# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/121 "2004-10-26T22:34:01Z")
if the US troops weren’t ordered to guard the oil wells when the takeover of Iraq was completed, on behalf of Haliburton, they wouldn’t have the caache missing. ---
**Author:** ![Airblairxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Airblairxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airblairxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/122 "2004-10-26T22:44:02Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > So this report by NBC does nothing to establish that those explosives were gone before April 9. Of course it doesn’t verify they were there either. At best, the NBC report is totally irrelevant; but on the other hand it shows there was no effort to secure the site from looting what munitions they _did_ see which were described as a “vast amount”. Agreed. Whether the explosives were there or not, it’s pretty obvious that the site was ignored until this month, when we knew all along its significance. **capacitor** : bit of a leap, don’t you think? It is fair to say, however, that the administration put a huge post-invasion emphasis on safeguarding the oil infrastructure, with typically shortsighted results. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/123 "2004-10-26T23:40:53Z")
If one is paranoid that the Democratic Underground version of the MSNBC transcript is not correct, [here](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6323933/) is an article direct from the MSNBC website where the imbedded reporter is quoted: > [@](#): > > U.S. defense officials said Tuesday that the materials could have vanished during a period of about three weeks, between March 15, 2003, when inspectors for the IAEA confirmed that at least some of the materials were still stored under IAEA seal at Al-Qaqaa, and April 4, when U.S. troops arrived. > > On March 15, said Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the IAEA, “the seals on the doors on the bunkers were checked at many of the bunkers to see if they were still there and hadn’t been tampered with, and that was the case.” > > The war in Iraq began March 20. Army officials told NBC News on condition of anonymity that troops from the Army’s 3rd Infantry did not arrive at Al-Qaqaa until April 4, finding “looters everywhere” carrying what they could out on their backs. > > The troops searched bunkers and found conventional weapons but no high explosives, the officials said. Six days later, the 101st Airborne Division arrived. Neither group was specifically searching for HMX or RDX, and the complex is so large — with more than 1,000 buildings — that it is not clear that the troops even saw the bunkers that might have held the explosives. > > … > > An NBC News crew that accompanied the U.S. soldiers who seized the base three weeks into the war confirmed that troops saw no sign of the missing HMX and RDX. > > Reporter Lai Ling Jew, who was embedded with the Army’s 101st Airborne, Second Brigade, said Tuesday on MSNBC TV that the news team stayed at the base for about 24 hours. > > “There wasn’t a search,” she said. “The mission that the brigade had was to get to Baghdad. That was more of a pit stop there for us. And, you know, the searching, I mean, certainly some of the soldiers headed off on their own, looked through the bunkers just to look at the vast amount of ordnance lying around. > > “But as far as we could tell, there was no move to secure the weapons, nothing to keep looters away.” ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/124 "2004-10-27T00:07:28Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > Are you referring to the small cut that Kerry proposed back in 1994 **or the much bigger cut that Bush’s new CIA director supported back in 1995**? At any rate, neither one passed. **Oh, I suppose what you must be talking about is the Republican-proposed cut similar to Kerry’s which did pass.** From [factcheck.org](http://www.factcheck.org/article291.html): Impressive demonstration of transference. Bush was Governor in 1995. Kerry was Senator in 1995. Unless **Governor** Bush actively promoted this policy in a public forum during the 90’s, his position on the matter falls to his record as **President**. Former Congressman Goss’s opinion is reflective of Kerry’s position and not that of the GOP. Unless he is running for president, his position on the matter is purely his own. His appointment to Director of the CIA is the result of his years in Congress combined with a background in both the CIA and the military. ---
**Author:** ![LilShieste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@LilShieste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilShieste)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/125 "2004-10-27T00:22:05Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Impressive demonstration of transference. Actually, it’s more like “putting things into context”, than “transference”. You know, since this whole “intelligence cut” is a talking point that republicans seem to like using against Kerry – even though: > [@](#): > > from **[FactCheck.org](http://FactCheck.org)**, supplied by **jshore** : > \*Another Republican-sponsored cut similar to Kerry’s proposed 1995 measure actually became law. **On the same day Kerry proposed his $1.5-billion cut spread over five years, the Senate passed by voice vote an amendment to eliminate $1 billion in intelligence funds for fiscal year 1996.** That measure was proposed by Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and a companion measure was co-sponsored by Kerry and Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama. \* You can’t have your cake, and all that. LilShieste ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/126 "2004-10-27T00:50:16Z")
And this just in … [http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041026/ap\_on\_re\_mi\_ea/iraq\_weapons](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041026/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_weapons) > [@](#): > > The first U.S. military unit to reach the Al-Qaqaa military installation after the invasion of Iraq (news - web sites) did not have orders to search for the nearly 400 tons of explosives that Iraqi officials say were stolen from the site sometime following the fall of Baghdad, the unit spokesman said Tuesday. > > When the troops from the 101st Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade arrived at the Al-Qaqaa base a day or so after Baghdad’s fall on April 9, 2003, _there were already looters throughout the facility_, Lt. Col. Fred Wellman, deputy public affairs officer for the unit, told The Associated Press. … (emphasis added in shock, horror, and dismay) ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/127 "2004-10-27T01:14:56Z")
> [@mks57](#): > > People have been making improvised explosive devices from unexploded bombs, mortar shells, artillery shells, land mines and anything else that contains high explosives for many years. Considering the vast quantities of unsecured ordnance in Iraq, does one site make much of a difference in the big picture? Apparently this is top of the line stuff that’s a form that very easy to handle and transport. It’s th eprimo stuff. Dismatling shells etc is supposedlya trickiy business that’s avoided by having this stuff in the form that it’s in. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/128 "2004-10-27T02:11:36Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Impressive demonstration of transference. Bush was Governor in 1995. Kerry was Senator in 1995. Unless **Governor** Bush actively promoted this policy in a public forum during the 90’s, his position on the matter falls to his record as **President**. > > Former Congressman Goss’s opinion is reflective of Kerry’s position and not that of the GOP. Unless he is running for president, his position on the matter is purely his own. His appointment to Director of the CIA is the result of his years in Congress combined with a background in both the CIA and the military. Really, the best response I can think of to this is: “Are you suggesting that coconuts migrate?” Or, in other words, once we get beyond your tortured prose, what we are left with is the fact that you are trying to imply that Kerry should somehow be blamed, and presumably be thought of as a less worthy Presidential candidate on the basis of the fact that he proposed some cuts in the intelligence budget in the mid 90s. And yet, it doesn’t bother you in the least that the current President has put in charge of the CIA a man who proposed much more draconian intelligence cuts at that time. But, hey, you Bush-defenders are getting so used to cognitive dissonance that I guess it is pretty much second nature. I could point out that your whole bringing up of intelligence in the first place was a stretch. There was no failure of intelligence here. To know about these explosives, all the U.S. had to do with talk to the IAEA who knew they were there and had tagged them. So, basically, your snide remark was just a hijack and it turned out that you had your facts wrong on the implication of your hijack anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/129 "2004-10-27T02:24:00Z")
380 tons of explosives is about 22 tractor trailor loads. Are you guys suggesting that somehow 22 tractor trailers managed to load up explosives and drive away under the noses of the 3rd infantry or 101st Airborne? Not bloody likely. Once the 3rd infantry arrived, the place was never left unattended again. The 3rd ID was relieved by the 101st Airborne, as I understand it. The obvious explanation so far is that the weapons were gone before the Americans arrived on the scene. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/130 "2004-10-27T02:31:56Z")
I have a question about [this report](http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030405-chem-readiness01.htm) of troops who were at the Al Qa Qa Facility on April 4, 03. It says there that they found thousands of vials of white powder which were later proved to be explosives. Are the HMX and RDX explosives in question in a white powder form? I thought they were putty type explosives? Were other explosives present at that facility? What I’m trying to get at is - is the April 4th report that last time anyone saw the HMX and RDX explosives or might they have been talking about other explosives? thanks for your information! ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/131 "2004-10-27T02:39:05Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Once the 3rd infantry arrived, the place was never left unattended again. The 3rd ID was relieved by the 101st Airborne, as I understand it. Cite? [Here](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041026/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_weapons) is mine: > [@](#): > > “The mission that the brigade had was to get to Baghdad,” she said Tuesday. “As far as we could tell, there was no move to secure the weapons, nothing to keep looters away.” > > She said there was no talk among the 101st of securing the area after they left. The roads were cut off “so it would have been very difficult, I believe, for the looters to get there,” she said. So, it sounds like it was not secure but they believe that the fact that the U.S. controlled the general area meant that it would have been difficult for that much material to be looted. At any rate, it would not be that much less incriminating to find out that the place was looted before the 101st had arrived. After all, I thought the point of this war was to secure WMD and related materials from terrorists. Surely the fact that the war seemed to do the opposite (although we were lucky enough that WMD did not exist) could be taken as its being a less-than-stellar way to accomplish this objective. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/132 "2004-10-27T02:41:36Z")
**Nithotep** : Yeah, when I read that “white powder” account, my first reaction was, “Couldn’t the author of this article have tried to find out for us if the white powder could have been the explosives in question or not?” It seemed like a pretty straightforward and obvious question…And, perhaps the answer will come in time. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/133 "2004-10-27T02:50:07Z")
> [@Nithotep](#): > > Are the HMX and RDX explosives in question in a white powder form? I thought they were putty type explosives? Were other explosives present at that facility? Military explosives are usually mixed with plasticizers, oils, plastics, etc. to get the desired physical properties. C4 is about 90% RDX, the rest is binder and plasticizer. ---
**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 27, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/134 "2004-10-27T02:54:39Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > The obvious explanation so far is that the weapons were gone before the Americans arrived on the scene. Your argument boils down to “They can’t have been this incompetent. Therefore, this did not occur.” However, a number of sources state that the explosives were there after the invasion, including a Pentagon spokesman and the White House press secretary. > [@](#): > > MR. McCLELLAN: You’re trying – I think you’re taking this out of context of what was going on. This was reported missing after – when the interim government informed that these munitions went missing some time after April 9th of 2003, remember, that was when we were still involved in major military action at that point. And there were a number of important priorities at that point. From [here](http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/10/20041025-1.html). ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/135 "2004-10-27T03:37:41Z")
> [@mks57](#): > > Military explosives are usually mixed with plasticizers, oils, plastics, etc. to get the desired physical properties. C4 is about 90% RDX, the rest is binder and plasticizer. [This BBC News piece](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3950493.stm) on the explosives implies that the looted material was not compounded: > [@](#): > > The explosives mostly consist of 195 metric tons of HMX and 141 metric tons of RDX - key **components** in plastic explosives, which have been widely used in car bombings in Iraq. Also missing is 5.8 metric tons of PETN. ---
**Author:** ![AZCowboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/97f17d/32.png) [@AZCowboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AZCowboy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/136 "2004-10-27T03:50:43Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Apparently we’re talking of 380 tons, which is about 0.06% of the total amount of explosives dispersed throughout Iraq before the war. Kinda like saying, “we’re talking about 3,000 people, which is about 0.015% of the population of New York City” or “we’re talking about 2 buildings, which is about 0.004% of the total buildings in New York City”? This HMX stuff is pretty significant. The 195 tons of HMX lost comprised essentially all of the HMX known to exist in Iraq. Remember that the IAEA brought it to our attention in their [report](http://www.acronym.org.uk/docs/0301/doc03.htm) to the UNSC on January 9, 2003. Perhaps even more interesting, take a look at how the events of the day were reported by [: > [@](#): > > _ **Iraq in ‘Material Breach,’ U.N. Ambassador Says** , January 9, 2003_ > “We know for a fact that there are weapons there,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said in Washington. > > Briefing the Security Council ahead of their trip to Baghdad next week, Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said they were investigating illegal Iraqi imports of parts for its missile program and the fate of 32 tons of HMX high explosive that Iraq says was used for industrial purposes but which can also be used to detonate nuclear weapons. Check the link for the complete context. Fascinating. Just Fox being Fox, you say? Hold you horses. > [@](#): > > _ **John Negroponte** , January 31, 2003_ > Dr. ElBaradei also explained that IAEA has yet to determine the relocation or use of certain, dual-use items, such as the high explosive HMX which was sealed by IAEA in 1998, and which Iraq claims it has used since for mining. He added that IAEA is still investigating reports of Iraqi attempts to import uranium after 1991, which Iraq denies. The administration held this stuff out as one of the few reasons to invade Iraq! Check the [url=http://www.un.int/usa/03print\_jdn0130.htm]cite](]Fox News[/url) and enjoy the paragraph that follows the quote above. Oh, and the missing 32 tons from above? That issue was put to rest by Mohamed ElBaradei in his [report](http://www.iraqwatch.org/un/IAEA/iaea-elbaradei-021403.htm) on February 14, 2003: > [@](#): > > Use of HMX The IAEA has continued to investigate the relocation and consumption of the high explosive HMX. As I reported earlier, Iraq has declared that 32 tonnes of the HMX previously under IAEA seal had been transferred for use in the production of industrial explosives, primarily to cement plants as a booster for explosives used in quarrying. > > Iraq has provided us with additional information, including documentation on the movement and use of this material, and inspections have been conducted at locations where the material is said to have been used. However, given the nature of the use of high explosives, it may well be that the IAEA will be unable to reach a final conclusion on the end use of this material. While we have no indication that this material was used for any application other than that declared by Iraq, we have no technical method of verifying, quantitatively, the declared use of the material in explosions. We will continue to follow this issue through a review of civilian mining practices in Iraq and through interviews of key Iraqi personnel involved in former relevant research and development activities. To help pull the numbers together, [here](http://www.iaea.org/OurWork/SV/Invo/reports/s_2003_95.pdf) (sorry, pdf, see page 10) was the pre-war IAEA assessment: > [@](#): > > 1. The IAEA inspectors have been able to verify and re-seal the remaining balance of approximately 196 tons of HMX, most of which has remained at the original storage location. And the [NYTimes](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/25/international/middleeast/25bomb.html) (sorry, registration may be required, see the image of the letter) shows the recent letter declaring the missing 194.741 tons of HMX. They knew about this stuff. And they knew it was quite important. It is unfathomable that we simply failed to secure this stuff, once we got there. I agree with **Sam Stone** on that point. But I don’t see that as any excuse for Bush. What we do know is that this stuff was secured before the UN inspectors were withdrawn. I have this hazy recollection of someone predicting that Saddam and his weapons were only a threat if the US invaded Iraq, and then Saddam might be inclined to proliferate weapons to terrorists. In fact, I think it was the head of the [CIA](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2312369.stm)… ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/137 "2004-10-27T03:59:33Z")
There are several issues here: First, is it possible that the military screwed up? I suppose. But it stretches the imagination to believe that a bunch of terrorists could sneak into an occupied area with 22 semi trucks, load up (how long would THAT take? Days? Weeks?), then drive back out of the area undetected. Even if the place was ‘unsecured’, you can be damned sure that the American military was maintaining 24/7 surveillance of the area by air, satellite, radar, you name it. 22 tractor-trailer units is bigger than five tank platoons, and the military isn’t about to let five tank platoons roam around behind the lines. The military says that when they first arrived at the compound there were already signs of extensive looting. My guess is that when war became imminent Saddam had that stuff removed and either stored around the country for the planned insurgency, or trucked out to Syria for future use. This is the most likely hypothesis at this point. Over on National Review they are publishing letters from military people who were there saying that they knew exactly what to secure when they entered that compound, and it wasn’t plausible that they would somehow forget or not know the stuff was there and also be unable to find it. Yes, it was a huge facility. But we’re talking about a LOT of material. A large warehouse full. And considerable industrial activity required to remove it. Then there’s the second question: Even assuming the military did screw up, how is this possibly Bush’s fault? What, do you think the White House gives orders over every military action that takes place in a war? I find it unlikely that such a decision over where and how to secure one of many weapons sites never made it past the General Officer level of the military. Kerry’s trying to turn this into an indictment of Bush’s handling of the war, when Bush had nothing to do with it, even if it happened the way they are claiming. Oh, and there’s a third thing; If this revelation came from a letter written by el-Baradei, whom the U.S. is working to remove from his office, then what we may have here is an intentional act by a U.N. diplomat to influence a U.S. election. That’s a pretty serious matter - one that should be investigated. And on a final, political note, John Kerry is going to run a serious risk of blowback if he goes after Bush on this one. He’s starting to look opportunistic. The minute the public decides that he’s happier when things get worse in Iraq, he’s going to lose a lot of support. ---
**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 27, 2004, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/138 "2004-10-27T04:01:20Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Then there’s the second question: Even assuming the military did screw up, how is this possibly Bush’s fault? What, do you think the White House gives orders over every military action that takes place in a war? I find it unlikely that such a decision over where and how to secure one of many weapons sites never made it past the General Officer level of the military. Kerry’s trying to turn this into an indictment of Bush’s handling of the war, when Bush had nothing to do with it, even if it happened the way they are claiming. Does the buck ever stop with this Administration? Or does it just keep going, searching forlornly for someone to take responsibility for it? ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/139 "2004-10-27T04:17:25Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Then there’s the second question: Even assuming the military did screw up, how is this possibly Bush’s fault? I am going to remember this post the very first time – and subsequent times, for that matter – you get in a huff over any participant of the Kerry administration doing something you don’t like, and you then criticise Kerry. Please consider yourself un-inoculated from accusations of hypocrisy should this occur. This is an unbelievably craven and weasling defense. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023/140 "2004-10-27T04:23:29Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Even assuming the military did screw up, how is this possibly Bush’s fault? Well, the stuff was important. If it went missing 18 months ago, you’d think that the administration would have known that it went missing. Yet here we are 18 months later, and the administration has just found out it disappeared. That makes it pretty obvious that they hadn’t looked and confirmed its status before now. It’s their fault that they didn’t. [Cheney confirmed their lack of information on the material when he said:](http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=46195) “It is not at all clear that those explosives” that were lost “were even at the weapons facility when our troops arrived in the area of Baghdad.” Far from absolving the administration from responsibility, Cheney’s statement is an admission that the administration did not take this dual use material seriously enough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/al-qaqaa-where-the-roadside-bombs-come-from/271023.md?page=8)