"The disappearance of such equipment, may be of proliferation significance."

Res ipsa loquitur

In the weeks after Baghdad fell in April 2003, looters systematically dismantled and removed tons of machinery from Saddam Hussein's most important weapons installations, including some with high-precision equipment capable of making parts for nuclear arms, a senior Iraqi official said this week in the government's first extensive comments on the looting.

[snip]

"They came in with the cranes and the lorries, and they depleted the whole sites," Dr. Araji said. "They knew what they were doing; they knew what they want. This was sophisticated looting."

The threat posed by these types of facilities was cited by the Bush administration as a reason for invading Iraq, but the installations were left largely unguarded by allied forces in the chaotic months after the invasion.

Apparently the "WMD" were spirited out of Iraq; or at least the equipment capable of making such things. But it wasn't before the invasion; and we still don't know where it all went. Why did this happen? The official line is that we didn't have enough personnel to both invade, and protect weapons sites. So, tell me again, what was this invasion for? And will this make a difference now? The White House, contacted for this article, considered it old news. To this White House, it's all about accountability, which is all about: who's got the power now?

Perhaps we will be assured by Bush supporters once again that the world is better off without Saddam Hussein in power. Even though we've created chaos in Iraq, and a nuclear proliferation issue that didn't exist before. Now, precisely how that equation balances, is a bit beyond my skills to deduce. Because, the looters "knew what they were doing."

But obviously, we didn't.