Neighbor: Fort Hood suspect emptied his apartment – Yahoo! News

By JEFF CARLTON and MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writers Jeff Carlton And Mike Baker, Associated Press Writers – 25 mins ago

FORT HOOD, Texas – An Army psychiatrist suspected of opening fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood cleaned out his apartment in the days before the rampage that left 13 people dead, a neighbor said Friday.

The neighbor, Patricia Villa, said Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan came over to her apartment Wednesday and Thursday and offered her some items, including a new Quran, saying he was going to be deployed on Friday. She wasn’t sure if he was going to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Authorities said Hasan went on a shooting spree later Thursday at the sprawling Texas post. He was among 30 people wounded in the spree and remained hospitalized on a ventilator Friday. All but two of the injured were still hospitalized, and all were in stable condition.

Investigators were still trying to piecing together how and why an Army psychiatrist facing deployment allegedly gunned down his comrades in one of the worst mass shootings ever on an American military base.

“This was an individual who took it upon himself to attack and murder his colleagues, people who were on the base with him,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told Sky News from Brussels, Belgium. “That investigation is under way by law enforcement authorities, and let’s let that be the No. 1 priorty in terms of ascertaining what motivations he had.”

Officials at the post hospital where Hasan worked said they weren’t aware of any problems with his job performance.

One of Hasan’s bosses praised his work ethic and said he provided excellent care for his patients.

“Up to this point I would consider him an asset,” said Col. Kimberly Kesling, deputy commander of clinical services at Darnall Army Medical Center.

She described Hasan as “a quiet man who wouldn’t seek the limelight.”

An imam from a mosque Hasan regularly attended said Hasan, a lifelong Muslim, was a committed soldier, gave no sign of extremist beliefs and regularly wore his uniform at prayers.

Soldiers who witnessed the rampage reported that the gunman shouted “Allahu Akbar!” — an Arabic phrase for “God is great!” — before opening fire, said Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the base commander. He said officials had not yet confirmed that Hasan made the comment before the shooting spree.

Hasan’s family said in a statement Friday that his alleged actions were “despicable and deplorable” and don’t reflect how the family was raised.

Villa, who recently moved next door to Hasan, said she had never spoken to him before he came over to her apartment.

She said Hasan gave her frozen broccoli, spinach, T-shirts and shelves on Wednesday, then returned Thursday morning and gave her his air mattress, several briefcases and a desk lamp. He then offered her $60 to clean his apartment Friday morning, after he was supposed to leave.

The motive for the shooting wasn’t clear, but someone who used to work with Hasan said he had expressed some anger about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Retired Col. Terry Lee told Fox News said Hasan had hoped President Barack Obama would pull troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq and got into frequent arguments with others in the military who supported the wars.

But another neighbor said Hasan appeared to be OK with his pending deployment, which he said was supposed to be to Afghanistan.

“I asked him how he felt about going over there, with their religion and everything, and he said, `It’s going to be interesting,'” said Edgar Booker, a 58-year-old retired soldier who now works in a cafeteria on the post.

Col. Steve Braverman, the Fort Hood hospital commander, said early Friday that Hasan was on deployment orders to Afghanistan. A military official later told The Associated Press that Hasan was to be deployed to Iraq. It was not immediately possible to verify the discrepancy.

The military official, who did not have authorization to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity, said Hasan had indicated he didn’t want to go to Iraq but was willing to serve in Afghanistan.

Cone said authorities have not yet been able to talk to Hasan, but interviews with witnesses went through the night.

As some of the wounded began to recover, tales of heroic action during the shooting spree emerged.

Base officials lauded an officer, Kimberly Munley, who shot the gunman and was wounded herself.

“She happened to encounter the gunman. In an exchange of gunfire, she was wounded but managed to wound him four times,” Cone said. “It was an amazing and aggressive performance by this police officer.”

Cone said some 300 soldiers had been lined up to get vaccinations and have their eyes tested at a Soldier Readiness Center when the shots rang out. He said one soldier who had been shot told him, “I made the mistake of moving and I was shot again.”

Sgt. Andrew Hagerman said before the first ambulance even arrived, soldiers were tearing off their clothes to help the wounded.

“You had people without tops on. You had people ripping their pant legs off,” said Hagerman, a military policeman from Lewisville, Texas.

Hagerman said he saw Hasan laying on the ground receiving medical assistance for a gunshot wound as responders tried to get his handcuffs off to better treat him.

Officials are not ruling out the possibility that some of the casualties may have been victims of “friendly fire,” that in the confusion at the shooting scene some of the responding military officials may have shot some of the victims.

Cone acknowledged that it was “counterintuitive” that a single shooter could hit so many people, but he said the massacre occurred in “close quarters.

“With ricochet fire, he was able to injure that number of people,” Cone said. He said authorities were investigating whether Hasan’s weapons were properly registered with the military.

The wounded were dispersed among hospitals in central Texas, Cone said. Their identities and the identities of the dead were not immediately released.

Friday was designated a day of mourning at Fort Hood. There also will be a ceremony at the air base to honor the dead.

For six years before reporting for duty at the Texas post in July, Hasan worked at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center pursuing a career in psychiatry, as an intern, a resident and, last year, a fellow in disaster and preventive psychiatry. The Army major received his medical degree from the military’s Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., in 2001.

But his record wasn’t sterling. At Walter Reed, he received a poor performance evaluation, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly. And while he was an intern, Hasan had some “difficulties” that required counseling and extra supervision, said Dr. Thomas Grieger, who was the training director at the time.

Faizul Khan, a former imam at a mosque Hasan attended in Silver Spring, Md., said “I got the impression that he was a committed soldier.” He said Hasan attended prayers regularly at the mosque in Silver Spring, Md., and was a lifelong Muslim. He spoke often with Hasan about Hasan’s desire for a wife.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Hasan’s aunt, Noel Hasan of Falls Church, Va., said he had been harassed about being a Muslim in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, and he wanted out of the Army.

“Some people can take it and some people cannot,” she said. “He had listened to all of that and he wanted out of the military.”

At least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of Internet postings about suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades.

Investigators had not determined for certain whether Hasan was the author of the posting, and a formal investigation had not been opened before the shooting, said law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the case.

FBI agents who searched Hasan’s apartment early Friday seized his computer, a law enforcement official said. It was not immediately known if they found anything suspicious on his computer files.

A military official said investigators were sifting through materials Hasan carried with him during the shooting and evidence left in his vehicle, which was found parked at the base.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation

___

Baker reported from Killeen, Texas. Associated Press Writers Lara Jakes, Devlin Barrett, Brett J. Blackledge and Eileen Sullivan in Washington, April Castro in Killeen and Matt Curry in Dallas contributed to this report.

via Neighbor: Fort Hood suspect emptied his apartment – Yahoo! News.

Paper Planes? Military Budget Cuts Again Proposed by the White House » The Foundry

Paper Planes? Military Budget Cuts Again Proposed by the White House » The Foundry.

Paper Planes? Military Budget Cuts Again Proposed by the White House

• Posted August 7th, 2009 at 3.33pm in Protect America.

Last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered another $50 to 60 billion more be cut from the Pentagon’s five-year defense budget plan, with new replacements for worn-out war equipment on the chopping block. The move is no surprise and preparation for a zero-growth defense budget by the Obama Administration through 2014.

One more procurement holiday, coming right up?

With the nation currently fighting two wars, it’s difficult to see which is more troubling: that the Obama Administration, in the absence of a national security strategy or new Pentagon review, is recommending a flat defense budget for the next five years, or that the Defense Secretary is going along with these plans.

Heritage research shows that President Obama’s purportedly “flat” defense budget is in actuality a declining budget, beginning with 3.81 percent of GDP in 2010 but dropping to 3.01 percent by 2019. Considering that research and development for new weapons programs is taking the brunt of the blow, the United States is staring at a repeat of the 1990’s Clinton procurement holiday from which the military still hasn’t recovered.

Now in 2009, after seven years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, personnel and essential equipment have suffered tremendous strain. The Obama Administration celebrates its victory over cutting seven F-22s from the defense budget, but in 2008 the Air Force had to ground over 300 F-15s in response to an incident where one of the aged fighters “broke in half” during a training exercise. Never mind that the F-22 was supposed to replace those legacy fighters, we’ve still got the F-35. Right?

Already over a trillion dollars, the F-35 program is $38 billion over budget and 27 months behind schedule according to the GAO. And now, Pentagon leaders may decide to make cuts to that program, as well. So after killing the F-22 on the grounds that the F-35 is the silver bullet solution, now we’re eyeing the F-35 for future cuts? What exactly are America’s airmen and women supposed to use, paper planes?

The solution is simple. Heritage has advocated that President Obama commit to spending four percent of the nation’s GDP on core defense programs—excluding funding for Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Obama has already promised three percent of GDP to ‘science,’ so defense would hardly be a stretch. Protecting Americans is the first job of the federal government. A commitment to a larger defense budget will ensure that the military can buy enough next-generation equipment to fight and win for the next 40 years.

Iraqi officials say suicide bombs kill 78

Let’s see how the main stream media handles suicide deaths in Iraq.  Are they going to keep  a running total?  Who are they going to blame now that George Bush is no longer President?

 

By CHELSEA J. CARTER, Associated Press Writer Chelsea J. Carter, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 14 mins ago

BAGHDAD – Suicide bombers struck a humanitarian aid distribution point and a crowded restaurant in separate attacks Thursday in Iraq, killing at least 78 people in the deadliest day of violence to strike the country this year.

The bombings are the latest in a series of high-profile attacks that have raised concern of an uptick in violence as the U.S. military scales back its forces in Iraq ahead of a planned withdrawal by the end of 2011.

The latest attacks came as Iraqi security officials said they captured one of the most wanted leaders of the al-Qaida-linked Sunni insurgency, an arrest that could deliver a significant blow to an intensified campaign of attacks.

The officials identified the arrested man as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi who’s believed to lead the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group of Sunni militant factions that is believed dominated by Al-Qaida in Iraq. However in the past, Iraqi officials have reported al-Baghdadi’s arrest or killing, only to later say they were wrong. The U.S. military has even said al-Baghdadi could be a fictitious character used to give an Iraqi face to an organization dominated by foreign al-Qaida fighters.

Al-Baghdadi has been a key target for U.S. and Iraqi forces for years. But little is known about his origins or real influence over insurgent groups. Those groups have staged a series of high-profile attacks in recent weeks, apparently including the two suicide blasts Thursday in Baghdad and north of the capital in Diyala province.

In Baghdad, a suicide bomber blew himself up among a group of Iraqis collecting humanitarian aid in a mainly Shiite area, killing at least 31 people, the Iraqi military said.

The attacker struck as police were distributing Iraqi Red Crescent food parcels in the central neighborhood of Karradah, the main Baghdad military spokesman said.

It not immediately clear who carried out the attack, but one witness said it appeared to be a woman. Women have been used in suicide bombings in Iraq, most recently during a Feb. 13 attack on Shiite pilgrims in Musayyib.

Muhanad Harbi, a shop owner near the blast site, said he saw a woman wearing a black robe wade into the crowd. He said it appeared she detonated an explosives belt.

Shanoon Humoud, 70, sat weeping amid burned food packages scattered on the ground. Her husband, her son and two grandchildren were killed in the blast.

Humoud said she was in her apartment praying when she heard the blast.

“I came down to look for my relatives who were getting the food,” she said. “But I couldn’t find them.”

Some police were among the 31 people killed and 51 people were wounded, the military said.

North of Baghdad, a suicide bomber killed 47 people, including Iranian pilgrims, in a crowded restaurant, said Iraqi and U.S. military officials.

Military spokesman Derrick Cheng said 47 people were killed and about 69 were wounded when the suicide bomber detonated an explosives vest near Muqdadiyah, an insurgent hotbed about 60 miles (90 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad.

Iraqi police and hospital officials said another 65 were wounded. Most of the wounded were pilgrims, the officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the U.S. military was working to verify who was captured.

“I can’t confirm … the capture of a senior al-Qaida member or that it was Baghdadi,” he said. But he said he had no reason to doubt the credibility of the report.

Iraqi state television quoted military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi as saying al-Baghdadi was arrested in Baghdad. Security officials also told The Associated Press he was captured.

In 2007, Iraq’s government reported that al-Baghdadi had been killed and released photos of what it said was his body. Later, security officials said they had arrested al-Baghdadi. In both cases, the U.S. military said at the time it could not be confirmed and the reports turned out not to be true.

In March, a 17-minute audio message attributed to al-Baghdadi called Washington’s announcement of a troop withdrawal timetable from Iraq “recognition of defeat.” The statement was carried on militant Web sites.

Also Thursday, American soldiers who specialize in clearing bombs from roads boarded a plane Thursday from Iraq to the Taliban heartland in southern Afghanistan, part of the largest movement of personnel and equipment between the two war fronts.

President Barack Obama is deploying 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan to beef up U.S. operations there.

U.S. military commanders have said the sharp decline in violence in Iraq and the increasing capabilities of Iraq’s security forces made it possible to transition the soldiers.

___

Associated Press Writers Sinan Salaheddin, Saad Abdul-Kadir and Hamid Ahmed in Iraq and Pauline Jelinek in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.

via Iraqi officials say suicide bombs kill 78.

State Dept. Hosting High-Tech Execs in Iraq – Federal Eye –

State Dept. Hosting High-Tech Execs in Iraq – Federal Eye –.

Several executives from well-known high tech firms are in Iraq this week as guests of the State Department, part of an effort to boost the use of online and social media in the war-torn country.

While in Iraq, the tech representatives will meet with government officials, educators and other community leaders to talk about how their technologies can be used to help boost transparency, accountability and anti-corruption efforts. The delegation arrived Sunday and will be in the country through Thursday, according to State Department acting spokesman Robert Wood.

“As Iraqis think about how to integrate new technology as a tool for smart power, we view this as an opportunity to invite American technology industry to be part of this creative genesis,” Wood said during Monday’s daily press briefing.

Among those traveling as part of the first-of-its-kind delegation is Twitter chairman and founder Jack Dorsey.

“The embassy has yoga classes. And belly dancing,” Dorsey tweets, in reference to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

“Cell phone usage here is massive and the velocity is increasing,” he adds. “17.5 million mobiles. 85% penetration. The infrastructure is overwhelmed. Only 0.06% Internet penetration.” (You can also follow the action on Dorsey’s Flickr feed.)

Richard Robbins, AT&T’s director of social innovation, is also along for the trip and quoted/tweeted Iraq’s deputy prime minister: “The only way I can get through cabinet meetings that are long and boring is looking at my iPhone.”

 

Blue State Digital vice president David Nassar summed up the first few hours of the trip: “What a day. Flight to Baghdad, no food for 14 hours, then huge meal with Iraqi General. Trying to absorb everything.”

But later he tweeted that the “Highlight of today by far was meeting a brave young Private and having him show us around his vehicle.”

Dorsey, Robbins and Nassar are traveling with Jason Lieberman founder and CEO of the “how to” video site Howcast, MeetUp CEO Scott Heiferman, Raanan Bar-Cohen, vice president of blog engine WordPress, Kannan Pashupathy, Google’s director of international engineering operations, Ahmad Hamzawi, Google’s Head of Engineering for the Middle East and Africa and Hunter Walk, head of product development for YouTube.

President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and just about every other presidential contender used many of the technologies provided by the companies represented on the trip for outreach, organizing and fundraising during the 2008 campaign. Since Obama’s victory, several tech leaders have met with transition and administration officials to explore ways to collaborate and adapt their technologies to governing.

The delegation travels to Iraq as Foggy Bottom continues to expand its online presence. Clinton hosted a digital town hall while in the Dominican Republic last week and officials regularly update the Dipnote blog. It also has an active YouTube channel and launched Exchanges Connect last year, a social media site for anyone interested in global affairs. The Obama team has adapted its use of social media during the presidential campaign to governing, earning early praise for turning the president’s weekly radio address into an Internet affair.

By washingtonpost.com Editors  |  April 21, 2009; 6:06 AM ET  | Category:  Agencies and Departments

Obama in Baghdad, tells troops Iraq must take over

By JENNIFER LOVEN, AP White House Correspondent Jennifer Loven, Ap White House Correspondent – 1 hr 6 mins ago

BAGHDAD – Cheered wildly by U.S. troops, President Barack Obama flew unannounced into Iraq on Tuesday and promptly declared it was time for Iraqis to “take responsibility for their country” after America’s commitment of six years and thousands of lives.

“You have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own as a democratic country,” the president said as he made a brief inspection of a war he opposed as candidate and now vows to end as commander in chief. “That is an extraordinary achievement.”

A total of 4,266 U.S. troops have lost their lives in Iraq since March 2003, and Obama said American forces had “performed brilliantly … under enormous strain.”

“It is time for us to transition to the Iraqis,” he said as an estimated 600 troops cheered. “They need to take responsibility for their country.”

Obama flew into Iraq shrouded by secrecy and was shielded by heavy security from the moment he stepped off a gleaming white and blue Air Force One.

The plane touched down a few hours after a car bombing in a Shiite neighborhood of the capital city punctuated a recent surge in violence in the war-ravaged country. Many thousands of Iraqis have died in the six years of war in addition to the American losses.

Obama spoke favorably of political progress but also expressed concern that recent gains could deteriorate with the upcoming national elections.

“It’s important for us to use all of our influence to encourage the parties to resolve these issues in ways that are equitable. I think that my presence here can help do that,” he said.

Obama wore a business suit as he descended the steps of his plane after a flight from Turkey. He shook hands with Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in the country, then stepped into an SUV for a brief ride to Camp Victory, the main American military base in Iraq.

Under gray skies, the motorcade rolled past troops standing at attention. “It was wonderful to see the troops out there,” Obama said. “I’m so grateful, they put their heart and souls into it.”

Inside a marble palace, he was interrupted repeatedly with cheers from the troops.

“I love you,” someone in the crowd shouted out. I love you back,” the commander in chief replied. Scores of troops held digital cameras above their heads, snapping pictures and recording video of a day they would long remember.

Aides decided to scrap plans for a helicopter ride to the heavily fortified Green Zone a few miles away — but attributed the decision to poor visibility rather than security concerns.

Officials said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was traveling by motorcade to meet with Obama, a change from their planned get-together in the Green Zone….

Click on the link below to read more…

via Obama in Baghdad, tells troops Iraq must take over.

Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice Said: People Will Soon Thank President Bush For What He Has Done

In an interview that aired on CBS “Sunday Morning”, she said among other things:

“When one looks at what we’ve been able to do in terms of changing the conversation in the Middle East about democracy and values, this administration will be judged well, and I’ll wait for history’s judgment and not today’s headlines.”

Read more about this interview here:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/28/rice.administration/index.html

I say amen to that!

Secret U.S. mission hauls uranium from Iraq

We did find yellow cake in Iraq after all.  This yellow cake has been found since 2003.  Bush took all the heat and finger-pointing and name calling, just to keep this fact quite and to protect the find from looting by terrorists, etc. 

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25546334

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/u/uraniumyellowcake.htm

500 Tons of Uranium Yellowcake Moved From Iraq to Canada–Truth!

Summary of the eRumor:   Various commentaries and news agency reports about radio active concentrates of uranium known as “yellowcake” being secretly transported from Iraq to a base in Canada.

The Truth:   This eRumor started circulating in August, 2008. “Yellowcake” (or “yellowcakes”) is a concentrate of uranium that results from the refinement of uranium ore.  It is used for making fuel for nuclear power plants and for use in nuclear weapons.updated 10/26/06 According to published reports including CBS news, the United States secretly moved a huge stockpile of yellowcake in early August, 2008, from Iraq to Canada, partly to keep it from falling into the hands of either terrorists or foreign governments such as Iran. The operation was reportedly more than a year in the making and took three months to execute.  It included carrying 3,500 barrels of yellowcake by road from Baghdad, then flying them on 37 military flights to an atoll in the Indian Ocean, then carrying them aboard a U.S. ship bound for Montreal.  In all, it added up to more than 500 metric tons of material from Saddam Hussein’s nuclear program. The Iraqi government sold the yellowcake to a Canadian uranium company and it will be used in Ontario, Canada, for use in nuclear reactors. A CBS report said, “And, in a symbolic way, the mission linked the current attempts to stabilize Iraq with some of the high-profile claims about Saddam’s weapons capabilities in the buildup to the 2003 invasion.  Accusations that Saddam had tried to purchase more yellowcake from the African nation of Niger – and an article by a former U.S. ambassador refuting the claims – led to a wide-ranging probe into Washington leaks that reached high into the Bush administration. “The news report went on to say that the yellowcake “had been stored in aging drums and containers since before the 1991 Gulf War. There was no evidence of any yellowcake dating from after 1991.”

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:

Version #1: On July 5, 2008, the Associated Press (AP) released a story titled: Secret U.S. mission hauls uranium from Iraq.The opening paragraph is as follows:The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein’s nuclear program a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans. See anything wrong with this picture? We have been hearing from the far-left for more than five years how, Bush lied. Somehow, that slogan loses its credibility now that 550 metric tons of Saddam’s yellowcake, used for nuclear weapon enrichment, has been discovered and shipped to Canada for its new use as nuclear energy. It appears that American troops found the 550 metric tons of uranium in 2003 after invading Iraq. They had to sit on this information and the uranium itself, for fear of terrorists attempting to steal it. It was guarded and kept safe by our military in a 23,000-acre site with large sand beams surrounding the site. This is vindication for the Bush administration, having been attacked mercilessly by the liberal media and the far-left pundits on the blogosphere. Now that it is proven that President Bush did not lie about Saddam’s nuclear ambitions, one would think the mainstream media would report the story. Once the AP released the story, the mainstream media should have picked it up and broadcast it worldwide. This never happened, due in large part I believe, to the fact that the mainstream media would have to admit they were wrong about Bush’s war motives all along. Thankfully, the AP got it right when it said, The removal of 550 metric tons of yellowcake the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam’s nuclear legacy. Closing the book on Saddam’s nuclear legacy. Did Saddam have a nuclear legacy after all? I thought Bush lied. As it turns out, the people who lied were Joe Wilson and his wife. Valerie Plame engaged in a clear case of nepotism and convinced the CIA to send her husband on a fact finding mission in February 2002, seeking to determine if Saddam Hussein attempted to buy yellowcake from Niger. The CIA and British intelligence believed Saddam contacted Niger for that purpose but needed proof. During his trip to Niger, Wilson actually interviewed the former prime minister of Niger, Ibrahim Assane Mayaki. Mayaki told Wilson that in June of 1999, an Iraqi delegation expressed interest in “expanding commercial relations” for the purposes of purchasing yellowcake. Wilson chose to overlook Mayaki’s remarks and reported to the CIA that there was no evidence of Hussein wanting to purchase yellowcake from Niger. However, with British intelligence insisting the claim was true, President Bush used that same claim in his State of the Union address in January of 2003. Outraged by Bush’s insistence that the claim was true, Wilson wrote an op-ed in the New York Times in the summer of 2003 slamming Bush. Wilson did this in spite of the fact that Mayaki said Saddam did try to buy the yellowcake from Niger. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence disagreed with Wilson and supported Mayaki’s claim. This meant nothing to Wilson who was opposed to the Iraq war and thus had ulterior motives in covering up the prime minister’s statements. It was a simple tactic really. If the far-left and their friends in the media could prove Bush lied about Hussein wanting to purchase yellowcake from Niger, it would undermine President Bush’s credibility and give them more cause for asking what other lies he may have told. Yet, the real lie came from Wilson, who interpreted his own meaning from the prime minister’s statements and concluded all by himself that the claim of Saddam attempting to purchase yellowcake was “unequivocally wrong.”  Curiously, the CIA sat on this information and did not inform the CIA Director, who sided with Bush on the yellowcake claim. This was made public in a bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report in July 2004. Valerie Plame also engaged in her own lie campaign by spreading the notion that the Bush administration outed her as a CIA agent. Never mind that it was Richard Armitage — no friend of the Bush administration — who leaked Plame’s identity to the press. Never mind that Plame had not been in the field as a CIA agent in some six years. The truth is, due to their opposition to the war, Joe Wilson, Valerie Plame, the mainstream media and their left-wing friends on the blogosphere engaged in a propaganda campaign to undermine the Bush administration. Now that Saddam’s uranium has been made public and is no longer a threat to the world, do you think these aforementioned parties will apologize and admit they were wrong? Don’t count on it. The rest of the American people should hear the truth about Saddam’s uranium. It is up to you and me to inform them every chance we  get. As far as the anti-war crowd is concerned, the next time they say that, “Bush lied,” we should tell them to, “Have the yellowcake and eat it  too.”         Version #2: A national defense analyst says President Bush should be commended for keeping quiet about a discovery that could have blown his critics out of the water. Retired Major General Jerry Curry is a decorated combat veteran who served as an Army aviator, paratrooper, and Ranger during a military career that began during the Korean conflict. He recently wrote on his blog about a very under reported story by the Associated Press.  According to the report, a large stockpile of concentrated natural Uranium, known as “yellowcake,” reached a Canadian port to complete a top secret U.S. Operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad, and a ship voyage crossing two oceans. The Uranium material had been housed at a former Iraqi nuclear complex 12 miles from Baghdad. Curry says the president kept mum about the discovery in order to keep terrorists in the dark. “He made a very brave stand, a resolute stand…, in which he decided that he wasn’t going to blab everything to the press,” Curry commends. “…And in the meantime while he kept it quiet, he was buying time from the terrorists to get all that stuff out of the country. So that’s what was done — he just very quietly kept his mouth shut.” “The press beat him to death for the last several years,” he continues, “and now it turns out that, yes, there were weapons of mass destruction….” Curry also maintains that Saddam Hussein had an active nuclear program and the material could have been made into a nuclear weapon. President Bush’s actions took courage, he notes, and all Americans should be thankful to have such a brave president who puts the welfare of the American people above personal considerations.