Ralph Peters outlines a dozen reasons why the “400 tons” of explosives could not plausibly have gone missing once U.S. troops arrived, and lambasts the UN, the US media, and John Kerry for what he terms “A shameless lie.”
Eight: If the Iraqis had used military transport vehicles of five-ton capacity, it would have required 80 trucks for one big lift, or, say, 20 trucks each making four trips. They would have needed special trolleys, forklifts, handling experts and skilled drivers (explosives aren’t groceries). This operation could not have happened either during or after the war, while the Al-Qaqaa area was flooded with U.S. troops.
Nine: We owned the skies. And when you own the skies, you own the roads. We were watching for any sign of organized movement. A gaggle of non-Coalition vehicles driving in and out of an ammo dump would have attracted the attention of our surveillance systems immediately.
Ten: And you don’t just drive high explosives cross-country, unless you want to hear a very loud bang. Besides, the Iraqis would have needed to hide those 400 tons of explosives somewhere else. Unless the uploaded trucks are still driving around Iraq.
Peters’ conclusion is rather pointed:
Sen. Kerry knows this is a bogus issue. And he doesn’t care. He’s willing to accuse our troops of negligence and incompetence to further his political career. Of course, he did that once before.
Ouch.
Of course, with his accomplices at the NYT and CBS, he may well get away with it. Certainly, the coverage of the unravelling of this story is not getting anywhere near the attention of the story itself. Certainly, Kerry is still acting as if there is no shadow of a doubt that the weapons went missing under our watch and that it’s George Bush’s fault.
