LONDON Britain will increase its military presence in southern Afghanistan by about 800 troops to 5,800 this summer, Defense Secretary Des Browne said yesterday. But Britain's overall deployment in Afghanistan will only increase by 300 since the military also will reduce its manpower in Kabul, the capital, by 500, he said.
That's 800 war-fighters to the front. Perhaps the Germans can hold Kabul for us.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The Germans are worthless and won't go to Kabul as someone might actually shoot at them and that is verboten.
#3
IMHO his service is to be applauded, especially as he's supposedly bucked effort to hide him in the logistics chain and demanded frontline duty
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/04/2007 17:09 Comments ||
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Ask India.
They would happily send a few divisions.
Posted by: john ||
02/04/2007 19:47 Comments ||
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Actually, the present government in India has made it clear that they want nothing to do with the international effort in Afghanistan, at least militarily. They are willing to permit NGOs to operate there, take contracts for road-building and transportation setup, and the like; just no military or paramilitary actions, outside that required to secure their borders.
The Afghan government and its NATO allies on Saturday prepared to reclaim a remote district centre recently reoccupied by a defiant Taliban who vowed to resist any intervention, as residents fled the area fearing military strikes. Militants had raised the Taliban movements white flag over government offices in the small southern town in Musa Qala district in Helmand province, which they stormed late on Thursday, a provincial tribal chief said citing locals. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) spokesman Col Thomas Collins said that while the situation remained unclear, we have indications that Taliban are fortifying their positions in the district centre. The British military deployed in Helmand under ISAF vacated the town, capital of Musa Qala district, about four months ago after a controversial deal with tribal elders who pledged to keep the Taliban out. Collins confirmed that a significant number of Taliban had attacked the town, overwhelming local police. Members of the town council were briefly detained, Afghan officials said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Tell everyone to leave & send in the B52's. Musa Qala is the catch & release of the Afghan war.
#3
I bet it is really tough on soldiers going back to retake a town they captured earlier, and then someone gave away. They are gonna be unhappy and are gonna the Taliban real unhappy in a few days.
The outgoing NATO commander in Afghanistan on Saturday dismissed the Taliban as an effectively beaten force, despite the groups threat to launch a spring offensive. Addressing a press conference, the British general, David Richards, said: The Taliban do talk about a spring offensive . . . I wont use that term because all they offer is more death, destruction and despair, against the vision of hope and growing prosperity of the government and the international community.
However he also offered an upbeat assessment of the fight against the resurgent Taliban, saying: This is a good war, this is a winnable war.
Gen Richards went on to offer assurances that NATO would kick the Taliban out of the southern town of Musa Qala, which was overrun by Taliban fighters on Thursday night, and restore authority to tribal elders. On the international pressure on Pakistan to curb cross-border Taliban attacks, he noted that Islamabad has done a huge amount for the international community on the back of 9/11. Having led the NATO mission for nine months, Gen Richards is scheduled on Sunday to hand over command of the 33,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) contingent to an American four-star general, Dan McNeil.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Anyone have any comments on Gen. McNeil? I'm not up on US generals any more, except for a few AF ones.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/04/2007 13:46 Comments ||
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He commanded combined joint task force 180 as we went into Afghanistan and for at least a year thereafter. Was 3 stars then, is 4 stars now. Going to back to clean up the mess that NATO made of things, is my impression. According to a friend of mine (O6) who did a special tour in his hqtrs, he made good judgements, trusted his subordinate commanders and focused on the right things. FWIW
#4
One other thing about Dan McNeil. He was the leader who got a lot of reconstruction efforts going and has good ties to the afghan army. May be OBE now, but those ties should help among the locals.
(SomaliNet) The ousted Islamic Courts Union has strongly supported on Friday what they called the civil upraising against the presence of the Ethiopian forces in Somalia particular in Mogadishu, the top Islamist leader Sheik Sharif said.
In an interview with Shabelle Radio in Mogadishu, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed the leader of executive council of Islamic Courts who is now in Nairobi under the custody of Kenyan authority condemned the attacks that caused the civilian casualties in the capital.
I support any insurgent attack against the Ethiopian forces in Mogadishu but it is un-Islamic and inhuman to kill the civilians, said Sheik Ahmed urging the Ethiopian forces to withdraw from Somalia if they want peace,
He said every nation in the world, whose country is occupied, has the rights to defend itself through any means, and the Somali nation has the right to fight for its freedom so we see the fight as just in order to evict the Ethiopian occupiers out of their country.
He said the Ethiopian troops have illegally occupied Somalia. Their departure from the country is inevitable
He warned the deployment of AU peacekeepers in Somalia saying any foreign troops would not bring a solution to the crisis in the country.
Sheik Ahmed pointed out that foreign troops that intervened Somalia in 1990s ended in failure. We do not need another failure. If bringing troops to Somalia, Somalias scholars, religious leaders, the Courts and business people should be consulted with and it should be agreed commonly, he added.
He welcomed the call of the Somalis interim president Abdulahi Yusuf for reconciliation conference as positive step. It is actually good to hold dialogue for rival sides in Somalia if the government is making this real, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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(SomaliNet) The new speaker for the transitional parliament in Somalia has been sworn on Saturday to replace the impeached speaker Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden for in connection with the ousted Islamist movement. The new elected speaker, Sheik Aden Mohamed Nor known as Sheik Aden Madobe swore before the parliament to perform his national duty honestly. "I do swear to carry out my duties sincerely and through the interests of my country, my people and my religion," said Madobe holding the book of holy Koran.
Sheik Madobe, former minister of justice, said he promise to lead parliament and respect the law, and to take part in the reconciliation of the country. Madobe, who many politicians believe is favored by the president Abdulahi Yusuf, called on the self-exiled lawmakers to return to Somalia. He also urged the former speaker to work with the parliament to promote peace and stability in the country. Sheik Madobe, was elected for the speaker of the parliament on Jan 31 last month, one week after the MPs voted to impeach former speaker, Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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ONE of Britains most notorious Islamist preachers has warned that any Muslim joining the army should expect to be beheaded. Omar Bakri, who fled Britain weeks after the 7/7 London bombings, said on the internet that Muslim troops were apostates.
His video was posted shortly after the death of the first British Muslim to die on active service in the war on terror. The killing last year of Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi, 24, is said to have inspired the alleged plot to kidnap, torture and behead a British Muslim soldier in Birmingham.
This weekend, Bakri confirmed that he endorsed the execution of British Muslim soldiers captured in Afghanistan and Iraq. British Muslims who join the army and kill other Muslims are terrorists, he said.
Bakri, who led the banned Al-Muhajiroun group, continues to direct his followers in Britain with messages through secure websites. On the video, he says: I hope they capture British Muslims who are really in the army there in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are apostates. He adds: We will strike your neck.
Bakris comments will fuel concerns that radicals are fomenting terrorism because the authorities fear alienating Muslim communities. Last weeks arrests sparked anger in Birmingham, where Dr Mohammed Naseem, a Muslim leader, said British Muslims were being treated like Jews in Nazi Germany. He told a 2,000-strong congregation outside the Birmingham central mosque: There is a political objective behind these arrests. It is something that has been magicked up.
West Midlands police have handed out 5,000 leaflets and are keen to avoid comparison with a raid last June in Forest Gate, east London, where a man was shot. The Sparkbrook Islamic centre, just a few streets away from where a suspect was arrested last week, held a conference last year where a speaker gloated over the death of L/Cpl Hashmi. An undercover reporter heard him say: The hero of Islam is the one who separated his head from his shoulders.
The Maktabah bookshop, where one of the suspects worked, is notorious for stocking inflammatory works about Jihad. But for all the outward signs of extremism in Birmingham, neighbours of the men arrested last week insisted they were well-respected members of the community.
Pervaiz Khan, 30, an unemployed father of four, was described as the best Asian footballer in the area, an Asian Roy Keane. He is a friend of Amjad Mahmood, 29, a father of two, who works 14-hour days at Khans general store alongside his father.
Azzar Iqbal, 38, has three daughters and runs a pizza business in the area. Zahoor Iqbal, a 29-year-old teacher who lives in north Birmingham, is a cricketer known as the terminator for his ability to demolish opponents at the wicket. Abu Bakir worked at the bookstore. All, according to friends, are nice guys.
Nice guys. Pious, nice guys. Holy, pious, nice guys. With swords and rifles.
#3
The wording of news reports indicates that SEVERAL Al-Qaeda sleeper cells in the UK were instructed to perform ritual human beheadings in the name of Islam.
Will that be enough to wake up the UK leaders and population?
#4
neighbours of the men arrested last week insisted they were well-respected members of the community.
I guess the "community" respects jihadis. That means both the jihadis AND the community need to be exiled to some flyspeck in the Pacific where nobody else would live on a bet.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/04/2007 14:07 Comments ||
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when I first read the headline I thought it meant that a "preacher" called for death to jihadis. didn't make sense, cuz that just doesn't happen.
#7
Damn... when I read the headline, I thought it was one of our own home-grown raving Fundamental Christian froot-loops calling for the deaths of Muslim soldiers.
My bad!
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/04/2007 15:49 Comments ||
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and old bookshops filled with incendiary-filled rhetoric can hardly be stopped from burning down on their own...eh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/04/2007 17:55 Comments ||
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These guys all seem to be "respectable" and "best Asian footballers" and "nice guys". Don't the neighbors understand that planning to behead people is evil and a crime? Maybe the mullahs should tell them this is worse than bad manners, I mean, it is even worse than a bad hair day.
Deputies from France's ruling centre-right UMP party have called on President Jacques Chirac to persuade his European colleagues to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The U.S. government considers Hezbollah, a Shi'ite Muslim group whose guerrillas fought a 34-day war with Israel last July and August, a terrorist organization. But Hezbollah does not appear on the European Union's list of terrorist groups.
In a letter to Chirac, sent earlier this month and released on Friday, some 40 lawmakers said France should "propose the inscription of Hezbollah on the list of terrorist organizations during the next European Union council meeting." "The situation in the Middle East is explosive," it said. "Hezbollah plays an important role in the Lebanese crisis. Financed and instrumentalized by Iran and Syria, it seriously threatens the possibility of a peace solution in this region. We must be clear and admit that Hezbollah is at the origin of multiple attacks, hostage-taking and arms traffic."
There was no comment from Chirac's office. Chirac has insisted Hezbollah must recognize the Lebanese government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. The EU has blacklisted the Palestinian militant group Hamas but has resisted U.S. and Israeli pressure to do the same to Hezbollah.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Will the Eurosheep ever stop bleating and start to recognize that the War on Terror (i.e. their radical Islamic masters) really DOES exist?
#3
It sounds like 40 of the people's representatives understand. It's just that Monsieur Chiraq doesn't like to turn his back on the tools of his friends.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - First Lieutenant Ehren Watada, the first US army officer to publicly refuse orders to go to Iraq, will go on trial in a court martial Monday at Fort Lewis, Washington, according to his supporters. Watada is being tried for his refusal in June 2006 to be deployed to Iraq on the grounds that he opposed the decision of President George W. Bush to launch the war.
Except weepy editorials in the NYT Tuesday. HuffPo will lash out at the military and Bush (of course). Keith Olbermann will refer to Watada as an 'authentic American hero'. Then he'll be convicted and forgotten, having served his purpose to them.
He is being charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with expressing contempt toward Bush, of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, and purposely missing his unit's deployment when it departed for the Middle East on June 22, 2006. The charges, which could earn him four years in a military prison, cite statements Watada made on June 6 defending his decision on the basis that Bush initiated an illegal and immoral war.
"I could never conceive of our leader betraying the trust we had in him. As I read about the level of deception the Bush administration used to initiate and process this war, I was shocked. I became ashamed of wearing the uniform. If the president can betray my trust, it's time for me to evaluate what he's telling me to do," Watada said, according to the court martial charge sheet.
Guilty as charged.
A group of supporters of Watada plan to hold a demonstration outside Fort Lewis in the northwestern state on Monday, as well as a protest in his support outside the White House in Washington, the US capital.
Watada joined the army in 2003 and was posted in South Korea until 2005, when he was transferred to Fort Lewis to prepare for deployment to Iraq.
Joined in 2003, did he? Had to know his turn in Iraq was coming.
Instead he requested to be transferred to another unit and proposed that he be deployed to Afghanistan. That was turned down. Since his arrest he has been assigned to an office job in Fort Lewis while awaiting his trial.
His case has garnered significant support in a nation that has turned sharply against the Iraq war. Mike Honda, a member of the US House of Representatives, told the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper last week that Watada volunteered for the military in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks "out of a desire to protect his family and compatriots." Noting Watada's "exemplary" service record, Honda defended his act: "Watada is not alone. Poll after poll points to an ever-rising tide of public opposition to President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq."
All of which is irrelevant. Lieutenants don't make policy.
In an interview on National Public Radio in January, Watada said he felt he had no choice but to refuse to go to Iraq. "When I saw there were no other alternatives, I believed that I needed to take this issue to the public arena and let the people know why soldiers were dying in Iraq."
But he said the court martial will avoid the issues his refusal was aimed at raising. "In this case, the judge has already predetermined that he will not allow any evidence or witnesses to testify that the war is illegal or immoral. He has already predetermined that the order (to deploy) is lawful and, in a sense by charging me with missing movement, they are skirting the issue of the legality of the order."
Because that's not the issue. You disobeyed an order and cast disrespect on your superiors. Enjoy your time in military prison.
#2
Judge? What "judge"? It will be a courts martial PANEL - composed of other Army Officers -a jury of his "peers". The panel reports to the courts martial convening authority - who will be a General Officer. The first time that a "judge" will be involved will be if a verdict is appealed.
I doubt that his peer group is going to hve a whole lot of sympathy for his selective obedience of the orders of those appointed over him.
Have fun breaking rocks, El-Tee (soon to become Private E-1?). Be thankful that they don't stand you up against a wall wearing a blindfold, and pemanently remove you from the population of oxygen thieves.
#3
Watada thought he was going to join the U.S. Army and do what? go to football games? shoot at the evil men of his choosing, after they fill out a questionaire and are certified as being evil? does he want every single superior officer to pass his morality test before a lock and load?
How many murders of vegetable buying women does hehave to see before he decides he would intervene to save them?
#4
Actually, since exJAG hasn't reported in, LR there is a judge. He does the administration and technical stuff. Got to make sure all the right papers are processed correctly for any appeal. He rules on points of law. And referees the discussion among the legal types representing the government and the defendant. The judge also instructs the board as to procedures in appropriate parts of the trial. The board has powers to question the witnesses, usually checked by the judge for appropriateness. It can also call/re-call witnesses.
#5
Last night's Seattle NBC news (10 o'clock) had a long story about his supporters building picket signs and standing ready to go. SInce they are closer than the NYT, we can expect the weeping to be louder and sooner.
At a speech Friday to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) said "no option can be taken off the table" when dealing with Iran, RAW STORY has learned.
Clinton tempered her remarks by saying she's advocated engagement with "our enemies and Israeli's enemies," adding, "I believe we can gain valuable knowledge and leverage from being part of a process again that enables us to get a better idea of how to take on and defeat our adversaries." Her quotes were reported by the Associated Press.
Thus playing both sides, her forte. The 'talk with our enemies' allows the progressives to demand talk to the exclusion of doing anything. The 'all options are on the table' allows her to play to the AIPAC crowd which has a lot of money. Both sides get to hear what they want to hear.
The dinner was held by the nation's largest pro-Israel lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. AIPAC is widely believed to the most powerful lobbying group in Washington and routinely sees major politicians from both sides of the aisle -- also in attendance Friday was former Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
AIPAC tends to take a more hawkish stance on foreign policy, and has routinely labels Iran a serious threat. In a Dec. 6 memo, the group labeled Iran "The Core of Instability in the Middle East."
Clinton told some 1,700 AIPAC supporters that the US must take any step to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. "U.S. policy must be clear and unequivocal: We cannot, we should not, we must not permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons," she said. "In dealing with this threat ... no option can be taken off the table."
"To deny the Holocaust places Iran's leadership in company with the most despicable bigots and historical revisionists," she added. Clinton excoriated the Iranian administration's "pro-terrorist, anti-American, anti-Israeli rhetoric." "We need to use every tool at our disposal, including diplomatic and economic in addition to the threat and use of military force," she added.
Sounds promising until you realize that it's Hildy doing the talking.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Hildebeast will say whatever it takes to get elected. She knows you can't get elected as a liberal in the U.S.--you've got to sound moderate or to the right of moderate.
"U.S. policy must be clear and unequivocal: We cannot, we should not, we must not permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons," she said. "In dealing with this threat ... no option can be taken off the table."
Talking to Democrats with moonbats in the audience:
"If we in Congress don't end this war before January 2009, as president, I will"
She's the new Arafat, except she speaks English both times.
#7
In my opinion, she's talking herself out of electability, with each word, soon even a dhimicrat should recognize her unsuitability, "Build on Bill's legacy" Bullshit, he has no "Legacy" worth "Building upon".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/04/2007 16:00 Comments ||
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#8
What's she gonna do to "Build on Bill's Legacy"? Give some page a blowjob? I'm starting to believe she could be our next President.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/04/2007 17:02 Comments ||
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"She's the new Arafat, except she speaks English both times."
Dang. Gotta write that one down...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
02/04/2007 17:21 Comments ||
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Headlining an appearance with other Democratic women senators on behalf of Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is up for re-election this year, Hillary Clinton told several hundred supporters -- some of whom had ponied up as much as $10,000 to attend -- to expect to lose some of the tax cuts passed by President Bush if Democrats win the White House and control of Congress.
"Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped you," Sen. Clinton said. "We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) -- Abdul Helil Mamut's good behavior earned him a spot in a medium-security compound at the Guantanamo Bay prison, where he slept in a barracks, shared leisurely meals with other prisoners and could spend more than half the day in an outdoor recreation area. "It was a wonderful time."
But in December, the detainee was among dozens transferred from Camp 4 to the maximum-security Camp 6, the newest section of Guantanamo Bay's military prison. Now Mamut, an ethnic Uighur from China captured in Pakistan, spends all but two hours a day isolated in his cell. He eats and prays by himself. His only recreation comes in a concrete courtyard surrounded by high walls, separated from other prisoners by a chain-link fence. Poor weedle guy!
The U.S. government says the unit provides detainees with more private and comfortable quarters. But Mamut and other Uighur prisoners complain their days are now filled with "infinite tedium and loneliness," said Sabin Willett, an attorney for the men, in an affidavit filed in a Washington court. "Woe is me. My life used to be so goood, but now it is just boring. How can they be soooo cruel?"
"All expressed a desperate desire for sunlight, fresh air and someone to speak to," Willett wrote after a January visit to the prison, located on the U.S. military base in southeastern Cuba, where the U.S. holds nearly 400 men suspected of links to al-Qaida or the Taliban. LOL. Asshole mouthpiece. I am willing to man a hot goat sekline if that would help.
He can always talk to his interrogator ...
Wells Dixon, who also represents Uighurs held at Guantanamo, predicted the lack of human interaction in Camp 6 will cause detainees to lose their grip on reality. "It will very soon become an insane asylum," he told The Associated Press in a phone interview after he returned from the base in January. My heart is breaking. Sniff.
You sure it isn't the chili?
The military, however, says Camp 6 has improved the lives of detainees. A guard at Camp 6, an Army sergeant whose name cannot be disclosed under military rules, insisted that the prisoners prefer the new air-conditioned cells and the privacy. "It's kind of like having their own apartment," he said. Except for no kitchen utensils or ANY type of metal.
Camp 6 houses about 160 men - more than a third of the total at Guantanamo - and is similar to the highest-security U.S. prisons, even though no one at the prison has been convicted. Gratuitous Anti-American 'hit'? Check.
When the first detainees arrived in the new unit in December, they found on their bunks two pieces of baklava - a sweet pastry common in the Middle East - to welcome them to their new quarters, according to one prison official. Originally, Camp 6 was going to be more like Camp 4, with detainees allowed to congregate in a common area and share meals. But the commander of the detention center, Navy Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris, said that plan changed after 10 detainees attacked guards in Camp 4 last May and three prisoners committed suicide in June in Camp 1. "Our understanding of the detainees improved and evolved," Harris said. "We realized we had the worst of the worst and they would do anything they could to kill or hurt us, so we decided to lock them up.
In Camp 6, guards handcuff detainees through a slot in the steel door before escorting them to the recreation area. "They never touch another living thing," Willett said. "They never see, smell, or touch plants, soil, the sea or any creature, except insects." No puppies or ducks or hamsters or anything? This amounts to TORTURE!
Willett said he does not know why Mamut, who is about 30, or the other Uighurs were moved out of Camp 4. The military will not discuss individual detainees or decisions about their custody - but officials say tight security is warranted in all cases. "I firmly believe that the detainee population that we have right now is literally still at war with us," said Army Col. Wade Dennis, the detention center warden. "We have to be constantly vigilant."
Willett believes Mamut does not deserve to be in a high-security section, saying he is among the more than 100 detainees slated for release or transfer from Guantanamo.
Uighurs have been accused by China of leading a violent Islamic separatist movement in the western province of Xinjiang, though their supporters say Beijing uses claims of terrorism as an excuse to crack down on peaceful pro-independence sentiment. Under U.S. law, they cannot be deported to China because of concern they could face political persecution. Five Uighurs were sent to Albania last year, but other countries have been unwilling to accept the 17 or so remaining in Guantanamo.
Life's kinda tough right now for them, I guess ...
Camp 6 was built for $37 million by KBR, a subsidiary of Houston-based BushCoHalliburton Co. The military has transferred prisoners there from other parts of the detention center, including from Camps 1, 2 and 3, where detainees were held in steel mesh cells that allowed them to easily communicate with each other but also left guards vulnerable to being spat upon or splashed with other bodily fluids.
Another unit, Camp 5, is reserved for the least compliant and "high value" detainees, who are also kept in individual, solid-wall cells and also allowed outside for only 2 hours a day of recreation in an enclosed area.
Camp 4, where detainees could spend 12-14 hours a day outside and could congregate freely, now holds about 35 prisoners, down from about 180 at the time of the attack on guards in May. Harris said it will never return to its previous size. Treated better than I ever would.
NEW DELHI: President APJ Abdul Kalam's concerns over Google Earth providing detailed and unhindered view of sensitive' Indian establishments have been addressed, courtesy a formula which allows users uninterrupted access to the eye in the sky' while camouflaging key installations.
Fuzzy, low resolution pictures and distorted building plans is how the government and Google Earth have agreed to get around concerns that images of sensitive military and scientific establishments available on the Web could either allow unauthorised snooping or become a ready reckoner for terrorists.
At a recent meeting between ministry of science and technology officials and Google Earth representatives, it was decided that installations identified by government would be carefully camouflaged. This, it was felt, was better than an outright blackout. Apart from well-known sites like BARC, there are many less prominent ones, and blacking them out would only attract attention to their locations.
Images of these locations will not be of more than 25-50 metre resolution, more like the older generation pictures provided by Indian Remote Sensing satellites. Official sources said Google Earth would distort building plans by adding structures where none existed or masking certain aspects of a facility. This could be done without attracting attention to such establishments, which range from laboratories, mines, military sites, space and atomic centres and residences of high-profile VVIPs.
The government list of such sites would be accepted by Google Earth. The controversy over Google Earth's images had gained momentum after Kalam, in October last year, expressed concern that unrestricted pictures on the web could have worrisome security implications.
Posted by: john ||
02/04/2007 13:35 ||
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Al Reuters:
A US-IRAQI campaign to stabilise Baghdad will begin soon and the offensive against militants will be on a scale never seen during four years of war, American officers said today.
Briefing a small group of foreign reporters, three American colonels who are senior advisers to the Iraqi army and police in Baghdad said a command centre overseeing the crackdown would be activated tomorrow.
"The expectation is the plan will be implemented soon thereafter," Colonel Doug Heckman, senior adviser to the 9th Iraqi Army division, said at a US military base in Baghdad.
"It's going to be an operation unlike anything this city has seen. It's a multiple order magnitude of difference, not just a 30 per cent, I mean a couple hundred per cent," he added, referring to previous offensives that failed to stem bloodshed. Er, two hundred percent is less than one order of magnitude (factor of 10).
The plan will involve US and Iraqi forces sweeping the capital's neighbourhoods for militants and illegal weapons and then holding cleared areas. But some analysts fear that as in previous crackdowns, militants will simply melt away and wait them out, or strike in areas where they are not deployed. Some of these analysts are aware that terrorists read the newspapers.
All three officers sought to talk up the ability of Iraq's forces to perform better than in previous crackdowns.
Their comments came a day after a suicide truck bomb killed 135 people in a mainly Shiite area of Baghdad, the single biggest bombing since the US-led invasion in 2003. Which has no bearing on the viability of the planned offensive, but Al Reuters wanted to throw it in just for the hell of it.
And overnight, an Islamist website posted a video of an attack on a US Apache helicopter in the Taji region north of the Iraqi capital that was claimed by the Iraqi branch of al-Qaeda.
The US military revealed today that four US helicopters which crashed in the past two weeks, killing a total of 20 troops and private security guards, had been shot down by insurgents. One of these was privately owned, but they are all "US" if you want to invite a particular inference. My source in Baghdad tells me that the new weapon is rumored to be a batch of 20mm Oerlikon guns imported from Iran and that one of these was captured in the orchard battle last week.
On the video which runs for more than three minutes, two helicopters are seen flying low over a wooded area while militants on the ground handle explosives, then one of the aircraft is hit. It's pretty obvious they didn't reach up and plant a bomb on it. There is no missile in the video so heavy gunfire is the likely culprit.
The video shows the Apache catching fire and crashing near a hillside.
The images are accompanied by verses from the Koran, religious chants and calls for jihad, or holy war, in the name of Sheikh Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of a Sunni group linked to al-Qaeda.
An Internet statement posted on Friday in the name of the al-Qaeda front organisation boasted: "The soldiers of the Islamic emirate have found new methods to take on your aircraft."
The planned security crackdown is seen as a last-ditch effort to halt all-out civil war between minority Sunni Arabs and politically dominant majority Shiites.
US President George W. Bush is sending 21,500 reinforcements, most earmarked for the Baghdad offensive.
Critics of Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said an offensive last summer failed because the Iraqi army committed too few troops and because he was reluctant to confront the Mehdi Army of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
The firebrand cleric is a key political ally of Mr Maliki.
Asked if the Mehdi Army's stronghold in Sadr City would be cleaned out, Col Heckman acknowledged the political sensitivity but said all options were open.
"If we feel we need to clear Sadr City to bring stability, we will do that. Are there restrictions that will not allow us to do that? Right now there are not," Col Heckman said.
Mr Maliki has vowed the crackdown will tackle militants across the sectarian divide. The Pentagon has said the Mehdi Army poses a greater threat to peace in Iraq than Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda.
The Baghdad command centre that will begin operations tomorrow will be headed by an Iraqi general. However, US troops will not take orders from Iraqi officers.
Colonel Chip Lewis, senior adviser to a police division in Baghdad, said the Iraqi security forces were more confident than they were before the last offensive. At that time, some Iraqi units did not show up.
Col Heckman said the offensive would gradually build up.
There was anecdotal evidence some militias had sought to melt away ahead of the campaign, the officers added.
"The end of the summer is when we should see some concrete results and be able to say is this working or not," Col Heckman said. That would be around September.
One problem that bedevilled last summer's offensive was the reluctance of Iraqi soldiers in the regionally recruited army to be deployed in the capital, far from their homes and families.
This time soldiers will get pay bonuses to come to Baghdad and will be given a finite tour of duty, so they know their deployment will not be open-ended, the American officers said.
Another difference would be the establishment of what the officers called joint security stations, which will be set up in nine Baghdad districts and where Iraqi and American troops will live and patrol side-by-side.
Within living memory, revealing information like this would have gotten the three colonels put against a wall and shot. Today it is routine, since commanders are painfully aware that disloyal media will reveal all they know anyway.
It could be disinformation, with the main blow to fall elsewhere. At least I hope it is, but in the past such tactical leaks have turned out to be all too accurate, giving terror cells plenty of time to flee the coming wrath and dig in their cannon-fodder and human shields for a media-friendly fight to the death.
Damn good thing these terrorists don't read Al Reuters.
Oh wait a minute.
It's really a Good Thing it wasn't like this in 1944:
"Allied amphibious forces will land on the coast of Europe within as little as 48 hours, according to three US officers who briefed reporters today. Preparations have reached a fever pitch as General Eisenhower's headquarters mulls the latest weather forecast. The landings will be accompanied by a mass parachute drop and will probably be along the coast of Normandy rather than at the Pas de Calais as long rumored."
#1
It is surely disinformation. But what is the plan? Why tell the newspapers this stuff about tomorrow? Why tell them about the neighborhood by neighborhood search? I will be watching to see the real deal in a day or two. It may be more clever than advertised.
BAGHDAD - Half the extremists who commit bomb attacks in Iraq come from Syria, Iraqi government spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh said on Saturday. What we see on the streets of Baghdad, 50 percent of it is coming from Syria. I confirm that 50 percent of murders and bombings are by Arab extremists coming from Syria, Dabbagh said. They come from Syria, we have evidence to prove it. We have already proved it to our brothers in Syria.
We want to tell all Arabs now that those who call themselves mujahedeen come from Syria, and murder our oppressed population this way.
Dabbagh also pressed Syria to hand over suspects wanted for carrying out attacks in Iraq. A number of top former regime officials have reportedly found refuge in Syria and many of them are on Iraqs most wanted list.
The US military has repeatedly accused Damascus of turning a blind eye to foreign fighters slipping across the border to join the insurgency dogging US troops in Iraq.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Are they actually Syrians, or just that they entered Iraq across the Syrian border?
As the fighting between Fatah and Hamas continues in the Gaza Strip, many residents here said Saturday that they were concerned that the international community would turn its back on the Palestinians. never happen. as soon as they find a way to blame Israel, all will be hunky dory
Although the street battles remain restricted to the Gaza Strip, tensions are mounting in the West Bank between supporters of the two parties, particularly in the aftermath of the abduction of several Hamas figures by Fatah gunmen over the past few days.
Many Hamas leaders in the West Bank, where Fatah remains the stronger party, are said to have gone underground for fear of being targeted by members of Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades. I actually read that they took their families and left the area. dying is for other people, not their leaders.
On Friday, the group issued a warning to all Hamas leaders in the West Bank to condemn the fighting in the Gaza Strip or face retaliatory measures.
On Saturday, a number of Hamas figures in the West Bank came under attack by Fatah gunmen. In Kalkilya, the gunmen opened fire at the home of the city's Hamas mayor, Wajih Kawwas. No one was hurt. In Nablus, three Hamas members were kidnapped and the offices of the movement's legislators were set on fire.
Fayez Abu Rawdah, a senior Hamas official in Ramallah, was kidnapped for four hours on Friday night. His Fatah captors released him after handing him a letter addressed to the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. The letter contained a threat to kill all Hamas leaders in the West Bank. "Everyone here is disgusted by what's happening in the Gaza Strip," said Shireen Atiyeh, a 30-year-old mother of three working in one of the Palestinian Authority ministries. "We are telling the world that we don't deserve a state because we are murdering each other and destroying our universities, colleges, mosques and hospitals. Today I'm ashamed to say that I'm a Palestinian." sweetie, that realization should have happened a long time ago.
Ayman Abu Khalaf, a 40-year-old businessman, said he was seriously considering moving with his family to Jordan because of the growing state of anarchy and lawlessness in the PA territories. "The situation is very dangerous and many people are afraid to leave their homes," he said. "I'm very worried about the safety of my children. There are many armed gangs and everyone is afraid. If the situation does not improve, I will take my family and go to Jordan. This is not the Palestine we want to live in." wuzn't worried when Israel "occupied" the areas, wuz he?
Hafez Barghouti, editor of the PA-funded daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, said he was concerned that the fighting would tarnish the image of the Palestinians. "Tens of millions of people now look at us as worthless gangsters with no values," he complained. killing jooooos on the other hand . . .
Addressing both Hamas and Fatah, he added: "Take Gaza and turn it into a state of the Muslim Brotherhood. Take the West Bank and establish a state of your own there with all the Abu's. Your people no longer want a state. We no longer like our killers and executioners." live by the sword, die by the sword. emphasis on "die"
Columnist Mahmoud Habbash also acknowledged that the fighting had caused grave damage to the Palestinians on the international arena. The internal fighting, he said, has distorted the image of the Palestinians in the eyes of the world. I guess the other barbarism is the real face of palestinians?
"The world is watching how the Palestinians are destroying their institutions and achievements with their own hands. They see how we are mercilessly slaughtering innocent people. We are losing the sympathy of the world. I'm afraid the world will now view us differently."
Reflecting the gloomy mood on the Palestinian street, political analyst Ikrimah Thabet said: "There is no reason for optimism. This is a real conflict stemming from two contradictory programs and political and ideological discord. The divisions are so deep that no temporary cease-fire will help. The bloody events have caused enormous damage to the reputation of the Palestinians, especially in light of the filthy and painful violence that has claimed the lives of children, activists, leaders and innocent civilians."
#3
The world is watching how the Palestinians are destroying their institutions and achievements with their own hands.
Achievements? Which ones? What wealth, technology, art or culture has ever been created by the Palestinians? All they have done has been to live for 58 years at western tax payers expense, all while people far more in need and far more deservng (eg Sudanese Blacks) have been denied even a fraction of what the Palestinians have received.
In a statement released on Saturday, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said that the Palestinians expected the Quartet to end the boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian government during its meeting on Friday.
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday that Middle East peace talks should resume despite an outbreak of violence among Palestinian factions. Rice was speaking after a meeting of the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators, in which the U.S., Russia, United Nations and European Union voiced "deep concern" about violence between rival Palestinian factions that has killed 24 Palestinians in the last 24 hours.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
When hell freezes over or Hillary gets elected.
#2
I prefer choice one by around ten-thousand to one.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/04/2007 15:55 Comments ||
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#3
ART BELL + C2CAM Radio SHow > ME Pert guest > HAMAS,etal. Palestinian groups, may had been separately formed, but all engage in the SHARING ORG PERSONNEL AND CONDUCTING JOINT TERROR OR ARMED OPERATIONS AGZ USA-ISRAEL, joint ops being conducted under the auspice of shadow, joint- controlled, mostly decentalized "UMBRELLA ORGS/
INFRASTRUCTURES", e.g. "National Islamic Forces". JOINT OPS are both HORIZONTAL and VERTICAL - A Commander that directly order suicide opers be conducted by one terror org need NOT be a member of that org, nor be paid or supported by same. Art's guest did affirm that HAMAS does receive most of its funding from IRAN smuggled into the GAZA by way of EGYPT and SINAI. GUEST > HAMAS, ETAL "JOINT" GROUPS MAY LIKE TO TALK PEACE + DIPLOMACY BUT IN REALITY INTEND NEITHER. HAMAS > true intent is the destruction of Israel + Radic Islamization of the entire ME. THE PRE-PLANNED GENOCIDE OF JEWS + MODERATES + NONMUSLIMS IS NOT DENIED BY HAMAS, MERELY "NOT SAID/MENTIONED" IN FRONT OF WESTERN MEDIAS.
Sun Tzu said something about never interfering while your enemies are in the process of destroying themselves. Figures Olmert wouldn't listen.
The Israel Defense Forces has accelerated its planning of a possible extended military operation in Gaza. Top military sources said the escalation of internecine violence was liable to extend to anti-Israel violence. They said no operation was slated to take place immediately, but that IDF activity in Gaza - similar to the 2002 Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank - may become necessary.
The IDF and Shin Bet security service are particularly concerned by the possibility that Hamas will resume suicide bombings or other attacks on Israel, possibly due to accusations that Israel is supporting Fatah, which it is not overtly doing. Hamas is also accumulating large quantities of Qassam rockets, whose range, accuracy and strength have improved since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in the summer of 2005. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are thought to have rockets with a range of 15 to 16 kilometers.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
at least it will have the element of surprise....er
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/04/2007 18:55 Comments ||
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#2
Actually, as I have said before, now is the perfect time for the Israeli Special Forces to be using their Arab Infiltration teams to stir the pot. Have Fatah-appearing gunnies blast Hamas, and Hamas-appearing gunnies blast Fatah; using snipers with different caliber weapons to take out leadership cadre in both groups; and make sure to do some black propaganda against each side. Really get them going hard at each other for awhile.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday said that resolving the internal violence between rival Palestinian factions and the release of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit were vital to reviving the Middle East peace process. Mubarak said Egypt was working to "seal the crack" between Hamas and Fatah who have been fighting for control of the Palestinian government since the Islamic militant Hamas ousted its rival from power last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Surveying a newly captured eastern rebel stronghold, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Saturday vowed to tame the Tamil Tiger rebels and liberate civilians, but said the door remained open to resume peace talks. Visiting troops in this parched corner of northeast Sri Lanka - where the ravages of weeks of artillery battles have blended with the destruction wrought by the 2004 tsunami - Rajapakse called on the Tigers to lay down arms, an idea the rebels laugh off.
Apparently emboldened by the capture of this coastal swathe of jungle and lagoon in Sri Lankas far north east, the government has vowed to destroy the rebels military machine, and analysts fear a new episode of a two-decade civil war will escalate. We have to tame the Tigers, Rajapakse told Reuters as he toured the former rebel-controlled town of Vakarai around 225 km northeast of Colombo to meet troops and inspect capture rebel artillery guns and mortar bombs. But there are two ways of liberating (civilians in Tiger areas). We have offered a political solution. We dont want a military solution. This is high time they should come in to the negotiating table without trying to show their fire power and kill people, he added. I will try my best to get them to the table. Its my duty... They have been refusing, but still as a government we are ready to talk with them.
Behind him, ragged tents, wooden carts and abandoned belongings sit in thick dust where thousands of refugees who fled fighting as the area was captured last month left them. Arriving in the area by helicopter, gaping holes stare up from the roofs of homes built by aid organisations for families displaced by the tsunami, which battered this coastal stretch whose golden beaches would be a tourist Mecca if not for the war.
Troops are still clearing away thousands of land mines they say the rebels laid in the area, and the government aims to resettle civilians living in tent city camps further along the coast within weeks. First we must remove the mines, Rajapakse said. Then we have to get equipment in and start a full programme (of development). As soon as that is done, we want to get on and build houses.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Irans top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on Saturday asserted that Tehran allows United Nations officials free reign to inspect the countrys atomic sites, amid claims it is blocking inspectors. According to the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty ... Iran allows the inspectors the freedom to carry out their inspections, Larijani was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency. Any type of cooperation is carried out on this basis, he said, adding, We have said from the start that we accept all international arrangements to become a nuclear state.
He added that Iran supports all peaceful methods to regulate the Iranian nuclear issue but cautioned, The nuclear issue has completely become part of Irans fate and its development and that no one can prevent it.
Diplomats at the UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told AFP Friday that Iran had begun installing 3,000 centrifuges, the machines which enrich uranium, in a huge underground bunker at its main nuclear facility in the central town of Natanz. The diplomats claimed further that the Islamic state had this week stopped visiting UN inspectors from installing surveillance cameras in the bunker where the production lines, or cascades, of centrifuges are being set up.
On Friday, a high-ranking Iranian official denied that new centrifuges are being installed. There is no and there will be no restriction of inspectors access, the official added, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
There is no and there will be no restriction of inspectors access, as long as you go where we tell you, when we tell you, and don't request access to certain sites which have been proclaimed th 46547th most sacred sites in all Islam.
#3
Two of my favorite people, a high ranking Iranian spokesman, and a U.N. IAEA spokesman. Perhaps the newspaper could throw in a quote from North Korea's beloved leader or Hillary. A high ranking Iranian insisting on anonymity, how about us insisting on at least one line of truth from him?
Possible, I suppose, but who could trust the State Department to tell the truth. Let Iran think it was Mossad - they're paranoid about them anyway. In fact, maybe State should let slip that it was a Mossad mole that did it (as long as it actually wasn't.)
A PRIZE-WINNING Iranian nuclear scientist has died in mysterious circumstances, according to Radio Farda, which is funded by the US State Department and broadcasts to Iran. An intelligence source suggested that Ardeshire Hassanpour, 44, a nuclear physicist, had been assassinated by Mossad, the Israeli security service.
Hassanpour worked at a plant in Isfahan where uranium hexafluoride gas is produced. The gas is needed to enrich uranium in another plant at Natanz which has become the focus of concerns that Iran may be developing nuclear weapons. According to Radio Farda, Iranian reports of Hassanpours death emerged on January 21 after a delay of six days, giving the cause as gas poisoning. Uranium hexafluoride work accident would also qualify as 'gas poisoning'.
The Iranian reports did not say how or where Hassanpour was poisoned but his death was said to have been announced at a conference on nuclear safety.
Rheva Bhalla of Stratfor, the US intelligence company, claimed on Friday that Hassanpour had been targeted by Mossad and that there was very strong intelligence to suggest that he had been assassinated by the Israelis, who have repeatedly threatened to prevent Iran acquiring the bomb. Hassanpour won Irans leading military research prize in 2004 and was awarded top prize at the Kharazmi international science festival in Iran last year.
#1
accident? assasination? Who cares. I do like the idea of rumoring Mossad. I'd even drop a name, or names in the rumor mill. Let the Iranians eat their own.
#2
I still think the ideal thing for the Israelis to do would be to smuggle quart-to-gallon sized vaporizers into the Iranian facilities, hidden in other containers.
With extra quiet fans, they start to slowly blow odorless, tasteless, extraordinarily toxic chemicals into the air. Industrial chemicals that even at a few ppm concentration will destroy a human liver in a couple of weeks.
Literally killing every scientist and technician in the place, along with any visitors, and leaving the facility so contaminated that it would be useless to try and recover anything from it, or ever use it again.
What the Iranians would see would first be a dozen people coming down with a jaundice. Twelve hours later maybe 100 more, and within three days, as many people as were there. Death would follow within 48 to 72 hours after the onset of symptoms.
Liver transplant wouldn't help, as they would probably have enough residual in their blood to destroy the new organ.
This would not only screw up their entire nuclear program, but would decapitate several generations of irreplaceable nuclear scientists, nuclear technicians, and even some of the people they came into physical contact with, if their clothing and skin were contaminated.
#6
If this is true and it seriously sets back Iran's nuclear threat then the Israelis deserve all the credit in the world.
It's a pity we here in America didn't manage to pull off something like this in Iraq instead of using the sledgehammer approach of massive bombing followed by an invasion, occupation and nation-building exercise.
Sun Tzu was right when he said that subtle means involving spies and clever preparation to disarm the enemy were far more valuable than the application of brute force.
#7
Sun Tzu was right when he said that subtle means involving spies and clever preparation to disarm the enemy were far more valuable than the application of brute force ...
... and ignorance. Lots of ignorance. If you're going to use brute force, you need to go at it wholeheartedly, not piecemeal.
#8
Shipman: If you dislike my ideas, say so. But sneering cheap shots just demonstrate that that is all you are good for. You've been making a habit of it for long enough. So in future, if it annoys you, argue against it, or just STFU.
#9
What's the compound you would spray 'Moosey? How much? How the fuck would you get it there? InvisiRays? Numbers buddy, show me the numbers. Show me the the TOA. You ain't got shit.
"The United States government has identified 20 industrial chemicals that can cause acute liver injury or death, and more than 150 others that may lead to toxic hepatitis following longer exposure."
As far as how Israel might smuggle a 1 qt to 1 gallon sized container among the tons of supplies and equipment shipped in and out of those installations on a daily basis, even you might be able to figure out how that could be done.
As far as the container with a timer and a fan, whoop-dee-doo.
Is this really that challenging to your intellect?
#11
Although that might be a means to an ends, Moose, the reality is that all chemical compounds that affect the liver take quite a bit of time to be effective. Heavy metals are one. You cannot realese compounds in effective quantities without setting off the alarms inherant in this type of activity, and believe me, there are alarms integrated with the safety proceedures of tis type of activity. I personnaly know people who worked at Oak Ridge who died of cirrosis of the liver from exposure to gallium and beryllium. It took 30 years. The detectors nowdays are much more efficient and don't think for an instant that the Irianians don't know the dangers. Fissible materials have to be mixed with these heavy metals to insure they don't go BOOM before they are supposed to. There is no way anyone could plant anything that would not be detected.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/04/2007 17:45 Comments ||
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#12
That's what happens when the uranium hexafluoride and nitrous oxide labels get switched.
Posted by: ed ||
02/04/2007 17:54 Comments ||
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#13
I agree that the weapon has to fit the target. In this case, perhaps some biological toxin would be better, like one of the trichothecene mycotoxins.
If those are unsuitable, then even the use of biological weapons is not out of the question.
If the Iranians want to make and use WMDs, then they should become familiar with them.
#14
Ricin blended with DSO and sprayed from an atomizer setup would work very well. Just need to put it in a location that is humid/damp so as to mask the poison's distribution for as long as possible. Doesn't take much Ricin to kill, it is almost undetectable, and it looks like a coronary. Just ask MI5/MI6 about how little it takes -- Bulgarian wetworks team used it against a defector in London.
#16
The United States government has identified 20 industrial chemicals that can cause acute liver injury or death, and more than 150 others that may lead to toxic hepatitis following longer exposure."
Fuck we could drown 'em too 'Moosey. Maybe we'll use the infrared beams on the icecaps. No fingerprints then. Or if we think really, really, hard we can bring down the rods' of gawd. Fabulous futurists, magic thinking man. 'MooseDust all around. All will be okay if we wish hard. Hell, maybe we could put the secret poison in a Fizzies pill. That way we could ship it to the unspuspecting Persians and safe the cost of the fans.
#17
nice story Moose, but before you get all righteous on Ship, I'd advise a cup of STFU. questioning isn't wrong, sarcasm is a right, it's called RANTBURG you silly f*ck
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/04/2007 19:05 Comments ||
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#18
Alright, then I'll call Shipman an uncreative dimwit, who tends to freak out over small things. I don't mind having my ideas criticized, even sarcastically, but when it descends to the level of "nyah nyah", that's better suited for DU. If he just can't imagine how it could be done, then he has little imagination.
Deacon Blues was right on in spotting a major flaw in my argument, which would apply if some toxic chemicals were being used. But that is arguing tactics. Theoretically, some means, similar to, if not identical to what I proposed, is realistic.
The big idea is the philosophy of going around the problem of taking out deep, reinforced bunkers by using unconventional means.
In the last few weeks somebody even proposed using a dozen tunneling missiles to create a frigging mini-earthquake, for heavens' sake. Now *that* is something that should be criticized for being a pie-in-the-sky idea.
There is a good possibility that Israel has an ass-load of agents in Iran, and they have been there a long time. If they could sneak something into a bunch of those bunkers that would mess up the program, that is a very damn good idea.
It's not like spies haven't infiltrated high security installations before. And this just involves sneaking in a relatively small package.
Heck, if nothing else, they put some radioactive isotope in a major air conduit, it would probably activate every alarm in the place and would take a lot of down time to find and clean.
This is not rocket science, and it's a double damn shame that Shipman feels threatened by speculation.
So much for my RANT, Frank, which seems most appropriate for RANTburg.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/04/2007 19:47 Comments ||
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#21
btw - IMHO - ship was substituting snark for debate. I agree that it would be nice, but the insertion into the air system would imply long term employment/security clearance, with all the hardships/complications for the Mossad that would imply. If they had the chance to hamstring the Iranian tech staff, I doubt they'd rely on a longterm scheme, more like - shot to the back of the head, aka the Gerald Bull treatment
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/04/2007 20:42 Comments ||
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#22
I still think the ideal thing for the Israelis to do would be to smuggle quart-to-gallon sized vaporizers into the Iranian facilities, hidden in other containers.
wow you still think that! man that's some stick to it thinking that.
If you have the means to install gallon size vaporizers within high security buildings in Iran undetected, then yes you would would have a remarkable capability.
But in lieu of that little important detail... like your latest kool-aid-krak idea that skips right over it, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
[*lightbulb*]
How 'bout if our State Dept. only told the Iranians we were gonna let them all die of old age?
But hey wouldn't that mind fuck em. They'd be so confused and psyched out at the same time, that they'd die of CLUELESSNESS!
[/*lightbulb*]
What is it with you and Liver anyway? Have a Liver Fetish? How do you like yours Moose? I like mine with sauteed ceramic bowling balls myself. [from space]
#24
The deep tunnels and galleries inherent to U235 concentration process in Iran is a big liability in itself. You have to have access and you have to have power. that means that you have to hit the installations in the cooling systems for the engines or boilers, turbines, whatever. They have to run on a thermal cycle. They need transmission lines, which may be underground.
If infiltration could be done to screw up the processes, then that would be great. I would think that the level of infiltration would have to be really great, and I wonder if the Israelis have that capability.
So it seems to me that we are faced with air raids on the infrastructure needed to support the centrifuges, etc. And that means military force.
And ultimately that comes back to decapitating the leadership. I think that sanctions, and all that stuff will be too slow. Especially little Israel cannot afford ONE miscalculation. If Iran gets a nuke, in house or from Kimmie, the game is over for Israel.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/04/2007 23:27 Comments ||
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Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah has said it is no secret that Iran is aiding Hezbollah by sending money and weapons via Syria. In remarks published in an interview in the weekend issue of the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai Al-Aam, Nasrallah also is willing to receive aid not only from Iran but also from Muslim countries that have diplomatic ties with Israel, such as Egypt, and states that are considered moderate, such as Saudi Arabia.
The interviewer, Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, said he met Nasrallah several days ago in Lebanon. Ibrahim, a vocal critic of the Egyptian regime, is the chair of Cairo's Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies. Nasrallah told Ibrahim that his organization kidnapped Israeli soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser in order to effect the release of Lebanese prisoners being held in Israel, but admitted that he had made mistakes. "Perhaps we erred, only God does not make mistakes, and we have apologized to the Lebanese people for this and have paid a heavy price in blood. We do not hesitate to sacrifice our children in the name of our righteous struggle," Nasrallah said.
According to Ibrahim, Nasrallah denied any ambition to be a pan-Arab or pan-Islamic leader, or even to lead Lebanon. "My agenda is based on one principle, ridding the oppression and injustice from which the Shi'ite sect in Lebanon suffers and turning the Shi'ites into genuine partners in leading and creating the state, and removing the Israeli threat," Nasrallah said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Well damn, I just can't believe it. You mean all this shit is linked. Why I'm astounded! Next thing you know, we will find out that Iran has a nuclear weapons program rather than just for peaceful energy purposes. Andf someone will find weapons of mass destruction from Iraq.
#3
Dr. Saad is a slow learner - plans that start with kidnapping two soldiers is a really bad idea. Plans that start with pushing around an army that wants to kill you and your thuggy friends is a worse bad idea. Taking lots of money from the mullah boys of Iran is stupid - they are not giving you money, they are buying your lives, which will be sacrificed on the altar of ISF tanks and bombs.
The head of Lebanon's Free Shiite movement Mohammad el Haj Hassan has declared that the Shiite file will no longer be the property of the exclusive agents of Iran & Syria, meaning Hezbollah and Amal movements. He insisted that the original exclusive representation shall revert back to the community of the Shiites of Lebanon.
Sheikh Hassan was talking after meeting with MP Walid Jumblatt at his palace in Mukhtara, Chouf region of Mount Lebanon. During the meeting he updated Jumblatt on the current situation with Lebanon's Shiites . He insisted that the Shiites of Lebanon are Arabs who strongly support the current government of Lebanon and believe in Lebanon's Independence , sovereignty and freedom.
Sheikh Hassan also insisted that Lebanon will not be a Persian satellite and warned of Iran's conspiracies against the Arabs. He also attacked the Syrian regime and accused it of being behind the destabilization of Lebanon.
He also defended MP Walid Jumblatt and said " We refuse all the accusations and attacks against him. He is a national leader and a man of high integrity . All the accusations of treason against of him are false and will only serve as encouragement to his enemies to murder him".
Sheikh Hassan insisted that the Free Shiites are the majority in Lebanon and not Hezbollah or Amal movement. He called on the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Amal leader Nabih Berri to urge their Shiite supporters and allies to remove the tents urgently from downtown Beirut saying "this should be done today and not tomorrow", since "these tents have only served to destabilize the country and divide the Lebanese people".
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Lebanon's parliament majority leader MP Saad Hariri on Saturday attacked Speaker Nabih Berri for declining to call for an extraordinary parliamentary session to endorse a Special International Tribunal. The purpose of the tribunal is to try the suspects in the assassination of his father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri, and related crimes. "When is the parliament speaker going to let go of the legislature so the tribunal draft can be ratified?" Hariri said in an interview with the daily Al Hayat published Saturday. "Does that match his concern in finding the killers of (Rafik) Hariri?" the outspoken MP asked Berri.
Hariri questioned how Berri can declare his father a "martyr of Lebanon" without seeking to ratify the tribunal plan "with the excuse of waiting until after the completion of the investigation before discussing the court's formation."
"The question is beyond Berri's feeling towards his friend and longtime associate in liberating, rebuilding and developing the south," Hariri went on. He said Berri, who is a lawyer, is aware of the procedures for setting up an international tribunal -- from choosing a location to appointing its members -- "and all that take much more time than the probe itself."
"It has become clear that the regional party which does not support Saudi-Iranian attempts in finding an end the Lebanon crisis, is the same party which is against the establishment of the tribunal, and is the same party which the March 8 Forces are honored to be allied with," Hariri said in an indirect reference to Syria, which was accused of being behind the murder of Hariri and the other crimes that followed.
On the issue of the commemoration of his slain father, Hariri said the March 14 Forces as well his family are planning to hold a memorial service Feb. 14 at Martyr's Square, where Hariri's graveyard is.
Meanwhile, General Michel Aoun said he was surprised by the March 14 coalition's insistence on "changing Lebanese criminal laws in the tribunal plan," saying he had no problem personally with the international court. "We have supported the international probe committee and we have supported the international tribunal to try the criminals and we still do," Aoun declared.
"I have no doubts myself in anything. Therefore, I'm not terrified, and the question is what do they (rival camp) want?" Aoun said in a separate interview with Al Hayat also published Saturday. "Why do we want to introduce amendments to the Lebanese laws? Why do we want a law for trying presidents?" Aoun questioned.
He said that under the Lebanese law a doer, a culprit, a conspirator, a provoker, and an accomplice are all tried. If the president is found guilty of any of the above mentioned crimes he will be punished, Aoun added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
That man spends a little too much time in front of his mirror.
Fearing a slide into civil war, Lebanon's top Sunni Muslim clerics published a religious edict on Friday prohibiting Muslims from killing their fellow countrymen, particularly other Muslims.
Last week, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group that has led a two-month campaign of protests against the government, issued a similar fatwa, or religious ruling, following one of the nation's worst violent sectarian clashes in years. "It is religiously prohibited to engage in fighting with fellow Lebanese in general and Muslims in particular and to attack private and public property," said a statement by the Council of Lebanese Scholars, a Sunni body, that was published in Lebanese newspapers Friday.
The council also called on the opposition to end its sit-in in downtown Beirut and "return to the constitutional institutions to assume political duties."
The Hezbollah-led opposition has staged two months of demonstrations and sit-ins in a bid to topple the U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Siniora has refused the opposition's demands for a veto-wielding share of the Cabinet. At least three people were killed and dozens were injured in a street battle last week between Sunnis and Shiites that began as a scuffle in the cafeteria of a Beirut university. Following the confrontation, the military declared Beirut's first curfew since 1996. Maronite Christian clerics have also called for a "truce among the nation's sons."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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"Joooos are free bait"
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/04/2007 19:33 Comments ||
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#2
It'll look better if you turn that lampshade over, you've got it on upside down.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/04/2007 21:05 Comments ||
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(AKI) - Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Friday that the United Nations should be reformed and the Security Council shoould include a Muslim state among its permanent members, the country's official news agency IRNA reported.
Right. Reforming the UN - good idea. Putting a Muslim state on the Security Council - bad idea.
Leaving the UN - better idea.
"The current structure of the UN (Security Council) in which certain states have veto power is unfair, it should be reformed," Mottaki was quoted as saying in a lecture ahead of Friday prayers in Tehran. On 23 December, the Council unanimously voted to impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, which the world body fears is aimed at building nuclear weapons.
You don't think that might have something to do with their calls for reform, do you?
Iran has repeatedly ignored UN calls to halt sensitive nuclear work, claiming its programme is solely for civilian use.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Hey! For once something we can agree on! I say we haul a big tarp over the entire building and fumigate for cockroaches with all diplomats and staff left inside.
Former U.N. ambassador says diplomacy won't deter desire for nuclear weapons
Diplomacy is not likely to stop Iran from pursuing development of nuclear weapons, John Bolton, the former U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, said Friday in Syracuse. Political and economic isolation, and ultimately a new regime, likely would make a difference, Bolton said.
"When the Security Council speaks, people need to listen," Bolton said during his nearly 90-minute public appearance at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. And if countries opt to disregard the United Nations, then the United States will step up, he said. "Our obligation is to say, 'Can we fix it, or are there alternatives elsewhere?' " he said.
About 300 people attended Bolton's talk, which focused on United Nations reform and United States priorities. Bolton, who resigned from his U.N. post in December, had planned to speak at Maxwell in the fall but canceled that engagement because of Security Council negotiations about Iran.
Bolton touched on other issues, such as the challenges of restructuring the permanent membership of the Security Council, which currently has five members, including the United States. It comes down to a question of which countries to add to the permanent membership and how many, Bolton said. The current council composition dates to 1945 and reflects the geopolitical atmosphere at that time, not the present state of the world, he said.
Bolton criticized the U.N.'s Peace Building Commission, saying it hadn't made a decision in the last 10 years, and its Human Rights Council, saying that the attempt to restructure the former Human Rights Commission resulted in a nearly identical group.
Cynthia Banas, of Vernon, said she agreed with Bolton that the U.N. has faults. But the United States should not act on its own when making decisions. She mentioned the call for weapons inspections during the weeks before the U.S. military action in Iraq. "The United States needs to listen to the other countries that make up that organization," Banas said, referring to the United Nations.
"To say we don't listen is not the case," Bolton responded. He said the United States invaded Iraq because Iraq was not listening to the United Nations. "Somebody has to do something about it," Bolton said. "Why is that the United States? Who else is there?"
#1
Mr. Bolton was never well suited for a diplomatic role - he always made too much sense, was too willing to utter the truth, and his testicles were obviously way too large.
#3
I would like to know what Bolton really said. The headline "listen to sanctions" does not agree with "ultimately a new regime". It's gonna come down to Iranian or our destruction. By waiting too long, both.
Posted by: ed ||
02/04/2007 16:09 Comments ||
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#4
He meant exactly what he said. They will listen to them. Now if you wrapped them around a baseball bat and smacked them upside their head, they might actually do something about it.
here is the portion of the NYT article highlighted by Jihadwatch
Q. Have you seen any ideology coming from within Islam that gives young Muslims a sense of purpose without the overlay of militancy?
A. They have no alternative message. There is no active missionary work among the youth telling them, do not become jihadis. They do not use media means as much as the jihadis. They simply theyre reactive and they dont seem to be able to compete with the jihadis. And every time there is a debate between a real jihadi and, say, what we have decided to call moderate Muslims, the jihadis win. Because they come with the Koran and quotes from the Koran. The come with quotes from the Hadith and the Sunnah, and the traditions of the prophet. And every assertion they make, whether it is that women should be veiled, or Jews should be killed, or Americans are our enemies, or any of that, they win. Because what they have to say is so consistent with what is written in the Koran and the Hadith. And what the moderates fail to do is to say, listen, thats all in there, but that wasnt meant for this context. And we have moved on. We can change the Koran, we can change the Hadith. Thats whats missing.
--------------------
and here is my favorite part of the WaPo story
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She also describes how horrified she felt as an adult after Sept. 11, 2001, reaching for the Koran to find out whether some of Osama bin Laden's more blood-curdling statements -- "when you meet the unbelievers, strike them in the neck" -- were direct quotations. "I hated to do it," she wrote, "because I knew that I would find bin Laden's quotations in there." And there were consequences: "The little shutter at the back of my mind, where I pushed all my dissonant thoughts, snapped open after the 9/11 attacks, and it refused to close again. I found myself thinking that the Quran is not a holy document. It is a historical record, written by humans. . . . And it is a very tribal and Arab version of events. It spreads a culture that is brutal, bigoted, fixated on controlling women, and harsh in war."
That moment led Hirsi Ali to her most profound conclusion: that the mistreatment of women is not an incidental problem in the Muslim world, a side issue that can be dealt with once the more important political problems are out of the way. Rather, she believes that the enslavement of women lies at the heart of all of the most fanatical interpretations of Islam, creating "a culture that generates more backwardness with every generation."
#1
I caught this statement on CNN's in-between Superbowl commercials, or words to its effect > " MUSLIMS > "TO BE BENEVOLENT IS NOT TO KILL THE JEW, THE PAGAN, ETC. INFIDEL, BUT TO OBEY GOD IS TO HATE, AND BY HATRED TO KILL"??? Muslims are taught from childhood to obey God = Islam as Word of God but to do so is to hate non-Muslims. * Anybody else catch the exact statement!?
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.
ONE of Britains most notorious Islamist preachers has warned that any Muslim joining the army should expect to be beheaded. 
Deputies from France's ruling centre-right UMP party have called on President Jacques Chirac to persuade his European colleagues to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The U.S. government considers Hezbollah, a Shi'ite Muslim group whose guerrillas fought a 34-day war with Israel last July and August, a terrorist organization. But Hezbollah does not appear on the European Union's list of terrorist groups.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - First Lieutenant Ehren Watada, the first US army officer to publicly refuse orders to go to Iraq, will go on trial in a court martial Monday at Fort Lewis, Washington, according to his supporters. Watada is being tried for his refusal in June 2006 to be deployed to Iraq on the grounds that he opposed the decision of President George W. Bush to launch the war.
At a speech Friday to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) said "no option can be taken off the table" when dealing with Iran, RAW STORY has learned.
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) -- Abdul Helil Mamut's good behavior earned him a spot in a medium-security compound at the Guantanamo Bay prison, where he slept in a barracks, shared leisurely meals with other prisoners and could spend more than half the day in an outdoor recreation area.
BAGHDAD - Half the extremists who commit bomb attacks in Iraq come from Syria, Iraqi government spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh said on Saturday. What we see on the streets of Baghdad, 50 percent of it is coming from Syria. I confirm that 50 percent of murders and bombings are by Arab extremists coming from Syria, Dabbagh said. They come from Syria, we have evidence to prove it. We have already proved it to our brothers in Syria.
In a statement released on Saturday, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said that the Palestinians expected the Quartet to end the boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian government during its meeting on Friday. 
Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah has said it is no secret that Iran is aiding Hezbollah by sending money and weapons via Syria. In remarks published in an interview in the weekend issue of the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai Al-Aam, Nasrallah also is willing to receive aid not only from Iran but also from Muslim countries that have diplomatic ties with Israel, such as Egypt, and states that are considered moderate, such as Saudi Arabia.
Lebanon's parliament majority leader MP Saad Hariri on Saturday attacked Speaker Nabih Berri for declining to call for an extraordinary parliamentary session to endorse a Special International Tribunal. The purpose of the tribunal is to try the suspects in the assassination of his father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri, and related crimes. "When is the parliament speaker going to let go of the legislature so the tribunal draft can be ratified?" Hariri said in an interview with the daily Al Hayat published Saturday. "Does that match his concern in finding the killers of (Rafik) Hariri?" the outspoken MP asked Berri. 
Fearing a slide into civil war, Lebanon's top Sunni Muslim clerics published a religious edict on Friday prohibiting Muslims from killing their fellow countrymen, particularly other Muslims. 
