Bush is trying to assuage the Al QaQaa "October surprise" by ranting that the weapons may have disappeared before the U.S. could even get there. The well-publicized reporting about the 101st Airborne Division arriving at the cite on April 9, 2003 says little either way, because they didn't search the site.
But on April 5, 2003, the AP reported that the 3d Infantry Division had found THOUSANDS of 5x12cm boxes at Al QaQaa, each containing three vials of white powder, and that a senior U.S. official familiar with initial testing said the powder was believed to be EXPLOSIVES. Link to the full story: http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030405-chem-readiness01.htm
This inconsistency is starting to pick up steam, but not enough if you ask me. Putting recent press coverage together, a story of the administration's gross incompetence in failing to secure the site becomes clear.
The NY Times yesterday made reference to the AP report of the 3d Infantry's finding, but it was buried in the middle of a non-front page article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/27/politics/27bomb.html
FOX, I mean FAUX, News yesterday also made reference to the 3d Infantry's presence at Al QaQaa on April 3, 2003, but conveniently didn't even MENTION that they found what was thought to be explosives. In fact, the title of their article is "Search Showed No Explosives at Iraqi Base Before War's End." Link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,136745,00.html
Truly, what a bunch of unprofessional jackasses.
Today's NY Times starts to put the story together by corroborating it in "4 Iraqis Tell of Looting at Munitions Site in '03:"
"The accounts [of the Iraqis] make clear that what set off much if not all of the looting was the arrival and swift departure of American troops, who did not secure the site after inducing the Iraqi forces to abandon it . . . a photographer who was with the [3d Infantry] division's Second Brigade, recalled that the area was jammed with American armor on April 3 and 4, which he believed made the removal of the explosives unlikely." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/28/international/middleeast/28bomb.html?hp&ex=1099022400&en=b
50b42da5ffd60de&ei=5094&partner=homepage
So here is what we are left with: (i) before the war started, the IAEA had control of the explosives and had them accounted for and sealed; (ii) as the IAEA left Iraq, they warned the U.S. about these explosives; (iii) despite these warnings, and despite the 3d Infantry finding probable explosives, the 3d Infantry apparently did not have orders to secure the site; (iv) communications must have been so poor that the second set of U.S. soldiers to arrive- the 101st Airborne division on Apr. 9 - had no idea about the IAEA's warnings, about the 3d Infantry's finding of probable explosives, and did not have orders to either secure or search the site (today's NY Times article makes this clear as well); (v) now the explosives are unaccounted for and may be in the hands of terrorists in Iraq, terrorists that were NOT a threat to Iraq before we Westerners invaded, I mean "liberated," I'm so very sorry.
Nor are the other hundreds of tons of weapons that supposedly have been secured an excuse. The fact remains that the U.S. KNEW that Al QaQaa had enough explosives to destroy every airliner on the planet, and failed to secure it.
How does the administration pass the buck on this one? Guilani's attempt to pin the blame on the soldiers is disgusting. Soldiers follow orders. As someone said in yesterday's blog, the buck stops at the "commander-in-chief," who is, tragically, but only for 2.5 more months, Dumbo.