A journalist observed Iraqi Islamists looting weapons and explosives from al Qaqaa as late as November 2003.
“I was utterly stupefied to see that a place like that was pretty much unguarded and that insurgents could help themselves for months on end. We were there for a long time and no one disturbed the group while they were loading their truck,” she says.
Which of these two statements sounds like it comes <$NoAd$>from the stronger leader?
John Kerry: In response to this tape from Osama bin Laden, let me make it clear, crystal clear. As Americans, we are absolutely united in our determination to hunt down and destroy Osama bin Laden and the terrorists. They are barbarians. And I will stop at absolutely nothing to hunt down, capture or kill the terrorists wherever they are, whatever it takes. Period.
George W. Bush: Earlier today I was informed of the tape that is now being analyzed by America’s intelligence community. Let me make this very clear: Americans will not be intimidated or influenced by an enemy of our country. I’m sure Senator Kerry agrees with this. I also want to say to the American people that we’re at war with these terrorists and I am confident that we will prevail.
You decide …
His own private mystery<$NoAd$> land …
If you actually try to pin down the timeline of who destroyed what, when it was moved, what was moved, we are still in a mystery land about all that.
David Brooks
Former Senior Editor
Weekly Standard
October 29th, 2004
Well, at least with regard to this one bunker and the film shows one seal, one bunker, one group of soldiers going through and there were others there that were sealed, with this one, I think it is game, set and match.
David Kay
Former Chief Inspector
Iraq Survey Group
October 28th, 2004
The truth is out there …
Bush team calls bin Laden’s tape a “little gift.”
Does the president really see bin Laden’s message as a “gift”?
I mean, okay, okay, of course he does. But to actually say it?
Not to flog a dead horse, but what would be the response if a Kerry campaign advisor made a similar or analogous comment?
Can someone ask the president about this?
One of the oddities of the al Qaqaa <$NoAd$>is story is why it should seem even remotely surprising to anyone who’s actually been paying attention to what’s been happening in Iraq over the last eighteen months. After all, almost all of Iraq’s nuclear facilities — containing both equipment of use to nuclear programs, partially enriched uranium, and other goodies for baddies — were similarly looted at around the same time.
As Brett Wagner, a professor at the Naval War College, put it a year ago in USA Today …
In the weeks before the invasion, the U.S. military repeatedly warned the White House that its war plans did not include sufficient ground forces, air and naval operations and logistical support to guarantee a successful mission. Those warnings were discounted â even mocked â by administration officials who professed to know more about war fighting than the war fighters themselves.
But the war fighters were right. Military commanders weren’t given enough manpower and logistical support to secure all of the known nuclear sites, let alone all of the suspected ones.
It wasn’t until seven of Iraq’s main nuclear facilities were extensively looted that the true magnitude of the administration’s strategic blunder came into focus.
Why is Qaqaa surprising?
A short note on the race, the polls, and what the Bush camp is calling bin Laden’s “little gift.”
The next few days phone polling probably amounts to one of the biggest industries in the United States.
So it’s interesting to look at the results of last night’s post-gift polling.
First, the four tracking polls released today and thus including roughly one-third of calls after the release of the OBL tape …
In Zogby’s, Kerry moved up one point.
In Rasmussen’s, Kerry moved up one point.
In WaPo/ABC, Kerry moved up two points.
In Tipp, Bush moved up two points.
Two other national polls were released (at least that I’ve seen), Newsweek and Fox.
One third of the Newsweek poll was done last night. And in their poll Bush was up over Kerry by 50% to 44%. That’s four points better than the Newsweek poll the previous week that had Bush over Kerry 48% to 46%.
Look, though, at the Fox poll.
Fox did one poll Wednesday and Thursday night. And then they did another poll with calls Thursday and Friday night. So the common denominator is that both polls had calls Thursday night. And half the calls in the second poll were done post-gift.
The first Fox poll had Bush up 5% (50% to 45%) and the second had him up 2% (47% to 45%).
Now, does this mean the bin Laden tape is giving a boost to Kerry? Of course, not. These are tiny changes. And it’s altogether possible that this small shift is simply the result of statistical ‘noise’ — numbers wobbling around within the polls’ margins of error.
But it should put at least some damper on the notion that the release of the OBL tape would lead to some sudden Bush surge.
At least if the pundits are listening.
âThe president said one time in caucus, âI donât know how much you want to use this on the campaign trail, but our intelligence confirms they want me out.â So however that bears on your view of the administration is secondary to the fact that if they think they can dislodge the president by hitting us before the election, they will.”
[ed. note: Regrettably, The Republic is subscription only. And, no, I wasn’t a subscriber before this evening. But, for the benefit of TPM readers everywhere, I plunked down the $8.95 weekly subscription rate and charged it to the TPM Educational, Research and Time-Wasting fund. A not of thanks to TPM reader SC.]
A simple point: This election is going to be won or lost on the ground, with organization and turnout. If you’re part of the GOTV effort, on either side, this is in your hands.
Peter Bergen on the new bin Laden tape and Tora Bora. Definitely give this a look.