Posted on 10/25/2004 5:54:02 AM PDT by Happy2BMe
Oct 25, 2004 — A glance at the destructive power of the nearly 380 tons of conventional explosives the International Atomic Energy Agency says have gone missing from a former military installation in Iraq:
HMX: High melting explosives, as they are scientifically known, are among the most powerful in use by the world's militaries today. HMX, also known as octogen, is made from hexamine, ammonium nitrate, nitric acid and acetic acid. Because it detonates at high temperatures, it is used in various kinds of explosives, rocket fuels and burster chargers.
RDX: Also referred to as cyclonite or hexogen, RDX is a white crystalline solid usually used in mixtures with other explosives, oils or waxes. Rarely used alone, it has a high degree of stability in storage and is considered the most powerful of the high explosives used by militaries.
PLASTIC EXPLOSIVES: Experts say both HMX and RDX are key ingredients in plastic explosives such as Semtex and C-4, puttylike military substances that easily can be shaped. Libyan terrorists used just 1 pound of Semtex in 1988 to down Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.
C-4 or its main ingredients were used in the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen that killed 17 U.S. sailors. Traces of RDX were found in an investigation of explosions that crippled two heavily fortified Israeli tanks, indicating Palestinian militants have obtained at least small quantities of the extremely potent material.
Just 5 pounds of either plastic explosive would be enough to blow up a dozen jetliners, experts say.
Leni
380 tons? Yikes!
I am confused. Hanns Blix told us that the UN destroyed Saddam's nuclear weapons program?
The UN needs to decide.
1. Saddam had an active WMD programs.
2. Saddam did not have a WMD programs.
Oh yes, the John Kerry campaign will scream from the rooftops, it is all Bush's fault. Fact of the matter is, that if GW Bush had not gone into Iraq and gotten rid of Saddam Hussein, there would 380,000 tons of explosives hidden all over Iraq and in the hands of Hussein's terrorist friends. You can bet your bottom dollar that if John Kerry were our President right now, Saddam Hussein would still be in power and ten times the explosives the NY Times is crowing about would be in the hands of those evil doers that want to destroy America and Israel. Any American voter that casts his or her ballot for John Kerry has to have a scew loose. And... any American Jew that votes for John Kerry is signing the death warrant for Israel and themselves. Wake up fools!!!
It seems to me again the UN dropped the ball on this one..
So, were these explosives still there when the war began? Or could they have traveled to Syria, been buried in the desert, whatever? This would seem to be a basic fact that a competent reporter would have looked into.
But the story was in the New York Times. Ne-VER-mind.
Congressman Billybob
NYTimes excerpts speech ads nuclear for effect,
runs Kerry story on front page,
Radio and TV carries the NYTimes story,
Kerry speech writer takes out copy of speech,
give to Kerry,
Kerry cites NYTimes as source
The circle is complete and it's total see-BS.
Watch the merry-go-round today.
There is so much explosives in Iraq -- Gen Tommy Franks said recently it may take years to find and secure all of it.
Maybe a new lake is about to be created in Iraq.
RDX and HMX are just like TNT. They have almost the same chemical composition. RDX was discovered in 1890 if that gives you a frame of reference. Nitro is more explosive than these other two TNT-derivatives.
I question the timing of this story. Did the "duck shoot" not work out for Kerry?
This just blows me away.
Minute Gal, Onward Jewish Soldiers, Marching to the Call, Onward Jewish Soliers, Tell them what to call, G-d above won't answer if they are all........DEAD! There will be no poindt in God helping anyone if we are all decimated, why can't they see that? did Stalin really do an everlasting tatoo in their brains? looks like it,,,,,go to it girl!
Bright-Eyed Reporter: Um, sir, a question about this explosives story...
Gruff Leathery Liberal Icon: What of it?
BER: Um, this is to be a hit piece of Bush, right? I mean, the tone and all - right?
GLLI: Of course! Of course it is a hit piece. Look! Right there - The White House wanted this buried 'till after the election! Right there proof of their cupidity!(blustering, foam gently dribbling down his aristocratic chin)
BER: But sir, the article actually um. It is um.
GLLI: Spit it out man!
BER: Well, sir, it proves that Saddam was a threat (points at article) that he had WMD programs going (points at article) and that it wasn't the fault of Bush at all (points at the fact that the stuff went missing before the invasion).
GLLI: (goes pale and sweaty, whispering hoarsely) ...Rove...
BER:(hesitantly) And um, Sir? This could only mean that the White House didn't want this out before the election - because it would hurt. Um. Kerry. A lot.
GLLI: (hoarsely)...I walked right into it. Damnit. Rove...
BER: And that would mean that .. um.. The White House ... tried to make sure, sir... that the election went fairly, since otherwise it would look like they held onto this until just now...
GLLI: (slowly turning brick red)... And so I broke it FOR them..
BER: Uh, yeah, boss.
600 posted on 10/24/2004 11:30:01 PM EDT by Republicanus_Tyrannus
The timing is unimportant. This has to be explained in some
way by the administration. This is a story the dems can
spin along with the networks and do heavy damage to the
Bush campaign.
Explosives? What explosives? There were no explosives in Iraq!!! EVERYONE know that!!!
Explosives? What explosives? There were no explosives in Iraq!!! EVERYONE know that!!!
"C-4 or its main ingredients were used in the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen that killed 17 U.S. sailors. Traces of RDX were found in an investigation of explosions that crippled two heavily fortified Israeli tanks, indicating Palestinian militants have obtained at least small quantities of the extremely potent material. "
So Al quaeda blows up the Cole. These explosives are missing from Iraq. The year is 2000.
Nope, no link here. Moveon.org... move on
"It seems to me again the UN dropped the ball on this one.."
stress the word "again". also, the un has a history of having fumblitis.
Let's not be too hasty. I suspect that the explosives disappeared during the period between when the UN left Iraq before the war and when the US soldiers arrived after the invasion. Nothing I have read indicates that the explosives were actually ever at the site when we arrived.
kaBOOM!
Ah, the IAEA.......the experts on all things nuclear in the rogue countries!!!!
Believe or not, George Bush is not a flawless superman.
I don't recall anyone ever making that claim. Perhaps you think this is trivial?
This is a golden goose for demo spin, it will be lead story on all three networks tonight.
He's making fun.
Make that:the line of nitro or C-4.
Let me get this straight. The Iraqi's looted some of their own ammo dumps when their regular military was on the point of collapse & before those sites were secured by coalition forces. Wow. This is news? This is standard practice for a country that is being overrun.
I know that there were some Iraqi dumps that were either unknown or too large to effectively guard. The last time we just arbitrarily blew one of these dumps (after Desert Storm), a bunch of troopers in a combat engineer company got hit with a cloud of chemical munitions.
Moral of the story: don't blow something up if you don't know what it is. Corollary: Sometimes the Iraqi's deliberately mis-marked their chemical munitions (so as to not unduly scare their own artillery troops).
Once again the MSM oversimplifies and times a story to have maximum political impact for the Democrats.
And, on Fox & Friends this am, a woman from I believe it was Florida said she and her neighbors all had copies of the NYT in their driveways this am and NONE of them subscribe to the NYT. Interesting how they are suddently receiving a copy. In addition, Steve D showed the front page of the NYT and the whole page was nothing but anti-Bush stories. Hmm, and there isn't a MSM liberal bias?? (yeah, right).
Maybe why there are NO-GO Zones in Iraq????
"Just 5 pounds of either plastic explosive would be enough to blow up a dozen jetliners, experts say."
I don't recall AP telling the public that just that one chemical weapon used as an IDE had enough lethal doses of Sarin to kill 6 million people. I must have just missed the news that day.
"... BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE --- YEAH!!!!!!"
My ears are still ringing from Sat! I am so thrilled to have been part of crowd of 50,000!!
what I've not ever understood is why Bush et al have never actively opposed the notion that no WMD have been found. I'm left talking to the screen, "No, no!!"
FnKerry was just on Fox News in front of an audience. Telling everyone about these weapons and explosives was 'another oversite' by our President and his administration. I think President Bush better get on the tube and real quick to put an end to this.
FnKerry is saying once again that our President has MIS CALCULATED EVERYTHING ABOUT IRAQ.
President Bush better put a stop to this TODAY!
That's 700 or more truckloads that need to be loaded, transported and hidden. I don't think anything like that operation took place after the war began.
If the stuff was ever there, it was moved before the war began.
Please. That has absolutely to do with the type or amount of explosives that the enemy forces possess. The enemy will use whatever weapons that are available, from whatever source, as long as he has the will to resist.
"Please. That has absolutely to do with the type or amount of explosives that the enemy forces possess. The enemy will use whatever weapons that are available, from whatever source, as long as he has the will to resist."
Stock piles of them in unknown places would, now if they are missing then somebody has them. One would need to possess the knowledge of how to use them, and thus far the weapons of choice are road side bombs.
Oh! But FnKerry praised our troops to HIGH HEAVEN this morning! Then saying how President Bush sent them to Iraq ill equipped and with unarmored vehicles. I tell you, President Bush better put a counter attack out this TODAY. This is NOT good!
And the roadside bombs are typically made from an artillery shell. Those are a heck of a lot more plentiful in Iraq than plastic explosives. If you had a quantity of plastic fall into your hands, and you were smart, you'd reserve it for the kinds of targets where you need to 'sneak' a powerful explosive into a relatively secure environment -- ie. an airport. If I want to ram a humvee, I can just but an arty shell in the trunk of my Toyota -- same effect.
The campaign must soften the impact before the network news tonight. It will be the lead story on all three majors and the damage will be done.
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