Looting at Iraqi Weapons Plants Was Systematic, Official Says (RATS ARE WRONG AGAIN!!!)

The New York Times ^ | 13 March 2005 | JAMES GLANZ and WILLIAM J. BROAD

[txradioguy]

Looting at Iraqi Weapons Plants Was Systematic, Official Says

BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 12 - In the weeks after Baghdad fell in April 2003, looters systematically dismantled and removed tons of machinery from Saddam Hussein's most important weapons installations, including some with high-precision equipment capable of making parts for nuclear arms, a senior Iraqi official said this week in the government's first extensive comments on the looting.

The Iraqi official, Sami al-Araji, the deputy minister of industry, said it appeared that a highly organized operation had pinpointed specific plants in search of valuable equipment, some of which could be used for both military and civilian applications, and carted the machinery away.

Dr. Araji said his account was based largely on observations by government employees and officials who either worked at the sites or lived near them.

"They came in with the cranes and the lorries, and they depleted the whole sites," Dr. Araji said. "They knew what they were doing; they knew what they want. This was sophisticated looting."

The threat posed by these types of facilities was cited by the Bush administration as a reason for invading Iraq, but the installations were left largely unguarded by allied forces in the chaotic months after the invasion.

Dr. Araji's statements came just a week after a United Nations agency disclosed that approximately 90 important sites in Iraq had been looted or razed in that period.

Satellite imagery analyzed by two United Nations groups - the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, or Unmovic - confirms that some of the sites identified by Dr. Araji appear to be totally or partly stripped, senior officials at those agencies said.

[txradioguy]

Agreed.

[TheForceOfOne]

Thanks, With the Middle East, sometimes I feel like I am watching a real life movie in slow motion . After watching a good portion of the movie you start getting a feeling of how it will end. I felt we needed to do what has been done in Iraq and Afghanistan and it has had a domino effect in the region. I wouldn't have guessed some of it, now I wouldn't doubt other things that will probably happen in the next two years. I trusted the president, he has not let me down. My fear is we are in a race against time to stop those who will become desperate in their desire to maintain their power and these weapons provide a way to try and stop the inevitable changes occurring in the most troubled part of the world. I am no expert on any of this, but common sense seems to point in this direction.

[katykelly]

Weapons of Mass Departure, found!

[txradioguy]

Well I've always thought that the LAST thing any of the dictators in that area wanted was for one of the countries to catch a fatal case of Democracy.

If we could just get it to take hold in Iraq it would go to other places in the reigon too.

It spreads like a virus and the Dictators feared what's happening over there now.

And though he'll never get the praise he deserves for it now. IMHO W will be written about as the President who stayed the course and brought pece to a reigon tht was once thought un-tameable.

[johnmilken]

Thanks for the links...will read soon.

[TheForceOfOne]

The problem with this region is a generation of radical religious training which has taught many to believe life is of lesser value than the radical teaching itself. I wouldn't put anything past people who strap bombs to their bodies or can convince others to do so. This is what makes finding these weapons of such importance. I really believe they will use them as a last stand either against us or Israel. I believe in Iraq that as people discover what freedom really is and what it can provide, it will become ten times more powerful than the religious aggression of old. Religion in the region will always have a strong hold but when used for good in a peaceful manner the region will flourish.

[Valin]

Looting at Weapons Plants Was Systematic, Iraqi Says
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1361702/posts

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

"So if a gangster takes over a country...(and) say(s), "F*** you. This is a sovereign country."

That is exactly what we have in Venezuela right now.

[elhombrelibre]

Agreed. And I first thought of this in Panama when the gangster Noriega - another pseudo populist rhetorical Marxists - was in charge there. The blame-America-First crowd kept crowing that Panama was a sovereign country while Noriega imprisoned anyone who took exception to the way he personally plundered the country! Some sovereignty! Chavez is cut from the same cloth; he's just a little slicker than the Narco gangster Noriega.

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

Chevez stole the election and Jimmy Carter blessed it. They are of the same cloth.

[backhoe]

I've seen many more than that one, but didn't save the links. A search might be worthwhile for there were quite a few follow-ups posted here some months later.

[Lead Moderator]

mellyK was a DU troll in disguise. Banned.

[txradioguy]

I was wondering. She seemed to be hitting all the talking poins for the DUmmies correctly.

Once again I've battled the DU and triumphed!

Let the feast begin!

[Lead Moderator]

;)

[SouthCarolinaKit]

How was what 'wasn't there' looted? I guess President Bush told the truth after all and KERRY was lying again.

[txradioguy]

IMHO patience will bear out that a lot more of what the president told us was true concerning Iraq.

[Darksheare]

Woohoo!

Wonder which DUmmie it was this time..
*shrugs*

Good shooting.

[cwb]

"Looters took off with all that right under the nose of the US?"

---

Excuse me...the US was only there for a couple weeks, and as others pointed out when this arose several months ago, they may have even been looted before we arrived. The bigger question is, why didn't the UN dispose of these materials as they were there for several years?

If I recall, many of these materials were only secured by wire-locks, which could've easily been broken and replaced. Not to mention that many of these facilities had secondary entrances from were these materials could have been looted. This is nothing but an attempt to shift the blame from were it really belongs: The UN.

[roaddog727]

"I wonder which side of that Border MellyK is on?"

I suspect MellyK has no sense of perspective here.

Attempting to secure ALL the sites that had "Items of Interest" as well as subduing an army and country would have required an astronomical number of ground troops. Also, aside from the main population areas and even in these areas, Iraq is essentially a whole lot-a-nuthin' except sand and dust.

[Fresh Wind]

Bush took a huge political hit over the missing WMD's, one that could have cost him the election. Throughout this whole period, he was sitting on evidence of the WMD transfer to Syria, evidence that could have vindicated him, and he chose not to use it. One can only speculate why, but he must have seen a strategic advantage in not doing so. As events continue to unfold, this will all become clearer.

But in Bush we have a man who risked his own career to do what he knew was right for the country and the world. I can't imagine his predecessor, or the one who sought to replace him doing anything like this. They would have thrown out anything to save their own political skins, with no concern at all about what the downside might be.

This is leadership.