July 07, 2004

Ignoring Selectively

It's time to point out a distortion by ommission by the Center for American Progress. In a post titled "White House Trumps up New WMD Charges" CAP pooh-poohed the news that nearly two tons of radioactive material was taken out of Iraq so terrorists couldn't lay their evil hands on them. CAP discounts this achievement because the "material moved was not weapons grade, but instead in the form 'commonly used to provide radiation for cancer treatments, or for industrial X-rays' and 'to sterilize medical equipment or kill bacteria in food.' The magazine dispels the possibility that the material could be used to make a "dirty bomb"--an idea mentioned in the NY Times article CAP linked to. The AP story CAP refers to claims "uranium is not suitable for making a dirty bomb." The report cites no one to back this claim. But even if that is the case a conventional explosive that spread uranium over an area (Times Square or Chicago's Millenium Park for example) would cause terror? An entire area would be shut down for weeks, months, or years. That would be the definition of a terrorist attack. And how much derision would CAP have poured on President Bush if terrorists would have attacked someplace with the radioactive material they failed to contain? (That's a rhetorical question because the President can't win in the eyes of his bashers.)

"US Moves Radioactive Materials Out of Iraq"

"Radioactive Material Seized From a Nuclear Plant in Iraq"

[via Oliver Willis]

[Added to OTB's Beltway Traffic Jam.]