A bomb struck a bus taking Afghan soldiers to work in the capital Kabul early yesterday, killing the driver and wounding 25 more people, police and the defence ministry said. The bomb, which the Taliban said they planted, was hidden in a car parked at the side of the road and was remotely detonated as the bus went by, an army officer said. "Twenty-five wounded were taken to hospital," defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi told AFP. "22 are members of the defence ministry. There are three civilians. One person has died."
The city's criminal investigation chief Alishah Paktiawal said earlier the dead person was the driver of the bus. "It was a roadside bomb targeting an ANA (Afghan National Army) bus," he said. He blamed the attack, one of a handful inside the city this year, on the "enemies of peace and stability in Afghanistan" -- a term Afghan officials often use and one generally understood to refer to Taliban insurgents. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said later the extremist movement had carried out the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2007 00:00 ||
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(SomaliNet) Three Finnish fishing vessels have been hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia's semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland, a maritime official said on Thursday.
"Yar, Gimme them fish, y'swab!"
"We are still investigating the nationality and the number of the crew as well as the ownership of the vessels," Andrew Mwangura, of the Kenyan branch of the Seafarers Assistance Programme, said.
Mwangura said an unspecified number of gunmen hijacked the boats early on Wednesday. Generally, pirate attacks have increased in recent weeks off the coast of Somalia after dying out during six months of strict Islamist rule in southern and central Somalia at the end of last year. Between March 2005 and June last year, there were scores of pirate attacks in the unpatrolled waters off the 3 700-kilometre Somali coastline.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/04/2007 00:00 ||
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The Finnish Foreign Ministry said it did not believe the ships were Finnish."According to all the information we have received the news that this was about Finnish vessels looks strongly to be incorrect," Foreign Ministry official Klaus-Jerker Lindroos said.
Another red-wire, green-wire story. File a workman's comp claim with Mutual of Mogadishu.
(SomaliNet) At least one person has been killed in a bomb explosion that rocked the southern port city of Kismayu in Somalia, reports say on Thursday.
The blast happened in Kismayus airport late Wednesday killing one person who was said to be the man trying to plant the bomb. The plotter wanted to bury the bomb on the road so as to explode a convoy carrying government officials. The man who was in the action of planting the bomb was said to be cut by the explosion into pieces as parts of his scattered body were collected from the ground.
A nose here, an ear there, oh look there's a foot ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Awwwwww. My heart just bleeds....
Oh, wait - that's not my heart bleeding. It's his parts.
*sniff* I love a happy ending.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/04/2007 0:11 Comments ||
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Looks like they need an exchange program with the Gaza Institute of Technology...
A Moroccan man sent home from the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay last week was released by local authorities after terrorism-related charges were dropped, a human rights lawyer and relatives said yesterday. Ahmed Errachidi, 41, was arrested on his return to Morocco and appeared before a judge on Wednesday on suspicion of preparing and carrying out terrorist acts, lawyer Mohamed Sebbar told Reuters. The charges were dropped, he was released last night and he is now back home with his family, said Sebbar. A relative confirmed his release and return home.
Errachidi spent more than five years at the US detention camp for terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba before being freed without charge last week. He has a wife and two young sons living in Morocco. Relatives say he suffers from bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, and needs to take medication regularly.
Errachidi lived in Britain for 17 years and worked as a chef in London restaurants. According to the British-based legal charity Reprieve, which represents him, he was arrested in Pakistan after traveling there in 2001 on a business venture to fund a heart operation for his younger son, Imran. While there, Ahmed Errachidi was affected by television footage of the US invasion of neighboring Afghanistan and went there to try to help refugees from bombing raids, a decision his lawyers say reflected his erratic judgment caused by his illness.
Once in Afghanistan, he soon realized there was nothing he could do and it was dangerous to stay. He was detained after crossing back into Pakistan. Pakistani officials then sold Ahmed Errachidi to the US military for a bounty that was negotiated while he stood by in shackles and a hood, Reprieve said in a press release on his case.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Ahmed Errachidi, 41, was arrested on his return to Morocco and appeared before a judge on Wednesday on suspicion of preparing and carrying out terrorist acts,
You were better off in gitmo, Idiot.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/04/2007 6:22 Comments ||
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Relatives say he suffers from bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression,
a perfect acolyte for Allan
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/04/2007 7:34 Comments ||
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I like the part that says Pak officials sold Ahmed Errachidi to the US military for a bounty that was negotiated while he stood by in shackles and a hood. I just hope we didn't pay too much because it doesn't sound like he was worth it.
THE clandestine nuclear "arms bazaar" network established bydisgraced Pakistani scientist A.Q.Khan remains intact and actively involved in the business of proliferating nuclear secrets, according to a major new report. The 170-page report, released yesterday by the prestigious, London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies, raises as many questions as it answers.
But as the most up-to-date account of the continuing fallout from Dr Khan's activities, it seems to go a long way towards confirming the most doleful assessments of the continuing impact of the wholesale proliferation of nuclear secrets by the rogue scientist and his cohorts.
The report - Nuclear Black Markets: Pakistan, AQKhan and the rise of proliferation networks - concludes Pakistan may still be involved in "illicit trading and smuggling" to procure equipment from black markets to run its nuclear program. It also warns that, having escaped law enforcement attention, the scientists could have resumed their black market business. There was no immediate official response from Pakistan.
"Lies, all lies!"
The country has consistently maintained that as soon as the extent of Dr Khan's activities were made known to President Pervez Musharraf in 2003, all aspects of the nuclear proliferation business were dismantled. Dr Khan, still a national hero in Pakistan, lives under what is claimed to be house arrest at his palatial home in the capital, Islamabad. But he is frequently visited by senior Pakistani leaders and the country has rebuffed repeated US requests to be allowed access to him so that the full detail of the arms bazaar network can be uncovered.
The report reiterates Dr Khan's insistence that "every army chief since General Zia ul-Haq" knew of his activities - an assertion disputed by General Musharraf, who has insisted he took decisive action the moment he was given evidence by the Americans that Dr Khan was involved in nuclear proliferation.
A senior security official in New Delhi said: "What these researchers appear to have concluded is that, far from the whole thing having ended when Khan was dismissed by Musharraf and forced to appear on television three years ago, the network he created remains intact and involved in the same sort of business.
"The damage that the Khan network did to global security in proliferating nuclear know-how to North Korea and Libya and Iran is bad in itself. "Given the report's conclusion, there must be a chance ofthem continuing to purvey nuclear secrets to all and sundry who want them, possibly even al-Qa'ida."
Yesterday, an author of the report told a London news conference that Dr Khan "may have been the deal-maker, but many of his contacts have been able to organise their own deals". IISS director-general John Chipman said yesterday the question of whether the Khan network had other customers was of "intense interest".
Similarly, what happened to the rest of the nuclear equipment that the Khan network had but did not send to Libya "is another major question remaining to be answered after the network was broken up, along with what other countries or non-state actors may also have received copies of nuclear weapon designs". According to Pakistani media reports yesterday, Dr Chipman said bomb designs were digitalised and copied on to computer disks at one of the Khan network offices in Dubai.
The report says Iran is now the most active customer in the international nuclear black market and has built a network that may be larger than Dr Khan's.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/04/2007 07:30 ||
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If there is one country in the entire MME (Muslim Middle East) that has earned, a nuclear first strike against it, that nation is Pakistan. While Saudi Arabia and Iran both struggle desperately to outdo each other with their proxy attacks on the West, it is Pakistan's ownership and proliferation of nuclear weaponry that pose the greatest danger of all. Such unrepentent propagation of international terrorism continues to erode what was once my staunch opposition to first use of nuclear weapons against Islam.
Pakistan is the just the opeational arm of Saudi whilst Hezbollah/Hamas operational arm of Iran.
Posted by: Paul ||
05/04/2007 10:26 Comments ||
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It's all (paki, saudi, iran, and their proxies)one big criminal enterprise that has nothing less than the murder of the other two thirds of the human race as its only goal. That's why "we win, they lose" is the only game in town...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/04/2007 10:44 Comments ||
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Through the release of atomic energy, our generation has brought into the world the most revolutionary force since prehistoric man's discovery of fire. This basic force of the universe cannot be fitted into the outmoded concept of narrow nationalisms.
For there is no secret and there is no defense; there is no possibility of control except through the aroused understanding and insistence of the peoples of the world. We scientists recognise our inescapable responsibility to carry to our fellow citizens an understanding of atomic energy and its implication for society. In this lies our only security and our only hope - we believe that an informed citizenry will act for life and not for death. -- Albert Einstein
Gotta get the word out to them towel heads, Albert. I don't think they understand how badly one nuke could screw up their day.
#7
Pakistan simply lacks the industrial base to sustain a nuclear weapons program.
Pakistan, is yet to manufacture a tractor, or a high speed lathe.
Smuggling of components is necessary to keep the weapons program operational.
Likewise it lacks the ability to design weapons.
It is Chinese designed warheads that they assemble.
Posted by: John Frum ||
05/04/2007 19:43 Comments ||
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Former Pak Army chief threatened to transfer nuke tech to Iran: Dossier
Former Pakistani Army Chief Gen Aslam Beg had threatened to transfer nuclear technology to Iran in 1989 if Washington cut off arms sales to Pakistan, the just released dossier on the Dr AQ Khan network has revealed.
The dossier quoted former US ambassador to Pakistan, Robert Oakley and Assistant Secretary of Defence Henry Rown about the threat made by Gen Beg.
The dossier on "Nuclear black markets: the AQ Khan network" was prepared by International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS).
Oakley claimed that Beg agreed to abandon the deal at his urging and that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Ghulam Ishaq Khan told Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani that the deal had not been approved by the President or Parliament and that Pakistan would not implement it.
The dossier said Rafsanjani had sought the consent of ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to execute a $6 billion deal for the purchase of nuclear weapons technology that Gen Beg had negotiated with Tehran in 1989.
It also revealed that after departure of Gen Beg, a new deal was also concluded between the then Army chief Gen Asif Nawaz, Rafsanjani and Gen Mohsen Rezai, Head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, in exchange for Iranian oil.
The dossier said after the death of Gen Zia in 1988 and Khomeini in 1989, new leaderships emerged in each country that were much more inclined towards mutual cooperation on a wide range of issues. In Pakistan, the dossier said Gen Beg, the new Army chief, openly supported the Iran cause and suggested that Pakistan cooperate with Iran, Afghanistan and any new Islamic republic that emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union, in an alliance of sorts organised around "strategic defiance" of the US and its western allies.
The dossier said Beg also has been an ardent supporter of Iran's bid to acquire nuclear weapons. Although, the dossier said, Gen Beg's direct involvement is unconfirmed and he denies this, he is widely suspected of having been an accomplice, if not encouragement or even outright direction.
The dossier also said that two unnamed former high-level Pakistani officials were reported as saying that in 1989, President Rafsanjani sought Benazir Bhutto's consent regarding a deal for nuclear weapons technology that Beg had initiated. The two officials said she told both Rafsajani and Beg that she did not approve of it.
Beg was quoted as saying that by Bhutto's own account it was she who had been approached by the Iranians with a similar proposition for a USD 4 billion transfer. Beg also said Iran was ready to pay USD 6 billion or more. This price, according to the dossier, however, seems exaggerated, as it is very much higher than Khan's 1987 and 1993 enrichment deals with Iran.
Although, the dossier said, Beg denies having authorised any onward proliferation from Pakistan to Iran, he has confirmed that serious nuclear discussions took place between the two nations at the time.
Posted by: John Frum ||
05/04/2007 19:48 Comments ||
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SPACEWAR/US INFOWIRE/OTHER > IRAN WILL HAVE MISSLE THAT STRIKE USA AND EUROPE IN LESS THAN EIGHT YEARS [Year 2015 or sooner]. Long Range ICBM highly likely/capable of carrying a nuclear payload. North Korea mentioned as already having TAEPONGDONG that can hit [western only?] USA.
Ten rockets were fired on an army camp in the North Waziristan tribal region early on Thursday but no injuries were reported, official sources said. The rockets were fired at a camp in the Dukoye area, some 60 kilometres west of Miranshah. Pakistani forces returned fire in the direction from where the rockets originated but there has been no information on casualties. Rocket attacks on army camps have increased in North Waziristan over the past week, after a mysterious explosion at Saidgey village last Friday killed at least two people and injured another two. Locals claimed fighter planes had bombed a house but the military stated that explosives inside the house had caused the blast. Three rockets were fired on a military check post in Miranshah 24 hours after the explosion. Local Taliban had earlier warned that they would reconsider the peace deal with the government if attacks similar to the one on Saidgey continued but the council of elders later stated that they would honour the deal in the national interest. The government and the militants signed a peace deal in Miranshah in September 2006.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Female students of the Jamia Hafsa on Thursday demanded a religious decree from the prayer leader of the Grand Mosque regarding the Islamic view on terming jihad as terrorism and the spread of obscenity in the name of enlightened moderation.
Khola Abdul Rehman and her fellow students made this demand to the prayer leader of the Grand Mosque in a letter written to Religious Minister Ejazul Haq. They asked the minister for his help in obtaining the answer and the decree of the prayer leader. They asked for the decree of the prayer leader on the steps taken by the present government in the same letter. The students also questioned the parachute jump of a female minister and the state of martyrdom for those who died fighting in Wana and the tribal areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2007 00:00 ||
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This is discouraging -- that the "Women of Islam" are just as nasty as the men. But there's something funny to me in that they "demanded" -- maybe that in itself is a positive.
Posted by: Captain Lewis ||
05/04/2007 6:51 Comments ||
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Not the wonem of islam, the dykes of islam. No nastier that rosie O'D...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/04/2007 11:06 Comments ||
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They want a fatwa telling them "No, Jihad is not terrorism, and it is halal to spread obscenity in the name of enlightened moderation." The fatwa allows them to do what they want against anyone peddling or using obscenity, any way they want it, and let them feel that they are not terrorists.
Do take some time this weekend to read this report.
Conclusion:
18. Standing back. From this trip, five variables struck me.
1. The sense of momentum that the surge strategy and leadership have infused into the effort.
2. The biggest challenge is at the top level of the Iraqi government, to include the National Assembly. It is very uncertain whether the higher ranks of the Iraqis can rise above the concept that seniority means privilege and can compromise with the Sunnis, when past oppression has been so real and pervasive. If the top persists in passive or active anti-Sunni manifestations, the effort is doomed.
3. The persistence of the murder and intimidation campaign. An increase in the number and the certainty of imprisonments is needed. More broadly, given that in Fallujah and elsewhere the numbers of Iraqi forces have not been enough in themselves, a police-based strategy is needed for rooting out the assassins. The root of the dilemma is the American insistence upon strict rules of law that are foreign to the Iraqi culture and have not been supplemented by American detective methods as a substitute for the old Iraqi way of doing business.
4. The vast distances versus the modest mobility and sustainability of Iraqi forces favor the mobile insurgent. An identification system - not episodic gestures - is imperative. That way, the mobility and anonymity of the insurgents are limited. Identification, though, also means trust in the ministries of government - a problematic assumption.
5. AQI must be beaten psychologically. Both JAM and AQI prey on the weak. They don't fight each other or the Iraqi army. The Iraqis in Special Forces units scorn the AQI and literally chase them down during night raids. The jundi don't express any particular fear of them. Yet AQI has a mystique of ferocity among the people, too many of whom believe AQI zealotry will overwhelm the Iraqi security forces.
The Iraqi Army must break that mystique by picking fights, by venturing into areas like the Zidon, by publicly mocking and humiliating the AQI and by smashing it.
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/04/2007 17:29 Comments ||
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Well CA, your linked piece taps right into Bing's point #2. Will the leadership get it or not? We are giving them the opportunity. I sure hope that they take it.
Across the walls of the villas they seized in the name of their shadow government, black-masked al-Qaida militants spray-painted the words: "Property of the Islamic State of Iraq." They manned checkpoints and buried an elaborate network of bombs in the streets. They issued austere edicts ordering women not to work. They filmed themselves attacking Americans and slaughtered those who did not believe in their cause.
For months, al-Qaida turned a part of one Baqouba neighborhood into an insurgent fiefdom that American and Iraqi forces were too undermanned to tackle -- a startling example of the terror group's ability to thrive openly in some places outside Baghdad even as U.S.-led forces struggle to regain control in the capital.
Oh, woe is us!
U.S. forces took back the entire Tahrir neighborhood during a weeklong operation that wrapped up Sunday in Baqouba, a city 35 miles northeast of Baghdad that al-Qaida declared last year the capital of its self-styled Islamic caliphate.
Oh woe is them. Especially the dead ones.
Though the operation was a success -- it forced the guerrillas to either flee or melt into the population -- soldiers say the extremists are likely to pop up anywhere else that's short on American firepower. Indeed, even as the Tahrir operation took place, insurgents stepped up attacks on a new police post in the adjacent Old Baqouba district -- which was also cleared recently -- pounding it daily and killing Baqouba's police chief in a suicide car bombing.
No one said it would be easy, but how the Left can support people like that is beyond me.
When U.S. forces began pouring into the embattled district last week, residents said it was the first time they'd seen significant numbers of coalition troops since last fall. U.S. troops set up a combat outpost in northern Tahrir several months ago.
But to the south, residents recounted watching helplessly as masked fighters came and went freely in past months, piling weapons into the back of vehicles and taking over the homes of Shiites who had either fled or been killed. "We were terrorized," said one man. "We wondered, Where is the government? Why have they forgotten us? Why does nobody come here to help?"
Baqouba has been wracked by violence for years. But insecurity has skyrocketed since late last year, partly because Sunni militants fleeing Baghdad's security crackdown have sought refuge here.
The hammer has dropped and it's meeting the anvil.
An estimated 60,000 people have fled the city of 300,000, most of them Shiites driven out by Sunni hit squads. Meanwhile, vital government subsidized food and fuel shipments, which normally flow in from Baghdad, ceased arriving because of political corruption in the capital, said Col. David W. Sutherland, whose 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, is responsible for security in Diyala province. "In an insurgency, if you don't have faith in the government or security forces ... you turn to those who will offer you a better way," Sutherland said. "The terrorists were able to drive a wedge between the government and the people. But we're reversing that."
"Fighting eased afterward. Soon, previously empty streets were teeming with crowds of people who shook soldiers' hands as they passed."
"The militants mostly kept to themselves, but they distributed puritanical leaflets commanding women to cover themselves in black from head to toe, and stay home from work. They ordered tea shops shut and warned men not to smoke water-pipes.
"No one dared ask them why," said one father."
"At night, masked men stormed homes, robbing and carrying out extra-judicial killings. "Nobody knew whether they were al-Qaida or the police or just common criminals," said a baker named Ali. "It was total lawlessness."
Amazing that this appeared in a local newspaper.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/04/2007 13:15 Comments ||
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residents recounted watching helplessly as masked fighters came and went freely in past months...We wondered, Where is the government?
Is it possible that noone came for the gunnies because the authorities didn't know where they were? This guy knew but, deciding he was helpless, didn't help. Iraq will have a much better chance at becoming a decent country when the people choose not to be helpless and rat out the bad guys.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
05/04/2007 13:56 Comments ||
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Living under the islamists rule seem to do wonders for the Sunni attitude. It should be our policy for every Sunni area to experience 6 months of it.
Posted by: ed ||
05/04/2007 14:18 Comments ||
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ed: Kind of makes you wonder whether or not it has been our policy in some of the more intransigent Sunni cities. Concentrate the bad guyz, while having them oppress their supporters. Kills two birds with one stone.
#6
ed: Kind of makes you wonder whether or not it has been our policy in some of the more intransigent Sunni cities. Concentrate the bad guyz, while having them oppress their supporters. Kills two birds with one stone.
I remember that very idea was speculated on (probably right here in the 'burg) between the first and second Fallujah ops. I don't know if that was the plan, but it certainly became an overall positive side-effect*.
* Overall in the strategic scheme of things. Obviously not for the victims of Zarq and his monsters.
#8
Living under the islamists rule seem to do wonders for the Sunni attitude. It should be our policy for every Sunni area to experience 6 months of it.
That's just plain crazy and it worries me that I think it's a good idea.
Sometimes I agree with the "let them live under AlQ rule for awhile" thought. One problem with this is what happens if AlQ actually gets to rule a country with nukes.
#10
By the same token, maybe the People's Republic of [name your favored area, Berzerkly mayhaps] could be established with strict commie regime (including "right to work" {=forced labor}, and other goodies {electric fence around not to let the "evil capitalists" in} that I fondly {very much kidding} remember from my another life).
Only for some 20 years... I think a lot of people would get cured, heh.
#11
it forced the guerrillas to either flee or melt into the population
But to the south, residents recounted watching helplessly as masked fighters came and went freely in past months, piling weapons
A population that willingly allows these thugs to circulate unchallenged does not deserve to be rescued. With so many people in Iraq being armed, there should have been many more incidents of al Qaeda operatives mysteriously getting their brains blown out. This wasn't happening and the citizens of the Tahrir district deserved their fate. Tough shit, assholes. Show some spine the next time around or suck it up and stop whingeing.
This is getting old.
MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq - Coalition forces discovered a weapons cache during a combat operation south of Baghdad.
Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) discovered four improvised explosive devices, components for 25 additional IEDs, seven 107mm Iranian rockets and an 81mm Iranian mortar in the Mahmudiyah area. The contents of the cache were destroyed during a controlled detonation conducted by an explosive ordnance team.
#4
Sometimes I get the feeling that Ahmadinijad could be captured in the Green Zone wearing a suicide bomb belt, and our administration would be overjoyed about finally having the opportunity to talk to him about stabilizing Iraq.
#9
I missed part of the local AM News today on FOX, but did Moud = Iran once again threaten to destroy or "wipe Israel off the map", or was it a Terror group???
#10
Given that so many terror groups are financed, trained and directed by Iran, JosephM, does it really matter who said it? Pretty much the entire Muslim Middle East is in agreement that the Jewish state is contrary to the will of Allah, although neither Allah nor his minions have thus far been able to do anything truly effective about it.
The U.S. military on Friday identified two more top al-Qaida aides killed during an operation earlier this week targeting a senior propagandist for the terror network. The announcement came a day after the military said U.S.-led forces killed al-Qaida propagandist Muharib Abdul-Latif al-Jubouri early Tuesday west of Taji, near an air base 12 miles north of Baghdad. Al-Jubouri was one of five militants killed in the operation, but he was not identified until Wednesday after DNA testing.
The military on Friday identified two of the other slain militants as al-Jubouri's spiritual guide Sabah Hilal al-Shihawi, also known as Sabah al-Alwani and Abu Nuri; and a foreign fighter Abu Ammar al-Masri, who is said was helping with insurgent activity and infrastructure support for al-Qaida. The military did not say where al-Masri was from, but his pseudonym, which is Arabic for "The Egyptian," suggests that he comes from Egypt.
Both militants had been positively identified by associates at the site, and photos also had been used to identify al-Shihawi, according to the statement. Military spokesman U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said Thursday that al-Jubouri was identified with photos and DNA testing but only one body had been removed from the battlefield.
This article starring:
ABU AMAR AL MASRI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
ABU NURI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
MUHARIB ABDUL LATIF AL JUBURI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
SABAH AL ALWANI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
SABAH HILAL AL SHIHAWI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: Steve ||
05/04/2007 07:23 ||
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Good work guys. How many of these slack jaws have we tagged and bagged at this point? Seems like many. Bush is doing exactly what he said he was going to do.
AQI Security Emir Killed:
In an operation conducted April 20, Coalition forces killed Muhammad Abdullah Abbas al-Issawi, also known as Abu Abd al-Sattar and Abu Akram, an al-Qaida terrorist leader who operated in the Karmah and Amariya areas and was the al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) Security Emir of the eastern Anbar province.
Abu Abd al-Sattar had links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and was reported to have been in contact with him from late 2004 until Zarqawis death in 2006. He was also a weapons supplier to insurgent forces and had links to the recent surge in chlorine Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) attacks across Iraq. Additional reports also indicate that his VBIED cell used 12- to 13-year-old children in suicide VBIED attacks.
Iraq Civilian Deaths Down in April:
According to numbers compiled by the Iraqi Interior, Defense, and Health ministries, violence against Iraqi civilians dropped nearly 20% in April with 1,506 civilians killed, down from 1,861 in March. The drop is largely attributable to the ongoing Operation Fardh al-Qanun and the increased security operations aimed to reduce sectarian violence in the capital and surrounding areas.
This increased operational tempo, greater numbers of U.S. troops on the streets, and the move from large, more secure Forward Operating Bases to smaller combat outposts and patrol bases in Iraqi neighborhoods also contributed to April being the deadliest month in Iraq for the U.S. military in Iraq so far in 2007, with over 100 U.S. troops killed.
Sunni Bloc Threatens to Pull Ministers:
The largest bloc of Sunni Arabs in the Iraqi parliament threatened to withdraw its ministers from the Shia-dominated Cabinet in frustration over the Iraqi governments failure to deal with Sunni concerns. President Bush called one of Iraqs two vice presidents, Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni Arab, and invited him to Washington in an attempt to forestall the withdrawal.
The bloc, known as the Iraqi Accord Front (Tawafuq) and made up of three Sunni Arab parties, claimed in a statement that they have lost hope in rectifying the situation despite all of its sincere and serious efforts to do so.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Seeks to Work Out Differences on Oil Law:
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih said May 1 that he was confident a draft oil law will be approved in parliament after officials from the central government and Kurdistan meet to iron out differences.
Kurdish lawmakers had planned to oppose U.S.-backed legislation to regulate Iraqs oil industry and some Sunni legislators have also raised objections, saying the oil law would give foreigners too great a role in the countrys oil industry. So, take a lesson from the Hugo playbook, and nationalize it later. Hugo learned it from Nassar and Castro.
Iran Says Earmarks $1 Billion Credits for Iraqi Projects:
Speaking in Najaf, Ali Larijani, Secretary of Irans Supreme National Council, announced that his country has earmarked $1 billion in credits for Iraqi projects and pledged support for Iraqi reconstruction. The Mad Mullahs destroyeth, and the Mad Mullahs giveth away.
Ministry of Industry & Minerals Participation in Training and Certification for ISO 9000: ISO 9000 Certification is no small task!
The Ministry of Industry & Minerals has announced that it is planning to have important State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) certified and made compliant to ISO 9000 quality standards. The certification process would allow for contracting opportunities in international trade where ISO 9000 is a prerequisite. This move could also enhance the SOEs prospective investment potential to international strategic partners if they become available for privatization.
The Ministry of Oil and Minerals manages 59 SOEs, including over 200 factories in six industrial sectors: Petrochemicals, Cement and Construction Materials, Engineering and Heavy Industry, Textiles, Food & Drug, and Industrial Services.
Hill Conference on FY07 Supplemental Has Concluded:
The House-Senate Conference on the FY07 supplemental bill has concluded. The supplemental bill appropriates over $2 billion for economic reconstruction and other related programs in Iraq.
CCCI Convicts 41: Bad week to be a convicted terrorist in Iraq.
The Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI) convicted 41 individuals April 1-14 for violations of the Iraqi Terrorist Law, Penal Code, and Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Orders enforced by the Iraqi judiciary.
CCCI sentenced four individuals to death after being found guilty of violations of Iraqs Terrorist Law. The convicted individuals were charged with participating and planning terrorist operations.
The trial court sentenced three individuals to life imprisonment after being found guilty of violating Iraqs Terrorist Law and 14 individuals were sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for violating CPA Order 3/2003, possession of illegal weapons. One individual was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for violating Article 194 of the Iraqi Penal Code, organizing, heading, leading or joining an armed group.
Since its establishment under an amendment to CPA Order 13, in April 2004, the Central Criminal Court has held 2,084 trials for suspected criminals apprehended by Coalition forces. The Iraqi Court proceedings have resulted in the conviction of 1,788 individuals with sentences ranging from imprisonment to death.
UN Secretary-General in Egypt to Launch International Compact with Iraq:
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will co-launch with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki the International Compact with Iraq in Sharm al-Shaik, Egypt May 3.
The International Compact with Iraq is a five-year national plan that includes benchmarks and mutual commitments from both Iraq and the international community, all with the aim of helping Iraq on the path towards peace, sound governance and economic reconstruction. Benchmarks! Hear that, Harry?
New Zealand Pledges Support to Assist Iraqi Refugees:
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced his countrys plan to donate $1 million to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to feed, house and protect Iraqi refugees.
Japan Reaffirms Support for Reconstruction and Airlift Operations:
Japanese Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma visited the U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida April 29 and assured the U.S. military that Japan will continue to support reconstruction efforts in Iraq through extending the deployment of Japanese air troops for airlift operations.
Radio Veteran Survives Assassination Attempt:
Amal Mudarris, 58, survived an assassination attempt April 29. The Baghdad radio veteran suffered serious head injuries when she was shot several times outside her Baghdad home the morning of April 29. Doctors said later in the day that her condition had stabilized and she was expected to recover. The evening of April 29, Iraqi television aired footage of Mudarris in a hospital recovery room. I assume, since the Orcs tried to off her, that she must have some integrity.
This article starring:
ABU ABD AL SATTAR
al-Qaeda in Iraq
ABU AKRAM
al-Qaeda in Iraq
ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Ali Larijani
Amal Mudarris
Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih
Iraqi Accord Front
Japanese Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma
MUHAMAD ABDULLAH ABAS AL ISAWI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Tariq al-Hashimi
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/04/2007 07:03 ||
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"violence against Iraqi civilians dropped nearly 20% in April with 1,506 civilians killed, down from 1,861 in March."
Of course, this will be widely reported in the MSM right?
As an aside, Iraq has 750 murders a month just from your garden variety disputes, so the terrorists have really dropped off lately.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/04/2007 10:44 Comments ||
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#2
Since doing the ISO 9001 thing is what keeps food on my table and Mrs. Ret living in the style she determined is best for her, I can tell you that having that hanging on the wall is a good thing, but I think that it might be more beneficial to getting the country stabilized so that there is a better chance of workers coming to work and not getting killed (or worse).
#3
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced his countrys plan to donate $1 million to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to feed, house and protect Iraqi refugees.
Which means about $80K will actually make it down the pipe to "help refugees". There is nothing more corrupt than the UNHCR bunch - just look at the paleostain hell-hole camps still active after 60 years of UNHCR help.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/04/2007 15:10 Comments ||
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what keeps food on my table and Mrs. Ret living in the style she determined is best for her,
American soldiers discovered a girls school being built north of Baghdad had become an explosives-rigged "death trap," the U.S. military said Thursday. The plot at the Huda Girls' school in Tarmiya was a "sophisticated and premeditated attempt to inflict massive casualties on our most innocent victims," military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said.
The military suspects the plot was the work of al Qaeda, because of its nature and sophistication, Caldwell said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
The plot was uncovered Saturday, when troopers in the Salaheddin province found detonating wire across the street from the school. They picked up the wire and followed its trail, which led to the school. Once inside, they found an explosive-filled propane tank buried beneath the floor. There were artillery shells built into the ceiling and floor, and another propane tank was found, the military said. The wire was concealed with mortar and concrete, and the propane tanks had been covered with brick and hidden underneath the floor, according to a military statement. Soldiers were able to clear the building.
"It was truly just an incredibly ugly, dirty kind of vicious killing that would have gone on here," Caldwell said.
Iraqi contractors were responsible for building the school, which was intended to bring in hundreds of girls. "Given the care and work put into emplacing this IED, it is likely it had been planned for a long time" and it is thought that "the IED was not intended to be set off until the building was occupied," the military said.
Authorities intend to question the Iraqis involved in the school's construction.
#5
Nobody hold your breath for condemnation from the human rights industry.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/04/2007 5:51 Comments ||
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#6
I'm sure Harry Ried and John Murtha are disappointed.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/04/2007 6:22 Comments ||
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#7
Google news shows an astounding 23 articles on this, including the one master article from the UPI. Perhaps the US should begin using this kind of tactic on a Title IX basis in Pakistani madrassas if it can be done so covertly.
#8
What's the big deal? they were just going to kill some women. Now, if they were to kill some of our beautiful boys -- that'd be an outrage! Besides, those girls would be better off being sent directly to paradise.
*attempting to channel a islamo*
Posted by: Captain Lewis ||
05/04/2007 6:59 Comments ||
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#9
As Captain Lewis points out, there is also a growing virgin shortage in paradise. This may end up being a stimulus to promiscuous activity as well.
#12
Now if our boys were back home, turning their backs on the Iraqi situation per democrat dogma, these poor souls would have been blown to hell with great suffering, and the MSM would say 'see the mess Bush left in Iraq.'
#17
Michael Moore called them "Minute Men". British generals ask us to "understand" their motives. The sooner this plague cult is eradicated the better. Root and branch. Salt the earth.
#18
Education is AQ's worst enemy. They are probably most particulary afraid of girls becoming educated. It'll suck real bad for them when all the little girls calls bullshit. All the more reason for those schools to be built and protected.
#19
Another construction project brought to you by The Brave Lions of Islam.
This is on a par with those infants being left inside of the car bomb. There is only one way to end this sort of behavior and it does not involve education.
BAGHDAD - Four US government contractors, all from Asia, were killed in a rocket strike on the heavily fortified Green Zone compound in Baghdad on Wednesday, the US embassy said on Thursday. It is with a profound sense of sadness and regret that we announce the loss of four US government contractors as the result of a rocket attack on the International Zone in Baghdad, Iraq on May 2nd, 2007, the embassy said in a statement.
The embassy had initially identified those killed as all being from the Philippines. It said in a later statement revising their nationalities that one was from the Philippines, two were from India and the fourth was from Nepal.
Sunni Arab insurgent group the Islamic Army in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack. It said on its Web site the attack was an attempt to hit the US embassy with two rockets. Thanks God, the hit was precise and led to great casualties among occupation troops who were at this location, it said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Sunni usually means from the south (Dora). I'm kinda surprised if Sunni nitwits are still able to hit the IZ - their 'hoods, in range, should mostly be pretty well watched by now. Then again launching a few rockets, one time, from a rooftop or vehicle in a city like Baghdad is almost impossible to stop every time. I feel badly for the contractors' families. Some of those guys from the Phillipines and Nepal were the nicest folks you've ever met. People took up a collection for the Pakistani workers after the quake last year. Not much visible problem between the American occupiers of Iraq and their Muslim cafeteria staff - quite the opposite. In a strange way, al Qaeda's ultimate nightmare ...
Given the nationalities of the victims, they weren't 'troops', or even particularly high-level contractors. Just some poor folks from around the world trying to earn a living.
#3
Glenmore - earning a living is unislamic. You're supposed to depend upon allan for everything. That's just one of many reasons why everywhere islam is the majority religion, the place is a hellhole.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/04/2007 15:14 Comments ||
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#4
Old Patriot, everyone knows Allah supplied the dhimmis to provide all that Muslims need for their contentment. That's why there are so many unbelievers -- to be sheared like sheep as needed.
Three insurgent groups said on Thursday they had formed a coalition that aimed to expel US-led forces from Iraq and appeared to distance itself from Al Qaeda-linked organisations in the country. The Islamic Army in Iraq, the Mujahideen Army and Ansar al-Sunna, an offshoot of the established Ansar al-Sunna group, said they would avoid spilling civilian blood, according to an Internet statement.
The Jihad and Reform Front ... pledges to continue with the duty of jihad in Iraq until all objectives, including the complete withdrawal of the occupiers in all their guises and the establishment of Gods religion .... are met, it said. The military actions of the mujahideen will target the occupiers and their collaborators and will not target the innocents whom jihad aims to lead to victory. Fighters had a duty to plan their attacks well and consider their consequences, it said.
The authenticity of the statement could not be verified. It was posted on websites used by militant groups. The mujahideen are the protectors of the religion and its people and one of their priorities is to protect Muslim blood, money and honour and to reduce the burden on residential areas, it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2007 00:00 ||
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The military actions of the mujahideen will target the occupiers and their collaborators and will not target the innocents whom jihad aims to lead to victory
#4
The military actions of the mujahideen will target the occupiers and their collaborators and will not target the innocents whom jihad aims to lead to victory.
But if you're not jihading against occupiers in all their guises and jihading for the establishment of allen's religion, are you not, in fact, a collaborator and, therfore, worthy of death?
I think that's what they meant.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/04/2007 6:34 Comments ||
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#5
Sounds like a merger to address the growing shortage of management talent in this industry segment as professionals seek positions in organizations with lower rates of turnover.
#6
ahhhh... so the short-term merger of three terrorist thug gangs is a Coalition, but a military force of over 150,000, including thousands from various countries is Unilateral Action by the US?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/04/2007 7:48 Comments ||
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Sounds like a renouncement of the al-Queda "slaughter everything that moves" strategy which has led to poison gas attacks on Sunni populations in Anbar. Either too little too late, or a preliminary move in trying to jump on the 1920 Revolutionary Brigades/Awakening bandwagon - and that may be too little too late.
Excellent news. Which probably means it's time for the Shia to go nuts & start a general insurrection. Cause nothing ever seems to go right in this snakebit disaster of a war...
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
05/04/2007 11:49 Comments ||
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OK, time to finish off AQ so these guys can go back to killing each other.
Tens of thousands of Israelis called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign late yesterday in the first mass street protest since a government inquiry blasted his leadership of last years Lebanon war. Organizers said about 100,000 people, left-wing activists and right-wing settlers among them, filled Tel Avivs Rabin Square calling for Olmert to resign in the wake of the report that accused him of serious failure during the 34-day war.
You serve the people, the people dont serve you, the father of a soldier killed in the conflict said from a stage in the square, a huge banner reading Bunglers Go Home behind him.
Olmert quit! Olmert quit! the festive crowd chanted in reply, waving signs and banners calling for early elections. The people have lost their trust in the government and everyone in Israel should take to the streets in protest, said Viktor Tal, 46, who came from the northern town of Haifa to attend the rally.
I hope that the tens of thousands of the people who came here will at last make them understand that they must quit, said Eliad Shraga, who heads a group advocating good governance in Israel. The demonstration was being closely watched for an indication of whether Israelis, two-thirds of whom want Olmert to resign according to polls, are willing to take their discontent to the streets.
Earlier an Olmert aide warned that a high turnout would not push the prime minister to leave his post less than a year after officially assuming it. The prime minister cannot react to polls and demonstrations, Tal Silberstein, a senior advisor, told army radio. Olmert has admitted to grave failures in the handling of the war, but has said that resigning would be irresponsible and vowed his government would work to correct the mistakes uncovered by the inquiry.
Earlier yesterday, Olmert survived his second major test since the publication of the report three days ago, emerging unscathed after a special session of Parliament called in the wake of the inquiry. Despite several impassioned speeches calling on him to resign, the session closed with no attempt to push through a no-confidence vote. And so far, his 78-member coalition has stood by the premier in the 120-seat Knesset.
Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing opposition Likud party which leads in opinion polls, said: Our country needs new leadership. Those who failed at war cannot be those who correct the failures. Olmert attended the session, but did not speak, leaving Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres to defend the government. This government did err, Peres said. This government was instructed by the inquiry to immediately fix what needs fixing and it is doing so ... If you made a mistake it means you acted.
On Wednesday the premier doused a rebellion within Kadima despite a call to quit by top aide Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and the resignation of the chief of the partys parliamentary bloc. Following a late-night meeting of Kadimas 29 deputies in the Knesset, Peres emerged saying Olmert had received unprecedented support from the MPs after only two backed Livnis call for Olmert to step down. He may be a failed prime minister, but he is a fairly good politician, wrote the tabloid Maariv.
The prospect of a putsch within Kadimas ranks has burst like a soap bubble, along with the fear of a ministerial mass desertion that could topple Olmerts government, wrote the liberal Haaretz newspaper. Israel launched the war on Hezbollah after the Shiite militia seized two soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid on July 12. The war killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, according to government figures.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2007 00:00 ||
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WORLDTRIBUNE Commentary [Winograd Commis Report]> IDF = ISRAEL believed it had evolved BEYOND WAR, i.e. was so strong + mil superior, etc. it did not believe it had to fight a REAL WAR = CONVENTIONAL/GROUND WAR EVER AGAIN, thus was not ready for Lebanon 2006.
#7
WND > Paleo Officio - "KILL EVERY AMERICAN AND JEW", + TERRORISTS: REPORT PROVES ISRAEL/ZIONISTS ARE LOSING. * NEWSMAX > HAMAS CALLS FOR EXTERMINATION OF THE JEWS. God and Hitler said has to be done [Mein Kampf religious sources quoted]. BIG NEWS NETWORK > Paleos will fight/resist any Israeli attack [Gaza], + HIZZIES HEZZIES REARMED AND READY TO FIGHT ISRAEL [Lebanon] BUT NOT SEEKING BATTLE.
#7
I haven't been counting, but I believe this is Betty's third appearance in about 330 days. You're right, though. I did use this picture before, here and here.
Coincidentally, the Jayne Mansfield picture I used to start the week was also used before.
When I use a picture, I move it into the "published" directory so I don't use it again. But if I have the same picture under a different name, I might use it again as it fades from aging, faulty memory... Hey! Is that Elvis?
Posted by: Fred ||
05/04/2007 9:08 Comments ||
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#8
I'd vote for her as one of my 72 virgins. Skip the virgin part, it is not necessary.
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.
A bomb struck a bus taking Afghan soldiers to work in the capital Kabul early yesterday, killing the driver and wounding 25 more people, police and the defence ministry said. The bomb, which the Taliban said they planted, was hidden in a car parked at the side of the road and was remotely detonated as the bus went by, an army officer said. "Twenty-five wounded were taken to hospital," defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi told AFP. "22 are members of the defence ministry. There are three civilians. One person has died."
(SomaliNet) Three Finnish fishing vessels have been hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia's semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland, a maritime official said on Thursday. 
American soldiers discovered a girls school being built north of Baghdad had become an explosives-rigged "death trap," the U.S. military said Thursday. The plot at the Huda Girls' school in Tarmiya was a "sophisticated and premeditated attempt to inflict massive casualties on our most innocent victims," military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said.
BAGHDAD - Four US government contractors, all from Asia, were killed in a rocket strike on the heavily fortified Green Zone compound in Baghdad on Wednesday, the US embassy said on Thursday. It is with a profound sense of sadness and regret that we announce the loss of four US government contractors as the result of a rocket attack on the International Zone in Baghdad, Iraq on May 2nd, 2007, the embassy said in a statement.
Tens of thousands of Israelis called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign late yesterday in the first mass street protest since a government inquiry blasted his leadership of last years Lebanon war. Organizers said about 100,000 people, left-wing activists and right-wing settlers among them, filled Tel Avivs Rabin Square calling for Olmert to resign in the wake of the report that accused him of serious failure during the 34-day war.
