Did the Invasion of Iraq Help Arm Terrorists?

Vol. I, Issue 2
November 2004

Recent news reports indicate that approximately 380 tons of explosives are missing from a former Iraqi military facility called Al Qaqaa¹. This facility was supposed to be under the control of the American military -- though it appears they left it unguarded for some time. Furthermore, sources say the United Nations Weapons Inspectors knew of the facility and had inventoried its contents as part of the International Weapons Inspection effort -- which took place before the American led war in Iraq. The UN stated that its inspectors made American forces aware of the compound and its cache of explosives before the Bush administration's unilateral invasion of the country². It seems that while the Iraqi Oil Ministry received priority attention³ during the invasion, the weapons facility received little to none. While no one disputes that Saddam Hussein was a terrible dictator, many do say he jealously guarded his control over his military and his stockpile of weapons. With the missing 380 tons of explosives now likely in the hands of terrorists, some are asking if the invasion of Iraq actually made America less safe.

It is the type of explosive that is missing that has so many concerned. It is called HMX or octogen⁴. It is an extremely powerful high melting point explosive and has been a main component of many terrorist weapons including the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland⁵. Because even the smallest quantity is extremely dangerous, the loss of 380 tons is incredibly devastating to international security -- and would likely increase the deadliness of future terrorist attacks.

While members of the Bush administration cited Saddam Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction as a cause for war -- an accusation that was later proved untrue -- the risk from weapons at his disposal was far less than the risk of weapons in the hands of terrorists. Iraq and its dictator were constrained by UN sanctions, and international weapons inspectors had detailed knowledge of Hussein's limited military power and his small weapons capabilities. Unfortunately, because the Bush administration's pre-emptive war threw the country into anarchy, the whereabouts of the explosives are now unknown.

United Nations inspectors had visited the facility as recently as March 2003 -- and even when George W. Bush decided to oppose the highly successful multinational inspections program by launching an invasion, the inspectors still provided the American military with detailed information on all Iraqi weapons sites -- including Al Qaqaa. During the invasion, a television station in St. Paul, MN sent a reporter be embedded with American military forces. The particular unit he was traveling with was one of the first American groups to encounter Al Qaqaa. According to video footage and the eyewitness account of the reporter: the soldiers observed the UN inspection team's seal on the premises, forced opened some of the bunkers and later left them unattended⁶. When the reporter expressed concern about abandoning the explosives, soldiers offered him assurances that the area around the compound had been secured. But the unit was under orders to get to Baghdad, and the weapons compound went unguarded.

Because of incredible worldwide scrutiny, it would have been impossible for Saddam Hussein to move or otherwise hide the Al Qaqaa weapons without the international community knowing his every move; but during the chaos of the invasion, insurgents and terrorists managed to move all 380 tons out of the facility to unknown locations. The invasion of Iraq was supposed to make America safer by keeping weapons out of the hands of a madman. Unfortunately, it seems as though the invasion put weapons into the hands of many madmen. Some have said that Bush needs Americans to be in a constant state of fear to keep down the criticism of his failing administration; but there is no evidence to support the idea that this negligence was deliberate. It is unlikely that George W. Bush wanted to arm the terrorists who threaten America's security -- but terrorists now possess these deadly weapons nonetheless.