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October 27, 2004
| Commander Says Unlikely Large-Scale Removal of Explosives Occurred After U.S. Invasion

The infantry commander whose troops first captured Al-Qaqaa said Wednesday it is “very highly improbable” that someone could have trucked out so much material once U.S. forces arrived in the area. The Associated Press:

Two major roads that pass near the sprawling Al-Qaqaa installation were filled with U.S. military traffic in the weeks after April 3, 2003, when U.S. troops first reached the area, said Col. Dave Perkins, who commanded the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division, the division that led the charge into Baghdad.

While he and other military officials acknowledged that some looting at the site had taken place, he said a large-scale operation to remove the explosives using multi-ton trucks would have almost certainly have been detected.

[. . .]

Larry Di Rita, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, said what ultimately happened to the explosives is unknown, although it remains under investigation by the Pentagon. But Perkins’ description seemed to point toward the possibility that the explosives were removed before the U.S.-led invasion to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, and not during the chaos afterward.

From California Yankee.



Posted by Dan Spencer at October 27, 2004 07:22 PM | TrackBack
Comments

While there was plenty of time to hide the WMDs in Syria prior to the first strike (on or around 3/17/03), the amount of conventional explosives, artillery rounds, ammo and bombs in Iraq was/is ENORMOUS. Many of the guys I’ve talked to who’ve been there since the invasion remarked conventional ordinance was EVERYWHERE.

Having a cow now about 377 missing tons of HDX, RDX and PETN in one dump 18 months ago is a tempest in a teacup. There are 1000s of tons of explosive secured, 1000s of tons missing and 1000s of tons undiscovered in 100s of dumps. The embedded NBC reporter indicated there was no search for explosives. Exactly. IT was everywhere, and the military was looking for WDMs at the time.

But it doesn’t matter, the roads were sealed from that point further, and the only way to remove the cornstarch-like power would have been in freighter trucks. Seeing as there were NO insurgent convoys loading up after the invasion and moving to their secret hideouts to make IEDs, the logical conclusion is - Saddam moved it. He knew the inspectors had seen it and he didn’t want to provide a tasty target for offshore cruise missiles.

So, why don’t the democrats (who believe Iraq presented NO THREAT prior to this) ask the next question? What else did Saddam move?

Funny how their little conspiracy theories only revolve in tight little circles around the White House. Apparently ruthless dicators are incapable of Night Moves - so let’s blame military incompetence - and by no stretch - George himself.

By that logic FDR was responsible for Pearl Harbor. I’ll alert textbook manufacturers before next semester.

Posted by: torpedo_eight [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 27, 2004 08:13 PM

..check this wrinkle out..
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/a4bc50c6-2870-11d9-9308-00000e2511c8.html
..and Kerry thinks for one second we would trust him and these ((allies)) with our protection..not a chance in …..

Posted by: Rob_NC [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 27, 2004 09:34 PM

The trouble is that US troops entered the storage unit just after taking the country, broke through the IAEA seals, and found the explosives were still there. Then the US troops abandoned the site to looters. This case doesn’t call for alternates scenarios. This is an example of very poor planning and executing the occupation.

From the news story below:

“But the airing of film taken by a US television crew on April 18, 2003 at Al Qaqaa has stepped up pressure on the US administration.

“The film shows US soldiers cutting what appeared to be IAEA seals on bunkers and finding crates and boxes filled with suspected high explosives.”

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041030/ts_alt_afp/us_iraq_explosives_hrw_041030195555

Posted by: MiguelM [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 30, 2004 10:05 PM

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