Kerry Spot    [ jim geraghty reporting ]
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Marshall says Miklaszewski's report from last night is "no longer operative" based on the Pentagon correspondent's recent comments on MSNBC. I'd say that is an overstatement. To use one of Kerry's favorite words, let's say Miklaszewski's account is more nuanced.

Following up on that story from last night, military officials tell NBC News that on April 10, 2003, when the Second Brigade of the 101st Airborne entered the Al QaQaa weapons facility, south of Baghdad, that those troops were actually on their way to Baghdad, that they were not actively involved in the search for any weapons, including the high explosives, HMX and RDX. The troops did observe stock piles of conventional weapons but no HMX or RDX. And because the Al Qaqaa facility is so huge, it's not clear that those troops from the 101st were actually anywhere near the bunkers that reportedly contained the HMX and RDX. Three months earlier, during an inspection of the Al Qaqaa compound, the International Atomic Energy Agency secured and sealed 350 metric tons of HMX and RDX. Then in March, shortly before the war began, the I.A.E.A. conducted another inspection and found that the HMX stockpile was still intact and still under seal. But inspectors were unable to inspect the RDX stockpile and could not verify that the RDX was still at the compound.

Pentagon officials say elements of the 101st Airborne did conduct a thorough search of several facilities around the Al QaQaa compound for several weeks during the month of April in search of WMD. They found no WMD. And Pentagon officials say it's not clear at that time whether those other elements of the 101st actually searched the Al QaQaa compound.

Now, Pentagon officials say U.S. troops and members of the Iraq Survey Group did arrive at the Al QaQaa compound on May 27. And when they did, they found no HMX or RDX or any other weapons under seal at the time. Now, the Iraqi government is officially said that the high explosives were stolen by looters. Pentagon officials claim it's possible — they're not sure, they say, but it's possible that Saddam Hussein himself ordered that these high explosives be removed and hidden before the war. What is clear is that the 350 metric tons of high explosives are still missing, and that the U.S. or Iraqi governments or international inspectors, for that matter, cannot say with any certainty where they are today.

I have a question about that first comment, that "it's not clear that those troops from the 101st were actually anywhere near the bunkers that reportedly contained the HMX and RDX."

A gentleman sending me e-mail from a ".mil" address writes:

But I was there at Al QaQaa on April 10th with the 101st, I can rest assure you that [NBC producer interviewed on MSNBC earlier today] Lai Ling Jew is lying about it, she seems to be expressing a convenient contrary opinion of the time. The very first thing we do when we move into an area is clear it of any enemy combatants, including going inside warehouses full of ordinance, which we did immediately when we reached there.

Another gentleman sending me e-mail from a ".mil" address writes:

Operational plans in modern warfare are continually rolling and are available to combat commanders in a real time network environment. The original pre-invasion Operation Plans listed the Al-QaQaa weapons depot as a priority security site. After the 101st Airborne Division inspected the site, the security priority was downgraded and the Operational Plan was modified.

So first, I would assume that before the 101st stopped at the site for 24 hours, they would at least send guys with guns through to make sure there weren't any hostile forces at al-QaQaa. I don't care how big the site is, no commanding officer is going to leave a bunch of buildings unchecked for badguys who might try to attack his guys. Also, wouldn't "securing" this site mean checking for booby traps? Wouldn't our guys want to know what's in these buildings that they're walking around?

And I would assume that the process of securing al-QaQaa — "a priority security site" would include checking for explosives in all these buildings they're securing. So that the message, "hey, guys, careful if we get attacked and have to defend this position - there are 350 tons of high-grade explosives over in that storage bunker over there" gets to everybody who needs to hear it.

[Posted 10/26 03:56 PM]