If anyone feels like acting as a guinea pig, here's a link you can add to your toolbar or favorites. It works in IE, but I don't have any non-IE browsers on this machine to test it on. Feedback would be appreciated.
To use, when reading an article, select the text you want to post by left-clicking and dragging the mouse over it. Then open the Post to Rantburg link. URL and text should be there for you (at least in IE)...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2004 12:12:54 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
The U.S. military ordered a Marine Corps antiterrorism security team to Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday to assist in security at the consulate, defense officials said. The officials discussed operational matters only on the condition of anonymity. The team is based elsewhere in the Middle East, the official said. These teams typically have 50 Marines and are experts in providing security and conducting raids in urban areas, said Maj. Matt Morgan, a Marine Corps spokesman at Camp Lejeune, N.C. They are often deployed in the aftermath of a terrorist attack. In Jiddah, they will reinforce defenses at the U.S. consulate that were breached by a group of attackers Monday. Eight people, including three attackers and five non-American embassy employees, were killed in the ensuing gunbattle.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2004 2:46:17 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
Australia's foreign ministry said Wednesday it will boost security spending at its embassies by $52 million after a terror attack on the U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia left nine dead earlier this week. The money is in addition to $63 million earmarked for bomb-proofing windows at all Australian diplomatic missions after a suicide bomber exploded a truck outside the embassy in Jakarta on Sept. 9, killing 10 people, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said. The terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Jiddah this week demonstrated the need for good perimeter security and hardened walls, Downer said. "In this age of terrorism, we just cannot be too careful in providing protection for our diplomats," Downer told parliament. The new money will be spent over five years starting this fiscal year and begin as the embassies most at risk, he said. The foreign ministry would not say how many buildings would be involved.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2004 12:29:42 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
THE appeals trial of six men convicted in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole opened today with prosecutors demanding the execution of two defendants who escaped the death penalty. The first convictions in the al-Qaeda attack that killed 17 American sailors were handed down in September, with four Yemenis sentenced to five to 10 years in prison. Two men - Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi suspected of being an associate of Osama bin Laden, and Yemeni militant Jamal al-Badawi - were sentenced to death. Al-Badawi, interrupting proceedings from behind bars in the courtroom dock, shouted to Judge Saeed al-Qattaa that the proceedings were a sham. "I know the verdict is ready in your pocket," al-Badawi yelled.
Prosecutors said defendants Fahd al-Qasaa and Maamoun al-Msoua, who were sentenced to 10 and eight years respectively, should be executed because their collaboration in planning the attack has been proven. The prosecution added that the previous trial was erroneous in not sentencing them to death since Yemeni law stipulates that any crime that results in a death is punishable by death.
Al-Nashiri, who is believed to have masterminded the Cole attack and also thought to have directed the 1998 bombings at the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, was the only defendant not present during the trial. He is in US custody at an undisclosed location. Al-Badawi said he would not recognise the court and the four other defendants asked the court to contact their lawyers to be present in future hearings. The lawyers could not be reached by The Associated Press to explain their absence. The trial was adjourned until December 15.
Posted by: tipper ||
12/08/2004 10:49:11 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Yer Honor, if killin' infidels is wrong, I don't wanna be right."
Saudi has named the slain gunmen who stormed the US mission. They have been identified as Fayez bin Awwad Al Jeheni, Eid bin Dakhilallah Al Jeheni and Hassan bin Hamed Al Hazmi. "The identity of the fourth, who is wounded, must be not be divulged for the sake of the (public) interest, and procedures are under way to establish the identity of the fifth person, who died in the incident," it said, adding that all four identified were Saudis. That'd be al-Jehani, what do ya wanna bet they're related to Khaled/Khalid al-Jehani, al-Qaeda's late OC of Gulf operations? And IIRC, wasn't there an al-Hazmi hijacker on 9/11?
There were two al-Hazmis: Nawaf & Salem. And as I'm posting this, follow the name link and look at the Wikipedia entries for these guys. Very interesting. Of special note: Both obtained US visas through the US Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in April of 1999. UPDATE: According to several news sources, Salem al-Hazmi is alive and working at a petrochemical plant in Yanbou, Saudi Arabia. He claims his passport was stolen by a pickpocket in Cairo three years before, and that pictures and details such as date of birth are of him. Back to you, Dan.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/08/2004 1:39:17 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"...petrochemical plant in Yanbou..."
The same plant where the attacks occurred this year? If anyone remembers that was an inside job.
Six of the 11-member terrorist cell that yesterday claimed responsibility for the attack on the US consulate in the Saudi city of Jeddah are still at large, a Saudi security official said yesterday.
Rats.
The official said five members of the cell took part in the assault, of whom four had died. While three of the dead had been identified, the identity of a fourth man who later died from his injuries was still being investigated.
Son of a prominent family?
But the official said the identity of a fifth gunman, who survived, was not being disclosed. Some officials have said the man may be Saleh al-Oufi, a central figure in al-Qaeda's operations in Saudi Arabia, though a senior Saudi security consultant denied this. Mr Oufi, who became a leading decision-maker in the terrorist group in June, is a former low-ranking soldier in the Saudi army. According to the Sawt al-Jihad Islamist website, which has distributed Saudi Islamist literature, he later joined Muslim forces in Afghanistan and Chechnya, before returning to Saudi Arabia. "This group had been chased in different parts of Western Province for the past two weeks," the security official said. "A few had been captured, and those who did the attack on the consulate were the ones who were left. There are another five or six others still at large," he said, adding that "even so, the group that is left are very limited in what they can do, though they have plans that are directed from [al-Qaeda] abroad".
Abroad where? NWFP, Teheran?
In a statement posted on the internet, a group calling itself al-Qaeda of the Jihad in the Arabian Peninsula yesterday claimed responsibility for the operation, calling it the Falluja attack. It also claimed that two Americans were killed during the attack, though US officials have denied this, saying they were only lightly injured. The statement identified the attack closely with the battle between US forces and insurgents in Iraq, saying it was carried out by al-Qaeda's Martyr Abu Anas al-Shami Brigade. The brigade was named after Abu Anas al-Shami, an associate of the Iraq-based extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. According to the website, Mr Shami was killed in the recent fighting in the Iraqi city of Falluja.
I'm coming to the conclusion that this is one of the only reliable methods of determining whether an al-Q member is really dead; if he gets his own Martyrs' Brigade.
The leader of the al Qaeda attack on the U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia had been jailed for "extremist ideology" and once worked for the kingdom's austere morality police, local newspapers said on Wednesday. Saudi dailies said Fayez Awad al-Jihani was the head of an al Qaeda cell in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, where the brazen daylight attack on the U.S. consulate took place on Monday. Jihani was one of four attackers who died in the assault. A fifth was wounded and arrested. Saudi authorities identified three of the assailants, none of whom were on a list of top wanted militants.
The attack, in which five non-American consulate staff died, was the first on a Western diplomatic mission and the first big strike in six months in the world's top oil exporter by militants bent on driving Westerners from the cradle of Islam. Leading Saudi newspaper Okaz quoted sources close to Jihani's family as saying he had been jailed for four months "due to extremist ideology", was freed in October 2003 and disappeared three months after that. It said rumours surfaced then that he had gone to the western Iraqi city of Falluja.
Al Qaeda's Saudi wing claimed the consulate strike, which was codenamed "the blessed Falluja attack" after the city where U.S.-led forces launched an offensive against insurgents including supporters of al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Another Saudi daily, al-Watan, quoted a cousin of Jihani as saying he had been fired from the Authority for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice five years ago for "misconduct". Okaz said Jihani, who was in his mid-20s, joined the authority after graduating from high school but was sacked after he assaulted some people detained by the morality police. The authority is a pillar of the ultraconservative kingdom. Answerable only to King Fahd and separate from ordinary police, members of the authority patrol the streets with police escort, ensuring their strict interpretation of Islam is upheld. The body has come under unprecedented scrutiny in Saudi Arabia after a wave of al Qaeda attacks in the kingdom since May 2003.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/08/2004 6:01:18 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
'Another Saudi daily, al-Watan, quoted a cousin of Jihani as saying he had been fired from the Authority for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice five years ago for "misconduct".'
Wander what they consider to be misconduct?
#5
Or maybe he was one the dumb morality police who stopped firemen from rescueing schoolgirls at a burning school because their heads weren't covered. Saudi has the trash of the earth.
#6
"Has come under unprecedented scrutiny" Yeah, not enough of them use henna in their beards. Not enough of them have their pajama pants and/or thobe cut high enough.
Unprecedented scrutiny, but answerable only to Fahd? Well, I guess, we'll have to investigate Fahd's relations to the Morality cops. Questioning will immediately follow Fahad's recovery from the stroke that afflicted him in the '90's. Right guys? Thank you Reuters for the insights.
Posted by: chicago mike ||
12/08/2004 13:48 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Reuters is so anti-american, the editors plot all day along against america
Federal forces in Chechnya have conducted a special effort to trace and detain subordinates of separatist leader Shamil Basayev, Interfax was told at the regional headquarters of the anti-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus on Tuesday. The effort resulted in the detention of a suspected militant aged 1977. Later he confessed that with a group he had committed several grave crimes in Shelkovskaya district, including murders of police officers and civilians.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/08/2004 1:54:32 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The effort resulted in the detention of a suspected militant aged 1977.
"Getting a little old for this, ain't you, Grandpa?"
Posted by: Steve ||
12/08/2004 10:28 Comments ||
Top||
Six men arrested following the slaying of filmmaker Theo van Gogh are no longer suspects in the killing, but still face charges for belonging to a terrorist group, authorities said Tuesday.
I don't think the Dutchies want to continue playing catch and release. The fascination seems to have worn off, at least for awhile.
The prime suspect in the Nov. 2 killing, 26-year-old Mohammed Bouyeri, remains in custody, officials said. But national prosecution spokesman Wim de Bruin said Amsterdam prosecutors have found no evidence linking six others to Van Gogh's killing. However, the men still face charges of belonging to a group of fundamentalists identified by Dutch intelligence as the "Hofstad" network, which is alleged to have links to the March 11 train bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people and the 2003 suicide bombings in Casablanca that killed 33.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2004 3:43:31 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Haven't they ever heard of felony murder. If they all belong to the same criminal (terror) organisation, then they all own the murder.
An Egyptian who was arrested after allegedly boasting about his role in the Madrid train bombings was extradited from Italy to Spain on Tuesday. "Hrarrr! Blew the infidels to smithereens! An' then... An' then... Oh. Hello, officer."
Rabei Osman Ahmed, alleged to be a key figure in the March 11 bombings that killed 191 people, was arrested in Milan in June, and the Italian Supreme Court agreed last week to deliver him to Spain for six months for questioning. Spanish authorities say they must then return Osman Ahmed to Italy, where he is still under investigation for links to Muslim militant groups in Europe. Spanish Judge Juan del Olmo, who is leading the investigation into the attacks, said Osman Ahmed, while living in Madrid, "managed to take control of a small group of Arab followers, all of them with extremist Islamic ideology, supporters of jihad and Osama bin Laden." Spanish authorities say the Egyptian, considered an expert in explosives, was a key figure in the planning of the bombings and in the structure of al-Qaida in Europe. Spanish investigators are especially eager to interrogate him because the other suspected ringleaders are dead — they were among seven suspects who blew themselves up on April 3.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2004 2:17:57 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
The German chief federal prosecutor's description of events surrounding what appears to have been an attempt to assassinate Iraq's interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, was unusually detailed. Point by point Kay Nehm made it clear just how advanced plans were to carry out an attack on Allawi during his visit to Germany late last week. His report shows that the plans allegedly hatched by three Iraqis arrested in Germany on Friday were so rushed they probably would have had difficulty carrying them out. However, it also reveals the suspects to be more than fringe figures, with the plot leader said to have close links with the Ansar al-Islam terrorist group in Iraq.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve ||
12/08/2004 10:50:39 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
A member of the notorious Central American gang Mara Salvatrucha was arraigned Tuesday in federal court for attempting to illegally cross into Brownsville last week. According to Border Patrol records, Francky Sanchez-Solorzano, 21, was arrested by Border Patrol on Thursday night as he and 13 others crossed the Rio Grande into Texas east of the Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates. "Across the (McAllen) sector, he is the fourth or fifth (Mara) we have caught in the last several years," said Senior Border Patrol agent Daniel Doty, adding that many others in the group were classified as "other than Mexican."
Sanchez-Solorzano — from San Pedro Sula, Honduras — told Border Patrol agents he was headed to Miami and paid a Mexican smuggler 1,000 pesos to cross the river. It is unknown why Sanchez-Solorzano was headed to Miami, but U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, D-Texas, said intelligence sources reported a meeting between the Maras and al-Qaida as recently as six months ago. Ortiz called the Central American gang "dangerous" and said they have cells in major cities across the United States. "I would like to compliment the Border Patrol," Ortiz said of Sanchez-Solorzano's capture. "This is very significant." Sanchez-Solorzano was arraigned Tuesday morning by U.S. Magistrate Judge John William Black, who gave him time served on a charge of illegal entry. Doty said Sanchez-Solorzano — whose affiliation with the Maras became known through the gang's distinctive tattoos — will be deported and returned to Honduras.
Sgt. Dionicio Cortez, a gang investigator with the Cameron County Sheriff's Department, described Mara Salvatrucha members as "very deadly" and "ruthless." The gang is involved in illegal money-making activities such as drug smuggling, human trafficking and murder for hire, he said. Cortez said the gang started more than 20 years ago in the streets of Los Angeles, but is now-based in Central American nations of El Salvador and Honduras with members ages 11-40. "Many from the older generation were guerrillas in the civil war of (El Salvador)," he said. Cortez said another Maras member from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, remains in county jail after being arrested in October for auto theft in San Benito. "They're not here to take over the gangs here because there are too many for them to handle," said Cortez, who noted the gang uses the Rio Grande Valley as a transit point to other destinations. Ortiz's spokeswoman Cathy Travis said the House and Senate are hearing a bill that would increase funds to increase border security to combat terrorism and organized crime.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/08/2004 1:50:08 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Will the Bush admin please get serious about cracking down on illegal immigration? What will it take for this country to develop a policy that advances our interests rather than Vicente Fox's?
#3
As I posted yesterday, the immigration issue is scheduled to be the first item Congress addresses after the Christmas holidays - at least that's what the Pubs will push.
Immigration issues have been existent for decades, guys. Just because it got "hot" in your view changes nothing about the political realities. Bush will tackle it and get the best he can out of the Congress. It's not like he's shy and retiring. He knows it's important and he knows the situation better than any of us who aren't Border Agents. My understanding is that it was one of the keystones of his original plans - until 9/11 cleared the decks and took priority. Political reality doesn't allow microwaving issues to suit. Sigh. He'll go after it - give him your support for doing so.
Wanna excrete some bile? Pick on Clinton's 8 years of feel-good bullshit - this issue was just as obvious and just as important for that entire period, too. At least Bush isn't a candy-pants self-promoting phantasy-bound phuckwit.
#4
According to Border Patrol records, Francky Sanchez-Solorzano, 21, was arrested by Border Patrol on Thursday night as he and 13 others crossed the Rio Grande into Texas east of the Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates.
Just think: had this guy gotten at least ten or more miles away from the border area, he probably would have been home free. The Border Patrol doesn't seem to do anything to anyone once that distance has been covered.
December 8, 2004: The government believes that the most senior Abu Sayyaf leader, Khaddafy Janjalani, is hading on Mindanao island, in an area controlled by the MILF. Janjalani is not being protected by the MILF, but at the same time the army can't go into the area without risking a major fight with the thousands of MILF gunmen in the area. The MILF does not want go looking for Abu Sayyaf members in its area, because it doesn't look good for Moslems to fight Moslems. It's also thought that Janjalani bribed local MILF leaders to leave him and his escort alone.
December 5, 2004: Police in the southern Philippines caught five Abu Sayyaf members in Zamboanga City. One of the men, Mahar Gahan, also known by his guerrilla name Abu Muslim, was killed. Gahan was an Abu Sayyaf leader in the area. Abu Sayyaf has been hunted intensively for so long that the organization has been reduced to a number of small, largely independent, groups. The rebels rely largely on criminal activities to support themselves. Since the Abu Sayyaf is a splinter group of the larger MILF, they get no cooperation from there. Although Abu Sayyaf professes a more hard core Islamic radicalism than MILF, few Islamic radicals in the region want to associate with Abu Sayyaf because the group operates too much like a bunch of bandits.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/08/2004 9:42:55 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
The US-led military in Afghanistan yesterday said it had been contacted by Taleban members willing to lay down their weapons following an arms-for-amnesty offer by the US envoy to Afghanistan. US military commanders operating in south and southeastern Afghanistan have been contacted by Taleban declaring their desire to "join the peaceful political process," the US-led military spokesman, Maj. Mark McCann, told a news briefing in Kabul. "We don't have any specific names — although, we have reports of individuals, the Taleban making contacts with some of our commanders in the field," the major said. He also said there had been "contacts with senior (provincial) government officials and military representatives here in Kabul."
His comments follow US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad's call last Thursday for Taleban insurgents to lay down their arms in return for an amnesty. The ambassador called on remnants of the Taleban regime to get in contact with tribal elders and the US-led coalition to declare their allegiance to the Afghan government. "I don't know exactly how far the process has gone forward,... however, we have seen what we call rank-and-file... people who wish to reconcile and become part of the peaceful political process," McCann said. A spokesman claiming to be from the Taleban rejected the offer last weekend.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2004 8:59:17 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Sounds like they're tired of those brutal Afghan winters.
Posted by: Matt ||
12/08/2004 21:29 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Your right Matt, to stay warm, you have to light fires or use electrical devices in the mountains, and yes they leave signatures and can be spotted by drones or satellites!
Militants attacked an Afghan border post and an American patrol near the Pakistani frontier, sparking battles in which at least eight rebels and four Afghan soldiers were killed. In the bloodiest overnight incident, insurgents armed with assault rifles and rockets attacked the base of Afghan government troops near Tana, a town in southeastern Khost province, the commander said. An hour-long firefight destroyed part of the base and left four Afghan soldiers and at least six militants dead, Gen. Khial Baz said. "The Americans didn't come to help us," Baz said. "They only came this morning to ask questions."
"Hey, Khial! What was all that racket we heard last night?"
U.S. military spokesman Maj. Mark McCann reported what appeared to be same incident, but said American troops operating in the area said three Afghan soldiers were killed and two more wounded. The Afghan general, speaking from his headquarters in Khost city, said some 250 gunmen had attacked his men near the border, but McCann suggested the number of attackers was "much smaller."
"There wuz millions of 'em..."
"Dozens."
"Thousands of 'em..."
"Dozens."
"Hundreds of 'em! Really!"
"Coupla dozen."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2004 4:03:07 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Now that the schools are again open, the upcoming generation of Afghanis will learn maths beyond counting "1, 2, many hundreds."
Five Moroccans held for nearly three years at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay including a suspected bodyguard for Osama bin Laden went on trial here [Rabat]charged with posing a threat to national security. Arrested in Pakistan and Afghanistan in late 2001, all five were accused of taking training courses in how to handle firearms and make explosives. Soon after the trial opened Monday at a Rabat criminal court, lawyers for the group won a two-week postponement until Dec. 20 to better prepare their defense. The court denied a request that the defendants be released from prison during the trial. Among the five was Abdelleh Tabarak, 49, suspected of serving as a bodyguard for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Sudan and Afghanistan. After spending two years and eight months at the U.S. detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the men were turned over to Moroccan authorities in August.
Here's hoping they were thoroughly drained before finally being dumped. On the bright side, the Moroccans don't seem that enamoured of catch and release, either.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2004 3:53:03 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
CHICAGO (AP) - Three Islamic charities and an alleged fund-raiser for the Palestinian militant group Hamas were ordered Wednesday to pay $156 million to the parents of an American teenager shot and killed by terrorists on Israel's West Bank. A federal jury deliberated for one day before awarding $52 million in damages to the parents of David Boim, shot down at a bus stop outside Jerusalem eight years ago. U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys then tripled the damages. The judge found the defendants liable for damages in the case last month. How can you not love this judge? If these charities are in the U.S. then this judge might have single-handedly shut down Hamas funding in the U.S.
The attorney for the defense refused to present a case and sat silent "like a potted plant" on the grounds that this case was prejudiced against Islam.
#3
"The attorney for the defense refused to present a case and sat silent "like a potted plant" on the grounds that this case was prejudiced against Islam."
#8
If I was the judge, telling the press my court was prejudiced would get you slapped in a cell for contempt so fast your whole family's heads would spin...
Militants bombed two churches Tuesday in Mosul, wounding three people in a coordinated attack apparently aimed at stirring trouble between religious groups in this ethnically diverse northern city. Deputy provincial governor Khasro Gouran said one blast struck a church about 2:30 p.m. in eastern Mosul's Wihda neighborhood, wounding three people. An hour later, gunmen stormed a church in western Mosul, ordering a handful of people outside before bombing it, Gouran said. There were no casualties. The religious denominations of the churches were not immediately clear. Islamic militants have regularly targeted different sectors of Iraq's multiethnic population, including the minority Christians, in a bid to disrupt the U.S.-led reconstruction of the war-scarred country.
Christians especially, I'd say.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2004 3:36:36 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Gunbattles between rival militias in the central region of Galgudud have killed at least 42 people, wounded another 123 and displaced hundreds of villagers, witnesses and an aid agency said Tuesday. Fighting erupted in Galinsoor on Dec. 1, resulting in 29 dead and 30 wounded in the first two days, witnesses said. It later spread to other villages and continued Sunday, reportedly leading to seven dead and six wounded. Colin McIlreavy, head of the Somalia mission for the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said the group's two hospitals and a clinic in the region treated 123 people wounded in six days of fighting.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2004 2:40:01 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
To simplify we could call this RB Headline 10, and refer to it as RBH10 9/12/2004, as opposed to RBH10 15/4/2003.
I figure RB1 would be Secretary of Stasis to restart Peace Processor.
An Israeli Arab has been arrested on charges of spying for Iran, a police spokesman said Tuesday, underscoring growing Israeli-Iranian tensions. Authorities believe Mohammed Ghanam came into contact with Iranian agents during one of his frequent trips to Saudi Arabia, where he facilitated the visits of Muslim pilgrims from Israel, police spokesman Gil Kleiman said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2004 2:13:19 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
The marines have long maintained that "every marine is a rifleman." This means that everyone, no matter what their regular job, but keep their infantry skills up to date. Now the army is adopting the same attitude because of the way operations play out in Iraq. That is, anyone traveling outside a base has to be combat ready. And those in bases have to be prepared for combat emergencies. As a result, there are a lot of things everyone in Iraq (and to a lesser extent in Afghanistan), have to get down cold if they want to get out in one piece.
· Emergency Action Drills. These are the things you do when there is an emergency. You must practice them with the people in your unit, to make sure everyone understands and does it the same way. When someone new comes into your unit, you have to go through all the drills for them. The drills are varied, ranging from what to do during various situations while on the road, to where the bomb shelters (or trenches) are in your camp. For combat units, these drills are no great shock, as most combat operations are a succession of drills (which are practiced regularly). But for non-combat support troops, these drills are a new experience, and more practice is always useful. Drills save lives.
· Practice changing tires, and doing it quickly. This does two things. First, you learn how long it takes, even when you are in a hurry. This can be a useful bit of information if you are under fire while changing the flat. Second, practicing it forces you to make sure the spare tire is in good shape, and can quickly be reached (along with any tools needed.)
· Mister Grenade can be your friend, even on the crowded streets of Baghdad. If your vehicle has a glove compartment, re-label it as the "grenade compartment." Carry one smoke, one fragmentation and one tear gas grenade. If you're stuck in traffic and the situation outside it starting to look dicey, then drop a smoke grenade out the window and try to get moving. You MUST be moving if you drop the tear gas grenade, because you cannot drive through the tears. Most other drivers will give you a wide berth when they see the smoke or tear gas grenade go off. For those who keep coming, with evil intent, the fragmentation grenade may come in handy (it is good for getting at bad people hiding behind something.) Remember, when using grenades, do not touch the pin until the grenade is outside the window. Accidents happen, and having a smoke grenade go off in your vehicle will ruin your day, at the very least.
· Carefully plan each trip on the roads, especially in areas where the bad guys are particularly active. Remember, the most frequent targets are large convoys of big trucks. So stay off the MSR (Main Supply Route) used by those guys. Give everyone in your convoy a strip map of the coming trip, and make sure the "assistant driver" (the one who takes over if the primary driver is hit) studies the plan as well. Select a route that you feel is least likely to be watched, and attacked by gunmen.
· Especially when outside your base, always have your weapon (usually an assault rifle or pistol, or both) with you at all times. Carry as much ammo as you can. In an emergency it will not be enough, but the more the better (14 or more magazines is not unreasonable). Only the stuff you have on you counts, as you may have to get out of your vehicle in a real emergency. Look around, the troops in Iraq have discovered many clever ways to carry all these magazines.
· Always wear your Kevlar helmet, and your armored vest when outside the compound. When in the compound, always know where your vest and helmet (and weapon) is. Keep the weapon clean.
· Practice basic combat operations, like changing magazines (you take cover when you do this, people who don't, often get shot). Practice aiming and shooting. Lots of firing ranges have been set up in Iraq, and lots of ammo has been provided for practice.
· Practice shooting at long range (800 meters.) While it's true that most combat is at shorter ranges (under 100-150 meters), you will sometimes find yourselves being shot at by people farther away. In a situation like this, a little practice before hand will pay big dividends. Might even say your life. Think about it.
· Make sure your first aid gear, and skills, are always up to snuff. Get extra medical gear if you can, and learn how to use it. The Special Forces medics always get the latest and greatest stuff, so find out what they are using and see if you can scrounge some of it up.
· Always be ready to return fire when on the road. Nothing discourages ambushers more, and ruins their aim, than lots of return fire. You might even kill a few of them.
· Don't throw candy to the kids while you are on the road. This just encourages them to get to close, and sometimes get run over. This is bad for the child, and for you as well. The dead kids family will come after you. Remember, every Iraqi family is allowed, by law, to have one AK-47.
· If you are in a firefight and you wound one of the enemy, don't let him crawl or limp away to safety. Kill him. These guys are doing holy war and will keep shooting even if wounded. They cannot hurt you if they are dead.
· Cars and trucks, unless armored, are not bullet proof. If you are in a firefight, take cover behind concrete or steel. Fighting from behind an unarmored vehicle means you will eventually get shot when you don't expect to. Indeed, when ambushed and in an unarmored vehicle that cannot move, the best thing to do is get away from that vehicle as soon as possible.
There's a lot more to learn. The above items are but a sample of what you have to know to survive in Iraq.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/08/2004 10:44:25 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Mister Grenade can be your friend
I will have to clear out my glove compartment and get the Grenade Triad. Might help in traffic....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/08/2004 11:59 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I think the Marines have found that dead people can hurt you. However, unrecognizable masses of organic matter are less likely to hurt anyone, except for the smell.
#4
If you are in a firefight and you wound one of the enemy, donât let him crawl or limp away to safety. Kill him. These guys are doing holy war and will keep shooting even if wounded. They cannot hurt you if they are dead.
Print this out, and distribute this to all U.S service personnel. It bears repeating over and over again.
#5
I was hoping the Army had learned somethings from Viet Nam...guess not.
When I was in-country and near an Army support base, following a nasty night-time assualt on the Army position which resulted in several KIA/WIA, the Army commander approached our Marine unit (a force logistic support group) and asked if we would provide several Sergeants to lead Army squads made up of Army remington-raiders, cooks bakers and supply clerks.
Lucky for the Army, the Marine NCO's could talk both combat shoot, move and communicate, and typing, food service and bullets, beans and band-aids.
At least 36 people were injured in Indian Kashmir when a grenade exploded near a police patrol in a busy marketplace in the south of the troubled region. The explosion took place in a road in the Anantnag town. Police reported that most of the victims were civilians. "The blast caused chaos," a police official said. That's usually the case, isn't it? Toss a grenade in the general vicinity of cops or soldiers and don't worry about the number of women and kiddies maimed...
Earlier Wednesday, two rebels were killed in northern Baramulla district in an overnight gun battle with security forces. A third rebel was shot dead during clashes with security troops in Anantnag district. Violence has escalated in Kashmir recently, which analysts said could be aimed at hampering a new round of peace talks between India and Pakistan over the Himalayan region. Oh, do tell? Remember to send a Thank You card to Hafiz Saeed...
The new attack comes as Indian President Abdul Kalam visited the disputed region and as India and Pakistan were holding meetings in New Delhi to discuss a bus transportation service between the two sides of Kashmir under their command. Kalam, whose post is largely ceremonial, is dubbed "missile man" for heading the scientific team which developed Indian missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads in 1998. In his address to the forces serving in border areas, he praised their services and told them that the government was acquiring "latest weapons and equipment" for them. "You're allowing us (the government) to focus on developmental issues by protecting our borders," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2004 10:44:28 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Oooh I sooo look forward to the new bus route being opened up . NOT! aka turkey shoot alley .
[exerpt]
Cpl Byles leaped into action on May 14 after his battalion, known as the Tigers, went to assist ambushed troops near a checkpoint on the main road between Basra and Baghdad.
When the squad's Warrior armoured vehicle was attacked, the corporal and another soldier jumped from it. They were immediately targeted by small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. After linking up with four comrades, quick-thinking Cpl Byles identified the enemy in a sun-scorched drainage ditch 200 yards away.
He said: "I decided the best way to attack was a full-frontal assault. It was my decision to fix bayonets and assault their position." It marked the first time British soldiers have gone into battle with bayonets since the 1982 Falklands War. And the NCO's surprise order horrified his own men.
Cpl Byles, who has a six-year-old son, said: "They were under the impression we were going to lie in our ditch, shoot the enemy from a distance and they would run away. "But I believe we caught the enemy on the hop that day and we had to take the fight to them."
As another Warrior provided covering fire, the men put fresh magazines on their rifles, scrambled over a muddy mound and sprayed the 60ft-long Iraqi trench. As they stormed the ditch, Cpl Byles saw around a dozen rebels brandishing weapons. He said: "The look on their faces was utter shock when five heavily-armed men jumped in on them."
#9
Does every thread have meander back to the MSM?I assume the MSM means"any media which disagrees with RBers".And does Fox News Channel count as part of the MSM?Oops,Fox agrees with youze!
Posted by: Me ||
12/08/2004 12:34 Comments ||
Top||
#10
As long as the MSM continues to suffer form cranial rectalitis, I would say yes. Got a problem with that?
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
12/08/2004 13:23 Comments ||
Top||
#11
When we spend as much time dumping on the MSM as the MSM spends lying to us, it'll be even. Till then, lead, follow, or STFU.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/08/2004 13:36 Comments ||
Top||
#13
Wow--I'm just glad it worked out for these Tommies. In this era of full automatic weapons, a 200 yd bayonet charge sounds like a suicide wish.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/08/2004 14:03 Comments ||
Top||
#14
"Me" -- I can't fight with the Marines and the Army at Fallujah, but I damn sure intend to do whatever I can to cover their backs from attacks by MSM sources that either fail to report their achievements or make an international incident out of any perceived miltary screwup.
Posted by: Matt ||
12/08/2004 14:06 Comments ||
Top||
#15
Funny how that works, though... When excited, especially with something like an AK, it can be hard to hit the side of a barn. I recall something Wyatt Earp said (from a thread on RB long ago, heh) about doing your shooting in a deliberate hurry, heh.
#16
nigh impossible to fire off a straight volley with an AK on auto , and thats what most jihadis use . Think they all watched too many Rambo movies :P maybe its your Psyops in Hollywood to congratulate for their ineptness at handling fire arms .
And thanks to all of you saying thanks Tommy's . Alot of us over here appriciate that .
Insurgents detonated a car bomb in southern Baghdad early Wednesday, causing an unspecified number of casualties, witnesses said. The bomb exploded as a U.S. military convoy was passing in the Dora area of southern Baghdad, witnesses said, adding that Iraqi civilians were injured. ''There was a car bomb but we have no further information as yet,'' an Iraqi police official said on condition of anonymity. It was not immediately clear if any American forces were injured in the attack, which happened at around 6:30 a.m.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/08/2004 1:58:19 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
GAZA: Four Palestinian terrorists militants and an Israeli soldier were killed and seven others injured yesterday in the heaviest Gaza fighting since Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's death, raising the prospect that renewed violence could complicate a vote for his successor.
The blast, east of Gaza City, triggered a lengthy battle between soldiers and Palestinian fighters. Four terrorists fighters were killed in the fighting. Seven Palestinians, including two teens, were wounded, Palestinian officials said.
The fighting ended a period of relative calm in Gaza after the death of Arafat. The interim Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, has tried to persuade terrorists fighters to suspend attacks on Israelis ahead of Palestinian presidential elections on January 9. The main terrorist militant groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have not given a specific promise, but indicated they would not disrupt Abbas' efforts.
Hamas claimed responsibility for yesterday's ambush.
"We dunnit, and we're glad we dunnit!"
Mushir Al Masri, a Hamas spokesman, said the attack was a "natural response to the continuous Israeli crimes against our people and against our terrorists fighters." It said two terrorists members involved in the ambush were killed. At a news conference, three masked terrorists fighters described an elaborate scheme to lure soldiers to the area with the help of a now dead double agent.
Hamas said it dug a tunnel near the chicken coop over the past four months and packed it with explosives. During that time, one of its terrorists members pretended to be an informant for Israel. The army frequently relies on Palestinian collaborators to gather intelligence.
Plots within plots.
Early yesterday, the informant told the army that a wanted fugitive would be in the area. When troops arrived, Hamas terrorists militants detonated the explosives, the group said. Hamas claimed to have recordings of its agent talking to his Israeli handler, but did not release them. The army declined to comment on the claims, but confirmed that a tunnel had been found near the blast site.
During the fighting, Israeli aircraft fired two missiles. Two terrorists fighters were killed and seven other terrorists people, including boys aged 14 and 16, were wounded. A large group of youths had gathered to watch the standoff, occasionally throwing stones at Israeli tanks and bulldozers in the area.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/08/2004 12:52:47 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
Sudan has ordered the head of Oxfam to leave "as soon as possible" for violating visa regulations, a week after threatening to expel him in a separate dispute. Humanitarian assistance minister, Ibrahim Mahmud Hamid, said Oxfam director Shaun Skelton had a visa only for Darfur but was working in Khartoum and so had to leave the country. "They [country directors] have specific immigration requirements, which the head of Oxfam has failed in," the under-secretary for humanitarian affairs, Abdel Rahman Abu Doam, said. An Oxfam spokesman declined to comment. On November 29, Sudan ordered the expulsion of the country heads of Oxfam and Save the Children UK but postponed the decision, citing administrative difficulties and humanitarian concerns. Mr Hamid said the expulsion order had been suspended but could be implemented in the future. Sudan had accused the two organisations of dealing in political affairs, which broke the law, and of making statements in support of rebels.
"It ain't fair for them to meddle in our bidniz!"
Mr Hamid said Mr Skelton was free to apply to return. It was unclear whether other Oxfam staff were also at risk for violating visa regulations.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/08/2004 12:48:28 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
talking to the wrong people, asking the wrong questions, huh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/08/2004 15:00 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Sudan had accused the two organisations of dealing in political affairs, which broke the law, and of making statements in support of rebels.
Actually, that's not a bad law when NGO's actually DO deal in political affairs (Red thingy, Atrocious international)
A former US Marine said his unit killed more than 30 innocent Iraqi civilians in just two days, in graphic testimony to a Canadian tribunal probing an asylum claim by a US Army deserter. Former Marine Sergeant Jimmy Massey appeared as a witness to bolster claims by fugitive paratrooper Jeremy Hinzman that he walked out on the 82nd Airborne Division to avoid being ordered to commit war crimes in Iraq. Mr Hinzman, 26, claims he would face persecution if sent home to the United States, in a politically charged case which could set a precedent for at least two other US deserters seeking asylum in Canada. Mr Massey told Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) that men under his command in the 3rd battalion, 7th Marines, killed "30 plus" civilians within 48 hours while on checkpoint duty in Baghdad.
"I do know that we killed innocent civilians," Mr Massey told the tribunal, relating the chaotic days after the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Mr Massey said that in some incidents, Iraqi civilians were killed by between 200 and 500 rounds pumped into four separate cars which each failed to respond to a single warning shot and respond to hand signals at a Baghdad checkpoint. At the time, US soldiers feared suicide bombers would try to ram checkpoints, he said. Searches found no weapons in the vehicles or evidence that those killed were anything but innocent civilians, he said.
He also said Marines killed four unarmed demonstrators, and more Iraqis the next day during another spell of checkpoint duty in the occupied Iraqi capital. "I was never clear on who was the enemy and who was not," said Mr Massey. "When you don't know who the enemy is, what are you doing there?" asked the former Marine, later honourably discharged from the service with severe depression and post traumatic stress disorder.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: God Save The WOrld ||
12/08/2004 8:21:35 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"four separate cars which each failed to respond to a single warning shot and respond to hand signals"... "no weapons in the vehicles or evidence that those killed were anything but innocent civilians"
It' s called a war. If you are that stupid that you do not respond to clear signals, then you must be presumed that you have hostile intent. It is as simple as that.
"I was never clear on who was the enemy and who was not"
Yea, they seem to look alike and the enemy does not have "enemy" note written by sharpie on the forehead. It is kinda on purpose.
This is such a bunch of crap that iritates me to no end.
#2
"in graphic testimony to a Canadian tribunal probing an asylum claim by a US Army deserter."
The DNC couldn't have written a better script.
I'm sure if the civilians had reacted to 1) a warning shot and 2) hand and arm signals these civilians would NOT have been shot. It's called "Rules of Engagement" and the "deserter" should have studied them a little more. The soldiers were well within their rights and I would have made the same call.
Come back and talk to me when we start shooting people at random without warning for no reason.
#4
Could it be that the deliberate use of suicide carbombs as a tactic of war caused US forces to drop the Officer Friendly attitude to any vehicles that didn't stop at checkpoints? Our tsk-tsk loving neighbors to the north don't seem to realize that carbombs are considered outside the "rules of war". Maybe the upstanding Canuckistaners will outlaw carbombs so they will never be used again.
Posted by: ed ||
12/08/2004 4:00 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Ed, our upstanding Canusckistaners can outlaw anything, but the question is if it is relevant any.
Anyway, I doubt that IRB would be inclined to involve somme fuzzy feelings in regards to the claimant and buy that crap. I mean, we don't have much of an army and this would set a bad precedent (not sure where canuck soldiers would claim asylum, North Korea?), it was a bit different with conscripts during Vietnam war, but in this case it's someone who signed up.
#8
Yeah, by the article's own reporting, this Marine is suffering from PTSD and severe depression. The PTSD means he might be hallucinatory, and the severe depression means that he has a problem with magnifying and dwelling upon negative stimuli and warped recollection of past negative stimuli. The combination ought to render him incompetent to offer testimony in any well-run court.
GSTW, FOAD.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/08/2004 8:15 Comments ||
Top||
#12
Marine Corps spokesman Maj. Douglas Powell at the Pentagon said Massey's charges had been investigated and were unproved. Massey is a former Marine recruiter who served in Iraq as the staff sergeant for a platoon that ranged from 25 to 50 men. He said his men, fearing suicide bombers, poured massive firepower into cars that did not stop as they approached the roadblocks. In each instance, he said, none of the cars was found to have contained explosives or arms.
Tough for them, but they should have stopped.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/08/2004 11:51 Comments ||
Top||
#13
Whats that song...
You dont put on superman's cape...
You don't spit into the wind...
You don't pull the mask of the ole lone ranger...
[You dont drive fast toward a MARINE checkpoint...]
And you dont mess around with jim...
#16
This is old news. I remember each one of those incidents being splashed all over the "news" when they happened. They even showed film of one of the incidents when our guys shot up a vehicle that didn't stop at a checkpoint. Tragic, but perfectly understandable under the circumstances. To try to impute a whiff of war crimes to these incidents is just execrable.
#18
This is truly out of the Anti-War play book and how far down the road will be an Oliver Stone docu-fantasy ala Born on the Fourth of July. For those of you that missed it:
In BOTFOJ,a teenager (played by Tom Cruise) Kovic joins the Marines, and is sent to Vietnam where he is permanently crippled.
Kovic is sent back home and, at first, pretends that everything is all right â but it isn't. He's soon swearing at his parents, breaking down in tears, yelling about the horrific images he witnessed in Vietnam, cursing America â all this leading to his own self-destruction.
Kovic's story is a true one, but it is also greatly exaggerated by Stone with his use of factual inaccuracies and manipulation of truth. Cruise's performance is one of his finest (and he was nominated for Best Actor in 1989), but both he and Stone try too hard â they take a good story and turn it into an overwhelming anti-war propaganda piece. The movie feels like it has no purpose â as if Stone is using it as an excuse to bombard us with more of his theories about warfare and how wrong it is.
War happens. And we can't ignore it. A movie such as "Born on the Fourth of July" takes a stab at a specific event in America's past, shaming the veterans (Kovic included) through its ignorant and naïve outlook. Stone spends so much time trying to convince us why Vietnam was a blunder, and why it was a disgrace, and why it was a horrible decision, and why Republicans are idiots (check out the grand finale outside the Republican National Convention), and why Kovic's fight for "the truth" is honorable, that he forgets to honor the vets themselves.
As Jarhead said, if his fellow Marines (hey, finally Massey can be accurately called an "ex-Marine", catch up to Massey, they may well help him reprise the Tom Cruise role...broken legs, to match his obvious break with the Corps and his former fellow Marines.
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.
CHICAGO (AP) - Three Islamic charities and an alleged fund-raiser for the Palestinian militant group Hamas were ordered Wednesday to pay $156 million to the parents of an American teenager shot and killed by terrorists on Israel's West Bank. A federal jury deliberated for one day before awarding $52 million in damages to the parents of David Boim, shot down at a bus stop outside Jerusalem eight years ago. U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys then tripled the damages. The judge found the defendants liable for damages in the case last month. 
