Thursday, June 26, 2003

The imminent threat that wasn't so imminent

John Lumpkin of the AP writes

Obeidi turned over a two-foot-tall stack of documents that includes detailed designs for centrifuges, intelligence officials said. Obeidi told intelligence officials the parts from his garden were among the more difficult-to-produce components of a centrifuge.

Assembled, the components would not be useful in making much uranium. Hundreds of centrifuges are necessary to make enough to construct a nuclear weapon in such programs.

So, no uranium (the document from Niger "proving" that was a crude fake), hundreds of centrifuges needed but parts for one found... Where was that imminent threat again? Sounds to me like the sanctions and inspection regime was doing exactly what it was supposed to be doing.

(I am still not Michael Savage, for which I am very very grateful. Though I do take his name in vain.)