Imagery of storage bunkers at Al Qa Qaa (DoD image does not match)

[Skinner]

This is pretty complicated, so I'm going to try to explain. Earlier today, DoD declassified a satellite photo, "showing two trucks outside one of the dozens of storage bunkers at the Al-Qaqaa munitions base." See Rumsfeld Suggests Explosives Were Moved (spin baby spin), posted on DU earlier today.

But here is an analysis of the photo from GlobalSecurity.org:

The International Atomic Energy Association inspectors identified bunkers in this complex as containing High Melting Explosive. According to the IAEA Action Report on the facility, the HMX was being stored in only nine bunkers at the site. All of the HMX bunkers were sealed by the IAEA after verification, using metal seals on the front entrance doors.

DoD released on Oct. 28, 2004, imagery showing two trucks parked outside one of the 56 bunkers of the Al Qa Qaa Explosive Storage Complex approximately 20 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, on March 17, 2003. According to the release: "It is not believed that all 56 bunkers contained High Melting Explosive also known as HMX. A large, tractor-trailer (yellow arrow) is loaded with white containers with a smaller truck parked behind it.

However, a comparison of features in the DoD-released imagery with available commercial satellite imagery, combined with the use of an IAEA map showing the location of bunkers used to store the HMX explosives, reveals that the trucks pictured on the DoD image are not at any of the nine bunkers indentified by the IAEA as containing the missing explosive stockpiles.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iraq/al_qa_qaa-imagery4.htm

CAPTION: DoD-released imagery taken on March 17, 2003, showing two trucks parked outside one of the 56 bunkers of the Al Qa Qaa Explosive Storage Complex.

A much larger version is here: ?click



CAPTION: Imagery showing location of the HMX-stockpiled bunkers and those in the DoD imagery. The locations do not match.

(Note: The red circles say "Bunkers containing HMX." The Green rectangle says "DoD Image. Note that they are in different places.)

A much larger version is here: ?click

Much more at the GlobalSecurity.org website:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iraq/al_qa_qaa-imagery4.htm

[yardwork]

1. I'm sure it was an innocent oversight....they just put the wrong photo up.

I'm sure that it will be fixed quickly and they'll get the real photo right away. Just a little oversight, nothing the matter, move on....

[KC21304]

10. You bet. We know they can arrange that in a hurry.

Just like they moved those soldiers in the picture.

[yardwork]

14. Anyway, Senator Hatch says the explosives went out the ventilators

I'm not sure what that means, but since the esteemed Mr. Hatch says so, it must mean that everything is A-ok-okydoky.

/sarcasm off

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. He was watching Die Hard last night on DVD? (n/t)

[AndrewJacksonFaction]

30. Can I steal your avatar?

[muriel_volestrangler]

31. Be my guest (n/t)

[KitSileya]

38. May I also borrow your avatar?

I certainly do have voter envy!

[muriel_volestrangler]

41. Sure - anyone, feel free (n/t)

[Scooter24]

24. The 'official' GOP response...

is that it was the work of an overzealous editor who didn't have proper instructions.

They are nothing but dipshits.

[NMDemDist2]

2. thanks Skinner n/t

[Rose Siding]

3. Powell will straighten it all out for us with props and charts

:crazy:

[0007]

16. Tis some damn good detective work to put this kind of proof out!

Thank you!

[Supersedeas]

50. but who will stand behind Collie now that Tenet is gone--ah Mr. Goss

[xultar]

4. But, wasn't the story that there would have been so many trucks it

would have clogged the highway for months or some bullshit like that?

these two trucks aren't shit.

[maddezmom]

5. foiled again....BWWWAAAAAHHAAA

[Pirate Smile]

6. Can you say Cover-up?

[AlamoDemoc]

7. lets get this story out to the mainstream media

Thanks Skinner

[Career Prole]

8. Wha...whe...we...why, the Russians apparently played

3 card monte with the bunkers before we got there!

[VegasWolf]

9. Curious, why did the trucks sit much lower to the ground on the

second photo?

New Information Shows Bush Indecisive, Paranoid, Delusional

[funnymanpants]

11. Yes, and now there is conclusive proof

Showing the explosives were there after the invasion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x940666

[Maeve]

12. uh.. trucks prove that they had the CAPABILITY to make PLANS to CONSIDER

Moving things...maybe in the future...uh, uh....

Saddam was a BAD man! Terror! Terror!

But we're safer now. Carry on!

:eyes:

Tuesday the Bushies are going to find out you really CAN'T fool all of the people all of the time..

[debatepro]

13. this site rocks

time to open the check book.

[Kadie]

15. Uh Oh. Someone at the DoD released the wrong image.

Any other ideas of how they will spin this?

Good Work Everyone!!!!!

[Maestro]

18. Let me get this straight...

The DoD releases a picture of a couple trucks in front of an ammo bunker and claims this is proof that Iraqis were taking arms from the place before the invasion.

Let's see, if I were Saddam, and I realized that the war was imminent, of course there would be trucks by ammo dumps picking up weaponry for the troops. What does this prove? It proves nothing besides the fact that the imagery does not match with known locations of the bunkers.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

19. This must be an unknown known, or a known unknown, or

maybe even a known unknown which is known to be known by us?

[jdj]

36. this was done by an unknown gnome from Nome n/t

[Cookie wookie]

20. Maybe someone should tell Lou Dobbs

He featured the DoD photo on his show tonight.

[Skip Intro]

21. some low-level clerk error, I'm sure. And no matter what, the buck doesn't

stop with bush. Or cheney, rice, powell or rumsfeld either.

Now that I think about it, it was all a big set-up by Kerry and the godless liberals.

[MGKrebs]

22. Tomorrow's headline...

BUSH'S BUNKER BUMMER.


Hehe.

[flying_blind]

23. Thanks - this newby says "My what BADASSES DUers are!" eom

[bahrbearian]

25. I hate the term "Newby" so stop that..!!!

We all live here together at the same time. please explain "eom" I lost my dictionary.

[flying_blind]

27. end of message...

the more mysterious and far more zeitgiest filled terms are LIHOP and MIHOP

http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html

[fob]

26. Can somebody tell me where the next DOD picture is of those trucks

blown to smithereens? Afterall they (meaning bush*co) were obviously watching this place with interest and the second they sa trucks backing up to the front door ssurely they programmed in the coords and when they pulled away, bzzztt, they eliminated the threat, right?

I realize there's footage out that totally debunks the Bart Simpson "They were gone when we got there" Defense, but even without that why would they release PROOF of their incompetence?

[Paradise]

34. been waiting for someone to point this out! thanks, FOB! n/t

[FormerOstrich]

28. What? More images from the Powell...

image make-believe library? I bet these are eerily similar to the ones shown to the UN. The ones that had the audio translation of the Iraqis saying they were "playing cat and mouse" with the inspectors. Remember? They detailed the UN arriving as the trucks were exiting the opposite direction.

My question is...who, for one minute, no let's make it two seconds, believes that the Iraqis would have been able to move ANYTHING remotely like a weapon without having had some "No Fly Zone" enforcement on their head? We were flying U2s over the country (pretending they were necessary for the inspectors).

If it moved we knew it.

as somewhat of an aside...what difference does it make when they fell into the wrong hands? If it was really prior to the invasion this should have been reported immediately, not months/years later. Had they reported it at that time, it might have bolstered their case some.

Instead, * told them to "Bring it On"....

[UL_Approved]

29. Details of the image

If you look at the Global Security photo alongside the DoD image, you can see several subtle vehicle track and feature correlations between the images. The bunkers to the north that actually had the stuff in appear as a different bunch, even in the crude IAEA map. Good area photography of where the KSTP reporters actually were would seal the deal and bring the whole ordeal to light. I sure do love the information age and all the wonderful tools it leaves at our disposal for debunking this stuff.

[maddezmom]

32. spokesperson for *, still pushing rummy's pic on CNN this am

[maddezmom]

39. and they are sticking to it...AFP link

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1520&ncid=1520&e=2&u=/afp/20041029/pl_afp/iraq_us_explosives_photo_041029075926

[Paradise]

33. Thank you, Skinner! n/t

[Snellius]

35. Just more evidence that the Pentagon is trying to cover up

This photograph only shows that the Pentagon is actively scrambling to try to come up with anything to explain away a major screwup. Two half-ton trucks to remove at least 377 tons of material? Right!

[OutsourceBush]

37. Those neo-CON bastards can't stop lying...

Rule of thumb: If their mouths are moving, they are lying.

[Octafish]

40. Good catch, Skinner! They lie.

They cheat. They steal. They kill.

How do you think They got to be that way?



Remember, in 1991 the BFEE swore the Iraqis were massing along the Saudi border, readying to invade OUR oil fields. They even had the satellite photos to back them up. Of course, some newspaper in Florida discovered their own satpics that showed only sand, sand, and more sand.

http://www.againstbombing.org/bush.htm

[nolabels]

59. This part of the story did get out there too, didn't it?

US troops refused requests to protect explosives store
By Kim Sengupta in Baghdad

29 October 2004

Al-Qaqa'a, the Iraqi military complex from which 350 tons of explosives disappeared, was looted after US troops left the area refusing requests to protect the site, Iraqi witnesses say.

They say unguarded buildings were stripped of their contents after the arrival and departure of American troops in the last few days of the war.

Yesterday an armed Islamic group claimed to have obtained a large quantity of the explosives and threatened to use them against coalition troops. The group, calling itself al-Islam's Army Brigades, al-Karar Brigade, said on a video that it had co-ordinated with officers and soldiers of "the American intelligence" to obtain a "huge amount of the explosives that were in the al-Qaqa'a facility".

The looted explosives have become a contentious issue in the US election campaign, adding weight to the accusations of John Kerry, that George Bush mishandled the war.
(snip)
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=577148

Ret. General Clark down dressed Ruti for blaming soldiers for following orders or something like that, correct..........

They Bush people are beyond despicable and they are getting soldiers and innocent people killed because of all of their lies on a continuing basis. I laugh at how stupid they are, but feel bad because of all the lives and money (peoples labor) that has been wasted

Bush is an unmitigated disaster that should have never been. Thanks corporate media for not doing your damn job, your worthless :mad:

[molly]

42. Brilliant!

[grumpy old fart]

43. If the unthinkable happens...impeachment is too good

for these bastards. Aside from all the lying leading up to the war, the total incompetence in planning, now creating further lies (with pictures and everything)to mislead the gullible half of the nation, I mean this is active treason!!! I was a fairly mild mannered old fart before these bastards bullied their way into office, but by God I've been radicalized by all this crap they keep pulling and I"m not letting them take our country down into the cesspool from whence they sprang. GRRRRRRRRR

[mike_c]

44. next they'll trot out Colin Powell with a vial of white powder....

Just for theater.

[grumpy old fart]

45. If Powell shows up with fake pics AGAIN

It's hard to imagine that he'd let himself get so thouroughly used again. It seems clear that he has just about no pride left though, so who knows. That man coulda been the first Black President, but now he'll just go down of one of history's great whores. Very sad.

[mike_c]

48. not that great....

Remember, we're talking about the architect of My Lai. I think there's a special pocket of hell reserved for Mr. Powell.

[truthpusher]

46. they are also burying the KTSP story!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1210725

[FlaGranny]

47. They don't even care if everything they

say is debunked as a lie. The most important thing is to get it out there - their base will believe, as they are faithful. When their lies are exposed and printed on page 10, the believers won't even notice.

[kurtyboy]

49. Something else....

Look at the upper left of the DOD photo. That looks pretty convincingly to be a bomb crater.

Would that shed any light onto the time this photo was snapped?

Or maybe a meteorite just happened to fall near a munitions bunker....

[nolabels]

56. I saw that

:D


Discussion: Meteorite

A meteorite is a relatively small extra-terrestrial body that reaches the Earth's surface. While in space these bodies are called meteoroids. These are "small" asteroids, approximately boulder-sized or less, which are generally fragments resulting from the collision of two or more asteroids. Upon entering the atmosphere, air drag and friction cause the body to heat up and emit light, thus forming a fireball or shooting star.
(snip)
http://omniknow.com/scripts/wiki.php?term=Meteorite

[The Zug]

51. How dare you . . .

. . . question the infallibility of our fearless leaders?!?

Who are you gonna trust: them, or your lyin' eyes?

[trogdor]

52. They didn't even have the right bunkers.

A wider-angle and more useful shot of the complex.

[proReality]

53. Why did the Pentagon reverse the IAEA map?

If you look at the site, the IAEA map is on the left and the one the Pentagon used to show the trucks is on the right.

The IAEA map shows compass directions and all notations correctly, while the Pentagon's version is upside down. Why the heck would they do that?

Can someone with better eyesight than mine figure out what the added arrow--pointing toward the green outline--says?

Edited to add: Notice the direction of the sticky label North arrows added to the "declassified" DoD photos (upper right corner of the 3rd and 4th photo down on left). Very odd.

[kittenpants]

54. I believe next to the green arrow it says

bunker containing HMX

[proReality]

55. No, that's not what I'm referring to...

There is one word in the arrow I'm talking about...the arrow is at the bottom, just to the right of the upside down legend.

[leftofthedial]

57. but colon bowel gave them these pictures himself!

who do you believe?

Rummie's Pentagon or some fly-by-night satellite joint?

[Snivi Yllom]

58. interesting

Nothing proved by the photos. They dont prove anything was or was not moved. It looks like something was taken out of the other bunkers which are for explosives, although not the IAEA selaed bunkers.

[StlMo]

60. These pictures are important:

These pictures are important (because they identify the bunker shown in the DoD image):

This picture from the DoD and this close-up from Space Imaging Eurasia 2 Oct 01 of the cluster of bunkers in question (where the DoD shows the trucks) show that it is the southwestern most cluster (The crater, the arrangement of the roads and the orientation of the cluster's two central buildings identify the cluster):

?c"> ?c">

Picture of the whole complex (East is up in this image):

?c">

According to the IAEA map, the southwestern most cluster has only one bunker with HMX. The trucks are in front of a bunker that the IAEA map indicates does not have HMX.