The Kerry Spot connects the dots and concludes that IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei’s conveniently-timed memo was motivated by job security concerns. The Kerry Spot notes ElBaradei has held his position since 1997 and his tenure will expire in 2005. When the US government opposed his bid for a third term under the premise that heads of international organizations should not serve more than two terms, ElBaradei penned his 1 Oct 2004 memo pressing Iraq to account for nuclear-related materials once supervised by the IAEA. Guess what happens next!

Then, in a memo that appears to be dated Oct. 10, the Iraqis respond that the explosives are missing… and it just happens to show up on the front page of the New York Times eight days before Election Day. An article that quotes a European diplomat as saying “Dr. ElBaradei is "extremely concerned" about the potentially "devastating consequences" of the vanished stockpile.”

The Kerry Spot speculates on ElBaradei's motivation:

He’s so concerned, he felt a need to make this issue that he’s been quiet about since spring 2003 and press the Iraqi government for an immediate answer that he knows will make the Bush administration look bad!

One has to wonder - has John Kerry or a member of his staff indicated they would keep ElBaradei around for another term? We know ElBaradei wants a change in U.S. policy on his third term.

ElBaradei is doing everything he can to help Kerry. What’s in it for ElBaradei?

I agree that ElBaradei’s sudden concern is suspect, especially considering the overwhelming evidence that the explosives had been removed from the Al-Qaqaa military base before the US troops arrived. (See Captain Ed’s excellent post below for more on this topic.)

We can guess what’s in it for ElBaradei, and I think we know what’s in it for Kerry.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference The Agenda:

» Show Trial #20 from The Politburo Diktat
A even score of purges and executions bring the Commissar to the twentieth Show Trial. "Shoot the mad blogs." House of Payne, for glorifying murder of Vietnamese patriots David, for more of his dangerous Right Deviationism, even offering to give Anti-P... [Read More]

Tracked on October 26, 2004 8:39 PM

» Daily Dish from The Cool Blue Blog
Micheal Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" now being used by the ruling Mullahs in Iran to subvert the pro-Democracy movement. Michael Moore: he's everywhere fascists want to be. Kerry's arguments regarding the "missing" explosives in Iraq don't even make sense... [Read More]

Tracked on October 27, 2004 6:33 AM

» NY Times: In the Tank for Kerry from The Key Monk
So now, when you see the NY Times interview the wrong commander about its erroneous initial story and its editors decry the lax protection by the troops to secure WMD, realize that the Times is so far in the tank for Kerry that it makes Andrew Sullivan... [Read More]

Tracked on October 27, 2004 10:57 AM