AP- What Happened to Missing Iraq Explosives

[maddezmom]

By CHRISTOPHER CHESTER, Associated Press Writer

The disappearance of nearly 400 tons of powerful explosives from a former Iraqi military installation has become a heated issue in the presidential campaign and has led to criticism and confusion over when and how the materials vanished, what more U.S. troops could have done to protect them from theft and who, if anyone, is to blame.



Here are some questions and answers about what we do know at this point, and what remains unknown or in dispute:


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Q. Why was the U.N. nuclear agency involved in monitoring explosives at the Al-Qaqaa site?


A. Although the missing materials are conventional explosives known as HMX and RDX, HMX is a "dual use" substance powerful enough to ignite the fissile material in an atomic bomb and set off a nuclear chain reaction. They are referred to as "high explosive material," or "high explosives."


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much more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=736&e=5&u=/ap/20041027/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_weapons_q_a

[kikiek]

1. Very damning. No plan to secure the largest known site. Unreal.

It was so well known. I can't believe they overlooked it.

[Fridays Child]

2. Gave it a 5. Overall, it's a big negative for Boooosh.

[maddezmom]

3. Q. If the U.S. found the seals broken, did they inform the nuclear agency?

Q. If the U.S. found the seals broken, did they inform the nuclear agency?

A. That's not clear. The nuclear agency says it first learned of the disappearance of the explosives from the Iraqi government on Oct. 10, 2004. The Pentagon (news - web sites) would not say whether it had informed the nuclear agency that the high explosives were not where they were supposed to be.

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Q. Why didn't U.S. troops make an effort earlier than May 27, 2003 to secure the explosives?

A. It appears that there were no orders for them to search for high explosives — only for biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. Saddam's alleged hidden stockpiles of these weapons of mass destruction were the Bush administration's justification for the war. The nuclear agency had warned about HMX in a report to the United Nations (news - web sites) in February 2003 but did not specifically mention Al-Qaqaa.

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Q. Was the U.N. nuclear agency in Iraq in the immediate aftermath of the invasion?

A. No. The inspectors pulled out before the invasion, and the U.S.-led coalition has not allowed their return for a resumption of general inspections. The coalition did invite inspectors to return briefly on two occasions for specific tasks, neither at Al-Qaqaa.

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[sandnsea]

4. "search for explosives"

What crap. This stuff was under seal since 1991. There was no "search" about it. They knew it was there, they made no plans to secure it, now it's gone. They secured the oil and ignored known munitions dumps. This article is just more bullshit.

[w4rma]

6. Well, *now* there is a search. After many American soldiers were blown up

with this stuff.

[acmavm]

5. 5:58 p.m. CST

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[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

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