Photos: Northern weapons removed before U.S. arrival

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | October 31, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern | Aaron Klein

[HereComesTheGOP]

Photos: Northern weapons removed before U.S. arrival Coordinated effort by Saddam's fedayeen to take munitions before allies secured areas

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's fedayeen removed weapons and ammunition from a storage facility in northern Iraq, similar to the al-Qaqaa facility at the center of current controversy, before the U.S. victory and prior to the arrival of the 101st Airborne Division to secure the area, according to photos obtained by WorldNetDaily from an Army intelligence source.

Army sources say the removal operations by Saddam's troops at the northern site were coordinated and likely systemic, and could indicate the southern al-Qaqaa facility was emptied at an earlier date as well, before U.S. troops arrived there.

The pictures, provided to WorldNetDaily one month ago by a high-ranking intelligence officer from the U.S. Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force in Iraq who was assisting with another report, were taken by the officer from a helicopter in early April 2003 during an aerial reconnaissance mission to scout landmarks and ensure proper direction for ground troops who would arrive safely in Mosul in early May 2003.

U.S. military sources have authenticated the pictures.

[HereComesTheGOP]

hmmmmm....

[Texas Eagle]

Really? The name of the place is Al Qaqaa?

[stopillegalimmigration]

Knock me over with a feather. Anyone here surprised by this? RNC should demand apology from half-witted treasonous senator for attempting to slander the man holding the highest office in the nation.

[Texas Eagle]

But wait. But wait. President Bush "rushed to war", remember?

[HereComesTheGOP]

Yeah....this was/is totally beyond a "Given"

[Democracy In Iraq]

Not sure we should be perpetuating the al Qaqaa story in general, as we had the last word with the 270 tons that the Army officer testified to removing. Maybe we should quit while we're still ahead. :)

[Libertina]

The same people who screamed that we couldn't go to war so "fast" (yeah, right) are now the same ones screaming that because we WEREN'T there so fast, the weapons got moved. Helllloo! Did they expect Saddam to just leave everything in place until we came on over? Sheesh these liberals are dumb.

It's like a child who has locked his door and is doing something naughty in his room. His mom is outside the door demanding "Unlock this!" and hears the kid as he scurries around hiding stuff. After about 5 minutes the child innocently opens the door and asks "Yes?"

Kerry el al would have us believe that the scene when we opened the door was a true one. He is either a schmuck or a liar.

[cgk]

Bump.

[jz638]

different place, different folks, different weapons. Not related to Al QaQaa.

That being said, you can't prove this case to the seethers. You could declassify satellite photos taken before the invasion began showing trucks parked at the Al QaQaa munitions dump and they'd still remain unconvinced.... come to think of it, that's exactly what happened.

[endthematrix]

"At the time, there was an official underground fedayeen war effort that was well functioning."

Fast forward to today. Our enemy!

[endthematrix]

"The idea that it was suddenly looted and moved out all of these tons of equipment is I think at least debatable and it's very likely that, just as the United States would do, that Saddam Hussein moved munitions when he knew that the war was coming," Rumsfeld said.

[TeleStraightShooter]

Fedayeen sitting on three ammunition crates

.

.

Fedayeen transporting crate of missiles, bunker entrances similar to Al-Qaqaa

.

.

Crates, likely ammunition and missiles, stacked outside a storage bunker

[Oldeconomybuyer]

So, the fedayeen "looted" weapons and ammunition but not WMD because "as everyone knows" "Bush lied" and "there were no WMD in Iraq". /Lurch

[CWOJackson]

A shame we couldn't get a good angle on the pickup...I'd love to see if it had a Kerry sticker.

[b4its2late]

But wait. But wait. President Bush "rushed to war", remember?

Uh uh. According to Ted "the swimmer" Kennedy, it was a war concocted in Texas simply for political gain......

[Bigjimslade]

There was a news ticker story last night on Fox that said another site was overrun by looters and that there were IAEA(or some other group) sealed stores of chemical weapons.

What ?!! Bunkers full of chemical weapons in Iraq. Oh wait they said they were "old" weapons. I'm sorry but what does the term weapons stockpiles mean ? It means old weapons in stockpiles. Are they still not just as deadly. I don't remember Bush saying the threat is new WMDs not old ones. How much of this stuff was there and why didnt the IAEA take it away rather than sealing it ?

The more I hear the more I realize how little truth there has been to the whole WMD story. Unless we have a picture of a working nuclear reactor with Saddam at the controls it won't be enough for the media to run with. What we have found so far may be old and not much but how many people would have been killed if a terrorist brought it into a shopping mall somewhere ? Doesn't the existence of some weapons prove that there were probably more ? I guess if we don't find the exact amounts claimed where we said they would be it will never be newsworthy.

[Texas Eagle]

It's like a child who has locked his door and is doing something naughty in his room.

Excellent analogy. And when you ask what's going on in there, the child says, "Nutheeeng".

[Libertina]

Precisely.