The New York Times quotes several Iraqis as
eyewitnesses to looting of Al Qaqaa AFTER the US military swept through.
"The Iraqis described an orgy of theft so extensive that enterprising residents rented their trucks to looters," reports the NYT.
"The accounts 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.
""The looting started
after the collapse of the regime," said Wathiq al-Dulaimi, a regional security chief, who was based nearby in Latifiya."
And even if much of the explosives were removed before the invasion -- and there is NO evidence it was while a lot of circumstantial evidence and direct evidence that it was removed after -- none of that would exonerate the Bushies. They were told repeatedly that this was a highly important site by the IAEA that urged them to secure it and they didn't even KNOW the explosives were missing until more than a year after the invasion. How is that anything but incompetence?
A good soldier trying to provide cover fire for Bush:
"Col. David Perkins, who commanded the Second Brigade of the Third Infantry Division, called it "very highly improbable" that 380 tons of explosives could have been trucked out of Al Qaqaa in the weeks after American troops arrived.
"Moving that much material, said Colonel Perkins, who spoke Wednesday to news agencies and cable television, "would have required dozens of heavy trucks and equipment moving along the same roadways as U.S. combat divisions occupied continually for weeks.""
Yeah, well Col. Perkins seems to have forgotten that other scandal -- the mising equipment useful for building bombs that was ALSO extremely heavy and would have taken weeks to dismantle and carry away on large trucks. Actually, it's pretty ridiculous that the media hasn't linked these two stories. Kerry should say, "This isn't the first time Bush has allowed dangerous material to fall into the hands of the bad guys...."
More from Col. Perkins:
"He conceded that some looting of the site had taken place. But a chemical engineer who worked at Al Qaqaa and identified himself only as Khalid said that once troops left the base itself, people streamed in to steal computers and anything else of value from the offices. They also took munitions like artillery shells, he said.
"Mr. Mezher, the mechanic, said
it took the looters about two weeks to disassemble heavy machinery at the site and carry that off after the smaller items were gone."
Read More......
We'll be launching these Web ads shortly for the ENJOYtheDRAFT.com. We've raised $5000 for the ads - thank you, to those of you who donated - but I would mind upping that a little. If you can, please donate to this campaign.
