Nuclear watchdog insists Iraq explosives taken after US invasion

[seemslikeadream]

AFP: 10/28/2004
VIENNA, Oct 28 (AFP) - The International Atomic Energy Agency stepped back into the controversy over missing explosives in Iraq Thursday, insisting that almost 330 tonnes had indeed vanished from a depot in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

It contradicted a claim on US television that the amount was much less.

The fate of the missing explosives has become a major issue in the US presidential election campaign, with Democratic challenger John Kerry accusing incumbent President George W. Bush of incompetence in his handling of post-invasion Iraq.

The ABC news network reported Wednesday that the amount of heavy explosives allegedly missing from the Al-Qaqaa weapons depot south of Baghdad might be be considerably less than the amount reported by Iraqi authorities, possibly as little as three tonnes.

In fact a total of 328 and half tonnes of powerful high explosive, that could be used by terrorists to produce massive blasts, had vanished from the area since the US victory in Iraq in April 2003, the agency said.

more
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=32146

[xray s]

1. so the "it was only three tons of RDX " defense fall apart

There were two locations storing RDX at the complex, three tons at one location and the rest at another location.

According to an IAEA note seen by AFP the amount of RDX was marginally lower. Three tonnes were stocked at Al-Qaqaa itself and 125 tonnes at a subsidiary storage site at Al-Mawaheel, part of the Al-Qaqaa complex.

(btw, what is the backgound of the AFP?)

[Devils Advocate NZ]

3. I wonder if Al-Mawaheel is the site where the news crew took that footage?

It sounds like it could be...

[Piperay]

5. Even if it was 'only' 3 tons

that would still an awful lot and does not lessen what a disaster this whole thing can be.

[MADem]

2. Uh oh, why aren't they going along with weewee's BS?

Didn't they get the memo????

[seemslikeadream]

4. John (Jack) Shaw smelled a neo-con rat

Winds of Change:
Troubled Waters Ahead For the Neo Cons
by
Wayne Madsen

According to Pentagon and Justice Department sources, U.S. investigators discovered that Ahmad Chalabi and his business partners were involved in fraudulently obtaining cellular phone licenses in Iraq. The Pentagon's Undersecretary of Defense for International Technology Security John (Jack) Shaw smelled a neo-con rat when the Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), in late 2003, awarded cellular phone contracts to three companies - Orascom, Atheer, and Asia-Cell - with ties to Ahmed Chalabi. As with all those who challenge the impropriety and illegal activities of the neo-cons, Shaw was, in turn, charged with improperly steering Iraq cell phone contracts to Qualcomm and Lucent. However, it is Shaw, reported by his longtime colleagues to be a solid and trustworthy public servant, who has the confidence of law enforcement, Pentagon investigators, and the military brass. Anything with Ahmed Chalabi's fingerprints on it also bears the fingerprints of his nephew Salem Chalabi. Salem, named as the chief prosecutor in Saddam Hussein's trial, is a law partner of L. Marc Zell, a Jerusalem-based attorney who was the law partner of Douglas Feith - the head of the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans that concocted phony intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and ties to Al Qaeda with the assistance of Likud operatives seconded by Ariel Sharon's government.

The law firm of Feith & Zell, in concert with Perle, was instrumental in funneling hundreds of millions of dollars from Arab and Muslim countries to the Bosnian government during that nation's civil war. While that effort was ostensibly designed to assist the Bosnians to purchase weapons, officials familiar with its actual operation reported that some of the arms and money "spilled over" to Al Qaeda and Iranian Pasdaran forces in the Balkans.

The neo-con attack on Shaw was predictable considering their previous attacks on Ambassador Joe Wilson, his wife Valerie Plame, former U.S. Central Command chief General Anthony Zinni, former counter-terrorism coordinator Richard Clarke, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, CIA counter-terrorism agent Michael Scheuer (the "anonymous" author of Imperial Hubris who has recently been gagged by the Bush administration), fired FBI translator Sibel Edmonds (who likely discovered a penetration by Israeli and other intelligence assets using the false flag of the Turkish American Council and who also has been gagged by the Bush administration), and all those who took on the global domination cabal. But Shaw showed incredible moxie. When he decided to investigate Pentagon Inspector General Reports that firms tied to Perle and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz were benefiting from windfall profit contracts in Iraq, Shaw decided to go to Iraq himself to find out what was going on. When Shaw was denied entry into Iraq by U.S. military officers (yes, a top level official of the Defense Department was denied access to Iraq by U.S. military personnel!), he decided to sneak into the country disguised as a Halliburton contractor. Using the cover of Cheney's old company to get the goods on Cheney's friends' illegal activities was yet another masterful stroke of genius by Shaw. But it also earned him the wrath of the neo-cons. They soon leaked a story to the Los Angeles Times claiming that Shaw actually snuck into Iraq to ensure that Qualcomm (on whose board sat a friend of Shaw's) was awarded a lucrative cell network contract.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Shaw, who worked for Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, represented the Old Guard Republican entity that in August 2003 set up shop in the Pentagon right under the noses of Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Feith to investigate the neo-con cabal and their illegal contract deals. The entity, known as the International Armament and Technology Trade Directorate, was soon shut down as a result of neo-con pressure. Not to be deterred, Shaw continued his investigation of the neo-cons. Although the neo-cons told the Los Angeles Times that the FBI was investigating Shaw, the reverse was the case: the FBI was investigating the neo-cons, particularly Perle and Wolfowitz, for fraudulent activities involving Iraqi contracts. And in worse news for the neo-cons: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was giving the Inspector General's and Shaw's investigations a "wink and a nod" of approval.

The financial stakes for the Pentagon are high - the Iraqi CPA's Inspector General recently revealed that over $1 billion of Iraqi money was missing from the audit books on Iraqi contracts. For Shaw and the FBI, it was a matter of what they suspected for many years - that Perle, Wolfowitz, and their comrades were running entities that ensured favorable treatment for Israeli activities - whether they were business opportunities in a U.S.-occupied Arab country or protecting Israeli spies operating within the U.S. defense and intelligence establishments

more
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/081104_winds_change.shtml


If I could get to the archieves I'd post a link to a thread about Shaw. The neocons tried to trash him last summer. The DoD had to release this statement. He was keeping an eye on a couple special people in the White House.


IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 10, 2004

DoD Statement on Jack Shaw and the Iraq Telecommunications Contract

For several months there have been allegations in the press that activities of John A. Shaw, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for International Technology Security, were under investigation by the Inspector General of the Department of Defense (DoD IG). The allegations were examined by DoD IG criminal investigators in Baghdad and a criminal investigation was never opened.

Furthermore, attempts to discredit Shaw and his report on Iraqi telecommunications contracting matters were brought to the attention of the DoD IG and were accordingly referred to the FBI.

Shaw carried out his duties in the investigation of Iraqi telecommunications matters pursuant to the authorities spelled out in the Memorandum of Understanding between the DoD IG and the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. Shaw provided a copy of his report to the DOD IG and, at the request of the Coalition Provisional Authority, to the Iraqi National Communications and Media Commission.

Shaw is not now, nor has he ever been, under investigation by the DoD IG. Any questions concerning FBI activities should be addressed to the FBI.

http://www.dod.mil/releases/2004/nr20040810-1103.html

I wonder why he would do this?

.....

Bush administration says Russia, France took Iraq explosives

Big News Network.com Friday 29th October, 2004

The Bush administration's latest explanation for 380 tons of explosives missing from Iraq is that Russian troops took them, the Financial Post said Thursday.

Deputy Undersecretary for Defense John Shaw told the newspaper there was intelligence the French were also involved in the removal of the explosives from the al-Qaqaa depot before the war began last year.

"For nearly nine months, my office has been aware of an elaborate scheme set up by Saddam Hussein to finance and disguise his weapons purchases through his international suppliers, principally the Russians and French," Shaw said. That network included ... "employing various Russian units on the eve of hostilities to orchestrate the collection of munitions and assure their transport out of Iraq via Syria."

more
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=8fe53a229e77be3f

[Moderator]

6. Duplicate topic--Please continue discussion here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=939326&mesg_id=939326