382 tons of high explosives is what I remember

[madokie]

on the march to Baghdad an ammo dump was marched pass that contained something like 382 tons of explosives.
Which I suspect is the source of most of the explosives used in the IED's that are so effect in instilling fear in the hearts of the occupiers. Why is this never talked about in the news or even here at DU. Or am I just imagining this?

on edit: here is a link but it is for a different amount but by only a few tons.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=204304&page=1

[lapfog_1]

1. There were MANY such ammo dumps

all across Iraq. We were too busy securing the oil fields to be bothered securing the ammo dumps or providing security to public buildings and city centers. We simply didn't have enough troops to do the job. Plus we were busy telling the regular Iraqi army (not just the republican guards and the top generals) that we didn't want them serving their country anymore...

just one of a huge number of mistakes in Iraq...

So many that one has to believe it was deliberate.

so why would the neocons want chaos in Iraq for years to come after the war was "over"?

[CottonBear]

2. I think a local network US news crew did a video story on the depot

and how the soldiers looked around and then left for Baghdad as per their orders.

[madokie]

3. I remember seeing a clip on it on the news then but why not anymore

was it proven to not be true? why is it not connected with the IED's? I don't understand, I guess it has to be my age cause there is no other reason for it.:shrug:

[jean]

4. Al Qaqaa weapons cache looting - reported 2 days after '04 election - - -

but happened in April of 2003.

(Someone talked about this today - Franken's show? The quantity of looted material could supply bomb-makers until the year 2030?)


http://www.dccc.org/stakeholder/archives/001590.html
this article has some specifics about what was taken and how it can be used

Pelosi Statement on U.S. Knowledge of Al Qaqaa Weapons Looting

Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on media reports that U.S. troops witnessed looting at the Al Qaqaa but were powerless to stop it:

"Media reports that U.S. troops witnessed the looting of the Al Qaqaa ammunition depot in April 2003 and informed their superiors, but were powerless to stop it because they did not receive the reinforcements they requested are the latest blows to the Defense Department's credibility.

"The fact these reports come to light just two days after a national election in which the missing explosives were at issue raises serious questions: how long has the Bush Administration been aware of these eyewitness accounts of looting? Why was the existence of this information, which so clearly contradicted public explanations given by Pentagon officials, kept from the American people?

"The American people deserve the truth. Congress must convene hearings during the lame duck session this month to determine whether the Administration spent more effort in concealing the truth than in making sure that material that could threaten U.S. troops did not fall into the hands of insurgents or terrorists."

Al Qaqaa Weapons Cache
http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/Al_Qaqaa_Weapons_Cache

On October 25, 2004 the New York Times reported here the disappearance of 380 tons (about 345 metric tons) of powerful conventional explosives from an Iraqi military facility south of Baghdad. According to the report, the national security adviser Condoleezza Rice had been informed within the preceding month about the disappearance. White House and Pentagon officials acknowledge that the explosives vanished sometime after the American-led invasion last year. (The New York Times, October 25, 2004, Huge Cache of Explosives Vanished From Site in Iraq)

The explosives are referred to as HMX High melting explosives and RDX cyclonite or hexogen. HMX and RDX are white powders in their pure form. (See section below on the explosives for more technical information and remarks on the meanings of he acronyms.)

Prior to the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, the HMX had been sealed and tagged with the IAEA emblem while being stored at Al Qaqaa.

snip

According to Reuters <1>, diplomats at the IAEA in Vienna said the IAEA had warned the United States about the danger of the explosives before the war, and after the invasion it specifically told U.S. officials about the need to keep the them secured.


Soldiers Describe Looting of Explosives
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1104-01.htm

[madokie]

5. Now I know why it is not talked about, reading that last link

has me feeling wheezee, sick to my stomach. breaking out in a sweat. This whole invasion and occupation is so illegal and wrong.