Posted on 10/26/2004 8:15:25 PM PDT by Cableguy
White House officials reasserted yesterday that 380 tons of powerful explosives may have disappeared from a vast Iraqi military complex while Saddam Hussein controlled Iraq, saying a brigade of American soldiers did not find the explosives when they visited the complex on April 10, 2003, the day after Baghdad fell.
But the unit's commander said in an interview yesterday that his troops had not searched the facility and had merely stopped there for the night.
The commander, Col. Joseph Anderson, of the Second Brigade of the Army's 101st Airborne Division, said he did not learn until this week that the site, known as Al Qaqaa, was considered sensitive, or that international inspectors had visited it before the war began in 2003 to inspect explosives that they had tagged during a decade of monitoring.
Colonel Anderson, who is now the chief of staff for the division and who spoke by telephone from Fort Campbell, Ky., said his troops had been driving north toward Baghdad and had paused at Al Qaqaa to make plans for their next push.
"We happened to stumble on it,'' he said. "I didn't know what the place was supposed to be. We did not get involved in any of the bunkers. It was not our mission. It was not our focus. We were just stopping there on our way to Baghdad. The plan was to leave that very same day. The plan was not to go in there and start searching. It looked like all the other ammunition supply points we had seen already."
What had been, for the colonel and his troops, an unremarkable moment during the sweep to Baghdad took on new significance this week, after The New York Times and the CBS News program "60 Minutes" reported that the explosives at Al Qaqaa, mainly HMX and RDX, had disappeared since the American invasion.
Earlier this month, officials of the interim Iraqi government informed the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency that the explosives, the same kind used to blow up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, disappeared sometime after the fall of the government of Saddam Hussein on April 9, 2003, when American forces took over the country's security. Al Qaqaa, which has been unguarded, was looted in the spring of 2003, and looters were seen there as recently as Sunday.
President Bush's aides told reporters that because the soldiers had found no trace of the missing explosives on April 10, the explosives could have been removed before the American invasion. They based their assertions on a report broadcast by NBC News on Monday night that showed video footage of the 101st arriving at Al Qaqaa.
By yesterday afternoon, as Mr. Bush made his way through Wisconsin and Iowa, his aides had moderated their view, saying it was a "mystery" when the explosives disappeared. They said that it could have happened before or after the invasion and that Mr. Bush did not want to comment on the matter until the facts were known.
At the Pentagon, a senior official, who asked not to be identified, acknowledged that the timing of the disappearance remained uncertain. "The bottom line is that there is still a lot that is not known," the official said.
The official suggested that the material could have vanished while Saddam Hussein was still in power, sometime between mid-March, when the international inspectors left, and April 3, when members of the Army's Third Infantry Division fought with Iraqis inside Al Qaqaa. At the time, it was reported that those soldiers found a white powder that was tentatively identified as explosives. The facility was left unguarded, the official said.
The 101st Airborne Division arrived April 10 and left the next day. The next recorded visit by Americans came on May 27, when Task Force 75 inspected Al Qaqaa, but did not find the large quantities of explosives that had been seen in mid-March by the international inspectors. By then, Al Qaqaa had plainly been looted.
Colonel Anderson, who is now the chief of staff for the 101st and spoke by telephone from Fort Campbell, Ky., said that he did not see any obvious signs of damage when he arrived on April 10, but that his focus was strictly on finding a secure place to collect his troops, who were driving and flying north from Karbala.
"There was no sign of looting here," Colonel Anderson said. "Looting was going on in Baghdad, and we were rushing on to Baghdad. We were marshaling in."
A few days earlier, some soldiers from the division thought they had discovered a cache of chemical weapons that turned out to be pesticides. Several of them came down with rashes, and they had to go through a decontamination procedure. Colonel Anderson said he wanted to avoid a repeat of those problems, and because he had already seen stockpiles of weapons in two dozen places, did not care to poke through the stores at Al Qaqaa.
"I had given instructions, 'Don't mess around with those. It looks like they are bunkers; we're not messing around with those things. That's not what were here for,' " he said. "I thought we would be there for a few hours and move on. We ended up staying overnight."
I swear this was a story early in the war. A quick blurb that noted the craters and empty bunkers. Anyone remember this?
Precisely.
That materiel was long gone and ensconced discreetly in Syria as the first button was pushed.
I can. There is a Colonel Joe Anderson. This guy probably did say this. Maybe they took it out of context. But he was cozy with the KLA in the Balkans. Maybe he knows and worked with Wes Clark. This fella Anderson might want Bush out.
The reality is, his unit was there for 24 hours. They had the run of the place. If he didn't look around-- there was a major WMD hunt on and he was at a gigantic weapons installation-- he should probably lose his command.
"380 tons of powerful explosives " is a weapon of mass destruction, Sen. Kerry insists Iraq never had any weapons of mass destruction. Now Sen. Kerry insists we didn't guard what didn't exist?
Dana Lewis with Fox News reported earlier that parts of the facility was hit by the bombing and there were cracks in the cement and some of the rockets were visible.
More from a Kerry Spot reader with a ".mil" e-mail address, stating he was among the soldiers who secured Al QaQaa on April 10th with the 101st:
I can tell you what happened at my squad level. When we arrived there, humvees with Mark-19's and other mounted weapons immediately secured the parameter with appropriate manpower backup. On the foot level we broke up into squads and went building to building and cleared them; mind you, we couldn't do them all. But we found what had been typical finds, caches of AK-47's, artillery rounds and bullets. There was absolutely no talk of a big find, and what I could sense no worries of anything that should have been there. Of course, we were still worried about the possibilities of chemical weapons but they never panned out.
I am a little perturbed at the gross mischaracterization of what went on there. From what I remember of the NBC crew, they did not go out with us, and they may have in fact been asked to not to go on the search with us, due to the dangers that may have possibily come up. Now this part is my opinion, but don't you think that if they had gone out with us they would have video?
From yet another Kerry Spot reader with a ".mil" e-mail address:
You are correct in your bottom line conclusion. Here is a second follow up.
I was serving as a [identifying information removed by the Kerry Spot] staff member during the time in question. The Commander on the site had complete real time intelligence on what to expect and possibly find at the Al-QaQaa depot. The ordinance in question was not found when teams were sent in to inspect and secure the area. When this information was relayed, Operational plans were adjusted and the unit moved forward. Had the ordinance in question been discovered, a security team would have been left in place.
Friday, April 23, 2004
Despite his wounds — and despite the rising death toll of U.S. troops in Iraq — he and other soldiers are signing up for another tour of duty, re-enlisting at rates that exceed the retention goals set by the Pentagon.
Pinkley re-upped for three more years, citing the camaraderie and the challenge of a new assignment.
"To come out and work with you guys every day, it's a good feeling," Pinkley, 26, told his 101st Airborne Division buddies during the ceremony earlier this month. His wife, Kimberly, watched with a smile, their toddler in her arms.
As of March 31 — halfway through the Army's fiscal year — 28,406 soldiers had re-enlisted, topping the six-month goal of 28,377. The Army's goal is to re-enlist 56,100 soldiers by the end of September.
"It's a very positive retention picture at this point," said Lt. Col. Franklin Childress, an Army public affairs officer. The Army had nearly a half-million active-duty soldiers.
However, Childress cautioned that factors such as an improved economy and the Pentagon's decision to keep about 20,000 troops in Iraq for longer than a year to help quell the violence could change the picture.
The Marines, which along with the Army have borne the brunt of combat in Iraq, said they have already fulfilled 90 percent of their retention goal for the fiscal year for getting Marines to re-up after their initial commitment. The Air Force and the Navy said they, too, are exceeding goals for getting airmen and sailors to re-enlist.
Some contend a poor job market and re-enlistment bonuses worth thousands of dollars are keeping soldiers in the Army. Col. Joseph Anderson, commander of the 101st's 2nd Brigade, said it is more about camaraderie, patriotism and duty.
So what are your thoughts on this whole deal, TK?
My main interest is where are all these weapons now. This makes me wonder:
The bombings in Riyadh
Furthermore, a week earlier, Saudi authorities captured 800 pounds of explosives, RDX, and weapons in a house just a quarter of a mile from one of the bomb sites and launched a manhunt for 19 suspects.
Because I knew you have the motherlode of this information, kiddo!
If this is the case, then there would have been nothing for insurgents to steal, because it was already gone before we entered Iraq.
That is not what has been reported today. The report is that the UN reported that the IAEA seals were still in place on March 8, 2003.
You cannot take the IAEA report as true on its face. Below is an example of when Iraq diverted HMX, under IAEA seal, for other uses. This is just what they declared. The excerpt below ends in a way that admits they can't be sure.
February 17, 2003 IAEA statement on Iraq
"..Use of HMX
The IAEA has continued to investigate the relocation and consumption of the high explosive HMX. As I reported earlier, Iraq has declared that 32 tonnes of the HMX previously under IAEA seal had been transferred for use in the production of industrial explosives, primarily to cement plants as a booster for explosives used in quarrying.
Iraq has provided us with additional information, including documentation on the movement and use of this material, and inspections have been conducted at locations where the material is said to have been used. However, given the nature of the use of high explosives, it may well be that the IAEA will be unable to reach a final conclusion on the end use of this material..."
The MSM prints this material as if it were the gospel. It isn't. There is a lot of room for error and outright lies.
February 2003 U.N. Report: Saddam Moving Explosives From Al-Qaqaa
"..# On March 8, 2003, IEAE inspectors made their last check of the facility before the war. The IAEA said that included a spot check on some - but not all - of the sealed explosives.
# "The war started March 19. After the Army's 3rd Division moved through here on their way to Baghdad, the first U.S. troops stopped in to Al-Qaqaa on April 9.
# "A Reuters camera crew embedded with the scouts from the 101st Airborne Division arrived at the storage facility, did a quick search noting a number of bunkers filled with explosives - but nothing marked by the IAEA.
# "On April 10, the Second Brigade of the 101st arrived there and spent the night. An NBC crew was with them. A cursory search was conducted. Again, nothing marked or tagged by the IAEA was spotted. The Second Brigade left the next day, pushing forward to Baghdad..."
So even if soldiers or other observers did not see looting and the bunkers were locked, the absence of IAEA seals is a good indication that the material could have been moved and the bunkers locked back up as a matter of course. If I was an Iraqi soldier, I damn well would lock the bunkers back up. Who would want to PO the high command in that Army.
Our soldier were looking for IAEA seals, or anything that might indicate WMDs. Apparently, no IAEA seals were found.
A possible scenario, and not improbable, is that after the IAEA spot check and before the war, the seals were broken and the material was moved and the bunkers locked back up as part of a routine military precaution to protect expensive material that absolutely would be a military target.
I think the problem was that Saddam was using his super secret "lock box" to hold all this stuff.
If only algore was president, we would have been able to find and open such a "lock box".
You said, "Mil guy on Hewwit's show said they only carry 5Ton. Thats a lot of truckin."
At 5t a load, that works out to 76 trips to move the stuff. They would catch the attention of the radar systems on the TR-2 and JSTARS once a pattern develops because they all share the same point of origin and there's not too many paths to chose from.
That is not what has been reported today. The report is that the UN reported that the IAEA seals were still in place on March 8, 2003.
Maybe the UN put the seals on the empty storage units thus setting up the "explosive were stolen" line of conversation we're having.
Betcha the IAEA and/or UNMOVIC knows where this stuff went....
Remember IAEA was completely bamboozled by Libya's nuclear weapons program yet America and Britian was able to get them to come clean after we invaded Iraq. No "nuanced" negotiations needed there. The IAEA is worth less than a bucket of warm spit.
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