101st Says no weapons at Al Qaqaa

[DKW 86 6,943]

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Update: Soldier in 101 Confirms Explosives Missing in al Qaqaa by 4/10/200308:05:52 PMWritten By : Rip RowanCategory : Current Affairs

Tonight on Hannity & Colmes, Ken Dixon, a soldier in the 101 who was onsite in al Qaqaa on the date in question, is reporting that "there is no way those explosives were onsite when the we rolled in on April 10." Dixon, who with with the 101 when it stopped and investigated al Qaqaa, states that the only weapons in the facility were conventional: RPGs, ammunition, etc.. Dixon also stated that all of the buildings were open, not sealed, indicating that there had been activity prior to the US arriving.

This seems to match statements coming out from the military commanders.

Inresearching this story I found that about 80-90% of the News outlets only use one article and claim it as their own. This could be the scandal of the Century if proven wrong and I believe it to be so. NBC has video from the Imbed, there were no real amounts of weapons there when the soldiers got there. 377 tons is close to 18-20 18 wheelers of explosives.

[DKW 86 6,943]

From the AP

- March 2003: The U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq.

- After the invasion: The Pentagon said Monday that "coalition forces were present in the vicinity at various times during and after major combat operations. The forces searched 32 bunkers and 87 other buildings at the facility, but found no indicators of WMD (weapons of mass destruction). While some explosive material was discovered, none of it carried IAEA seals.

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Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said coalition forces were present in the vicinity of the site both during and after major combat operations, which ended May 1, 2003 - and searched the facility but found none of the explosives material in question. That raised the possibility that the explosives had disappeared before U.S. soldiers could secure the site in the immediate invasion aftermath.

Seems Kerry wants it both ways. The explosives were part of a Nuclear weapons program start. But "there were no WMDs"? I think the Republicans may have set this up. The amount of damage this is going to do in the election is tremendous. But the story broke too son for the Dems. By Tuesday Morn everyone will be laughing at this one as they go and vote for Bush.

Saddam Hussein's regime used Al-Qaqaa as a key part of its effort to build a nuclear bomb. Although the missing materials are conventional explosives known as HMX and RDX, the Vienna-based IAEA became involved because HMX is a "dual use" substance powerful enough to ignite the fissile material in an atomic bomb and set off a nuclear chain reaction.

[TexasTiger 11,056]

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Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said coalition forces were present in the vicinity of the site both during and after major combat operations, which ended May 1, 2003 - and searched the facility but found none of the explosives material in question. That raised the possibility that the explosives had disappeared before U.S. soldiers could secure the site in the immediate invasion aftermath.

Seems Kerry wants it both ways. The explosives were part of a Nuclear weapons program start. But "there were no WMDs"? I think the Republicans may have set this up. The amount of damage this is going to do in the election is tremendous. But the story broke too son for the Dems. By Tuesday Morn everyone will be laughing at this one as they go and vote for Bush.

Saddam Hussein's regime used Al-Qaqaa as a key part of its effort to build a nuclear bomb. Although the missing materials are conventional explosives known as HMX and RDX, the Vienna-based IAEA became involved because HMX is a "dual use" substance powerful enough to ignite the fissile material in an atomic bomb and set off a nuclear chain reaction.

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May depend on who you talk to in the 101st and when you talked to them:

A 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS crew in Iraq shortly after the fall of Saddam Hussein was in the area where tons of explosives disappeared.

The missing explosives are now an issue in the presidential debate. Democratic candidate John Kerry is accusing President Bush of not securing the site they allegedly disappeared from. President Bush says no one knows if the ammunition was taken before or after the fall of Baghdad on April 9, 2003 when coalition troops moved in to the area.

Using GPS technology and talking with members of the 101st Airborne 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS determined our crew embedded with them may have been on the southern edge of the Al Qaqaa installation, where that ammunition disappeared. Our crew was based just south of Al Qaqaa. On April 18, 2003 they drove two or three miles north into what is believed to be that area.

During that trip, members of the 101st Airborne Division showed the 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS crew bunker after bunker of material labelled explosives. Usually it took just the snap of a bolt cutter to get in and see the material identified by the 101st as detonation cords.

"We can stick it in those and make some good bombs." a soldier told our crew.

There were what appeared to be fuses for bombs. They also found bags of material men from the 101st couldn't identify, but box after box was clearly marked "explosive."

In one bunker, there were boxes marked with the name "Al Qaqaa", the munitions plant where tons of explosives allegedly went missing.

Once the doors to the bunkers were opened, they weren't secured. They were left open when the 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS crew and the military went back to their base.

"We weren't quite sure what were looking at, but we saw so much of it and it didn't appear that this was being secured in any way," said photojournalist Joe Caffrey. "It was several miles away from where military people were staying in their tents".

http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/S3723.html?cat=1

[TexasTiger 11,056]

Haven't you said that Kerry was committing political suicide a few times before?

WAR EAGLE, BROTHER!

[TrueBlue72 0]

The FACTS are irrelevant to the left. If the facts don't fit their agenda, they will fake some memos, buy off some indigent vetrans, make up some blatent lies and their media lackeys will run with it. ANYTHING to defeat Bush, thwart the will of the American voters and give them the power to which they believe they are entitled.

Don't ever believe the left will be deterred in their quest for power by facts.