quote:A U.S. military unit that reached a munitions storage installation after the invasion of Iraq had no orders to search or secure the site, where officials say nearly 400 tons of explosives have vanished.
When troops from the 101st Airborne Division's (search) 2nd Brigade arrived at the Al-Qaqaa (search) installation south of Baghdad a day or so after other coalition troops seized the capital on April 9, 2003, there were already looters throughout the facility, Lt. Col. Fred Wellman, deputy public affairs officer for the unit, told The Associated Press.
The soldiers "secured the area they were in and looked in a limited amount of bunkers to ensure chemical weapons were not present in their area," Wellman wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "Bombs were found but not chemical weapons in that immediate area.
"Orders were not given from higher to search or to secure the facility or to search for HE type munitions, as they (high-explosive weapons) were everywhere in Iraq," he wrote.
The 101st Airborne was at least the second military unit to arrive at Al-Qaqaa after the U.S.-led invasion began. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told The Washington Post that the 3rd Infantry Division reached the site around April 3, fought with Iraq forces and occupied the site. It left after two days for Baghdad, the Post reported Wednesday. AP News posted on Fox
I'm sure both parties can take away some positive aspects from this article.
Posts: 1592 | Registered: May 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
It does change the basis for Kerry's argument the day the "news" carried the story. That's why it's "wise" to hold off regurgitating what the news claims (EDIT: As fact) until you know more.
Kinda like the Oklahoma City bombings.
Another thing to point out that is important, is that 400,000+ tons of explosives/arms have been secured in Iraq.
That doesn't matter to the media, but it is important to note.
It's also important to note that if any buildings had IAEA seals on them, we couldn't search them due to international law. Only the IAEA can tamper with or remove a seal.
And they left it unattended unfortunately.
And it's important to note that when the site was searched, no seals were found.