Al QaQaa Timeline

Note: In February 2003 the IAEA confirmed the sealing of 350 metric tons, (754,000 pounds) of HMX and RDX explosives at the Al QaQaa weapons facility. A month later the IAEA certified the HMX was still there; but could not certify that the RDX was sealed. A month later on April 10, 2003, the 101st Airborne Second Brigade entered the site briefly on their way north to Bagdad. A month later the ISG and US Forces found no RDX or HMX at the site. Five months later, the story of the disappearance of the explosives made it onto the US new outlets. Neither the CPA, the IAEA, the ISG, nor the US military authorities made any mention of the disappearance. The Pentagon suggests the explosives may have been moved between February and April of 2003.

The 350 metric tons of explosives, which is equal to the current calculated mass of cocaine which comes into the US annually, would have required heavy moving equipment, and at least 25 trucks to move this quantity of explosives. Since Al QaQaa was a well known weapons facility, and the US Airforce had recon aircraft in the air over Bagdad during the "disappearance window", the casual observer must conclude the US Military considered other sites to be more vital to be protected from looting. Since it was not Saddam's palaces, not the Art Museums, not the Hospitals, and since the Kurds and Brits took care of the oil fields, there must have been something else that warranted protection. What was it?