Missing explosives timeline.

[LynnTheDem]

1998; IAEA left Iraq.

2002; IAEA returns, does inventory at Al QaQaa, finds 377 tonnes on hand, and 35 tonnes of explosive missing since the 1998 inventory.

Iraq says they used it in construction. IAEA says it will be difficult to prove that's what Iraq used it for.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6323933

March 9, 2003; IAEA does final inventory; 377 tonnes on hand.

http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/thisweek/2003_3_10_womd.html

March 18, 2003; IAEA kicked out of Iraq by bush

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/03/17/iraq/main544280.shtml

March 19, 2003; invasion starts

http://web.naplesnews.com/03/03/naples/d925688a.htm

April 3-4, 2003; 3rd ID arrives at Al QaQaa, finds "thousands of boxes" of "white powder"; powder is tested and found to be the explosives. No full count is made at site; site is huge, over 100 buildings and 3rd ID was there only for 2 days. Report notes UN seals still intact.

April 5, 2003; Report of explosives find is widely covered in world media.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/RAN305A.html

http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:4HlpKh0avh8J:www.straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/iraqwar/story/0,4395,181389,00.html+white+powder+found+is+explosives%3B+2003+Iraq&hl=en

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2917531.stm

April 10, 2003; Second military group, 101st Airborne, arrives in Al QaQaa. No attempt to search or count anything was made; this was a "pitstop" on way to Baghdad.

-Per NBC TV report with embedded reporter (no transcript avail yet)

And now all 377 tonnes are gone. Somewhere. At sometime after April 4, 2003. AFTER BUSH INVADED IRAQ.

[Tesibria]

1. awesome! nt

[4_Legs_Good]

2. I appreciate the timeline!

:yourock:

david

[drmom]

3. Great timeline, but...

...could anyone attach sources to these dates?

[LynnTheDem]

9. ok

I'll add the NBC transcripts from the reporter that was embedded with the 101st AB soon as/if I can find one.

[tompea]

4. This will be important info as bushies try to spin the loss

Drudge et. al., have already tried to put the vagur lie of omission out there that the explosives had disappeared "before"...

politics as usual...

nice job
tom pea
http://itsjustcommonsense.blogspot.com/

[4_Legs_Good]

8. The funny part is that the ditto-heads are already convinced, NOTHING

will change their minds. 72% of Bush supporters believe that Saddam had WMDs or big programs ready to make WMDs.

I can't believe the degree to which these people will willfully brainwash themselves.

doublethink

david

[tompea]

5. This will be important info as bushies try to spin the loss

Drudge et. al., have already tried to put the vagur lie of omission out there that the explosives had disappeared "before"...

politics as usual...

nice job
tom pea
http://itsjustcommonsense.blogspot.com/

[Fridays Child]

6. Your timeline is correct but can you add your references?

Excellent stuff! :thumbsup:

[truthpusher]

7. Pics: Troops Guarding oil fields and Sadaam statue 4-2-03 & 4-9-03

While troops were guarding these sites, the explosives were being looted.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1175131&mesg_id=1175131

[milkyway]

10. Thanks!

[debatepro]

11. kick

nice work

[berry]

12. Sort of ironic that the missing 35 tonnes was

probably the stuff that BushCo used to justify the invasion--as in "dangerous stuff" "unaccounted for" = Saddam is lying = Saddam always lies and there's no negotiating with liars, etc., etc.

At the time of that flap, there were some who wondered if the US could account for all of its own nuclear materials. And, arguably, the US has better inventory procedures. Or not.

A different question, too: does anyone remember what excuse the US used for refusing to let the IAEA in to Iraq right after the invasion to check the sealed materials? I do know that the IAEA tried. The refusal to let them in looks even more suspicious now...

[LisaLynne]

13. Great job!

Like I've been saying, they can spin this all they want. It's bad for them.

[LuminousX]

14. Excellent Work!

[troublemaker]

15. Good work. You can integrate this with the Boston Globe timeline

on post-April2003 events

[Steelangel]

16. **kick**

[MockSwede]

17. 2004 or 2003?

Looks like year got messed up somewhere in timeline. Any way to fix this?

[grumpy old fart]

18. Sludge's CBS Smear Claim

Drudge trumpets on his site that this weapons story is an old one, being dredged up now by CBS to smear Bush?

"News of missing explosives in Iraq -- first reported in April 2003 -- was being resurrected for a 60 MINUTES election eve broadcast designed to knock the Bush administration into a crisis mode."

But then how come the Chimp Admin says they just learned of it a month ago?? Gotta love this stuff....

[RaleighNCDUer]

35. Faux just said that they were not found missing until the end of

May. Nobody looked for them earlier.

Can't they get their stories straight?

[Renew Deal]

19. kick

:kick:

[Skinner]

20. This is a good timeline

:thumbsup:

[KittyWampus]

21. When Was Oil Ministry Secured? It'd Be Highly Advantageous To Add

just as a damning bit of info.

[Homerr]

22. Thank you! I've used this elsewhere now.

[priapis]

23. NBC's "embed" Jim Miklaszewski Just Shot Down Drudge/Admin Alibi- YES!

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_10_24.php#003805

[clevergirl]

24. Kerry talking point

Kerry's formal response to the missing explosives includes
this statement:

Terrorists could use this material to kill our troops and our
people, blow up airplanes and level buildings. 

Reviewing this timeline, I would suggest he cuts to the chase:

Terrorists likely used this material to kill our troops.  

[HerbieHeadhunter]

25. Very nice work....thank you.

nm

[priapis]

26. Richard Hollbrook defending Kerry weakly on this.

Hollbrook is FOXNEWs favorite candidate for Kerry Sect oif State, in the same way Alan Colmes is their favorite Liberal.

this is too obvious for it not to be strategy.

Hollbrook doesnt come off well. Seems weak & ineffectual- professorial.

Gibson is now the 3rd Fox anchor I've heard HAMMERING the point in intro, body and outro "Richard Holbrook who may be the sectry od state in any Kerry Admin"

gibson did it again & again, and then chuckled about the fact afterwards with a bush surrogate.


brilliantly devious.

[Chiyo-chichi]

28. Why should Kerry have to be defended?

He's not the one who botched Iraq. He's not the one who is responsible for 1,106 American deaths and counting.

[chiffon]

27. My Goodness...this is good--No...excellent (n/t)

[priapis]

29. LYNN: FOXNEWS @ 6:00 will interview ex-NBC embed (now a FOXite)

Dana Lewis was the nbc embed. now works for FOX.

will be interviewed by britt hume @ 6:00.

to say they looked saw nothing.

Goddammitt.

[LynnTheDem]

41. Actually she says they DIDN'T LOOK and that's why they didn't see anything

But it doesn't matter...they were NOT the first troops on the scene; the 3rd ID were, April 3, 2003, and they DID FIND EXPLOSIVES.

There were UN-SEALED BOXES OF EXPLOSIVES AT AL QAQAA ON APRIL 3, 2003.

That is AFTER BUSH INVADED.

[leftofthedial]

30. rockin good!

thanks

[Lilli]

31. Huge help to me today - thanks for doing this

I needed the info. You rock! :)

[w4rma]

32. Utterly and incredibly Incompetent. And then they do nothing. Nothing!

Well not really nothing. Instead of trying to hunt down where these explosives ended up. They spend their time trying to hide the fact that they let these explosives fall into the hands of the insurgents and terrorists around the world.

And American knew better than to trust the presidency with this man. America voted for Vice President Gore. President Gore would NEVER have let this happen.

[merh]

33. 10/26/04 Transcript from earlier thread:

MSNBC, 10/26/04 (Transcript):

Amy Robach: And it's still unclear exactly when those explosives disappeared. Here to help shed some light on that question is Lai Ling. She was part of an NBC news crew that traveled to that facility with the 101st Airborne Division back in April of 2003. Lai Ling, can you set the stage for us? What was the situation like when you went into the area?

Lai Ling Jew: When we went into the area, we were actually leaving Karbala and we were initially heading to Baghdad with the 101st Airborne, Second Brigade. The situation in Baghdad, the Third Infantry Division had taken over Baghdad and so they were trying to carve up the area that the 101st Airborne Division would be in charge of. As a result, they had trouble figuring out who was going to take up what piece of Baghdad. They sent us over to this area in Iskanderia. We didn't know it as the Qaqaa facility at that point but when they did bring us over there we stayed there for quite a while. We stayed overnight, almost 24 hours. And we walked around, we saw the bunkers that had been bombed, and that exposed all of the ordinances that just lied dormant on the desert.

AR: Was there a search at all underway or did a search ensue for explosives once you got there during that 24-hour period?

LLJ: No. There wasn't a search. The mission that the brigade had was to get to Baghdad. That was more of a pit stop there for us. And, you know, the searching, I mean certainly some of the soldiers head off on their own, looked through the bunkers just to look at the vast amount of ordnance lying around. But as far as we could tell, there was no move to

secure the weapons, nothing to keep looters away. But there was – at that point the roads were shut off. So it would have been very difficult, I believe, for the looters to get there.

AR: And there was no talk of securing the area after you left. There was no discussion of that?

LLJ: Not for the 101st Airborne, Second Brigade. They were -- once they were in Baghdad, it was all about Baghdad, you know, and then they ended up moving north to Mosul. Once we left the area, that was the last that the brigade had anything to do with the area.

AR: Well, Lai Ling Jew, thank you so much for shedding some light into that situation. We appreciate it.

LLJ: Thank you.

EDIT: Link added: http://blog.johnkerry.com/rapidresponse/archives/003664...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1174935

[carolinalady]

34. fox news reluctantly tells the REAL STORY

Just listened to Britt Hume, he interviewed Dana Lewis from NBC news and Dana told him they did not search for weapons; that many of the buildings were locked and that it was a very large complex. HOWEVER,
Britt concluded the interview by getting Dana to confirm that he did not believe that at that time.. a large convoy of trucks could not have concievably moved weapons if they were there. The Repubs will cling to that and all will sleep well tonight knowing the spin is still working.

[LynnTheDem]

49. "many of the buildings were locked " = UN-SEALED still, April 10, 2003

Oops huh, bush.

[tabasco]

36. Gen. Tommy Franks, CENTCOM Commander.

Let's not forget who was the CG back then. Bush's yes-man who didn't have a plan. No plan except for seizing the airport, declaring victory, hauling ass back to the States, and acting like a hero.

[MattNC]

37. why wasn't this facility blown up??

seems like a realistic question to ask.

[davepc]

38. where is the

mis-reply

[AnIndependentTexan]

39. pay attention

MSN NBC is sticking to the truth and the reporter isn't taking the GOP talking points on it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6323933 /

Reporter Lai Ling Jew, who was embedded with the Army’s 101st Airborne, Second Brigade, said Tuesday on MSNBC TV that the news team stayed at the Al-Qaqaa base for about 24 hours.

‘No move to secure the weapons’
“There wasn’t a search,” she said. “The mission that the brigade had was to get to Baghdad. That was more of a pit stop there for us. And, you know, the searching, I mean certainly some of the soldiers headed off on their own, looked through the bunkers just to look at the vast amount of ordnance lying around.

“But as far as we could tell, there was no move to secure the weapons, nothing to keep looters away.”

[davepc]

40. where is the refrence to the 377 tons?

March 9, 2003; IAEA does final inventory; 377 tonnes on hand.

http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/thisweek/2003_3_10...


I cant find it.

Alls we know is that UN inspectors visited on thoes dates, mostly in refrence to Al Summud missles.

But a published AP from April 4 report states that "U.N. weapons inspectors went repeatedly to the vast al Qa Qaa complex -- most recently on March 8 -- but found nothing during spot visits to some of the 1,100 buildings at the site 25 miles south of Baghdad."

Nothing refering to what? WMD's? Al Summud missle parts? what.

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

[LynnTheDem]

42. You have to look thru the 1400+ pages of the UN inventory...or

You can go by what the IAEA says now, there were 350 metric tonnes when the IAEA last checked March 9, 2003;

"As part of the UN sanctions regime still in place when the US invaded, the IAEA had “under seal” 350 (metric) tons of RDX and HDX explosives, since singly, and in combination, these materials can be used in the triggering process for a nuclear weapon."

-Nelson report via TPM

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_10_24.php#003777

As part of the UN sanctions regime still in place when the US invaded, the IAEA had “under seal” 350 tons of RDX and HDX explosives, since singly, and in combination, these materials can be used in the triggering process for a nuclear weapon.

-Nelson report

The remaining stockpile was no secret. Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the I.A.E.A., frequently talked about it publicly as he investigated, in late 2002 and early 2003, the Bush administration's claims that Iraq was secretly renewing its pursuit of nuclear arms. He ordered his weapons inspectors to conduct an inventory, and publicly reported their findings to the Security Council on Jan. 9, 2003.

During the following weeks, the I.A.E.A. repeatedly drew public attention to the explosives. In New York on Feb. 14, nine days after Secretary of State Colin L. Powell presented his arms case to the Security Council, Dr. ElBaradei reported that the I.A.E.A. had found no sign of new atom endeavors but "has continued to investigate the relocation and consumption of the high explosive HMX."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/25/international/middleeast/25bomb.html?ex=1099281600&en=e9e3de8563fe6fc9&ei=5018&partner=BRITANNICA

You should be able to find the Security Council meeting minutes on line, January 9, 2003; the IAEA reported to the SC about the 350 metric tonnes being inventoried and under seal.

HTH! :)

[davepc]

43. Thanks

One new thing I learnd. The missing explosives are suposed to be HMX or RDX. Aparently these are white crystal or white powerder substances.

According to the AP story I linked, "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."

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

So on April 4th the US Army found a white powder which was determined to be an explosive. And the explosive named by the UN Inspectors as being in storage at the Al Qa Qaa site is HMX. HMX (and its cousin RDX) are a white powder.

Now I wasent there and I didnt test it, but I'm guessing what they found on April 4th was part of the Iraqi HMX stockpile. A stockpile that had been accounted for in full as of January 9th, 2003, and was spot checked as late as March 9th or 10th 2003 by the UN Inspectors.

So if it was there in March, and they found it when US troops arrived in April 3rd, and as of October 10th 2004 its all *MISSING*

WHERE THE HELL DID IT GO?

[LynnTheDem]

44. EXACTLY.

The white powder found by the FIRST TROOPS to Al Qaqaa, the 3rd ID, on April 3, 2004, was TESTED and found to be the EXPLOSIVES.

The US military testing report says so, but it isn't available online. The report ALSO says the site was STILL SEALED.

So the explosives WERE THERE on April 3, 2003.

But the media is now IGNORING the FACT that 3rd ID were the FIRST THERE; they're calling the 101st Airborne with the NBC embedded reporter the first there and they were NOT; THEY didn't get there until a week LATER, on April 10, 2003.

And the entire world REPORTED on the white powder found & tested and being explosives by April 5, 2003.

[DemsUnited]

45. Keeping this kicked for those who are asking questions about what

happened when

:kick:

[Tim_in_HK]

46. One suggestion . . .

Between the March 19 and April 3-4 dates, maybe add some text/link from (I think) the LA Times story saying how US satellites were being used during this time, and did not notice any activity in the area that would imply massive movements of explosives. I think that was mentioned by David Kay? Sorry, can't find the link . . .

[LynnTheDem]

47. ok :)

David Kay, the CIA's former chief weapons hunter in Iraq,(and hand-picked by BUSH) believes that the material was looted in the immediate aftermath of the war.

He said he saw the facility in May 2003, "and it was heavily looted at that time. Sometime between April and May, most of the stuff was carried off. The site was in total disarray, just like a lot of the Iraqi sites."

Given the size of the missing cache, it would have been difficult to relocate undetected before the invasion, when U.S. spy satellites were monitoring activity at sites suspected of concealing nuclear and biological weapons.

"You don't just move this stuff in the middle of the night," said a former U.S. intelligence official who worked in Baghdad.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-explosives26oct26,1,5204158.story?coll=la-home-headlines

At the time, there was no major insurgency and US military officials felt the war had been won, Kay said, so the Department of Defense did not fear that the weapons that disappeared in widespread looting would be used against US soldiers.

Later, as the insurgency heated, at least three major bombing sites in Iraq tested positive for HMX or RDX, Kay recalled.

Kay said that late into fall 2003, more than 100 large ammunition storage points had been left unsecured; everything from conventional bombs to artillery shells and rockets were unguarded.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/10/26/explosives_were_looted_after_iraq_invasion?pg=full

[BUSHOUT]

48. Lynn, here's a transcript for that April 10th report...

If you can still edit. If you can't, Skinner should do some magic for you.

http://blog.johnkerry.com/rapidresponse/archives/003664.html#more

[LynnTheDem]

51. Ta! :)

I can't still edit, but maybe Skinner will do so.

Sure do wish the media would get WITH it; how come THEY make the $millions/year salaries for (supposed) reporting FACTS when we know far more facts than they do and get zilch?

[chuckhoward]

50. You need to add this to the timeline...

...apparently the unit commander of the 101st, 2nd brigade has said there was no search. It was in this morning's nytimes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/27/politics/27bomb.html?oref=login&oref=login&oref=login

[chuckhoward]

52. Our new friends in Iraq...

...also believe that the explosives were looted after we arrive.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/iraq_us_explosives

And we certainly don't want to call our new friends in Iraq "liars", do we? We certainly know how * feels about us saying bad things about our new friends in Iraq, right?

[leftchick]

53. AFP Report Today: Iraqi Scientist Said they were intact .....

Before the US invaded. Only French news so far. Karl must be wearing the phone out keeping this little gem off the TV.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=935889&mesg_id=935889

~snip~

He said he and other officials had been ordered a month earlier to insure that "not even a shred of paper left the sites."

"The officials that were inside this facility (Al-Qaqaa) beforehand confirm that not even a shred of paper left it before the fall and I spoke to them about it and they even issued certified statements to this effect which the US-led coalition was aware of."

He said officials at Al-Qaqaa, including its general director, whom he refused to name, made contact with US troops before the fall in an effort to get them to provide security for the site.

The regime's fall triggered a wave of looting of government and private property, which US-led troops struggled to contain as they were busy securing their own positions.

[onecent]

54. kick n/t