Engineer
Rookie
Posts: 77
|
 |
« on: October 29, 2004, 08:43:41 AM » |
|
Sorry all, long doctoral dissertation here.
We have the original ABC News report:
Oct. 28, 2004 — The strongest evidence to date indicates that conventional explosives missing from Iraq's Al-Qaqaa installation disappeared after the United States had taken control of Iraq.
Barrels inside the Al-Qaqaa facility appear on videotape shot by ABC television affiliate KSTP of St. Paul, Minn., which had a crew embedded with the 101st Airborne Division when it passed through Al-Qaqaa on April 18, 2003 — nine days after Baghdad fell.
Experts who have studied the images say the barrels on the tape contain the high explosive HMX, and the universal markings on the barrels are clear that these are highly dangerous explosives.
"I talked to a former inspector who's a colleague of mine, and he confirmed that, indeed, these pictures look just like what he remembers seeing inside those bunkers," said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington.
The barrels were found inside sealed bunkers, which American soldiers are seen on the videotape cutting through. Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency sealed the bunkers where the explosives were kept just before the war began.
"The seal's critical," Albright said. "The fact that there's a photo of what looks like an IAEA seal means that what's behind those doors is HMX. They only sealed bunkers that had HMX in them."
After the bunkers were opened, the 101st was not ordered to secure the facility. A senior officer told ABC News the division would not have had nearly enough soldiers to do so.
It remains unclear how much HMX was at the facility, but what does seem clear is that the U.S. military opened the bunkers at Al-Qaqaa and left them unguarded. Since then, the material has disappeared
Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita said it's not clear what the photos indicate.
"We know there were other units in the area who acknowledged finding explosives," he said. "Some Explosive Ordnance Destruction units have a recollection that some high explosives in the area were taken out of there."
DiRita said the Pentagon is trying to contact the units of the 101st Airborne Division that may have been involved in the opening of these bunkers to get a better sense of what happened.
And their follow up report:
Oct. 28, 2004 -- A Minnesota television station news crew reporting from Iraq in the spring of 2003 came very close to the spot where tons of high explosives are alleged to have disappeared.
Based on GPS data and confirmation from officials of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, KSTP-TV 5 Eyewitness News determined its crew was on or near the southern edge of the Al-Qaqaa installation on April 18, 2003, nine days after the fall of Baghdad.
KSTP in St. Paul is an ABC News affiliate station. Its journalists were embedded with the 101st at the time and shot exclusive footage that may raise new questions about the controversy surrounding the fate of those munitions.
Some 377 tons of high explosives — HMX and RDX and PETN — are said to be missing from the Al-Qaqaa weapons depot and questions have arisen about what the United States knew about the site and what it did to secure it.
During the April 2003 visit, the KSTP reporters say they witnessed U.S. soldiers using bolt cutters to get into bunkers. Inside, they found many containers marked "explosives." At least one set of crates carried the name "Al-Qaqaa State Establishment."
Military personnel told KSTP that the outside perimeter of the area visited had been secured. But the journalists say the area felt more like no-man's-land.
"At one point, there was a group of Iraqis driving around in a pickup truck," said former KSTP reporter Dean Staley. "We were worried they might come near us."
Photojournalist Joe Caffrey recalls seeing Iraqis watching them as they went through the bunkers. As his crew and the troops from the 101st departed each bunker, they left them open.
"We weren't quite sure what we were looking at," said Caffrey. "But we saw so much of it and it didn't appear that this was being secured in any way. It was several miles away from where military people were staying in their tents."
Caffrey also recalled overhearing a military briefing after curious soldiers had encountered another bunker.
And the Minnesota news report:
A 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS crew in Iraq may have been just a door away from materials that could be used to detonate nuclear weapons.
The evidence is in videotape shot by Reporter Dean Staley and Photographer Joe Caffrey at or near the Al Qaqaa munitions facility.
The video shows a cable locking a door shut. That cable is connected by a copper colored seal.
A spokesperson for the International Atomic Energy Agency told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that seal appears to be one used by their inspectors.
"In Iraq they were used when there was a concern that this could have a, what we call, dual use purpose, that there could be a nuclear weapons application."
Now some comments.
And of course the most important part, the video, which is a must watch before anybody starts to make comments.
Please note the following with appropriate observations.
1. The video shows a soldier using bolt cutters to cut a lock on a bunker. Nowhere can I see the IAEA seal on this bunker. The IAEA seal mentioned in the first ABC News article: "The seal's critical," Albright said. "The fact that there's a photo of what looks like an IAEA seal means that what's behind those doors is HMX. They only sealed bunkers that had HMX in them." There is no evidence when or where this photo was taken.
2. The barrels contained high explosives. The first article and the video confirm this: Experts who have studied the images say the barrels on the tape contain the high explosive HMX, and the universal markings on the barrels are clear that these are highly dangerous explosives. No doubt the barrels contained explosives.
3. An “inspector?” who was there confirmed that he saw these barrels: "I talked to a former inspector who's a colleague of mine, and he confirmed that, indeed, these pictures look just like what he remembers seeing inside those bunkers," said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington. If this is true, which we have no reason to believe; a.) why didn’t he alert the army to what was there, b.) maybe he did not know at the time what it was, if that is the case he is incompetent,, c.) why if he knew what is was, has it been a year and a half and he is only now telling. Let’s also give the name of this colleague.
4. Crates are clearly marked (from the second ABC News report: At least one set of crates carried the name "Al-Qaqaa State Establishment." Why they are written in English is a mystery to me.
5. Analysis: Watch the video closely. The solder cuts the lock and enters the bunker. We see a myriad of items. We see a pan shot of the barrels marked with the explosives symbol on them. The article shows a close-up of the explosives symbol on the barrel. The explosive where definitely there! But watch the video again. The panning shot of the barrels shows about 40 to 50 barrels. 40% of the barrels are open and empty! The explosives were there at some time, but when the video was made, they were already gone, and the bunker was still sealed! Somebody removed the explosives (through the ventilation shaft which wasn’t sealed, or maybe through the doors which were resealed) before our troops got there. This seems a lot more plausible than having 380 tons moved afterwards when the roads were all watched.
|
