US coalition had been warned about the danger [more ]
In a massive pre-election embarrassment for the Bush
administration, nearly 350 tons of lethal explosives - which could be
used to trigger nuclear weapons - have vanished from a military
facility in Iraq supposed to have been guarded by US troops. The
huge facility, called Al Qaqaa, was supposed to be under American
military control but is now a no man's land, still picked over by
looters as recently as Sunday. United Nations weapons inspectors had
monitored the explosives for many years, but White House and Pentagon
officials acknowledge that the explosives vanished sometime after the
American-led invasion last year. The White House said President Bush's
national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, was informed within the
past month that the explosives were missing. Administration officials said Sunday that the Iraq Survey
Group, the C.I.A. task force that searched for unconventional weapons,
has been ordered to investigate the disappearance of the explosives.
American weapons experts say their immediate concern is that the
explosives could be used in major bombing attacks against American or
Iraqi forces: the explosives, mainly HMX and RDX, could produce bombs
strong enough to shatter airplanes or tear apart buildings. [more ] and [more ] and [more ]
As of Monday, Oct. 25,
2004, at least 1,106 members of the U.S. military have died since the
beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated
Press count. [more ] Bush has not been to one US Soldier's Funeral.
Pictured above: U.S.
Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment patrol in a Humvee
in Ramadi, Iraq Monday, Oct. 25, 2004. Rebels and U.S. forces
battled in Ramadi earlier Monday, and hospital officials reported three
Iraqis were killed during the fighting. [more ]
]
