Former U.S. Ambassador Peter W. Galbraith ( who supported Bush 's war in Iraq ) reported two additional incidents of significant looting in post-invasion Iraq . He witnessed U.S. troops standing outside Baghdad 's Disease Center as looters attacked the complex on 16 April 2003 , " taking live HIV and black fever virus among other potentially lethal materials . " At the same time , looters attacked Iraq 's nuclear facilities at Tuwaitha , taking " barrels of yellowcake ( raw uranium ) , apparently dumping the uranium and using the barrels to hold water . US troops were at Tuwaitha but did not interfere . " Galbraith noted that the facilities were all under IAEA seal and that " they remained untouched until the US troops arrived . " Former counterterrorism directors for the National Security Council Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon noted the danger of these nuclear materials falling into the hands of terrorists as a result of the U.S. invasion : " Another potential consequence of the invasion is the spread of weapons of mass destruction to al-Qaeda or other terrorists ... T he International Atomic Energy Agency certified that there were highly radioactive materials at the al-Tuwaitha facilities , including partially enriched — though not weapons-grade — uranium . These materials could be used to fabricate one or more radiological dispersion devices — or ' dirty bombs , ' as they have come to be known . Some of these materials appear to be missing — how much remains unclear — and it seems a fair conjecture that someone ... may have ' privatized ' these weapons with the intent of selling them to the highest biddeer . Ultimately , this material could find its way into the hands of al-Qaeda . It is difficult to imagine a more horrifyingly ironic outcome to the war . " Many commentators expressed fears that the explosives had fallen into the hands of terrorists and would be used by the Iraqi insurgency to mount attacks against US and Iraqi troops . Many insurgent attacks have been carried out using improvised explosive devices made from military munitions , most often 122 mm artillery shells and landmines . IEDs made with high explosives are far more powerful and devastating and have been used in some of the most damaging attacks carried out in Iraq , such as the August 19 , 2003 suicide attack on the U.N. headquarters , and the March 17 , 2004 attack on the Mount Lebanon Hotel , both in Baghdad . It is not clear whether these attacks were mounted using explosives from Al Qa ' qaa . However , on October 28 , 2004 a video was released by a group calling itself " Al-Islam 's Army Brigades , Al-Karar Brigade " in which a masked man claimed that " the American intelligence " had helped them to obtain a " huge amount of the explosives that were in the Al Qa ' qaa facility " and that the explosives would be " use d against the occupation forces and those who cooperate with them in the event of these forces threatening any Iraqi city . " And a December 2003 report from a joint Defense Department intelligence task force concluded that the insurgents in Iraq " retain access to virtually all the weapons systems and ordnances previously controlled by the Iraqi military , security and intelligence assets . Unsecured arms depots and storage sites , in addition to open and black market availability of weapons and ammunition , eliminate the need for the insurgents to maintain a formidable arsenal . " Montgomery McFate of the Human Terrain Team program noted in 2005 : The high explosives were stored under the supervision of the United Nations due to their sensitive nature and dual use in WMDs . According to the IAEA , there were 340 tonnes consisting of : These explosives were stored in solid crystalline form and could be used to make powerful plastic explosives , are safe to transport and do not detonate on impact . The total quantity , 341.744 tonnes ( 753,417 pounds ) , would require approximately 40 large trucks to convey
suicide attack on the U.N. headquarters
Canal Hotel bombing
Al Qa'qaa high explosives controversy