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[rarkrarkrark]

Last month, in between all the other things I've been doing (a long and tedious list) I noticed a news story alleging that Somali pirates had hijacked an Iranian ship (this is not the hijacked Ukranian ship that has been all over the news) and started getting sick and dying after being exposed to the cargo. Most of the stories suggested chemical or

Comments

[siliconshaman]

Depending on what the ship was carrying it might not be a bomb, but it could be radioactive.

My bet was that the Iranians had a load of hi-level radioactive waste after they shut down their program [or as a by-product thereof] and are shipping it to India for disposal. Illegal as all hell, hence the cover-up, but also not a nuke.

It could be that information to that effect has leaked, and the liberal and unbiased media have dropped the the whole thing as a non-story. [or they've come to the same conclusion in absence of evidence for a bomb.] But teh right-wing media is trying to talk it up into a:
"OMG Teh Iranistainies Have Teh BomB!!11!!"
story...when five minutes with an expert would tell them otherwise.

ie. it's non-sinister, except for being a probable eco-atomic-treaty violation, but the right-wingers are trying to exploit it to whip up hatred and fear of Iran..again..

[rarkrarkrark]

I don't think anyone thinks that it's The Bomb, as in a nuclear bomb. I haven't even seen the idea floated by a complete idiot on the internet(tm), much less anyone who has any sort of power or knowledge. (for one thing, nuclear bombs aren't a powder. For another, they don't tend to be radioactive or cause radiation sickness in those around them) What Russian Intelligence is supposedly claiming (but so far I haven't seen them officially and publically say that, so that's very much alleged, not proven) is that the ship itself was a dirty bomb. A dirty bomb is nuclear material (nuclear waste would work perfectly, but so would plenty of other things) packed in with conventional explosives. There's no question that Iran could make it. Of course, so could any number of other people. It's hard to get the nuclear material, but it's not that hard. It would, however, be suicidal for Iran and they have to know that

[siliconshaman]

I wasn't thinking a nuke either, or I would have said a nuclear bomb. I've played with explosives as a hobby, so I know that radioactive material, even radioactive rocks, plus anything from bat guano, sulphur & charcoal on up makes a dirty bomb.

What I meant was, I don't think that it was intended to be used as a weapon, not that it couldn't be weaponised.

However, yes it is a matter of concern that the media seems to be ignoring a potential ecological catastrophe in the making. But, I think the nature of it is why. In effect, the claims of it being a 'dirty bomb' are being discounted and are masking the real threat.

It's also possible that no-one has put two and two together and realised that it's radiation contamination that's killing the pirates.

Of course, it could also be that the media is burying the story because they are two busy with the economic crisis and the election.

[rarkrarkrark]

I'm not really convinced it was really a dirty bomb bound for Israel. I am convinced that the ship exists and I'm pretty sure that some pirates either staged a really interesting show (in hopes of getting more ransom money?) or that there really was a very interesting cargo (probably radioactive, with a very tiny possibility of a really nasty chemical) or possibly Iran has staged a very interesting show (why? The only reason I consider this a possibility is because of the reporting that the U.S. was offering $Xmillion for the ship but the deal didn't go through, which seems weird

Reuters!

[rarkrarkrark]

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnBLA934372.html... )

[rarkrarkrark]

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/5920
http://pryce-jones.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MGYyMjE2ZjUyMmZjMWZiYjdkZDVlMjNkY2RkYmY0ZDc=