I frequently have been accused of not knowing Jack. Now a recent New York Times article has me digging through dead brain cells trying to remember if I know a CIA agent named Joe, or ever knew him. Although there are some large segments of time from that era that are totally unaccounted for, as far as I can recollect, I don’t know Joe. Who is Joe?
According to the Times, Joe was the source of a CIA analysis, considered by most experts to be totally worthless, that Iraq was collecting parts for nuclear enrichment equipment. Quoting the Times:
According to the Senate Intelligence Committee report, the agencies learned in early 2001 of a plan by Iraq to buy 60,000 high-strength aluminum tubes from Hong Kong. The tubes were made from 7075-T6 aluminum, an extremely hard alloy that made them potentially suitable as rotors in a uranium centrifuge. Properly designed, such tubes are strong enough to spin at the terrific speeds needed to convert uranium gas into enriched uranium, an essential ingredient of an atomic bomb. For this reason, international rules prohibited Iraq from importing certain sizes of 7075-T6 aluminum tubes; it was also why a new C.I.A. analyst named Joe quickly sounded the alarm. At the C.I.A.’s request, The Times agreed to use only Joe’s first name; the agency said publishing his full name could hinder his ability to operate overseas. Joe graduated from the University of Kentucky in the late 1970’s with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, then joined the Goodyear Atomic Corporation, which dispatched him to Oak Ridge, Tenn., a federal complex that specializes in uranium and national security research.
I graduated from UK in the late 1970’s, so there must have been some overlap between Joe’s attendance and mine. Computer Science and Engineering had some common requirements (lots of math and physics), so it’s possible that Joe and I shared some classes. But, although I remember several engineering students, a mechanical engineering student named Joe doesn’t ring a bell. So, to the best of my knowledge, despite a certain geographical closeness, I don’t have the pleasure of being acquainted with the moron who gave the Bush crew one of their flimsy excuses for the Iraq fiasco. No, I’m proud to say, I don’t know Joe.