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.
CBS and NYTimes are dirty as hell in this. It is unfortunate that there is no easily exposed forged memo to blow it up and that there is little time left for analysis and less likelyhood that most would look at it. It's going to be shouts and sound bites to the end, but that was the NYTimes and CBS's goal from the start.
With all this information available, it makes one wonder, how in the world the no WMD's story stuck. What really sealed it was when both B and C got on tv and said there were't any WMD's. They should have stuck to their story and kept pounding on all the stuff we've found already.
Thank you.
More information coming out now...
Apparently, 3rd division got there before 101st...April 3...they engaged Iraqi army at this location...didn't see IAEA seals either.
Coincides with the findings detailed in the Duefler report about possibility of weapons having been moved...