The DOD had a press conference yesterday about the return of the IAEA to inspect the Iraqi Tuwaitha nuclear facility. One of the interesting nuggets is that the storage facility there has been under continuous American control since April 7.
“And Site Charlie, where radiological materials, principally yellow cake were stored, consists of three buildings, and they’re surrounded by a fence and a wall of concrete barriers about 12 feet tall on three sides. According to reports from civilians in the area, on or about the 10th of March, Iraqi army forces who were guarding the site reportedly left their weapons — some of their weapons with the local civilians — and abandoned the site. We also believe, from talking to the local civilians, that on or about 20 March, the 20th of March, the civilians guarding the site abandoned it also. And, of course, we were conducting our attack across the Kuwaiti border on the 21st. On the 7th of April, U.S. Marines from our land component first arrived at Tuwaitha Site Charlie and assumed the security, and remained there until the 20th of April, when they turned over control of the facility to U.S. Army soldiers from another unit. And Tuwaitha Site Charlie has been secured and under the positive control of U.S. forces since the 7th of April. When the U.S. forces first arrived, they found the Tuwaitha site facility, Tuwaitha Charlie facility, in disarray. The front gate was open and unsecured, and the fence line and barrier wall on the back side of the facility had been breached. And the troops reported that there were no seals on the exterior doors of the buildings. But since taking control of Tuwaitha Site Charlie, no thieves or looters have been allowed inside the facility.”
There have been some reports in the press suggesting that the Marines showed up, bumbled around, and then left. According to the DOD, not true. However, the entire facility covers 23,000 acres, and security has been continously provided only at the storage site. What’s odd about the time line is that the Iraqi soldiers abandoned the site 11 days before the coalition attack on Iraq. Another odd thing: apparently we found more material there than we thought should be there, which is the point of having the IAEA, who actually have the records, inspect. Hopefully the IAEA inspection will help us figure out if any nuclear material was stolen (or moved there from elsewhere) before the Marines arrived.
[Via Phil Carter]
