Rev. Richard Skaff

Washington (AFP) – reported on April 1, 2016 that a Virginia school bus transporting students to and from classes this week had explosives under the hood after the CIA accidentally left them following a training exercise, the intelligence agency said.1

Furthermore, the intelligence agency declared in a statement on Thursday 03/31/16 that

“last week, a CIA K-9 unit conducted a routine training exercise with law enforcement officials in Loudoun County, VA.”

Apparently, “during the exercise, explosive training material was inadvertently left by the CIA K-9 unit in one of the buses used in the exercise.” Moreover, “the Loudoun County sheriff’s office said in a statement that the bus was used Monday and Tuesday to transport high school and elementary students, who were in no danger because the explosive materials were “incredibly stable.”1

In addition, The CIA announced that it had taken “immediate steps to strengthen inventory and control procedures” in the training program and would conduct a “thorough and independent” review of the incident.

Seemingly, the agency placed the explosive materials inside the engine compartment while training explosives-detecting dogs during spring break, the CIA said. However, the sheriff’s office said that some of the material “appears to have been dislodged… and fell into the engine compartment.”

According to AFP, a technician conducting routine maintenance on the bus found the explosives on Wednesday 03/30/16. As a result, the sheriff’s office proclaimed that the CIA has suspended its program until it completes its review.1

Analysis

The astute observer of this incident can’t help but worry that bombs were left in school buses as children were transported to and from school. This story should also make the concerned citizen wonder how can the most sophisticated, best financed, and supremely trained agency in the world commit such an enormous error that could’ve killed tens of children and adults.

How can an agency that specializes in covert ops, destabilizing of states, as well as detecting and preventing alleged terror plots, be so careless and negligent?

What would’ve happened if these explosives detonated and caused massive destruction and death?

Would the intelligence agency and the sheriff’s department have taken the blame, or the government would have declared a state of emergency in Virginia claiming a terrorist attack by ISIS militants and its supporters?

We should all ask ourselves these critical questions.

Reference:

1. AFP (April 1, 2016). CIA Leaves explosives on school bus after training exercise.