Posted on 10/28/2004 9:52:24 PM PDT by ambrose
Photo, video show Iraqi complex before, after invasion
Items bolster different theories on missing explosives
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two more bits of possible evidence surfaced Thursday in the mystery of the missing Iraqi explosives, but they appear to bolster two different scenarios as to what may have happened to the cache.
The Pentagon released a photo showing activity before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 outside a bunker at the weapons dump where nearly 380 tons of explosives reportedly disappeared.
While the photo might lend support to but does not prove the Pentagon's theory that the high-grade explosives were moved before the war, a videotape surfaced offering another scenario.
The video, shot by a crew from KSTP-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that was embedded with the 101st Airborne Division, showed barrels of explosives in unguarded bunkers in the Al Qaqaa complex on April 18, 2003, nine days after the fall of Baghdad.
It was unclear, however, if the explosives in the video were of the same types as in the missing cache.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
The correspondent, Dean Staley, told CNN he did not have the expertise to know whether the barrels contained RDX and HMX. He said, however, that one of the bunkers he visited had a seal on the door that was broken open, though he was not sure if it was an IAEA seals.
So the seal was broken when they arrived? I guess this debunks the earlier pictures showing the seal. There is still no proof when these explosives disappeared or who exactly broke the seal on the bunker.
Thanks for posting this article. It's a good balanced story offering info on both sides--and doesn't denigrate either one. It's nice to know that CNN and Co. can be fair when they want to.
As for me, I think the story has finally hit a brick wall. This has been going on for 4 days, and all we know now is "Maybe this, maybe that." And it's equally clear that no matter the amount of missing weapons, it is an insignificant amount when viewed vis-a-vis the explosives secured and destroyed. And on top of it all, it reminds people who might have forgotten how Iraq was armed to the teeth.
hmmm
If the article is almost fair, it shows even the video won't get much traction beyond mention tomorrow
Let's see: trucks and heavy equipment massing around a specific site known to contain the exotic explosives.
Or a video from hometown news showing some sorta things that may go boom.
Yeah, I'd say this is a tough call. < /sarcasm >
What is the real story here? Break it down for me. I thought that Minnesota station has video of weapons being there after the US invasion. But now I hear there's video of the weapons being removed from the site before the US invasion.
What's the deal?
In the affiliates video they clearly state they did not open the bunker with the seal.
Lets see....the bad guys were driving around in a pick up or 2 after our invasion. They all said "lets go loot from the IAEA marked bunkers... thats where the really good stuff is" ....
hmmmm,
If the bunkers were unguarded, how did the, EMBEDDED with the 101st, reporters get the film video? Oh yeah Saddam picked them up in his limo and took them there secretly while the troops were asleep, that's it.
Give me a break, we're seeing a video by embedded reporters who were shown items, in bunkers, that are troops had already SECURED.
The Times is changing the story. The original affiliate report said the troops did not cut the seal they found. It's very clear in their video and story.
"A 5 Eyewitness News crew in Iraq may have been just a door away from materials that could be used to detonate nuclear weapons. "
They were a door away and did not break the seal so they dont know if anything was really in the bunker.
The footage of bunkers seems to be from bunkers without seals.
Kerry will keep harping on this and make himself look like an a$$...
...not that he needs any help with that.
But now he is saying the seal was already broken. So when they got there they did not find a "sealed bunker", they found a bunker with a broken seal. This goes towards proving that there is no evidence to who exactly broke that seal. I'm sure Sadaam's people weren't that interested in sanctions from the IAEA and the UN while they were about to be pulverized by US troops.
It was already cut? Just like parsing Klinton.
With coalition forces now well inside the so-called Red Zone radiating from Baghdad, troops had breached the region in which commanders feared Saddam's forces might resort to chemical or biological weapons. The troops were expected to don chemical protective gear despite the heat.
So far, no such weapons have been detected. Iraq denies it still has weapons of mass destruction, and US troops have yet to locate any, although they've found hundreds of chemical protective suits.
As they advanced, marines stopped every vehicle they met along the main road. Drivers and passengers got out of taxis and cars and stood by the road with their hands in the air.
They are all failing to acknowledge the IAEA news that the tonnage has decreased to 219 tons at this facility and the IAEA conveniently forgets where the rest of it was.
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