Well the story specifcally states the looting up until this past Sunday was of metal from the bunker not the explosives.<br><br>Actually it sounds like no one knows when this stuff was taken.<br>More than likely it was taken or destroyed before we arrived.<br><br>No sig right now, waiting for the next Kerry flip-flop. .

Actually it sounds like no one knows when this stuff was taken.<br>More than likely it was taken or destroyed before we arrived.<br><br>typical response from someone still sucking the otter pop.<br><br>

The timeline is here.<br><br>[color:blue]March 2003: Nuclear agency inspectors visited Al-Qaqaa for the last time but did not examine the explosives because the seals were not broken. The inspectors then pulled out of the country.</font color=blue><br><br>

McClellan has held a press conference about this. I am almost feel bad for that douchebag. Almost. In some parts it sounds like he is actually trying to pin the blame on the new Iraq government for this?<br><br>Was it even a priority? I guess the coalition couldn't handle this because they were protecting the borders. No... they were pacifying faluja. No... they were protecting nuclear facilities. No.... they were preventing looting of ancient artifacts and relics. No... they were preventing destruction of oil fields. Yes!! That's it.<br><br>I think the scariest thought is... what if there really had been WMD in Iraq? How would they possibly have been able to protect them from falling into a terrorist's hands?<br><br><br>edit: One journalist poses an interesting question. Is this the material that is being used in all these car bombs that have killed hundreds of Americans and thousands of Iraqis? Can that question be answered?<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Trog on 10/25/04 05:31 PM (server time).</EM></FONT></P>

Ok, so from devil's advocate viewpoint......<br><br>We trust that Saddam didn't make fake seals, or maybe buy some from, say, a country that's alleged to have been breaking the arms for food embargoes.<br><br>We do know that, in military circles, while 380 tons of conventional explosives will make a HUGE bang, they're not classed as WMD's.<br><br>

Looking at that timeline it does seem possible that Saddam himself could ordered the weapons to be moved before the U.S. invaded, right?<br><br><br>

It all sounds like al caca to me, gentlemen, all around.<br><br>

Boy, am I glad I caught NBC news tonight. Maybe the NYT and Rather need to go to the same journalism refresher course.<br><br><blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>NBC News: Jim Miklaszewski: “April 10, 2003, only three weeks into the war, NBC News was embedded with troops from the Army's 101st Airborne as they temporarily take over the Al Qakaa weapons installation south of Baghdad. But these troops never found the nearly 380 tons of some of the most powerful conventional explosives, called HMX and RDX, which is now missing. The U.S. troops did find large stockpiles of more conventional weapons, but no HMX or RDX, so powerful less than a pound brought down Pan Am 103 in 1988, and can be used to trigger a nuclear weapon. In a letter this month, the Iraqi interim government told the International Atomic Energy Agency the high explosives were lost to theft and looting due to lack of security. Critics claim there were simply not enough U.S. troops to guard hundreds of weapons stockpiles, weapons now being used by insurgents and terrorists to wage a guerrilla war in Iraq.” (NBC’s “Nightly News,” 10/25/04)<p><hr></blockquote><p>No sig right now, waiting for the next Kerry flip-flop. .

Decipher it for me, please. I get lost in moving from "...trigger a nuclear weapon" to "In a letter this month..." Strike you as a nonsequitur or am I just being obtuse?<br><br>

So, its about the timing of it then. Did this happen before we invaded? During the invasion, or very shortly thereafter? <br><br>"Three weeks into the war". Were we securing oil wells yet?<br><br>The one thing that comes to my mind is that if the inspectors had still been in there, those weapons wouldn't have been moved without someone knowing, right? <br><br>God, what a mess!<br><br>