Troops stood by as Al Qaaqa looted

[Atman]

Report: GIs witnessed theft of Iraq explosives
U.S. troops at Al-Qaqaa site say they were outnumbered by looters

The Associated Press
Updated: 8:49 a.m. ET Nov. 4, 2004

LOS ANGELES - Explosives were looted from the Al-Qaqaa ammunitions site in Iraq while outnumbered U.S. soldiers assigned to guard the materials watched helplessly, soldiers told the Los Angeles Times.

About a dozen U.S. troops were guarding the sprawling facility in the weeks after the April 2003 fall of Baghdad when Iraqi looters raided the site, the newspaper quoted a group of unidentified soldiers as saying. U.S. Army reservists and National Guardsmen witnessed the looting and some soldiers sent messages to commanders in Baghdad requesting help, but received no reply, they said.

“It was complete chaos. It was looting like L.A. during the Rodney King riots,” one officer said.

The eyewitness accounts reported by the Times are the first provided by U.S. soldiers and bolster claims that the U.S. military had failed to safeguard the powerful explosives, the newspaper said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6405578/

[HFishbine]

1. Uh-hu.

Well, someone might want to tell George, because he sure as hell didn't seem to have a clue what happened when asked about it.

[Kire]

2. so was Giuliani right?

hey, I'm just asking a question

[zbird]

3. Reported 2 days AFTER the election.

Thanks AP. How long have you been sitting on this story?

[dennis4868]

4. that damn....

liberal media....

[PatsFan2004]

5. According to the LA Times, hexamine a key ingredient of

RDX/HDX high explosive was stolen. BTW, hexamine is the key ingredient in a hiking camp stove fuel. You carry small hexamine tablets and get a nice hot fire, great for backpackers. With a large chemistry lab and a lot of fuming nitric acid and hexamine and other chemicals, you can make the high explosive RDX/HDX.