# Al Qaqaa: where the roadside bombs come from **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 25, 2004, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023 "2004-10-25T09:43:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/341 "2004-10-29T12:44:11Z")
> [@Razorsharp](#): > > Oh, I have no problem with that, what chaps my ass are those who give approval to one person evading service, but condemning another for evading service, based soley on that person’s political persuasion. > > Tell me, do you just not see the hypocrisy? You see, what chaps my ass is those who see a moral equivalence between a person who was against the war and avoided fighting in it through legitimate means, and another who was for the war, but used his elite position to obtain a position that allowed him to avoid fighting while still pretending to be a patriot, skipped out on even that meagre commitment and later started a phoney war of his own. Tell me, do you see the hypocrisy there? Any comment on the stolen 380 tons of explosives, while we have the benefit of your enlightened commentary on partisanship? ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/342 "2004-10-29T13:14:32Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Interesting angle. Maybe not a coordinated effort involving big honking 18-wheelers. Maybe just a bunch of guys with pickup trucks. First time they find it, they fill up thier trucks and run sell it to somebody. They come back and are no doubt amazed to find it _still_ not guarded, but hey, go for it! They call up thier cousins and thier brother in law, anybody whos got a truck, come and get it! Free money! Entrepreneurship! > > Beauty part is: don’t even need to fight over it. Plenty for everybody! > > But I can’t help thinking of a _Kelly’s Heroes_ take on this: white guys in trucks that either are US trucks or _look_ like US trucks, who’s gonna stop them and ask them questions? I mean, if they weren’t concerned enough to guard the place, they aren’t going to be pulling people over to find out if they got what they don’t know is missing. > > Or maybe not even US Army trucks, disguised or otherwise. What kind of trucks do the logistical contractors drive? Commerical trucks, yes? With nothing more than corporate logos painted on the side to attest to their _bona fides_. Trucks with corporate markings that identify them as contractors wouldn’t be stopped or even noticed. > > Which brings us, of course, to Haliburton. Freelancers ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/343 "2004-10-29T13:17:03Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > You don’t need to be an officer to know that this is ineptitude of the highest degree. You don’t seize ammo dumps (and we have video proof that they were known to be full) and then leave them unguarded among the unfriendly locals. What do you mean “unfriendly locals”? Weren’t the troops greeted with flowers and chocolate? Isn’t there are big statue to George W. in Baghdad just like Perle predicted a little over a year ago? Fantasy worlds sure beat reality worlds. In fantasy worlds, Iraqis don’t use high-tech explosives to blow up American soldiers and there is no need to guard such sites. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/344 "2004-10-29T13:26:23Z")
[quote=I have the same sick feeling in my stomach that I got when the Abu Garahib story came to light. My god, what the hell is going on over there? Who is running this show?![/quote] > [@elucidator](#): > > Which brings us, of course, to Haliburton. There’s your answer, **shelbo**. This war is being run by Milo Minderbinder. ---
**Author:** ![braintree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@braintree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/braintree)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/345 "2004-10-29T13:41:12Z")
Wow. Republicans are such a bunch of weird, lying exaggerators. 😛 Marc Racicot was on Larry King insisting that we really didn’t know the story at Al Qaqaa even though Larry pointed out that there ARE PHOTOS OF THE EXPLOSIVES. This morning, Matt Laur was interviewing Paul Bremer who was doing the same damn thing as Racicot. I think we (meaning those of us who are not among the desperate in denial) should , therefore, start referring the the Republicans as the “Dead Parrot Society” in homage to Monty Python or, if you’re a Martin Scorse fan, simply as the “Dead Parrots.” ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/346 "2004-10-29T13:49:35Z")
**[Di Rita acknowledged that the image says nothing about what happened to the explosives.](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,137017,00.html)** ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/347 "2004-10-29T13:51:29Z")
> [@braintree](#): > > Republicans are such a bunch of weird, lying exaggerators. If you would please, slow your roll on voicing this sort of comment that can be legitimately be said to resemble bigotry. Thanks in advance, Simon ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/348 "2004-10-29T13:55:54Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > If Rumsfeld were doing anything other than attempting to confuse the issue of when the material dissapeared, he’d have taken the time to have his image analysts vet the image vs maps and known facts in the same way that Global Security did. If I were in one of the government’s image analysis groups, I’d be highly pissed that the secretary of defence did such a sloppy job of checking his ‘intelligence information’ that the story only held up to a few hours of scrutiny. A few hours? Fox swallowed it, hook, line, and sinker, and is STILL using that photo. > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > This war is being run by Milo Minderbinder. ALL wars are run by Milo Minderbinder. If there had been a reason I had to join the military my asthma would’ve kept me away from the shooting where a big, wheezing fellow is no asset so I planned to make a beeline to the Quartermaster Corps. That’s where the REAL money is. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/349 "2004-10-29T14:09:22Z")
> [@braintree](#): > > I think we (meaning those of us who are not among the desperate in denial) should , therefore, start referring the the Republicans as the “Dead Parrot Society” in homage to Monty Python or, if you’re a Martin Scorse fan, simply as the “Dead Parrots.” Ya know, I initially thought Kevin Bacon in Animal House _“ALL IS WELLLLLL!”_, but I must say, the Dead Parrot analogy is spot on. Well done. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/350 "2004-10-29T14:21:35Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > Fantasy worlds sure beat reality worlds. In fantasy worlds, Iraqis don’t use high-tech explosives to blow up American soldiers and there is no need to guard such sites. And here you have given the nail a firm whack on its bonce. The Administration did not listen to the experts who said that way more troops were required because they believed, for no good reason, they’d be welcomed one and all as liberators. Any fool should have been able to predict those who feared they might lose out would make a grab for weapons yet no effort was made to secure sites such as these. If there were not enough troops to do the job properly the buck stops with Bush. He’s the duly selected President. His watch, his faith-based reality, his desk where the buck stops. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/351 "2004-10-29T14:25:16Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > … his desk where the buck stops. cite, please ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/352 "2004-10-29T14:27:37Z")
Scene at Scylla’s Grocery: Customer: I’ll take a bunch of bananas. Scylla: Here you go, sir, two large bananas. Customer: 😕 :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Razorsharp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@Razorsharp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razorsharp)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/353 "2004-10-29T14:34:59Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Tell me, are you deliberately obtuse? > > Let me name the Great Bogeyman that you’re hinting at here. Clinton. There is a substantive difference between what Clinton did and what Bush did. Clinton went through all legal channels to avoid the draft, because he was opposed to the war overall. Bush got Poppy to get him into a rich-sons unit because he didn’t want to go to war himself, and then pretty much avoided actually serving even in that privileged unit, while cheerleading the war at the same time. “Deliberately obtuse”?? That smacks of a personal attack. Oh well, that’s just signs of shallowness. Being that you brought up the issue of being obtuse, I’m a fixin’ to rub your nose in it. No, Bill Clinton didn’t have his daddy intervene for him like GW, he had Senator William Fulbright make calls to secure him a spot on the University of Arkansas ROTC program to exempt him from a scheduled induction on 28 July, 1969. Once his induction was delayed, Clinton refused to enroll in the ROTC program at the University of Arkansas, and instead, enrolled at Oxford. While at Oxford, Clinton received a high draft lottery number that ensured he would not be drafted. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/354 "2004-10-29T14:38:03Z")
I again invite people not to join into an inane and irrelevant discussion of an ex-president’s non-activities in Vietnam some three decades ago. Start a new thread if you find the subject interested, but this thread is NOT about that three-headed monkey, and I refuse to be distracted. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/355 "2004-10-29T14:38:35Z")
get a thread you guys ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/356 "2004-10-29T14:42:42Z")
> [@SimonX](#): > > cite, please Well, obviously I can’t because the buck does not stop at Bush’s desk. Which is the rhetorical point. Are you maintaining it’s not the President’s responsibility if he leads his country into a mismanaged war? Isn’t he the Commander in Chief? ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/357 "2004-10-29T14:50:32Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > **"All we’re saying is this is two big trucks in front of a bunker."** > Of course, that’s utter bullshit. If Rumsfeld were doing anything other than attempting to confuse the issue of when the material dissapeared, he’d have taken the time to have his image analysts vet the image vs maps and known facts in the same way that Global Security did. If I were in one of the government’s image analysis groups, I’d be highly pissed that the secretary of defence did such a sloppy job of checking his ‘intelligence information’ that the story only held up to a few hours of scrutiny. Couple of points. If there’s something you can’t accuse BushCo of, it’s lack of consistency. They are handling this issue in the _exact same manner_ that they’ve handled the Iraq invasion back as far as the marketing campaign of same. Facts be dammed, just throw a bunch of allegations out there and hope that there are still enough True Believers left to bail them out once again. No need for me to point out just how succesful that tactic has been – catastrophically so, if I might borrow and amplify from The Great Misleader’s quirky lexicon. And you know what? Judging by the partisan reactions in this thread and to this particular ‘furriner’s’ continued amazement, it appears that that they may well be right. For no matter how outrageous the spin gets the Kool-Aid drinkers are only too eager to imbibe from the well. Sure, there are no longer looking – or care – for the kind of pre-invasion approval numbers. The only agenda that matters is re-election. Or re-selection, whatever the case might be. As things stand today, Dubya could probably BBQ a month-old infant on “'Live with Regis and Kelly” and his core supporters would raise their glasses in tribute. After all, they readily admit to “creating their own reality.” And I’ll be dammed if they haven’t been doing just that. Hell, there’s a whole Alternate Reality menu: Mystical WMDs, drones of death, deadly anthrax, mobile labs, 45 minute missiles, aluminum tubes, student thesis, yellow cake, Saddam Bin Laden, spreading freedom, God’s will, loose cannons, a few bad apples, frat-house pranks, illegal non-combatants, treasonous candidates unfit for command, fake purple hearts, wolves, a straight-talking president that can’t speak English, satellite pics, soldier’s fault, blame the terrorists, and for good measure, throw the Ruskies into the mix. Voila! Pick your favorite fantasy world. Reading **Scylla’s** and **Sam’s** posts – the standard-bearers of those worlds in the SDMB – I’d hazzard a guess that it’s mighty cozy in there. Can the theme park be far behind? ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/358 "2004-10-29T14:57:39Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > **"All we’re saying is this is two big trucks in front of a bunker."** PRESS: Mr. Secretary, what do you have to say about the missing explosives at Al Qaqaa? RUMSFELD: Here’s a photograph of two big trucks in front of a bunker. PRESS: Umm … okay. But that’s not even Al Qaqaa. And even if it were, it doesn’t matter, since there’s videotape proving that the explosives were still there, under seal, after the US invaded. RUMSFELD: And here’s a picture of a ducky. PRESS: Umm … RUMSFELD: This next picture is my favorite: Two puppies wrestling in the grass. Isn’t that just the cutest? ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/359 "2004-10-29T15:00:12Z")
Well, I feel I’m pretty up on the news. From what I’ve read recently, it would appear that the buck stops on the grill of Tucker Carlson’s car. I’t nice to see at least one Republican step up to the plate. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/360 "2004-10-29T15:04:14Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > Well, I feel I’m pretty up on the news. From what I’ve read recently, it would appear that the buck stops on the grill of Tucker Carlson’s car. I’t nice to see at least one Republican step up to the plate. It’s pretty bad when Tucker Carlson is the King Ralph of Republican responsibility. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023.md?page=19)