Asserting a right to self-defense, American forces in eastern Afghanistan have launched artillery rounds into Pakistan to strike Taliban fighters who attack remote U.S. outposts, the commander of U.S. forces in the region said Sunday.
The skirmishes are politically sensitive because Pakistan's government, regarded by the Bush administration as an important ally against Islamic extremists, has denied that it allows U.S. forces to strike inside its territory. The use of the largely ungoverned Waziristan area of Pakistan as a haven for Taliban and al-Qaida fighters has become a greater irritant between Washington and Islamabad since Pakistan put in place a peace agreement there in September that was intended to stop cross-border incursions.
Army Col. John W. Nicholson, commander of the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, said in an Associated Press interview that rather than halt such incursions, the peace deal has led to a substantial increase. Pakistani border forces, which had been active in stopping Taliban incursions into Afghanistan as recently as last spring, stopped offensive actions against them once the peace deal took effect, he said. "That did relax some of the pressure on the enemy," Nicholson said.
#6
It is SOP for Pakistani border troops to fire across borders to facilitate infiltration or exfiltration of terrorists..
Posted by: john ||
02/11/2007 13:37 Comments ||
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#7
What is Pigistan getting from the US? A billion? What is the US getting? Terror.
As long as the UN subsidy for Afghan jihad bases in Pigistan continues, there can be no peace in Afghanistan. Those phony refugee camps should have been vacated long ago.
#8
When Moslems talk about "peace" here is what they mean:
- it's the House of Peace (aka "religion of peace"): we're at peace with fellow Moslems, and forever at war with infidels (aka "peacefully convert or die!")
- we propose a cease-fire as a preliminary step for peace: we want a hudna, just like Mo', because we need to regroup and time+money to prepare our next attack (see "house of peace" above --we can't live in peace unless we're at war with non-Moslems, Mo' said so)
- peace agreement: we agree your area is Moslem, hence part of the House of Peace, so you're at war against infidels. We'll help you out
Is there any other Moslem meaning of peace that I've missed?
#9
What is Pigistan getting from the US? A billion? What is the US getting? Terror
Actually, I think it's more like a protection racket. The threat is what hasn't happened but could if we stopped our "benevolence." A lesser version of Egypt's scam.
Peace means that Islamic jihadi's have the right to kill with impunity any non-Islamic person, but if the infidels dare to defend themselves they have insulted all Islam and therefore must all die.
Peace means that anything an infidel does can be taken as an affront to all Islam and all infidels must therefore all die.
Peace means that anywhere in the entire world can be claimed as the X Most Holy Site In All Islam and therefore the infidels have no right to the land and must all die.
Peace means that the entire world must be converted to Islam by force and all infidels must die.
#13
If Pakistan doesn't exert real control over the "ungoverned" Wazoo, then it can't be described as Pakistani territory, or anyone's, besides the terrorists'.
The current situation is preferable to a Pakistan governed by OBL, Mullah Omar, and their Merry Men, with the US trying to infiltrate forces to exfiltrate nukes. The vast majority of Paks would prefer to be ruled by the Taliban. All they really want is more Islam.
#15
If its WWI stuff, then we have been there and done that. Let us do it better this time, and leave dead Taliban on the wire, on the trail back home, and at their base in P-land.
KABUL - Four Afghan police and 11 suspected Taleban were killed in separate clashes in southern Afghanistan, officials said on Saturday.
Eleven Taleban were killed in fighting with Afghan security and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the Kajaki district of southern Helmand province late Friday, provincial police chief Gholum Nabi Mullahkhail told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. There has been a joint Afghan and British operation for the past several weeks to clear the area around a hydropower dam which is under construction iegion.
The British are based in the province under the banner of the ISAF forces. Ten suspected Taleban were killed in same area on Thursday in clashes with Afghan and NATO forces.
Taleban militants in neighbouring Kandahar province ambushed a police vehicle late Friday, killing four policemen and seriously wounding three others, provincial police chief Esmatullah Alizai told dpa. Alizai said that the police forces had been patrolling in the volatile district of Panjwayi when the ambush took place.
The wounded policemen were evacuated to the provincial hospital for treatment, he said, but could not confirm if there were any casualties on Taleban side.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2007 00:00 ||
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Mogadishu 10, Feb.07 ( Sh.M.Network) -At least seven persons were killed and dozens were wounded in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday after mortars and rockets rained down on the capital as unknown gunmen fired more than 10 mortars at different locations in the capital. Witnesses said four persons, including a young girl, were killed in Dayniile district, southwest of Mogadishu.
The young girl was killed in an Orphanage center in Daynile after a mortar hit the center. Witnesses said explosion shrapnel cut the girls throat, while one woman was wounded in the explosion. Witnesses said a two-year-old child was killed by a mortar that exploded in a neighborhood near the airport.
Mohammed Ahmed Siad, the director of Mogadishu airport, has told Shabelle that three mortars exploded inside the airport. He said there were no casualties. The operation of the airport is continuing smoothly. The explosions have not obstructed the airport operations and they have not damaged anything, he said.
Witnesses, who asked not be named in fear for their security, told Shabelle reporter Raage that Ethiopian troops based near Ex-Control, south of the capital, responded the attacks by firing several rockets at Daynile district after unknown gunmen launched propelled grenades towards the Ethiopian military positions.
Mortars also hit Kaah hotel in north Mogadishu where government officials, clan chiefs and traditional elders were having a workshop intended to clear the way for a national reconciliation conference. Two people were killed in the area. A vender sitting before her small near the hotel has instantly died after explosion, while a policeman guarding the hotel shot dead a man onboard a pickup truck.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2007 00:00 ||
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Yemeni authority has refuted rumors that Yemen has extended an asylum to Somalia's ousted leader of Islamic Courts executive council, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, who is in Sana now, the capital of Yemen. The authority affirmed that Sheik Ahmed had reached Yemen and would be in the country as a guest of honor for Yemen. "He is not here in Yemen as a political asylum seeker," the authority said.
According to 26-September newspaper based in Yemen, the government has declared that other senior Islamists were in Yemen before him, blaming the international media for exaggerating the issue without quoting from the Yemeni officials. Earlier Yemeni foreign minister, Abu Bakr al-Kerbi has revealed that his country offered a political asylum to Somalia's second top Islamic Courts leader, Sheik Ahmed. The news comes as the Yemeni was trying to organize a meeting between Sheik Ahmed and Ethiopian president, Girma Wolde-Giorgis.
This article starring:
SHEIK SHARIF SHEIK AHMED
Islamic Courts
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm thinking the wrong side won the Yemen civil war. It would have been better if the commies won.
#2
I think at the time the less bad group won. Just like WWII, the awful defeated the truly evil. Sure, it would have been nice if two sides had destroyed each other.
#3
Just like the Iran-Iraq War, the best outcome for the West is a stalemate, where both sides stay so busy killing each other that they neglect the rest of us. Sort of like Gaza today, and - the way things are going - Iraq tomorrow. Sucks to be them.
Melbourne, Feb 10: While a debate is raging down over long trial delays for the Australias sole Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks, Indian government is also interested to talk to him for his alleged involvement in activities in Kashmir. David Hicks, an Australian citizen, had allegedly fired hundreds of bullets on the Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir in year 2000.
Indian government is believed to have started an investigation about the Australians involvement in anti-Indian activities as a member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. The chances of Indian government extraditing David Hicks from Australia in the near future are though somewhat bleak as David Hicks faces 20 years imprisonment in the US if terrorism charges labelled by the Americans are upheld.
Hicks was arrested in Afghanistan in late 2001 and is among around 395 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban fighters being held in Guantanamo. He faces charges of providing support for terrorism and attempted murder in violation of the law of war. While the British and number of other US allies have taken their nationals home, David Hicks is still waiting for the illusive trial to decide his fate.
David Hicks father Terry Hicks has been fighting a lone mans fight to bring his son home ever since the former kangaroo skinner was found among the Taliban fighters in Afghanistan in 2001 by the US forces.
David Hicks, father of two from Adelaide, was used to write to his family in Australia from Pakistan. In an oft-quoted letter he is believed to have written on August 10, 2000.
I got to fire hundreds of bullets. Most Muslim countries impose hanging for civilians arming themselves for conflict. There are not many countries in the world where a tourist, according to his visa, can go to stay with the army and shoot across the border at its enemy, legally. David Hicks had also claimed to be a guest of Pakistans army for two weeks at the front in the controlled war with India in the same letter.
According to News Limited newspapers, the US prosecution file states that David Hicks converted to Islam and joined the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan in 2000. He is believed to have gone to the disputed Indo-Pak border in Kashmir and allegedly fired on the Indian soldiers. This information was sent to New Delhi this week by the Indian Deputy High Commissioner to Australia, Vinod Kumar, News Limited newspapers have reported.
If Mr Hicks was involved with them at any level, and if he was indeed firing weapons at our troops, then, most certainly, we would like to talk to him about it ... We dont take kindly to attacks on our soldiers even attacks by people like Mr Hicks, an Indian official has told Australian reporters from New Delhi.
This article starring:
DAVID HICKS
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Posted by: john ||
02/11/2007 09:56 ||
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#1
I'm missing a '<' in a strong tag above
Posted by: john ||
02/11/2007 10:00 Comments ||
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#2
Fixed.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2007 10:07 Comments ||
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#3
India wants a piece of David Hicks
they can have the head
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/11/2007 10:21 Comments ||
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#9
I think Davey-boy's pop needs to have his ankles broken, too, just on general principles. I think the old man's as big a nutcase as his baby boy. Let Terry Hicks serve his son's sentence in an Indian jail.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/11/2007 13:37 Comments ||
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#10
So how come India is just now getting around to this? Is there something in the works that might allow this POS to skedaddle back to the hole he came from?
The Government has increased its criticism of the USs handling of the Hickss case as it acknowledges growing disquiet in the community over the treatment of the Muslim convert, who has been detained at Guantanamo Bay for five years.
Mr Howard last week threatened to raise the issue with the US on an almost daily basis.
Personally, I have little sympathy for Hicks. People who enter a country as tourists & freely take part in military activity reap what they sow.
AMSTERDAM The police arrested two men earlier this week for violation of the law on weapons and ammunition. A 40-year-old man from the town of Termunten in Groningen put an anti-tank weapon for sale for 80 euro on the site Marktplaats.nl. After a tip-off by workers at the site the police found the Panzerfaust weapon and a large quantity of ammunition. Illegal arms were also found at the house of the man buying the anti-tank weapon.
#6
If they're going to use it in Zimbob, Release them immediately, return their goodies, and buy them airline tickets.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/11/2007 9:02 Comments ||
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#7
Cool pic, DMFD. Looks like an industrial strength Super Soaker. And from the text, the new Panserfaust, like the Super Soaker, can be used indoors! Of course, in either case, Mom will be pissed.
A French prosecutor requested on Friday a 10-year jail sentence for French Muslim convert Willie Brigitte from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, for allegedly conspiring with Pakistani extremists to plot terrorist attacks in Australia. Lawyers for 38-year-old Brigitte called for his acquittal, saying the prosecution's case was riddled with inaccuracies and would not have stood up in an Australian court.
Deported from Australia in 2003 following a tip-off from the French authorities, Brigitte is charged with "criminal conspiracy in relation with a terrorist enterprise", which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. The verdict is due on March 15. "Willie Brigitte played an important role in a cell that was preparing an attack in Australia," said state prosecutor Vanessa Perree. "There is no reason that someone implicated in this type of project should be allowed to take part in French society -- although I doubt he wants to."
Perree ruled out any possibility of parole for the first seven years but Brigitte's three years spent in French custody would be taken into account, meaning he could be released from 2010. Brigitte protested his innocence on Monday, saying terrorism went against the teachings of Islam, but refused to speak for the rest of the three-day trial, saying he "has lost all hope of being understood"
He converted to Islam in 1998 and is alleged to have drifted quickly into radicalism, running paramilitary training camps in France to toughen up Islamist fighters, and undergoing weapons training in Pakistan. In May 2003 he is accused of travelling to Australia on the orders of Pakistani extremist group Lashkar e-Taiba to carry out an attack, whose planned targets are thought to have included a Sydney nuclear plant, the city's power grid or military installations around the country.
The court heard evidence of a web of connections linking Brigitte to Lashkar e-Taiba operatives in Australia, Britain and the United States. Key to the prosecution's case is a flurry of phone calls between Brigitte and top Lashkar e-Taiba operatives in Britain and Pakistan in the days before he left for Australia, and British intelligence findings indicating the group paid for his trip. Once in Australia, Brigitte is accused of joining a cell led by a Pakistani-born radical, Faheem Khalid Lodhi, who was jailed for 20 years in 2006 over the alleged terror plot. "It was Willie Brigitte's arrival that activated the cell," the prosecutor said.
According to French intelligence, Lodhi started purchasing ingredients for explosives and gathering maps and images of sensitive military sites only after Brigitte's arrival. But Brigitte's lawyer Jean-Claude Durimel said the prosecution had twisted the chronology of events, pointing out that one batch of explosives had been bought after Brigitte's arrest in Australia. He also rejected the material elements against Brigitte -- a leaflet with images of nuclear installations, and scribbled notes on how to stay concealed in public places -- as weak, saying the same evidence had been dismissed in the Australian trial of his alleged accomplice, Lodhi. "If Willie Brigitte is supposed to have prepared a terrorist attack in Australia, why didn't the Australians keep him in their country to try him? An attack requires a target -- we have been given a hypothetical list including everything from the Sydney Opera house to military bases or the 2003 Rugby World Cup. After three and half years in detention, Willie Brigitte still doesn't know the target of the attack he is accused of plotting," Durimel charged.
The defence also argued that Brigitte's initial statement to French police -- saying he knew Lodhi was planning an attack but denying further involvement -- should be discounted by the judges. Brigitte later retracted his statements, saying they had been obtained under pressure, and repeated the allegation in a letter read out in court. Durimel also read a letter by Brigitte's Australian wife, a Muslim convert and former army signaller named Melanie Brown, saying she was pressured into making incriminating statements against him. She had described him to police as shifty, saying he interrogated her about her work in military encryption, and that she suspected he was involved in illegal activities. In the letter Brown said she was threatened with detention by French police when she tried to visit Brigitte in jail and had "told them what they wanted to hear".
This article starring:
FAHIM KHALID LODHI
Lashkar e-Taiba
WILIE BRIGITTE
al-Qaeda
WILIE BRIGITTE
Lashkar e-Taiba
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2007 00:00 ||
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Ejaz-ul-Haq is controversial
As reported in daily Khabrain, the Peoples Party Parliamentarians have boycotted the select committee of the National Assembly on the Womens Protection Bill, and have demanded that Ejaz-ul-Haq be removed as chairman of the select committee. The secretary general, Pervez Ashraf, and Sherry Rehman said that Ejaz-ul-Haqs father Zia-ul-Haq had snatched the rights of women and now his son is presiding over the committee for giving rights back to women. They demanded a woman be appointed as chairman of that committee.
Killers soul is now Hindu
As reported in Daily Pakistan magazine, some years ago a Pakistani, Javed Iqbal, admitted to killing a 100 children in Lahore. He committed suicide in jail. Now, apparently his soul has dissolved in a Hindu, Moninder Pandher, who killed 50 children after sexual rape. He sold the liver, kidneys and eyes of these children to a Philippine company. According to outlook magazine he studied in Shimla and was labelled by the magazine as a devil in the flesh.
Jihad despite peace deals
As reported in Daily Pakistan, the head of the Masud Mujahideen, Baitullah Mahsud, has said that this year will be tougher than the previous year. Talking to the BBC from South Waziristan, he said that spring would bring a rise in Taliban attacks in Afghanistan. He has admitted to going to Afghanistan and fighting against the allied forces. He said he was participating in jihad in the past and is still fighting the war today.
Alcohol is easily available in NWFP
According to daily Khabrain, despite the ban on liquor in the NWFP by the MMA government, it is available everywhere in the province. Imported label liquor is brought in containers from the UAE for Afghanistan; during its travel to Afghanistan the liquor goes to the tribal areas. Imported and local liquors are available on one phone call and are usually carried on motorcycles in the bags of medical representatives. Beer cans with two percent alcohol are available in general stores and fruit shops.
Political parties are against Islam
As reported in daily Express, the former head of the ISI, Hamid Gul, has said that rulers are trying to replace the law of God with the laws of humans. Europe is Christian and is afraid of Islam and of Muslims. He said that the Taliban were formed to protect the honour of women. He also said that forming political parties to grab power is against the teachings of Quran. According to him Quaid-i-Azam was a true Muslim of the modern era.
Khurshid Qasuris expensive suits
In daily Jang, Khurshid Qasuri said that he is fond of good food and his suits are stitched from Saville Row in London. He said that the secret behind a successful marriage is to appreciate every meal made by your wife. He said his wife is more successful as she is running a school chain that she started with just 19 students. Now she has 20,000 students all over Pakistan.
Roohi Bano at asylum
As reported in daily Khabrian, a function is being held for famous television actress Roohi Bano at the mental asylum Fountain House, which fellow actors, Firdous Jamal, Jamil Malik and Yawar Hayat will also attend. Roohi Bano was under psychiatric treatment after the murder of her son. She has recovered fully and Fountain House arranged a function to celebrate her services for Pakistan Television.
Al Jazeera journalist arrested in Egypt
As reported in daily Express, a female journalist working for the Al Jazeera network was arrested in Egypt. According to a foreign news agency, the Al Jazeera producer, Hawaid Atha was filming a documentary on the police torturing citizens. The police arrested her on charges of damaging national interests and creating a bad image of Egypt.
Pakistani madrasses and terrrorism
As reported in daily Khabrian, the minister for religious affairs, Ejaz-ul-Haq, told the ex-Prime Minister of Norway that religious madrassas are not involved in any kind of terrorism in Pakistan but are in fact providing free lodging and education to children. He explained the madrassa reforms that were being applied in Pakistan and told him that religious minorities are living in freedom and peace in Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2007 09:51 ||
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#1
Alcohol is easily available in NWFP
In daily Jang, Khurshid Qasuri said that he is fond of good food and his suits are stitched from Saville Row in London. He said that the secret behind a successful marriage is to appreciate every meal made by your wife. He said his wife is more successful as she is running a school chain that she started with just 19 students. Now she has 20,000 students all over Pakistan. He explained the madrassa reforms that were being applied in Pakistan and told him that religious minorities are living in freedom and peace in Pakistan.
/name Huda is Over! Singh Ho!
Posted by: MoDo Shipman ||
02/11/2007 10:49 Comments ||
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Gas supply to parts of Quetta was disrupted for over 12 hours on Saturday after suspected militants blew up a major gas pipeline.
The 16-inch diameter pipeline was ruptured in the Kili Kambarani locality on the outskirts of Quetta. The explosion caused a huge fire which forced the suspension of the main centre supplying gas to the city. Residents of the provincial capital had to make do without gas in extremely cold weather. The police and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) authorities reached the spot soon after the explosion. The repair works started immediately. However, the supply of gas was restored only to some parts of the city through alternative arrangements. Supply to the remaining parts of Quetta was still suspended when this report was filed on Saturday night. Police are investigating the matter. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I really, really wish "militants" would start blowing up gasoline supply lines in Iran. Now that would be NEWS.
A blast at the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Peshawar at around 4:30am on Saturday damaged four vehicles and some property, but nobody was injured as the office was closed, said an ICRC spokesman and police.
Earlier, the international aid agency said it was suspending all field operations in NWFP, but ICRC spokesman Raza Hamdani told Daily Times over the telephone from Islamabad that ICRC would continue its operations, and a security review was underway. The spokesman said a gas cylinder was lobbed into the car park, but Peshawar police chief Abdul Majeed Marwat said the blast had been caused by an explosive device planted near a geyser. It might be a part of the series of terrorist attacks in the country, the police chief told Daily Times. The ICRC spokesman said it was too early to say who was behind the attack. The ICRC office is located in University Town, which was a hub of Afghan mujahideen leaders in the 1980s and 1990s.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
A geyser?
Geysers are quite rare, requiring a combination of water, heat, and fortuitous plumbing. The combination exists in few places on Earth. The five largest geyser fields in the world are[3]:
1. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States
2. Dolina Geiserov, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia
3. El Tatio, Chile, South America
4. Taupo Volcanic Zone, North Island, New Zealand
5. Iceland, Europe
There used to be two large geysers fields in Nevada Beowawe and Steamboat Springs but they were destroyed by the installation of nearby geothermal power plants. At the plants, geothermal drilling reduced the available heat and lowered the local water table to the point that geyser activity could no longer be sustained. There are more individual geysers around the world, in California, Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, Dominica, Azores, Kenya and Japan, but no other large clusters.
Posted by: john ||
02/11/2007 9:03 Comments ||
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#6
I just like the idea of America, land of fortuitous plumbing. Hell I'd make a run for the border if it meant American Standard was on the other side.
HEADQUARTERS
Multi-National Force-Iraq
BAGHDAD, IRAQ
APO AE 09342-1400
February 10, 2007
Office of the Commanding General
To the Soldiers, Sailers, Airmen, Marines, and Civilians of Multi-National Force-Iraq:
We serve in Iraq in a critical time. The war here will soon enter its fifth year. A decisive moment approaches. Shoulder-to-shoulder with our Iraqi comrades, we will conduct a pivotal compaign to improve security for the Iraqi people. The stakes could not be higher.
Our task is curcial. Security is essential for Iraq to build its future. Only with security can the Iraqi government come to grips with the tough issues it confronts and develop the capacity to serve its citizens. The hopes of the Iraqi people and the coaltion contries are with us.
The enemies of Iraq will shrink at no act, however barbaric. They will do all that they can to shake the confidence of the people and to convince the world that this effort is doomed. We must not underestimate them.
Together with our Iraqi partners, we must defeat those who oppose the new Iraq. We cannot allow mass murderers to hold the initiative. We must strike them relentlessly. We and our Iraqi partners must set the terms of the struggle, not our enemies. And together we must prevail.
The way ahead will not be easy. There will be difficult times in the months to come. But hard is not hopeless, and we must remain steadfast in our effort to help improve security for the Iraqi people. I am confident that each of you will fight with skill and courage, and that you will remain loyal to your comrades-in-arms and to the values our nations hold so dear.
In the end, Iraqis will decide the outcome this struggle. Our task is to help them gain the time they need to save their country. To do that, many of us will live and fight alongside them. Together, we will face down the terrorists, insurgents, and criminals who slaughter the innocent. Success will require discipline, fortitude, and initiative - qualities that you have in abundance.
I appreciate your sacrifices and those of your families. Now more than ever, your commitment to service and your skill can make the difference between victory and defeat in a very tough mission.
Is it an honor to soldier again with the members of Multi-National Force-Iraq. I know that wherever yhou serve in this undertaking you will give your all. In turn, I pledge my commitment to our mission and every effort to achieve success as we help the Iraqis chart a course to a brighter future.
Godspeed to each of you and to our Iraqi comrades in this crucial endeavor.
DAVID H. PETRAEUS
General, United States Army
Commanding
#4
"I must tell you in candor that your most dangerous enemies are not the terrorists in front of you. Rather, reporters in London, New York and Los Angeles who have borne no burden heavier than a designer suit have decided already that your labor must be called a failure. As you prepare to assault the enemy, they prepare to tell the free peoples of the world that your assault is in vain. Pay them no heed. They are tiny people who seek only to make themselves seem larger by making your victories seem smaller. But what you do will, truly, echo in eternity."
Posted by: Matt ||
02/11/2007 13:05 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. forces shot and killed a civilian contract truck driver at Camp Anaconda, a huge air base north of Baghdad, the military said Saturday.
Lt. Cmdr. Bill Speaks said in Baghdad that the death Monday resulted from ``an escalation of force incident,'' which typically means a driver approaching a checkpoint did not respond to military orders to approach slowly and stop. Speaks did not identify the dead contractor.
Melissa Norcross, a spokeswoman for KBR, said the shooting was under investigation and the company would not release the name of the driver or a second person in the truck who was wounded in the shooting. The Walker-Martin Funeral Home in Chesaning, Mich., posted an obituary on its Web site Saturday saying that a man named Donald Tolfree of nearby Owosso, Mich., had been killed Monday in Balad, Iraq, where he was employed as a civilian contractor.
Camp Anaconda is located near Balad, about 50 miles north of Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
Melissa Norcross, a spokeswoman for KBR, said the shooting was under investigation and the company would not release the name of the driver or a second person in the truck who was wounded in the shooting.
Stupid maybe, or maybe the dust was blowing and his and his partners vision was obscured, or maybe it was dark and raining. It is the rainy season here. Just for everyone's situational awareness, the bravest men in the world drive convoys in IZ for KBR, and they do so totally un-armed. If they or anyone else employed by KBR is found with a weapon, they are fired immediately and an air movement request (AMR) is processed for their return to CONUS... end of contract. Their convoys are attacked frequently by SAFIRE (small arms fire) and RPG's. It's a national pastime in IZ. Oh yes, they make pretty good dough, but it they were NOT doing the job, some 19 year old from... Chesaning, Mich would be.
#4
Trailing Wife:
The convoys generally have military or other personnel who provide convoy security and are authorized to return fire. This however, has not prevented some pretty tragic incidents including snipings and kidnappings and the like. The US gov't will arm crooked Iraqi police to the teeth (and re-arm them as they "lose" or sell the weapons), or give millions to Hamas for security, but arm a US contractor going outside the wire? No way, he might have to actually shoot someone! Bad PR, very, very bad. What would the embassy say, State Dept? Drive a truck for KBR? No way in Hell!
#8
Similar to the Merchant Marine during WWII running ship convoys with military personnel manning retro fitted guns in some cases. The MM received major dinero for the '40s for their work compared to the GI pay of the time. Years later they would demand and get VA status for their 'contract' work. I'm sure sometime in the future there will be a lobby to get these individuals VA bennies as well using the same rationale.
I actually worked with an old duffer years ago who had been a Merchant Mariner during WWII. You are correct, those deserving men were eventually recognized by the Veterans Administration. I will never forget how proud he was at the time. He didn't need the benefits, he was comfortable and on in years, but the recognition by a greatful nation and accompanying documents brought him and others great pride I am certain.
#10
Tragic. Doubly so if caused by some fog-of-war foo-up. We've ranted on this subject before, but allow me to replant the seed of autonomous vehicles as a solution to just this sort of tragedy.
#11
We had tons of KBR contractors at TQ - many were truck drivers. I used to shoot the breeze w/them in the chow hall some times. Interesting group. Many former mil. Some of them were fairly eccentric, I remember a couple even took to wearing cowboy type garb. They do get payed pretty well but I'm not envious of their job. The real studs (IMHO) were the dudes who drove some of those petrol tankers. I think they should be trained and allowed to carry concealed pistols or what not - I personally see no issue w/self defense weapons on contractors - especially on the MSR's in iraq.
#12
With unarmed drivers, how hard would it be for a jihadi to hijack a contract truck & crash it into a checkpoint? Things like that are done in the CONUS every day, except the carjackers here hit telephone poles and buildings, since US streets are largely free of checkpoints, for the time being. Keeping the contract truckers unarmed is another brainless policy on the mean streets of Iraq. Whatever those guys get paid, it ain't nearly enough.
BAGHDAD - Gunmen clashed on Saturday with troops guarding one of the first forward bases set up by US and Iraqi troops in downtown Baghdad as part of their new joint operation to pacify the city. The combat outpost in the Adhamiyah district came under sustained fire for almost an hour and American troops responded with rifle and machinegun fire, an AFP photographer at the base reported.
Following the clash, US soldiers in armoured vehicles headed out to search the area and attempt to track down the attackers. There were no initial reports of casualties among US and Iraqi forces.
An Iraqi defence official said fighting had broken out after a joint Iraqi-US force raided a suspected stronghold of an illegal armed group and that gunbattles were continuing almost two hours later, after nightfall. There was an exchange of fire just after 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) for only 10 minutes after the raid, then the gunmen ran away, he said.
Later, at 5:50 pm (1450 GMT) gunmen attacked the outpost in Adhamiyah, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The shooting went on for at least 40 minutes and the fighting is continuing. At least two civilians have been wounded, he added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
My assessment, the bad guys are leveraging the MSM and obviously "kicking it up a notch" as the US approaches a national election. They have ramped up their anti-aircraft campaign through the use of foreign supplied Man Portable Air Defense Weapons (MANPAD). Their ground campaign may also soon expand to more frequent attacks on forward operation bases (FOBS) and convoys. Our defensive FOB or "base camp" strategy is NOT gaining the yardage necessary to win. We must mount up and go meet these people. I hope and pray General Petraeus has this in mind.
#3
Besoeker, aren't these really forward outposts supposed to act sort of like bait to draw out the terr's after which we follow them to ground and exterminate them? I'm trying to draw a distinction between the larger FOB's and these combat outposts. I'm hoping that there is one.
#4
Unfortunately Iraq seems to have a huge supply of would-be jihadis and a seemingly endless supply of munitions for them to pop off at the US FOB's, seems like thousands of tons have been squirreled away by Saddam and his forces pre-2003. Some military action cutting a much larger swath is needed.
Following the afternoon prayers at the Temple Mount a group of approximately 150 Muslim Israeli men and women threw rocks at the buses that had been sent to take them home. Everything that you need to know about Palestinians is right there in this single paragraph.
#5
The more I know about Moslems the more I suspect they are seriously brain-damaged due the "cognitive" methods and contents of their death-cult.
They're constantly demonstrating that while they can use human languages and repeat the words they hear at the mosque, they can't think. They don't understand the difference between fact and fiction (see Iran's hidden imam and Iraq's mother of all battles for examples), they have no clue about cause and effect, and they deny that knowledge comes from processes of the human mind (the only and final truth comes from Allah via Mohammed; human thoughts are by essence tainted).
In short, their cult sets them up against reality, causality, and thinking. What other core emotions can result from this but rage, envy, and seething?
#7
When there no Israeli's around the crazed Islamists throw rocks at each other. However, Fatah and Hamas thugs simply gun each other down.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
02/11/2007 15:55 Comments ||
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#8
(When you ride in a glass bus, don't throw stones.) I suspect their mental deficienices can be attributed, in part, to the wide spread practice of cousins marrying cousins. And, growing up in death cult culture doesn't help.
#10
So Abdul and Lil Mo were coming back from prayers one afternoon in their boat when it developed a leak on the port side. To rectify it, Abdul drilled a hole in the starboard side; to let the water out, he explained.
Is there no limit to their stupidity??????
Suspected separatists shot dead three Muslim villagers early on Sunday in Thailand's rebellious Muslim south, police said, the latest attack in a three-year insurgency in which more than 2,000 people have been killed. The villagers were ambushed in Yala, one of three Muslim-majority provinces near Malaysia where most of the violence has taken place, while riding motorcycles to their rubber plantations, police told reporters.
In a separate incident, a railway official was seriously wounded in a gun attack on a passenger train in neighbouring Narathiwat province, police said.
The government will be seeking the cooperation of Kuala Lumpur to end the insurgency during a two-day visit by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi starting on Monday.
Two Al Qaeda operatives arrested by Iran while they were on their way to Iraq began their journey from Pakistan. Nothing is known about the activities of these two men in Pakistan or how long they were there and who was sheltering them. According to a front-page report in the Washington Post on Saturday, last week the CIA sent an urgent report to President Bushs National Security Council saying that Iranian authorities had arrested two Al Qaeda operatives travelling through. The suspects were caught along a well-worn route for militants, according to a senior intelligence official.
The arrests were presented to Bushs senior policy advisers as evidence that Iran appears committed to stopping Al Qaedas foot traffic across its borders, said the intelligence official. That assessment comes at a time when the Bush administration is preparing to publicly accuse Tehran of cooperating with and harbouring Al Qaeda suspects, said the Post, adding that US officials had asserted for years that several dozen Al Qaeda fighters, including Osama Bin Ladens son, slipped across the Afghan border into Iran after 9/11, and Tehran was holding them under house arrest as bargaining chips for potential deals with Washington. Some of the men being held by Iran are high-value fugitives. Osama Bin Ladens son Saad is also being held with other prisoners in Iran.
The report said that since Al Qaeda fighters began streaming into Iran, Tehran had turned over hundreds of people to US allies and provided US intelligence with the names, photographs and fingerprints of those it held in custody.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Was watching FOX's special on Radical Islam this AM - as said times before, iff Radical Islam is gonna be claiming that Jews-Zionists + Christians destroyed the WTC on 9-11, then by their own logic OSAMA and other Islamist personages claiming public credit for 9-11 and other attacks must be considered as traitors = fifth columnists AGAINST Radical Islam. Iff Jews + Christians destroyed the WTC. and Osama, etal. are taking credit for same, ergo Osama, etal. must be a Jew or Christian, NOT A MUSLIM OR RADICAL MUSLIM/ISLAMIST, correct??? Osama, etal. as a Jew-Christian ergo also CANNOT BE THE 12TH IMAM/MAHDI, CORRECT???
Deliberately misleading information announced publicly or leaked by a government or especially by an intelligence agency in order to influence public opinion or the government in another nation
#8
Is that how glamour queens used to deal with a toothache? Fascinating...
Posted by: Dar ||
02/11/2007 13:18 Comments ||
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#9
Shipman (sorry for replying here, but I don;t have Ship's email address),
The FOTS web page is down currently until I can get someone else to host it or put it up somewhere else for free (I do have an AOL site for it, but can't recall the URL right off - it should be in the AOL Home Town section).
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.
Eleven Taleban were killed in fighting with Afghan security and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the Kajaki district of southern Helmand province late Friday, provincial police chief Gholum Nabi Mullahkhail told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. There has been a joint Afghan and British operation for the past several weeks to clear the area around a hydropower dam which is under construction iegion.
Taleban militants in neighbouring Kandahar province ambushed a police vehicle late Friday, killing four policemen and seriously wounding three others, provincial police chief Esmatullah Alizai told dpa. Alizai said that the police forces had been patrolling in the volatile district of Panjwayi when the ambush took place.
Mogadishu 10, Feb.07 ( Sh.M.Network) -At least seven persons were killed and dozens were wounded in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday after mortars and rockets rained down on the capital as unknown gunmen fired more than 10 mortars at different locations in the capital. Witnesses said four persons, including a young girl, were killed in Dayniile district, southwest of Mogadishu.
Melbourne, Feb 10: While a debate is raging down over long trial delays for the Australias sole Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks, Indian government is also interested to talk to him for his alleged involvement in activities in Kashmir. 
A French prosecutor requested on Friday a 10-year jail sentence for French Muslim convert 
Ejaz-ul-Haq is controversial
Gas supply to parts of Quetta was disrupted for over 12 hours on Saturday after suspected militants blew up a major gas pipeline.
A blast at the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Peshawar at around 4:30am on Saturday damaged four vehicles and some property, but nobody was injured as the office was closed, said an ICRC spokesman and police. 
BAGHDAD - Gunmen clashed on Saturday with troops guarding one of the first forward bases set up by US and Iraqi troops in downtown Baghdad as part of their new joint operation to pacify the city. The combat outpost in the Adhamiyah district came under sustained fire for almost an hour and American troops responded with rifle and machinegun fire, an AFP photographer at the base reported.
