UN Report--Iran Is "Prospecting" For Uranium In Somalia
This report has not yet been released, and Pajama Media has the exclusive coverage. Here is the link to it.
The report notes that two Iranians were “engaged on matters linked to the exploration of Uranium in exchange for arms” in Dusamareb, Somalia. The arms would be given to the Islamic Courts Union (the ICU), a Taliban-like movement that controls much of Somalia.
The UN report spends little time on this surprising development, perhaps because the report’s mandate is limited to monitoring violations of Somalia’s arms embargo.
“We are extremely concerned about that,” a military intelligence officer told Pajamas Media. This concern stems from the fact that the ICU has every incentive to cooperate with Iran: the Islamic group would be unable to mine and market the uranium on its own, and the ICU is always hungry for weapons for its war against Somalia’s transitional federal government (TFG).
Dusamareb is known to be rich in uranium. Abdiweli Ali, an assistant professor of economics at Niagara University and a supporter of Somalia’s transitional federal government (TFG), is originally from Dusamareb, where he received his primary school education. He reports that in the Galgadud region, where Dusamareb is located, uranium exploration has occurred since the 1940s. This exploration was put on hiatus after the fall of president Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 put the country under the rule of rival warlords.
I wonder what the ISG thinks of Iran now? After all, it was that commission who recommended we could and should talk with Iran. They are the ones who stated that Iran had a vested interest in not destabilizing the region. Yet this is precisely what Iran is moving towards. They are an Islamic state that believes in the most violent and fervent devotion to this ideology.
Additionally, the report concludes that there is a strong presence of al-Qaeda in Somalia. This revelation is towards the end of the report, but it is key to note that Iran has been communicating with al-Qaeda elements for some time, and that communication continues to this day. Which just begs the question of why the ISG gave the advice that we need to talk to Iran.
The ICU has established numerous military training facilities throughout central and southern Somalia and has been actively recruiting new Somali militia members. Foreign volunteers (fighters) have also been arriving in considerable numbers to give added military strength to the ICU. An unknown number of the volunteers, but believed … to be significant, have combat experience gained from participation in wars and hostile conflicts and actions in the Middle East and Asia… .
[F]oreign volunteers also provide training in guerrilla warfare and special topics or techniques consisting of bomb making and the use of bombs against different targets such as a variety of different types of transport and buildings. Other techniques include kidnapping and the conduct of assassination by ambush and sniping… . [T]he ICU is fully capable of turning Somalia into what is currently an Iraq-type scenario, replete with roadside and suicide bombers, assassinations and other forms of terrorist and insurgent-type activities.
Although the report doesn’t say explicitly that these foreign fighters are part of al-Qaeda, intelligence community sources say that the details divulged makes this relationship clear: foreign fighters have participated in wars and other conflicts in the Middle East and Asia, the foreign fighters are training ICU militiamen in guerrilla warfare and bomb-making techniques, and the report’s statement that the ICU could turn Somalia into “an Iraq-type scenario, replete with roadside and suicide bombers.” This last statement is confirmed by a military sources’ report that there are similarities between the tactics, techniques, and procedures employed by the ICU and those used by the Iraqi insurgency.
Based on this PJM report, and from reading just a small portion of the UN report, I would have to say that the president needs to reject the ISG report. It is obvious to me, now more than ever, that they failed miserably in their efforts to find a solution to the Iraq phase of this war. Furthermore, they blinded themselves to just how evil Iran's leadership is. They are doggedly pursuing nuclear weapons.
The uranium they are intending to mine is Uranium-238. This uranium is used to "breed" Plutonium-239, and then is used as fuel in nuclear reactors. It is the source material used to make this element of plutonium. As is explained in the Uranium-238 entry, this is used in most modern nuclear weapons:
Most modern nuclear weapons utilize uranium-238 as a "tamper" material (see nuclear weapon design). A tamper which surrounds a fissile core works to reflect neutrons and add inertia to the compression of the plutonium charge. As such, it increases the efficiency of the weapon and reduces the amount of critical mass required. In the case of a thermonuclear weapon uranium-238 can be used to encase the fusion fuel, the high flux of very energetic neutrons from the resulting fusion reaction causes the uranium-238 to fission and adds energy to the yield of the weapon. Such weapons are referred to as fission-fusion-fission weapons after the three consecutive stages of the explosion.
The larger portion of the total explosive yield in this design comes from the final fission stage fueled by uranium-238, producing enormous amounts of radioactive fission products. For example, 77% of the 10.4 megaton yield of the Ivy Mike thermonuclear test in 1952 came from fast fission of the depleted uranium tamper. Because depleted uranium has no critical mass, it can be added to thermonuclear bombs in almost unlimited quantity. The 1961 Soviet test of Tsar Bomba produced "only" 50 megatons, over 90% from fusion, because the uranium-238 final stage was replaced with lead. Had uranium-238 been used, the yield could have been as much as 100 megatons, and would have produced fallout equivalent to one third of the global total at that time.
Now, critics will naturally pooh-pooh this report and state that Iran is still devoted to "peaceful" nuclear endeavors. Yes, it can be used as reactor fuel once enriched, but it is far more likely that they are mining this for nuclear weapons. Afterall, why would they continue to flout the IAEA? Obviously, someone has something to hide, and this report is simply going to levy more pressure on them.
No one in the 'sphere is really talking about this. We found it through Hugh's site this morning. And we can find no news reports about this. So, quite literally, PJM has the exclusive coverage right now. Thomas has sent out e-mail notices to some of the elites around the 'sphere to raise the alarm. We are going to take a good portion of the day to go over this report in its entirety. It is eighty-six pages long, and has quite a few official letters and documents within it.
Marcie
This report has not yet been released, and Pajama Media has the exclusive coverage. Here is the link to it.
The report notes that two Iranians were “engaged on matters linked to the exploration of Uranium in exchange for arms” in Dusamareb, Somalia. The arms would be given to the Islamic Courts Union (the ICU), a Taliban-like movement that controls much of Somalia.
The UN report spends little time on this surprising development, perhaps because the report’s mandate is limited to monitoring violations of Somalia’s arms embargo.
“We are extremely concerned about that,” a military intelligence officer told Pajamas Media. This concern stems from the fact that the ICU has every incentive to cooperate with Iran: the Islamic group would be unable to mine and market the uranium on its own, and the ICU is always hungry for weapons for its war against Somalia’s transitional federal government (TFG).
Dusamareb is known to be rich in uranium. Abdiweli Ali, an assistant professor of economics at Niagara University and a supporter of Somalia’s transitional federal government (TFG), is originally from Dusamareb, where he received his primary school education. He reports that in the Galgadud region, where Dusamareb is located, uranium exploration has occurred since the 1940s. This exploration was put on hiatus after the fall of president Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 put the country under the rule of rival warlords.
I wonder what the ISG thinks of Iran now? After all, it was that commission who recommended we could and should talk with Iran. They are the ones who stated that Iran had a vested interest in not destabilizing the region. Yet this is precisely what Iran is moving towards. They are an Islamic state that believes in the most violent and fervent devotion to this ideology.
Additionally, the report concludes that there is a strong presence of al-Qaeda in Somalia. This revelation is towards the end of the report, but it is key to note that Iran has been communicating with al-Qaeda elements for some time, and that communication continues to this day. Which just begs the question of why the ISG gave the advice that we need to talk to Iran.
The ICU has established numerous military training facilities throughout central and southern Somalia and has been actively recruiting new Somali militia members. Foreign volunteers (fighters) have also been arriving in considerable numbers to give added military strength to the ICU. An unknown number of the volunteers, but believed … to be significant, have combat experience gained from participation in wars and hostile conflicts and actions in the Middle East and Asia… .
[F]oreign volunteers also provide training in guerrilla warfare and special topics or techniques consisting of bomb making and the use of bombs against different targets such as a variety of different types of transport and buildings. Other techniques include kidnapping and the conduct of assassination by ambush and sniping… . [T]he ICU is fully capable of turning Somalia into what is currently an Iraq-type scenario, replete with roadside and suicide bombers, assassinations and other forms of terrorist and insurgent-type activities.
Although the report doesn’t say explicitly that these foreign fighters are part of al-Qaeda, intelligence community sources say that the details divulged makes this relationship clear: foreign fighters have participated in wars and other conflicts in the Middle East and Asia, the foreign fighters are training ICU militiamen in guerrilla warfare and bomb-making techniques, and the report’s statement that the ICU could turn Somalia into “an Iraq-type scenario, replete with roadside and suicide bombers.” This last statement is confirmed by a military sources’ report that there are similarities between the tactics, techniques, and procedures employed by the ICU and those used by the Iraqi insurgency.
Based on this PJM report, and from reading just a small portion of the UN report, I would have to say that the president needs to reject the ISG report. It is obvious to me, now more than ever, that they failed miserably in their efforts to find a solution to the Iraq phase of this war. Furthermore, they blinded themselves to just how evil Iran's leadership is. They are doggedly pursuing nuclear weapons.
The uranium they are intending to mine is Uranium-238. This uranium is used to "breed" Plutonium-239, and then is used as fuel in nuclear reactors. It is the source material used to make this element of plutonium. As is explained in the Uranium-238 entry, this is used in most modern nuclear weapons:
Most modern nuclear weapons utilize uranium-238 as a "tamper" material (see nuclear weapon design). A tamper which surrounds a fissile core works to reflect neutrons and add inertia to the compression of the plutonium charge. As such, it increases the efficiency of the weapon and reduces the amount of critical mass required. In the case of a thermonuclear weapon uranium-238 can be used to encase the fusion fuel, the high flux of very energetic neutrons from the resulting fusion reaction causes the uranium-238 to fission and adds energy to the yield of the weapon. Such weapons are referred to as fission-fusion-fission weapons after the three consecutive stages of the explosion.
The larger portion of the total explosive yield in this design comes from the final fission stage fueled by uranium-238, producing enormous amounts of radioactive fission products. For example, 77% of the 10.4 megaton yield of the Ivy Mike thermonuclear test in 1952 came from fast fission of the depleted uranium tamper. Because depleted uranium has no critical mass, it can be added to thermonuclear bombs in almost unlimited quantity. The 1961 Soviet test of Tsar Bomba produced "only" 50 megatons, over 90% from fusion, because the uranium-238 final stage was replaced with lead. Had uranium-238 been used, the yield could have been as much as 100 megatons, and would have produced fallout equivalent to one third of the global total at that time.
Now, critics will naturally pooh-pooh this report and state that Iran is still devoted to "peaceful" nuclear endeavors. Yes, it can be used as reactor fuel once enriched, but it is far more likely that they are mining this for nuclear weapons. Afterall, why would they continue to flout the IAEA? Obviously, someone has something to hide, and this report is simply going to levy more pressure on them.
No one in the 'sphere is really talking about this. We found it through Hugh's site this morning. And we can find no news reports about this. So, quite literally, PJM has the exclusive coverage right now. Thomas has sent out e-mail notices to some of the elites around the 'sphere to raise the alarm. We are going to take a good portion of the day to go over this report in its entirety. It is eighty-six pages long, and has quite a few official letters and documents within it.
Marcie
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 12:17 PM
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