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As the 101st Airborne Division begins pushing into Sunni-dominated cities near Baghdad, officials hope the Army will find evidence that Saddam had created and kept chemical weapons despite United Nations resolutions demanding that he disarm. On Tuesday, teams of soldiers around the areas where the 101st has been fighting began searching for additional laboratories. One team of military intelligence soldiers, led by Cantin, searched a factory north of Karbala.

Many of the buildings at the Qaryat ath Thalathani factory were abandoned, though it was impossible to tell how long ago. The desert dust has an ability to get anywhere, coating every open surface and making even new equipment look aged. While much of the factory was dilapidated, one building was freshly painted yellow. The new paint gave the building a bright feel that is absent from much of the cityscape the U.S. Army has passed through. In one room, paint supplies were left on the floor. In another, the team found beakers and vials. Sgt. Nathan Krupp, dressed in a chem-bio suit, took samples, as Hawks translated Arabic invoice lists that were scattered around.

"They did something with chemicals here, but I think it is a munitions plant," Hawks said. Cantin turned his head. "A chemical munitions plant?"

(Julian E. Barnes for USN&WR)

"I don't think it is [a] chemical plant," Krupp replied.

"It could be a chemical plant," Hawks said, as he rifled through a cabinet. "Ho, hold on, if this is what I think it is, code books."

The munitions plant stretched for acres. The military intelligence team made its way from the laboratory complex to a motor pool area and then a cement storage area. In some ways it was like an American factory. Signs on every building said, in Arabic, "No Smoking." Other signs were slogans meant to encourage underproductive workers: "Every moment lost to work is an opportunity lost for advancement," Hawks translated.

But overall the munitions factory was eerie. In one doorway, the team found a mine. And about 500 yards from the laboratory, they found a network of connected warehouses. The two-story warehouses were protected on three sides by tall berms that rose above their roofline. The windows of the long hallways were mostly blown out, and the entrances to the warehouses were bricked over. "They went to a lot of trouble to seal this up," Hawks said.

Hawks, Cantin, and Krupp pushed against the wall. First one cement block gave way, and then the entire wall fell. Inside, lining every wall were hundreds of tanks shells. Two more sealed warehouses contained hundreds more tank munitions.

In the far corner of the complex, the team found a series of shelters covered with dirt, possibly a hideaway for tanks, antiaircraft guns, or perhaps a small missile. Relatively fresh tire tracks seemed to indicate that something had been removed from the bunkers recently.

After its preliminary three-hour search, the group returned to their camp, without any proof the munitions plant was being used to make or assemble chemical weapons. "They were doing something here," Cantin said. "But these guys are good at moving stuff around."