While poking around another message board, I came across this link. It discusses an alleged plot behind that freighter the Somali pirates had seized a while back and started dying from it's toxic cargo.

Enjoy!

http://shiratdevorah.blogspot.com/2008/10/hijacked-iranian-ship-was-dirty-bomb.html

I don't trust the source by any means, but it will be interesting to watch this develop over the next few months or so to see if it is even remotely plausible.

crock of shit... Iran would be opening itself to a nuclear attack from Israel... They are not suicidal.

I posted a link awhile back suggesting that this sort of toxic waste is regularly dumped in the area, and that the Somali pirates knew it was radioactive. Its assertion was that they hijacked the ship to try to prevent it from being dumped off their coast.

Who knows what's true. Something is certainly fishy with the whole thing though.

crock of shit... Iran would be opening itself to a nuclear attack from Israel... They are not suicidal.

Probably not, (being suicidal I mean). Still, if it could be pinned on someone else....the sand could have been offloaded somewhere for dispersal in smaller bombs that could not be tied to Iran. The radioactive material came from China after all.

But as you say, probably a crock of shit. I would think the US would have trumpeted any such attempt in the UN at least, not keep it secret.

'They are not suicidal.'

- Rofl, found that ironic.

'They are not suicidal.'

- Rofl, found that ironic.

In the literal sense, they arn't.

Iran probably sponcers terrorism and finances terrorism but to see proof as to how many Iranians have actually put on the bomb vest etc might cast things in a different light. The number is probably surprisingly low. Iranians enjoy a somewhat better standard of living and can easily find those to exploit who have nothing to lose (IE: Palastinians, Iraqis, residents of the Horn of Africa, Afghans and so forth) in order to further the initiatives of Iran. The United States did the same meddling in South America and numerous other places. It's what fairly prosperous countries do in order to fight dirty little wars without actually getting dirty. Iran has nuclear power. They are prosperous enough in that reguard.

Perhaps in the less literal sense, Iran pursuing a nuclear arms program might be considered suicidal, but for who?

As for the ship being a dirty bomb, well, the article indicated enough of a paper trail. Someone would ultimately pay a big price. Its a WoMD and usually that makes a retalition in kind or stronger an easy sell. The dumping theory might have more merit.

The only thing I have against the dumping theory is that I just don't see the Chinese bothering to contract out someone from Iran to ship radioactive soil out of the country. China is notorious for using their domestic resources whenever possible, and there is no shortage of Chinese shipping, not to mention a huge and deep Pacific Ocean right at their doorstep.

I read somewhere that the Iranians got the ship back, so I'm thinking the big dirty bomb theory isn't right either.

They also have huge tracts of uninhabitated real estate out towards Mongolia if memory serves me correctly.

Wouldn't it be cheaper to truck it out there, and bury it?

They hint in the article that China is complicit in plan because they need oil.

That's the thing, China would only be complicit if it were a bomb plot, and even then it would be more likely a Chinese official was paid off to supply the dirt. If it were just illegal dumping, China would be paying the Iranians, not the other way around.