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Hizbul Mujahedeen offers ceasefire
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Afghanistan
Afghanistan expels 29 Pakistanis
Afghan authorities expelled 29 Pakistani nationals living in Afghanistan without valid passports on Thursday. Sources said the Afghan government started the operation after the exchange of tough statements between Islamabad and Kabul.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Get OUT!"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2006 9:41 Comments || Top||

#2  I think this incident presents an opportunity for learning to take place. Let me see if I understand this correctly. These 29 people didn't have legal passports to be in the country, so they were told to leave. Sounds reasonable. Question is what would they do with 12 million people without any passports?
Posted by: Survival Spec || 03/31/2006 14:05 Comments || Top||


Seven injured in Afghanistan suicide attack
At least seven citizens were injured when a suicide bomber hurled himself at a Canadian military convoy in southern Afghanistan early Thursday morning. Only the bomber was killed in the bungled attack, Afghan officials said. The Canadian soldiers, leading the provincial reconstruction team (PRT) in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, did not issue any comment. The fresh suicide attack was carried out less than 24 hours after claims by the US military of killing 32 Taliban in an offensive operation in the neighbouring Helmand province. One US and one Canadian soldier were also killed in the counter-offensive that was started on Tuesday and lasted till Wednesday afternoon. Rahmatullah Raufi, a senior Afghan military commander, told journalists it was a failed attempt by a militant riding in an explosive-packed car. He said the bomber himself was killed while seven passers-by suffered injuries. The Canadian convoy remained safe in the attack, he added.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  good
Posted by: ÊÔÑéÊÒ || 03/31/2006 2:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Good ? Is 'good' some kind of code word ?
I didn't get the memo.
Posted by: wxjames || 03/31/2006 8:11 Comments || Top||

#3  It's all good wx. It's a new a exciting thing.
Posted by: 6 || 03/31/2006 8:43 Comments || Top||

#4  ima thinkin' he meant that only the boomer got killed (note his e-mail address is from Canada). A theological question for those in the know...If you only blow yourself up (don't take out any infidels), do you still get all 72 raisins? Or only 1/2, or none at all. Yeesh, it's Friday...maybe I should go to the local moskkk and ask them.
Posted by: BA || 03/31/2006 9:36 Comments || Top||

#5  Whoops...meant "..he meant good that only the boomer got killed..." Carry on. I would like an answer to my question above though.
Posted by: BA || 03/31/2006 9:37 Comments || Top||


District chief, five others killed in Taliban attacks
Six people, including a district chief and five low-ranking officials, were killed by Taliban on Thursday in two separate attacks in southern Afghanistan. The district chief Mohammad Qadir was killed when his convoy was ambushed by Taliban in Afghanistan's comparatively peaceful Laghman province. Four security guards of the official also killed in the attack.

In a separate attack in the insurgency-hit Helmand province, situated south of the country, Taliban attacked and killed a security officer and his brother. Both the slain were on way to attend their duty in the provincial capital of Lashkargah.

Taliban had distributed night letters in the same province about a fortnight back asking government officials to quit their jobs and stop cooperation with the Afghan and US forces stationed in the area. Fearing action from the insurgents, hundreds of officials have either left their jobs or migrated to safer places. Early in the morning, seven Afghan civilians were injured when a suicide bomber missed a Canadian forces' convoy in the Kandahar province.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Point the blame finger at: Pakistan.

The sunglasses on the bearded freak look un-Islamic.
Posted by: Listen to Dogs || 03/31/2006 2:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Them's some big ass turbans. Is it some kinda contest or something?
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/31/2006 15:06 Comments || Top||

#3 
Maybe we should just whack everyone sporting big head gear and long beards.

VoD
Posted by: Varun of Delhi || 03/31/2006 17:43 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Chad general dies in rebel battle
Chad's senior army commander has been killed in fighting with rebels on its border with Sudan, army officials say.

Gen Abakar Itno - the nephew of Chad's President Idriss Deby - died of injuries in clashes in the Moudeina area, south of the border town of Adre.

Chad alleges Rally for Democracy and Liberty rebels receive support from the Janjaweed militia operating in the neighbouring Sudanese region of Darfur.

Aid officials say the fighting involved about 1,000 men on each side.

Gen Itno was commanding the military operation launched 10 days ago against the rebels.

"Gen Abakar Youssouf Mahamat Itno has died of his injuries," an unnamed military source told Reuters news agency.

"Caught without communications, the general was surprised by the rebels who seriously wounded him," the source added.

Tensions

The start of the operation came a week after the Chadian government said it had foiled a coup attempt against President Deby.

Chad: Ripe for a coup?

In December, Chad declared a state of war with Sudan following a deadly attack launched from Darfur by Chadian rebels.

Sudan repeatedly denied allegations made by Chad that it was backing the rebels and sending Arab militias in support.

In February, Chad and Sudan signed an accord to resolve their differences over fighting along the border.

Mr Deby seized power in 1990 after launching a rebellion from bases in Darfur.
Posted by: 3dc || 03/31/2006 18:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wonder if the Marines have arrived there yet?
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/31/2006 19:37 Comments || Top||

#2  maybe someday we can endeavor to make "Arab militias" as numereous as "arab democracies"? I think PR and clusterbombs will play a part
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2006 19:40 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Robber killed in 'shootout'
A notorious robber was killed in crossfire during a "shootout" between Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and his accomplices in Beanibazar upazila in Sylhet early yesterday.
And we begin...
The elite force arrested the robbery gang leader Chunnu Miah, 40, along with three others earlier after a robbery at a house in Kakordia of Beanibazar upazila.
"Stick 'em up, Chunnu!"
"Curses! It's the RAB!"
A Rab team along with Chunnu went to Sodakhal to recover the loot and weapons where Chunnu's accomplices opened fire on the team forcing Rab to retaliate.
"It's the RAB! They've got Chunnu! Open fire!"
Chunnu died on the spot as he was bullet-hit while trying to escape.
"Aaaaiiiieeee! Rosebud!"
Earlier on Wednesday a gang attacked the house of expatriate Helaluddin. They took gold and money in local and foreign currencies from the house. The robbers also beat up family members injuring six of them. A Rab contingent arrested the four including Chunnu on Sylhet-Jakiganj highway on the same day and recovered some of the booty from them. The four admitted their complicity with the robbery to Rab. Beanibazar police also arrested five others in connection with the same incident.
Beany Bazaar? If Bangla wasn't crawling with Islamists and crooks and Purbo commies, I'd move there just for the placenames.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 10:45 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No crossfire, but he was trying to escape. No shutter gun, or rounds of bullet.

2 1/2 stars.
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 03/31/2006 10:57 Comments || Top||

#2  No O dark thirty time factor either. This must be new ace reporter that doesn't know that there's a template...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/31/2006 11:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Didn't know 'booty' was an allowed work in that part of the world.....
Posted by: USN, ret. || 03/31/2006 14:00 Comments || Top||


Bangla: Free militants or get killed
The outlawed Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) yesterday threatened to kill a district court judge in Dinajpur with his family and blow up the court if he failed to release JMB activists arrested in the last two days. The threat was given in a letter sent to Additional District Judge Md Zahedur Rahman, reports received in Dhaka said.

In Mymensingh, a court yesterday placed JMB operations commander Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai on a 10-day fresh remand while a Dhaka court remanded two Majlish-e-Shura members Abdul Awal Sunny, also military commander of JMB, and Abdul Awal for another seven days.

The law enforcers in Rangpur have arrested a Jamaat-e-Islami activist on charge of his involvement with the banned Islamist militant outfit JMB.

MYMENSINGH
Bangla Bhai was produced before the cognisance court of Magistrate Atiqur Rahman at about 11:30 am yesterday amid tight security with police seeking a 10-day remand for further interrogation in an explosives case. The court granted the remand.
"The court hereby cognises Mr. Bhai to be a miscreant of the worst order and hereby remands him to the tender mercies of Mahmoud the Lord High Inquisitor and Keeper of the Number Seven Truncheon. Bailiff, make it so."
The second-in- command of JMB was later taken to Dhaka for interrogation, reports our Mymensingh correspondent. Earlier, three cases were filed against him with Muktagachha Police Station. Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) lodged the cases after he and his bodyguard Masud were arrested on March 6. On March 21, the same court placed him on a 10-day remand.

RANGPUR
Rab-5 arrested Jamaat activist Haider Ali from a house in Takerhat of Bishnapur union under Badrganj upazila on Wednesday night, according to a report from our Rangpur correspondent. The elite anti-crime force also picked up a retired army man, Shamsul Islam, 50, from a house at Botpara in Ramnathpur union of the same upazila, suspecting his links to JMB, but released him after several hours. Rab said Haider is a JMB activist. Locals however said he is a Jamaat worker but his recent activities were mysterious. He was missing for several months and returned to the village recently. District Jamaat Ameer Bellal Hossain admitted that Haider is a Jamaat member but denied his involvement with JMB.

DHAKA
A Dhaka court yesterday again ordered the investigation officer (IO) of an August 17 bomb blast case to submit immediately the probe report against Ataur Rahman Sunny and nine others, reports our court correspondent. Metropolitan Magistrate Shamsul Alam passed the order saying that since the IO did not submit the probe report of the case under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code, he is being asked to do so immediately. Earlier, the same court on March 9 gave the same directive to the IO. The case was filed under the Explosive Substances Act with Tejgoan Police Station on August 17 last year.

CHARGE-SHEETS OF THREE CASES
Rab yesterday pressed charges against five JMB members in three cases filed with Uttara Police Station on January 5. The accused in the cases are Wahidul Islam, 20, Shafiqul Islam, 30, Hafez Ibrahim, 30, Abdullah Al Faruq, 21, and Hanif, 22.

THREE LAWYERS TO DEFEND A JMB MAN
Three lawyers of Dhaka Bar Association --Mozammel Haq, Golam Kibria and Lutfor Rahman-- on Wednesday moved a bail petition on behalf of JMB member Shamsul Haq alias Shamsu in connection with an August 17 bomb blast case. Metropolitan Magistrate Mamun Al Rashid rejected the bail petition. Shamsu was arrested from his house at Lake Circus Road in the city's Dhanmondi area on March 15.

Earlier, two other lawyers --Shahadat Hossain Bachchu and Abdul Alim Fakir of the same Bar association -- were assaulted by lawyers of Gazipur and Chittagong bar associations as they went there for defending JMB members.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 10:32 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  All right, you win. We'll release all the JMB members.

But first, we will confiscate their arms caches.
Posted by: Jackal || 03/31/2006 12:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Earlier, two other lawyers --Shahadat Hossain Bachchu and Abdul Alim Fakir of the same Bar association -- were assaulted by lawyers of Gazipur and Chittagong bar associations as they went there for defending JMB members.

"My Bar can beat up your Bar!"
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/31/2006 12:10 Comments || Top||

#3  The solution to this problem is..."The Massachusetts Bar Association" In the words of the immortal T.Kennedy, "Where there is a will there is Scotch to be drank. What ever happened to little Billy?" If the Bush administration hadn't gone to chasing after Buhbamba Min Laudin without a plan for surrender this would have never happened.
Posted by: Survival Spec || 03/31/2006 14:00 Comments || Top||

#4  I must be slow today, Survival Spec. Would you be so kind as to translate that into something I can follow? Thanks!
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/31/2006 14:48 Comments || Top||

#5  Or at least translate it into Muck4ese...
Posted by: Phil || 03/31/2006 16:20 Comments || Top||

#6  Or at least translate it into Muck4ese...

thinkr mi "Survival Spec" az ur spechl igeit!
Posted by: RD || 03/31/2006 17:24 Comments || Top||

#7  Survival Spec just got listed - attaboy LOL! I love it!
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2006 17:31 Comments || Top||

#8  --Mozammel Haq, Golam Kibria and Lutfor Rahman-- on Wednesday moved a bail petition on behalf of JMB member Shamsul Haq alias Shamsu ...

I wouldn't hire a Haq lawyer, but this looks like a family deal involving a couple of Haq's.
...and Bangla Bhai is pressing the Bangla remand record. Hang (in there) BB!
Posted by: Inspector Clueso || 03/31/2006 18:27 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Melbourne trio charged with terrorism offences
Three Melbourne men have been charged with terrorist offences in relation to an ongoing counter-terrorism operation in the city. The Australian Federal Police (AFP), ASIO and Victorian police have all been involved in the arrests. A 21-year-old, a 25-year-old and a 26-year-old from the city's northern suburbs were questioned at the AFP's headquarters in Melbourne. They have been charged with intentional membership of a terrorist organisation and intentionally making funds available to a terrorist organisation.

The two older men have also been charged with supporting a terrorist organisation. An AFP spokeswoman says the arrests are linked to the terrorism raids in Sydney and Melbourne in November last year coordinated by the AFP, ASIO, New South Wales and Victorian police.Operation Pendennis has resulted in multiple arrests and terrorist charges in both capital cities. The men are expected to face court on Monday.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 09:55 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hummmm..... right before the Australian Formula 1 race.
Posted by: 6 || 03/31/2006 11:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Sorry,
Australian law doesn't allow us to use them as street humps, even though that's all they are useful for.
Posted by: tipper || 03/31/2006 12:07 Comments || Top||


Thomas gets five years for terror
THE first person in Australia to be convicted under new terrorism laws has been sentenced to five years' jail. Muslim convert and former Melbourne taxi driver, Joseph Terrence Thomas, was found guilty of intentionally receiving funds from al-Qaeda and holding a false passport. Supreme Court Justice Philip Cummins sentenced the 32-year-old to five years' jail, with a minimum of two years. Thomas, of suburban Werribee, was the first Australian to be charged under new terrorism laws and the fifth charged under anti-terrorism legislation passed by federal Parliament in October 2002.
Posted by: Oztrailan || 03/31/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So he'll be free if he behaves himself, i.e., doesn't blow anything up while he's in jail. I'm sure he'll be a model prisoner.
Posted by: Perfesser || 03/31/2006 14:22 Comments || Top||

#2  And pops weighs in...

"The thing that's weighing very heavily on our minds are the conditions that Jack's being held under," Mr Thomas said.
"They truly are very punitive. Jack has for some time been held in solitary confinement."


Jeez, ya think he was in...prison, or something...

Posted by: tu3031 || 03/31/2006 15:34 Comments || Top||

#3  I'd bet he'll be longing for the days of solitary soon.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 03/31/2006 15:54 Comments || Top||

#4  Hi, Mrs. D. You've been much missed around these parts! I even went so far, a few days past, as to relate the history of Mr. Davis' mid-life crisis and subsequent troubles with Miss Gentle and Mr. Murat, for the edification of those Rantburgers who arrived afterward. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/31/2006 16:29 Comments || Top||


Europe
Algerian held in Oslo doctor's fatal stabbing
A 37-year-old man from Algeria, who was appealing the denial of his application for asylum in Norway, was in police custody Thursday. He's charged with stabbing a doctor to death in downtown Oslo on Wednesday. The fatal stabbing set off a dramatic mid-day manhunt that ended Wednesday night with the arrest of Kamel Mellah, who reportedly has a record of psychiatric problems. Police had been able to identify the murder suspect fairly quickly, because he'd had an appointment with Dr Stein Sjaastad in Sjaastad's doctor's office earlier in the day. Mellah, who initially wasn't identified in Aftenposten because of editorial policy, is charged with threatening the doctor's receptionist, pulling a knife on Sjaastad and stabbing him repeatedly in the neck and chest area. The doctor died at the scene.

Police spokesman Finn Abrahamsen said Mellah had been in Norway for a few years but hadn't been granted permanent resident status. Abrahamsen said he was known for being aggressive towards healthcare workers, and police had warned healthcare personnel in Oslo Wednesday afternoon not to deal with him in case he sought them out while on the run. Mellah had lived at an asylum center in Mosjøen, northern Norway, until last year, when he moved to Oslo. Newspaper Aftenposten reported that he had a history of psychiatric problems and once had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital in northern Norway.
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/31/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I guess this means he'll be staying in Norway...
Posted by: imoyaro || 03/31/2006 1:12 Comments || Top||

#2  It is good to remember how annoying the mentally ill can be in the US; then to consider how very many are walking around on the street in the rest of the world, and not just the moderately mentally ill, but the extremely, dangerously mentally ill. With no effort to treat or incarcerate them, unless they kill somebody.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/31/2006 10:02 Comments || Top||

#3  'Moose, this wasn't a third-world cesspool, it was Oslo. They're supposed to be a civilized country, remember?
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 03/31/2006 10:16 Comments || Top||

#4  Mellah, who initially wasn't identified in Aftenposten because of editorial policy...

Hmmmmm? What might that editorial policy be? And why might it be that way?
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/31/2006 10:51 Comments || Top||

#5  The wife is in the Mental Health field. The patients that drive her up the wall the most tend to be the muslim ones. She finds their families to be particularly unhelpful. Logic is not that common in discussion within the families so logic is truely alien to the more severe patients. That makes treatment very problematic.

Posted by: 3dc || 03/31/2006 11:49 Comments || Top||

#6  It's hard to tell which guy's the mental case in that country.
Posted by: Perfesser || 03/31/2006 14:24 Comments || Top||

#7 
"Logic is not that common in discussion within the families so logic is truely alien to the more severe patients. That makes treatment very problematic."

Actually, it clarifies the treatmnet issue.
Posted by: Varun of Delhi || 03/31/2006 18:48 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
GAO demonstrates border crossings at risk for smuggling dirty bomb radioactives
From yesterday's Opinionjournal.com's Political Diary.
"While Congress was engaged in the hysterical debate over foreign ownership of U.S. ports, something much more dangerous was taking place in America's vulnerable ports of entry. As disclosed yesterday at a congressional hearing, federal investigators were able to smuggle enough radioactive material into the United States last year to make two dirty bombs.... The Government Accountability Office is the investigative arm of Congress. In a test in December, undercover GAO teams managed to sneak small amounts of cesium-137 across U.S. border crossing points in Washington State and Texas. Radiation alarms went off, but security inspectors were fooled by phony documents and allowed the material through" -- editorial in yesterday's Miami Herald.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/31/2006 16:16 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm not impressed by this. That is, it is virtually impossible to interdict smuggling of something so relatively small across international borders.

That being said, radiological bombs are inherently flawed as a terrorist weapon. You have three choices of isotopes to use: light, medium and heavy.

Light isotopes have very short half-lifes, so cannot be transported and distance and must be used immediately. Heavy isotopes do not disperse readily, the fall to the ground (think lead dust).

This leaves about one common isotope to use, Cesium, which has a half-life of 30 years, and which is readily available. It is also very dangerous to people as it is uptaken by the bone marrow.

It is very dangerous to handle, has to be heavily shielded, and about the most a man can carry with its container is 30 grams. It is still a fairly heavy element, and would need to be ground to an ultrafine powder before being used in such a bomb.

Such a bomb would have to be designed to disperse the powder up into the air, and the bomb would have to be detonated on top of a tall building. Even so, it would be problematic to get enough isotopes into a particular person enough to make them sick.

So the purpose of such a bomb is to contaminate an important place, and for propaganda effect--hoping to create a public panic. Both of these are reliant on the government and media reporting the event instead of being discreet.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/31/2006 20:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Does this mean we first smuggled the material into Canada and Mexico?
Posted by: Classical_Liberal || 03/31/2006 22:37 Comments || Top||


FBI's Mueller: Hezbollah Busted in Mexican Smuggling Operation
FBI Director Robert Mueller said this week that his agency busted a smuggling ring organized by the terrorist group Hezbollah that had operatives cross the Mexican border to carry out possible terrorist attacks inside the U.S.

"This was an occasion in which Hezbollah operatives were assisting others with some association with Hezbollah in coming to the United States,” Mueller told a House Appropriations subcommittee during a Tuesday hearing on the FBI's budget.

In a stunning revelation, Mueller admitted that Hezbollah had succeeded in smuggling some of its operatives across the border, telling the House committee: "That was an organization that we dismantled and identified those persons who had been smuggled in. And they have been addressed as well.”

Hezbollah was responsible for the single most deadly terrorist attack against the U.S. before 9/11 - the Oct. 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, which killed 243 U.S. troops.

In November, an al-Qaida operative who was on the FBI's terrorist watch list was captured near the Mexican border, housed in a Texas jail and turned over to federal agents, according to Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas.

"A confirmed al-Qaida terrorist, an Iraqi national, was held in the Brewster County jail," Rep. Culberson told ABC Radio host Sean Hannity. "He was captured in Mexico. This was within the last six weeks. He was turned over to the FBI."

Posted by: Captain America || 03/31/2006 09:59 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Border security has nothing to do with national security. Right?
Posted by: Robert Crawford || 03/31/2006 10:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Vicente Fox should be COMING HERE for a visit explanation! Having grannies and retirees in lawn chairs conducting "border watch" operations while we stew and fret over the fate of New Orleans or some meathead mullah in Iran is disgusting and shameful. Come on Washington, wake the **** up!
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/31/2006 10:38 Comments || Top||

#3  That’s right it’s just the US racism against "brown people".

When or better yet will we ever get a Politician with a sack that will stand up and proclaim to these pansies that we have no "African American not Mexican American no Latin-American no Asian American just simply Americans or NOT-Americans period no ifs ands or buts".

Your family tree is irrelevant my family tree like most Americans who have spent generations in America is wide and touches many nations of the world. Do I get 3,4 ax tricks in front of American?

No one is racist against Irish because for generations they have just been called and called themselves AMERICANS. As long as every ethnic group continues to separate themselves from the rest of US they will be recognized by every next generation as separate.

The LLL's have absolutely destroyed Patriotism and concentration on what made US strong "many but one" its on the f*cking money and crest ect.. That one is AMERICAN you are or are not there is no mid way or add on. Patriotism and AMERICANISM should be taught in schools and we will finally again have many races but one AMERICA.

What happened to our fore fathers nation. Scratch that I know its called the peace-love-&-happiness movement AKA Liberalism/Socialism.


Posted by: C-Low || 03/31/2006 10:46 Comments || Top||

#4  Just PUT UP A WALL AND MOAT NOW!
The moat should be a SaltWater canal from the Pacific to the Gulf. Deep enough to support sharks and saltwater crocs.
Posted by: 3dc || 03/31/2006 12:19 Comments || Top||

#5  Do not build a wall; build a 700 mile detention center.
Posted by: airandee || 03/31/2006 12:53 Comments || Top||

#6  How about a 700 mile sniper training area ?
Posted by: wxjames || 03/31/2006 13:31 Comments || Top||

#7  One if by land two if by sea...Where are you Paul Revere when we need you? Nevermind, our country hasn't the guts or attention span to give a !@#&.
Posted by: Survival Spec || 03/31/2006 13:50 Comments || Top||

#8  How about a 700 mile sniper training area ?

Better yet, how about making some of those areas new explosives testing sites? Ya know, since the yahoos (not all Nevadans, just the yahoos) up in Nevada are upset over a lil' 700 ton planned test to be conducted next week. Test along the border in my mind. The craters would go a long way to building that saltwater canal that 3dc talked of.
Posted by: BA || 03/31/2006 13:57 Comments || Top||

#9  Also, if this is true (I assume it is), it needs to be shouted from the rooftops and ASAP as Congress is considering Immigration "reform" now. What part of ILLEGAL don't those in power get? We are a nation of laws, and if you don't follow them, tough...go home and fix your own rickety country.
Posted by: BA || 03/31/2006 13:58 Comments || Top||

#10  This has got TV movie plot written all over it. No, seriously. And hey, Hezbollah, right, launch an attack over here. It worked out so great for the Taliban and all.
Posted by: Perfesser || 03/31/2006 14:15 Comments || Top||

#11  Well done, FBI! There've been a lot of complaints about the Fibbies here, and legitimately so. But they got it right on this one, and we can hope there's more of the same in the pipeline. Between FBI efforts, military interdiction in key areas (the 2000 wannabes stopped at the border by that Army unit based in Texas(?) in the past two months), and the Minutemen on watch both north and south, it seems we are regaining control of our borders without waiting for the Federal government to officially step in. And let's not forget all those lovely marches asserting the right of illegals to be here, that are turning the citizenry against them across the country.

And the weather outside my window is absolutely gorgeous, too. :-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/31/2006 15:01 Comments || Top||

#12  Hey c'mon: they're just gonna do the jobs Americans won't do. (Suicide bomber, for instance...)
Posted by: eLarson || 03/31/2006 15:20 Comments || Top||

#13  Isn't this the reason why we invented UAV technology? Better yet use ERAST birds like the Centurion for long duration aerial monitoring.

Unfortunately, our politicians simply do not want a solution to their own solution. Namely, all the illegal earnings that flow into Social Security from undocumented illegals using false SS numbers that help mask the way our pols are raping that milch cow.
Posted by: Zenster || 03/31/2006 17:15 Comments || Top||

#14  PS: Isn't this just one more excellent reason to go in and kick some Iranian mullah @ss?
Posted by: Zenster || 03/31/2006 17:21 Comments || Top||

#15  FBI's Mueller: Hezbollah Busted in Mexican Smuggling Operation

FBI Director Robert Mueller said this week that his agency busted a smuggling ring organized by the terrorist group Hezbollah that had operatives cross the Mexican border to carry out possible terrorist attacks inside the U.S.


here's some more good news GOOD NEWS, Fleeing terror suspect arrested

TORONTO - An alleged terrorist -- with links to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden -- has been arrested in the GTA while trying to flee the country, Sun Media immigration sources say.

In one of the most significant terrorism arrests in Canada since 9/11, a man believed to be a captain of the Pakistani extremist organization Mujahedin-E-Lashkar-E-Tayyba, or LET, which is funded by Osama bin Laden and has direct ties to al-Qaida, was arrested March 16 by Canadian border service officers in Newmarket.

Intelligence sources say members of LET have been trained in Afghan terrorist camps.

Ontario immigration sources say 40-year-old Raja Ghulam Mustafa, a Pakistani national who went by the last name Murtaza, was arrested outside his home with a packed suitcase and a significant amount of cash on him.
Posted by: RD || 03/31/2006 17:49 Comments || Top||

#16  [mildest of rants]

Partake the bounty of illegal immigration and savor the most expensive products and services in the history of mankind. Please take the time and savor the "cheap" fruits of illegal immigration and behold the La Raza folks and the Greedy fuckwits who dazzle us with the most powerful tricknology ever, the appeal of something for nothing.

Be grateful and take the time and thank them for their generosity when your taxes go up or benifits/protections are cut for City, State, and Federal services.

and thank them for the Illegal Immigration Corporation and their overpriced race pimps for the..
>fake ID rackets,
>mature multi national drug smuggling rings,
>voter fraud,
>"free" school education rackets,
>over crowded jails and prisons costs,
>local, State, Fedederal "police" costs,
>extremely expensive over crowded court systems,
>the health insurance preminums and co-pays go up because each State presses the insurance companys to share their costs of the uninsured in order do biz in said State,

>and the the loss of family farms and ranches who raised the the most important crop ever, resolute patriotic CITIZENS.

be grateful and enjoy!

Posted by: RD || 03/31/2006 17:58 Comments || Top||


Army Bans Use of Privately Bought Armor
WASHINGTON - Soldiers will no longer be allowed to wear body armor other than the protective gear issued by the military, Army officials said Thursday, the latest twist in a running battle over the equipment the Pentagon gives its troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Posted by: Hupinens Gretch8365 || 03/31/2006 00:23 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  AP news. Sorry don't buy anything these twerps put out, unless other sources are available.

Any other verification?
Posted by: Omaiting Shineper6088 || 03/31/2006 9:27 Comments || Top||

#2  If this is being done, it is being done for both morale and operational reasons.

For much the same reason, soldiers are not permitted to use their own weapons (except in the rare case of using an enemy-captured weapon authorized by their local command.)

Another big reason is that privately obtained armor is designed for that one purpose only, not to be integrated with any other uniform features, and is designed for civilian, not military use.

You don't want soldiers to have a 'Send "Bob" forward--HE is the one with the good body armor' attitude.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/31/2006 9:57 Comments || Top||

#3  They'll never be able to ban the stuff most guys really want and use.

here's a full debunking of the previous version of this rumor.

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2006/01/personal_body_a_1.html

Posted by: OldSpook || 03/31/2006 10:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Actuallyt he stuff the troops that buy individually have is quite good. Police have been wearing anti-small arms ballistic protection far longer than the military, at least as a routine piece of gear. Military body armor until now has mainly been designed to protect from artillery or fragmentation effects, not bullets.

So the civialin stuff actually is probably better than all but the latest military stuff - and who do you think the military is buying from? Yep - those same companies.

But the individually purchased stuff can and will conform cosmetically to the military staandards - the troops demand that and will get it. Thats how the market place looks. But functionally, if you are a smart consumer, you actually can get a lot better stuff than the issued stuff. I knwo becasue I geared up before, well nevermind when and where (Im a civilian now, contractor).

Here is a point that was overlooked: Because it is usually custom fitted, it provides better protection (i.e. less coverage gapping), allows for more mobility and flexibility, and frequently weighs less and breathes better than issue gear. Add to that the ability to have some customization, like extra loops and hooks, a better chicken plate, and so on - its not the whitewash some brass hat types would have you beleive.
Posted by: OldSpook || 03/31/2006 10:23 Comments || Top||

#5  Always micromanaging in a group that should have a sence of automaitic self preservation. I hated it then and I hate it now.
Posted by: newc || 03/31/2006 12:20 Comments || Top||

#6  Check it out. You are a Marine on "FOOT" patrol and carrying 70 pounds of equipment you need to survive. Guns, ammo, water, radio's etc. You are in a combat zone where you might have to scale walls, RUN for your life, or even have to swim for cover. Life is tough. Combat is cruel and people die. You have politicos who have no understanding of what combat is because the vast majority have never served. These do gooders with all the answers can't stand the political pressure of even discussing loss of a person engaged in mortal combat. These politicos in all their wisdom and cowardice decide to add an additional 20 pounds to the load with vests and steel plates to lug around. No wonder the vast number of BRAVE MARINES walking foot patrols choose not to carry the extra weight when given a choice. Survival in most cases is achieved by the fleet a foot and not the weighed down target silhouette.
Posted by: Survival Spec || 03/31/2006 13:42 Comments || Top||

#7  Hate to break your spiel, Spec [/sarcasm] -- but tell that to the families. IIRC, that's part of where the push for force protection comes from...
Posted by: Edward Yee || 03/31/2006 13:58 Comments || Top||

#8  Riding in a Humvee or Bradley is much different from patrolling on foot. Speaking of Humvees they are becoming death traps on many occasions becaus of "OVER PRESSURE" Over pressure from an IED can't be defeated by body armor. I am for the troops and feel for their families losses an mine. The troops should decide.
Posted by: Survival Spec || 03/31/2006 14:20 Comments || Top||

#9  As a survior of a direct IED blast, I can definately say that you can't have enough armor in the turret of a humvee, however, on foot, anymore weight that you have now does hinder your movement. Read "A Soldier's Load and the Mobility of a Nation" if that doesn't make sense to you. When you are clearing houses or on patrol, you have a ton of shit to carry. Radio, Ammo, AT-4s, Water, breaching tools, etc. It adds up fast, not to mention the summer heat and then you add to that? nuts! The law of diminishing returns should apply....
Posted by: Bama Marine || 03/31/2006 14:45 Comments || Top||

#10  Salute to Bama Marine. Welcome to Rantburg.
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/31/2006 15:01 Comments || Top||

#11  In the first place, soldiers are not supposed to use anything anyways except what Uncle Sam or the CO's allow, including any non-USDOD/QuarterMaster issued guns and gear. Realistically, however, grunts far from home, Mom, and Washington will listen to these alleged "new" order(s) and then do what they want or need to do to personally survive in combat regardless of what any orders say. Soldiers or warriors, includ Commanders, throughout human history have always supplemented their stuffs - always have, always will, with or without the Death Star, Battlestar Galactica, or the Space Babes.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/31/2006 21:11 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
‘South Waziristan run by Taliban’
South Waziristan is under the “full control” of militants loyal to Baitullah Mehsud and Abdullah Mehsud, enforcing “Taliban-style” governance, said Col (r) Yakub Mahsud during a conference at Peshawar University on Thursday. “Abdullah and Baitullah are controlling South Waziristan in the absence of a political agent,” he said in a talk on Pakistan-Afghanistan relations and the situation in the tribal areas. Militants are implementing a Taliban-style government and also influencing Tank district, he added. The retired colonel’s revelation comes after NWFP Governor Khalilur Rehman denied the presence of Taliban in South Waziristan. Mahsud led the government’s side in negotiations with the Mehsuds in October 2004 for the release of kidnapped Chinese engineers.
I doubt anybody really believed the governor, anyway. If we're this used to denials of the patently obvious, think what the Pak-in-the-street must feel like.
“Abdullah and Baitullah are convinced the West understands only force - and their point is understandable. They have no faith in Muslim states, which are doing little to save Muslims from degradation,” he said. Military operations in the tribal areas are not in Pakistan’s interest, he added, blaming Islamabad for not negotiating a peaceful resolution to the Waziristan issue. “Abdullah is willing to negotiate a peaceful solution and honours his word – unlike the government,” said Mahsud. However, he did not expand upon when the government “broke” its promises.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Those primitives should be consistent, and only use weapons that can be created by using only their knowledge. That would leave them with slingshots.
Posted by: Listen to Dogs || 03/31/2006 2:04 Comments || Top||

#2  "in the absence of a political agent,”.
USA to Pakistan "Can we be the politcal agent, please, pretty plrease, really, please."
Posted by: plainslow || 03/31/2006 9:31 Comments || Top||

#3  How many times has the Itsy Bitsy Spider been "dead" now?
I'm starting to think Wazooistan is the Haiti of the Middle East.
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/31/2006 15:11 Comments || Top||


Hizbul Mujahedeen offers ceasefire if India includes them in talks
A Pakistan-based rebel group fighting India over Kashmir said a ceasefire was possible if New Delhi recognised such groups as parties to the dispute, according to a report published on Thursday. “Not only Hizbul Mujahedeen but also the entire militant leadership would consider (a) truce if the Indian government acknowledges the disputed and tripartite nature of the Kashmir issue,” Hizbul supreme commander Syed Salahudin told the Kashmir News Service in a telephone interview from Pakistan.

Salahudin - who is also the chairman of the Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant alliance, the United Jihad Council – wanted talks between India, Pakistan and Kashmiris before agreeing to a ceasefire.

New Delhi has met moderate Kashmiri separatist groups in the past year as part of an effort to discuss the dispute and reduce violence. At least 44,000 people have been killed since the insurgency was launched in 1989. But Salahudin said those talks have not helped. “The dialogue process initiated by the moderate leadership has so far failed to produce any breakthrough in terms of Kashmir resolution,” he said. Salahudin, who tops the security force list of most wanted militants, said violence would decline as the dialogue process moves forward. “In Afghanistan, Vietnam and other conflict areas war and dialogue have run side by side. Armed confrontation would automatically recede as serious dialogue process moves forward,” he said.

However, he said groups such as his would continue to boycott elections in Indian-held Kashmir. “As we don’t recognise the Indian constitution, taking part in Indian-held elections is immaterial,” he said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  damn$ right out of central casting.

Posted by: RD || 03/31/2006 0:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Syed Salahudin pic: right hand held up..

Practicing the Skull and Bones pledge at Yale.
Posted by: RD || 03/31/2006 1:16 Comments || Top||

#3 
home
Posted by: pihkalbadger || 03/31/2006 5:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Didn't know holy men could wear a flat 'at.
Posted by: 6 || 03/31/2006 8:47 Comments || Top||

#5  I see a cartoon;
India starts catapulting their dead Muslims over to the Pakis. A form of taking out the trash. Maybe with a little sign like "We've been trying to live with you jerks for decades now, it never seems to get any easier."
Posted by: wxjames || 03/31/2006 8:57 Comments || Top||

#6  He should audition for Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof".

Tradition!
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/31/2006 9:05 Comments || Top||

#7  "If I were rich man, kabiddyy-boomy-boomy-biddy-boomy-biddy boom, All day long, I'd biddy-biddy-boom... ."
Posted by: Perfesser || 03/31/2006 9:32 Comments || Top||

#8  I see a cartoon;
India starts catapulting their dead Muslims over to the Pakis. A form of taking out the trash. Maybe with a little sign like "We've been trying to live with you jerks for decades now, it never seems to get any easier."


WX, that reminds me of the old skit on SNL about the "Yard-A-Pult," lol. Don't know if you saw it, but it was in the form of a commercial selling the yard-a-pult (for $29.95 of course). Had a picture perfect suburban home depicted with dad & son out back using the yard-a-pult to fling trash over their fence and down a few houses. Absolutely hilarious...until lil' Timmy came home, and Spot had died (the family dog). Dad took Spot's body out back and yard-a-pult'd it into the next county, it looked like. A very good idea/invention for this region, lol!
Posted by: BA || 03/31/2006 9:44 Comments || Top||

#9  This plan sounds an awful lot like blackmail. India should just keep blasting the he|| out of these rectal cavities and tell them to find some other talks to bully their way into.
Posted by: Zenster || 03/31/2006 11:41 Comments || Top||


Bara tribesmen held, businesses closed
BARA: Political authorities arrested dozens of tribesmen supporting Mufti Munir Shakir under the Collective Responsibility Act of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) on Thursday and sealed their businesses in various parts of the agency. The arrested tribesmen belonged to the Malik Deenkhel and Shalober clans and their businesses in Karkhano Market and Jamrud were closed, official sources said. "More arrests are expected before a formal operation is launched against the cleric's supporters," they said.

Khyber Agency was tense on Thursday two days after bloody clashes which left 25 dead and 14 injured when Mufti's supporters attacked supporters of rival cleric Pir Saifullah Rehman.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Pakistani-American involved in Musharraf assassination plots
A US informant told a British court on Thursday that he had been involved in two plots to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf, confirming that he had bought guns, ammunition and grenades to carry out the attack. Mohammed Babar, a Pakistan-born American, said the first plot had been in early 2002 and the second had been planned for 2003 during Eid.

The 31-year-old was the main prosecution witness at the London trial of seven Britons accused of planning bomb attacks in the UK. Police described the case as Britain’s biggest terrorism trial since the Sept 11 attacks on the United States. Babar, who has said he was the men’s accomplice and has admitted terrorism-related offences back in the United States in connection with the allegations, told the court he had been involved in two conspiracies to kill Musharraf. Under cross-examination from defence lawyer Joel Bennathan, Babar said he had bought eight AK-47 machine guns, 5,000 rounds of ammunition and grenades for an assassination attempt in 2002.

Babar, who has been granted immunity from prosecution over his testimony, admitted that he would probably have been jailed for life in the United States had the plot been uncovered or would have received a potential death sentence in Pakistan had he been extradited there. During his testimony, Babar descried how some of the British suspects had links to Al Qaeda, had taken part in explosives training and had planned to smuggle detonators. The trial at London’s Old Bailey court continues.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Militants attack on school in Pakistani tribal belt kills two civilians
Two civilians including a woman and a child were killed and four others were wounded including two soldiers Thursday when suspected Islamic militants attacked a school with rockets in North Waziristan tribal agency along Afghan border, said security officials. Suspected militants fired several rockets at a school in Mir Ali village at the time when no one was in the school, officials told KUNA.

They said the attack on school, currently under Frontier Corps (FC) control, wounded four people including two FC soldiers. Officials said there was an exchange of fire between the militants and security force. They added that in exchange of fire a woman and a child were killed. Officials said security in the area has been beefed up and Mir Ali Bazaar has been sealed. Forces are fighting in the North Waziristan tribal agency for the last few weeks. The operation has killed so far over 100 militants including foreigners.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wow. What brave 'lions of Islam'. I wonder how long it took them to summon the courage to attack an empty school.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/31/2006 7:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Pakistani tribal belt

[Professorial voice]

A Pakistani tribal belt is easily distinguished from its less rustic Palestinain counterpart by the more elaborate vegetable dye waistband stiching and substitution of goat dung coated marbles for warferin layered ball bearings. Additional differences in ultimate Semtex ordnance payload weight are accounted for by the shorter average body height of the usual Pakistani wearer. Close examination of the trigger and detonation circuitry will reveal the use of reworked household heater tip-and-trip switches versus the cell phone remote acuation more popular in the occupied territories. Yaddita yaddita yadda ...
Posted by: Zenster || 03/31/2006 19:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Brilliantly elucidated, Zenster.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/31/2006 19:42 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Oil pipeline blown up in northern Iraq
An oil pipeline transporting oil to Baiji refinery in Kirkuk, northern Iraq, went up in flames on Thursday due to blasts. An official in the oil facilities security force, who requested anonymity, said reasons behind the blast were unknown, while fire was strongest in Zaka' village in Riyadh area, west of Kirkuk. He added that fire brigades are still fighting fire in the oil pipeline.

The incident comes days after a statement by the Iraqi Acting Minister of Oil Hashem Al-Hashemi, in which he said that Iraq would need eight to 12 months before resuming oil exports from northern Iraq through Turkey after export operations came to halt due to sabotage acts. Al-Hashemi added that the northern main oil pipeline was totally destroyed and is non-functional, asserting that there is no way to export oil from northern Iraq.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  nice work a$$holes.
Posted by: RD || 03/31/2006 0:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Kurd militias should be patrolling those lines, 24-7.
Posted by: Listen to Dogs || 03/31/2006 2:10 Comments || Top||

#3  They probably do, however they may have become predictable with their patrols. Best to have overlapping redundancy duplication.
Posted by: wxjames || 03/31/2006 8:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Turks need oil; Kurds have oil; Salafis are sabatoging oil sales. I have always believed that landlocked Kurds would do better if they made an arrangement with the Turks. Eight months of tanker deliveries to Turkey, might force a new arrangement. When Muslim Bosnia first became independent, the first thing the Saudis did was pay Bosnians $50 million to wreck and rebuild the Ottoman built mosques. My enemies enemy...
Posted by: Listen to Dogs || 03/31/2006 13:13 Comments || Top||


Iraqi policeman killed, others wounded in blast in Kirkuk
An Iraqi policeman was killed, an officer and other civilians wounded, in a blast in Kirkuk, northern Iraq. An Iraqi police source told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that an explosive device went off targeting an Iraqi police patrol killing a policeman and wounding an officer, noting that three civilians were wounded in the blast, among them was a female university student. Meanwhile, two Iraqi civilians were killed by unknown gunmen in two separate shooting incidents in Kirkuk, the source said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Eight workers of Baiji power plant killed by gunmen
Eight Iraqi employees working in the Baiji electric power facilities were killed by gunmen on Thursday. An Iraqi security source told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that unknown gunmen attacked with machineguns a group of employees leaving the facilities to their residence. The attack was preceded by another today when an oil pipeline caught fire due to blasts with unknown causes.

Also, four Iraqis were killed today and 22 others were wounded in a series of attacks using explosive devices and a booby-trapped car in Baghdad. Meanwhile, an Iraqi Interior Ministry source announced that the number of mortar rounds targeting the military college headquarters, used as a base by the US forces, reached 22 rounds, while losses were not figured yet.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas defends suicide bombing
The Islamist group Hamas has defended a suicide bombing that killed four Israelis as "resistance" against Israeli "crimes", putting it at odds with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who condemned the attack. Hours after the bombing, Israeli warplanes and artillery struck the Gaza Strip, though no casualties were reported.

A car explosion in Gaza later killed a top leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, a group that frequently fires rockets into Israel. The Army, which often targets Palestinian militants in air strikes, denied involvement in the blast.

The conflicting statements of Hamas and Mr Abbas on the West Bank suicide bombing were the first since the President swore in the Palestinian Authority's first Hamas Government on Wednesday. Mr Abbas has said he could overrule the group, which is pledged to Israel's destruction, if it continues to block peacemaking. The suicide bombing, claimed by al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, occurred days after Israeli leader Ehud Olmert's Kadima party won elections on a platform of setting Israel's borders in the occupied West Bank unilaterally in the absence of peace talks. Palestinians say such a move would annex land and deny them the viable state they seek in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials said the bomber, whose group is part of Mr Abbas's Fatah faction, was disguised as a religious Jewish hitchhiker and blew himself up when Israelis in a car picked him up near a settlement late on Thursday. A spokesman for Mr Abbas told official Palestinian media that the President condemned the bombing and that he asked all factions to abide by a truce declared last year. Hamas described the attack as a "natural response to Israeli crimes". Information Minister Youssef Rizqa said: "Resistance is a legitimate right for people under occupation."
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ah yes, the government of terror. How are you enjoying so far, Pals?
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 || 03/31/2006 20:11 Comments || Top||


Israeli army says four infiltrators from Egypt arrested
The Israeli army on Thursday claimed that four people who tried to infiltrate from Egypt were arrested. An army spokesman said the four people were unarmed when arrested. Meanwhile, Israeli police prevented worshippers from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque allegedly after intelligence reports that extremist elements were planning to attack the holy shrine.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There has to be a negative here somewhere...perhaps if they ask them what they are doing. According to the answer they give ten decide whether to let them go or not. Who knows they might have just taken a wrong turn at the light.
Posted by: Survival Spec || 03/31/2006 14:14 Comments || Top||


IDF says four Israelis were killed by bombing attack
Four Israelis were killed Thursday by a bombing attack against Kedumim settlement in the West Bank, said the Israeli army. An army spokesman said a number of Israelis were also injured by the blast which was launched through a booby-trapped car placed by a gas station adjacent to the settlement's gateway, adding that the operation was executed by a "single person" who died by the blast. A spokesman, in a statement to Israeli radio, said the blast was initiated by a member of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, military wing of Fatah. He added that the car might have been detonated from a distance with some type of remote-control.
"Surprise! You're a suicide boom!"
On its part, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, military wing of Fatah, said the attack was launched by one of its members. According to a release by Fatah broadcast by Palestinian radio stations, the person who executed the attack was 24-year-old Ahmad Mahmoud Mahsrqah "in reply to Israel's assassination campaign against Palestinians." Masharqah belonged to the brigade's group of martyr Hammoudah Shtaiwi.

In another development, an Israeli drone launched a missile at an unoccupied area in Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources an Israeli F-16 warplane launched the missile which did not result in any casualties or damage. The sources added that Palestinian security forces abandoned some of their locations in northern Gaza Strip after Israeli threats to bombard the posts. As Israeli warplanes are currently patrolling Gaza's skies, Israeli tanks continue bombarding the strip's northern part in what Israeli security sources termed as retaliation for launching missiles towards Asqalan city that led to injuring and terrifying a number of Israelis.
Posted by: Fred || 03/31/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In another development, an Israeli drone launched a missile at an unoccupied area in Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources an Israeli F-16 warplane launched the missile which did not result in any casualties or damage. The sources added that Palestinian security forces abandoned some of their locations in northern Gaza Strip after Israeli threats to bombard the posts. As Israeli warplanes are currently patrolling Gaza's skies, Israeli tanks continue bombarding the strip's northern part in what Israeli security sources termed as retaliation for launching missiles towards Asqalan city that led to injuring and terrifying a number of Israelis.

prep
Posted by: RD || 03/31/2006 0:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Abu Quka, a leader of either the PFLP or a smaller group (MSM is a tad unclear) was killed in Gaza when his car exploded. Some are blaming the IDF, but apparently many of his followers are blaming the PA Preventive Security Services, and are attacking them on the streets of Gaza.

I'll have mine without butter and salt, this time.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/31/2006 9:11 Comments || Top||

#3  what about Abu Fran and Abu Ollie?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2006 10:11 Comments || Top||

#4  2 dead now in the funeral festivities. also the requisite car swarm,of course. More serious popcorn than I expected. Check BBC, or the Israeli papers.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/31/2006 10:24 Comments || Top||

#5  JPost now says 3 dead, 25 wounded in the festivities.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/31/2006 10:34 Comments || Top||

#6  what about Abu Fran and Abu Ollie?

Woah, Frank. That takes me way back. Thanks for the memory.
Posted by: Xbalanke || 03/31/2006 12:20 Comments || Top||

#7  Where's Kukla?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/31/2006 14:12 Comments || Top||

#8  Haaretz now says four dead.

Abu Yousef Abu Quka, was apparently tied to Hamas.

The PA (ie Hamas) cabinet is holding an emergency meeting, and vows to "get weapons off the street" And to think, some people said irony was dead.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/31/2006 14:18 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran Test-Fires Missile Able to Duck Radar
EFL
Iran's military said Friday it successfully test-fired a missile not detectable by radar that can use multiple warheads to hit several targets simultaneously, a development that raised concerns in the United States and Israel...
But state-run television described the weapon as "ballistic" — suggesting it is of comparable range to Iran's existing ballistic rocket, which can travel about 1,200 miles and reach arch-foe Israel and U.S. bases in Iraq and the Persian Gulf region.
The Great Satan had better attack soon. Very soon.
Posted by: Floluger Omoter9196 || 03/31/2006 16:41 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  LOOK OUT! IT'S THE MIRV GRYPHON! http://plans.rocketshoppe.com/srw/srwMG/srwMG.htm
You know if it landsharks to its target it won't be picked up on radar.
Posted by: bruce || 03/31/2006 19:25 Comments || Top||

#2  showed a 4-tube MLRS on the Fox video - looked like less-than-smart missiles
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2006 19:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Yeah right...

Where'd they get the tech base for building radar invisible stuff?

Where'd they get the MIRV tech?

Where'd they get LRCM tech that's at least as good as or better than what the US has today on the Tomahawk?

Develop all that stuff in-house did they?

I doubt it. I doubt the missile exists or does even half of what they claim - and even if it does half, I doubt it evades US AEGIS style systems.

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 03/31/2006 19:37 Comments || Top||

#4  I doubt it too....
Posted by: Frank G || 03/31/2006 19:40 Comments || Top||

#5  Iran Test-Fires Missile Able to Duck Camel Poop and Swat flies.
Posted by: RD || 03/31/2006 20:06 Comments || Top||

#6  This calls for quiet diplomacy, good listening and incarceration of the Nuke-Mecca types.
Posted by: Listen to Dogs || 03/31/2006 20:10 Comments || Top||

#7  It was almost a month ago they said they had received a Chinese missile able to evade the Arrow system. However, no missile can run fast enough to miss electronic jamming, lasers and other airborne countermeasures.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/31/2006 20:13 Comments || Top||

#8  No way, the timeline of normal indigens missle dev is too soon - Iran is either bluffing or has gotten "advisory" andor tech support from foreign nations, which PC means it is expecting some kind of mil-action this year, against the US or Israelis or both. Israel has already stated publicly iff the West or UNO does nuthin' this year to stop Iran's dev of nuke weapons it will.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/31/2006 20:49 Comments || Top||

#9  But, but, the mullahs said to call it Mohammed's Anti-infidel Sword and it would be invincible like the DEL>profit prophet himself!

Muslims have very advanced technology. Just think of all of the cool high-tech products built in the muslim world, like, ummm, oh yes, the camel saddle! And really small coffee cups.

Silly infidels, we will own you!
Posted by: Achmed of ACME of Gaza || 03/31/2006 22:03 Comments || Top||

#10  Don't forget the prayer rug compass (New with an arrow pointing to Mecca)!
Posted by: Thom as-Edison, Djinn of Mecca Park || 03/31/2006 22:21 Comments || Top||

#11  or the islamic camera obscura which is invisible to my favorite porn.
Posted by: Prophet al-Arff a Wudo || 03/31/2006 22:35 Comments || Top||

#12  (Heh-heh)...
Shiver me timbers, lads and lassies.

Happy "April Fools Day".

at
Posted by: Asymmetrical Triangulation || 03/31/2006 22:57 Comments || Top||



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Fri 2006-03-31
  Hizbul Mujahedeen offers ceasefire
Thu 2006-03-30
  Smoking Gun in Hariri Murder Inquest?
Wed 2006-03-29
  US Muslim Gets 30 Yrs for Bush Assasination Plot
Tue 2006-03-28
  Pak Talibs execute crook under shariah
Mon 2006-03-27
  30 beheaded bodies found in Iraq
Sun 2006-03-26
  Mortar Attack On Al-Sadr
Sat 2006-03-25
  Taliban to Brits: 600 Bombers Await You
Fri 2006-03-24
  Zarqawi aide captured in Iraq
Thu 2006-03-23
  Troops in Iraq Free 3 Western Hostages
Wed 2006-03-22
  18 Iraqi police killed in jailbreak
Tue 2006-03-21
  Pakistani Taliban now in control of North, South Waziristan
Mon 2006-03-20
  Senior al-Qaeda leader busted in Quetta
Sun 2006-03-19
  Dead Soddy al-Qaeda leader threatens princes in video
Sat 2006-03-18
  Abbas urged to quit, scrap government
Fri 2006-03-17
  Iraq parliament meets under heavy security

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