In 1988 Libyan terrorists blew up a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 170 people. They needed just one pound of plastic explosives for this.
Now 380 tons of similar explosives have gone missing in Iraq during the American watch. It would be a good mathematical exercize to calculate how many jet liners can be blown up with these, but it's a lot easier to conclude that the people who have these explosives don't need any other cache for the rest of their lives, or the lives of their organizations.
These are not nuclear weapons, so the invasion forces decided not to safeguard the facilities where they were kept. Although they safeguarded the oil ministry...
This is very bad, and it should be bad news for the Bush administration, another clear example of its incompetence. And how does the administration explain its willingness to arm the terrorists it has invited to Iraq? Let's see:
Bush's national security adviser, Condoleeza Rice, was informed after Oct. 15, and then she notified Bush, the White House said.
During an Air Force One trip Monday between Texas and Colorado, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the administration's first concern was whether it was a nuclear proliferation threat, and it had determined it was not.
"Remember at the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom there was some looting, and some of it was organized," McClellan said. "There were munitions caches spread throughout the country, and so these are all issues that are being looked into by the multinational forces and the Iraqi Survey Group."
The probe will include finding out what happened to the weapons and whether they are being used against U.S. forces, he said.
Let me get this clear: The U.S. president heard about this disaster only a week before we did? And his press secretary gives us a meandering explanation all in passive voice? Reminding us that "there was some looting", "some of it was organized", "there were munitions caches spread throughout the country". And "all issues that are being looked into...". Disgusting. Why can't this administration ever take responsibility for anything? If I had gone to war in Iraq I would have secured these facilities against looting, and I have no training in politics. From now on, please send your tax payments directly to me. They'd do more good that way.