BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 13 — The two most recent suicide bombings here and virtually every other attack on American soldiers and Iraqis were carried out with explosives and matériel taken from Saddam Hussein's former weapons dumps, which are much larger than previously estimated and remain, for the most part, unguarded by American troops, allied officials said Monday.
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Officials also say that Mr. Hussein stockpiled at least 5,000 shoulder-fired missiles, and that fewer than a third have been recovered. They fear that many have been smuggled out of the country and may have fallen into the hands of terrorist organizations.
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One of the largest in the country, covering more than 10 square miles, is near Al Musaiyib, 20 miles south of Baghdad, and is still not adequately guarded, an official said this week.
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Last month the Army began patrols of the site, and helicopters fly over occasionally. But it is not guarded around the clock, and officials say they believe that weapons and munitions are still being removed — and probably being used in devices that are killing Americans and Iraqis.
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Intelligence agencies have also picked up conversations between Wahhabi Muslims from Saudi Arabia and Iraqi Baathists loyal to Mr. Hussein. That has surprised the officials, because the Wahhabis are highly conservative fundamentalist Sunni Muslims, while the Baathists are moderate Sunnis who until recent years encouraged secularism.
"These are people who normally want to kill each other," said one official.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/14/international/middleeast/14WEAP.html?thSo now not only have we pissed off even more of the Muslim world, but we've given them an armory. Gee, I don't know about you, but I feel so much safer now that we've invaded Iraq and knocked out Saddam and his army (which used to guard these depots) and made it possible for terrorists to have even more SHOULDER FIRED MISSILES even as funding to secure our borders and ports from this stuff entering our country dries up. Word up: DON'T FLY INTO OR OUT OF HEATHROW!
And remember when al-Queda and the Baathists hated each other? Sounds like they found someone to hate even more than they hate each other....of such sentiments are alliances born.