Report: Russia Took Iraqi Arms

TheMoscowTImes.com ^ | 10/29/04 | Combined Reports

[HereComesTheGOP]

A high-ranking U.S. defense official said Russian forces "almost certainly" smuggled a cache of high explosives out of Iraq prior to the U.S. invasion in March 2003, The Washington Times reported Thursday.

Defense Ministry spokesman Vyacheslav Sedov dismissed the allegations as "absurd" and "ridiculous."

The Washington Times, basing its report on an interview with John Shaw, the deputy U.S. undersecretary of defense for international technology security, said Russian special forces had probably helped spirit out the hundreds of tons of high explosives that went missing from the al-Qaqaa base.

Two weeks ago, Iraqi officials told the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency that 342 tons of explosives had vanished as a result of "theft and looting ... due to lack of security." The compounds, HMX and RDX, are key components in plastic explosives, which insurgents in Iraq have used in bomb attacks.

"I can state officially that the Russian Defense Ministry and its structures couldn't have been involved in the disappearance of the explosives, because all Russian military experts left Iraq when the international sanctions were introduced during the 1991 Gulf War," Sedov said.

Russia's charge d'affaires in Iraq, Ilya Morgunov, also denied the report. "I didn't hear about any weapons to be taken out," he was quoted by Interfax as saying. "Moreover, there was nobody to take them out, because we actually evacuated all of our personnel."

He said there had been no Russian special forces in Iraq, only civilian specialists working for foreign firms.

Visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told reporters in Moscow that he is unaware of any information suggesting Russia helped Saddam Hussein's government ship explosives out of Iraq.

Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent military analyst, said that some Russian military experts had worked in Iraq between the 1991 Gulf War and the U.S. invasion in March 2003, helping maintain Soviet-built weapons, but he voiced skepticism about the deployment of Russian troops to smuggle the explosives out of Iraq.

[HereComesTheGOP]

Getting Closer.....

[jneesy]

tick tick tick.....

[hflynn]

The world has really changed. Americans have a better chance of getting the truth from The Moscow Times instead of The New York Times.

[aynrandfreak]

There's a part of me that's starting to feel that Bush knows what happened to WMD in Iraq, but he wants the American people to have faith in him on Nov 2, WMD or not.

[GOPologist]

Our liberal daily rag STILL prints the negative part of the Iraq explosives. I don't even know why I'm stupid enough to subscribe to it.

[Preachin']

"There's a part of me that's starting to feel that Bush knows what happened to WMD in Iraq, but he wants the American people to have faith in him on Nov 2, WMD or not."



Is it possible that the president has decided that behind the scenes negotians is the best policy with the Russians?

[GSlob]

RDX and HMX are cheap and plentiful. The cost for the amt of materials in question would be about $1M, probably much cheaper in countries with artificial cost structures. To mount a special operation to move the materials across the borders would not be cost effective - to destroy them by blowing them up would be much cheaper and faster. So it probably just got stolen and ended on black market.

[salorama]

It must be difficult to run a campaign when you can't use all of the CLASSIFIED information to your advantage.

[Stateline]

The Russki's...slinking around in the dark......

[HereComesTheGOP]

"It must be difficult to run a campaign when you can't use
all of the CLASSIFIED information to your advantage."

That's an UNDERSTATEMENT! ;)

[Owl_Eagle]

Americans have a better chance of getting the truth from The Moscow Times instead of The New York Times.

This is brilliant, sad, but brilliant.

Owl_Eagle

" WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
DIVERSITY IS STRENGTH"

[eyespysomething]

Is this similar to how the Russians behaved when confronted with accusations during the Cold War? I was too young and not as tuned into politics.

Could one say the Cold War isn't over, it had just thawed a bit?

[HereComesTheGOP]

WOW, its on http://www.iraq.net now...just unFNbelievable!

[jpp113]

"The compounds, HMX and RDX, are key components in plastic explosives, which insurgents in Iraq have used in bomb attacks." Is there any evidence that the terrorists have used plastic explosives, much less HMX or RDX? I can't recall any.

[MarMema]

Rumsfeld discounts report of Russian assistance

"Well, I guess the first thing to say about it is that first reports are almost always wrong," Rumsfeld said. "People who use hair-trigger judgment to come to conclusions about things that are fast-moving frequently make mistakes that are awkward and embarrassing."

[MarMema]

Is there any evidence that the terrorists have used plastic explosives, much less HMX or RDX?

The chechens use a lot of this stuff.

[Genoa]

You mean telling lies that are so over the top they take your breath away? Yes. Apparently, it wasn't just the communism that caused it. The Russian rulers have this chutzpah regarding their approach to the rest of the world that I'm told goes back centuries. A little paranoia and a lot of nerve.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

I heard a piece on NPR this morning where a reporter claims to have seen video shot by a St. Paul, MN network affiliate when the 101st was in alqaqa that shows barrels and crates clearly marked high explosives.

Anyone familiar with this story? It sounds like what the MSM would consider a smoking gun to hammer nonstop now through Tuesday.

[Genoa]

Yes, CNN Radio News was hammering away on this too.
True or not, it's better to use Hannity's Defense: 400 tons versus 400,000 is one-tenth of a percent, and I'll stick with Bush, thanks. Iraq was a dangerous place with Saddam, and much less dangerous now.

[Just mythoughts]

"The chechens use a lot of this stuff."


Really now, you really going to try and sell this babel that the "chechens" came and worked for Saddam.....

[MarMema]

I didn't say that. I just said that I know the chechens use a lot of this stuff. Probably because it is cheap and easily attained.

[jpp113]

Yeah, but the article says it has been used in Iraq. Most attacks there seem to be done with Artillery shells planted in the road or stuffed into a car.

[MarMema]

Didn't Hannity say it was not 380 tons but only 3 tons, or something like this, last night?

[MarMema]

Ok. I was just commenting from my studies of the chechens.
I was not implying anything.

[MarMema]

What did that hostage who was released, a journalist I think from Canada, say about the houses filled with stuff that he saw? Did he mention explosives?

[Genoa]

Dunno. Sean says a lot.
What I heard him say had the wisdom of not putting the whole case on "was there or wasn't there," which I think is right.
Even if there was 400 tons, Kerry is making the Bush case by harping on the fact that Saddam's Iraq was a vast pile of things that can blow up.
See Podhoretz in the NY Post today: http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/31269.htm

[Just mythoughts]

Look there is nothing ever said about Putin or Russia that you do not in some way make the point or picture connected with the "chechens".

I have no clue about your history, but communism is not the opposite of capitalism no matter what the history books claim.

It was not the "chechens" in bed with Saddam and that Oil for rotten food program. It was not the "chechen" that were known to be leaving Iraq as we entered.

[Baseballguy]

The issue is not if the are missing but that they where there. I would rather have them carted off out of Iraq. MWD of this size was a greater danger than allowing real looting.

The issue is we should of been able to get into Iraq thru Turkey or Syria and most of the transportation of MWD would have been stopped. I believe this region had supported Saddam. The local governments had a stake in the unrest of Iraq. Focus on Iraq removed the threat of their own diabolical plans.

[Jaded]

How about.... the Chechens took the weapons. Does that work? They RENTED equipment from the local constabulary. We all know they are for sale or rent. Even Vlad said so.

[TexKat]

Is there any evidence that the terrorists have used plastic explosives, much less HMX or RDX? I can't recall any.

Riyadh,Nagaland,Istanbul bombings RDX found.

Google search on Abu Mohammed al-Ablaj, also known as Abu Bakr + RDX

Is It Possible That This is where some ofthe HMX and RDX Went

[TapTheSource]

A little history is in order...

Ex-spy fingers Russians on WMD

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20030820-081256-6822r.htm

The Plot to Hijack the CIA

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1252938/posts

Russia’s Aims in the Middle East

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1260794/posts

[dumpdaschle]

"I have no clue about your history, but communism is not the opposite of capitalism no matter what the history books claim."

WTF are you talking about?

Communism- A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.

Capitalism- An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.

Do you have a better definition than the dictionary?

[HereComesTheGOP]

IMHO, with this new Pentagon Briefing.... I bet by making NYT, and Kerry talk about all this is going to be Rove's way of proving WMD taken out by russia.....
Bush couldn't JUST bring it up out of no where or people would have questioned it...Kerry referring to it and even making an ad, gave Bush the LEAD that he needed for Monday's announcement of KGB helping pull WMD 's out of Iraq!

[F15Eagle]

RDX was what Ramzi Yousef used in the 1993 WTC attack.

[happygrl]

all Russian military experts left Iraq when the international sanctions were introduced during the 1991 Gulf War

ROTFL!!!!!!!!!!

Duh.......

[jpp113]

I still don't see any evidence that this stuff is being used in IRAQ!! This article says it is and that jack#ss JF'nK is implying that also.

[alpowolf]

The Commies did it!

The Army did it!

What will they try next? The Fairy Godmother?

[F15Eagle]

dunno. since Yousef was Pakistani, any Taliban-sympathizer may follow similar recipes.

However, most of the attacks on U.S. Troops and buildings in Iraq are reminiscent of PLO, Hamas, et al tactics.

Which is why I lean towards them as major contributors to violence in Iraq.

[Stellar Dendrite]

Marmema is a Putin apologist, don't waste your time.

[Just mythoughts]

"WTF are you talking about?"

[Just mythoughts]

"Marmema is a Putin apologist, don't waste your time."


Thanks

[GarySpFc]

Just mythoughts attacks the Russians and does so to take the heat off the Islamofacists.

[Just mythoughts]

"Just mythoughts attacks the Russians and does so to take the heat off the Islamofacists."

Actually I am not the one who hides behind the Islamofacists skirts. I happened to support very much the removal of all terrorists no matter their origin, creed, culture and religion.

I happened to know why this nations is blessed above all others and it is not that we are such a special people, it is because this nation was established upon the foundation that the CREATOR is who gives rights that no man/government has authority to give or take.

[endthematrix]

The stuff just ooozes from Yemen and leaks into Saudi Arabia. TexKat had thread posting various examples.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1258376/posts

[GarySpFc]

Actually I am not the one who hides behind the Islamofacists skirts. I happened to support very much the removal of all terrorists no matter their origin, creed, culture and religion.

How a man can show so much hatred (a malignant hatred) towards a country containing Christians, and yet ignores and overlooks the evil brought on them by those who hate Christ can only be explained by his being in league with the Islamofacists. When a poster changes names on an almost daily basis, posts all day long, posts old articles to make his point, then it is obvious he has an agenda which transcends far more than a personal interest. I fail to understand how a confessing Christian can exhibit such behavior. While I do not have the right to judge the heart, I do their fruit. I do not believe a confessing Christian can hold such hatred.

[Just mythoughts]

"How a man can show so much hatred (a malignant hatred) towards a country containing Christians, and yet ignores and overlooks the evil brought on them by those who hate Christ can only be explained by his being in league with the Islamofacists. When a poster changes names on an almost daily basis, posts all day long, posts old articles to make his point, then it is obvious he has an agenda which transcends far more than a personal interest. I fail to understand how a confessing Christian can exhibit such behavior. While I do not have the right to judge the heart, I do their fruit. I do not believe a confessing Christian can hold such hatred."

A Christian, you call yourself? Boy you are sure in for a rude awakening. You sure love to toss out accusations.

A confessing Christian, now that is really rich coming out of a nation whose history over the past 100 years + that has the blood of far more than alllllll Islamanofascist peoples put together on its hands.

YOu think for one instant the Heavenly Father has not seen what came out of that blood RED nation? YOU need a reality check.

[GarySpFc]

A Christian, you call yourself? Boy you are sure in for a rude awakening. You sure love to toss out accusations.

On the contrary, you are the one who has an organized effort in throwing out accusations against Russia and have for some time. You do this to deflect from the Islamofacists.

A confessing Christian, now that is really rich coming out of a nation whose history over the past 100 years + that has the blood of far more than alllllll Islamanofascist peoples put together on its hands.

Once again we see your accusations against and ignorance of Russia. The communists will never regain power in Russia again, because the majority under 35 have embraced capitalism and will not go back. In Russia there is a great revival going on at this time, which you convent ignore.

YOu think for one instant the Heavenly Father has not seen what came out of that blood RED nation? YOU need a reality check.

Your theology reeks of unforgivingness. Please tell me which denomination you are a member of here?

[Just mythoughts]

Sleep on, sleep on.

[MarMema]

Or, unlike you, I keep up with current events in Russia and know a lot more about Putin than you do.

Clinging to ten year old commie fears versus being a Putin apologist. LOL.