Hi there, !
Today Wed 03/21/2007 Tue 03/20/2007 Mon 03/19/2007 Sun 03/18/2007 Sat 03/17/2007 Fri 03/16/2007 Thu 03/15/2007 Archives
Rantburg
531698 articles and 1855975 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 67 articles and 312 comments as of 13:58.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion    Local News       
PA unity govt to meet officially on Sunday
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
3 00:00 Verlaine [4] 
11 00:00 Frank G [3] 
16 00:00 Mike [4] 
6 00:00 Rob Crawford [3] 
6 00:00 Frank G [3] 
1 00:00 Redneck Jim [3] 
3 00:00 49 Pan [3] 
0 [3] 
8 00:00 gromgoru [3] 
0 [3] 
6 00:00 Lanny Ddub [5] 
2 00:00 gromgoru [3] 
0 [3] 
0 [3] 
0 [3] 
0 [3] 
Page 2: WoT Background
7 00:00 Mike [4]
13 00:00 Verlaine [4]
11 00:00 Zenster [3]
3 00:00 gromgoru [4]
1 00:00 Raj [3]
5 00:00 JosephMendiola [6]
4 00:00 SteveS [3]
3 00:00 whatadeal [5]
19 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [6]
12 00:00 Redneck Jim [4]
2 00:00 3dc [3]
0 [3]
0 [3]
8 00:00 gromgoru [3]
1 00:00 Sneaze [3]
3 00:00 Zenster [3]
0 [3]
0 [3]
3 00:00 Sneaze [3]
0 [3]
4 00:00 gromgoru [3]
0 [3]
6 00:00 trailing wife [3]
2 00:00 Frank G [3]
0 [3]
1 00:00 gromgoru [3]
11 00:00 gromgoru [4]
12 00:00 gorb [3]
11 00:00 gromgoru [3]
2 00:00 Alaska Paul [3]
7 00:00 USN, ret. [3]
1 00:00 Spiter Gonque6653 [3]
6 00:00 OldSpook [3]
1 00:00 Redneck Jim [3]
5 00:00 Zenster [3]
Page 3: Non-WoT
4 00:00 Redneck Jim [3]
4 00:00 gromgoru [3]
2 00:00 SteveS [3]
5 00:00 DMFD [6]
1 00:00 Excalibur [3]
Page 4: Opinion
4 00:00 Zenster [3]
14 00:00 DMFD [6]
4 00:00 gromgoru [3]
3 00:00 Sneaze [3]
2 00:00 Redneck Jim [4]
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
6 00:00 Anonymoose [5]
5 00:00 Frank G [3]
8 00:00 Alaska Paul [5]
10 00:00 Zenster [3]
9 00:00 Icerigger [3]
5 00:00 USN, ret. [5]
Afghanistan
Taleban attack NATO convoy, kill Afghan child
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - One Afghan child was killed and two children seriously wounded on Saturday when the Taleban exploded a vehicle by the side of a road as a NATO military convoy passed, officials said. Another Afghan civilian was also seriously wounded while a coalition soldier suffered minor injuries in the attack which took place in the southern province of Kandahar.

Residents earlier said the rebels fired rockets on the convoy while police had said a suicide bomber had rammed an explosives-laden car into the convoy.

“This is another example of the Taleban extremists’ callous disregard for human life,” Major-General Ton van Loon said in a NATO statement. “They target ISAF and government of Afghanistan forces, however, in doing so, they indiscriminately kill and maim innocent Afghans, including children,” he said, referring to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well if they blow up more children then maybe Nato will withdraw the troops.

Posted by: Hank || 03/18/2007 0:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Talibastards - as with all Islamofascists - view human beings as "slaves of allah." Freedom is anathema to koranimals, and that is why every experiment in importing democracy to the Middle East has failed.
Posted by: Sneaze || 03/18/2007 0:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Graphic is all wrong: terrorists prefer Toyotas.
Posted by: regular joe || 03/18/2007 9:10 Comments || Top||

#4  Not slaves of Allah -- slaves of them. THEY are going to decide whether people live or die, THEY are going to tell people how to live, what THEY wear, what they can do (not very much, unless you're a weapons afficianado with a taste for blood). Like every totalitarian war, under what ever "ism".
Posted by: kc || 03/18/2007 12:26 Comments || Top||

#5  Well said, kc.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/18/2007 12:53 Comments || Top||

#6  This is another example of the Taleban extremists’ callous disregard for human life

This guy definately needs to educate himself in the area of ASS™ logic. It's ok to blow up innocent muslim kids in the name of jihad in fact its good for the kids 'cause allan said so.

That's ASS™ logic brought to you by the flesh eating bacteria of organized religions.
Posted by: Lanny Ddub || 03/18/2007 21:59 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Somalia: Blast kills 6 close to Mogadishu
(SomaliNet) At least six civilians of same family have been killed and four others were wounded in deadly explosion that occurred in Afgoie town, 30km south of the Somalia capital Mogadishu on Friday. Witnesses told Somalinet that the explosion was caused by a landmine left at a house located in Afgoie where all the six people including four children died and four others got serious injuries.

Abdirisak Dini Isak, the army commander of Afgoie town told the local media that the blast came when a young child threw a bomb left in the house into fire that went off destroying completely the house. “It was not a terrorist attack but it was just accidental,” Dini said Afgoie is an agricultural town of the lower Shabelle region.
"Just some kids playing around. They usually put the landmine in the mailbox," he added.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Serbian: Four alleged Muslim terrorists arrested
Serbian police said Saturday they discovered the training camp of an alleged Muslim terrorist group in a tense southern region, and arrested four Serbian Muslims.

In a statement, the police said they found several tents and a cave that allegedly served as a training ground for the Wahhabis - an austere brand of Sunni Islam promoted by extremists, including Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida fighters. The camp was located on a mountain near Novi Pazar, in the center of the predominantly Muslim region of Sandzak along the border with Bosnia and Montenegro, police added. In a daylong operation, the police found large quantities of plastic explosives, ammunition, face masks, military uniforms, bombs, food, water and other equipment, the police statement said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ... the Wahhabis - an austere brand of Sunni Islam promoted by extremists, including American and British foreign policy since the first World War up to and including holding hands Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida fighters.
Posted by: Excalibur || 03/18/2007 7:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Thank you, Mr Clinton
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/18/2007 16:08 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Gathering of Eagles Action Report
Note: I know I link a couple of external picture links, I apologize but I'm a little tired yet and I will try to be a good RB'er in the future! This is my first hand account so the link is to Michelle Malkin's site who has a great roundup of pictures and reports (She was there also). ;)

It was a dangerous exhausting trek to get from New York to Washington DC for the Gathering of Eagles. The weather was determined to drive off all but the most stawart. Snow, sleet, hail, flooding, freezing rain in the dark of night. Cars wrecked and spun out, eighteen wheelers overturned, road signs virtually obliterated with the cold rime of side blast from snow plows. The rest of my crew had departed earlier in a van, but I was driving down alone in my trusty jeep. Time and the weather were my enemies. We had all agreed to meet at the Huntington Station in Alexandria, VA at 0700, March 17th and it was going to be an Olympian task for me to make that rendezvous. Departing Long Island at 0100 I had one advantage, the traffic had died to a mere trickle, few were insane enough to hazard the roads.

The conditions were bad on Long Island, but were considerably worse on Staten Island and then reached the absolute pits in New Jersey. This was not a trip I would have considered making in any vehicle less than a four wheel drive with all terrain tires. The most nerve wracking point for anyone else would have been passing a long line of cars trailing a brace of snow plows who were plowing the left and center lanes and throwing a huge plume of snow into the right lane. I had to pass all those cars on the left and then pass the lead car, swing into the snow piled right lane and drive through the plume at about fifty miles an hour. Let me tell you driving into a horizontally moving, virtually solid wall of snow is....exciting! But pass it safely I did and continued as fast as I safely could southwards.

I made just one pit stop, in Southern Jersey to refuel and quick pit stop to releive a bladder. Total elapsed time...8 minutes. Back to the road. The glow of lights from cities and towns was starkly evident on the low cloud deck. The rain/sleet started to ebb and by the time I reached the Baltimore/Washington Pkwy the overcast had cleared and I could see stars to the East. Now exhaustion was my enemy. Going on 24 hours with no sleep I began to notice myself losing focus. Open the window, get a blast of fresh air, pop an Altoids breath mint, breath deeply to oxygenate the blood, light up a cigarette, drink some water, anything to keep me more alert. Jump onto the beltway, swing over the toll bridge to Alexandria. I can't believe it I'm almost there with ten minutes to spare. Ooops! wrong turn! now I'm lost in the streets of Alexandria. I spot a Holiday Inn and pull up to the lobby. The desk clerk gives me excellent if long directions how to get to the Metro station. Another quick pit stop and then off to the Huntington Metro. 0701, I'm here! Ok, but where is everyone else? Out comes the cell phone... They Overslept?!?!?!

They had arrived at my cousin's house in Maryland (who had put them up overnight) at 0430 (having departed Long Island at 2000). They forgot to bring an alarm clock and luckily someone had woken at 6:30 and got them moving. Ok, so I'll have to wait a bit, best to put that time to use. I ask how tall my brother's van is, oops, too tall to fit into the Metro garage. So I drive around the station looking at different entrances and happen to run into an employee checking the parking booths. 7' is maximum clearance on this side, he says, and 6.5' on the other side. Remembering that I had Google mapped an aerial view of the station which seemed to show open air packing I asked him about it. Oh, yeah, he says, there is an open air lot behind the station, up on the hill. I asked for directions (Believe me driving around the 'back' of the station is no where near as simple as it sounds) and then took off on a steep curving road that led to a Transit Police station and a nice open air parking field. Cool! I get back on the cell phone fill in the crew and make arrangements to meet at a 7-11 near the station.

0745, the van rolls into the 7-11 parking lot and after Coffee and donuts we drive around to the lot, prepare our gear and march into the Metro. Some local folks answer our questions about where to switch trains and we meet a vet on his way to the GOE. He advises us that there are no bathroom facilities on any of the Metros and the best idea was to go to the Arlington Cemetery Visitor's Center when we reach the stop. We take his advice. None of the escalators in the Metro station are working so it is a long slog upstairs and then a decent hike to the Visito's Center. Then back past the Metro station, around the traffic circle and across the Arlington Bridge. The sun is shining brightly and a strong wind is blowing, but the bridge is spotlessly clean and we meet a few more vets heading to the rally.

We set up alongside the Lincoln Memorial nearly opposite the ANSWER loadspeaker tower. There are plenty of vets here, but no where near as many as are at the Constitution Gardens site by the Wall. The ANSWER people are playing lots of music interspersed with various rants "Chicago is in the house, Mexico is in the house, Iran is in the house, etc...". Our side counters with "U - S - A!", "What do we want...VICTORY! When do we want it...NOW!". Believe me it is tough to shout over the sound towers they have! I have the hoarse voice today to prove it!

There were a lot of leather motorcycle jackets in evidence (Rolling Thunder, Patriot Guard Riders, various military vet motorcycle clubs, etc...) but there are even more plain folks just come to stand up for our troops and country.

At one point my brother and I walked over to Constitution Gardens where the main assemble area was. My first impression was the huge number of flags! The second was of the mud! It was tough walking through there as the mud tried to suck the boots off your feet. We stayed for the tribute to the Wall and then made our way back to our post on the Licoln Memorial Wall for the "Moonbats on Parade" portion of the festivities.

We had set up on the grass (also muddy but not as bad as Constitution Gardens) but with pending march of the Moonbats to the Arlington Bridge we moved our gear right up to the retaining wall that runs around the Llincoln Memorial. For those not familiar with the area the Lincoln Memorial is on land which slopes down toward the Potomac River. The Memorial itself is surrounded by a cricle of land which slopes gently from the top of a retaining wall surrounding the perimeter up to the Memorial itself. The retaining wall is about four feet tall from the sidewalk and about two feet wide at the top. We move our gear toward the wall and then found positions atop the wall itself with a commanding view of the street and march route. Below us the sidewalk was two to four deep with Eagles and this crowd extended from the front of the memorial to the rear opposite the Arlington Bridge. We were about midway. See this photo. We are the cluster of flags in the center with the yellow 'Don't Tread on Me" flag.

As the Moonbat Circus started marching past we responded to some of their taunts and then began singing our own chant:

Good Bye, Commies!
Good Bye, Commies!
Good Bye, Commies!
We're glad to see you go!!!

Looosers!

Which seemed to get under their skin a bit. The last line was sung like the Nestle's dog sang 'chocolate' in their commercials, while we held our hands at our foreheads in the 'Loser' sign (Fingers vertical, thumb horizontal across the forehead). Those taking photos seemed to get a kick out of our antics and many pictures were taken.

We sang this to every new group that came past. See this photo with me giving the 'Loser' salute.

After the circus ended we packed up our gear and followed the Moonbats route across the Arlington Bridge. It was eye-opening to see the mess they left behind. The bridge which had been spotless and prisitine in the morning was littered with debris, discarded signs, commie newspapers (even a half full box of those!) and various other bits of trash. We saw the Vets with their great sign at the traffic circle on the other side and had another picture taken by some Virginia High School students who were there to witness the day's events. Then back to the Metro (escalators still not working), repack the vehiicles and start back on the long trek to NY. We stopped at a rest area in Maryland to grab a bite to eat and almost half the people there were Eagles laughing, eating and resting. At the end of the long drive (caravaning this time) I arrived home about 2200 Saturday night having had about ten-fifteen minutes of sleep since Thursday night.

It was a great trip, enjoyable and meaningful for all who attended. I hope that there will be more like this to provide a reliable and visible counterpoint to the negativism of the Press and Moonbats. Would I do it again? You bet!
Posted by: Shinetle Phaiting9877 || 03/18/2007 13:02 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thanks Shinetle and God Bless you.

For giggles I checked out the Minneapolis, Saint Paul TV news stations. Not one mentioned your efforts. No suprise but here's why

From NewsBusters I almost fainted.

Gathering of Eagles' web site reports that they were told by the National Park Service that their GoE estimate is ..... is .....

30,000

GoE's site is also saying that the protester counts being reported elsewhere were 5,000 to 10,000 (the Times reported "thousands" and WaPo said "several thousand," but both papers acknowledged that the protester turnout was much lower than at a similar event in January).

Bottom line: GoErs outnumbered protesters at least three to one. Remember what you just read here and will read at the center-right blogs, because you probably won't see this "turnout rout," which as far as I can tell is unprecedented, reported in the Formerly Mainstream Media.

Way to go. Wish I could have joined you folks!
Videos here
Posted by: Icerigger || 03/18/2007 14:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Heh, told you I was tired! That is actually my posting. I didn't realize my cookie wasn't set.
Posted by: DanNY || 03/18/2007 14:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Hey, DanNY, I got there a bit late, but did look for you, finding a Dan from Virginia!
Posted by: Bobby || 03/18/2007 15:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Thanks, Dan! Great to have an "on-site" report that will NEVER make it into the pages or script of the MSM. Our "mainstream media" is an enemy of a free people, and needs to be dealt with as such. Thank God for the Internet (screw algore and his piehole spewing).
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/18/2007 15:35 Comments || Top||

#5  Didn't hear a word about this on NPR this morning... yesterday there had been a story about the protest, where the protesters interviewed were represented to be Christians. Not a word about a counter-protest, not a word about any other protesters.
Needless to say, I am very dissapointed in NPR this weekend. Talk about sending certain stories down the memory hole...
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 03/18/2007 15:44 Comments || Top||

#6  Didn't hear a word about this on NPR this morning... yesterday there had been a story about the protest, where the protesters interviewed were represented to be Christians. Not a word about a counter-protest, not a word about any other protesters.
Needless to say, I am very dissapointed in NPR this weekend. Talk about sending certain stories down the memory hole...
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 03/18/2007 15:45 Comments || Top||

#7  "Can you hear me now???!!!"
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 03/18/2007 15:46 Comments || Top||

#8  Thanks Dan, you sent me out on a journey through the Internet for all the reports. What a day! I had tears, just sitting in front of my computer reading and viewing!

I especially like this comment from a post I just read at Free Republic, in a post relaying a telephone conversation with one that was there:

MARINE ONE also flew overhead at one point!
There could be no way all those flags couldn't be seen.

And I loved the way our vets and others are referred to as "Eagles."

Posted by: Sherry || 03/18/2007 16:55 Comments || Top||

#9  #5 & 6: "Needless to say, I am very dissapointed in NPR this weekend."

As opposed to their news "coverage" the rest of the time, Sgt. Mom?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 03/18/2007 17:10 Comments || Top||

#10  Thank you, DanNY. Somehow the news and pictures will trickle back to the guys over there, and they aren't doing this alone. I wonder if the NY Post would be interested in running your well-written, eye-witness report? Seriously, you ought to submit it!
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/18/2007 18:25 Comments || Top||

#11  From Dallas, TX, good work East Coast Eagles!
Posted by: Ho Chi Glager5496 || 03/18/2007 18:26 Comments || Top||

#12  Dang it. I looked for the Don't Tread on Me flag, but the only person I saw said he had come alone, and not from New York.
I drove up from Columbia, SC. I didn't meet anybody famous (like Michelle Malkin or Smash) but I had a great time. Made me proud to be a veteran, and an American.
I did not get to actually visit the wall, because I had a backpack. I definitely plan to go back - I have two schoolmates on the wall.
Posted by: Rambler || 03/18/2007 19:15 Comments || Top||

#13  Toll bridge to Alexandria? I thought the only tolls around here are on the Dulles Toll Road/Greenway, and the Baltimore bridges and tunnels.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 03/18/2007 21:04 Comments || Top||

#14  Yeah, you found one of my typos. I meant to say drawbridge. Sorry for the confusion.
Posted by: DanNY || 03/18/2007 22:21 Comments || Top||

#15  MARINE ONE also flew overhead at one point!
There could be no way all those flags couldn't be seen.


Yes, Marine One flew over early on, but more precisely it flew by following the Potomac westward. I have no idea if POTUS was on board, but yes, the flags in the Constitution Gardens and around the Lincoln Memorial should have been visible from the air.
Posted by: DanNY || 03/18/2007 22:24 Comments || Top||

#16  Well done, Eagles!
Posted by: Mike || 03/18/2007 22:58 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
6 killed in Bara as rival groups clash
BARA: Six people were killed and several injured in a clash between two religious outfits in the Tirah area of Khyber Agency on Saturday. Five people were killed from the Lashkar-e-Islami group, a militant religious organisation headed by Mangal Bagh, and one from its rival Insarul Islam during all-day tit-for-tat attacks on each other’s hideouts.
This article starring:
MANGAL BAGHLashkar-e-Islami
Insarul Islam
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
US Takes Out Anti-Aircraft Trucks
U.S. forces in Iraq this week struck a major blow against terrorists by killing a group that was behind the recent string of helicopter shootdowns, according to defense officials.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) patrolling Baghdad discovered that insurgents have built low-tech mobile anti-aircraft units — trucks outfitted with heavy machine guns that are covered with tarpaulins.

UAV patrols identified four of the machine gun-equipped trucks that drove through the city and stopped when drivers or gunners heard the sound of an approaching helicopter. The gunners then would uncover the tarp and begin firing before quickly driving away.

All four of the trucks recently were tracked down and destroyed by F-16 jet strikes. Knocking the trucks out is viewed as one of the signs of progress being made against the terrorists.

At least eight helicopters have been shot down in Iraq since January, and some were hit with shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles.

Last month, U.S. military commanders said two or three al Qaeda cells were behind the helicopter attacks.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/18/2007 21:10 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  buh-bye, thanks for playing! Complimentary home games are not available, sorry. If it feels hot, don't worry, it's only for eternity
Posted by: Frank G || 03/18/2007 21:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Ya think mebby da debbil is gettin POd at how the muzzies be stinkin' up his neighbo'hood?
Posted by: Snish Shock5578 || 03/18/2007 22:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Taken out by F-16s? While in the city? Seems unlikely - must have been at least out in the weedy 'burbs, like Abu G. or to the southeast.

Idea: instead of getting 2-4 of these guys by dropping a small-diameter bomb or Mk 82, wouldn't it have been better to go snatch these guys alive? "Interview" them, see who else is in on the game, roll up the whole network, its money, perhaps grab its foreign advisor if there is one?

Hard to imagine we could track to kill, but not to engage on the ground.

Somebody edumacate me here. Seems like we almost always go for the remote-control kill, rarely go for root-and-branch work. Part of our whole distance from the battlefield problem. Am I wrong here?

I still recall an incident in Mosul back in '05. The US unit there discovered a huge, huge warehouse cache of ordnance, explosives, other goodies. So they destroyed it in place - no mention of nabbing even a single bad guy. A place like that had to be known to, or serviced by, a few people, if not a lot of people. How about doing whatever (booby-trapping, de-mil'ing, etc.) as needed, then stake the place out. Grab somebody. Give them a choice between something very unpleasant and ratting out other people who know about the place - and so on.

Hell, our guys are using syndicate-busting software to figure out how to take down some networks - how about a little patience, elbow grease, and guile, instead of the F-16 strike as first (and last) part of our strategy.

Keeping in mind, always, that there are no military solutions to political .... security.... military.... any problems, per CG-MNF-I and many others.
Posted by: Verlaine || 03/18/2007 23:47 Comments || Top||


Top Al-Qaeda in Iraq Financer Captured
Iraqi forces have arrested an Iraqi-born Palestinian suspected of acting as a financier for the al-Qaeda network, military spokesperson Qassim Mussawi said on Sunday. Mussawi said Mahmud Hamed Kamal al-Mathi - also known as "Abu Qutada the Palestinian" - was seized by troops on Saturday in Bab al-Moadham, a district of central Baghdad.

In a video of the suspect's interrogation shown to reporters, the 24-year-old bearded militant confirms his arrest and admits he received money from outside Iraq to fund insurgent attacks. "We found him with CDs, special evidence and documents related to the al-Qaeda network, and in his initial interrogation he admitted many crimes against the Iraqi people," Mussawi said. Mathi was born in Iraq to Palestinian refugee parents.
This article starring:
ABU QUTADA THE PALESTINIANal-Qaeda in Iraq
Mahmud Hamed Kamal al-Mathi
MAHMUD HAMED KAMAL AL MATHIal-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: Gromogum Elmereter5708 || 03/18/2007 14:43 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Abu the dead man", now....
Posted by: Frank G || 03/18/2007 15:27 Comments || Top||

#2  The palestinian
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/18/2007 16:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Fine, now hang him. You have enough evidence, and a "trial" will just waste time. Do it quickly, so there's no chance of his escaping.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/18/2007 16:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Iraqi-born Palestinian suspected of acting as a financier for the al-Qaeda

What we got here is a born-loser.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/18/2007 16:20 Comments || Top||

#5  don't hang him before we know all the places that funded the terrorists be they Baathists in Syria, Mullahs in Iran, Wahabis in Soddiland, leftists in Europe or the Tides Foundation
Posted by: mhw || 03/18/2007 17:03 Comments || Top||

#6  I am sure some of the missing millions of dollars given to the Palestinians as financial aid found their way to Kamal.
Posted by: Ho Chi Glager5496 || 03/18/2007 18:05 Comments || Top||

#7  One of Saddam Hussein's pet Palestinians, no doubt. I wonder if his parents are still living in the rent-controlled apartment they were occupying at the time of the invasion. More and more interesting people are being captured -- no wonder Al Qaeda thinks they're losing in Iraq.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/18/2007 18:15 Comments || Top||

#8  too bad he didn't spay/neuter his pets
Posted by: Frank G || 03/18/2007 18:35 Comments || Top||

#9  Let's just hope that they captured his Rolodex too. Interesting reading, I'm sure.
Posted by: Zenster || 03/18/2007 19:08 Comments || Top||

#10  Let's just hope that they captured his Rolodex too.

Hear, hear. And his laptop, and his cell phone, and his address book, and ....

I for one am glad they caught a moneyman. Catching moneymen will shut down an insurgency faster than anything.

May his questioning be fruitful and ... exquisite, in the B&D/S&M sense.
Posted by: N guard || 03/18/2007 20:10 Comments || Top||

#11  B&D = Black & Decker?

NGuard, you are a true national asset, LOL
Posted by: Frank G || 03/18/2007 20:12 Comments || Top||


Newscaster kidnapped in Baghdad, director says
Gunmen abducted a radio newscaster and his driver in a predominantly Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad on Saturday, the station's director said. Karim Manhal, a newscaster with Radio Dijla, and his driver were seized by four masked gunmen in the Jami'a neighborhood near the station's headquarters, director Karim Yousif said. A female staffer who was with them in the car was released, he said.

The attack came more than three months after the Dec. 4 killing of Nabil Ibrahim al-Dulaimi, a 36-year-old Sunni news editor with the private station who was gunned down in his car on his way to work. Excluding Manhal's abduction, the Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 45 journalists had been kidnapped and 134 journalists and media support workers killed since the US-led invasion in March 2003.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Two policemen killed in Iraq blasts
BAGHDAD - Two separate bomb blasts on Saturday killed two policemen and wounded four others plus a civilian in war-torn Iraq, police said.

A policeman from a special task force was killed and two were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in the mainly Shiite provincial capital of Hilla, south of Baghdad, police Lieutenant Kadhim Al Aaraji said. A civilian was also wounded. Aaraji said the bombers targeted Brigadier General Abbas Al Juburi, commander of the task force, as his convoy was passing in Hilla’s southern district of Ndir. The brigadier escaped the attack.

A similar blast targeting another police patrol in the main northern city of Mosul killed one policeman and wounded another, said police Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf Al Juburi.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IDF troops shoot armed Palestinian in Nablus
IDF troops shot at an armed Palestinian in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus on Saturday. It was unclear whether the armed man was wounded. The IDF did not suffer casualties.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Thai jihadis attack schoolchildren in dorm killing three
Southern extremists attacked a dormitory at a Songkhla province Islamic school early this morning, killing three boys and wounding seven other students. Police said the attacks took place at Bamrungsart school, a Muslim boarding school, or pondok, in the Sabayoi district of Songkhla province.

The attackers threw grenades into a dormitory where about 75 boys between 12 and 17 were sleeping. Then they sprayed the area with automatic weapons fire. The dead boys were 12 and 14 years old, killed instantly, and a 17-year-old who died after reaching hospital.

Police believed - correctly as events proved - that the insurgents would try to blame authorities for the attack, in an attempt to win over villagers. "Insurgents always use this trick of attacking Muslim people to instigate villagers and get them to believe that police or soldiers were responsible for the attack," Pol Col Thammasak Wasaksiri told the Associated Press news agency.

Hundreds of Muslim villagers staged a protest Sunday morning, saying they did not believe Muslims were behind the attack. "The villagers are accusing paratroopers of attacking the school," Thammasak said.
If you round up the people who organized the "protests" and kill them immediately you won't have any more trouble in that area. Just a suggestion.
Posted by: ryuge || 03/18/2007 05:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What bravery.
Posted by: Free Radical || 03/18/2007 9:11 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm conflicted here, Muslims blow up Muslims-Good,
Muslims blow up children-Bad.
Muslims blow up junior jihadists in-training-Good
Muslims blame police-stupid (also Typical)

I agree with the above comment, stop screwing around, kill these bastards as quickly as possible, don't let the infection spread.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/18/2007 9:53 Comments || Top||

#3  The Brave Lions of Islam.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/18/2007 10:14 Comments || Top||

#4  This is what happens when there is no 'Newseeek' or 'Time' to manufacture 'koran-flushing' type news.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/18/2007 11:01 Comments || Top||

#5  This is what happens when men start living by seventh century standards.
Posted by: wxjames || 03/18/2007 15:05 Comments || Top||

#6  Ah, jihadis. When they're not hiding behind women and children, they're murdering them.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 03/18/2007 15:28 Comments || Top||


Central Mindanao terror threat level raised
Security forces in Central Mindanao have been alerted following persistent reports that al-Qaeda-linked Islamic extremist groups would stage bombing attacks in the region. The alert was raised as the Antiterrorism Task Force warned that the terror threat in Mindanao remains high, indicating probability of attacks within the month. The Philippine National Police chief, Director General Oscar Calderon, directed all police units in Central Mindanao to stay vigilant.

The ATTF reports, culled from intelligence sources, have indicated an increasing movement of terrorist groups and also of explosives. The report had also indicated that attack might be carried out by the Jemaah Islamiah and the Special Operation Group, made up of former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The ATTF added that JI-associated MILF rogue groups who were involved in the recent rash of bombings in Mindanao and who are plotting new attacks were reportedly hiding in MILF enclaves. “This situation hampers government troopers from conducting neutralization missions against the [terrorists] suspects,” the PNP, quoting the ATTF report said in a statement.

The task force also said followers of the slain Abu Sayyaf chieftain, Khadaffy Janjalani have been regrouping in western Mindanao in preparation for bombing missions. “Intensify police visibility operations and checkpoints in Central Mindanao region to check the activities of terrorist groups and prevent the movement of their arms and personnel,” Calderon ordered. The PNP chief also directed security tightened at vital installations such as government facilities, communication sites and public places that are vulnerable to a terrorist attack. “The PNP cannot afford to take chances whenever there is a threat of terrorist activity. I ordered the police to intensify visibility and intelligence monitoring in preempting terrorist from carrying out their activities,” Calderon said.

The ATTF report said the threat level in Metro Manila and in Caraga was moderate, while that in other regions remained low.
This article starring:
Director General Oscar Calderon
KHADAFY JANJALANIAbu Sayyaf
Abu Sayyaf
Jemaah Islamiah
Moro Islamic Liberation Front
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Director General Oscar Calderon, directed all police units in Central Mindanao to stay vigilant.

Also ordered water to stay wet, earth to grow plants, and sky to be aware of clouds.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/18/2007 9:57 Comments || Top||


Al-Ghozi’s co-escapee recaptured in Basilan
An Abu Sayyaf member who escaped with Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi’s from Camp Crame in 2003 was recaptured in Basilan Friday, the military reported Saturday. Merang Abante was arrested by a team of police and marine operatives in Isabela City.

Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, police director of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao, said Abante has two arrest warrants issued by a Zamboanga City court for kidnapping. Goltiao said the arresting team was led by the Isabela City police chief, Senior Insp. Parson Asadil. Abante was brought to Zamboanga City for investigation and will be turned over to the Zamboanga Trial Court.

Al-Ghozi, a Jemaah Islamiah bomb expert, Abante and another Abu Sayyaf member, Abul Mukhim Edris, escaped from the detention center of the PNP Intelligence Group in Crame on July 14, 2003. Their escape was a major embarrassment to the country since it coincided with the state visit of Australian Prime Minister John Howard who had promised support to the country’s counterterrorism drive. Al-Ghozi is one of the primary suspects in the bombing of an LRT terminal on December 31, 2000, that killed at least 26 people and injured scores of others. Edris, said to be a former member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, was killed a month after the escape as he tried to flee from government troops manning a checkpoint in Central Mindanao. Two months later, al-Ghozi was killed by policemen at a checkpoint in a remote town in Tigkawayan, North Cotabato.
This article starring:
ABUL MUKHIM EDRISAbu Sayyaf
Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao
FATHUR ROHMAN AL GHOZIAbu Sayyaf
FATHUR ROHMAN AL GHOZIJemaah Islamiah
MERANG ABANTEAbu Sayyaf
Prime Minister John Howard
Senior Insp. Parson Asadil
Moro Islamic Liberation Front
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Al-Ghozi and his friends just up and walked out of the prison. The guards were so lax they left the gate to the prison open and they just strolled out when no one was watching.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 03/18/2007 10:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Take a trip down memory lane and revist the Ghozi archives (scroll down about halfway). There's some fine commentary in there!
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/18/2007 10:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Classics!!
Posted by: 49 Pan || 03/18/2007 11:06 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
UN peacekeepers drive into Golan minefield
A vehicle belonging to United Nations peacekeepers accidentally entered a minefield in the Golan Heights on Saturday. IDF and police sappers were on their way to the scene to rescue the team.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ummmm, Just how did they discover it was a minefield?
GPS? Or something go BOOM?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/18/2007 10:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Yo, Jean-Claude. Get out and see where we are...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/18/2007 10:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Typical of the UN: What's yours is mine.
Posted by: Zenster || 03/18/2007 12:36 Comments || Top||

#4  the minefield (along with the IDF artllery) are the real peacekeepers. Deze guys should get the f*&k out
Posted by: Frank G || 03/18/2007 12:42 Comments || Top||

#5  I sure hope no IDF or Police members are injured or killed rescuing their enemies like this.
Posted by: Jackal || 03/18/2007 14:08 Comments || Top||

#6  Let me guess: from the polish contingent of UN peacekeepers?
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/18/2007 16:11 Comments || Top||

#7  the polish are smarter than most the rest of europe, in my opinion
Posted by: sinse || 03/18/2007 16:46 Comments || Top||

#8  I was refering to "polish minedetector" expression, sinse.
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/18/2007 16:51 Comments || Top||


LAF ups Palestinian camp security near Tripoli
Lebanese troops on Saturday set up checkpoints and searched cars going in and out of a Palestinian refugee camp near the northern city of Tripoli where a militant group blamed for last month's deadly bus bombings is based, camp residents and military officials said.

Soldiers searched all vehicles entering or leaving the Nahr al-Bared camp and banned media and Lebanese citizens from going inside. Schools in the camp were closed and Palestinian students who study outside Nahr al-Bared were prevented from leaving, said camp residents reached on the phone. The residents declined to give their names because of the sensitivity of the situation. They said many shops inside the camp, which is home to about 30,000 Palestinians, had closed and that traffic was light.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Good morning....
Anti-nuclear protests held in five French citiesPA unity gov't to meet officially on SundayU.N. force not finding Hezbollah's gunsSerbian: Four alleged Muslim terrorists arrestedIraq announces plan for stability6 killed in Bara as rival groups clashPresent turmoil conspiracy against me: Musharraf
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  not one of her better pics - but she really appeared to have a sense of humor
Posted by: Frank G || 03/18/2007 0:17 Comments || Top||

#2  And a great personality.
Posted by: Excalibur || 03/18/2007 7:39 Comments || Top||

#3  So, Frank... Are you trying to get in on the picture selection process?
Posted by: Bobby || 03/18/2007 8:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Lileks has an interesting series (start here) on changing ideas of feminine pulchritude, as represented by girls in swimsuits. The first couple are from the Joan Blondell era.
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 03/18/2007 11:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Have a great Spring Sunday!
Posted by: Icerigger || 03/18/2007 12:01 Comments || Top||

#6  Fred does fine without my help :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 03/18/2007 12:14 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
67[untagged]

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2007-03-18
  PA unity govt to meet officially on Sunday
Sat 2007-03-17
  Gaza gunnies try to snatch UNRWA head
Fri 2007-03-16
  Syrians confess to Leb twin bus bombings
Thu 2007-03-15
  9 held in Morocco after suicide blast
Wed 2007-03-14
  Mortar shells hit Somali presidential residence
Tue 2007-03-13
  Lebanese Police arrest a Palestinian carrying a bomb
Mon 2007-03-12
  Talibs threaten Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Mexico, Samoa
Sun 2007-03-11
  U.S. calls Iran, Syria talks cordial
Sat 2007-03-10
  Captured big turban wasn't al-Baghdadi. We guessed that.
Fri 2007-03-09
  Ug troops arrive in Mog
Thu 2007-03-08
  Pentagon Deploys more MPs to Baghdad
Wed 2007-03-07
  Split in Hamas? 2 Hamas officials move to Syria
Tue 2007-03-06
  CIA Rushing Resources to Bin Laden Hunt
Mon 2007-03-05
  Iraqis say they have Abu Omar al-Baghdadi
Sun 2007-03-04
  US and Pakistani agents interrogate Taliban leader

Better than the average link...



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.
44.201.99.133
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (35)    Non-WoT (5)    Opinion (5)    Local News (6)    (0)