Patriot Post Vol. 08 No. 28 | 11 July 2008
NATIONAL SECURITY
Warfront with Jihadistan: Saddam’s yellowcake
The latest chapter of Saddam Hussein’s nuclear program came to a close on Saturday when 550 metric tons of Iraqi “yellowcake” uranium arrived in Canada on a U.S.-flagged ship. In a secret operation that lasted several weeks, U.S. and Iraqi authorities removed the uranium from the Tuwaitha nuclear complex 12 miles south of Baghdad. A Canadian uranium producer purchased the yellowcake from the Iraqi government for “tens of millions of dollars.” Once enriched to a sufficient level, the uranium will be used to generate electricity, which is not exactly what Saddam Hussein had in mind for it. The uranium removed from Tuwaitha was enough to build approximately 142 nuclear weapons.
Critics of the Iraq War have been quick to point out that the UN already knew about Saddam’s yellowcake, and that it was purchased before the 1991 Gulf War, but such arguments are meaningless in view of the Duelfer Report’s conclusion that Saddam was trying to get sanctions lifted in order to resume his WMD program. In addition, there was Saddam’s penchant for throwing out UN weapon inspectors. Had sanctions been lifted with Hussein still in power, no honest person can dismiss the likelihood of a nuclear arms race between Iraq and its primary enemy, Iran. Moreover, British and U.S. intelligence agencies still maintain that Iraq was interested in buying more yellowcake from Niger in 1999, despite the denials of Leftist celebrity Joseph Wilson.
Speaking of Wilson, his lies were further exposed this week with the release of a formerly classified CIA document. According to the document, “super secret agent” Valerie Plame did in fact suggest that the CIA send her husband to Niger to sort out what she called “this crazy report” about Iraqi efforts to buy uranium. Under oath, Plame told Congress that she made no such recommendation, and Wilson himself has insisted that Valerie had nothing to do with his little excursion. Somehow we doubt that the Democrat-controlled Congress will call Plame back in to explain herself. But no matter: The world is safer without Saddam Hussein and his nuclear ambitions, and America is no doubt safer without Valerie Plame at the CIA or Joseph Wilson at the State Department.
The media abandon Iraq
A popular Leftist bumper sticker during the Vietnam War read: “What if they had a war, and no one came?” An appropriate sticker for today might ask: “What if the U.S. won a war, but the media didn’t report it?” Despite a plethora of good news about the Iraq war, news outlets are reporting everything except the coalition’s great success. The Iraq War no longer follows the narrative that Leftists and defeatists (but we repeat ourselves) believe it should, and so they have decided that our heroic efforts there are no longer newsworthy.
A case in point is the 18 benchmarks that Congress set last year for Iraqi progress. As of last week, Iraq had met 15 of those benchmarks, but only Fox News Channel saw fit to report it. Fox anchor Brit Hume even predicted as much, saying he doubted that “word of this progress is going to get through. I suspect that this broadcast tonight—and maybe some others on this channel—are the only ones who are going to make a headline out of this.” He was right. While Fox cited the progress in Iraq, most of the Leftmedia outlets were reporting that U.S. troop deaths in Afghanistan had risen.
Also ignored is the fact that al-Qa’ida in Iraq has been driven from its last stronghold in Mosul and that attacks by insurgents and militias are down 90 percent from one year ago. Conditions on the ground have improved to the point that the last of the “surge brigades” will leave Iraq by the end of this month, and more than 300 soldiers who were supposed to deploy last month were turned around. But it’s not likely that we will hear any of this on the nightly news. According to American Journalism Review, 23 percent of last year’s news coverage was about Iraq. This year, it has fallen to three percent. One could be forgiven for coming to the conclusion that, so far as the Leftmedia is concerned, winning isn’t news.
In the Senate, at least, winning means something. Gen. David Petraeus was confirmed almost unanimously Thursday as the new commander of U.S. Central Command, and Gen. Ray Odierno was confirmed as the new top U.S. commander in Iraq.
Missile defense agreement and Iranian tests
The United States and the Czech Republic signed a pact Tuesday to build a missile defense system on Czech soil aimed at defending the U.S. and NATO allies against missile attacks from countries such as Iran. Reuters reports, “Under the proposed $3.5 billion system, sensors and radar would detect an enemy missile in flight and guide a ground-based interceptor to destroy it without explosives.” A similar deal with Poland is still in the works.
As they have all along, Russian leaders expressed vehement objections. “If the real deployment of an American strategic missile defense shield begins close to our borders, then we will be forced to react not with diplomatic methods, but with military-technical methods,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.
Apparently, Russia paid little heed to Iran’s test of several long-range missiles Wednesday, although the tests offer Exhibit A for the necessity of our defense system. One missile tested, the Shahab-3, has a range of 1,250 miles—far enough to hit Eastern Europe or Israel. Additionally, as The Wall Street Journal notes, “it’s not hard to imagine a scenario whereby Tehran shares a missile—and perhaps a nuclear warhead—with its brother Muslims in Chechnya.”
FARC hostages rescued
Colombian soldiers staged one of the greatest hostage rescues in history last week, all thanks to a little acting. A disgruntled member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) decided to help the Colombian army rescue three American contractors, former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 11 others held captive in the Colombian jungle. The double agent convinced the commander in charge of the hostages that FARC leaders wanted the 15 hostages transported to another location. The rescue crew of 12 Colombians—some dressed as FARC members and others wearing Che Guevara T-shirts and pretending to be part of a fake group called the International Humanitarian Mission—had a helicopter waiting to transport the hostages to their next destination. Everyone, including the hostages, was fooled until the Colombians revealed themselves once they were safely in the air.
Ironically, it was the Che T-shirts that were the most convincing part. “They were wearing Che Guevara shirts, and I thought: It’s the FARC!” said Betancourt. The Associated Press couldn’t bring themselves to mention that fact, calling the apparel simply “white” shirts. As Betancourt’s story is told, however, it will serve to bring down the myth that Che was a romantic hero instead of a terrorist thug. Indeed, Investor’s Business Daily notes, “In reality FARC is Che in action. No group has more right to claim the Guevara legacy than these jungle terrorists who actually have been at it since the days of Che.” The story also is damaging for FARC in that even Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez are distancing themselves from the terrorist group they have long supported.
As a thank you for Colombia’s daring rescue of three American citizens, we suggest that Congress pass the free-trade agreement currently being held hostage by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Maybe if Republicans wear Che T-shirts, they can trick her into it.