How low can these jihadists savages go? BRITISH-BASED Saudi dissident has provoked anger by posting a video on his website that apparently shows the killing of three Black Watch soldiers by a suicide bomber. Muhammad al-Massari [al jerkoff] defended the contents of the video this weekend and vigorously justified the killing of British soldiers by Iraqi insurgents. This bastards bank accounts need to be double checked
The video, said to have been filmed by one of the bomber's comrades, appears on a site called Tajdeed, which al-Massari runs from Wembley, north London. It shows a sport-utility vehicle driving along a road before exploding at the three soldiers' checkpoint. Military vehicles and a helicopter are shown at the site "evacuating the dead and wounded", says a voiceover on the tape. The voice says a severed arm being trampled by a militant in front of the camera is among the "remains" of the soldiers.
The showing of the video is bound to outrage the families of British troops in Iraq and those preparing to leave. An advance party of the Shropshire-based 2nd Battalion of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment is due to depart for Iraq today. Al-Massari said people were entitled to see the video and Iraqis had a "guaranteed" right to kill soldiers. He also threatened to put more videos on the website. "I am telling you they (British soldiers in Iraq) are legitimate targets for the Iraqi people . . . I don't know which universe you are living in . . . I am coming from the point of view of a rational human being, let alone a Muslim. rational & Muslim? Wow!
My cognition... It's getting all dissonant!
"They are invaders, nobody invited them, (Iranians, Syrians?)
they came by force and the people will kick them by force . . . and if we live long enough, we'll see them running out. Wait and see." We do see the jihadists being beaten back by the 100's
When asked by a reporter: "For Iraqis, do you think it is okay to kill British troops?" al-Massari replied: "Indeed it is." (Deport or lock up this terrorist is the solution here)
The Conservative government tried to deport al-Massari in 1996. It failed and he has indefinite leave to remain. He helped to set up an office used by Osama Bin Laden and has become notorious for outbursts, including a call for the assassination of Tony Blair. Why is this vermin still allowed free?
Lord Ahmed, a Muslim Labour peer, condemned his remarks. "People like al-Massari have no place in our society," said Ahmed. "His status to remain in this country needs to be questioned." Here, here!
Patrick Mercer, Conservative spokesman for homeland security, said al-Massari's comments were disgraceful. "He is encouraging acts of terrorism. I am amazed the government is not taking much more robust action." Tony? Where are you on this filth? The 4œ-minute video carries a logo of the "Al-Qaeda organisation in Iraq". The group is allegedly led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born terrorist warlord. Soldiers at the Black Watch's Camp Dogwood were yesterday continuing to question two suspected suicide bombers who were captured last Friday after a helicopter chase south of Baghdad. Great work!
The arrests were seen as a morale boost for the battalion, which has had four soldiers killed in the past 10 days.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/14/2004 6:26:58 AM ||
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#1
Agree with your comments, Mark. This piece of shit needs to go today! Grab the fucker and put him on the next flight to Shittystan, or wherever it was he crawled here from. Burn his crap. Inter and investigate his folks if they don't want to join him.
#2
expect he gets free hand outs from us working class folk too , via our shoddy , often abused benefits system . Deport him back to Saudi , after putting him in general pop HMP wakefield for 5 years , nasty place , even for a white guy .
#3
British friends
Till when are you going to be
publicly ridiculed by asshole
bigotted Wahabies
Your passivity and liberal attitudes will be your undoing
When a society stops caring for it's values
it is the first sign of moral decadence and decline.
The Moslem Heinas sniff the sweet smell of
decadence, and patiently wait for the Khalifa to be established on the white cliffs of Albion.
WAKE UP !
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
11/14/2004 8:06 Comments ||
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#4
Just send him to Amsterdam. They'll know what to do.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/14/2004 10:00 Comments ||
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#5
This Moslem asshat needs a *chipper* ride! As in wood chipper!
-AR
Posted by: Analog Roam ||
11/14/2004 11:16 Comments ||
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#6
I dont know how it is in the UK but I would say put him in the General Pop of any prison and let it be know exactly why he is there.....
#8
WTF?? Why on earth was he not deported in 1996?
Germany deports characters like this. France detains and questions them for months without even bringing charges of giving right of access to counsel-- before Judge Bruguieres (sp?) deports them. What's with Britain?
#9
Bull, I was wondering what your opinion of the following is;
If a Tory backbencher, somewhat well known began to really push this issue of Massari ...hard, as in lock him up, plus all known cohorts, provided the backbencher is given round-the-clock-security for his/her efforts. Is there anyone in the House of Commons which would be interested and does not have a family to be concerned about, since Mr Jihad if locked up could cause serious problems via proxies?
This creep also promoted the 'jihad rap',"Dirty Kuffar" (unbelievers)
video by another slimeball, Shaikh Terra.
Massari stated "It is selling everywhere. Everyone I meet at the mosque is asking for it." This was during February 2004.
Check out the link
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/14/2004 21:19 Comments ||
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A suspected terrorist detained in Singapore will testify via video link in a Sydney trial against a Sydney architect accused of plotting to blow up Australia's national electricity grid. Singaporean student Muhammad Arif Naharudin is believed to have given Australian police crucial information linking Faheem Khalid Lodhi to the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Sunday Times reported. The Singaporean and the Pakistani-born Australian are alleged to have met at a Pakistani training camp linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba. Lodhi, 34, of Punchbowl, also known as Hamza, has been charged by Australian authorities with seven offences including plans to blow up the country's power grid. He is also accused of plotting and recruiting for a chemical attack on a Sydney military base. He was arrested in April after security authorities allegedly found plans in his Sydney office for making petrol bombs, grenades, poison, cyanide gas and sulphuric acid. More than 600 files on Islamic extremism were found on a computer disk in his home.
A bid by Lodhi's lawyer to stop next month's video testimony on the grounds it would be an "abrogation of the Australian court powers" was rejected by Sydney Central Court last week. Government officials in Singapore could not be reached to confirm the report. But a spokesman from the home affairs ministry was quoted as saying the Singapore government "will accede within the ambit of our laws". Naharudin, 21, has been detained for more than a year for allegedly being a member of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), believed to be the Southeast Asian wing of Osama bin laden's al-Qaeda network. Last year, three alleged JI members detained in Singapore testified from the city-state via TV link against Indonesian Muslin cleric Abu Bakar Bashir in his Jakarta trial.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/14/2004 1:18:28 AM ||
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From The Washington Post
.... German authorities jailed the Arabic-speaking man in June 1999 and prepared to deport him. But they were unable to confirm his identity or figure out where to send him, so they moved him to a loosely supervised asylum camp for illegal immigrants. Officials there paid little attention when he vanished two weeks before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States. The man who would later be code-named "Mohamed the Egyptian" by his Islamic radical friends resumed his illegal travels across Europe in 2001, taking advantage of the continent's open borders to move freely among Germany, Spain, France, Italy and possibly other countries.
Over the next three years, investigators say, he recruited volunteers for suicide missions, frequented fundamentalist mosques and played a key role in planning the biggest terror attack on European soil, the train bombings in Madrid on March 11 this year. All along, Mohamed -- whose legal name is Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed -- was able to dodge police and counterterrorism officials in at least three countries. They repeatedly put him on watch lists under a variety of names, but failed to figure out what he was up to ....
On Sept. 6, 2001, a few days after he left Germany for good, he visited the Egyptian Embassy in Madrid and applied for a duplicate passport, saying he had lost his old one, the official said. That is a common trick in producing false identity documents -- the old passport is altered and given to someone else.
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Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/14/2004 9:38:55 AM ||
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"He remains in jail in Milan, where he is fighting attempts to extradite him to Spain."
Non copmrende. What, is he extending his limbs when they try to squeeze him in a van or something? "No, I ain't goin in there!"
Then put a straightjacket on him, fergodsake!
This may be the "Ismail" mentioned in the Milan wiretaps.
Dutch authorities have confirmed that 13 young Muslims arrested on terrorism charges in the Netherlands after the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh are members of a radical Islamic group with international links and a Syrian-born spiritual leader. Dutch intelligence calls the group the "Hofstad Netwerk," and a Justice Ministry official says 43-year-old Syrian Redouan al-Issar, the alleged spiritual leader, has disappeared without a trace.
In a letter and notes sent to parliament Thursday, Interior Minister Johan Remkes, who oversees the secret service, gave the clearest picture yet of the Dutch cell allegedly behind Van Gogh's murder. Remkes said the Hofstad Network, composed mostly of young Dutch Muslims of North African ancestry, has links to networks in Spain and Belgium; that several members of the group have traveled to Pakistan for training; and that its members were under the influence of al-Issar for many years. "The number of persons and networks in the Netherlands that thinks and acts in terms of actual violence is, in our opinion, limited," he wrote. "But the feeding ground from which they spring, is broader ... it's better to think in terms of thousands than hundreds," he said.
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/14/2004 12:59:01 AM ||
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Mr Remkes, de head of a secret service that leakes all info to terrorists so no wonder the vanishing act works......In the mean time Dutch politicians are visiting mosques and other islamic institutions to solve all problems "together". So let's just wait for further conflict as Dutch politics still thinks islamification is a process that the Dutch people should just experience and adapt to.
There was little sympathy to be found for Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh on a Danish internet forum posting by Danish Muslim pundit Omar Shah. Commenting on last Tuesday's killing of van Gogh on a closed Internet forum, Omar Shah reportedly wrote: 'Too bad that he (van Gogh) no longer has the pleasure of practicing his perverse artwork, or rather Alhamdullilalh (Thank God). May Allah swt (the Almighty) grant his 'murderer' sabr (patience in hard times).' The translation of the above text was courtesy of daily newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad.
Imam Fatih Alev runs the Danish Association of Cybermuslims (DFC), which administrates the closed mailing list that forwarded Omar Shah's remarks to some 300 online forum guests around the country. 'It looks like Omar was drawing upon his emotions in his response to the death. I have just seen van Gogh's programme, which I found to be a very violent show of propaganda against Islam. I think Omar had that programme in mind when he commented on the death. Based on the conversations I have had with him, I can say that he is normally opposed to the use of violence and vigilantism,' said Fatih Alev, continuing: 'But I don't wish to defend Omar. Everyone - Muslims included - were appalled by and disagreed with what he wrote. It is important not to succumb to one's feelings, and we all support law and order in Danish society.'
Daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten asked Fatih Alev if he found it irritating that remarks such as Omar Shah's so frequently occasioned heated debate in the Danish media. 'It irritates me that journalists gets tips on something that was said on a mailing list and make a huge story out of it. People on the mailing list might have pressed Omar for answers on his position on violence, and gotten some insight into the intentions behind what he wrote that way. Anyone can join the mailing list,' said Alev.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/14/2004 1:03:15 AM ||
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The bottom line:It is perfectly understandable why Van Gogh was killed.That being the case then it should be understandable to Omar why a few Mosque's get torched.
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
11/14/2004 7:58 Comments ||
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Like the Dutch, the Danes have military units in Iraq as well [part of the willing, not the bribed]. Omar is probably going to be as comfortable as an Ohio State fan sitting in the maze and blue section of the stadium at Ann Arbor.
Posted by: Don ||
11/14/2004 9:27 Comments ||
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THE Dutch secret service has been infiltrated by an Islamic extremist linked to the killer of Theo van Gogh, the Dutch film-maker whose murder has accelerated Holland's transformation from one of Europe's most tolerant countries into a society increasingly polarised by fears about immigration. Intelligence sources said last week that a mole working for a terrorist group codenamed the "Hofstad cell" had been arrested on suspicion of relaying information collected by the authorities to its members. The disclosure has compounded the embarrassment of the security services, which have admitted they were watching Mohammed Bouyeri, the 26-year-old Dutch-born Moroccan charged with van Gogh's murder, from August 2002.
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/14/2004 12:39:24 AM ||
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The biggest blog sites are on something interesting. The mole used to hide his messages in JPG files on his web site. His name seems to be "Ben Amar". Postings like this can be deciphered by some free ware software. At the moment they are using this program to search terorist websites and look for hidden messages.. goto http://www.geenstijl.nl to follow the latest developments
#4
Dutchgeek, can you expand a bit by superimposing cities/towns on the map (not graphically, of course) so we have a better idea about relation between dark blue areas and population centers?
TIA
#5
The darker areas are the largest cities in the Netherlands, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht. Check the CIA World fact book for all the details you want http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/nl.html
The Bush Administration aims to recruit millions of United States citizens as domestic informants in a program likely to alarm civil liberties groups. The Terrorism Information and Prevention System, or TIPS, means the US will have a higher percentage of citizen informants than the former East Germany through the infamous Stasi secret police. The program would use a minimum of 4 per cent of Americans to report "suspicious activity"...
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
11/14/2004 8:07:19 AM ||
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Why are people posting articles over two years old?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/14/2004 10:47 Comments ||
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It's pretty funny that the Sydney Morning Herald, Australia's version of al-Guardian (although Rupert Murdoch-owned), uses the Stasi in analogy. The fact is that the Stasi, like its predecessor the Gestapo - and the numerous ex-Gestapo operatives who staffed it, used to torture people to death and execute people who merely spoke out against the Honecker regime. SMH is out there in moonbatland.
#4
SMH lead story today: "Living in an Oven" Climate change will stretch fire and rescue services within decades...
Posted by: Tom ||
11/14/2004 10:57 Comments ||
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#5
It does make a good reality check, though. Here it is, two years later, and as anyone can see we're living in lockdown, with secret police on every corner...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2004 12:20 Comments ||
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#6
Actually, Fred, the Bush administration outsourced the work. I'm just waiting for my Green Card, then I'll be off to start loitering at my assigned street corner in downtown Fargo. I gather from my Operator that the White House was glad the Kerry Team didn't get wind of this project. You know how John Edwards gets into a flap about this sort of thing...
#13
ZF the SMH is owned by John Fairfax & Sons, not by News Ltd (Rupert Murdoch) You are right about them being moonbats tho...
An eg. When I was in Sydney last May, reading my fathers SMH, it had a breathless little gossip item about Condi Rice having a slip of the tongue and referring to GWB as "my husband" God knows where that came from.
A teenager accused of planning to supply a Somalian terrorist group with night vision goggles and bulletproof vests foreshadowed the charges in his high school yearbook with a note that mentions Somalia in his ``plans for world supremacy.™'' Mark Robert Walker, 19, was arrested Nov. 6 in El Paso, Texas, and on Friday was charged with attempting or conspiring to contribute goods or services to a global terrorist organization. A more serious charge filed earlier was dropped.
I'd hate to think what's more serious than the charge that was filed...
Months earlier, Walker caused a stir when he left a cryptic note next to his senior portrait in the 2004 yearbook, writing that his ``plans for world supremacy are in order. They entail taking over Somalia and working outward, but I should not divulge the exact details of my cunning strategy.'' The entry also referred to Walker's ``future heroic death'' and offered a ``death poem'' with imagery of a grenade exploding and the phrase ``all shall pass this world.''
Not a high school in the US that will ignore that in these post-Columbine days ...
... but it sounds like this guy's a member of the Dumschitz crime family.
Officials at Stanwood High School, about 45 miles north of Seattle, began to investigate Walker's comments in June but stopped when they learned Walker and his family had moved to Rochester, N.Y. Superintendent Jean Shumate told the FBI about the yearbook entry after she learned of Walker's arrest.
... except, of course, this one. Just watched him move, did they?
Walker, who was arrested with $2,100 in cash, allegedly told federal officials he planned to buy night vision goggles and bulletproof vests and give the items to fighters with a terrorist group called Ittihad al Islamiya and other groups seeking an Islamic government in Somalia, according to court documents. Walker had begun attending Wyoming Technical College in Laramie, Wyo. He apparently fled to the U.S.-Mexico border after his roommate told police he was using a computer to communicate with terrorist groups on the Internet. Walker, who could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison if convicted, was being held without bond in El Paso. He was scheduled to attend a detention hearing Monday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/14/2004 12:46:59 AM ||
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To quote a famous Supreme Court Justice; "Yo ass is grass, suckah!"
A member of the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf was identified by witnesses as being behind the latest murder of a journalist in downtown Jolo, the Sulu capital, a military commander said. Brig. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala, head of the anti-terror Task Force Comet, said witnesses had identified the Abu Sayyaf member as having shot dead photojournalist Gene Boyd Lumawag last Friday. Lumawag, 26, was the photo editor of the independent news agency MindaNews based in Davao City. "The witnesses know who the killer is and based on (their) description, we know this (man). He is a member of the Abu Sayyaf," Dema-ala said. Dema-ala said he did not know the motive for Lumawag's killing. Probers, however, said he could have been mistaken as an intelligence agent. Lumawag was shot in the head with a caliber .45 handgun while he was on his way to take a picture of the sunset from the Jolo pier, said Carolyn Arguillas, chairman of MindaNews who was also in Jolo.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/14/2004 1:26:11 AM ||
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Five people have been killed and at least four injured by an explosion in a public passenger minivan near a police station in the religiously divided city of Poso in Central Sulawesi province. The explosion reportedly occurred at 9.15am Saturday when the minivan was outside a crowded market located 100 meters away from the Poso Police station. Two of the casualties were women, identified by detikcom online news portal as Warni Jones and Dolly. The other casualties were yet to be identified. Police said the cause of the blast was not immediately known, but state news agency Antara said a bomb had exploded.
Explosiion <- bomb... Yeah. That's prob'ly a good working hypothesis...
Bloomberg quoted local police chief Abdi Darma as saying that the blast damaged at least two vehicles parked near the minivan. The explosion occurred on the eve of Idul Fitri, the Islamic holiday that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadhan. Police said they were investigating the blast but had yet to discover the motive or any suspects. Over recent months there has been an increase in religious violence, including the gunning down of a Christian preacher during a church service in July. On November 4, a Christian village head in Poso was killed and decapitated. On November 8, the driver of a public passenger minivan in the city was shot dead. On October 21, a guard at Poso's Bethany Church was shot dead. A week before the church shooting, a Hindu woman was killed and two Christian men wounded when a group of unidentified attackers opened fire on their houses. On the same day, two Christian men were hacked to death by assailants wielding machetes in a rural district south of the provincial capital Palu. The killings have fueled speculation that shadowy forces are attempting to provoke a return to large-scale religious violence in Central Sulawesi, possibly in an effort to destabilize the presidency of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who came to power on October 20.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/14/2004 1:32:54 AM ||
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dang! christians and hindus being blown up, decapitated, and shot. Who could be behind that?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/14/2004 11:24 Comments ||
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Jeez, if the JW ever find out about the use of RPGs in spreading the faith we are in deep doo.
Mr. Abbas, the only reasonable man in terms of really attempting a workable solution instead of Arafat style lies, the jihad death cultists want to murder. If the pro-Arafat or Hamas killers commit this horrible act there will be inter-Islamic bloodbath and Israel will not tolerate it on her front door step.
Some 40 gunmen opened automatic fire in the Arafat mourning tent in Gaza City Sunday night, November 14, shaking up the assembled gathering only two days after Yasser Arafat was buried in Ramallah. Bursting into the tent shortly after the arrival of Mahmoud Abbas, the man Fatah had just nominated to run for Palestinian president, they could easily have killed him and gunned down all the mourners packed in the tent. As it turned out he was unhurt. Two security men were killed and four injured.
DEBKAfile's counter-terror sources reports that this was a deliberate ambush. It was set up by the dead leader's adherents in the Gaza branch of the al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. Their actions were programmed with almost ritual precision to convey certain messages to Arafat's would-be successor.
The key one was: no one can replace Yasser Arafat. Another: we can get close to you any time we choose. Next time, we won't fire over your head, but shoot to kill. Above all, take care to choose the right associates. Stay away from Mohammed Dahlan and Ahmed Qureia! Read the rest in the link
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/14/2004 9:48:20 PM ||
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Palestine Liberation Organisation Chairman Mahmud Abbas (C) is protected by bodyguards, as shots were fired while he was visiting a mourning tent at the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/14/2004 22:37 Comments ||
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From inside, the sound of an armor-piercing rocket-propelled grenade hitting a Bradley Fighting Vehicle is more tenor than bass, a bang rather than a boom. It produces an immediate cloud of dust and smoke, shakes the entire 30-ton vehicle like an empty beer can and is suddenly over, making the relief of still being alive almost instantaneous and the window of fear negligibly small.
"Go, go, driver, go," Sgt. Calvin Smalley of the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry Regiment shouted on the radio, as soon as the explosion happened at 10:30 a.m. on Friday.
Spc. Eric Watson, the driver, said nothing. The vehicle didn't move.
"Is Watson hit?" Smalley shouted.
Suddenly, the Bradley roared into motion, taking off at pace as the gunner pounded the nearby buildings with the high explosive rounds on his 25-mm cannon.
"Hey, Watson, you hurt at all?" asked Sgt. Akram Abdelwahab, 28, speaking into a radio handset from the rear compartment of the Bradley.
"I got shrapnel in my --," Watson radioed back. He drove on a bit more.
"We got a hole about four inches by four inches," he radioed. "I got shrapnel in my leg and in my -- ." Very good color piece from the battle of Fallujah.
In the weeks before the crushing military assault on his hometown, Bilal Hussein sent his parents and brother away from Fallujah to stay with relatives.
The 33-year-old Associated Press photographer stayed behind to capture insider images during the siege of the former insurgent stronghold.
"Everyone in Fallujah knew it was coming. I had been taking pictures for days," he said. "I thought I could go on doing it."
In the hours and days that followed, heavy bombing raids and thunderous artillery shelling turned Hussein's northern Jolan neighborhood into a zone of rubble and death. The walls of his house were pockmarked by coalition fire.
"Destruction was everywhere. I saw people lying dead in the streets, wounded were bleeding and there was no one to come and help them. Even the civilians who stayed in Fallujah were too afraid to go out," he said.
"There was no medicine, water, no electricity nor food for days."
By Tuesday afternoon, as U.S. forces and Iraqi rebels engaged in fierce clashes in the heart of his neighborhood, Hussein snapped. "U.S. soldiers began to open fire on the houses, so I decided that it was very dangerous to stay in my house," he said.
Hussein said he panicked, seizing on a plan to escape across the Euphrates River, which flows on the western side of the city
"I wasn't really thinking," he said. "Suddenly, I just had to get out. I didn't think there was any other choice."
In the rush, Hussein left behind his camera lens and a satellite telephone for transmitting his images. His lens, marked with the distinctive AP logo, was discovered two days later by U.S. Marines next to a dead man's body in a house in Jolan.
AP colleagues in the Baghdad bureau, who by then had not heard from Hussein in 48 hours, became even more worried.
Hussein moved from house to house — dodging gunfire — and reached the river.
"I decided to swim ... but I changed my mind after seeing U.S. helicopters firing on and killing people who tried to cross the river."
He watched horrified as a family of five was shot dead as they tried to cross. Then, he "helped bury a man by the river bank, with my own hands."
"I kept walking along the river for two hours and I could still see some U.S. snipers ready to shoot anyone who might swim. I quit the idea of crossing the river and walked for about five hours through orchards."
He met a peasant family, who gave him refuge in their house for two days. Hussein knew a driver in the region and sent a message to another AP colleague, Ali Ahmed, in nearby Ramadi.
Ahmed relayed the news that Hussein was alive to AP's Baghdad bureau. He sent a second message back to Hussein that a fisherman in nearby Habaniyah would ferry the photographer to safety by boat.
"At the end of the boat ride, Ali was waiting for me. He took me to Baghdad, to my office."
Sitting safely in the AP's offices, a haggard-looking Hussein offered a tired smile of relief.
"It was a terrible experience in which I learned that life is precious," he said. "I am happy that I am still alive after being close to death during these past days." Sounds like he was just a little bit too crafty for his own good.
#2
It seems to me that if these guys were looking to kill as many US soldiers as possible, they would wait until the last minute before opening up on US troops. But they are firing on GI's way before our boys get close. This tells me that the jihadis are a little more concerned about staying alive (and running away to fight another day) than they are about killing GI's and going to Paradise right away.
#3
The poor guy that hosts this vid is getting fried on bandwidtch . . . he is an acquiantance of mine. He has done a number of good essays, his hosting service is going to fry him . . . he is also up on FARK and ar15.com.
The jihadis firing early, rather than waiting, is a relative thing. Fear makes time a funny thing and your decision making skills are seriously warped under highly stressful situations. They may know in their heads that they need to wait if they are going to get anybody . . . but they know in their lizard hindbrains that waiting until the eagle has a talon in is a bad time for the rabbit to run . . .
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
11/14/2004 23:44 Comments ||
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#4
I've got bandwidth to burn - I'm uploading it now... Done. Backup link. 4.81MB. Note I corrected the filename to "fallujah.asf".
The Aksa Martyr's Brigades in the Gaza Strip announced that it has developed a new rocket called 'Yasser 1' capable of reaching the Israeli city of Ashkelon, Army Radio reported Sunday. The group, which is affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, made the announcement during a rally organized by Fatah members in Gaza city in memory of the late Palestinian Authority chairman who died early Thursday. The group described the new rocket as an improved version of the Kassam with a record firing range of 15 km. What a fitting tribute...
#3
You know, all during the organized intifada wave of terror Israel always had to take step back due to all the diplomatic crapola concerning Arafat. Well, this is the post Arafat era, now all those steps backward in relation to finally eradicating the new terrorist command shall be in multiple giant steps if these psychos begin firing off their Yasser 1 rockets.
Which of the Arab terrorist gangs, Hamas, Arafat's thugs, Islamic Jihad or agents of Hizb'allah will initiate their own destruction?
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/14/2004 22:03 Comments ||
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#4
Like their name sez, "Martyr's Brigades" they certainly have a death wish.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/14/2004 23:38 Comments ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
11/14/2004 20:27 Comments ||
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#5
What's the BLACKWATCH up to lately - if memory serves, the BLACKWATCH Regiment was founded in the pre-Revolutionary War American Colonies. Also hear US Army units involved in or around Fallujah but not much reporting in Guam about them.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/14/2004 21:20 Comments ||
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#7
Back in control where the bodies of two American contractors murdered by terrorist thugs were strung up in March, 2004
A U.S. Marine of the 1st Division carries a mascot for good luck in his backpack as his unit pushed further into the western part of Fallujah, Iraq, Sunday, Nov. 14th, 2004
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/14/2004 22:08 Comments ||
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#8
I love it! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/14/2004 22:34 Comments ||
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Israel's military will stop allowing Palestinian security forces in the West Bank to carry weapons in public within the next 24 hours, the army chief told the Israeli Cabinet on Sunday. Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon said security forces in the West Bank city of Ramallah would be allowed to carry their weapons openly until later Sunday, when the three-day mourning period for Yasser Arafat ends, meeting participants said. Israeli and Palestinian security commanders will hold a coordination meeting later Sunday, Yaalon told the ministers. Both sides were concerned that chaos at Arafat's funeral Friday could erupt into disarray in the entire West Bank and spark a wave of anti-Israeli attacks, he said.
Sunday's meeting will continue the talks between the security officials held late Thursday, Yaalon said, according to the participants. Israel allowed the carrying of the weapons in the meeting as a goodwill gesture. "We established coordination on the night before of a kind that we haven't had in a long time," Yaalon was quoted as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2004 2:47:36 PM ||
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About 400 suspected insurgents have been arrested during the ongoing fighting in Fallujah, and some of them are foreigners, Iraq's prime minister said Sunday. "We arrested a large number of them, around 400," interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said in an interview broadcast by Iraqiya television. "Some of them are Iraqis and some from outside Iraq." Allawi gave no figures for the number of foreigners but said they included Syrians, Saudis, Afghans and Moroccans.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2004 2:46:36 PM ||
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#1
Th big question is, what are they going to do with these idiots? Probably nothing. Not filling them with hot lead on the battle field and "arresting" them instead means that the Iraqis now have on their hands the cost of upkeep of these prisoners, and potential future problems when they are eventually released.
#4
Presumably they'll be screened first to identify the ones who know something. Allawi has an interest in squeezing the former regime types and the foreigners are potentially leverage of some sort vs. their home governments.
#5
I just read that our psyops folks are driving around Fallujah with loudspeakers blaring out the theme-song from Team America..."America, Fuck Yeah!" I wonder how many of these 400 morons know the words?
#6
I hope they get some remote spot going and dig a ditch. After they are done with the questioning all the foreign ones go into the ditch with a shot to the back of the ear. The Iraqi ones go to redeucation camps, the loss of the muslim eating hand before they are turned loose is manditory.
Multi-National Forces from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team) continue operations to root out remaining pockets of anti-Iraqi force resistance and return stability to northern Iraq. Three days ago, a number of groups ranging in size from 15-50 AIF insurgents moved through the city conducting attacks on police stations, Iraqi government facilities and other fixed sites. During this time the fighting was intense, but together with the Iraqi National Guard and Multi-National Forces, many of the insurgents were defeated. Sporadic fighting followed on Friday and Saturday.
Despite reports from satellite channels in the region, Multi-National Forces have not withdrawn from Mosul and the local Iraqi Government, led by Governor Duraid Kashmoula, is clearly in control. During an interview last night with Arab satellite channel Alhurra, Brig. Gen. Carter F. Ham said the situation is improving as Iraqi Police return to work and the ING remain strong conducting operations in the area. During operations to root out the small remaining pockets of resistance, Multi-National Forces conducted a cordon and search in central Mosul and detained insurgents wanted for planning and conducting attacks against Iraqi Security and Multi-National Forces in Mosul. The suspects are in custody with no injuries reported during the operation.
Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment conducted a cordon and search operation in the west Mosul marketplace of Al Ma'ash and detained three terrorists wanted for planning and conducting anti-Iraqi activities in that area. The suspects are in custody with no injuries reported during the operation. Soldiers from the 276th Engineer Battalion killed three insurgents during their operation to guard a southern bridge in Mosul. During the operation, insurgents attacked Soldiers with small arms and rocket propelled grenade fire from a nearby building on the west bank of the Tigris River. Soldiers quickly returned fire eliminating the threat. One soldier was slightly wounded and later returned to duty. Iraqi Security forces and MNF have always retained control of Mosul bridges.
Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment and ING soldiers were attacked with small arms fire in the neighborhood of Al Thubat. 3-21 Soldiers along with the ING maneuvered in the direction of contact eliminating the threat. No U.S. or ING soldiers were injured during the operation. Comparisons made between Fallujah and Mosul are inaccurate. Iraqi Security forces and Multi-National Forces move in and out of every neighborhood in Mosul. Only a small number of terrorists are operating in the city of over 2 million and resistance is sporadic. Joint operations between the ISF and MNF will continue as necessary to maintain law and order.
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
11/14/2004 10:42:24 AM ||
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#1
Sounds like the bad guys did a pretty damn good propaganda offensive.
It looks that the new strategy is not to allow the insurgents to regroup in another city and to get them before they can catch the breath.
In Ramadi the Iraqi/Coalition forces refused to give a truce and entered the city with tanks and armoured vehicles while in Baji the insurgents' positions are under continuous air and ground bombardments.
Just hearsay but generally Harmmorabi has been right more often than wrong.... though he has been known to sometimes exaggerate
#1
I think/hope he is correct that we are pursuing those who escaped the cordon in hot pursuit. The escapes a few of which were inevitable should be treated as a feature, not a bug. Especially if they lead to the hiding spots of other hard boyz or sympathizers.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/14/2004 13:11 Comments ||
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#2
they can't regroup, communications cut, no sanctuary. kill.them.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/14/2004 13:26 Comments ||
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By the way, can anyone confirm that Hammorabi uses AltaVista? That and its reputed (according to my friend) would explain his grammar and verbosity, although the verbosity may be from the original Arabic.
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
11/14/2004 14:02 Comments ||
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#5
I would be shocked if altavista could translate arabic to english that well.
When I try to play around with it and translate English into portuguese, spanish or vice versa the results are a complete failure to say the least.
Gunfire erupted Sunday at the tent set up for mourners to gather in memory of Yasser Arafat, witnesses said. The gunfire lasted several minutes, they said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The gunshots were heard about the time that Mahmoud Abbas, chosen as Arafat's successor as head of the PLO, was due to visit the site. 2 reported dead. Abbas is reported as the cause(target?) - he's too moderate for the gun-toting crazies, who decided to have a bullet enhanced protest.
Mahmoud Abbas escaped possible assassination attempt in Gaza Sunday night shortly after ruling Fatah nominated him candidate for PA president in coming Palestinian election. Masked Fatah-al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades gunmen burst into Arafat mourning tent - shortly after Abbas arrived with Dahlan - shouting: "No one can replace Arafat!" Security guards fired back. Two killed, four injured in incident.
Popcorn, anyone?
Posted by: Lux ||
11/14/2004 11:33:41 AM ||
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#1
an appropriate gesture in mourning Arafat - kill a couple more
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/14/2004 11:34 Comments ||
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#2
Correction : not Arafat's grave, but a mourning tent in Gaza city. Guess that puts Hamas et al as suspects #1
#3
I was kinda hoping earlier that all the gun sex at Arafat's funeral would wind up killing a few nutballs. Then at their own funerals there would be more gun sex, resulting in still more killings and subsequent funerals, leading to even more gun sex, more funerals, repeat, rinse, decimating the ranks of Hamas and the PA until they could no longer function--in effect truly making Arafat the so-called "peacemaker" the MSM claims he is!
Posted by: Dar ||
11/14/2004 11:43 Comments ||
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#4
It's a start....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/14/2004 11:55 Comments ||
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#5
Seems like we ought to drop a MOAB on the grave every few days just to see what the cat drug in.
Posted by: Matt ||
11/14/2004 12:57 Comments ||
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#6
Popping popcorn, the coming attractions are good so far but waiting for the real show to begin.
#7
Just saw Dore Gold (Israel's Amb to US) on TV say the gunmen firing at Abbas were Al Asqa not Hamas. So maybe before the Fatah-Hamas blood bath, we will have an intra Fatah blood bath.
Yasser would be so proud. Even from beyond the grave his bloodsoaked sleeve still points the way to violent death. Is there no sort of self-immolation sufficiently destructive in nature to dissuade the Palestinian people from their ruinous obsession with terrorism?
#11
If the Paleos were smart enough to realize
how stupid they are, they would commit suicide
on the spot........
Wait a second... There's a logical catch 22 in this...
LONG LIVE DARWIN
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
11/14/2004 14:36 Comments ||
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#12
Lex,
I hope Dubia has a lot of patience......
Teaching democracy to the Paleo's is like
climbing a glass mountain, there's always
some bloody fool exploding in your face or trying to back-stab someone they dont like.
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
11/14/2004 14:41 Comments ||
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#13
EoZ, I think this is another example that Bush is far more intelligent than his critics. Note how he gave our ally Blair the carrot that he wanted--vocal support for the "peace process", whatever that is, and a commitment to the usual Clintonesque blah-blah (conference, envoy etc)-- while putting the ball in the Paleos' court.
Bush has shifted the terms of the debate 180 degrees. Now the focus, if there is one, will have to be on reform of the failed state that is the PA if Bush is to invest any more "capital." Brilliantly done. Bush retains all of the upside from progress and none of the risk attached to failure.
A Red Crescent convoy reached Falluja on Saturday with the first aid since U.S.-led forces began blasting their way in five days ago, and U.S. and Iraqi officials said only pockets of rebel resistance remained. The offensive on Falluja has fueled violence across Iraq 's Sunni Muslim heartland, especially in the northern city of Mosul where guerrillas fought on and kept control of some districts. The U.S.-backed interim government, which has vowed to crush a widespread insurgency before planned nationwide elections in January, said Baghdad's international airport -- initially closed on Monday for 48 hours -- would remain shut indefinitely. "Conditions in Falluja are catastrophic," said Iraqi Red Crescent spokeswoman Firdoos al-Abadi, whose organization says there are severe shortages of food and medicine in the city.
Abadi said the Red Crescent's five trucks and three ambulances had arrived at the main hospital on the western edge of Falluja, some 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad. It is unclear how many of Falluja's 300,000 people remain in the city, but about half are believed to have fled before the ground assault began on Monday. There has also been no firm word on civilian casualties. National Security Minister of State Kasim Daoud said more than 1,000 guerrillas had been killed in Falluja, which the interim government and Washington say has been a base for Saddam Hussein supporters and foreign Islamic fighters. "The operations are almost over. There are only pockets of resistance left," Daoud told a news conference, adding that around 200 guerrillas had been captured.
"The coalition and Iraqi forces have completed the move, for all practical purposes, from the north down to the south (in Falluja)," said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "I don't mean to suggest that it's concluded. It's not, for sure," Rumsfeld told reporters during a visit to Panama. U.S. Major Clark Watson said American forces expected to overcome the rebels in their last main redoubt, the Shuhada area in the south of the city, within 72 hours but were facing tough resistance from Syrian, Chechen and other foreign fighters.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/14/2004 1:23:58 AM ||
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#1
The counter offensive has now begun.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/14/2004 11:10 Comments ||
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EFL and the conclusion.
Read the whole thing.
So has this battle been a waste of time and American blood? Not at all. It is as important in its way as was the routing of the Taliban from Kabul in 2001 or the taking of Baghdad in 2003.
First of all, it is an act of liberation. Fallujah's roughly 300,000 residents had been living under the thumb of gangsters such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Now, if the Iraqi military can keep the terrorists from creeping back, the city will rejoin Iraq's wider political life and be able to participate in the nation's emerging democracy.
Second, the insurgency has lost a key asset that will be hard to replace. Fallujah was one big safe house, complete with dens for making car bombs and killing hostages. The people living there were, in effect, human shields. Now the terrorists will have to try to re-create this infrastructure somewhere else.
That may not be easy. They might look for shelter in other Sunni triangle towns, such as Ramadi, Tikrit, Baiji and Baquba. But if they couldn't stand up to U.S. and Iraqi forces in Fallujah, they won't be able to do so in those spots, either. They can run and they can even hide for a while, but not indefinitely.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: badanov ||
11/14/2004 7:17:32 AM ||
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#1
The way the American troops conducted this assault should be done in everyone of those mentioned towns in the next few weeks
#2
Another quick add on the "patience" aspect. The fanatics all over Iraq, and the Iraqis who have been "hosting" them must also have noticed that one of the main reasons we had NOT hammered them until now was we were waiting for the election to be over.
The election ended and the hammering started.
I think the Iraqis in other cities will start re-considering their decision to "host" some of the fanatics, making it harder and harder for Zarkawi, et al, to gain a foothold anywhere.
The long overdue English lesson is now in full swing..."Now Class, who remembers what the word 'FUTILITY' means?"
#3
The turning point in the war on terrorism was long before Fallujah, we've been kicking their ass since we won in Afghanistan.
After the Iraqi elections there will be 2 former tyrannical regimes that will have been turned into free societies due to Bush's force of conviction. That's a powerful message to those that aspire to be free and those who call themselves our enemy.
#5
mhw, I disagree in the sense that the overthrow of the mularky would be a good starting point.
The near final point would be when Islam would be recognized widely for what it is--a totalitarian death cult ideology.
The good thing is that the doofuses are impatient. We would be really screwed if that were not the case. As it is, the odds are on our side, albeit things will not be settled for a couple of decades and there would be many days when things would look desperate.
#6
If you look back at the last two weeks, the man who has become the symbol of the war on terror has been re-elected by a sizable majority of the American people, the world's most famous terrorist has finally croaked, the Marines have explained things to the jihadis in their former stronghold of Fallujah, the French have been embarrassed by the Ivory Cost Air Force, and the famously liberal Dutch appear to have realized that if you lie down with Jihadis you wake up with fleas. Not good days for the muj.
Posted by: Matt ||
11/14/2004 13:16 Comments ||
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#7
In April, during the last Fallujah attack, Shiites joined with the Sunnis and formed aid convoys to help out. Najaf, after being under the thumb of al Sadr, has been quiet and has no truck with the Fallujans. The point being, after people have been under the control of the wackos, the Americans don't seem too bad.
From The New York Times
.... In Falluja, mechanized units, mainly M1A2 tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles, entered the southern district, Shuhada, on Saturday, with muzzles blazing, blowing apart buildings, rolling over barriers and confronting insurgents holed up in mosques and other refuges. It was the sixth day of the battle in Falluja. From the city's southeast perimeter, the sound of heavy artillery and machine-gun fire was almost continuous throughout the afternoon, when M1 tanks and Bradleys could be seen pounding rebel positions near the city's southern end.
In the direction of Shuhada, a battle could be seen raging between an American M1 tank and a group of insurgents holed up in buildings around the minarets of a mosque, about 100 yards away. Muzzle flashes from AK-47 fire could be seen around the minarets. The tank, with its rear less than a block from the desert's edge, repeatedly fired its 120-millimeter cannon at the insurgents, sending a sudden dust cloud into the sky as sections of the building's masonry collapsed. ....
The Associated Press reported that near Falluja itself, four American helicopters had been hit by fire from the ground in two incidents, but that their pilots had been able to fly the craft safely back to their bases.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/14/2004 9:46:15 AM ||
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US Marines have found the mutilated body of what they believe was a Western woman during a sweep of a street in central Fallujah. The body was lying in the street covered with a blood-soaked cloth. Marines fear the body may have been booby-trapped and have called in dogs to sniff for explosives. Although the body has not been carefully examined, an un-named Marine officer said he was "80% sure" it was a Western woman. Two Western women are known to have been kidnapped in Iraq. Margaret Hassan, 59, director of CARE international in Iraq, was abducted on October 19. Teresa Borcz Khalifa, 54, a Polish-born long-time resident of Iraq, was seized last month.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
11/14/2004 6:05:55 AM ||
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#1
A bit more info:
"The body of a blonde-haired woman with her legs and arms cut off and throat slit was found today lying on the street in Fallujah, a notorious enclave for hostage-takers, marines said."
...
"It is a female ... missing all four appendages, with a slashed throat and disembowled, she has been dead for a while but only in this location for a day or two," said Benjamin Finnell, a hospital apprentice with the Navy Corps, who had inspected the body.
An AFP photographer embedded with the marines said the woman was wearing a blue dress and her face was completely disfigured.
The marines said she appeared to have been on the street for about two days.
"Two European women have been abducted in Iraq and remain missing. ... Teresa Borcz, 54, a Pole, has blonde hair ... Ms Borcz, married to an Iraqi and a resident in Iraq for 30 years, was abducted late last month. She has appeared in two video cassettes appealing to the Polish government to help her but her fate is unknown."
Let's hope the animals started the mutilations after she was already dead.
Anyone want to repeat their pet conspiracy theories about hostages like Ms Borcz? Now would be a good time to call her a coward, collaborator, an engineer of her own kidnapping. She's not going to come after you.
#3
If we saw pictures of torture at Abu Ghraib, why won't we see pictures of this? Because this is real torture.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/14/2004 9:28 Comments ||
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#4
Let's hope the animals started the mutilations after she was already dead. Anyone want to repeat their pet conspiracy theories about hostages like Ms Borcz? Now would be a good time to call her a coward, collaborator, an engineer of her own kidnapping
WTF?
I know who the bad guys are and I know who the victims are. The video of Hassan begging in tears for her life: how can anyone not see that video as indicative of the brutality of Islamists; to so thoroughly terrorize a woman that she loses her dignity begging for her life all the while knowing she will die. I cannot see the people who took her and others, who tortured her and then who released video of the event as anything but criminals and mass murders.
#5
I think BD was referring to speculation at the time Ms Hassan was abducted that, perhaps, her abduction was not authentic but was a ruse in which she cooperated with those whom she had befriended on the other side, a speculation worth considering in my opinion. Some went so far as to accept such speculation as fact and characterize her in the, then and now, inappropriate terms BD recalls.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/14/2004 10:13 Comments ||
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#6
I was one who speculated, acknowledged no facts in evidence, and won't apologize for it. Speculation is all it was, and of course, I feel sorry for whoever the dead woman is. There have been instances, such as the two Italian women, who apparently were with the other side. That allows me to speculate
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/14/2004 10:28 Comments ||
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#7
I never speculated that she was working for the other side. I merely said that she was a coward for cooperating with the guerrillas in the filming of these videos, where dozens of Iraqis and foreigners before her had met their fates stoically, depriving the guerrillas of propaganda victories, and preserving both their families' and nations' honor.
As to whether she had worked with the guerrillas, I don't have an opinion either way. But everyone should note that the guerrillas do turn on their supporters. Dozens of foreign jihadis have been shot execution-style for not obeying the orders of Saddam's men. Guerrilla movements enforce discipline via reigns of terror not merely among the civilian population but among their own followers. Mao and Lenin purged their movements frequently by executing people who deviated from the party line. Saddam frequently killed some number of his ministers to keep the rest in line.
#8
Let me say also that while I think this woman was a coward, I do sympathize with the way she died. No one who is not one of the guerrillas deserves to die in this way. The guerrillas' viciousness is yet another reason that they should be convicted and hanged until dead, once they are captured, to deter others from following in their footsteps.
#10
ZF, Just for the record, you also referred to hostages like Teresa as 'scum of the earth', and not just as 'cowards'.
I sincerely hope that you never find yourself going through the same horrifying experiences that that 54 year old woman had to endure before her (probably extremely sadistic) murder. If you did, I wager that you'd find your insults less apt in that situation than they seem to be from the comfort of your swivel chair.
#11
Bulldog-
FWIW, I was the one who made the first post that raised the possibility that Ms. Hassan's abduction might not have been what it seemed. However, I also stressed that all we had was some anomalies in the way her tapes were presented and nothing more than that, and that until we knew for sure otherwise the only prudent thing to do was to treat it as an abduction and do everything humanly possible to rescue her.
If at any time I gave the impression that I considered either of these women as actively assisting the bad guys, I sincerely apologize to you and everyone else here. It is repugnant to me to even want to think that anyone would cooperate in such a way with the monsters we are fighting. The fact remains however that there have been at least two high profile abductions which strongly appear to have been staged, and both of them had great similarities to Ms. Hassan's kidnapping. As awful as it was to consider, the possibility had to at least be looked at.
Respectfully,
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/14/2004 12:33 Comments ||
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#12
There's no need to apologize, IMO.
My thinking is that staged or not what we saw on the video was a woman clearly terrified of her captors. It may well turn out that in the early going she went along for the ride, but perhaps conditions changed, and what we saw was a woman originally helping Iraqi's, finding out later she was played for a fool and will pay for her partricipation with her life. I don't know.
Seeing this terrified person invoked my sympahy for her. Fortunely, were it to turn out to be a staged event I can't undo how I felt but I sure can how I feel.
I also understand where folks are coming from in getting the idea what Hassan was a coward for after all, this is a global war in which for the first time, whether they want to be or not, civilians are on the frontline. But at the same time I think it is important to note and to maintain the idea that inasmuch as they may be on the frontline, it doesn't make them soldiers. It doesn't make the Islamists' demands whether by force or by a staged event any more legitimate. Their impact is that it is a demonstration of just how brutal they will be if they ever come to power and ought to damn well be a warning of just what is at stake in this war.
#13
Bulldog: I sincerely hope that you never find yourself going through the same horrifying experiences that that 54 year old woman had to endure before her (probably extremely sadistic) murder. If you did, I wager that you'd find your insults less apt in that situation than they seem to be from the comfort of your swivel chair.
I think you're saying that personal reactions should determine whether something is thought of as brave or cowardly. If I did the same thing as this woman - I would be astonished to hear anyone say anything but that my actions were cowardly. And they would be right to say that what I did was cowardly.
Rationalizations don't change the essential nature of an act. Bravery has nothing to do with the absence of fear - it has to do with overcoming fear to do the right thing. The fact is that some were brave and some were cowardly. The brave hostages will never be seen on TV, simply because it would not do for the guerrillas to show their victims defying them in the face of certain death. By and large, the American hostages did not beg - several British ones did. You can draw your own conclusions.
As to the comfort of my swivel chair, let me point out to you that residents of NYC have lost more people in a single day than have US military units have in combat over the past 10 years. (I was in the subway tunnel under the World Trade Towers when the planes hit, and quietly hysterical women walked quickly back towards the trains saying there had been a bomb*). More to the point, she knew that Iraqis were targeting Westerners and had plenty of time to steel herself against the possibility of kidnapping, given that she lived in the belly of the beast. (The logical thing to do would have been to leave, but she deluded herself with the idea that she was somehow immune, having gone native to the point of empathizing with the guerrillas). The World Trade Center victims had no such forewarning.
I fully expect terrorists to attack NYC yet again, simply because it is a such a densely-populated city. A Nagasaki-sized bomb would instantaneously kill hundreds of thousands of people.
* It's nothing like the movies, where everyone's sprinting and screaming out loud at the same time. I suspect people save their breath for getting out of the area, and instead of sprinting, adopt a brisk trot calculated to enable them to continue moving away from the danger zone for more than a few minutes.
#14
As for me, what I objected to in the behavior of Hassan was her sudden rediscovery of her British citizenship after decades spent living and representing herself as an Iraqi. Weeping is understandable; prostituting your nationality is reprehensible.
As to the other expat object of my scorn, Mr Bigley, what I found objectionable were his repeated personal injunctions to Tony Blair to save him. One can interpret this as desperation rather than mere cynicism, but regardless, these two were voluntarily furthering the propaganda aims of their fascist captors, and I think it fitting to criticize this behavior in hopes of shifting the tide of public opinion and denying the jihadists any utility from this appalling new PR trick.
As to i due Simone, I remain of the opinion that there were kickbacks involved, though I have no direct evidence. Their praise for their captors' "guerrilla struggle" upon their release suggests to me that my hunch is the right one.
#15
It is possible for someone to agree to be a hostage for the other side and then be betrayed by the jihadists. I'm not saying that's what happened but jihadists telling untruths to infidels is not unknown.
#16
The brave hostages will never be seen on TV, simply because it would not do for the guerrillas to show their victims defying them in the face of certain death. By and large, the American hostages did not beg - several British ones did. You can draw your own conclusions.
ZF: Fabrizzio Quattrocchi wasn't seen on TV? You seem to accept that absence of evidence constitutes evidence of absence. Let me be the first to inform you that it doesn't. Your obssessive pervasive anglophobia has been obvious in your comments on this issue since day one. I would be interested to hear if you think that Teresa Borcz Khalifa was, before her disemboweling and dismemberment, facial mutilation and throat-cutting, a coward and scum of the earth, as is your opinion of Ken Bigley and Margaret Hassan. Presumably Daniel Pearl was also a coward, and scum of the earth for cooperating with his kidnappers and reading their demands on video? Or are only British murder victims worthy of the title scum of the earth, in your considered opinion?
What do you think about, for instance, those SOE agents who were captured after parachuting into occupied Europe during WWII? If they broke under German torture and interrogation, as many of them surely did, were they cowards and scum of the earth? I don't see how they could have been otherwise, using your logic. After all, they would have had plenty of time and even training, to steel themselves for the situations they found themselves in. Scum of the earth who had volunteered for their tasks in the full knowledge of the fate that would await them in the likely event that they were caught. Men and women who were broken by extreme physical and psychological stress. Few people would dream of calling any individuals broken by torture by the sort of despicable insults you freely apply.
What about Theo van Gogh? Reportedly, he pleaded with his murderer to 'have mercy' as he lay dying on the ground. Was he also a coward and scum of the earth? Or was he not, because there wasn't a video camera around at the time? Or was he not a scum of the earth because he wasn't British?
More to the point, she knew that Iraqis were targeting Westerners and had plenty of time to steel herself against the possibility of kidnapping, given that she lived in the belly of the beast. (The logical thing to do would have been to leave, but she deluded herself with the idea that she was somehow immune, having gone native to the point of empathizing with the guerrillas).
Do you have any evidence whatsoever to support that last assertion? Any evidence whatsoever that she sympathised with her killers? That's just plain invention. And if you've had time to steel yourself, then torture and the prospect of your own murder ought to be a tolerable experience? What utter rot.
#17
My heart goes out to all those poor souls who find themselves at the point of hideous murder at the hands of these barbarians. Some will be defiant, some stoic and some beg for mercy. I have watched Marines cry and sob and call out for thier mothers. Evem if they should have known better, there is absolutely no excuse for judging these people faced with the unthinkable evil that confronts them. All we can do is pray for them and not relent in destroying all who would do such things.
Families fleeing the besieged city of Fallujah say that rebel fighters have slipped through the American and Iraqi military cordon and have been driven away in Mercedes cars to rejoin the battle elsewhere in Iraq. The fighters, said to include foreign militants using satellite telephones, are believed to be heading for Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul, to open a new front.
Abu Haider, 47, a mechanic who escaped with his family on Friday, said: "I saw many fighters with their faces covered, coming out beside us, carrying light weapons and their telephones. "I asked one how he had managed to arrange a lift to the city. He replied, 'It is the order. We have to choose another field to fight on outside Fallujah.'" He said that homes in the al-Shuhada district of southern Fallujah had been destroyed by US bombs. "It is like a hell in there," he said. "There are many people dead on the streets. There is a very bad smell." He said that rebel fighters had made their way from central Fallujah to his neighbourhood using a network of tunnels because it was the best way out of the city. They used a back route through villages to the south of Fallujah, passing through farmland and orchards, until they reached the town of al-Nouaimia. "When we got there I saw two Mercedes cars waiting for these fighters," he said. The fighters took a back road, too narrow for American tanks, to drive to Baghdad. He and his family managed to rent a car in the town and used the same route, he said.
American commanders admitted that many insurgents fled before the battle began, but insisted that escape routes were blocked. Capt Raymond Pemberton, an intelligence officer for the US Army's Task Force 2-2, which has been in the thick of the fighting for almost a week, said: "A solid cordon was established about five days prior to the attack."
Other families who escaped to al-Nouaimia by the same route as rebel fighters described the devastation they had left behind. Hussain Khudiar Al-Dolaimy, 67, ran away with nine family members. "Bodies are everywhere in the streets," he said. "The electricity is switched off and the water has been cut for three days." Sa'ad Al-Dolaimy, 25, said he had seen "hundreds of bodies" thrown in the streets.
Iraq's national security adviser, Qassem Daoud, said yesterday that more than 1,000 rebels had been killed and 200 fighters detained. He claimed that only "'malignant pockets" remained but confirmed that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the terror mastermind behind the kidnap of westerners who made Fallujah his base, had escaped.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
11/14/2004 5:38:15 AM ||
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The terrorist enemy attacks targets which do not fight back.
Oil pipeline fire following an attack by saboteurs, Saturday night
(11-13-04) in Taji, Iraq.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/14/2004 5:48 Comments ||
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Ooops! Missed Dan Darling's post. Please delete. [red face]
Iraqi authorities are moving against enemy informants and sympathizers in the ranks of the nation's hastily trained security forces by firing thousands of police officers and taking over from Americans the screening of new recruits. Such informants are believed to have undermined numerous operations and tipped off terrorists, who last month killed 49 unarmed Iraqi army recruits as they traveled by bus near the Iranian border. "Most of the screening as far as the staff is up to the Iraqi staff now," said U.S. Army Capt. Kevin Bradley, who trains Iraqi national guardsmen. "Right now, whether or not the person is clean, it depends on the Iraqis." ...more...
Obvious follow-up question: And who'll screen the screeners?
Posted by: .com ||
11/14/2004 4:05:35 AM ||
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Who'll screen the screeners? People who would be at the top of the "kill on sight" list if the Baathists were to come back to powere.
Families fleeing the besieged city of Fallujah say that rebel fighters have slipped through the American and Iraqi military cordon and have been driven away in Mercedes cars to rejoin the battle elsewhere in Iraq. The fighters, said to include foreign militants using satellite telephones, are believed to be heading for Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul, to open a new front. Abu Haider, 47, a mechanic who escaped with his family on Friday, said: "I saw many fighters with their faces covered, coming out beside us, carrying light weapons and their telephones. "I asked one how he had managed to arrange a lift to the city. He replied, 'It is the order. We have to choose another field to fight on outside Fallujah.' "
Yesterday, President George W Bush gave warning that guerrilla violence in Iraq could worsen as the January elections draw near. "The desperation of the killers will grow and the violence could escalate," he said. Abu Haider was among hundreds of refugees to make his way out of Fallujah in the past few days. He fled with his wife and three children because his teenage daughter, Rana, needs fortnightly treatment for leukaemia at a hospital in Baghdad. He said that homes in the al-Shuhada district of southern Fallujah had been destroyed by US bombs. "It is like a hell in there," he said. "There are many people dead on the streets. There is a very bad smell."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/14/2004 12:55:19 AM ||
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have been driven away in Mercedes cars to rejoin the battle elsewhere in Iraq
Imagine OUR surprise! We only stopped Acuras and Lexus's....damn
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/14/2004 1:09 Comments ||
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Well if there are hundreds of bodies in the streets then there's a decent chance that the military is actually downplaying the number of terrorists killed.
#3
Geee, leaving already??? And we thought they wanted to play, given all those brave Jihad Unspun and Al Jizz articles. It's always the same - their glorious leaders call for sacrifice and all that rot, then bugger out. S'okay, the flypaper effect is still unbelievably effective and there is an end to everything, including fodder.
This situation seems to be much like Korea as described to me by the mean old mofo Master Sargeant who ran the ROTC program in my HS. The dumbass Chinese came in waves, every day for almost a month - same narrow valley, same massed charges. They were cut down as fast as they came - and as the melting machine gun barrels could be changed... and every night, the bulldozers pushed the bodies out of the way in preparation for the dawn's resumption. He said he didn't think it would ever end, but it did. He swore more than 20,000 Chinese soldiers were killed in that month - in that one valley. Then they came no more. He painted a hell of a picture for me - punctuated with hardcore reality when he popped out his glass eye for effect, and baby that had one hell of an effect on a 16 yr old ROTC student - one that's obviously stuck with me. Flypaper. Stupidity. Easy for me to say, but such is the mentality of an enemy with no sense and no plan and no purpose. May they continue to die in great numbers and to no purpose like the fucking morons and tools they are. Rinse. Repeat. Till they come no more.
#4
God bless our armed forces beating back the jihadist enemy.
US Marines take up position after coming under attack in the western part of Fallujah, Iraq, Saturday, Nov. 13th, 2004.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/14/2004 5:44 Comments ||
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Well if there are hundreds of bodies in the streets then there's a decent chance that the military is actually downplaying the number of terrorists killed.
Well, the chance that the person interviewed was actually in Fallujah seems pretty slim. Add that to the natural instinct of the jihadi to lie like a rug, and you have to think this guy was probably up in Mosul and has no idea what's happening in Fallujah.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/14/2004 9:07 Comments ||
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As they run towards the big sedan, it's big V-8 at an idle, Abu shouts "shotgun"!
Islamist groups, including one led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, vowed in a video obtained on Saturday to take their battle in the rebel city of Falluja to all corners of Iraq (news - web sites). A masked gunman reading a joint statement from several militant groups also warned Iraqi government workers and soldiers would be targeted unless they stopped work immediately. The video, obtained by Reuters in Falluja, showed three masked men carrying assault rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. It could not be immediately authenticated. "In response to the crimes and mass annihilation the Muslims of Falluja are facing, the groups Qaeda Organization of Jihad in Iraq, the Islamic Army, the 1920 Revolution Brigades ... announce the spread of the battle to all governorates and parts of Iraq," one gunman read from a handwritten piece of paper.
"We warn all employees in the government and ministries, both civilian and military, not to go to work and to announce civil disobedience because remaining at work is doing a service to the Americans and collaborator government. Anyone who does otherwise will make himself a target for us." Essential services such as health, water and electricity were exempted, he said. Some of the 11 groups named have claimed some of the bloodiest bombings, killings and kidnappings in Iraq. "All citizens must stay away from places where American troops, pagan army and collaborator police are present," the gunman warned in the video.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/14/2004 1:05:00 AM ||
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Ten Iranian agents were arrested during a raid on a local mosque in Falluja following attacks by coalition forces. News of the arrests came at a press conference by the heads of the multinational and Iraqi forces in Falluja. The mosque had been housing at least 300 militants with 110 of them confirmed to be foreign nationals. The latest arrests follow a string of reports blaming Iran's religious regime of backing insurgencies in an attempt to halt the democratic process in Iraq.
The head of security in Soleimaniya (northern Iraq), Brigadier General Sarkout Hassan Jalal, said earlier this week, "Paramilitary forces secretly bring fresh forces from Iran into Iraq, and then take them to Falluja and other places." The Al-Sabah daily wrote on Nov. 8, "Iraqi National Guard forces arrested eight Iranians as they were blowing up food storages and other centers in Kut. After preliminary interrogations of those arrested, it became clear that they were blowing up a storage room where election ballots were stored. Voters will receive one of these cards to participate in the upcoming elections by showing their birth certificate."
Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi urged the European Union to use its influence over Iran to stop them from "fuelling violence" in his country. Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar also accused Iran of orchestrating attacks in Iraq. "Iran is playing a negative role in Iraq. It is behind the assassination of more than 18 Iraqi intelligence officers. It is also playing a negative role in southern Iraq," Yawar told Kuwait's Al-Qabas newspaper.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
11/14/2004 12:36:19 AM ||
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"Kill all they send, and they will eventually stop coming."
#2
Our armed forces defeated this large nest of jihadists. Note that in just one location, a mosgue, "110 of them confirmed to be foreign nationals." Iran has declared war on Coalition Forces and Iraqis which want a free nation.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/14/2004 2:06 Comments ||
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execute them and throw their bodies back across the border
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/14/2004 11:32 Comments ||
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Why is it Saudi's caught in Fallujah are considered independent jihadists and not government agents but Iranian's caught there are considered government agents? Both nations are questionable.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/14/2004 18:31 Comments ||
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Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi urged the European Union to use its influence over Iran to stop them from "fuelling violence" in his country.
Uh, huh. The only influence is the Iranians allowing the EU talk to them. It buys time, and keeps the Continentals happy.
With no sign of the Iraq insurgency ending soon, the Army has again raised its goal for replacing regular Humvee utility vehicles in Iraq with armoured Humvees, the Army's top civilian official said. The extra protection is needed to shield soldiers from the insurgents' weapon of choice, the roadside bomb, as well as other small arms that soldiers are vulnerable to in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq. Les Brownlee, the acting secretary of the Army, said in an Associated Press interview on Friday that the Army recently doubled its requirement for 'up-armoured' Humvees in Iraq from 4,000 to 8,000. Brownlee said that he believed the Army could meet the goal of having 8,000 armoured Humvees in Iraq by March 2005. Brownlee said the army also is adding armour to its truck fleet because soldiers in supply convoys are often attacked by insurgents. "No one ever anticipated we'd be up-armouring our truck fleet," he said. "Nobody anticipated that we'd have to do that."
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/14/2004 12:04:55 AM ||
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Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said yesterday he had no news of the fate of three of his relatives, one of them pregnant, who were kidnapped this week and threatened with death. Speaking two days after the expiry of a purported ultimatum from their captors, the hawkish US-backed premier remained defiant. "We dont know, we dont know, but definitely I am not going to be deterred by this," he said. Â
Takes a special person to stay on course in a situation like this.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/14/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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While my heart goes out to Allawi on a personal level, he still gets no particular sympathy from me. This is what Iraq's rebels desire. Namely, the death of Allawi's (or any other ruling personage's) family, now or later. Begin to fight it tooth and nail as of now, or watch your own kith and kin die a slow death.
This is what has been the case for some decades now, nothing has changed save the names and places of where the victims get buried.
#4
Somehow, I doubt Allawi is moved. Dozens of his relatives were killed during Saddam's reign. The latest kidnapping simply reminds him of the fate that awaits the rest of his relatives, should he lose.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A teenager accused of planning to supply a Somalian terrorist group with night vision goggles and bulletproof vests foreshadowed the charges in his high school yearbook with a note that mentions Somalia in his ``plans for world supremacy.™'' 
Gunfire erupted Sunday at the tent set up for mourners to gather in memory of Yasser Arafat, witnesses said. The gunfire lasted several minutes, they said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The gunshots were heard about the time that 
