Joe Wilson And Iraq's Niger Uranium

Why the left keeps denying Saddamite Iraq was building nuclear weapons is a rhetorical mystery - I say rhetorical because the reason they deny it is obvious - to acknowledge that Iraq was building nuclear weapons is to acknowledge that Bush was right, the liberals' eight-year policy of refusing to act on the building threat was wrong, and the philosophy behind the popular bumper sticker "War is NOT the answer" is not just wrong, but dishonest.

Which leads to this look back at the 500 tons of weapons-grade "yellowcake" uranium (which had zero peaceful application and had undergone some enrichment) found by the US Army at the Al-Tuwaitha nuclear research center (see also this 2008 followup). As the piece's author Rick Moran notes, the site where the Iraqi weapons uranium was stored was under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which ostensibly was charged with making sure Iraq didn't use it for weapons but basically didn't try to stop Iraq from stockpiling such "yellowcake" uranium, and it offers some insight (conspicuously missing from mainstream coverage of "Broadway Joe" Wilson and his phony search for Iraqi efforts to acquire yellowcake from Niger) into why there is such a bureaucratic snit over President Bush's remarks that Iraq sought this yellowcake from Niger.

Basically what is coming out is that Broadway Joe Wilson was not a courageous whistleblower, but an errand boy for an intelligence agency that wanted to spike data supporting war. The CIA suddenly found it had underestimated the enemy's potential and worked to cover its butt - Saddamite Iraq was trying to build nuclear weapons and the CIA, Joe Wilson, and his wife Valerie Plame were fighting against US interests on this matter.

And they accuse Bush of politicizing intelligence?

Remember Fallujah?

Remember Fallujah? It was the biggest base for Iraq-based terrorists fighting Allied forces in 2004. Needing to wait until after the election to take it down (and it says a lot about the integrity of the Democratic Party and their Main-Stream Media allies that he had to), George W. Bush promptly did so in November 2004, and the war against Islamo-Arab redoubts in Iraq has steadily gone better for Allied forces since.

Well it's been a while since we heard about Fallujah, as the above-mentioned MSM continues to focus on car bombings and the like while living up to George Orwell's observation about propaganda being what gets left out - such as this look at Fallujah in rebuilding.

Then there is Baghdad, where there are still bombings but also continued rebuilding and a steady return to normality, such as resumption of intercity air travel.

Let's You And Him Fight, Kevin and Greg

Following the Chicago BGN 300, Greg Biffle exploded at race winner Kevin Harvick, calling him a punk etc., over supposedly blocking him off at varied points of the race. Harvick answered in kind, and it reminded me of something - I root for the Petty team precisely because the Petty team doesn't have this kind of low-class buffoonery. Occassionally Kyle Petty gets into a spat, notably at P.J. Jones at Sears Point, and Jeff Green had his spat with Michael Waltrip, but such outbursts are rare.

For Harvick and Biffle, this kind of nastiness is par for the course. Of course given Harvick's status at RCR in their Goodwrench car, the sponsor's low-class legacy has to be upheld (don't forget that Harvick is still the only driver at the Winston Cup level to be suspended for a race for rough driving in the last several years), so Harvick's mouthiness is to be expected.

Biffle's mouthiness has become more of an issue, as the always unlikeable Northwest native has been running his mouth a lot this year. Of course he's been winning a lot as well. That he benefitted the most from NASCAR's ill-advised low downforce changes is something Jack Roush readily admitted during the Chicago weekend, so The Biffster can thank NASCAR for what had been a less than productive career until they started cutting downforce.

So Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle can kill each other in victory circle for all I care about them.