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It's pretty clear now that the various spin lines used to explain away the explosives stolen from Al Qaqaa are all phony - the footage that shows the 82nd Airborne examining the material is pretty solid.

But really, it wouldn't even be relevant if the materials had been proven not to be there when the Airborne arrived. The following facts are all undisputed:

• There were a relatively small number of critical Iraqi sites that had nuclear proliferation issues.
  
• These sites were known to the IAEA, which actively monitored them. The US is a member of IAEA and had access to their information.
  
• The IAEA left when Iraq became a war zone. The US failed to respond to requests from the IAEA to return to the monitored sites and failed to guard them. Al Qaqaa is not alone - looting at Al Tuwaitha, Iraq's most important nuclear site, was known to be serious in May 2003, perhaps before the explosives were stolen from Al Qaqaa, but nothing was done to protect either site.
  
• The world's two most dangerous proliferation players, Iran and Al Qaeda, are both active in Iraq. Chances are substantial that one or both have recovered some of the stolen material.

Thanks to George Bush's incompetence the chance of a nuclear or dirty bomb being detonated, in NYC, DC, or perhaps Tel Aviv, have risen significantly. Which really makes you wonder about Bush apologists like Giuliani and Hume, now busily lying to blame Bush's latest blunder on Kerry, or the UN, or the soldiers, or anybody else not actually responsible. Sure, these guys are used to lying about Bush's policies, and that makes a certain amount of cynical, amoral sense. If you know you are part of the small elite that will profit from Bush's tax cuts, and you have no integrity, it's reasonable to try to trick the great unwashed who stand to gain nothing into believing that Bush is helping them. Have they just gotten so used to lying that they never even noticed when they crossed the line from lies that line their pockets to lies that could get themselves, their families, and their friends killed?

  posted by Alex at 8:01 PM