The United States transported 550 metric tons of “yellowcake” concentrated natural uranium to a Canadian destination earlier this month. The departure point: Baghdad, Iraq. The uranium came from a 23,000-square-acre nuclear weapons complex 12 miles from the Iraqi capital, called Tuwaitha. The secret transfer operation included “more than a year of intense diplomatic and military initiatives—kept hushed in fear of ambushes or attacks once the convoys were under way,” the Associated Press reported.

The $70 million evacuation and transportation of 3,500 barrels of uranium required an overland military convoy to Baghdad, 37 military planeloads to an Indian Ocean atoll, and an 8,500-mile trip by ship to Montreal. It also required top secrecy, as officials guarded against possible disruption or theft by Iranian-backed insurgents or terrorists.

The military also evacuated four irradiation decontamination units from the facility earlier this year. The devices contained highly radioactive parts that could potentially be used for a weapon, it was reported.

The operation is being hailed as the last chapter of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction program, and has stirred up major questions over whether the United States’ 2003 invasion of Iraq was justified.

Or rather, it hasn’t.

Although bloggers and other small-timers have decried the silence, commercial media have remained quiet regarding the shipment, dutifully reporting it, if sparsely, but noting that it was not weapons-grade material and that Iraq did not possess the kind of sophisticated equipment—like Iran does—to convert the stockpile to military use. However, even the Associated Press outright admitted it was part of a Hussein-era nuclear weapons program—as opposed to “alleged nuclear weapons program.” If Hussein’s weapons program had ultimately succeeded, he would have developed dozens of nuclear warheads from the stockpile, possibly more than 100.

The liberal media’s quietness on the story is hardly surprising, however, considering it has worked overtime to convince the public that the Bush administration fabricated the “Saddam has wmds” story in order to justify invading Iraq. As the Investor’s Business Dailyput it, “The mainstream media find it inconveniently contradicts the story they have been telling you for years.”

The media’s reportage of the Iraq War has revealed just how powerful and widespread anti-American forces are within the nation’s own newsrooms. Due to the liberal media’s efforts, confronting terrorism in the future will be much more difficult. Broad public and congressional support will be much harder to rally for future battles. As such, this fifth column is helping accelerate the downfall of the United States.