Fate of Missing Iraq Weapons Unresolved (Remember them?)

[Bossy Monkey]

Oct 29, 8:23 PM EDT

Fate of Missing Iraq Weapons Unresolved

By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The fate of up to 377 tons of high-grade explosives missing from an Iraqi depot remained unresolved a week after it became a hot issue in the presidential election. The Pentagon offered piecemeal information about operations at the base but was unable to say where the weapons went.

Some analysts are questioning the relevance of the debate, noting 377 tons is a pittance compared to the unclaimed arsenal left behind after Saddam Hussein's regime fell. Bush administration officials have repeatedly said some 400,000 tons of munitions and explosives have been either destroyed or are slated to be destroyed. They do not mention that, by military estimates, a minimum of 250,000 more tons remains unaccounted for.

On Friday, an Army major said his company had recovered and destroyed some of the munitions left at the Al-Qaqaa depot south of Baghdad after the invasion. A Pentagon spokesman asserted some of that was of the same type as the missing explosives that have become a major issue in the campaign.

Maj. Austin Pearson said his team removed the 250 tons of plastic explosives and other munitions on April 13, 2003 - 10 days after U.S. forces first reached the Al-Qaqaa site.

(more)
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAQ_WEAPONS?SITE=SCCOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Say it with me: The Story. Isn't. Going. Away.
OBL tape. Isn't. A Story.
There are a number of deleterious consequences of media consolidation, but one of the few benefits is that 90% of newspapers and nearly all tv stations don't have national reporters and they just pick up the AP wire. This is what's going out on the AP wire. Now go over to Yahoo News and vote the story a 5.

[killbotfactory]

1. They destroyed them after the Russians took them. to Syria

And before the other troops came and shot the video of the bunker showing them under UN seals.

It couldn't be more simple!

NO MORE BUSH

[MADem]

2. When the Pentagon drags out a nervous 0-4

to "back up" their story, that is PATHETIC. It's like sending your two year old to answer the knock at the door when the bill collector comes calling.

That poor guy looked frightened, his voice shook. Larry Derita was feeding him lines, and the fellow REFUSED TO LIE. He said he did not see any IAEA seals. He does not know if the ordnance he destroyed was the ordnance in question. All he knows is what he did in a small corner of a facility the size of Manhattan.

I swear, they had him primed to fib, but he blurted out the truth.

Poor fucker, his career will probably take a hit--don't count on 0-5, pal, unless a large number of guys ahead of you bite it in Eye-Rack.

I hate it when they try to make the working bastards whore for them. The military service personnel have as their duty the assignment to support and defend the Constitution of the US. They are there to defend the country, not to be used as political pawns.

[baltodemvet]

3. And don't get caught up in minutia on this story

Timelines and speculation don't mean S**T. The point is that the administration doesn't know what happened to this dangerious material. That tells us that securing these known weapons sites was not defined as a significant objective of the invasion.

As any project manager will tell you, when you plan these things, you detail out objectives, assign responsibility for achieving them and track your progress. The Defense Department should have been able to give a definitive answer to the status of that site within minutes.

This is (yet more)evidence of the collosal incompetence of this administration. We are not safer--we are more at risk. Osama is still out there--now with access to an enriched supply of weaponry.

Bush administration was entrusted with the security of our nation and they have failed us.

[Bossy Monkey]

4. No, really! Go vote it a 5! (link)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041030/ap_on_re_mi_ea/us_iraq_weapons_35
I had to search for it; it wouldn't come up as a top story, presumably because of too few votes. Currently 3.69 with 13 votes.

[ScreamingMeemie]

5. They were still talking about them on the evening news.

I don't think anyone has forgotten about them. They'll remember them on Tuesday as well. :hi:

[SeanQ]

6. kick

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041030/ap_on_re_mi_ea/us_iraq_weapons_35

[Supersedeas]

7. Major Pearson is a good soldier...say it after me...Major Pearson is a goo

good good good good good soldier.

Repeat....repeat....repeat...until exhaustion.

[Bossy Monkey]

8. Next trick is getting Yahoo News to move the story from

World: Middle East to Elections. Alas, I have no idea how to do this.

[OnceAndFutureTruth]

9. And here is a NEW explosives story, this time from the Oregonian

Does this deserve greater notice? A top post, perhaps? Feel free to repost it. I can't as I am too new around here.

http://www.oregonlive.com/special/oregonian/iraq/index.ssf?/base/front_page/1099052619177610.xml

Friday, October 29, 2004
MIKE FRANCIS

Six months after the fall of Baghdad, a vast Iraqi weapons depot with tens of thousands of artillery rounds and other explosives remained unguarded, according to two U.S. aid workers who say they reported looting of the site to U.S. military officials.


The aid workers say they informed Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the highest ranking Army officer in Iraq in October 2003 but were told that the United States did not have enough troops to seal off the facility, which included more than 60 bunkers packed with munitions.

"We were outraged," said Wes Hare, city manager of La Grande, who was working in Iraq as part of a rebuilding program. A colleague who also visited the depot, Jerry Kuhaida, said it appeared that the explosives at the Ukhaider Ammunition Storage Area had found their way to insurgents targeting U.S. forces.

"There's no question in my mind that the stuff in Ukhaider was used by terrorists," said Kuhaida.

[Bossy Monkey]

10. It's already up, but thanks (link)

LBN is faaaaast: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=942735

Oh, and welcome to DU! Proud to have you here.