This is one of the reasons that I take claims like that implied by the Jamestown Foundation in their profile of Doku Umarov yesterday that he isn't really a Wahhabi and would never, never, never think of carrying out anything like Beslan with a whole shaker of salt ...
A man presenting himself as the leader of the anti-Russian armed front in Kabardino-Balkaria today warned that the jihad, or "holy war," was spreading across the entire North Caucasus region.
In an interview with the pro-independence Kavkaz-Center Chechen website, Anzor Astemirov assessed the 13 October raids on Kabardino-Balkaria's capital Nalchik as a strategic success. "We've achieved our main objective. We finally and openly carried out the first step toward jihad," Astemirov is reported to have said.
Astemirov is also known by his nom de guerre Amir Seifulla.
Shamil Basaev, the top military leader of the Chechen separatist leadership, made similar comments on 9 January in another interview posted on Kavkaz-Center.
Russian officials say the October raids claimed the lives of more than 140 people, including 95 alleged militants. Astemirov and Basaev both said 37 militants were killed in the unrest.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2006 03:40 ||
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"So - the old jihad in Kabardino-Balkaria routine!"
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/11/2006 16:17 Comments ||
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Which most of us refer to as the North Caucasus. The Russian claim that the internal documents captured from Basayev's followers match up perfectly with those used by al-Qaeda, which I doubt terribly surprises Rantburg readers.
According to data of the Russian General Prosecutorâs Office, terror network cells are operating in all regions of the Russian south and have millions of dollars at their disposal, the deputy prosecutor general said in an interview with the Izvestiya newspaper.
The official, Nikolai Shepel, said terrorist groups with single ideology and hierarchy âare currently operating practically in all regions of the Southern Federal District, including the Stavropol, Astrakhan and Volgograd regionsâ.
âShamil Basayev, who has close ties with emissaries of international religious-extremist organizations, is at the head of that criminal organization,â the deputy prosecutor general said.
He admitted that there was no information on the exact strength of those groups, but said there were ârepresentatives of all nationalities living in the south of the countryâ among them, including Russians converted to Islam.
According to Shepel, investigators have data on big sums of money used to finance the network. He said dozens of millions of dollars a year were involved. âThis is the money that comes from illegal drug and weapons trafficking, from kidnappings, as well as from the racketeering of those who have shadow incomes and will never go to law enforcement agencies for help,â he stressed.
âRacket as a financial source has come to the forefrontâ of late, he said. âIt comes on a more and more regular basis that bandits go for their share to officials involved in the illegal misappropriation of budget means,â Shepel emphasized.
He said those groups were part of an international terror chain. This is confirmed by the fact that recommendations on how to organize an underground group and ideological work in it, seized during the investigation of major terrorist acts, are absolutely the same as used by Al Qaeda.
âBandits are recruiting allies everywhere, first of all in law enforcement agencies,â he said. âSeveral dozens of terroristsâ allies have been exposed in those agencies over the past five years. Some of them were killed during the arrest, while others have been brought to justice,â Shepel added.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2006 03:37 ||
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Seven Russian soldiers have been killed and seven others injured in Chechnya since Jan. 9, an anonymous Chechen official told Agence France-Presse the night of Jan. 10. Four were killed in rebel attacks on Russian outposts, one died during a demining operation in Grozny, another died during fighting in the southwest Chechen village of Alkhazurovo and the last died when his vehicle came under fire in Bamut, also in southwest Chechnya.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2006 03:35 ||
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I think "Abu Haws" = Abu Hafs al-Urduni, for those who are curious ...
Law-enforcement agents in Dagestan detained a member of the Al Qaeda terrorist group.
The terrorist was identified as Ali Soitekin Ollu, 28, a Turkish national. "During interrogation, Ali Soitekin Ollu confessed to taking an active part in terrorist activities as a member of the gang led by al Qaeda representative Abu Haws," the public relations department of the Federal Security Service (FSB) told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.
The FSB conducted the operation to apprehend Ollu jointly with the Interior Ministry on December 29.
"Ollu said he served in the Turkish army in 1996-1997. In 2001, he was recruited by Islamic extremists for carrying out terrorist activities in the territory of the Chechen republic. To this end, he traveled to Baku with a group of fellow countrymen, took a bus to Tbilisi and then reached the Pankisi Gorge by taxi where Abu Haws was staying at the time," the FSB said.
He was trained there for about a year in a group of 35 Turkish citizens, led by Turkish national Abu Zar.
Abu Haws trained and ferried to Chechnya two groups of foreigners numbering 35 to 40 people each.
Ali Soitekin arrived in Chechnya in August 2002, in a group led by Ruslan Gelayev.
In 2002 throughout 2004, he took an active part in hit and run attacks on federal forces in the entire territory of Chechnya, including in the June 2004 attack on the village of Avtury, Shali district, where terrorists, led by Abu Haws, Basayev, Maskhadov and Khalilov, took 12 civilians hostage.
In June 2004, Ollu was wounded and taken to Dagestan, where he was receiving treatment and hiding for a year.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2006 00:18 ||
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In reading the cited article, what's very interesting is the information about the bank involved in Macao. Didn't know that.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/11/2006 19:00 Comments ||
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#13
No big explosion to explain where the train went.
No dramatic announcement by the Chinese regarding restart of the six party talks (sans Kim).
No spittle flecked official releases from the North Koreans.
If there weren't dozens of major players that all want Kim out of play and taking the dirt nap, this might be a mystery.
As it is, I have a suspicion that this may be more of a Jimmy Hoffa scenario.
Too bad there's no chance of North Korea's second tier leadership suddenly showing up in Seoul for reunification talks. A united democratic Korean peninsula would be the ultimate New Years gift for Asia.
The Army has defused a car bomb in the grounds of an Armagh hotel. The device, made up of gas cylinders, was left in a vehicle outside the Armagh City Hotel on the Friary Road.
A number of controlled explosions were carried out on the car, which had been stolen in the Armagh area on Tuesday by men calling themselves "republicans".
PSNI Supterintendent Bob Moore said those behind the bomb "wanted to terrorise" others with their "repugnant activity and redundant mindset".
"The motive for this incident defies logic and rational understanding," he said. "All that has been achieved as a result of the incident at the City Hotel is widespread disruption, worry and upset to the wider community residing, working, visiting or travelling through Armagh. It creates a negative impact and undoes all the good work that has and is being done by council, community leaders and the business fraternity to attract employment and tourism to the area. "
Mr Moore said that two cars and a shotgun had been stolen from a house in the Ballyrath area of Armagh before 2300 GMT on Tuesday, by men describing themselves as republicans. He said an elderly woman in the house suffered shock as a result of what he said was a "despicable" incident.
A vehicle, thought to be one of the stolen cars, was later found on fire. A Vauxhall Vectra car was found abandoned in the car park of the Armagh City Hotel on Wednesday morning following a telephone call. Police are trying to establish if it was the car stolen from the Ballyrath Road.
He urged anyone with information about the incident to contact police.
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/11/2006 16:21 Comments ||
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#3
I know that mike, but would you have gotten my little joke if I had spelled it that way. Maybe it wasn't a good joke, but it was my joke and I thought it was kinda funny.
Spanish Defense Minister Jose Bono has ordered the arrest of the commander of the army after he suggested using military force against the region of Catalonia.
Lt. Gen. Jose Mena Aguado was placed under house arrest over the weekend after he said that the military would step in if the government granted greater autonomy to the northern region.
Mena said there would be 'serious consequences' to such a move, El Mundo newspaper reported Monday.
In September, Catalan regional government approved a new statute referring to Catalonia as a country and gives the province greater control of its judiciary and tax collection.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2006 03:47 ||
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This does not strike me as A Good Thing. But, in my ignorence, I can't decide whether it's because a general suggested making war on part of his own country, or because the government arrested him for voicing an opinion.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
01/11/2006 8:09 Comments ||
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Spain is really fractured, and has been for a very long time. If you know a Catalan, he is not "Spanish" to his face. Nor are Basques. Others are more or less regional.
Only the dread of another hideous civil war keeps most of the Spanish people nationalistic, at least as far as "preserving the union".
#5
Spain is really fractured, and has been for a very long time. If you know a Catalan, he is not "Spanish" to his face. Nor are Basques. Others are more or less regional.
BS: You should change your sentence to if you know a Catalan from the MSM
To begin with, half of people in Catalonia originate from the rest of Spain. Why they don't vote for the PP? Because they are blue collars so they vote for the "party of the workerman" and this is controlled by the separatists. Then between the others there are many who are either don't share the separatist dream of politicians and the hate they try to induce or are< lucid enough about the real costs of catalanism: Barcelona was the first place for book edition for the whole of Spain+South-America, no longer and it has becaome poorer than Madrid.
About what the general said, he spoke only about defending the constitution and the laws who is more or less wht he is sworn to defend just like American servicemen are sworn to defend the Constitution of the Unied Staers again all of its ennemies internal and external. And in Spain Constitution it is under attack. In fact Zapetero is legislating to control the press, to curb private property and to place Spanish economy under control of his friends.
It happens that the Catalan separatists are threatening to tumble the Zapatero governement if they don't get what they want: a virtual independence: independent judiciary system (ie a Catalan supreme court would take final decisons not the Spanish supreme court) or the fact that Catalonia would decide how much it would contribute to the central governemnt.
All of this is unconstitutional and because he doesn't have the majority needed to modify the Constitution Zapatero is trying to still have it approved without modifying the Constitution.
Now Zaapptero is also doing other moves like putting the energy sector in hands of his good friends and having a law who would allow to close any radio or TV not liked by the Governmnt. And there are projects to force opinion web sites (ie blogs) to employ "real journalists" ie people owning a licence issued by the government, a licence who can be withdrawn.
Zapatero has also legislated to force owners of vacant houses to give them for rent to a public organism otherwise they are fined.
You also have agressions against acts organized by the opposition where police remains passive or ministers who refuse to answer questions of the Parlament despite mandated by the Constitution.
I was going to tell that Allende was going to create a dicatorship sinxce he had not one chance in thousand to be reelected. He had agressions against opponents, violations of the Constitution, hostile newspapers closed (more exactly they got no paper), violations of the private ptoperty, ministers who no longer responded to Parliament. Zapatero is doing all of it, only thing lacking for now is Cuban coucelors.
One of the al-Qaeda members arrested early today in Spain may have been planning an attack in Europe, Spanish Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said.
Spanish police arrested 20 people comprising two inter- related cells following raids in Madrid, Catalonia and the Basque region, Alonso told reporters in Madrid. The cells were primarily involved in recruiting and training suicide bombers for the Iraq insurgency and had links to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Algeria, Morocco, Turkey and Syria, he said.
Those arrested included 15 Moroccans, a Turkish man, an Algerian and three Spaniards. The Algerian, leader of the Madrid-based cell, was trained in Afghanistan and sent recruits for Abu Musab al Zarqawi's network, Alonso said.
``The Madrid cell was carrying out the fuller range of activities,'' Alonso said. ``State security forces can't rule out that among their missions they may have been planning violent acts on European territory.''
Spanish authorities have arrested 52 people suspected of involvement in Islamist terrorism in the past two months. All those arrested remain in prison, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. The spokesman declined to be identified.
``There will be another attack somewhere, however many successes there are in terms of arrests of cells,'' said Michael Cox, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics, in a telephone interview. ``That's the assumption of most European politicians and intelligence people.''
Those arrested today ``had a greater level of coordination than other groups the police have broken up in recent months,'' Alonso said.
The Catalan cell, based near Barcelona in Vilanova i la Geltru, recruited the suicide bomber who killed 19 Italians and 9 Iraqis in the Nov. 12, 2003, attack in the Iraqi city of Nasariya,Alonso said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2006 00:27 ||
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One of the al-Qaeda members arrested early today in Spain may have been planning an attack in Europe, Spanish Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said.
The Spanish police arrested 20 people on Tuesday in connection with a recruiting network that, according to the Interior Ministry, sent Islamic militants to join the insurgency in Iraq. One of those militants was an Algerian suspected of killing 19 Italians in a suicide bombing in 2003, the ministry said.
The suspects are the third group that the Spanish have arrested on charges of aiding the insurgency in less than seven months; altogether Spain has made 46 arrests.
Nearly two years after the train bombings in Madrid killed 191 people on March 11, 2004, fears are growing that the country is becoming increasingly fertile ground for the recruitment of Islamic extremists.
The network just broken up was the most sophisticated of those uncovered so far, the ministry said. Cells based in Barcelona and Madrid raised money, falsified documents, recruited and indoctrinated potential radicals, it said. The recruits were then sent on to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the American forces' most wanted man in Iraq, and other militant leaders, the ministry said.
The network had links with militant groups in countries including France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Algeria, Morocco, Turkey and Syria, the ministry said, without offering details.
Alonso confirmed suspicions that some of the militants recruited for duty in Iraq have begun returning to Spain and their native lands to begin operations in their native countries or adopted homelands.
One of the network's missions, he said, was harboring veterans of the Iraqi conflict who had returned home to scout for possible terrorist targets in Europe and help identify promising recruits.
Interior officials identified two countries through which recruits were transported on their way to Iraq, saying Syria and Jordan were typical transit points.
Officials said the network, which focused on finding militants who would be willing to carry out suicide attacks in Iraq, appears to have done most of its recruiting in Spain. But investigators said the group also helped to transport militants recruited in North Africa.
The Interior Ministry did not say how many people the network had sent to join the insurgency, or how many had taken part in attacks. But Alonso said that Italian and Spanish security forces had determined that one of the recruits was responsible for a suicide attack in Nasiriya, Iraq, in November of 2003 that killed 28 people, including 19 Italians and 9 Iraqis. At the time, it was the most lethal attack by insurgents since the removal of Saddam Hussein from power in April 2003.
In his comments on Tuesday, Alonso said that there were no indications that the group had been preparing an imminent attack on Spanish soil. But he said that the group clearly had the capacity to carry one out, particularly the cell that was based in Madrid.
"The government's security forces do not rule out that the cell's missions included planning acts of violence in European territory," Alonso said. One of the leaders in Madrid had been trained in Afghanistan, apparently by Al Qaeda, and another had expertise in explosives, Alonso said.
Arrested Tuesday were 15 Moroccans, 3 Spaniards, a Turk and an Algerian, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. They were detained in Madrid, Barcelona and in the Basque region of northern Spain.
The group had ties to two Islamic militant organizations affiliated with Al Qaeda. They are the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, based in Algeria, and the Moroccan Islamic Combat Group, the statement said.
The Interior Ministry did not specify whether any of those arrested had been to Iraq or were planning to go, or if they were involved only in recruiting and logistical operations in Spain.
Spanish intelligence officials say that channels for sending fighters from Spain to Iraq were developed by Islamic militants shortly after the insurgency began in 2003.
But traffic appeared to be slight until last summer, when the police announced the arrests of 11 people on charges of sending recruits to Zarqawi and to Ansar al-Islam, an Islamic group of mostly Kurdish guerrillas suspected of collaborating with Zarqawi.
The police arrested a second group of suspected recruiters in late November. That group was led by a 25-year-old Iraqi identified as Abu Sufian, a close ally of Zarqawi's, according to Spanish investigators.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2006 00:26 ||
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Alonso confirmed suspicions that some of the militants recruited for duty in Iraq have begun returning to Spain and their native lands to begin operations in their native countries or adopted homelands.
It is the latest in a series of Spanish anti-terror swoops . Spanish police have arrested 20 suspected militant Islamists thought to have recruited and trained sympathisers to join the insurgency in Iraq.
The suspects were arrested during pre-dawn raids in and around Madrid, Barcelona and the Basque town of Tolosa, Spanish media report.
They included several thought to be linked to a suicide bomber who killed 18 Italian soldiers and nine Iraqis. The bomber attacked an Italian military base in Nasiriya in 2003.
Spanish Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said there were "strong indications" that several of those arrested had links to the bomber.
Fifteen of those arrested on Tuesday were Moroccans, three were Spaniards, one was Turkish and one Algerian, Mr Alonso said. He said two recruitment cells for the Islamist insurgency had been dismantled in the operation.
According to Spain's El Pais newspaper, in 2005 the Spanish authorities arrested about 90 suspected Islamist extremists, including 16 allegedly involved in recruiting insurgents to fight US-led forces in Iraq.
A 44-year-old man was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of planting an explosive device in the bathroom of a Starbucks coffee shop, police said. Ronald Schouten, of San Francisco, was being held in San Francisco County jail on an unrelated drug charge, police spokesman Dewayne Tully said. "There is no connection to any terrorism or anything against Starbucks," Sgt. Neville Gittens said. "Everything at this point and time indicates that this particular individual acted alone and this is an isolated incident."
"We think he's a nut."
An employee called police Monday morning to report something suspicious in the store's bathroom. Police evacuated the store and disabled the device. Police said the bomb was powerful enough to seriously injure or kill someone if it had exploded. Police evacuated roughly 100 people from the Starbucks and apartments above the store and shut down traffic on the street. The store reopened Tuesday, but the restroom remained closed.
"Do not go in there!"
Posted by: Fred ||
01/11/2006 15:37 ||
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He could be a disgruntled customer or perhaps he was Dr. Evil's Number 2.
#2
Nah. Looks like it was probably just one of them famous San Francisco bums...
Police say a disheveled man went into the Starbucks about 1:15 p.m. Monday asking for used coffee grounds, which some people use to fertilize their gardens.
Army Meets Recruiting Goal
Associated Press | January 11, 2006
WASHINGTON - The Army exceeded its monthly recruiting goal in December but must still pick up the pace to meet its target of 80,000 for the budget year ending Sept. 30.
December was the seventh consecutive month that the Army met its goal.
Army officials have said they expect this to be an extremely difficult year for recruiting, in part because of the Iraq war. Last year, the service fell 6,600 troops short of its goal of 80,000.
So far, in the first three months of this budget year, the Army has recruited just 11,500 soldiers and will need to do better in coming months to meet the target for the year.
Part of the problem with the first quarter is that the December goal is just a fraction of the other monthly targets. It only required the Army to recruit 700 soldiers last month, compared to the November target of 5,600.
According to Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, the December goal is low because no recruits are sent to basic training during that month. So only soldiers who have previously served in the Army - and don't have to go to boot camp - are recruited in December. A year ago, the goal for December was just 400.
The Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps also exceeded their monthly recruiting goals - which were all two to three times the Army's number. All four military services also met or exceeded their reenlistment goals for the month.
According to the Pentagon, the Army recruited 741 soldiers in December, 6 percent more than its goal. The Navy recruited 2,022, just 1 percent more than its goal; the Air Force recruited 2,209, also 1 percent more than its goal; and the Marine Corps recruited 1,717, 6 percent more than its goal.
Four of the military reserves met or exceeded their recruitment goals. The Navy Reserve and the Air National Guard have been routinely falling short of their targets in recent months.
#1
Just remember in FY 2004 the Army was authorized 482,000 personnel [less activated Reserve and NG]. FY 2005 the authorization was increased by 20,000 to 502,000. They finished FY 2005 with 492,000. Less than authorized in FY 2005, but 10,000 more than they had in FY 2004. To handle 20,000 more probably would have required a significant increase in the training base which would have drawn more personnel out of operations and other support only to be ramped back down again after meeting the new level jerking everyone around. By spreading the increase over a couple of years, they avoid doing that. The senior leadership also is shy of increasing the active base dramatically because they know that the pols will only cut their authorizations as soon as things start to stabilize again [nothing has changed in that behavior in two hundred years].
Goal numbers shift all during the year, depending on both the enlistments from the prior months and the number of reenlistments from the active force. Its a zero sum game. Remember there is an authorization ceiling. More reenlistments means that fewer enlistments are needed. If there is good solid reenlistments with the trained force, the number required for enlistment will be lowered. If previous enlistment goals are short, the following enlistment goals will be raised and less likely of being attained. The number to watch is year end strength. In this case relative to the 492,000 the Army ended FY 2005 with.
#2
There are the kids coming up, too. I know of one high school girl signed up for Marine ROTC, a lad officering in Junior ROTC, and young man down the street who is at Annapolis. All three are committed to future service in the military, yet would not be counted as recruits now.
"Unidentified Mexican alien smugglers are angry about the increased security along the U.S./Mexico border and have agreed that the best way to deal with U.S. Border Patrol agents is to hire a group of contract killers," the alert [dated 21 Dec 2005] states...The alert was labeled "for official use only," meaning that while it does not contain classified information, it is not to be made public or released to the media. It also is required to be stored in a locked container and "burned or shredded" when it is no longer needed...Last week, agents in Texas reported two separate incidents in which someone fired on them from the Mexican side of the border. Officers in Arizona were issued pocket-sized cards last year with suggested maneuvers in case they encounter Mexican military troops while on patrol..."The president still acts like Mexico is a friendly neighbor, when in reality it's the complete opposite," said Andy Ramirez, chairman of Friends of the Border Patrol, a Chino [CA] organization that supports border agents. "Border Patrol agents' lives are in extremely high danger, and yet the public isn't notified. When are they going to realize that threats against our law-enforcement officers are threats against this nation?"
"We lost the majority of our vehicle funding to Hurricane Katrina relief. With the equipment we have, we're like martyrs on a firing line. What we need are warriors. Truthfully, what we need now is the U.S. military. That's really the only answer."
Everybody in this country needs to know what's going on. It's maddening to see how things that should remain classified are willfully leaked, while something that the citizenry should know about is considered "for official use only".
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) - Military prosecutors at this U.S. naval base geared up Tuesday for hearings for a Canadian teenager accused of killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan, while his defense attorney called the process a ``sham.''
Toronto-born Omar Ahmed Khadr was 15 and a Taliban fighter when he was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan after he allegedly tossed a grenade, killing a U.S. Special Forces medic in a battle, and planted mines targeting U.S. convoys.
And he's still alive?
Now 19, Khadr is charged with murder, attempted murder, aiding the enemy and conspiracy. His pretrial hearing is scheduled for Wednesday along with a hearing for Ali Hamza Ahmad Sulayman al Bahlul, a Yemeni charged with conspiracy. The administrative hearings could include setting schedules for their trials. If convicted, both face up to life in prison.
Muneer Ahmad, Khadr's civilian attorney, claimed the hearings don't conform to generally accepted legal principles as he wishes them to be and said the defense team has challenged the commission's legality in federal court. ``The hearing room ... is designed to look like a court. The presiding officer will be wearing a black robe,'' Ahmad said Tuesday. ``But understand that the room is not a court and the presiding officer is not a judge and this is not a full and fair trial. No matter how they dress it up, the military commission is still a sham.''
It's a military commission, not a civilian trial. One would think a lawyer would know the difference.
Air Force Col. Morris Davis, the chief prosecutor, denied that was the case. ``We've got nothing to be ashamed of in what we're doing here,'' Davis said. ``We're extending a full, fair and open trial to the terrorists that have attacked us.''
Al Bahlul has challenged the military's appointment of defense council, saying he would like to defend himself.
By all means, I'm sure the jury of E-7's and E-8's wuld enjoy the show.
That issue could be decided Wednesday, said Maj. Jane Boomer, a spokeswoman for the Office of Military Commissions. It will be al Bahlul's second time before the commission.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/11/2006 00:00 ||
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KARACHI - Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf seized power in a military coup in 1999 and, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, still in effect rules as a military dictator.
Musharraf's firm grip on the affairs of state has until now served Washington's interests well, as he has been able to steer the country into the US camp as an ally in the "war on terror".
However, with the Taliban nowhere near defeated in Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda still unbroken (the two major reasons that the US solicited Pakistan's assistance in the first place), the US is looking at its allies in Islamabad in a new light:
Musharraf may be more the problem than the solution.
An indication of how things have slipped in the region is news that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has openly called for a truce with Taliban leader Mullah Omar. This was not how events were supposed to play out.
According to sources close to the power corridors in Washington who spoke to Asia Times Online, the administration of US President George W Bush is now convinced that a weaker Pakistani army is as necessary now as a powerful one was when Islamabad did a U-turn on its support for the Taliban soon after September 11, 2001.
This realization has taken root over the past few months, and developments since last November have been enough to set alarm bells ringing among the military leadership of Pakistan.
Goings-on in Balochistan
Rebellious tribesmen in the restive but resource-rich province of Balochistan have for decades challenged the writ of the central government in Islamabad. The Baloch insurgents have traditionally received weapons via Kandahar in Afghanistan, and via sea smuggling routes.
The Pakistani army has engaged in a number of operations in Balochistan over the years, and the most recent is continuing. The involvement of the military is highly unpopular not only among Balochis, but also among many segments of Pakistani society.
What is new in Balochistan, and which is causing concern in Islamabad, is the emergence of two sons of insurgent tribal chief Nawab Khair Bux Muri as organizers of a strong financial network to fund the insurgency.
"The whole operation of financing the Baloch insurgency is directed from Qatar, although this is a very unlikely place. One of the sons of Khair Bux Muri - Gazn Muri - has been shuttling between Qatar and the UAE [United Arab Emirates] and is the main financial link between the insurgents in Balochistan, where command is in the hands of a brother, Balaach Muri," a top Pakistani security official told Asia Times Online.
"The real question, though, is not the transmission of money, but from where Gazn Muri is getting this kind of huge money. The answer lies in the activities of another brother, Harbayar Muri, who is based in London."
Although the official would not spell it out in as many words, he was questioning how Harbayar Muri could raise funds in Britain, where there is a negligible Balochi expatriate community. It was a clear hint at the involvement of Western intelligence agencies, which have strong centers of operations in Qatar-UAE and London.
Political maneuvering
The US is also making some backroom political moves in relation to Pakistan's interests in the region.
According to a contact who spoke to Asia Times Online, a person close to the US Central Intelligence Agency paid a low-profile visit to New Delhi in the third week of December and briefed strategic planners on Washington's plan to try to curtail the role of the Pakistani army, while at the same time renewing support for democratic forces in Pakistan.
India's cold shoulder on the diplomatic front toward Pakistan and a policy statement against the military operation in Balochistan was an immediate outcome. Islamabad promptly responded by accusing India of meddling in Balochistan, charges that Delhi strenuously denied.
The same person then visited Islamabad and held high-level meetings with political personalities. On his return to the US he stopped over in Dubai in the UAE and held detailed meetings with former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto, who lives there.
A sudden upsurge in the activities in Pakistan of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy - which Bhutto supports - followed.
Musharraf's mystique
The US first made contact with Musharraf in a meaningful way when he was still Corps Commander Mangla and he approached the Americans through a Pakistani mediator. Musharraf had no particular request, but the move was seen as "unusual and meaningful".
The US concluded first that he was ambitious and only wanted power, and that he had a flawed, "split" vision.
US officials noted that to build a constituency in the Pakistani Army, Musharraf embraced the Kashmir issue and enthusiastically supported the liberation movement there.
Last year's earthquake in Kashmir, in which the extensive jihadi influence in Pakistan-administered Kashmir was made clear (they played a significant part in relief operations), convinced the Americans that the Pakistani army would never back out from its strategic activities in Kashmir through supporting the armed struggle in the Indian-administered part of the Valley.
Musharraf, who derives much of his legitimacy from the army, simply cannot afford to abandon this cause. The militancy will continue.
In this regard, the US noted the ill-fated Pakistani army venture into Kargil in Kashmir in 1999, which was conceived by Musharraf shortly before he took power. Pakistan believed that India would respond to the aggression by going to the peace table, but instead it launched its troops in a full-out assault, quite ready to go to all-out war. Pakistan pulled back its troops from the ill-conceived operation.
On the domestic front, the Musharraf administration in essence facilitated the formation of the the six-party alliance, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), which made impressive political gains in the general elections of 2002.
The aim was to scare the Americans by pointing to the emergence of Islamic fundamentalism in order to garner US support for Musharraf's uniform.
Similarly, the sweeping defeat of the MMA in local elections late last year amid widespread claims of fraud was to show the Americans that Musharraf had the ability to outwit fundamentalism. In this game, Musharraf's split vision does not allow him to visualize what kind of a message he is really passing on to Washington.
According to Asia Times Online information, Washington has now decided that the best outcome would be for a new man to replace Musharraf, 64, as chief of army staff, and at the same time to encourage liberal democratic forces to take over parliament.
As for Musharraf, the ideal way out for him is to become a civilian constitutional head of the country.
Posted by: john ||
01/11/2006 18:15 ||
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#1
About time Washington wakes up to this thug Musharraf. He's been playing both sides since day one. One day he lets his armed forces thump some al-Quedas the next day he's turning his back while his security apparatus is providing support to ole OBL and his cronies. Bet you can find OBL living in some lavish Paki gov't furnished villa in Pakistan. Of course Musharraf, or any other Paki leader that would fully support the U.S. anti-terrorist stance, is high up on the Paki dead pool. But that just goes to show that we can't trust the Pakis. Hell they love old OBL ! Glad Washington is making overtures to New Delhi. After all, India is a Democracy. Isn't that what we support and therefore shouldn't we ally our interests with theirs. I think perhaps the worm is starting to turn. Bout damn time.
#2
India is a Democracy. Isn't that what we support and therefore shouldn't we ally our interests with theirs
I agree. If we should have learned one lesson for our lifetime it is that looking the other way from despots, just because you want something from, them doesn't work and will always bite you hard in the behind before too long.
#3
Oh yeah - let's have 'democratic' elections in Pakistan. Do you really want to see Mullah Omar as the Paki President with Minister of Defence Osama bin Laden running the country?
#5
Does this article suggests that the US (CIA) is acting in support of Harbayar Muri in an attempt to taylor a replacement for Musharraf ? Or, at least someone who can get the job done in the trouble spot where Musharraf can't.
Security forces on Tuesday killed 14 militants after a rocket attack left seven soldiers dead shortly after Monday midnight, security officials said.
The Tuesday casualties put the death toll of paramilitary troops at 15 since Saturday, as the government withdrew the January 15 deadline for tribesmen to handover suspected militants. Military sources told Daily Times that the deadline was withdrawn because militants had attacked security forces twice after tribal elders pledged to hand them over at a jirga (local court) in Miranshah on Saturday.
Five paramilitary and two army troops were among the dead on Tuesday when suspected militants having links with Al-Qaeda and Taliban fired rockets and one of them hit the Sarbandki check-point, three kilometres east of North Waziristanâs regional headquarters Miranshah. Security forces at nearby checkpoints retaliated and the gunfight lasted for more than four hours, leaving 14 militants dead. Local Taliban commander Bilal was among the dead. A security official, requesting anonymity, told Daily Times that foreigners were among the killed militants.
A tribal jirga between Utmanzai tribe elders and the political administration of the area decided to set up village committees to guard their areas against militants launching attacks on security forces and government installations. The jirga also decided to hold another jirga on January 16 to discuss the situation. Malik Khan Marjan, a tribal elder, said the recent attacks on security forces was a âsetbackâ to the peace process. He feared much bloodshed in coming days.
The North Waziristan administration imposed a curfew, warning that anyone found in Miranshah streets after sunset would face âserious consequencesâ. Security forces also raided Mosaki village, 29 kilometres east of Miranshah, to hit suspected militants, but there was no reports of casualties.
Reuters adds that residents said they believed a gunship helicopter had attacked the house of a religious scholar who supports Afghanistanâs Taliban guerrillas on Saturday. US authorities had denied their troops were involved, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told a briefing on Monday, adding that authorities were investigating reports that a foreign helicopter had landed on the Pakistani side.
Many Al Qaeda members have been given shelter in Waziristan, an area that stretches through rugged mountains and deserts, by militant sympathisers from conservative Pashtun tribes on both sides of the border.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2006 00:39 ||
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NEW DELHI - At least 114 hand grenades were found at the Golden Temple in Indiaâs northern Amritsar city on Tuesday, police said. The grenades were found near Guru Nanak Niwas, a building located some 50 metres from the Golden Temple, Sikhismâs holiest shrine.
Soon to be the 14,223rd through 14,337th holiest relics in Islam.
âThe grenades were found by some people who were digging for construction work. Most of them are in an old and rusted condition,â said Hardev Singh, chief of the police station near the Golden Temple.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Umm, a word of advice : never call a Sikh a Muslim to his face - tends to start fights. Sikhs and Muslims are totally different religions, and the Sikhs have been persecuted by the Muslims since their founding about 400 years ago.
#2
And the pakistani muslims will never forget that the Sikh Maharaja Ranjit Singh defeated their ancestors and added their lands to his kingdom
"All of Punjab which stretched from the Sutlej River in the east to Peshawar in the west, and from the junction of the Sutlej and the Indus in the south to Ladakh in the north".
Posted by: john ||
01/11/2006 18:01 Comments ||
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KATHMANDU - Thousands of communists political activists marched into the Nepalese capital on Tuesday bearing portraits of Marx, Lenin and Stalin in the first major protest against royal rule since the end of a Maoist ceasefire.
About 20,000 supporters of a small communist group, Nepal Workersâ and Peasantsâ Party (ANSWER) (NWPP), carried pictures of the revolutionary icons as they walked 10 km (six miles) into Kathmandu from the temple town of Bhaktapur demanding restoration of democracy. âWe donât accept authoritarian rule,â the activists shouted. âRestore democracy and civil liberties.â
As in, turn the place over to them.
The latest protests came a day after a global watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, voiced outrage over Nepalâs continued harassment of the media, blaming the authorities for half the number of reported acts of state censorship in the world in 2005. âThe security forces stop at nothing to monitor and silence journalists working for the independent press,â it said in a statement late on Monday.
At least 425 journalists were arrested, attacked or threatened last year, the Paris-based organisation said. Already this year, six journalists have faced threats or intimidation. âArrests, threats and censorship succeed one another in an infernal cycle,â the statement added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/11/2006 00:00 ||
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MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - Militants clashed with Pakistani forces in a troubled tribal zone bordering Afghanistan early on Tuesday, leaving seven paramilitary troops and 14 suspected insurgents dead, officials said.
The firefight was one of the biggest for months in the rugged area, where soldiers are trying to flush out Al Qaeda and Taleban fighters who fled Afghanistan after the US-led invasion in late 2001. It started when "terrorists" âmiscreantsâ launched rockets at a checkpoint in Sarbandji village near Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan region, shortly after midnight, a security official told AFP.
Seven soldiers died but their colleagues immediately returned fire, sparking a crossfire gunbattle that lasted for 90 minutes, the official said on condition of anonymity. Fourteen terrorists"miscreants" militants were killed in the exchange of fire including a local Taliban commander called Bilal, a military official based in the northwestern city of Peshawar said later.
âSome are locals and some are foreigners. We are trying to find out their nationalities and identities,â the army official said.
In rank order probability: Saudis, Chechnyans, Uzbeks, Algerians, Syrians.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/11/2006 00:00 ||
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In the dangerous Sunni Triangle, female GIs are volunteering for dangerous duty. As one reporter discovers, it's work no man can do.By Erin Solaro
Solaro is a former Army Reserve officer - bio at the end of the article. No comment on her politics etc. but she paints a knowledgeable picture of operations in the Triangle, from closeup observation.
Washington, D.C., to London. London to Kuwait. Kuwait to Al-Taqqadum Air Base, 35 miles west of Baghdad.
Maybe it is the jeans and peach polo shirt that attracts attention. Or maybe it is the fact that I am a woman alone, a journalist traveling without an entourage and an attitude. A Marine asks me if I know what I am getting myself into. I look into his eyes. "Yes, Major, I do." I don't know what he sees in mine, but I think he likes it because then we have a serious conversation about the war. Funny, I think. For months, I've wanted to have serious conversations about the war. I have to go to Iraq to get one. It will be the first of many.
Same jeans and polo shirt the next morning, when after a lengthy wait for a helicopter flight, I stagger into Blue Diamond, the headquarters of the 1st Marine Division just across the Euphrates from Ramadi, one of Iraq's flash-point cities in the Sunni Triangle. Packed in my bags are four pairs of trousers (two tan, two khaki) and four shirts (two tan, two light green), all from Sierra Trading Post, which sells wonderful gear at a discount, and broken-in desert boots. I will live in those clothes for the next several weeks. I wear my hair, which is very long, either pinned up in a bun or braided down my back, in deference to military sensibilities, and no makeup at all. I'd been told to bring a vest and helmet, and I wear them. I have too many bags, having spread the load in case British Airways decided to lose anything, but I can carry everything myself in one trip, although every Marine and soldier who gives me a hand has my thanks.
My host unit is the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division, the Big Red One, commanded by Col. Arthur W. Connor Jr. After breakfast, I am met by Capt. Joseph Jasper, a cavalryman serving as the brigade's public affairs officer. We drive across the Euphrates on a bridge that makes every soldier who has to use it nervous, a few miles inland to the brigade's base, Camp Junction City, a former Iraqi Army Air Defense base. He finds me a place to sleep for a few days with five female maintenance soldiers of the 101st Maintenance Service Team, then moves me to the 1st Engineer Battalion, the Army's oldest and most decorated engineer battalion. There, I share a barracks room with Capt. Anastasia Breslow, a signals officer and a second-generation soldier. By ancestry, she is half Russian, half Chinese. By conviction, All-American. She wears an 82nd Airborne Division combat patch from the Afghan campaign.
Any military unit engages in whatever combat comes its way. That includes units with women, who are barred from most of the combat arms: the infantry, the armor, and the artillery, but not aviation, nor the Corps of Engineers, whose branch motto is "Essayons" ("We will try") but ought to be, "First we dig 'em, then we die in 'em!" The 1st Engineers are commanded by Lt. Col. W.D. Brinkley, who understands the necessity of women soldiers interacting with Iraqis. He makes available to other units within the brigade his women soldiers, who quickly earn the honorific of "Lionesses." Their specific function is to attach to the all-male combat units they are barred from to interact with Iraqi women and children on combat missions. Their presence reassures Iraqi women and men alike, none of whom can fathom Iraqi soldiers searching their homes without raping them, that any violence visited upon them by foreign conquering soldiers and Marines will be a matter of military necessity.
Some women volunteer for Lioness missions. Others don't. No woman feels free to decline because it means someone else has to do her work. And if that someone else is a man, the mission will be more dangerous than it has to be. The presence of women and children normally inhibits an aggressor, but when it does not, the meaning of the violence escalates from political defeat to cultural annihilation. Killing fighting women is one thing. Killing noncombatant women and old men, much less children, is something else again. The job of the Lionesses is to help keep the violence in the realm of political defeat. As soldiers, that means they have to fight, if necessary. And they have.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Erin Solaro is a Washington, D.C.âbased writer and defense analyst and one of the rising voices of the new civic feminism.
Honda sure has come a long way.
Posted by: Evil Elvis ||
01/11/2006 16:34 Comments ||
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#2
If this article is a sample of what she considers to be a searing indictment, she needs to turn up the burner on the stove. I read this as across the board approval of that part of the U.S. armed forces that she dealt with, and an indictment of everything Iraqi that she experienced.
#3
For those persons who read the posted article and are interested in reading a well thought out disection of the Iraq insurgency try googling; Insurgency: modern warfare evolves into a fourth generation. By Colonel Thomas X. Hammes USMC. Col Hammes book 'The Sling and the Stone' should be must reading for all military planners. Too bad some didn't read it earlier.But better late than never. Semper Fi.
While some do not believe the Iraqis deserve fair treatment, they ARE human beings! And every human being deserves an even break.
That said, if they pick up an AK-47 ... don't even HESITATE to blow them away.!
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/11/2006 19:57 Comments ||
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#5
And if they don't, it's great that the presence of the women soldiers helps decrease reactive violence.
Side note: One of the concept videos for the Objective Force Warrior system (part of the
Future Force systems) features a squad guarding a bridge in a 3rd world country against an engineered mob used as a screen for advancing armor. Our guys have nano-armor with built-in biosensors, voice commanded antitank weapons, heads-up displays with sensor data etc.
A key element in the scenario that is played out is that the nano-armor and bio-monitoring/response capabilities built into it will allow soldiers to control situations without having to resort to lethal means except when really called for. A Good Thing.
Here's my question. If it is so tactically diffusing to have women soldiers come along on raids, why not just get a few guys to dress up in drag? Isn't it easier?
This is remarkable film footage. This is a night vision movie from Iraq, showing live action against Iraqi insurgents. The pictures were taken from an AC-130 Specter gunship two and a half miles from the target. The guys in the picture are setting up a roadside bomb and planning to ambush an American convoy which followed a short while after the pictures were taken. They were setting up the ambush and were pacing off the distance from the bomb to where the convoy was to pass by.
Turn your sound up. The level of effort these Specter crews put forth to control the enemy's antics is commendable, and their marksmanship with those electronically controlled 40mm cannons is astounding.
Playing off the net had a lot of stopping and starting. It didn't take long to download and it was worth it to watch non-stop
#3
It's remarkable, but the attribution is all wrong. It's from an attack helo in 2003. The men killed were hiding a mortar tube or an RPG in a field after an attack. Sparked a lot of debate among euroleftists about rules of engagement.
President Bashar al-Assad of Syria secretly incited Iraq's top Shia leader to declare holy war against US and British forces, according to Washington's former administrator in the country.
In his new book, My Year in Iraq, Paul Bremer said he heard the explosive intelligence in October 2003 as sectarian tensions soared across the country following the fall of Saddam Hussein.
The report came from an extremely senior source, the supreme leader of Iraq's majority Shia community, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
According to Mr Bremer, the news was passed to him by Mowaffak al-Rubaie, a senior Shia politician involved in negotiations with the ayatollah. The Syrian leader had apparently recalled the Shia-led uprising against the British in 1920 and urged the Shia to repeat history.
The news "stunned" the US administration in Iraq. "This was an act of extraordinary irresponsibility from Syria's president," Mr Bremer writes. "We had good intelligence showing that many insurgents and terrorists were coming into Iraq through Syria."
But the allegation was far more serious, he says. "This message from Assad essentially incited Shia rebellion. If he were to succeed, the coalition would face an extremely bloody two-front uprising, costing thousands of lives."
The revelation that Syria's leader was trying to stoke unrest inside Iraq goes some way to explaining Washington's unrelenting hostility towards the Damascus regime ever since.
In Europe Mr Assad has been portrayed as a leader motivated by the desire to stand up to Israel and stay in power. But in Washington he has long been seen as a far more dangerous figure.
Although the Americans have continually complained about interference in Iraq by Syria and Iran, Mr Bremer's book suggests that its most serious problems were internal.
In particular, he claims to have stressed to Washington the need to confront the firebrand Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Some British officials voiced their doubts over the policy, fearing it would spark a wider Shia revolt and some expressed irritation over Mr Bremer's account, suggesting it offered a partial view.
That crisis erupted in April 2004 when Sadr's militiamen rose up as the US attempted to take the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
With pundits suggesting the country was in meltdown, Mr Bremer and his aides prompted sometimes unwilling coalition commanders to take firm action.
Mr Bremer directs withering criticism at Italian, Spanish, Polish and Bulgarian units, collectively described as "useless". Iraqi units were "ineffective, or worse".
But the gravest allegations are levelled at the Ukrainian soldiers sent by David Richmond, Britain's ambassador in Iraq, to rescue coalition staff besieged in Kut.
The unit entered the town but then withdrew in such haste that five British military contractors were left behind among armies of militiamen. Four escaped but one was killed.
Mr Bremer writes: "I found myself pacing my office, speechless with rage at the Ukrainians."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2006 03:56 ||
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#1
I'm not saying this is bogus, but...
If / when I see some quotes where Bremer admits his own mistakes, serious mistakes - there were certainly plenty made post-war and he had to have contributed his share, then I will grant more credibility. Sans that, this is another cherry-picked make-me-rich book gig - and everything from it is at least suspect.
I'm utterly fed-up with the tell-all BS book and lecture circuit industry. They're ALL crass, craven, selective-memory opportunists. The stark difference between this era of media whores and, say the likes of Wild Bill Donovan, give me permanent pause.
#2
.com, look at the end of any war. The Generals and politicos all write their version of history to pad their pensions and get even with their enemies.
Donovan was intelligence community and Wall Street rich to boot. Don't see many IC people writing books these days. Last I remember was Robert Gates. And that was vetted and probably peppered with lies to misdirect.
#3
There's no need for Assad or anyone else to try and turn Sistani against the US - just look at Sistani's website, where he happily defines "kufar" as "najis" or unclean. But even the najis Americans have their uses, like hunting down any recalcitrant Sunnis who oppose the creation of a Shi'ite theocracy, and pouring billions of US taxpayers' money into a country where hatred of "kufar" is considered normal.
Currently under "Briefings" - link may change - thus posted in full. Iraq's minister of interior has undertaken a series of initiatives to rid his special police units of prisoner abuses and human rights violations -- including firing three top special police commanders and disbanding a rogue internal affairs unit, said the U.S. general who advises the minister on training and operations.
In an interview with The Washington Times, Maj. Gen. Joseph Peterson detailed those and other measures taken to reform the ministry's operations and deal with charges that Iraqi police have formed death squads and tortured prisoners at secret sites.
The special police commanders who were dismissed headed the 2nd Brigade of Commandos and the Public Order Division's 1st and 2nd brigades. The 2nd Brigade of Commandos, known as the Wolf Brigade, had a fearsome reputation matching its nickname. It has been renamed the Freedom Brigade to soften its image, Gen. Peterson said.
Gen. Peterson said he had recommended the brigade commander's dismissal after the commander told a coalition adviser that it was necessary to inflict pain on detainees to get them to talk. Interior Minister Bayan Jabr immediately obliged, he said.
In the southern province of Basra, Gen. Peterson said, the minister disbanded a 136-member unit created to investigate police abuses after it was found to be "very corrupt, taking bribes, and hindering and essentially preventing Internal Affairs from doing its job."
Gen. Peterson also said the Interior Ministry now intends to turn over all detainees to the Justice Ministry within 48 hours of their arrest. All prisoners will be transferred from small detention facilities, often run by local brigades, to three large facilities that will be placed under Justice Ministry control, he said. "I consider this a very positive measure," Gen. Peterson said. "The minister acknowledges he does not have the ability to detain them properly."
In November, U.S. forces found 166 prisoners held under cramped conditions at a bunker in a Baghdad area called Jadrya. Many were suffering from hunger or abuse. A subsequent inspection of Eagles Prison, known to authorities as Command Site 4, also resulted in charges of torture. Gen. Peterson said the reports had been exaggerated and that only three detainees at that facility bore signs of torture. Hundreds of prisoners since have been moved from the overcrowded facility, he said.
"Inevitably there will be a portion [of Iraqi police] that are not abiding by the rule of law and not protective of human rights," the general said.
These problems, he said, are being addressed vigorously through dismissals, disciplinary measures and training courses designed to instill respect for human rights.
Gen. Peterson said U.S. military and embassy personnel had formed a group to "make recommendations to the minister to address concerns over sectarianism, detainee abuse and militias that could be active in his organization." He said Mr. Jabr was investigating charges of hit squads inside or connected with the Interior Ministry.
He said a joint U.S.-Iraqi investigation is looking into charges of abuse at Jadrya and the Eagles prison and that the Interior and Justice ministries were inspecting other detention facilities.
U.S. forces are investigating charges by opposition politicians and a former general in the police special forces about several more secret prisons in Iraq, he said. Numerous tips have been given, some to a confidential hot line, but no sites have been found.
The general, who has served since October as the chief U.S. military officer attached to the Interior Ministry, said he meets with Mr. Jabr several times a week. "I told him more than 44 articles have appeared in the international press that have condemned him, sectarianism and corruption," Gen. Peterson said. "[I told him] he needs to be serious and take measures to address [charges of] infiltration, Iranian influence and corruption."
Gen. Peterson said the minister is taking the criticisms "very personally," but is responding positively. "I don't know if he can put in place" lasting changes before a new government is formed in the coming weeks, he said, "but I am not willing to wait until the next government arrives to address these issues."
#1
The main people they should be getting rid of are the cops who keep releasing terrorist in exchange for a bribe, and the guys who let those 2 suicide bombers get through 6 separate checkpoints at the Interior Ministry. (thank God for the 7th checkpoint)
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/11/2006 12:10 Comments ||
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The Wolf Brigade was the group putting terror confessions on the teevee.
A Sunni Arab politician denounced a homicide bomb attack on a Shiite mosque that killed at least 60 people but blamed the violence in Iraq on the country's occupation by U.S. troops.
Harith al-Ubaidi of the Iraqi Accordance Front said Sunnis were "hand in hand" with Shiites against last week's attack in Karbala, south of Baghdad. His remarks were significant because the Iraqi Accordance Front is the main Sunni coalition that is negotiating with Shiites and Kurds over a coalition government.
"We also demand that the occupier get out, because he is the reason behind every crime," al-Ubaidi said. "If the occupier would leave, Iraqis would live as brothers."
He spoke at the Umm al-Qura mosque, Baghdad headquarters of the Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni clerical group that is believed to have ties to some insurgent groups.
The sermon was followed by a demonstration against a U.S. raid on the mosque over the weekend. Hundreds of worshippers took part in the protest.
The mosque is in the al-Adel neighborhood, one of Baghdad's roughest and the same area where American journalist Jill Carroll, a 28-year-old freelancer for The Christian Science Monitor, was kidnapped on Saturday.
A U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said the raid was a necessary immediate response to the kidnapping based on a tip provided by an Iraqi citizen. The military said Sunday that six people were detained. No other details were released.
No group has claimed responsibility for abducting Carroll.
At dawn Tuesday, mosques in Iraq ushered in the first day of the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha. There were no reports of violence as of midday Tuesday.
Many Shiites visit the holy city of Najaf during Eid al-Adha, but this year some said the trip was too dangerous.
"In spite of the happiness of Eid, we feel very sad that we are not able to visit the holy shrines and the cemeteries because of the deteriorated security situation," said Khadimiya Abbas, 55, a housewife living in eastern Baghdad.
Two insurgents planting a roadside bomb in Samarra were killed Monday when it detonated prematurely, and in two separate incidents in Samarra, U.S. soldiers killed two gunmen that fired on patrols, the military said Tuesday.
Also Monday, two homicide bombers disguised as police infiltrated the heavily fortified Interior Ministry compound in Baghdad and blew themselves up during celebrations of National Police Day, killing 29 Iraqis.
The attackers died before getting near the U.S. ambassador and senior Iraqi officials at the festivities, but the blasts capped a particularly deadly week for American and Iraqi forces.
An Internet site known for publishing extremist material from Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi carried a claim of responsibility for Monday's homicide attack, saying it was in revenge for the torture of Sunni Arab prisoners at two detention facilities run by the Shiite-led Interior Ministry.
"The lions of Al Qaeda in Iraq were able to conduct a new raid on the Interior Ministry, taking revenge for Allah's religion and the Sunnis, who are being tortured in the ministry's cellars," the statement said.
The claim, which could not be independently verified, referred to reports that more than 100 abused prisoners were recently found in the jails â bolstering complaints by Sunni Arabs about the treatment of detainees by Interior Ministry forces.
The bombs exploded in quick succession about 1,500 feet from the parade being watched by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, Defense Minister Sadoun al-Dulaimi and hundreds of others.
None of the officials was hurt and the ceremony was not interrupted, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman. He said the explosions "had no impact on the ceremony and did not require anybody to take cover."
The first bomber was shot by the police, but his explosives detonated. A second bomber detonated his explosives.
One bomber was wearing the uniform of an Iraqi police major and the other was dressed as a lieutenant colonel. Both had passes that enabled them to get through checkpoints and into the compound.
At least 29 people were killed and 18 wounded, mostly policemen, said Ala'a Abid Ali, an official at al-Kindi hospital.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2006 00:35 ||
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#1
Islam: the religion of revenge for future wrongs.
#2
"If the occupier would leave, Iraqis would live as brothers." patent BS, even trained monkeys are not stupid enough to believe that one even.
"He spoke at the Umm al-Qura mosque, Baghdad headquarters of the Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni clerical group that is verifed believed to have ties to some insurgent groups."
#4
"If the occupier would leave, Iraqis would live as brothers."
Cain and Abel come to mind.
In a way, Harith is right - if the US left, the violence should end pretty quickly. As soon as the Shia exterminated the Sunni en masse. With abundant Iranian 'help'. Be careful what you wish vor, Harith, you might get it.
#5
US occupation is the reason for al-Qaeda attacks
Glad to see everyone else's Frink-O-Matic⢠Bu||shit Meters pegging on this one. Sunni Arabs attempting to re-establish their Baathist regime has nothing to do with this ... but nooooooooooooooo! [/Belushi]
As I mentioned the other day, we need to stand down our troops for two weeks and let the Iraqis see just how much mayhem would continue unabated. I doubt that al Qaeda could even restrain themselve for a fortnight in order to gain the propaganda value. These murderers truly enjoy their work.
I'll repeat; I maintain that, however tragic, the Iraq campaign has been worth it if only to demonstrate for the outside world the glee and abandon with which Muslims slaughter each other. Anyone who is unable to take a page from this in terms of what awaits the remaining world when Islam begins its real expansion is stuck on stupid.
#6
"I'll repeat; I maintain that, however tragic, the Iraq campaign has been worth it if only to demonstrate for the outside world the glee and abandon with which Muslims slaughter each other."
I agree, that's about the only good thing that will come out of the Iraq invasion. The daily reports of suicide bombing are sinking in at some level, and even if the media themselves are too "polite" to join the dots, many viewers/readers will draw their own conclusions about the true nature of Islam.
Just one otherwise normal guy who goes bad because his dad's unemployed, his mom died, the dog ate his homework, and bam, a bit flips and he decides, all by himself, to go to the local Radio Shack and buy a book on how to use his garage door opener to detonate a bomb. Then he goes to the Army/Navy store and buys some surplus 155 mm rounds to hook up to the neato electronics he's designed. Then he hangs around the places where lots of people congregate and picks the time when no one will notice him planting the device. He waits till there are plenty of people around and pushes the button and bang, 100 people deqad. All because of one lone guilty Muslim who simply had a disadvantaged childhood.
#10
Aris, when you have literally thousands of these types doing this on orders from their Muslim Leaders it IS Muslims killing other Muslims. Maybe that's the problem. You see these as individuals acting on their own initiative instead of a concerted effort on one Muslim faction to murder innocent people. If these were a few random incidents I would agree but this is not. It is a strategy orchestrated by people who want to have total control over other people.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/11/2006 15:52 Comments ||
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#11
You see these as individuals acting on their own initiative instead of a concerted effort on one Muslim faction to murder innocent people
No, you failed to get my point. I don't see it as Muslims killing EACH OTHER, I see it exactly the way you describe it, I see it as the agents of a murderous Islamofascist faction/ideology killing innocent people.
Or to put it another way, I don't equate the victim and the victimizer.
#14
I do not "get" the subtlety of your point. It is Muslims killing Muslims because they are not the "right" Muslims. No subtelty there. It's not Buddhists killing Muslims.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/11/2006 16:10 Comments ||
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#15
1) One variety of Muslims killing another variety of Muslims.
2) Muslims killing "each other".
I did say the difference is subtle. For me the second sentence treats the two kinds of Muslims as equivalent: the civilians, and the Islamofascists/terrorists that murder them.
When people speak of "Muslims killing each other", in my experience they generally (though perhaps not always) tend to use that as a dismissive argument: the whole of the Muslim world being a hopeless case.
Rather than (the way I see it): the Muslim world being in the midst of a civil war with a side that should be supported and a side that should be opposed.
As I mentioned the other day, we need to stand down our troops for two weeks and let the Iraqis see just how much mayhem would continue unabated.
Would that look like the Gaza Strip, maybe?
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/11/2006 19:48 Comments ||
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#19
That's not subtle, that's obtuse.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/11/2006 19:50 Comments ||
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#20
Deacon Blues> As you wish. I think I may just be paying more attention to the ideological usages of rhetoric than you do.
"They are killing each other" is a phrase I've heard before from Greeks, in regards to Albanian gangs preying on other Albanian immigrants -- it stank of not bothering to differentiate victim and victimizer back then also.
#22
I see it as the agents of a murderous Islamofascist faction/ideology killing innocent people.
So which "Islamofascist faction/ideology killing innocent people" is it, Aris?
Sunni? You know, those guys who fly fully loaded passenger airliners into occupied skyscrapers.
Or Shiite? Those delightful folks who want to "wipe Israel off the face of the earth."
If Iraq's own citizens had put up more of a fuss about Ahmadinejad's genocidal Holocaust-denying rhetoric I might feel a little more sorry for them. I might even be willing to adopt your particular way of thinking about "victim and victimizer."
Unfortunately, too many of the Middle East Islamic players are barbarous savages with ZERO respect for human life. Be they Iranian, Iraqi, Saudi, Yemeni ... etc. I firmly believe this is a matter of how "Muslims slaughter each other." Just as I believe that this is a golden object lesson of what awaits the outside world once the internecine squabbling is over.
We've already gone over the disparity betweeen European and American vision with respect to moral high ground. America is in Iraq, at least partly, to prevent further slaughter of Shiites (let alone Americans at home, too). We would rather bear the onus of causing collateral damage averting regional disaster than to sit back, take no action at all and putatively maintain any sense of blamelessness. That is the essential difference in terms of pragmatic versus idealistic solution orientation. I do hope that you remember this previous discussion, Aris.
To repeat in detail; Even the horrendous spilling of American blood has been worth it if the world finally realizes how fecklessly Muslims spill each others' blood. At some point regard for human life will take precedence over those who deny same.
Hamas published its official platform for the upcoming Palestinian elections... Diplomatically, the platform does not differ substantially from that of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital - although it does not specify that such a state should be confined to the West Bank and Gaza [obviously HAMAS intends the state to replace Israel but doesn't want to say it]....The document also makes no mention of the principle that has been Hamas' raison d'etre since its founding: the destruction of Israel and establishment of a Palestinian state on all territory west of the Jordan River in its place. [even though HAMAS obviously still believes in there core principle, not making it explicit may put them on the outs with Al Q - wouldn't that be a shame]
JEMAAH Islamiah-linked terrorists in southern Thailand are believed to be planning to transform their insurgency from attacks against the Thai state to bombings of Western tourists.
US terrorism expert Zachary Abuza has told The Australian that the Muslim insurgency could spread from the hinterland to beach resorts, such as Phuket, frequented by Western tourists.
Dr Abuza will tell the Foreign Correspondents Club in Bangkok tonight there are also reasons to believe that JI may become involved in such a plan being hatched by Thai insurgents.
The two-year insurgency, which has killed more than a thousand people, has until this point been dominated by attacks against symbols of the Thai state, such as police stations, and dominant religion, such as Buddhist temples.
Attacks against Western tourists would mark a turning point in Thailand's war on terror, and Dr Abuza said the shift could be being driven by JI's sense of Islamist obligation to join battle with fellow Muslims.
"An attack on an out-of-area soft target is being considered as an option. They have not ruled it out," he said yesterday. "They would target Phuket because, like Bali, it is a soft target that would severely impact the economy and drive away foreigners in droves."
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has issued general travel warnings for Thailand, advising travellers to "exercise a high degree of caution ... because of the high threat of terrorist attack".
"We continue to receive reports that terrorists are planning attacks against a range of targets, including places frequented by foreigners," the DFAT website warns. But the threats have been more specific, with past intelligence acknowledging that the areas of Phuket, Pattong Pattaya, Bangkok and the island of Samui could be targeted.
Another terrorism expert, Rohan Gunaratna, also warned this week that terrorists were likely to attack Bangkok within the year.
Neil Fergus, the chief executive of Intelligence Risks, said tourist spots including beach resorts had been broadly considered as targets, but Bangkok remained the biggest problem.
Although security in Thailand has been dramatically improved in many areas, Mr Fergus said it would be difficult for any authority to protect expatriate and bar areas frequented by tourists.
In the past 10 days, 19 people - five of them policemen - have been killed in attacks in southern Thailand.
While a raid by militants two years ago on a weapons depot in Narathiwat province is generally regarded as the start of the Muslim insurgency, Dr Abuza said the violence had been spreading, albeit slowly, for several years.
Dr Abuza said that while Thai authorities claimed to have arrested 190 insurgents responsible for conducting or planning operations in the past two years, very few of the insurgency's leaders had been picked up.
The Government has also consistently denied the trouble is part of any international terrorist network or that JI is involved.
Dr Abuza has warned that there are insurgent leaders who want to take terrorism to the next level, and they could be helped by JI or whatever form al-Qaeda might take, by attacking places such as Bangkok or Phuket.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2006 00:33 ||
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#1
JEMAAH Islamiah-linked terrorists in southern Thailand are believed to be planning to transform their insurgency from attacks against the Thai state to bombings of Western tourists.
Israel is updating plans for a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities which could be launched as soon as the end of March, according to military and intelligence sources. The news comes as Germany yesterday warned Tehran's regime that it would face "consequences" if it removes UN seals from portions of its atomic programme and resumes enrichment of fuel which could be diverted for military use in breach of international agreements.
The Israeli raids would be carried out by long-range F-15E bombers and cruise missiles against a dozen key sites and are designed to set Tehran's weapons programme back by up to two years. Pilots at the Israeli air force's elite 69 squadron have been briefed on the plan and have conducted rehearsals for their missions.
The prime targets would be the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, 150 miles south of Tehran, a heavy-water production site at Arak, 120 miles south-west of the capital, and a site near Isfahan in central Iran which makes the uranium hexafluoride gas vital to the arms manufacturing process.
Sources say one, possibly two airfields in Kurdish northern Iraq have been earmarked as launch-points to reduce flying time over Iran.
The Iranians have meanwhile dispersed production facilities across hundreds of miles of remote countryside to make a single, knockout blow more difficult. They have also ringed the sites, some of them deep underground, with missile batteries and radar-controlled anti-aircraft guns.
Part of the reason for an acceleration of Israel's contingency strike plans is that Russia agreed last month to sell Tehran £700m-worth of advanced SA-15 Gauntlet mobile missile systems. Some are believed to be destined for defence of Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant on the Gulf coast, which Russian engineers are helping to build.
Although Western military strategists think an attack on Tehran's scattered sites would be fraught with difficulties and could not be carried out without loss to the attacking forces, few doubt Israel's commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear firepower.
An Israeli source said: "We believe Iran will have useable nuclear weapons by 2007 unless something is done to prevent it. If Tehran is allowed to start enrichment of uranium, it will be too late.
"Underground facilities have to be supplied with air, water and fuel from the surface. They also have entrances which are vulnerable to conventional attack. Close down the infrastructure and you close down the facility."
#3
Nothing new or "breaking" in this article. Its common knowlegde that the F-15E will have to be used, that they would prefer to have access to airstips closer to Iran (ie Kurdistan or Turkey), and the choice of targets are obvious.
Methinks the collective Rantburger minds could come up with this "plan" in about 15 minutes and with more details.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
01/11/2006 13:37 Comments ||
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#4
Osiraq / Tammuz I
33°12'30"N 44°31'30"E
At 15:55 on 07 June 1981, the first F-15 and F-16's roared off the runway from Etzion Air Force Base in the south. Israeli air force planes flew over Jordanian, Saudi, and Iraqi airspace After a tense but uneventful low-level navigation route, the fighters reached their target. They popped up at 17:35 and quickly identified the dome gleaming in the late afternoon sunlight. Iraqi defenses were caught by surprise and opened fire too late. In one minute and twenty seconds, the reactor lay in ruins.
#5
It was pointed out to me by an expert that in some cases, the actual facility would only need to have its power knocked out--deprived of massive amounts of electricity, it would take 6-9 months just to get one of these sites back "online".
Other indirect means would be to attack dams, very specific political and religious targets, such as the city of Qom, and other targets essential to their economy, yet difficult and time-consuming to replace. Like screwing up their entire power grid and also blowing up their domestic fuel refineries and reserves. Major highways being cluster-mined and bridges blown would also severely screw things up.
Many of these are soft targets, that could be done with minimal risk, but would result in enormous popular crisis and discontent.
This would also give the Israelis the ability to commit far more assets to *defensive* anti-missile measures, very important in this case.
#7
"...according to military and intelligence sources...Sources say...Some are believed...Western military strategists think...few doubt...An Israeli source said...We believe..."
#8
It would be prudent for the US and Briton to send additional squadrons on alternate low level routes to help scramble the Iranian defenses.
Or, better still, we could just take out their air force and navy as a prelude to future operations.
Further, these plans may have been leaked to watch Iran scramble and pinpoint centers of such activity. Expect the raid in February. But, if not then, the day after March fourteenth looks good.
#13
Israeli military and intelligence operatives are active in Kurdish areas of Iran, Syria and Iraq, providing training for commando units and running covert operations that could further destabilise the entire region, according to a report in the New Yorker magazine.
#14
An Isreali attack will be a disaster they dont posses enough air power to crush the Iranian forces enough to avoid the retaliation that will concentrate on Isreal with ballistic missles and US assest all around the gulf region.
The US has to lead the attack we are the only ones with the power to hit the Iranians with enough power to limit thier coutner attack to a few ballistic missles and of course the Iranian terrorist assets. I think we are not going to see another UN debacle the Iranians have already said they would strike first if they think attack is immenent and besides I think Iraq and collen powells failurein the UN will not be repeated by the US. I think we are coming up on a air campain along the lines of GW1 with a decapitation aspect and then a nation wide no-fly zone and then SOF insertion to assist the rebelion if one pops up if not we at least no the score when we go in.
#15
Any scenario would involve the US. US patience with limited-war implementation is at the end of its tether. I foresee something crushing, that will end Iran's military capacity. Ie: total commitment, in the Dr Strangelove sense. Nukes will fly by March, and the Sadrites will be liquidated at the same time. The only thing Muslims understand is force; and they need to feel application of same in large numbers.
Euros? Germany accepted the lowest level of refugees - read: jihad tourists - ever. Almost 20 jihad recruiters were arrested in Spain, yesterday. Danes, French, English, Italians, Spaniards are all fed up with their own Muslims, and Muslims in general. Euros are well aware that Iranian missiles can reach Europe.
The only use of cruise missiles in the attack, will be against the disgusting, billion dollar Khomeni Monument in Teheran.
#16
You got that right, every Iranian with a toothpick in his mouth, will be brandishing his rifle, musket and slingshot, peering to the west, in the month of March!!
#17
Israel's not going to do anything by March. Likud just pulled out of the coalition. By the time March rolls around, they'll still be trying to figure out who gets which portfolio.
I think Israel's not going to do anything, period. Why do anything if Uncle Sam is in a position to do it bigger and better? Why do anything if Uncle Sam will feel the Iranian backlash directly in Iraq and will get really angry if there's no advance warning? Makes no sense at all. If the US does it, it will occur with overwhelming force. Days, perhaps weeks, of bombing missions involving hundreds of planes, and the complete destruction of Iranian air defense systems. Israel just doesn't have that kind of capability.
#19
I vote for Farkus' scenario. Makes sense. US can take out the Khomeni monuments first to divert attention....nothing like a monument swarm...then the Israeli's can zap the half-life sites.
#20
AT this point in time it'll likely will take more than airstrikes, includ so-called "Rods from God" to take out the facilities and future NucProg dev, i.e. it means commandoes, ground units, and ultimately an AYSMMETRIC ground war which is in reality what the Anti-US Lefties and Agendists actually want. The Left > the WOT/9-11 is about defeating America, Democracy, Capitalism, and Westernism; empowering and entrenching knowingly failed and failing Socialism everywhere. i.e. alleged "Democratic" Universal Despotism, OWG, and ultim CONTROL OF THE WORLD - iff the oversuccessful. hyperpower+ USA does not attack or make war it will be attacked and warred against no matter what it the USA does.Iff for America's enemies SAVING THE USA = DESTROYING THE USA, thus for the Left THE USA DESTROYING IRAN-NORTH KOREA, ETC. = SAVING IRAN-NORTH KOREA, ETC. FROM THE USA. Dubya and the USDOD are NOt worried about NOrth Korea because everybody knows the NorKor's primary warfighting assets and its military in general is controlled by China - any attack from the NorKors is the same as an attack from China or Russia-China. Iran, however, is a geopol WILD CARD, wid both Russia-China and US-NATO, etal. using Iran against each other as competitive nations or regions often do in antiquity. Americans must realize that our enemies will prob time any American Hiroshima/new 9-11(s)at roughly the same time as any American mil action against Iran andor North Korea, as the Spetzlamies gain little by enabling any new 9-11 = attack on the GOP without any American invasion of Iran.
#21
Gawd damn it!
I want to see the 10K rabid ferrets and zillions of coral snakes inflitrating the underground Nuke facilities.
I think they would be more effective for the FIRST STRIKE. Nobody like vermin sliter up on them or drooling at the rest room....
Its got to start funny. It just has to as it will end so brutal. Everybody needs the initial laugh. "We went the humane extra mile..." heh
#22
Infrastructure is the key. It will be hard to destroy u/g installations. The MMs Nork friends have probably been quite happy burrowing and making some righteous caverns far from the maddening crowd. However ventilation, supplies, and electricity are the weak points. They will have to be attacked. Also, oil pump stations and other critical nodes in the infrastructure will stop the money making machine. Etc etc. Iran can make quite a bit of mischief with their hoards of cannon fodder. That will have to be taken into account. This is a major operation. You do not do it half assed like the bay of pigs.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/11/2006 21:21 Comments ||
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#23
One more time. NO troop committment. No massive stikes by planes until the main deed is done.
Look for the birds to pop out of the Indian Ocean in the dead of night. Multiple warheads per bird. MASSIVE strike alright. Their lights will be out in just a few minutes. REAL BIG BOOMS !
#24
Russia agreed last month to sell Tehran £700m-worth of advanced SA-15 Gauntlet mobile missile systems.
It's astonishing how Russia goes on pissing in our ear and just keeps telling us that it's raining.
A very long time ago I mentioned a strike against Iran that severs all of the main feeders into the Kharg Island terminal. Without damaging the island's tanker pumping facility, but strangling all supply lines and power feeds. This would almost totally choke off Iran's oil exports. I think it would be a wonderful sidebar message to send Russian and China about how stupid it is to rely on the success of a unstable despotic regime.
I also agree with others here that hydroelectric power sources are a prime lever. Purification of fissile material is insanely power intensive, especially considering the underground placement of so many facilities. Collapsing entries, ventilation stacks, air purification facilities, water piping runs and other infrastructure will essentially cripple that which we cannot destroy. I especially hope that all sites are struck during periods of maximum occupancy. Snuffing all of Iran's nuclear research staff would go a long way towards crippling their efforts and facilitate the placement of moles as personnel are replaced.
I am also almost on board with a little mayhem in or around Qom and other significant monuments. It's time that Ahmadinejad is sent a message that his brand of religion tyranny just ain't so special and that constantly taunting the world with holocaust-denying rhetoric is a great way to have that lack of specialness proven in spades.
#25
The Use It Or Lose It scenario will quickly ascend to the top priority in Iran's response. If they don't cry uncle such as Lybia did, after the first night; all targets (US) in Iraq, and in the Gulf will become target "Ace" from the Iranians. Movement of Defensive missile batteries into Iraq and Israel must precede the secret first strike by the west; and this must wait for the repatriation of Jews out of arab lands to Israel and The US. Watch for these visa movements (on the scale of Katrina evacuees) in the coming months!
Iran on Tuesday resumed nuclear research that will include enriching small amounts of uranium, a process used to make nuclear weapons, defying calls by the United States, Europe, Russia and China to maintain a 26-month freeze.
Iran's move raised the likelihood that the International Atomic Energy Agency will report Iran to the U.N. Security Council for violating the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the keystone of the global system to halt the spread of nuclear weapons.
The Security Council can slap economic sanctions on Iran, an approach long favored by the Bush administration. The IAEA, the international nuclear monitoring body, says that Iran has failed to disclose all aspects of its nuclear program, which relied on an international black market.
Iranian leaders apparently are gambling that Russia and China will veto any U.S.-led drive for U.N. sanctions. Both China and Russia have substantial financial interests in oil-rich Iran.
Iran insists its program is for civilian purposes. The Bush administration charges it is developing a nuclear arsenal.
"If the regime in Iran continues on the current course and fails to abide by its international obligations, there is no other choice but to refer the matter to the Security Council," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
Iran's resumption of nuclear research was a "very, very ominous move," German Foreign Minister Franz-Walter Steinmeier said in Berlin. He added that in doing so, Iran had "crossed a line which they knew would not be without consequences."
Germany, France and Britain led a European negotiation with Iran seeking to persuade Iran not to continue with uranium enrichment and to agree to safeguards that would ensure that its program couldn't be used for military purposes.
Iran suspended its nuclear fuel research in November 2004 as it pursued the negotiations with the three European countries.
Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of international affairs of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, was quoted by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency as saying that Iran is resuming research and will not produce uranium fuel.
"We differentiate between nuclear fuel production with research and access to technology," he said.
But U.S. and European officials rejected the Iranian effort to play down its actions.
"There is no good reason why Iran should have taken this step if its intentions are truly peaceful and it wanted to resolve longstanding international concerns," British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said in a statement.
The IAEA has said that while it has found no evidence of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program, it can't certify that its program is only for civilian purposes.
The IAEA statement quoted the agency's director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, as saying that the agency had been studying Iran's program for three years, but still had questions about its "scope and nature" due to "the less than full and prompt transparency on the part of Iran."
Russia and China joined the United States and its European allies on Monday in urging Tehran not to make good on a Jan. 3 announcement that it would restart its nuclear fuel research program.
Despite Iran's defiance, Russia and China remained reluctant to take the matter to the Security Council, said a U.S. official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The United States and the European Union would like the 35-member IAEA board of governors to refer the matter to the Security Council at an emergency meeting during the week of Jan. 23 and will work over the coming days to persuade Moscow and Beijing to support it, he said.
With IAEA inspectors looking on, Iranian engineers removed seals that the U.N. agency placed more than two years ago on enrichment-related equipment and materials at several sites, including the main enrichment center of Natanz in central Iran. The equipment included centrifuges used to enrich uranium.
Iranian experts told the IAEA that they plan to feed uranium hexafluoride gas into experimental network of centrifuges "for research purposes," the IAEA said. "According to Iran, the intended scale ... is small."
Experts say the test network is a vastly scaled-down version of industrial-scale plants that produce low enriched uranium to run nuclear power plants and highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.
Iran, however, is building massive underground halls capable of holding an industrial-scale network of 50,000 centrifuges.
Iran insists that it has the right as an Non-Proliferation Treaty signatory to enrich uranium. At the same time, it has admitted concealing its program for nearly two decades from IAEA monitoring as required by the treaty.
The crisis comes amid growing tensions over alleged Iranian interference in Iraq, its support for radical Islamic Palestinian factions and recent comments by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denying the Holocaust and calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map."
Iran has warned that it will expel IAEA inspectors if it is referred to the Security Council, eliminating the most effective means of monitoring its nuclear program.
The crisis also has raised fears that the United States or Israel could launch a military operation to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities.
McClellan noted that Bush "said previously Iran is not Iraq. We are working with the international community to resolve this in a peaceful and diplomatic manner."
At the same time, he recalled that "in terms of options ... the president's made it clear we never take options off the table."
Experts have said that it would be extremely difficult to mount an attack to destroy the widely dispersed Iranian nuclear facilities and that Iran could retaliate by sponsoring terrorist strikes on U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The IAEA board of governors approved a resolution in November declaring Iran's program "illegal and illogical."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/11/2006 04:03 ||
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#1
IOW, the Mad Mullahs are upset that Dubya still doesn't know they demand to attacked and invaded for Mother Hillary.
#2
Iranian experts told the IAEA that they plan to feed uranium hexafluoride gas into experimental network of centrifuges "for research purposes," the IAEA said. "According to Iran, the intended scale ... is small."
My understanding is that the first bunch of centrifuges they produced didn't work well at high (over 50k)rpm so they had to build completed new ones.
#4
The IAEA has said that while it has found no evidence of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program, it can't certify that its program is only for civilian purposes.
Don't mean to be harsh, but those boys couldn't find lumps in a lump factory.
#5
If the regime in Iran continues on the current course and fails to abide by its international obligations, there is no other choice but to refer the matter to the Security Council," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan
No shit! How about having Israel take care of the problem with a few Bunker busting bombs ?
If you wanted to be Clintonesque with your language couldn't you say that there is "no evidence of a secret program" when everyone knows there is an *open* weapons program?
#9
Experts have said ... that Iran could retaliate by sponsoring terrorist strikes on U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And just how could anyone tell the difference, pray tell?
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/11/2006 19:42 Comments ||
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#10
Iran insists that it has the right as an Non-Proliferation Treaty signatory to enrich uranium. At the same time, it has admitted concealing its program for nearly two decades from IAEA monitoring as required by the treaty.
It says it plans to use uranium for electricity Ignoring international protests, Iran resumed work on its uranium-enrichment program yesterday after a two-year suspension. U.S. and European officials said that the move sharp-ly reduced chances of containing the country's nuclear ambitions through negotiation.
In ordering international inspectors to break seals placed by the International Atomic Energy Agency on equipment at its enrichment plant at Natanz, the Iranian government also broke an agreement to freeze the most critical elements of an atomic program that it had kept secret for almost 20 years.
Natanz, a vast complex that lies partly underground, is designed to enrich uranium, which Iran says it would use on-ly to generate electricity. Refined further, uranium can fu-el atomic weapons, which the Unit-ed States and other foreign powers say they fear is Iran's ultimate goal.
Iran started its atomic program during the 1980s, when it was locked in an eight-year war for survival against Saddam Hus-sein's Iraq.
"There was no good reason why Iran should have taken this step if its intentions are truly peaceful and it wanted to resolve long-standing international concerns," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said.
"By cutting IAEA seals, Iran's leadership shows its disdain for international concerns and its rejection of international diplomacy," said Greg Schulte, the U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.
For the past two years, Brit-ain, France and Germany have been negotiating with Iran for a permanent end to key parts of its nuclear program, in return for diplomatic and trade incentives. As the talks continued, Iran suspended limited elements of the program, but reserved the right to resume them.
In September, after it restarted work at a less sensitive nuclear plant, the board of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency voted in principle to refer the matter to the U.N. Security Coun-cil, which could impose sanctions or set demands that bring on a confrontation. The board stopped short of go-ing to the council, because of opposition from Russia and China.
Senior European diplomats said yesterday that they would formally propose on Thursday another emergency session of the agency's board of governors, made up of signatories to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The diplomats said that such a meeting may be delayed by weeks as they attempt to persuade key member countries to back a referral to the Security Council.
President Bush, though supporting Europe's drive for a negotiated outcome, has repeatedly said that "all options are on the table" in dealing with Iran.
A U.S. official described the coming weeks as "about do-or-die diplomacy. If we fail to get broad support on this, there will be few options left for the international community to curb Iran's program."
One senior diplomat inEurope said that "people will need reassurances that they aren't being asked to sign a blank check for military conflict in Iran."
Diplomats regard China, which relies on Iran for 13 percent of its oil imports, as the hardest sell for a referral to the council. Yesterday, a leading politician in Russia who has previously supported Iran used blunt language to suggest that Moscow's position could change.
"The patience of the international community cannot be stretched for long," Konstantin Kosachyov, the head of the International Affairs Committee in the lower house of parliament, said on Echo Moskvy ra-dio. "First there will be the reaction of the IAEA, then the U.N. Security Council, and I suspect that, if provocations continue, Russia's stance will not be different from the stance of other permanent member-countries of the Security Council."
Privately, senior Russian officials have told their U.S. and Western European counterparts that they are wary of going to the council and may not even agree to an emergency board meeting.
In its public statements yesterday, Iran attempted to diminish the sense of confrontation.
"What we resume is merely in the field of research, not more than that," Mohammad Saeedi, the deputy chief of Iran's nuclear agency, said in Tehran. "We make a distinction between research on nuclear-fuel technology and production of nuclear fuel. Production of nuclear fuel remains suspended."
Iran told the IAEA that its research would include enriching uranium, by feeding the min-eral in gaseous form into centrifuges, the agency said.
Iran's attempts to calibrate the resumption of work and signal peaceful intent have been undercut in recent months by belligerent statements from its new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He has called the Holocaust a myth and called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."
"I think his words embolden the West in following through on their threats," said Ahmed Rezaei, 23, a civil servant in Tehran.
U.S. and European officials, wary of appearing warlike, said they are working toward a graduated response.
One official said that punitive measures would be considered only in response to pro-voc-ative moves by Iran, such as obstructing inspections or neglecting the country's nuclear-safeguard obligations.
Further complicating the pic-ture was the possibility of a last-minute compromise. Russia last weekend formally offered to enrich uranium for Iran, which would allay international fears of diversion to weapons programs.
Iran has indicated at least polite interest in the proposal, and talks are scheduled to continue in Moscow on Feb. 16. A European diplomat in Tehran expressed doubt that Russia was sufficiently committed to carrying the idea through to reality.
"The end of this story is not written," the diplomat said.
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.
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) - Military prosecutors at this U.S. naval base geared up Tuesday for hearings for a Canadian teenager accused of killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan, while his defense attorney called the process a ``sham.''
NEW DELHI - At least 114 hand grenades were found at the Golden Temple in Indiaâs northern Amritsar city on Tuesday, police said. The grenades were found near Guru Nanak Niwas, a building located some 50 metres from the Golden Temple, Sikhismâs holiest shrine. 
KATHMANDU - Thousands of 
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - Militants clashed with Pakistani forces in a troubled tribal zone bordering Afghanistan early on Tuesday, leaving seven paramilitary troops and 14 suspected insurgents dead, officials said.
Iraq's minister of interior has undertaken a series of initiatives to rid his special police units of prisoner abuses and human rights violations -- including firing three top special police commanders and disbanding a rogue internal affairs unit, said the U.S. general who advises the minister on training and operations. 
Ignoring international protests, Iran resumed work on its uranium-enrichment program yesterday after a two-year suspension. U.S. and European officials said that the move sharp-ly reduced chances of containing the country's nuclear ambitions through negotiation.
