Salon on Iraqi weapons: "Tip of the Iceberg"

About the writer
David J. Morris is a former Marine officer and the author of "Storm on the Horizon: Khafji -- The Battle that Changed the Course of the Gulf War" (Free Press). He was embedded with the Marines in Fallujah, Iraq, in May and June 2004.

As I learned while embedded in Iraq, the highly lethal explosives stolen from Al Qaqaa are just a fraction of the mountain of poorly secured munitions that could be turned against U.S. soldiers and citizens.

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Having personally toured weapons caches comparable in scale to Al Qaqaa and seen similar ordnance in the process of being converted into roadside bombs at an insurgent hideout, I believe that the theft and redistribution of conventional explosives and weapons represent the largest long-term threat to American troops in Iraq. Strangely enough, it is likely that dealing with this conventional weapons threat, rather than eradicating the mythical unconventional WMD threat, will be the U.S. legacy in Iraq.
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Without being cavalier about the weapons loss at Al Qaqaa, it is crucial to remember that the cache is just one repository among thousands in Iraq. The real and persistent danger is that America's continued mismanagement of the arms caches across Iraq is arming and equipping the very enemy the United States is dedicated to destroying and providing a key service to the insurgency.

In discussing Iraq, it is easy to overuse Vietnam analogies, but it is nevertheless worth remembering that one of the key developments in the early stages of that war occurred in early 1962 when the Viet Cong began acquiring stolen U.S. small arms through the black market. For a budding insurgency beginning to solidify its movement, there are few things more invigorating than a sudden inrush of weapons and equipment. In the larger context of a shifting battlefield, such a development is oftentimes a catalyst for an even wider and deadlier war.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/26/iraq_weapons_caches/index.html

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bush supporters might argue that this report shows that Saddam had a tremendous amount of weapons and we had to remove him. But because Rumsfeld went in with too few troops, thousands of tons of a wild variety of weapons have been cast to the winds, to be let loose upon the world.

fellow Viet Nam vets that those troops would have been killed in Nam. Those weapons caches would have been booby trapped. I guess since we didn't secure them at the time that's what they became anyway.

An Rpg launcher $50.00, a round for the Rpg $10.00 The place is awash in weapons. the free market will supply whatever is wanted. There are a lot of US $$$$$$$$$$$$$ floating around.

This is a true Nationalist Religious war without end.

I believe so, too. So what is your view of Kerry's share-the-pain-with-allies panacea?

I remember how much a greenback dollar would buy in Vietnam although it was considered treason to spend one.

all ignored.

Noted it at the time. Major screw-up right there.

Putting aside the idiocy of invading in the first place, the "plan" was shxt. Plenty of evidence out there that more troops were needed and recommended prior.

Rumsfeld should have been fired ages ago, and moreso now. Bush's failure to do so necessitates his removal.

weapons may have been paid for by billions of dollars of US aid during the Reagan and Bush I administations. "Blowback" in the worst possible way. Thankfully, this information is coming out at a very important time.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

throughout the world thanks to cover from the NRA.

have faith

JUST SAY NO TO BUSH