Crossblogger

Hey look... it's the guy who planned the attack on us on September 11th, 2001. The same guy who Bush let get away in Tora Bora. The same guy who Bush ignored so he could go after Saddam Hussein. I'm thinking we really need a President who will actually capture Osama.

in the press conference:

when the Major was asked if any of the munitions removed were behind an IAEA seal.... he said, "No".

That means they didn't remove the stuff that went missing. I'm still holding out for the Martian excuse.

So, the wingnutters are all a-flutter about this DOD picture that "proves" that the Al QaQaa explosives were moved before the war.




Now, we get a map from the IAEA that shows the Al QaQaa facility, and where these explosives were located.



Notice that the DOD picture is centered on the area where the green square is. Now let's compare the two.



Hmmmm.... it looks like the trucks weren't even near the bunker that contained the HMX. Plus, the newest KSTB video shows the troops at a SEALED bunker AFTER the fall of the Bagdhad. And here's what David Kay (I think EVERYONE can agree that he's a bit more of an expert than any of us) says on CNN:

Aaron Brown: Was there anything else at the facility that would have been under IAEA seal?

David Kay: Absolutely nothing. It was the HMX, RDX, the two high explosives.

Why are the wing-nutters in such a fantasy world? Just accept the facts... Bush failed.

First the Red Sox win the World Series, now Kerry is a lock for the Presidency.

Remember those explosives that Bush didn't plan to have secured... the same explosives that got looted and are probably in the hands of terrorists right now? Well, amazingly a news crew from Minneapolis was at Al QaQaa with troops on April 18th, 2003... after Saddam could've had them removed, and after the Russians could've removed them, and after the Martians could've taken them. The first report is pretty tentative, but the follow-up is clear cut: BUSH DID NOT PLAN FOR THE POST-WAR... and now our troops are dying because of it. Not only that, but he STILL refuses to take ANY responsibility. There's no way to come back from this, folks. Even some of his most ardent supporters are asking some serious questions...

The Bushies have come up with about 10 different "excuses" for the missing explosives. And not surprisingly, NONE of them include the idea that, just maybe, Bush's "plan" for the war was not thought-out. I think they're just throwing out as many scenarios as possible, and they're hoping that Americans are too stupid to see through the lie.

First you have David Kay (who had people at the place) who says:

"I must say, I find it hard to believe that a convoy of 40 to 60 trucks left that facility prior to or during the war, and we didn't spot it on satellite or UAV. That is, because it is the main road to Baghdad from the south, was a road that was constantly under surveillance. I also don't find it hard to believe that looters could carry it off in the dead of night or during the day and not use the road network."

And the New York Times (reigstration required) evens talked to a few eyewitnesses that claim there was looting:

But a chemical engineer who worked at Al Qaqaa and identified himself only as Khalid said that once troops left the base itself, people streamed in to steal computers and anything else of value from the offices. They also took munitions like artillery shells, he said.

My prediction for today's Bush spin: Martian took the explosives... so now we need to go invade Mars.

There's a "leak" that the administration wants to add another 20,000 troops to Iraq .... and then there's another about Bush waiting to ask for another $70 billion.

Admittedly, these things are actually good. Kerry has been saying all along that we need more troops, and we need to fund them better. But with Bush and Co. pushing the "Iraq is going great" delusion, this is the last thing that needs to be coming out with only 6 days until the election. Plus, the continuing missing 380 tons of explosives story has gone two days without being acknowledged by the President, and now he's claiming that Kerry is "questioning the troops". That's been a pretty standard defense that the President puts on: It's not my fault... and if you say something bad about it, you're criticizing the troops. He did it with Tora Bora, and he's doing the same thing now. Isn't the President accountable for anything?

You know things are bad when YOUR FAMILY doesn't even support you.

The Right-wing Nuts are in FULL defense mode, and with only 7 days left until the election, they're trying ANYTHING to shift the topic from the missing 380 TONS(!) of explosives. It's just another clear example of Bush's incompetance and his failure to plan for the Iraq war. It also highlights just how far they will go to NOT admit any mistakes.

NBC talked to a reporter who was embedded with a division that "searched" the bunkers at Al QaQaa, and then Drudge latched on in a desperate attempt. Well, here's that report the Repubs are stroking themselves over:

Amy Robach:: Was there a search at all underway or was, did a search ensue for explosives once you got there during that 24-hour period?
Lai Ling Jew: No. There wasn't a search. The mission that the brigade had was to get to Baghdad. That was more of a pit stop there for us. And, you know, the searching, I mean certainly some of the soldiers head off on their own, looked through the bunkers just to look at the vast amount of ordnance lying around. But as far as we could tell, there was no move to secure the weapons, nothing to keep looters away....

AR: And there was no talk of securing the area after you left. There was no discussion of that?

LLJ: Not for the 101st Airborne, Second Brigade. They were -- once they were in Baghdad, it was all about Baghdad, you know, and then they ended up moving north to Mosul. Once we left the area, that was the last that the brigade had anything to do with the area.

So, yeah... that really doesn't prove ANYTHING. Add to that, troops had already been to the site before the reporter got there. I really think these Repubs need some psycological help... maybe this will do you some good.

Flip: "Now my opponent is throwing out the wild claim that he knows where bin Laden was in the fall of 2001, and that our military passed up the chance to get him in Tora Bora."

Flop: "The Bush administration has concluded that Osama bin Laden was present during the battle for Tora Bora late last year"

This is pretty indefensible. Especially when the Defense Secretary could've stopped it, and didn't. In fact, Rumsfeld seemed to almost encourage it: "...freedom's untidy. And free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things." I didn't know that "freedom" meant "lawlessness".

OOOOO! This is a HUGE story! This will definately derail the Kerry campaign. He didn't meet with BULGARIA about Iraq. That's it, I'm voting for Bush.

First off, it's the Washington "Mooney" Times. The owner of paper has said he's the "emperor of the world". Strike one.

Then, they misquote Kerry about the "foreign leaders" things, when he actually said "more leaders". Either way, it's pretty apparent that more/foreign leaders don't want Bush to win. Strike Two.

And the piece goes into a lengthy bit about truth, yet the very same newspaper has consistantly ignored EVERY one of Bush's lies. And even if the Mooney Times piece is true (I'm not holding my breath), there really is no comparisson between the lies that have killed over 1000 US troops... and forgetting to meet with Bulgaria. Strike Three.

Following up the wildly successful TV ad "Wolves", the Bush campaign has produced a follow-up: KITTENS!