As your citation says, it's nuclear fuel. Fuel for nuclear reactors used to generate electrical power. Now there is a "dual purpose". Further and further and further refined that uranium could be used to make nuclear bombs, of which Israel is reported to have 200. Way further refined.

Thinking of "dual purpose". It is acknowledged that Reagan, Cheney and Rumsfeld were very interested in helping Saddam in a war against Iran. In order to supply Saddam with effective weapons Iraq was supplied with anthrax, bubonic plague and botulinum toxin. And pesticides, which are precursors to nerve gas. And helicopters to spread the "pesticides".

Mind you, this is in an atmosphere of helping him militarily.

It was rationalized that the items in question were "dual purpose". Had several uses.

The Conservative argument is that Rumsfeld was interested in helping Saddam with medical research and killing bugs. That he used some of these things against, of all things, people, was a complete surprise, only worthy of a duplicitous bastard like Saddam. The shock and horror of Saddams diversion of material meant to kill bugs was worthy of an Academy Award.

"It gets worse. Records from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a 1994 Senate Banking Committee investigation show that during Reagan's presidency, the United States sold Iraq anthrax, bubonic plague, and botulinum toxin, all supposedly for medical research. In 1988, the Commerce Department approved Dow Chemical's sale of $1.5 million worth of pesticides to Baghdad, even though many in the administration suspected Saddam would use them for chemical warfare. Over congressional opposition, the Reagan administration sold Iraq twin-engine Bell "Huey" helicopters, which appear to have been used in Saddam's chemical attacks on the Kurds.

"All this was justified at the time, of course, by the need to stop fundamentalist Iran."

Why is it OK to supply Saddam with nerve gas and the means to use it and Iraq can't generate it's own nuclear power? Dual purpose, after all. There seems to be some basic intellectual dishonesty here.

Arf