The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Nuke-related cables coming out

    By artappraiser on Mon, 12/20/2010 - 2:28am |

    The Guardian's feed of diplomatic cables from Wikileaks is just now putting out a cluster of them on nuclear security matters, and they have also published a couple of related articles So far, for me at least, there's some clues why Obama might be so fixated on nuclear regulatory issues. Especially if the PDB is full of this kind of stuff. Some links after the jump.

    WikiLeaks cables: How US 'second line of defence' tackles nuclear threat
    Diplomatic dispatches reveal world of smugglers, ex-military fixers and radioactive materials found in unlikely locations
    By Julian Borger and Karen McVeigh
    guardian.co.uk, Sunday 19 December 2010 21.29 GMT
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/19/wikileaks-cables-us-nuclear-...

    WikiLeaks cables: Yemen radioactive stocks 'were easy al-Qaida target'
    Sana'a official told US diplomats solo sentry had been removed from atomic facility and CCTV system was broken
    Guardian.co.uk, Sunday 19 December 2010 21.30 GMT
    By Karen McVeigh
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/19/wikileaks-cables-yemen-al-qaida

    US embassy cables: Yemen sounds alarm over radioactive materials
    19 Dec 2010: Cable sent 09/01/2010
    S E C R E T SANAA 000019
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/242991

    US embassy cables: Armenians trigger radiation alarm on Georgian border but are waved through
    Cable sent 21/10/2009
    C O N F I D E N T I A L TBILISI 001919
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/242991

    US embassy cables: Swiss tip points to uranium smuggling out of Dar es Salaam
    Cable sent 27/09/2006
    C O N F I D E N T I A L DAR ES SALAAM 001593
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/79813

    US embassy cables: Tip-off in Portugal claims former Russian general is trying to sell 'uranium plates'
    Cable sent 25/07/2008
    S E C R E T LISBON 001808
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/163602

    US embassy cables: Egypt turned down nuclear weapons after collapse of Soviet Union, Washington told
    Cable sent 13/05/2009
    C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000497
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/206843

    US embassy cables: US steps in to stop export of potential nuclear components from India to Iran
    Cable sent 26/05/2009
    S E C R E T STATE 053356
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/208682

    US embassy cables: US diplomats investigate Congolese "nuclear smuggling ring
    Cable sent 17/07/2007
    S E C R E T BUJUMBURA 000515
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/115697

    US embassy cables: Burundi mission tipped off over a possible uranium smuggling attempt
    Cable sent 27/06/2007
    S E C R E T BUJUMBURA 000479
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/113648

    US embassy cables: Abysmal security at a Congolese nuclear centre
    Cable sent 08/09/2006
    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001410http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/77636

    Comments

    Well this is enough to scare the yule log right out of me!


    by Richard Day on Mon, 12/20/2010 - 10:44am

    It really seems like it is only a matter of time before some idiot manages to detonate a nuclear device.  The idea that it might be a stateless actor really frightens a lot of the old men who were much more comfortable when mutually assured destruction (MAD) was the strategy   So much so that they have organized themselves into an NGO called the Nucliear Threat Initiative and produced a documentary sharing their fears and initiatives.  They offer it online as well as a free CD. 

     

    Here is a link to the trailer if you cannot see the embed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3WTdQ0qDBs&feature=player_embedded

     


    by EmmaZahn on Mon, 12/20/2010 - 4:19pm

    I really do regret the fall of the Soviet Union. It kept the kookos occupied and out of everyone else's hair.


    by cmaukonen on Tue, 12/21/2010 - 12:09am

    Well I certainly agree that the keeping all kookoos occupied part is really the secret to preventing war.Laughing

    Edit to add: on the It really seems like it is only a matter of time before some idiot manages to detonate a nuclear device thing, it strikes me that if long term we are to have more nuclear energy, we really will have to submit to a  more stringent"new world order" global rule over it, as having nuke plants under individual unstable governments is an invitation to dirty nuke bombs and intentional nuclear accidents and the like. That or medicine has to figure out how to better counter the effects of radiation?


    by artappraiser on Tue, 12/21/2010 - 2:35pm

    US embassy cables: Trouble at Bulgarian nuclear power plant
    Cable sent 17/02/2009
    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SOFIA 000069

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/192407

    US embassy cables: More troubles at Bulgarian nuclear power plant
    Cable sent 07/07/2009
    S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 SOFIA 000363

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/215404

    WikiLeaks cables suggest Burma is building secret nuclear sites
    Fears of bomb plan as witnesses tell US embassy that North Koreans are involved with underground facility in jungle

    guardian.co.uk, Thursday 9 December 2010 21.30 GM

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/09/wikileaks-cables-burma-nucle...

    US embassy cables: Burmese civilian offers to sell uranium to US diplomats
    Cable sent 23/09/2008
    S E C R E T RANGOON 000749

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/171076


    by artappraiser on Wed, 12/22/2010 - 12:10pm