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Soldiers Describe Looting at Iraqi Al-Qaqaa Site
Several U.S Army reservists and National Guard members said they saw widespread looting of explosives from the al-Qaqaa facility in Iraq following the fall of Baghdad, the Los Angeles Times reported today (see GSN, Nov. 2). Nearly 380 tons of explosives — some of which could be used to detonate nuclear weapons — were reported missing last month from the site. About a dozen U.S. troops guarding the facility were unable to prevent the theft of explosives in spring 2003 because they were outnumbered, the soldiers said. Soldiers with the 317th Support Center said they received no response to a message sent to commanders in Baghdad requesting aid in securing the site, according to the Times. “We were running from one side of the compound to the other site, trying to kick people out,” said one senior noncommissioned officer. “On our last day there, there were at least 100 vehicles waiting at the site for us to leave.” “It was complete chaos. It was looting like L.A. during the Rodney King riots,” another officer said. The solders could not confirm that HMX and RDX explosives — two of three types reported missing from al-Qaqaa by the International Atomic Energy Agency — were among the looted items, according to the Times. One soldier said that trucks used by the looters carried away bags labeled “hexamine,” which is an ingredient of HMX, according to the Times (Mark Mazzetti, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 4).
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