Kerry now a shoe in?

[Xzion]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6323933/

If they take advantage of that story, then you can count on bush actually loosing by a landslide

Of course its not hard to realize that the dems are, at least this year horrible campaigners so you never know

[noel]

There were no WMD in Iraq, until Bush accidentally gave the terrorist WMD

That statement is completely inaccurate.

[Xzion]

There were no WMD in Iraq, until Bush accidentally gave the terrorist WMD

That statement is completely inaccurate.

yup, thats why i edited it

[noel]

Slowpoke!

Only reason I pointed it out is because if we're going to try to represent ourselves as rational/informed voters, it's best to not propogate that kind of political bullshit.

[Xzion]

Slowpoke!

Only reason I pointed it out is because if we're going to try to represent ourselves as rational/informed voters, it's best to not propogate that kind of political bullshit.

gah, the republicans love to do it so i have to try to balance it out sometimes

[noel]

Both sides are political machines. Neither side doing it is right. I think you need to watch the John Stewart/Crossfire video again.

[Winnow]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6323933/

If they take advantage of that story, then you can count on bush actually loosing by a landslide

Of course its not hard to realize that the dems are, at least this year horrible campaigners so you never know

The less stable the world, the more likely Bush returns for a second term.

More importantly, where is the October surprise? With about a week left, somethng should turn up soon.

[Dregor Thule]

This won't make much difference. Drop in the bucket in regards to the fuck ups that have occured over Iraq alone and voters haven't been heavily swayed by them yet.

[Marbus]

It won't matter, the Washington Post ran an article based upon the findings from the Uof Main I think, where it showed that most Bush supported were misinformed anyway, they have already drank the Kool-Aid. However I think think Kerry will win, it just won't be a landside, it would be nice to be wrong though ... about a Kerry landslide victory though

Marb

[Sirton]

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/bush_vs_kerry_hth.html

Just as Ive told you all the past few months....Zogby numbers will become more accurate about one week from the election, so he can keep some respect.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/bush_v ... _sbys.html

[Rekaar.]

It won't matter, the Washington Post ran an article based upon the findings from the Uof Main I think, where it showed that most Bush supported were misinformed anyway, they have already drank the Kool-Aid.

You can't be big enough of a fool to believe ignorance is a partisan issue.

[Xzion]

It won't matter, the Washington Post ran an article based upon the findings from the Uof Main I think, where it showed that most Bush supported were misinformed anyway, they have already drank the Kool-Aid.

You can't be big enough of a fool to believe ignorance is a partisan issue.

sure you can, look at an electoral college map and compare bush states to kerry states....

[Rivera Bladestrike]

A poll in tennessee of registered voters was taken with the question of "Which candidate is for a roll back on the tax for the $200,000+ a year earners?"

25% said Bush
25% said they didn't know

That is ignorance if I've ever seen it, Thats as good as chance, like 75% of the people didn't know and guessed and 25% actually did know. Sounds like ignorance could be a big part of this election, considering thats a big part of their campaigns.

[Pherr the Dorf]

A poll in tennessee of registered voters was taken with the question of "Which candidate is for a roll back on the tax for the $200,000+ a year earners?"

25% said Bush
25% said they didn't know

That is ignorance if I've ever seen it, Thats as good as chance, like 75% of the people didn't know and guessed and 25% actually did know. Sounds like ignorance could be a big part of this election, considering thats a big part of their campaigns.

I call fuzzy math
25% were wrong, 25% didn't know, 50% knew

[Zaelath]

[Marbus]

http://www.pipa.org

Check it out Rekaar. You can find all kinds of studies at this nonpartisan site showing that most Bush supports (and those who watch Fox news) a misinformed. In fact, those Bush supports who say they pay the most attention to what is going on are the most misinformed of all, especailly if they watch Fox. So yes, while I know there are some ignorant democrats out there, Bush is pulling the average idiot by a large margin!

Marb

[Raistin]

..

[Rekaar.]

Well, thanks for confirming my suspicion I guess.

[Hesten]

http://www.pipa.org
In fact, those Bush supports who say they pay the most attention to what is going on are the most misinformed of all, especailly if they watch Fox. So yes, while I know there are some ignorant democrats out there, Bush is pulling the average idiot by a large margin!

Marb

Hehe, just look at the most rabid Bush supporters here to see that

[Mak]

But tonight, NBCNEWS reported: The 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives were already missing back in April 10, 2003 -- when U.S. troops arrived at the installation south of Baghdad.

An NBCNEWS crew embedded with troops moved in to secure the Al-Qaqaa weapons facility on April 10, 2003, one day after the liberation of Iraq.

According to NBCNEWS, the HMX and RDX explosives were already missing when the American troops arrived.

[Toshira]

It's never a shoe-in when we can get florida recounts!

And with the new untraceable voting system that leaves no paper trails in some states, what could possibly go wrong?

I'll be the first to concede that private corporations can do some things much more efficiently than the government. I'm curious though, who had the brilliant idea to put the control and construction of electronic voting machines into the hands of big business? It might not be so bad if a single uniform set of standards had been created, but there wasn't.

[miir]

troops moved in to secure the Al-Qaqaa weapons facility

OH MY GOD!!!!
That almost spells Al-Qaeda.... I guess Saddam was buddies with terrorists after all!

[Pherr the Dorf]

But tonight, NBCNEWS reported: The 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives were already missing back in April 10, 2003 -- when U.S. troops arrived at the installation south of Baghdad.

An NBCNEWS crew embedded with troops moved in to secure the Al-Qaqaa weapons facility on April 10, 2003, one day after the liberation of Iraq.

According to NBCNEWS, the HMX and RDX explosives were already missing when the American troops arrived.

This is from Drudge?

[Jice Virago]

It's never a shoe-in when we can get florida recounts!

And with the new untraceable voting system that leaves no paper trails in some states, what could possibly go wrong?

I'll be the first to concede that private corporations can do some things much more efficiently than the government. I'm curious though, who had the brilliant idea to put the control and construction of electronic voting machines into the hands of big business? It might not be so bad if a single uniform set of standards had been created, but there wasn't.

The scary aspect of this is that people have already proven that the Diebold systems can be hacked and altered, vitrually with no visible evidence that tampering has taken place. There have also been at least two highly suspicious elections where longshot canidates have won landslide victories in direct contradiction to exit polls and these same Deibold machines have been directly involved. I think you can allow private companies handle electronic voting, but there HAS to be a verifiable paper trail and ideally some form of impartial federal oversight monitoring them.

[Rekaar.]

But tonight, NBCNEWS reported: The 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives were already missing back in April 10, 2003 -- when U.S. troops arrived at the installation south of Baghdad.

An NBCNEWS crew embedded with troops moved in to secure the Al-Qaqaa weapons facility on April 10, 2003, one day after the liberation of Iraq.

According to NBCNEWS, the HMX and RDX explosives were already missing when the American troops arrived.

This is from Drudge?

LOOKS LIKE NBCNEWS TO ME

[miir]

But tonight, NBCNEWS reported: The 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives were already missing back in April 10, 2003 -- when U.S. troops arrived at the installation south of Baghdad.

An NBCNEWS crew embedded with troops moved in to secure the Al-Qaqaa weapons facility on April 10, 2003, one day after the liberation of Iraq.

According to NBCNEWS, the HMX and RDX explosives were already missing when the American troops arrived.

This is from Drudge?

LOOKS LIKE NBCNEWS TO ME

It was from drudge.
I've been unable to source a link to that info at NBC news.

[Rekaar.]

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX TUE OCT 26 2004 11:02:38 ET XXXXX

60 MINS PLANNED BUSH MISSING EXPLOSIVES STORY FOR ELECTION EVE

News of missing explosives in Iraq -- first reported in April 2003 -- was being resurrected for a 60 MINUTES election eve broadcast designed to knock the Bush administration into a crisis mode.

Jeff Fager, executive producer of the Sunday edition of 60 MINUTES, said in a statement that "our plan was to run the story on October 31, but it became clear that it wouldn't hold..."

Elizabeth Jensen at the LOS ANGELES TIMES details on Tuesday how CBS NEWS and 60 MINUTES lost the story [which repackaged previously reported information on a large cache of explosives missing in Iraq, first published and broadcast in 2003].

The story instead debuted in the NYT. The paper slugged the story about missing explosives from April 2003 as "exclusive."

An NBCNEWS crew embedded with troops moved in to secure the Al-Qaqaa weapons facility on April 10, 2003, one day after the liberation of Iraq.

According to NBCNEWS, the explosives were already missing when the American troops arrived. [VIDEO CLIP]

It is not clear who exactly shopped an election eve repackaging of the missing explosives story.

The LA TIMES claims: The source on the story first went to 60 MINUTES but also expressed interest in working with the NY TIMES... "The tip was received last Wednesday."

CBSNEWS' plan to unleash the story just 24 hours before election day had one senior Bush official outraged.

"Darn, I wanted to see the forged documents to show how this was somehow covered up," the Bush source, who asked not to be named, mocked, recalling last months CBS airing of fraudulent Bush national guard letters.

[Xatrei]

Here's the video that is linked in the above Drudge snipet.

Also, CNN is now reporting NBC's claim: (link)

Report: Explosives could not be found when U.S. troops arrived

NBC News says its crew was embedded with soldiers at time

(CNN) -- The mystery surrounding the disappearance of 380 tons of powerful explosives from a storage depot in Iraq has taken a new twist, after a television news crew embedded with the U.S. military during the invasion of Iraq reported that the material could not be found when American troops arrived.

NBC News reported that on April 10, 2003, its crew was embedded with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division when troops arrived at the Al Qaqaa storage facility south of Baghdad.

While the troops found large stockpiles of conventional explosives, they did not find HMX or RDX, the types of powerful explosives that reportedly went missing, according to NBC.

The International Atomic Energy Agency revealed Monday that it had been told two weeks ago by the Iraqi government that 380 tons of HMX and RDX disappeared from Al Qaqaa after Saddam Hussein's government fell.

In a letter to the IAEA dated October 10, Iraq's director of planning, Mohammed Abbas, said the material disappeared sometime after Saddam's regime fell in April 2003, which he attributed to "the theft and looting of the governmental installations due to lack of security."

Baghdad fell on April 9, 2003. According to NBC, troops from the 101st Airborne arrived the next day and could not the material.

At the Pentagon, officials said that the site had been repeatedly searched but the high explosives the IAEA described were never found.

The Pentagon said the Al Qaqaa facility was a "level 2" priority on a list of 500 sites to be searched and secured. U.S. officials say it was visited dozens of times by U.S. troops in the months following the invasion, and -- after searching 32 bunkers and 87 other buildings -- they never came upon the stockpile.

Prior to the Iraq war, the high-grade explosives at Al Qaqaa had been under the control of IAEA inspectors because the material could be used as a component in a nuclear weapon, IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said. IAEA and other U.N. inspectors left the country in March 2003 before the fighting began on March 19.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Monday that five days after the IAEA received the letter from the Iraqi government, the agency alerted U.S. officials in Vienna, who in turn told national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. She then alerted Bush, McClellan said.

Once U.S. officials were alerted, the multinational force in Iraq and the Iraq Survey Group, charged with hunting for weapons in Iraq, were both ordered to investigate what was missing and the possible circumstances, according to State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.

"We, from the very beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, did everything we could to secure arms caches throughout the country," Ereli said. "But given the number of arms and the number of caches and the extent of militarization of Iraq, it was impossible to provide 100 percent security for 100 percent of the sites, quite frankly."

The news of the missing explosives followed an IAEA report earlier this month that said high-end, dual-use machinery that could be used in a nuclear weapons program was missing from Iraq's nuclear facilities. (Full story)

"Our immediate concern is that if the explosives did fall into the wrong hands, they could be used to commit terrorist acts and some of the bombings that we've seen," the IAEA's Fleming said.

She described Al Qaqaa as "massive" and said it is one of the most well-known storage sites. Besides the explosives, it also held large caches of artillery.

Fleming said the IAEA, which is based in Vienna, Austria, did not know whether some of the explosives may have been used in past attacks.

The IAEA said that before the war it inspected the Al Qaqaa facility multiple times and verified that the material was present in January 2003. The agency said the material was mentioned in reports to the U.N. Security Council that were made public.

Ereli said coalition forces searched 32 bunkers and 87 other buildings at the Al Qaqaa facility after the war for weapons of mass destruction. The troops found none, but did see indications of looting, he said. Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq on May 1, 2003.

"Some explosive material at the time was discovered, although none of it carried IAEA seals, and this discovery was reported to coalition forces for removal of the material," Ereli said.

Ereli said coalition forces have cleared 10,033 weapons caches and destroyed 243,000 tons of munitions. Another 162,898 tons of munitions are at secure locations and awaiting destruction, he said.

A senior administration official played down the importance of the missing explosives, describing them as dangerous material but "stuff you can buy anywhere."

The official noted that the administration did not see this necessarily as a "proliferation risk."

"In the grand scheme -- and on a grand scale -- there are hundreds of tons of weapons, munitions, artillery, explosives that are unaccounted for in Iraq," the official said.

"And like the Pentagon has said, there is really no way the U.S. military could safeguard all of these weapons depots or find all of these missing materials."

The official said the Iraq Survey Group concluded that Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction and documented the scope of the problem.

Threat from terrorists
A European diplomat told The New York Times that Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, is "extremely concerned" about the potentially "devastating consequences" of the vanished stockpile.

"The immediate danger" of the lost stockpiles is its potential use by insurgents to make small, but powerful, bombs, an expert told the Times. The expert said the explosives could be transported easily across the Middle East.

According to the Times, the stockpiles missing from Al Qaqaa are the strongest and fastest in common use by militaries around the globe.

The Iraqi letter to the IAEA identified the vanished explosives as containing 194.7 metric tons of HMX, or "high melting point explosive," 141.2 metric tons of RDX, or "rapid detonation explosive," among other designations, and 5.8 metric tons of PETN, or "pentaerythritol tetranitrate."

Fleming said the IAEA, whose mission is to keep track of everything with potential nuclear weapons applications, had been monitoring about 100 sites in Iraq, but there were only a few of special concern, including Al Qaqaa.

"This is a real massive quantity of explosives that could have reached the hands of insurgents and could be used with deadly force and consequences against people in Iraq," Fleming said.

"One would have to assume it's been stolen by someone who has some sort of nefarious purpose for it."

Political fallout
With the U.S. presidential election eight days away, news of the missing explosives quickly became campaign fodder.

Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry immediately seized on the information to accuse President Bush of incompetence in failing to secure the material, charging that "this is one of the great blunders of Iraq and one of the great blunders of this administration."

But in the wake of the NBC report, the Bush campaign fired off a statement saying that Kerry's criticism of the president over the missing material has "been proven false before the day is over."

"John Kerry's attacks today were baseless," Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said. "He said American troops did not secure the explosives, when the explosives were already missing."

Schmidt also said that Kerry "neglects to mention the 400,000 tons of weapons and explosives that are either destroyed or in the process of being destroyed" in Iraq.

But Kerry senior adviser Joe Lockhart fired back with a statement of his own, accusing the Bush campaign of "distorting" the NBC News report.

"In a shameless attempt to cover up its failure to secure 380 tons of highly explosive material in Iraq, the White House is desperately flailing in an effort to escape blame," Lockhart said. "It is the latest pathetic excuse from an administration that never admits a mistake, no matter how disastrous."

Lockhart did not elaborate on how the Bush campaign was distorting the NBC report.

[miir]

Further proof that the invasion of Iraq has made the world a safer place!

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

Further proof that the invasion of Iraq has made the world a safer place!

No, it's further proof of liberal bias in the media. The information was there the whole time. But, they know the damage is done when the first report comes out. No one reads the "corrections" section. Like the DNC strategy...make the claim, even if no proof exists. You sad, sad lemmings.

[Hoarmurath]

...make the claim, even if no proof exists

Okay, I claim that the invasion of Iraq has made the world a safer place.

[miir]

I was serious!

Dude, there have been no more terrorist attacks on US soil since 9/11.
That must mean that America is SAFER!!!

Thank you george doubleyou bush!

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

...make the claim, even if no proof exists

Okay, I claim that the invasion of Iraq has made the world a safer place.

I think that statement is wrong in the present tense. I think America is safer now and the world will be safer in the long term. I think it would be foolish to think the whole world is safer. (ie) Spain, Russia, etc.

[Xatrei]

For the record, while I'm normally loathe to accept anything from Drudge (or any other partisan hack) at face value, I'm also not willing to automatically reject a bit of information based soley upon the source. It seems Drudge identified the NBC report correctly.

As for 60 Minutes' alleged scheme, I truly don't want to believe that they were witholding a bombshell story like this until less than 2 days before the election (willfully manipulating an emotional response in many voters, potentially). If it turns out to be true, it's a deplorable, inexcusable abuse, and further erodes my confidence in our media as a whole (everyone seems to be biased one way or another, with no honestly unbiased dissemination of the facts.

It's probable that IAEA would still be able to account for these munitions if the US invasion of Iraq had not happened. The explosives were most likely relocated, distributed, hidden or who knows what in the days before the invasion after the Iraqis knew that the attack was imminent. Accordingly, it's completley reasonable to say that the US invasion led to the loss of these explosives. Kerry's criticism that Bush failed to secure the explosives requires a bit of a leap, though, when it was clearly a high priority target, and our forces arrived at the facility the day after Baghdad was occupied..

Both sides are going to be spinning this issue heavily, and it's unfortunate that the real facts will probably not surface until after the 2nd.

[Xzion]

haha, bush has ignored two questions about the missing weapons and his teams best response is
"well kerry attacked bush on the subject before the sources were 100% confirmed" even though they have now acknowledged that the report is 100% confirmed

Maybe if for once in his life Bush can admit he has fucked up, more people will trust him

[Tenuvil]

...make the claim, even if no proof exists

Okay, I claim that the invasion of Iraq has made the world a safer place.

I think that statement is wrong in the present tense. I think America is safer now and the world will be safer in the long term. I think it would be foolish to think the whole world is safer. (ie) Spain, Russia, etc.

Are you as dumb as you appear? Or do you not understand irony?

I'll say it again...

Fucktard.

[Winnow]

More bullshit bogus stories that Kerry's crack campaign team thought would turn the tide. Some of the sound bites I've heard from Kerry are pretty funny on the topic of the missing explosives when the explosives weren't there to begin with when the US troops arrived. Blame the UN!

Please tell me Kerry supporters that this isn't the last lame story up your sleave. You're in worse shape than I thought if this is the best you can do the week before the election to try and gain some votes. It's another backfire to add to the string of ridiculous shit that the Kerry campaign has tried and thankfully the general voting public has seen enough of these flim flams to realize Kerry has jack shit to actually talk about.

And down goes Wisconsin to Bush! Another Gore state that will join Hawaii in deserting the liberal slanderers! Ohio may not matter afterall.

[Kelshara]

A Bush fanatic claiming Kerry campaign is throwing shit is so funny it almost makes me laugh out loud. Bush' ads and comments have been at the VERY least just as dirty and hatefilled if not worse. Add to that the lies Bush has spewed in comments and debates.. and you got ZERO ground to attack Kerry.

Then again, you never really cared much for the truth did you?

[Winnow]

Then again, you never really cared much for the truth did you?

I admire Kerry's attempts at lying and stretching the truth. He sucks at it though. The problem is that Bush can be much more straight forward and tell little lies while Kerry has to spin monster tall tales to convince people that it's ok to vote a wishy washy person that oozes lack of confidence like himself into office.

I've got my 12 year political map already filled out. Bush is written in for the 2005-2008 slot as president. Whatever democrat claws their way to the top will be 2009-2012. The Mayan calendar ends that year but if the world doesn't end, we'll have a Republican back as president 2013-2016.

[Lohrno]

The problem is that Bush can be much more straight forward and tell little lies...

Oh yeah, like "Iraq has weapons of mass destruction." and "Iraq has clear links to Al Qaeda." and "We won't have an all volunteer army... .. .. We will have an all volunteer army!" and "The economy's doing great!"

-=Lohrno

[Markulas]

Wow, think of it, in just one week we won't be talking about the election. We'll be talking about the lawsuit from the losing party.

[Lohrno]

Wow, think of it, in just one week we won't be talking about the election. We'll be talking about the lawsuit from the losing party.

Yup... I just hope that it's not Kerry, because that would brand the Dems as a bunch of frickin whiners.

-=Lohrno

[Xzion]

Then again, you never really cared much for the truth did you?

I admire Kerry's attempts at lying and stretching the truth. He sucks at it though. The problem is that Bush can be much more straight forward and tell little lies while Kerry has to spin monster tall tales to convince people that it's ok to vote a wishy washy person that oozes lack of confidence like himself into office.

I've got my 12 year political map already filled out. Bush is written in for the 2005-2008 slot as president. Whatever democrat claws their way to the top will be 2009-2012. The Mayan calendar ends that year but if the world doesn't end, we'll have a Republican back as president 2013-2016.

winnow, how would you rate bush, and only bush, overall as a president?
please show your opinion on economic, moral and foreign stances bush jr has taken

or are you going to dodge the question again, because you realize he is an atrocious excuse for a president and that this election is not about John Kerry, it is about George Bush and weather or not you believe George Bush has been a good leader.

[Lohrno]

winnow, how would you rate bush, and only bush, overall as a president?
please show your opinion on economic, moral and foreign stances bush jr has taken

or are you going to dodge the question again, because you realize he is an atrocious excuse for a president and that this election is not about John Kerry, it is about George Bush and weather or not you believe George Bush has been a good leader.

You have as much chance of that question being answered as I have of winning anything from the McDonalds monopoly game.

-=Lohrno

[Xzion]

winnow, how would you rate bush, and only bush, overall as a president?
please show your opinion on economic, moral and foreign stances bush jr has taken

or are you going to dodge the question again, because you realize he is an atrocious excuse for a president and that this election is not about John Kerry, it is about George Bush and weather or not you believe George Bush has been a good leader.

You have as much chance of that question being answered as I have of winning anything from the McDonalds monopoly game.

-=Lohrno

I know, but at least it continues to completely discredit Winnows opinions, since he cant honestly say the man he so blindly supports has even done a decent job

[Mak]

More of the story comes to light. I wonder what else got moved.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national ... -6257r.htm

Russia tied to Iraq's missing arms


By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


Russian special forces troops moved many of Saddam Hussein's weapons and related goods out of Iraq and into Syria in the weeks before the March 2003 U.S. military operation, The Washington Times has learned.

John A. Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, said in an interview that he believes the Russian troops, working with Iraqi intelligence, "almost certainly" removed the high-explosive material that went missing from the Al-Qaqaa facility, south of Baghdad.

"The Russians brought in, just before the war got started, a whole series of military units," Mr. Shaw said. "Their main job was to shred all evidence of any of the contractual arrangements they had with the Iraqis. The others were transportation units."

Mr. Shaw, who was in charge of cataloging the tons of conventional arms provided to Iraq by foreign suppliers, said he recently obtained reliable information on the arms-dispersal program from two European intelligence services that have detailed knowledge of the Russian-Iraqi weapons collaboration.

Most of Saddam's most powerful arms were systematically separated from other arms like mortars, bombs and rockets, and sent to Syria and Lebanon, and possibly to Iran, he said.

The Russian involvement in helping disperse Saddam's weapons, including some 380 tons of RDX and HMX, is still being investigated, Mr. Shaw said.

The RDX and HMX, which are used to manufacture high-explosive and nuclear weapons, are probably of Russian origin, he said.

Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita could not be reached for comment.

The disappearance of the material was reported in a letter Oct. 10 from the Iraqi government to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Disclosure of the missing explosives Monday in a New York Times story was used by the Democratic presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry, who accused the Bush administration of failing to secure the material.

Al-Qaqaa, a known Iraqi weapons site, was monitored closely, Mr. Shaw said.

"That was such a pivotal location, Number 1, that the mere fact of [special explosives] disappearing was impossible," Mr. Shaw said. "And Number 2, if the stuff disappeared, it had to have gone before we got there."

The Pentagon disclosed yesterday that the Al-Qaqaa facility was defended by Fedayeen Saddam, Special Republican Guard and other Iraqi military units during the conflict. U.S. forces defeated the defenders around April 3 and found the gates to the facility open, the Pentagon said in a statement yesterday.

A military unit in charge of searching for weapons, the Army's 75th Exploitation Task Force, then inspected Al-Qaqaa on May 8, May 11 and May 27, 2003, and found no high explosives that had been monitored in the past by the IAEA.

The Pentagon said there was no evidence of large-scale movement of explosives from the facility after April 6.

"The movement of 377 tons of heavy ordnance would have required dozens of heavy trucks and equipment moving along the same roadways as U.S. combat divisions occupied continually for weeks prior to and subsequent to the 3rd Infantry Division's arrival at the facility," the statement said.

The statement also said that the material may have been removed from the site by Saddam's regime.

According to the Pentagon, U.N. arms inspectors sealed the explosives at Al-Qaqaa in January 2003 and revisited the site in March and noted that the seals were not broken.

It is not known whether the inspectors saw the explosives in March. The U.N. team left the country before the U.S.-led invasion began March 20, 2003.

A second defense official said documents on the Russian support to Iraq reveal that Saddam's government paid the Kremlin for the special forces to provide security for Iraq's Russian arms and to conduct counterintelligence activities designed to prevent U.S. and Western intelligence services from learning about the arms pipeline through Syria.

The Russian arms-removal program was initiated after Yevgeny Primakov, the former Russian intelligence chief, could not persuade Saddam to give in to U.S. and Western demands, this official said.

A small portion of Iraq's 650,000 tons to 1 million tons of conventional arms that were found after the war were looted after the U.S.-led invasion, Mr. Shaw said. Russia was Iraq's largest foreign supplier of weaponry, he said.

However, the most important and useful arms and explosives appear to have been separated and moved out as part of carefully designed program. "The organized effort was done in advance of the conflict," Mr. Shaw said.

The Russian forces were tasked with moving special arms out of the country.

Mr. Shaw said foreign intelligence officials believe the Russians worked with Saddam's Mukhabarat intelligence service to separate out special weapons, including high explosives and other arms and related technology, from standard conventional arms spread out in some 200 arms depots.

The Russian weapons were then sent out of the country to Syria, and possibly Lebanon in Russian trucks, Mr. Shaw said.

Mr. Shaw said he believes that the withdrawal of Russian-made weapons and explosives from Iraq was part of plan by Saddam to set up a "redoubt" in Syria that could be used as a base for launching pro-Saddam insurgency operations in Iraq.

The Russian units were dispatched beginning in January 2003 and by March had destroyed hundreds of pages of documents on Russian arms supplies to Iraq while dispersing arms to Syria, the second official said.

Besides their own weapons, the Russians were supplying Saddam with arms made in Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria and other Eastern European nations, he said.

"Whatever was not buried was put on lorries and sent to the Syrian border," the defense official said.

Documents reviewed by the official included itineraries of military units involved in the truck shipments to Syria. The materials outlined in the documents included missile components, MiG jet parts, tank parts and chemicals used to make chemical weapons, the official said.

The director of the Iraqi government front company known as the Al Bashair Trading Co. fled to Syria, where he is in charge of monitoring arms holdings and funding Iraqi insurgent activities, the official said.

Also, an Arabic-language report obtained by U.S. intelligence disclosed the extent of Russian armaments. The 26-page report was written by Abdul Tawab Mullah al Huwaysh, Saddam's minister of military industrialization, who was captured by U.S. forces May 2, 2003.

The Russian "spetsnaz" or special-operations forces were under the GRU military intelligence service and organized large commercial truck convoys for the weapons removal, the official said.

Regarding the explosives, the new Iraqi government reported that 194.7 metric tons of HMX, or high-melting-point explosive, and 141.2 metric tons of RDX, or rapid-detonation explosive, and 5.8 metric tons of PETN, or pentaerythritol tetranitrate, were missing.

The material is used in nuclear weapons and also in making military "plastic" high explosive.

Defense officials said the Russians can provide information on what happened to the Iraqi weapons and explosives that were transported out of the country. Officials believe the Russians also can explain what happened to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs.