I don't think Matt Drudge is reliable, that's all I'm saying. Sheesh, people, calm down before your heads asplode.

Here is a real link to the story:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/...ves/index.html

And here are the problems with the story:

A Pentagon "official who monitors developments in Iraq" and who wished to remain anonymous told the AP quote: "US-led coalition troops had searched Al-Qaqaa in the immediate aftermath of the March 2003 invasion and confirmed that the explosives, which had been under IAEA seal since 1991, were intact."

Pentagon Spokesman Larry Di Rita's claim is that the first US troops that visited al Qa Qaa found that the explosives had already been stolen or looted or otherwise secreted away. (He has, in fact, already said this.) This would mean that the administration, or at least the US government, has known about this situation for 18 months.

The problem is that the White House spent the all of yesterday claiming that they knew nothing about this until October 15th, 2004. Scott McClellan said this repeatedly. Quote: "Now (after October 15th), the Pentagon, upon learning of this, directed the multinational forces and the Iraqi survey group to look into this matter, and that's what they are currently doing." So he says that the Pentagon only just learned about this. But Di Rita says that the US government has known about it for 18 months.

So which is the real story? They've known about it since just after the war and hid it from the American public? Or they just found out about it ten days ago and now they're on the case?

Equally disgusting is the attempt to shift the blame to the Iraqi government, and downplay the importance of this event. And of course, Bush himself ignored the situation yesterday and gave his crew 24 hours to come up with a way to spin this to make the President not look as bad. But this is truly damning stuff. As a result of our invasion of Iraq, 380 metric tons of RDX and HMX are now missing. That is a HUGE anount of explosives that can be used against our troops. US and coalition soldiers are being killed in Iraq at an alarming rate, and now we're seeing an attempt to spin and/or cover up the reason why. When the post-invasion looting was at its height, Donald Rumsfeld dismissed it saying "freedom is messy." Well now we know the consequences of the looting. Insurgents now have their hands on deadly weapons. And right-wingers are trying to spin this like it wasn't their fault. God forbid the administration admits their mistake. It makes me sick.