Weapons Remain Unaccounted for in Iraq

[Steelangel]

By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer

VIENNA, Austria - From the deserts of the south and west to the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq (news - web sites) is awash in weapons sites — some large, others small; some guarded, others not. Even after the U.S. military secured some 400,000 tons of munitions, as many as 250,000 tons remain unaccounted for.

Attention has focused on the al-Qaqaa site south of Baghdad, where 377 tons of explosives are believed to have gone missing — becoming a heated issue in the final days of the U.S. presidential campaign.

But with the names of other sites popping up everywhere — al-Mahaweel, Baqouba, Ukhaider, Qaim — experts say the al-Qaqaa stash is only a tiny fraction of what's buried in the sands of Iraq.

"There is something truly absurd about focusing on 377 tons," said Anthony Cordesman, a defense analyst and Iraq expert with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. He contends Iraq's prewar stockpiles "were probably in excess of 650,000 tons."



More... http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041031/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_awash_in_weapons_1

[Karenina]

1. Duh.

They're just blowing up hither, thither and yon. Gee, where COULD they be? :eyes:

[acmavm]

2. 2:48 p.m. CST

You have given the news article Weapons Remain Unaccounted for in Iraq a rating of 5.
Its current average rating is 4.13 with 264 vote(s).

[flagrantoffender]

4. wmd explosives

They've probally used 100 tons or so already...

[BUSHOUT]

6. They're NOT wmd. n/t

[shraby]

11. They are conventional weapons and explosives.

[BUSHOUT]

7. I gave it a 1. It's a terrible story. See my reasons below. n/t

[OKNancy]

3. Leftchick posted this

other article. It's good too

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=948184

[BUSHOUT]

5. phuk this sort of talk pisses me off!

The IAEA said (look at my sig!)
Al-Qaqaa was "the main high explosives storage facility in Iraq"

Why does the media allow Bush and surrogates to dimminish the importance of these 300+ tons by comparing them to an arbitrary figure they throw out.

The picture accompanying this story is telling. No doubt every piece of scrap metal in that picture is included in the Bush 400,000 ton figure.

Do we apply the same importance to 10 year old ordinance as we do to high-grade military explosives that the IAEA repeatedly warned Bush about?

Apparently so.

[ogradda]

8. i feel ever so much better now

these people are idiots.

[Bossy Monkey]

9. Since retitled: Iraq Awash in Arms Sites, Some Unguarded

(at least on AP) which conveys the idea better, I think

[Nicholas_J]

10. 377 tons of explosives in the hands of terrorists

is more explosives than Bin Laden could purchase if he spent his entire family fortune. If this is in trhe hands of the insurgens and Iraqi terrorists's it has done more for their cause than all the money raised by Muslim Charities funneling finds to Al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah, and in fact could provide more resources to terrorists than Iran has. It doesnt matter that Saddam had a thousand times that amount, Saddam was not using it afgainst Americans, nor was he providing it to terrorists for their use against American interests. there is every indication that the U.S. was safer with this stuff in saddams hands than it was as a result of the invasion of Iraq. Saddam was basically a coward who would never dare to do anything to the U.S. that could be traced back to him for fear of retaliation.

Notice that in the 12 years that there were sanctions on Iraq, and tens of thousands of Foreign workers in Iraq, U.N. inspectors, people who worked for various foreign companies doing business in Iraq, not one person was ever kidnapped and beheaded. The very worse that ever happened to a foreigner in Iraq was that they got thrown out of Iraq. That cant be said now. There were no Islamic Fundamentalist terrorists in Iraq. Since they did not approve of saddams secular government, Saddam did not approve of them. In fact itse safe to say that Iraq was likely the only country in the Middle East that did not have a terrorist presence.

I will dare to even disagree with John Kerry and state that Saddam Hussein was not only not a threat to the United States, but the United States was definitely safer with Saddam Hussein in power. His own people were brutalized, but no more than are brutalized by the governments of a number of our close allies in the coalition of the willing. Kerry wasright though in saying that Saddam being a brutal dictator was not enough to invade Iraq over, at least before we took care of a bigger threat and a greater priority. Al Qaeda.