Proof Drudge is lying

[detroit]

He says the arrival of the 101st on April 10 was the "liberation" of the weapons site. Not true. Our guys were there at least a week earlier, then apparently abandoned the place for a week - when no WMDs were found:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030405-chem-readiness01.htm

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. Drudge is usually lying.

You don't need to prove every little thing because he's not credible to begin with.

[Walt Starr]

2. Story was from April 5, 2003. Here are some important quotes

"UN weapons inspectors went repeatedly to the vast al Qa Qaa complex, most recently on March 8. But they found nothing during spot visits to some of the 1,100 buildings at the site 40 kilometres south of Baghdad.

Col. John Peabody, engineer brigade commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, said troops found thousands of five-centimetre by 12-centimetre boxes, each containing three vials of white powder, together with documents written in Arabic that dealt with how to engage in chemical warfare.

A senior U.S. official familiar with initial testing said the powder was believed to be explosives. The finding would be consistent with the plant's stated production capabilities in the field of basic raw materials for explosives and propellants. "

<snip>

"Peabody told an Associated Press reporter that troops at al Qa Qaa also discovered atropine, used to counter the effects of nerve agents, and 2-Pam chloride, which is used in combination with atropine in case of chemical attack.

The presence of atropine, and the discovery of gas masks and chemical suits earlier in the war, could indicate Iraq was preparing to use chemical weapons.

For years, the al Qa Qaa site has raised the suspicions of weapons inspectors who believed the facilities could be converted for the production of missiles and chemical and nuclear weapons. It was visited repeatedly during the 1990s and during the last cycle of inspections between Nov. 27 and March 17, when UN experts went to the complex more than 10 times."

<snip>

So, we had troops at teh site prior to April 5. Let's go ahead and take the NBC story at face value. This means 380 tons of explosive disappeared between April 5 and April 10 whie the area was surroundeed and accupied by our troops!

That's the height of incompetency!

[Windy]

3. The only thing that disturbs me about this article

is that they don't say there were conventional explosives under seal either. Its not referenced at all. What does that mean? Were they there or not?

bottom line though, the IAEA told the administration the weapons cache was there and no effort was made to secure it or to take note of the fact that it was either still intact or missing.

[detroit]

4. yeppers

If the 101st Airborn Div. "liberated" that Iraqi weapons site on April 10... then why were we there snooping for WMDs a week earlier?

It seems pretty obvious that what happened was this...

The place was liberated by us or abandoned by the Iraqis in late March or early April. We then sent a team in to find WMDs. We found none. Then, the team apparently left and the place was wide-open till the 101st could be deployed to secure it on the 10th. And by then, it was too late. The place had been looted.