Posted on 10/25/2004 10:14:37 PM PDT by Jeff Blogworthy
1991: The International Atomic Energy Agency placed a seal over storage bunkers holding conventional explosives known as HMX and RDX at the Al-Qaqaa facility south of Baghdad as part of U.N. sanctions that ordered the dismantlement of Iraq's nuclear program after the Gulf War. HMX is a ''dual use'' substance powerful enough to ignite the fissile material in an atomic bomb and set off a nuclear chain reaction.
January 2003: IAEA inspectors viewed the explosives at Al-Qaqaa for the last time. The inspectors took an inventory and again placed storage bunkers at Al-Qaqaa under agency seal.
February 2003: IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei told the United Nations that Iraq had declared that ''HMX previously under IAEA seal had been transferred for use in the production of industrial explosives.'' This apparently did not include the HMX that remained under seal at Al-Qaqaa.
March 2003: Nuclear agency inspectors visited Al-Qaqaa for the last time but did not examine the explosives because the seals were not broken. The inspectors then pulled out of the country.
March 2003: The U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq.
After the invasion: The Pentagon said Monday that ''coalition forces were present in the vicinity at various times during and after major combat operations. The forces searched 32 bunkers and 87 other buildings at the facility, but found no indicators of WMD (weapons of mass destruction). While some explosive material was discovered, none of it carried IAEA seals.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Why is the entry for April 10, 2003 missing?
Who is the manufacturer of that material? What is the "dual use status" on explosives? Why wasn't it destroyed...too much (hundreds of tons) I assume?
They left out some stuff:
XXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX MON OCT 25 2004 22:45:05 ET XXXXX
NBCNEWS: CACHE OF EXPLOSIVES VANISHED FROM SITE IN IRAQ BEFORE TROOPS ARRIVED...
The NYTIMES urgently reported on Monday in an apprent October Surprise: The Iraqi interim government and the U.N. nuclear agency have warned the United States that nearly 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives are now missing from one of Iraq's most sensitive former military installations.
[The source behind the NYT story first went to CBSNEWS' 60 MINUTES last Wednesday, but the network wasn't able to get the piece on the air as fast as the newspaper could print.]
Jumping on the TIMES exclusive, Dem presidential candidate John Kerry blasted the Bush administration for its failure to "guard those stockpiles."
"This is one of the great blunders of Iraq, one of the great blunders of this administration," Kerry said.
In an election week rush:
**ABCNEWS Mentioned The Iraq Explosives Depot At Least 4 Times
**CBSNEWS Mentioned The Iraq Explosives Depot At Least 7 Times
**MSNBC Mentioned The Iraq Explosives Depot At Least 37 Times
**CNN Mentioned The Iraq Explosives Depot At Least 50 Times
But tonight, NBCNEWS reported: The 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives were already missing back in April 10, 2003 -- when U.S. troops arrived at the installation south of Baghdad!
An NBCNEWS crew embedded with troops moved in to secure the Al-Qaqaa weapons facility on April 10, 2003, one day after the liberation of Iraq.
According to NBCNEWS, the HMX and RDX explosives were already missing when the American troops arrived.
"The U.S. Army was at the site one day after the liberation and the weapons were already gone," a top Republican blasted from Washington late Monday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors last saw the explosives in January 2003 when they took an inventory and placed fresh seals on the bunkers.
Dem vp hopeful John Edwards blasted Bush for not securing the explosives: "It is reckless and irresponsible to fail to protect and safeguard one of the largest weapons sites in the country. And by either ignoring these mistakes or being clueless about them, George Bush has failed. He has failed as our commander in chief; he has failed as president."
A senior Bush official e-mailed DRUDGE late Monday: "Let me get this straight, are Mr. Kerry and Mr. Edwards now saying we did not go into Iraq soon enough? We should have invaded and liberated Iraq sooner?"
Top Kerry adviser Joe Lockhart fired back Monday night: "In a shameless attempt to cover up its failure to secure 380 tons of highly explosive material in Iraq, the White House is desperately flailing in an effort to escape blame. Instead of distorting John Kerry’s words, the Bush campaign is now falsely and deliberately twisting the reports of journalists. It is the latest pathetic excuse from an administration that never admits a mistake, no matter how disastrous."
Why is the U.N. nuclear agency suddenly warning now that insurgents in Iraq may have obtained nearly 400 tons of missing explosives -- in early 2003?
NBCNEWS Jim Miklaszewski quoted one official: "Recent disagreements between the administration and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency makes this announcement appear highly political."
Developing...
This confirms what Drudge is saying. The stuff wasn't there.
Which is owned by the New York Times.
The things we learn on FR!
Is the Globe claiming there have been no inspectors in Iraq since before the war started??
Spec. Ops got there first, removed weapons etc.? But wait! The DNC will call that "dirty pool"! Unfair, would CBS approve? Maybe this is why little or nothing has been said to now. Let the hacks shoot themselves in foot again and again.
The whole idea of using seals to lock stuff up is a joke. If the inspectors simply walk by and see that the seals are unbroken it means nothing. Who says the Iraqis didn't tunnel into the bunkers and remove the stuff. Or even just forge new seals after removing the old ones. Couldn't be that tough.
The way I read it, this confirms the explosives were already gone when we got there.
They do not say that the U.S. was responsible for the security of the facility, yet they leave out the information that the troops had not yet arrived at the facility to secure it, therefore leaving the impression that it was a Bush Administration screw up. Sounds like a usual U.N. gaffe to me.
Please e-mail AP with your disgust. It is hit-time now - you should see Yahoo news. All of the headlines are hit pieces on the Bush Administration!! Freep the hell out of them.
No mention of the NBC debunking. This is very curious.
Could this be the Slimes version of Rathergate?
How can they simply go forward, refusing to report the fact that these explosives were gone before our troops arrived?
And what about the complicity of the IAEC official and the U.N.?
Could this be a ploy to divert attention from the "oil-for-food" scandal dogging the U.N.?
I don't know if anyone here has been part of any major logisitical endeavor, but 380 tons of whatever item you want doesn't just get up and move itself. You need more than a pack of dudes and a pickup truck.
If the stuff was there when we got there, it would be almost impossible to move it without attracting attention. If it wasn't, then who knows when it was moved? If I had to guess, I'd say 'Probably around the time the WMD was shipped out as well'.
I'm so not buying this story.
Now we have to wait and see if in NBC's reporting they contradict the NYT.
Of course, we sure aren't going to hear about the actual time when the weapons disappeared the MSM, are we?
To me, this is "paper reality". "Officially" the stuff was there, and would remain so until "officially" it wasn't there. The first instance of the latter condition occurred when the U.S. secured the site and noted its absence. Therefore that's when it disappeared.
Oh, please. Nobody has to believe Drudge. He's not the source for the timeline, an embedded reporter with NBC news is. The stuff was already gone. Second, the occupation has already destroyed 200,000 tons of ordinance, and has another 200-250,000 tons yet to destroy. The amount stolen doesn't even represent one tenth of a percent.
It's just another attempted hatchet job by the Media wing of the Democrat party. If this is the Dems October surprise, they're in heap big trouble.
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