White House Spin on the Explosives - Attack Kerry!

[NightOwwl]

"As usual, Kerry is basing his attacks on headlines he reads every day."

They ARE NOT denying anything.
They ARE attacking Kerry.

This was just on MSNBC. They are giving this heavy play. Holding up the headlines from NYTimes. Showing clip of Kerry attacking Bush for his "extraordinary failure."

BUSH IS FUCKED!

[bullimiami]

1. you know... the nyt was probably just 'guessing' n/t

[NightOwwl]

7. Probably a total surprise for Bush, given he doesn't read the paper n/t

[Richardo]

2. This of course contrasts to the guy who *doesn't* read headlines...

...ever!

[Jacobin]

3. Duh. Why wouldn't you base your attacks on facts in the news?

:shrug:

Oh, that's right. The WH bases its attacks on Kerry on stuff it makes up. I understand now. Nevermind

[Goldmund]

31. My thoughts exactly

[amber dog democrat]

4. somehow i think this has to be Clinton's fault

you know a clenis has to be involvied somewhere. Its the source of all evil.

They're screwed. I just wonder how many more will be killed on account of their stupidity.

[Arkana]

22. Ain't that the truth

The Clenis is always involved...whether it be the economy, terra, WMD, job loss, whatever. They are one pathetic little band, the GOP.

[juliagoolia]

5. WE need to remind MSNBC and the rest we deserve to know

WHY they let these explosives be left in a situation where they could be looted and kill our kids!!!!!!!!!!!

Why and when did they know? Why did we not know? Who is hiding what?

How many kids have no arm because of this huge mistake..or no legs or no life?

[NightOwwl]

10. Yes. We don't want this to become just another he said/she said.

We want the facts.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

19. Occam's Razor:

The simplest explanation is always the best.

Q: "WHY they let these explosives be left in a situation where they could be looted and kill our kids"

A: Because they knew the effect that looted explosives would have in such an unstable region, and that was the intended effect.

[wtmusic]

25. Far simpler:

Gross incompetence.

[Jacobin]

28. Yep. It never ceases to amaze me

In ALL areas, they are simply incompetent or corrupt

[dansolo]

33. A simpler explanation

They were only fixated on the oil, and were deluding themselves into thinking that the Iraqi situation would be stable after Saddam was killed or captured.

[KC21304]

6. Yes you idiots, Kerry does READ ! Isn't that amazing ?

As opposed to Bush, who gets his talking points fed into his earpiece.

[GainesT1958]

8. Well, the recession was (is) all Clinton's fault...

And us being unprepared for the 9/11/2001 attacks was all CLinton's fault, too...

And, DAMMIT, if that Mass LIBERAL, French-lovin' Kerry had voted for the $87 billion for Halliburton, well, then, this never would have happened, would it?!:eyes:

Wonder if Steely Dan's "Pretzel Logic" song was prophetic?:eyes:

B-)

[bonddad]

9. I'm not sure about the impact

I think this is a very important story because it demonstrates there was no plan for dealing with a post-war Iraq. The administration knew about this material and did nothing to secure it. That is incredibly important and very scary.

But, in the last week of the election, I think this just highlights what Kerry has been saying about Bush having no plans to win the peace. It merely confirms what Kerry has stated instead of opening up a new line of attack.

[NightOwwl]

12. The final nail in the coffin of the Bush pResidency.

It's important, very important.

[Chelsea Patriot]

38. Oh, I'll bet there's more nails yet to come this week.

The fun's just beginning.

[newyawker99]

29. Hi bonddad!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[DemoTex]

11. Ron Suskind on the Bu$h Regime's "reality" ... (NYTs 10/17)

The (Bush) aide said that guys like me were ''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ''That's not the way the world really works anymore,'' he continued. ''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=79184

[apnu]

17. That's a brilliant article!

Just spot on.

[giant_robot]

30. That snip could come directly out of 1984 n/t

[HootieMcBoob]

13. Kerry has been talking about this for a long time

He even talked about it in the debates and Bush* didn't even respond to it. They are complete and total fuck-ups.

[AndyTiedye]

14. A President Who Can READ! What a Concept!

Go Get 'em Senator Kerry!

[LynnTheDem]

15. It's bad enuf that bush knew YEARS AGO about that explosives site

The UN has monitored those explosives for YEARS; bush KNEW that. he KNEW those explosives were sitting there unguarded and available to ANYONE when he invaded Iraq.

And after the invasion of Iraq, bush didn't order the site secured.

bush was told a YEAR ago that the explosives were being looted. IF bush had THEN ordered the site secured,a nd then tried to cover up the fact that for a few months he'd left the site unsecured, that would be bad enough.

But it's WORSE;

For that entire year AFTER he'd been told the site was being looted, and right up until LAST WEEKEND, the site was STILL being looted and bush STILL didn't bother ordering the site secured.

bushCartel can attack Kerry all they want; but it's undisputed FACT that bush KNEW about the explosives site and he KNEW about the 150+ muntions sites with 650,000+ tons of munitions and he KNEW they were being looted and HE DID NOTHING.

[NightOwwl]

21. From Kerry's official statement:

“The unbelievable incompetence of this president and his administration has put our troops at risk."

Yep. The man who has been strutting around boasting he is keeping Americans safer IS PUTTING OUR TROOPS AT RISK. Cheney told him to guard the oil and puppet-man complied. THESE FUCKERS HAVE GOT TO GO!

[MrModerate]

16. I'm just surprised that this is TODAY's headline . . .

And not one from June last year.

I was in Iraq at the time and it was common knowledge that there were tens or hundreds of similar dumps (mostly with small arms and ammo) that the Iraqi army had abandoned in place. With the looting going on at the time, local people were driving up to these places and carrying away truckloads of the stuff -- and the very next day these things'd turn up as IEDs or parts of car bombs. Or in the public markets, where the price of an RPG fell to almost nothing.

And what did our military-on-the-ground say at the time? "We don't have enough troops to guard EVERY weapons depot in the country."

This is only news because the news guys have made it news. Which is not to say that I'm unhappy it's getting play now, but the looting of weapons has been going on from day one of the invasion.

[LynnTheDem]

23. It's been reported constantly in the world media

And even in the US media since May 2003...but only 1/2 of America (the anti-invasion half) paid any attention.

The rest of the world has been screaming about this since May 2003 and it's why every world poll, including the UK and Poland and Italy and Australia (all bush's "best pals") say bush & his invasion have made the world LESS SAFE.

[NightOwwl]

26. That's why I don't rely on US media for news.

I'm just glad it's being reported now, before the election.

[KharmaTrain]

32. Welcome To DU

And welcome to the part of the world that knew this was going on and stood in stunned paralyisis as we had no voice to speak out about what we saw going on.

Glad you made it through your time in Iraq and you can share your experiences with us...explaining how things really were and correcting improper perceptions.

Yes, some may suspect the timing...and many of us wish this had come out months ago, but remember the filters that any of the news other than what this regime want out. It was difficult; especially in the war-giddy "Shock & awe" days of the invasion to get a contrary opinion out and it's still fooling too many people.

Our military is so compromised and another 4 years of this regime could create a generation wounded by its own Vietnam. And for what? Filling up an SUV???

[tabasco]

36. NOPE. Not just another weapons stash.

350 TONS of high grade explosive. Not your everday weapons stash.

Nice attempt to downplay the event, however.

The reason it is today's headline is that the Bush administration tried to keep it a secret. NOW we learn the truth. If the timimg is unfortunate for Team Bush - IT'S THEIR OWN DAMN FAULT.

[MrModerate]

37. No attempt to downplay . . .

Just pointing out that you're just as dead if you're killed by a looted AK-47, a 1-pound roadside bomb made from a grenade and a handful of nails, or 2 pounds of this high-grade stuff going off in the cargo hold of your vacation flight to Cabo San Lucas.

The first two have already happened over and over. How long 'til the third comes true?

And Bush's LYING about it is the story here?

That's very old news.

But maybe people will take notice now?

Well, maybe.

[tabasco]

39. Newsflash: The IEDs being used in Iraq are a lot bigger than 1lb

The IEDs being used to take out Bradleys and tanks are quite a bit larger than 1 lb of HE and a handful of nails. But you knew that didn't you? Once again, you attempt to downplay the value of 380 tons of HE to the insurgents.

I'm an infantryman and I know all about AK-47s killing people. But for some strange reason, the insurgents weapon of choice seems to be large amounts of buried high explosives.

We handed them 380 tons of this stuff. Stop trying to make it sound like a cache of AK-47s. I personally uncovered arms caches as an infantry commander. To sugeest that a small arms cache is like 380 tons of HE is absurd.

And yes, the administration's attempt to keep it quiet is big news. Tough luck for the Bush team, eh??

[MrModerate]

40. OK, let's try it again.

A small IED (said by our EOD expert to be in the range of 1 lb) came within 10 feet of modifying my gait forever. Obviously the ones blowing up Bradleys aren't in that class and I never suggested otherwise.

But here's my point -- while 380 tons of HE is a very big deal, there were perhaps HUNDREDS (at least in the high two figures) of Iraqi armories left unguarded, all of which were probably looted. Once you start talking about thousands of AK-47s and thousands of RPGs and thousands of other small explosives, you're talking about enough death and destruction to be just as worrying as the tons of HE.

In fact, I've long maintained that once you've got enough AK-47s distributed throughout a community, the risk of violent death rivals that of WMDs -- at least in that community.

That having been said I don't think we disagree that this hundreds of tons of HE hell is going to show up somewhere (several somewheres) and a whole bunch of people are going to die because Bush is a brainless fuck. Let's just not downplay death delivered at the retail level just because we're also facing it in bulk.

[gatorboy]

18. Wow! I'm surprised they aren't blaming Clinton as well...

Considering everything in the past four years has been his fault. :eyes:

[Rose Siding]

20. Curses! ...damned reality based opponent

"Wacky Democratic Candidate Reads NYT!"

What, they think Kerry should have witnessed the incident himself?

[sangh0]

24. Kerry should base his attacks on faith, not facts

Kerry should be asking if bush* has any cnnections to the money-changers in the temple.

WHy OH WHY is he asking about Iraq?

[Steely_Dan]

27. And Only 30 Miles from Baghdad

...To make matters worse, the ammo stockpile was less than 30 miles from Baghdad. You mean they couldn't secure an area that close to the supposed "green zone?"

-Paige

[spotbird]

34. Didn't the US protect the Oil Ministry in Iraq when the invasion

started? Why was that more important than the ammo dump?

[w4rma]

35. Like the AP's headline? Bush: I'm Best Candidate to Protect U.S.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20041025/ap_on_el_pr/campaign_rdp_19
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x930307

:eyes:

[LuminousX]

41. LOL: "Kerry is just showing off that he reads newspapers."