Huge weapons cache found

[kach22i]

Huge weapons cache found

By Ryan Lenz
Associated Press
Dec. 21,2005

ZUWAD KHALAF, Iraq — As the piles of missiles and rockets dug from the desert floor grew, smiles on soldiers’ faces turned to scowls of serious concern.

Working on a tip from an informant, soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division on Tuesday dug up more than a thousand aging rockets and missiles wrapped in plastic, some of which had been buried as recently as two weeks ago, Army officials said.

“This is the mother lode, right here,” Sgt. Jeremy Galusha, 25, of Dallas, Ore., said, leaning on a shovel after uncovering more than 20 Soviet missiles.

As the sun set Tuesday, soldiers continued to uncover more, following zigzagging tire tracks across the desert floor and using metal detectors to locate weapons including mines, mortars and machine gun rounds.

But the growing piles of missiles and rockets were of primary concern for the soldiers in Iraq, where bombs made with loose ordinance by insurgents are the preferred method to target coalition forces.

“In our eyes, every one of these rockets represents one less IED,” said 2nd Lt. Patrick Vardaro, 23, of Norwood, Mass., a platoon leader in the division’s 187th Infantry Regiment.

Vardaro would not comment on whether there were signs the caches had been used recently to make bombs, but the service records accompanying the missiles dated to 1984, suggesting they were buried by the Iraqi military under Saddam Hussein.

Still, the plastic around some of the rockets — of Soviet, German and French origins — appeared to be fresh and had not deteriorated as it had on some of the older munitions.

An Air Force explosive ordinance team planned to begin destroying them as early as Wednesday morning.

Commanders in the 101st said knowing that an Iraqi tipped them off to the buried weapons could mean that residents in this largely Sunni Arab region about 150 miles north of Baghdad are beginning to warm up to coalition forces.

“The tide is turning,” Vardaro said. “It’s better to work with Americans than against us.”

Army officials would not say who had informed them of the weapons caches or whether national security forces including Iraqi Army and police had helped.

“A good Samaritan told us about it,” he said.

Please verify this story, is it the missing WMD?

[Nathans_Dad]

No but it certainly is a sign of things turning for the better in Iraq...

[techweenie]

Very cool story.

[nostatic]

oh, I thought you were talking about mine

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Still, the plastic around some of the rockets — of Soviet, German and French origins — appeared to be fresh and had not deteriorated as it had on some of the older munitions.

Grr...

[Nathans_Dad]

Another interesting point this brings up...

Here we have found a "huge" weapons cache, "the mother load" buried in the sands of Iraq. We have had troops on the ground in Iraq for almost 3 years and didn't find this "HUGE CACHE"...

And yet Rodeo makes fun of Joe for suggesting there might be WMD still buried in Iraq??

[FrayAdjacent911]

Damn, I thought someone had looked in my closet.

[techweenie]

Originally posted by Nathans_Dad
Another interesting point this brings up...

Here we have found a "huge" weapons cache, "the mother load" buried in the sands of Iraq. We have had troops on the ground in Iraq for almost 3 years and didn't find this "HUGE CACHE"...

And yet Rodeo makes fun of Joe for suggesting there might be WMD still buried in Iraq??

Well, Joe & co. seem to know better than the CIA, which says "no."

But sometimes you just can't hear what you don't want to.

If the indications are correct that these munitions are 21 years old, that was the time that most Western countries were helping Saddam -- including the US. Fortunately, most of the chemical and biological weapons we armed him with had a relatively short shelf life.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally posted by Nathans_Dad
Another interesting point this brings up...

And yet Rodeo makes fun of Joe for suggesting there might be WMD still buried in Iraq??

What part of "some of which had been buried as recently as two weeks ago, Army officials said." is not clear?

[Nathans_Dad]

What part of the word "some" is not clear to you??

My point is that here is a massive amount of rockets buried under the sand which has escaped detection for 3 years. You saying there is no possibility of other caches buried under the sand??

[Porsche-O-Phile]

What part of "we tortured some dude until he told us where they were" isn't clear?

[FrayAdjacent911]

Originally posted by Porsche-O-Phile
What part of "we tortured some dude until he told us where they were" isn't clear?

When someone says it... or does it... then maybe it will be clear.

There ARE lots of Iraqis that want us out... but there are some that know that these insurgent punks need to be put down first. They don't want to go from being occupied to being imbroiled in a civil war.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

When some had been buried two weeks ago, there is no way you can come to the conclusion that they've been buried there for 3 or more years.

This is the problem with this country. People see things they want to believe, no matter what the source actually said. Rick, reread the story.

Aging arms were found. Some were buried as much as 2 weeks ago.

The most you can pull from this is that service records from 1984 were buried with them. Does this mean they were buried in 1984? Inconclusive. 3 years ago. Inconclusive. 2 months ago. Again, inconclusive. The only thing we know is that some were buried 2 weeks ago. Other than that, we know that service records were kept. nothing more.

[Seahawk]

Originally posted by Shaun 84 Targa
When some had been buried two weeks ago, there is no way you can come to the conclusion that they've been buried there for 3 or more years.

This is the problem with this country. People see things they want to believe, no matter what the source actually said. Rick, reread the story.

Aging arms were found. Some were buried as much as 2 weeks ago.

The most you can pull from this is that service records from 1984 were buried with them. Does this mean they were buried in 1984? Inconclusive. 3 years ago. Inconclusive. 2 months ago. Again, inconclusive. The only thing we know is that some were buried 2 weeks ago. Other than that, we know that service records were kept. nothing more.

You have the most didactic manner without reason: YOU make conclusions based on scant evidence and then launch an "inconclusive" mantra on the same scant evidence.
You are the man.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally posted by Seahawk
You have the most didactic manner without reason: YOU make conclusions based on scant evidence and then launch an "inconclusive" mantra on the same scant evidence.
You are the man.

Oy vey! Please enlighten me. What conclusions, using logic, can you draw from the text in terms of temporally locating the cache found?

Didactic. great word!

[Jeff Higgins]

O.k., I give up. I can't find it in my dictionary. What the hell does "didactic" mean? Whatever it means, Shaun, I'm sure you should be ashamed of yourself.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Jeff, I'm ashamed even to be alive, and proof positive that Intelligent Design just can't be real. Yes, I was called as a witness in Dover, PA.



Merry Christmas BTW!

[Nathans_Dad]

Uh, Shaun please point me to where I said those munitions were buried for three years.

What I DID say was that there was a weapons cache buried in the sands of Iraq and our troops had been in Iraq for 3 years without finding it. That statement does not imply that any or all of the weapons were buried there for the three years.

My point still stands...the insurgents were able to keep a massive cache of weapons buried in the sands of Iraq and our troops, despite all their best efforts, didn't find it until Joe Iraqi tipped them off.

My questions still stands as well: Do you still say there is no possibility that there are still WMD buried in the sands of Iraq?

[Seahawk]

Originally posted by Shaun 84 Targa
Oy vey! Please enlighten me. What conclusions, using logic, can you draw from the text in terms of temporally locating the cache found?

Didactic. great word!

If you can't see the text prompted no temporal logic...well, then, why:

This is the problem with this country. People see things they want to believe, no matter what the source actually said. Rick, reread the story.

The source said NOTHING conclusive...could mean three years or buried at the time of the Fertile Cresent...or two weeks ago. Arguing either way is, well, inconclusive, and a problem. The cache of weapons could be the proof that there were were WMDs in every Iraqi garage or not.

When some had been buried two weeks ago, there is no way you can come to the conclusion that they've been buried there for 3 or more years.

Logic ordains there is no way, based on the text, you can come to the conclusion they were not.

[pwd72s]

Good news from Iraq? Hmmmm, that equates to bad news for Democrats.