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October 25, 2004

380 Tons of Explosive Disappear in Iraq

By Andrew Dobbs

That's right, 380 tons of powerful explosives were sitting in a pile in Iraq. We knew they were there and yet we did nothing to secure them and now they are gone. From CNN.com:

Some 380 tons of explosives powerful enough to detonate nuclear warheads are missing from a former Iraqi military facility that was supposed to be under American control, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog says.

Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told CNN the interim Iraqi government reported several days ago that the explosives were missing from the Al Qaqaa complex, south of Baghdad.

The explosives -- considered powerful enough to demolish buildings or detonate nuclear warheads -- were under IAEA control until the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. IAEA workers left the country before the fighting began.

"Our immediate concern is that if the explosives did fall into the wrong hands they could be used to commit terrorist acts and some of the bombings that we've seen," Fleming said.

She described Al Qaqaa as "massive" and said it is one of the most well-known storage sites. Besides the 380 tons, there were large caches of artillery there.

Fleming said the IAEA does not know whether some of the explosives may have been used in past attacks.

The multinational force in Iraq and the Bush administration's Iraq Survey Group have been ordered to "look into" the disappearance of the explosives, a senior Pentagon official said.

Just FYI, the same type of explosives that went missing were used in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over Scotland in 1989. The bomb that tore that plane to shreds used 1 pound of these explosives. The Bush Administration's understaffing and mismanagement of this war (which I support in spite of Bush's mishandling) has handed 760,000 pounds of the same stuff to terrorists.

I shudder to think of what will happen after 4 additional years of this kind of incompetence.

Posted by Andrew Dobbs at October 25, 2004 02:39 PM | TrackBack

Comments

Just watch the spin on this . . . the materials that disappeared were "high grade" explosives used in the program that was seeking to make "nuclear weapons." This will be somehow be spun by the Right into evidence of weapons of mass destruction . . .

Posted by: Keith at October 25, 2004 03:26 PM

I almost posted on this one myself... Andrew beat me too it. This is absolutley terrifying. I wouldn't be surprised to see that material showing up in Israel or the US in a few months.

Posted by: Zach N at October 25, 2004 04:20 PM

Never mind the GOP spin, just keep hammering away at this example of dangerous ineptitude by the administration.

The Democrats are way too shy when it comes to using good propaganda techniques.

Posted by: Tim Z. at October 25, 2004 04:24 PM

I've seen this stuff hammered away on by Kerry today, but hardly anyone in the mainstream media. Wolf Blitzer's contribution to the discussion was "Could this be used to attack soldiers in Iraq?" as a segue to commercial twice. This has been getting pathetic coverage all day. A distant third to Renquist and Ashlee Simpson.

Posted by: Nate at October 25, 2004 05:32 PM

Were it not for the sarcasm, one could think that peter wrote this piece.
http://gadflyer.com/articles/?ArticleID=249

And why not? He's running out of polls showing the Flightsuit-in-Chief ahead in the largest battleground states.
http://www.americanresearchgroup.com/ohg/
http://www.americanresearchgroup.com/fl/

"Boo-hoo, it looks like our president is losing. Guess we'll have to get Uncle Jeb to work his magic again."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3956129.stm


Posted by: Tim Z. at October 26, 2004 05:10 PM
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