sanctions -- the fact that the sanctions exist -- not for the purpose of hurting the Iraqi people, but for the purpose of keeping in check Saddam Hussein's ambitions toward developing weapons of mass destruction. We should constantly be reviewing our policies, constantly be looking at those sanctions to make sure that they are directed toward that purpose. That purpose is every bit as important now as it was ten years ago when we began it. And frankly they have worked. He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors. So in effect, our policies have strengthened the security of the neighbors of Iraq, and these are policies that we are going to keep in place, but we are always willing to review them to make sure that they are being carried out in a way that does not affect the Iraqi people but does affect the Iraqi regime's ambitions and the ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction, and we had a good conversation on this issue."

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2001/933.htm
* * *

Full text of Colin Powell's speech
US secretary of state's address to the United Nations security council

February 5, 2003

Indeed, the facts and Iraq's behavior show that Saddam Hussein and his regime are concealing their efforts to produce more weapons of mass destruction.

<snip>

Numerous human sources tell us that the Iraqis are moving not just documents and hard drives, but weapons of mass destruction, to keep them from being found by inspectors.

<snip>

We also have satellite photos that indicate that banned materials have recently been moved from a number of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction facilities.

<snip>

We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction; he's determined to make more.

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2003/17300.htm
(PDF version (407k))

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

[Mari333]

32. The soldiers in Iraq know its a crock of shit too

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0310/S00105.htm

[sonias]

36. thanks for that link Mari333

That was a very brutally honest interview with that soldier. I feel for him and he has a good message exposing those fake patriots who wave their flags but yet cut veteran's benefits in an instant. Corporate whores and evil bastards.

Moms and Dads don't let your babies grow up to be soldiers.

Sonia

[reprobate]

37. Mari, I don't know if I should thank you or curse you for posting that.

I can't remember the last time my eyes watered from reading an article. This one did it. Brought back some bad memories, and I wasn't even in that kind of combat (I was air force).

With everyday the cabal shows that they care nothing for americans, only for the wealthy who finance them.

I have a growing concern that with BBV appearing to be an unstoppable juggernaut we will be forced to endure another four years of PNAC. If that happens I'm afraid that the country won't survive as we know it. It's starting to resemble France in 1789 and russia in the 1917. Every revolution needs a spark to set it off. The disillusion of these troops coming back from Iraq and afghanistan, along with the anger they bring with them could be that spark. They know that the nation has been given over to fascism, with the corporate interest in control, and if they're angry enough and emotionally injured enough, it may just get real nasty. And I can see a possiblility of our army being called on to deal with them. And refusing.

As the chinese say: May you live in interesting times.

[Blue_Roses]

52. wow...

that's a powerful interview. Makes me mad...

[AnnitaR]

59. Read part 2!

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0310/S00116.htm

He interviews another soldier (he asks to be called Trooper 1) and this quote floored me! We protested in the streets before the war and now what are we doing? This soldier tells us what he thinks we should be doing.

Trooper 1--“That is what all the American people need to do. Every time the Pentagon gets one of us killed they need to riot and protest in the streets. If they did that maybe Rumsfeld and those assholes like Wolfowitz and Perle would think twice about letting another one of our troops die in combat. Maybe they would bring us home. Until the American people stand up and say ‘NO MORE DEAD SOLDIERS!’ they will keep butchering us like sheep!”

I'm ready to protest in the streets now for these guys. These interviews are heartbreaking!

[durutti]

34. Where Was the Skepticism Then?

It would have been nice if our media outlets would've exercised a little more skepticism (rather than drooling, as they did, over Powell's presentation) eight months ago.

[leftofthedial]

35. if this was the low point of that scumbag's service

then it's unbelievably low, considering the despicable acts this fraud has committed during his career.

[0007]

60. Right down with the pigs, 'eh?

*

[Wonk]

38. kick

[Wonk]

40. on now

[RedEarth]

39. Must watch TV....thanks......nt

[ElementaryPenguin]

41. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy shit - ChimpCo coming apart at the seams!

Pay attention, America!!!!!!!!!!

[Wonk]

42. mp3 for those who missed it

3.4 M

[JasonBerry]

43. As always - Thanks, Wonk

~

[RedEarth]

44. Thanks...our TV station which is owned by hard-line repub didn't run ..

60 minutes this evening. Instead, they ran a fund raising show for the St. Jude Hospital. Unbelieveable. One more example of the media keeping the public from knowing the truth.

[Rose Siding]

48. That was great.

Thanks Wonk.

"Faith based intelligence" grabbed me too. He is mostly saying what the WaPo reported in that VERY long story a while back but the tube is much better exposure.

They are liars and it's got to get to where it is ACCEPTABLE to say so.

[lindashaw]

45. It's on Yahoo, now. Here's a link, make it a 5.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20031016/pl_afp/us_iraq_powell&cid=1521&ncid=1480

[Bozita]

47. Rate all Yahoo stories

thanks for the link

[Ugnmoose]

46. Absolutely damning

Four credible interviwees all of whom said the same thing: THERE WERE NO WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION IN IRAQ AND SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS KNEW IT, YET WE STILL WENT TO WAR.

If this whole damn thing does not constitute a high crime against the United States I don't what does. IMPEACH THE BASTARDS!!!!!!!!

[gauguin57]

50. keith olberman quoted this

CBS story on MSNBC right after "60 Minutes" ended. Yea!

The missing piece to this story -- which the networks should be filling in as they tell the "Powell-and-rest-of-administration-lied" story -- is PNAC ... GET ON IT, people!

[0007]

51. Wow!

We all knew it was a pack of lies and Harry Belafone even put the icing on the cake for us all, didn't he?

Greg Thielmann; I would assign some blame to the intelligence community, and most of the blame to the senior administration officials.”

.....and one of the best in his field, Mr. Thielmann is, and you thank you kindly Sir.

[PartyPooper]

53. How many Americans missed this program because of baseball?

I'm watching now...and, I'm so pissed that this is just now reaching the airwaves. But, so many folks are watching baseball instead. Maybe, they'll catch the 60 Minutes re-runs next summer. God, is this country so screwed!

:-(

[Wonk]

54. quicktime video here

52 M

Even if you forgot to tape it you can download this, burn it to CD, and share that with your friends who were watching baseball instead.

Better than waiting until next summer, yes?

[PartyPooper]

55. Thank you, Wonk!

You're such a great person and a fine DU'er, too! I love you!

:loveya:

[0007]

56. Thank you

I'm burning it to a CD - One of those baseball nuts, I am.

[imax2268]

57. Thanks Wonk...

Do you have your own website...?

You should...!

[The_Casual_Observer]

58. Baseball and a warm place to s*it

Is what's important

Common man has no interest in a washington analyst telling him that he was fooled into a war by the government. He would rather watch the game and forget about it.

[diamond14]

61. Review from the Chemist: yellowcake, centrifuges, nukes (pics)

This "very tiny" overview of the nuclear processes that are being discussed on 60-minutes. It is written by a CHEMIST for the general public to understand. There are also a number of links to help you go into further depth, if you are a "science buff".

Just looking at the photos should help you fully understand why SCIENTISTS were SO shocked at the bush* lies, which led to the KILLING of thousands of innocents...you can't hide this stuff 'under a rose bush...'...


_____________________

Uranium (Element #92, abbreviated "U", named after the Planet Uranus)
Plutonium (Element #94, abbreviated "Pu", named after the Planet Pluto)

When highly purified into suitable chemical forms, BOTH these elements (U and Pu) can be used to generate power in a Nuclear Power Plant. In a different chemical form, BOTH these elements can be used to make NUCLEAR BOMBS. Both elements are radioactive, meaning that they emit dangerous radiation for thousands of years (radiation is high energy particles that disrupt molecular structures, causing your body chemistry to malfunction in many ways, often forming cancers)

Uranium exists in the earth, and can be located and mined by geologists.

Plutonium is a "human-made" element, that only exists where scientists created it.

The first Plutonium was created by the USA for making nuclear bombs in WWII.
(That let the genie out of the bottle, creating an element! We have "poisoned ourselves" with major environmental damage, from an insidious world-class toxicant. For over 50 years now, discussions continue over what to do with Pu, where to store it, and how to clean up this mess).

There are essentially two BIG steps to making a nuclear bomb:

1. Extract Uranium from the ground, process and extract it to make "yellowcake"

2. Chemically separate the Uranium isotopes, and purify those chemicals. Once purified, U can then be used by itself for a nuclear bomb, as the Hiroshima bomb, or take it further, in a nuclear reaction to create Plutonium (as the Nagasaki bomb). Either U or Pu can also be used to generate power in nuclear power plants.

These are VERY COMPLEX, dangerous and expensive steps. The closer that you get to the final purified U or Pu, the more valuable the chemical compounds become, and the more dangerous. The more steps are completed, the easier to make a nuclear bomb from it. "Yellowcake" is light-years away from a final nuclear bomb, but the possession of yellowcake eliminates ONE difficult step.

Here'e a good flowchart showing the process (for power production "nuclear materials", but the process is essentially the same to create "nuclear materials" for ATOMIC BOMBS, which are now called Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).

http://www.usec.com/v2001_02/HTML/Aboutusec_fuelcycle.asp





Uranium is removed from the earth in mining operations. After removing it from the earth, the ore must be processed using chemicals to extract the actual Uranium.

Here is info on mining Uranium, the production process: from blasting to shipping…
http://www.rossing.com/uranium_production.htm

A huge amount of rock must be processed to get a tiny bit of Uranium, which is then called "yellowcake", because it's a yellow compressed powder. The mining leaves a huge environmental mess, as shown here.



Geologists call these Uranium chemical compounds: Minerals, and have "geological names", while chemists have a very organized naming system that allows you to draw the chemical structure and predict the chemical reactions.

Here's a list (with some pictures) of different chemical forms of Uranium, with the geological names, and the chemical formulas…
http://webmineral.com/chem/Chem-U.shtml



There are TWO kinds of reactions that Uranium undergoes

1. Chemical reactions with other compounds, such as sulfur, oxygen, fluorine, and nitrogen. If you hit element 92, you can explore all the chemical forms of Uranium, and many crystal structures, Uranium - sulfides, oxides, fluorides and more…(on the left side), and the colors of each chemical compound.
http://www.webelements.com/

2. Nuclear Reactions. Physicists change the number of protons in the center of the atom, and create NEW elements. For Uranium (Atomic Number 92), there is a series of nuclear reactions that create Plutonium (Atomic Number 94). These nuclear reactions are conducted in a NUCLEAR REACTOR.

Before the physicists can create Plutonium, or use Uranium for a nuclear bomb, it must be purified by a very complex, environmentally damaging series of chemical extractions. The manufacturing plants for this process are VERY large, and in the USA, include the Hanford Plant in Washington, the Rocky Flats plant in Denver, Oak Ridge in Tennessee, the Pantex Plant in the Pan Handle of Texas, and more….with a variety of other manufacturing plant making components like electrical and explosives. These plants are not "mobile" and cannot be "hidden". Two examples are shown: 1) WMD plant, and 2) Nuclear Power plant.

1. An example of just ONE plant is shown here (the actual "enrichment" was done at Hanford and Oakridge, other HUGE Nuclear Weapons Manufacturing Facilities. Rocky Flats only did the "clean-up" of the Nuclear Materials that were sent from Hanford)

WMD Plant: Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons plant
http://www.em.doe.gov/bemr96/rfts.html




Read more about the chemical separation of Uranium isotopes, and the creation of Plutonium:
http://www.uic.com.au/nip50.htm


2. In these links, you can see a second type of Uranium isotope use, that of creating power. Centrifuges similar to these are used to separate U for Atomic BOMBS. Multiple banks of high tech centrifuges are necessary, one centrifuge will NOT do it.

Here's some pictures showing how Uranium enrichment works. These are very challenging chemical reactions, involving HOT Hydrofluoric Acid ( HF - a chemical that "eats" through glass, plastics, steel and more…HF also "eats" through humans, damaging nerves, so that the person will not feel the burning and can not know of the damage as it progresses…HF is a very dangerous chemical to work with.)
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf28.htm


The large Tricastin enrichment plant in France (beyond cooling towers)
The four nuclear reactors in the foreground provide over 3000 MWe power for it.


A bank of centrifuges at a Urenco plant

Like the diffusion process, the centrifuge process uses UF6 gas as its feed and makes use of the slight difference in mass between U-235 and U-238. The gas is fed into a series of vacuum tubes, each containing a rotor one to two metres long and 15-20 cm diameter. When the rotors are spun rapidly, at 50,000 to 70,000 rpm, the heavier molecules with U-238 increase in concentration towards the cylinder's outer edge.


Here is a site that covers the complex history of Uranium and Plutonium in bombs..
http://www.atomicarchive.com/


After chemical purification in these HUGE manufacturing facilities, nuclear reactions are used to create Plutonium. Physicists change the number of protons in the center of the atom, and create NEW elements. For Uranium (Atomic Number 92), there is a series of nuclear reactions that create Plutonium (Atomic Number 94). These nuclear reactions are conducted in a NUCLEAR REACTOR.

The link below (U of Missouri -Rolla), explains the processes that go on in the nuclear reactor to create Plutonium

here's pics of the interior of the Nuclear Reactor at the U of Missouri - Rolla.
http://web.umr.edu/~reactor/




Pu and U are always emitting radiation continuously for thousands of years.
These emissions are primarily dangerous alpha, beta, and gamma rays that damage cells, quickly, causing radiation burns/poisoning, and long-term, causing cancers.

here's another "Periodic Chart of the Elements" with links on bottom to explain everything (from the chemists at Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratories)
http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/default.htm

if you like pretty green-yellow glass, here is a link to the "Uranium Glass Gallery" where you can learn more about exotic collector glass made with radioactive Uranium. Although some people won't mind drinking their wine out of a radioactive glass, others do object to being radioactively poisoned as they drink. Beautiful glasses, though.
http://www.parkcity.ne.jp/~ken-toma/



In recent news stories, Uranium and Plutonium have been called radionuclides, nuclear materials and radioactive isotopes and more. All of these names are correct, but emphasize different properties of the U and Pu. Because these atoms are so BIG and heavy (atoms are smallest at the top of the Periodic Chart and biggest at the bottom), they are also called "heavy" metals.

______________________________

Here is little background on "The Atom", so you can better understand the terminology and the reactions:

1. The nucleus (the center) of an atom is composed of positively-charged particles called "protons" and neutral particles called "neutrons".

2. The atomic number is the number of protons found in the nucleus. For example: Uranium is Atomic Number 92, which means that there are 92 protons in the nucleus (92 - positively charged particles in the center of the atom).
Plutonium is Atomic Number 94, which means that there are 94 protons in the nucleus.

3. Electrons are negatively charged particles that circulate continuously around the center of the atom, like the planets circulating around the sun. Chemical reactions often use the outermost electrons to join elements to each other.

4. Isotopes are atoms that have the same number of protons (positive-charged particles), and that gives the isotopes the SAME Atomic Number. But, the isotopes have different numbers of neutrons (neutral particles). Uranium has 14 isotopes, all are radioactive. The isotopes are commonly written as U-235 (meaning that there are 235 neutrons in that isotope) or U-238 (meaning that there are 238 neutrons in that isotope).

Both U and Pu are very chemically reactive. As a metal, these elements chemically react on contact with air, which is called "pyrophoric". This property has caused many fires and explosions when handling the purified metal. Even in other chemical forms, the continuous emission of radioactivity eats through almost all materials: glass, steel, plastics. U and Pu are dangerous, both for their chemical and nuclear properties. Pu is so chemically reactive, it reacts with virtually every non-metal in the Periodic Table of the Elements, except the Nobel Gases.

To conduct any of the nuclear reactions, one must first clean-up (purify) the chemical compounds. The purification processes are very complex, dangerous, and toxic.

nuclear fission from the chemists…
http://www.chemsoc.org/timeline/pages/1945.html

_________________________

There are TWO nuclear problems going on in the bush* Iraq debacle.

1. The bush* claim that "yellowcake" was being purchased from Niger to make nuclear bombs in Iraq. Recently, bush* minions admitted that this claim is a lie. To support the bush* lies, Colin Powell claimed that Iraq possessed "centrifuges" for uranium separation, as evidenced by the Iraqi scientist who dug up some rusted o-rings from under his rose bush in his back yard.

2. A defunct nuclear plant in Iraq, inspected and regulated by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Commission). During the war, the scientists all left. The plant was NOT protected by American soldiers (as they were busy protecting the OIL ministry), and the plant was vandalized. This resulted in many unsuspecting people being poisoned by the "yellowcake" left in drums, as they took the drums to store their drinking water. These people will DIE horrible deaths. In addition, there is now a "missing" yellowcake and other radioactive materials, such as purified Uranium (that may be used to make nuclear bombs).

dying from radiation poisoning....
here is a very sad story of young women's deaths from Radium poisoning (Radium is element 88... these deaths have helped scientists understand better the full effects of radiation poisoning, which is still heavily debated by DOE and military experts, who claim little or no effects from their own radiation exposures to an unknowing public)
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/40/046.html

"Deaths were often attributed to other causes, anemia being one of the most common. But experts, including scientists at Argonne National Laboratories, now affirm that radium did kill some of the women.

There is still disagreement about how many. Some say a few; others believe radium caused hundreds to die or suffer bad health for years. "There are a bunch of cases where people know there's something wrong," Clark says.

Some women had tumors bulging from their jaws or leg bones, where radium was said to settle. Looney's family watched in horror as she pulled teeth and parts of her jaw from her mouth."



This bush* mess is extremely dangerous for the whole world, since these nuclear materials could be in the hands of terrorists, with the looting of the plant.

about the IAEC (International Atomic Energy Agency
http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/About/Profile/

the IAEA and Tuwaitha and Rashdiya facilities in Iraq
(It appears that Iraq bought yellowcake before, but Iraq never has been able to develop the necessary technology to turn yellowcake into purified Uranium or Plutonium, which is necessary to make atomic bombs. There was yellowcake at the looted defunct facilities in Iraq. Much more dangerous is: there were reports of radioactive sources there, and WHERE DID THOSE NUCLEAR MATERIALS GO TO?)

The IAEA reports, as of December 1998:
" There were no indications that there remains in Iraq any physical capability for the production of amounts of weapons-usable nuclear material of any practical significance."

http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/Programmes/ActionTeam/nwp2.html

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Now, with Plutonium production done, there are still several more steps including creating the actual atomic bomb (A high tech effort to create the nuclear explosion from the Pu. If this is not done right, no nuclear explosion will occur.). Then, you need to deliver the bomb….all that are subjects not covered in this review….

[leetrisck]

62. I thought this might be one of the bigger stories

today, but it doesn't seem to be. Haven't noticed anything on the 24 hour channels but maybe I missed it. Think this is a big deal. Is anyone paying attention to this - needs to be brought to the forefront. Wasn't even mentioned as a headline story on C-Span today.