Minor point, but it turns out only 219 tons were inventoried as present at Al Qaqaa in January of 2003. The other 158 of the 377 tons alleged to be missing are claimed by IAEA to have disappeared from a number of other munitions depots. But 377 tons sounds a lot scarier than 219, don't you think? An ABC report this evening (although I haven't seen the video) appears to others to indicate that at least some HMX was still present at Al Qaqaa on April 18, 2003. That doesn't help us on the question of who removed what when & to where, but at least the story is developing.
Of course, the lack of knowledge about what really happened isn't slowing Kerry's demagoguery - he's moved off on a slight tangent but still based on the as-yet-uncorroborated allegations, saying at a campaign stop tonight, "The bottom line is, George Bush was warned about it and he failed to guard it." Never mind that the "warning" came in May of 2003 per the IAEA, nearly a month after the ABC video was supposedly shot. Never mind that this was one of thousands of depots being dealt with. Never mind that nearly half a million tons of weapons and explosives have been destroyed in the past 18 months. Never mind that Saddam routinely dispersed weaponry & munitions when a theat was imminent, even sending his Air Force's jets to his mortal enemy Iran, no less, and burying brand new Mig's in the desert. And so on.
The most likely and logical explanation is the last one Kerry is willing to entertain, because that would be of no use to him, certainly not when he has an opportunity to stick a knife his opponent with a trumped up allegation.
Cheers,
Daiwa
