The U.S. has found hundreds of chemical weapons shells in Iraq. The mainstream media is largely ignoring the story. The Bush Administration apparently kept this low profile so as not to embarass Russia, China and France.

I agree with Hugh:

What we have right now if a very confused picture, and the Adminsitration simply cannot expect the public to be satisfied with the announcement today and the declassified summary provided by Director Negroponte. At a minimum, if more cannot be disclosed, an explanation must be given as to why that is the case.

See Hugh's interview with Rick Santorum on this over at Radioblogger.

And stay tuned...this is a big development, with more details to follow promptly I suspect.

Update: Mainstream media, of course, is largely ignoring this story. The Post put it on page A10.

Captain Ed notes:

Critics of the war may find themselves undercut by their continuing insistence that the WMD finds are insubstantial, either in quantity or threat. First, we know undoubtedly that they existed, and the unclassified amount, in the wrong hands, could have killed thousands. Second and more importantly, the classified portion of the intel report speaks to a larger context -- and the only reason to keep that quiet would be to either avoid a threat or to avoid some diplomatic embarrassment.

Hugh notes:

If it was one cache of old and useless weapons, buried and forgotten, then the intelligence agency that insists on the classification of the report is not competent.