4 Iraqis Tell of Looting at Munitions Site in '03

[KittyWampus]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&oi=news&start=0&num=1&q=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/28/international/middleeast/28bomb.html

4 Iraqis Tell of Looting at Munitions Site in '03
By JAMES GLANZ and JIM DWYER
Published: October 28, 2004

But the accounts make clear that what set off much if not all of the looting was the arrival and swift departure of American troops, who did not secure the site after inducing the Iraqi forces to abandon it.

"The looting started after the collapse of the regime," said Wathiq al-Dulaimi, a regional security chief, who was based nearby in Latifiya. But once it had begun, he said, the booty streamed toward Baghdad.

Earlier this month, on Oct. 10, the directorate of national monitoring at the Ministry of Science and Technology notified the International Atomic Energy Agency that the explosives, which are used in demolition and missiles and are the raw material for plastic explosives, were missing. The agency has monitored the explosives because they can also be used as the initiator of an atomic bomb.

Agency officials examined the explosives in January 2003 and noted in early March that their seals were still in place. On April 3, the Third Infantry Division arrived with the first American troops.

[acmavm]

1. OOOPS! That blows the "The Russians Did It" excuse.

.

[rodeodance]

2. We do not know the facts,' " he said. "Think about that.

Bush said U.S.-led forces have destroyed or captured more than 400,000 tons of munitions, and he pointed to remarks by Kerry foreign policy adviser Richard C. Holbrooke. "Now the senator is making wild charges about missing explosives when his top foreign policy adviser admits, quote, 'We do not know the facts,' " he said. "Think about that. The senator's denigrating the action of our troops and commanders in the field without knowing the facts."

Aides said Bush was referring to an interview Holbrooke gave Fox News on Tuesday in which he said: "The U.N. inspectors and the IAEA inspectors had told the American military this was a major depot. . . . Now the thing has been looted. I don't know what happened. I do know one thing: In most administrations, the buck stops in the Oval Office."

Bush's remarks produced a furious response from Democrats. In a conference call arranged by the Kerry campaign, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) issued an extraordinary rebuke of the administration. Because of missing explosives, "my kid and a lot of other kids might get their ass over there and get blown up by these because of their civilian incompetence," he said, his voice rising to a shout.


"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1733-2004Oct27.html"

Missing Weapons Become Focus of Presidential Race

By Dana Milbank and Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, October 28, 2004; Page A01

[flowomo]

3. great story.... and Kerry ads all over those NYT pages!

lotsa eyeballs on the story and the ads!

[ruggerson]

4. Bummer - Shrub/DrudgeCo will have to come up with excuse #106 tomorrow

[ochazuke]

5. How can anyone say that the explosives might not have been there?

What a huge mistake: there was no INVENTORY taken of the Al QaQaa munitions compound.

The administration has nowhere to hide on this, but the media have sure muddied the waters.

[Moderator]

6. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=937943