Even some of those who say Iraq is better off with Saddam out of power, now argue that the Iraq war simply wasn't worth the cost. But getting rid of Saddam was not just an act of charity toward the Iraqi people, as new evidence emerges of a nuclear weapons program in Libya.
With the fall of Saddam, Libya's Muammar Qaddafi suddenly began dismantling his $100 million nuclear weapons program under our watchful eye. He has provided a wealth of information, which, when combined with evidence found in Iraq and information provided by the busted Pakistani nuclear black market salesman, A.Q. Kahn, reveal a sophisticated nuclear weapons development program. It pulled together Libyan money, North Korean uranium and, according to former federal prosecutor John Loftus, about 300 Iraqi nuclear scientists and engineers based in Libya.
The New York Times reports that the Libyan-based network was close to finding the means to enrich enough uranium to make a nuclear bomb. The Iraqi war stopped the nuclear bomb project in its tracks. The abandonment of that project provides yet another element that should be factored into the costs and benefits of getting rid of Saddam.
And that's the Observer.
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