Profits from Afghanistan's thriving poppy fields are increasingly flowing to Taliban fighters, leading U.S. and NATO officials to conclude that the counterinsurgency mission must now include stepped-up anti-drug efforts. Like KC-10s fitted with a crop-sprayer about a mile wide.
This year's heroin-producing poppy crop will at least match last year's record haul and could exceed it by up to 20 percent, officials say, meaning more money to fuel the Taliban's violent insurgency. Agent Orange. KC-10 with fuc&ing enormous crop sprayer. Afghanistan poppy fields. Nighttime missions. Spooky for cover. Problem solved.
"It's wrong to say that you can do one thing and not the other," Ronald Neumann, who recently stepped down as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, said of the link between anti-drug and anti-terrorism efforts. "You have to deal with both at the same time." Apparently not. That's not how it's being done now, anyway.
Afghanistan accounts for more than 90 percent of the world's heroin supply, and a significant portion of the profits from the $3.1 billion trade is thought to flow to Taliban fighters, who tax and protect poppy farmers and drug runners. Protect them from who? The Taliban?
Drug control has not been part of the official mandate of international forces in Afghanistan. But there is a growing push for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, to play a more active role in sharing intelligence and detecting drug convoys and heroin labs, said Daan Everts, NATO's senior civilian official in Afghanistan. Losing dollars by saving pennies are we?
There is "increasing international interest in seeing a more assertive supportive role in ISAF in the counternarcotics strategy implementation," he said before quickly adding that it would not include eradication. Why no eradication? And while you're at it, eradicate the Taliban farmers, too.
International forces also might provide support for operations targeting senior drug traffickers, Neumann said. Better idea: No drugs ==> no traffickers/Taliban.
Military commanders who viewed drugs as a minor irritant in 2002, when poppy production was much lower, have reassessed the importance of the vast fields of red and white poppies their soldiers drive past in security convoys, said a Western official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he didn't want to be seen as criticizing the military. Sure. Blame the military. Try giving them money and a directive to get rid of the fields. I'm sure they'd love to do it.
It's too early to say definitively what this year's crop will be. But another Western official with knowledge of the drug trade said it could exceed last year's record 407,000 acres by as much as 20 percent. The official declined to give his name because of the nature of his work. I'd guess 20% bigger than before, and the Taliban's cut will probably be higher this year so they can get more "protection".
Gen. Khodaidad, Afghanistan's deputy minister for counter-narcotics, said that estimate is likely accurate. "The problem is a lack of security, a lack of governance, the Taliban, druglords, warlords and corruption," said Khodaidad, who goes by one name. "It's a bad list with very bad results." Shoulda nipped it in the bud.
Thomas Schweich, a senior State Department official, said he has briefed NATO ambassadors and Gen. Dan McNeill, the top NATO general in Afghanistan, on the need for increased military cooperation on the drug front. I'm pretty sure they already knew about it.
There is a growing recognition that "counternarcotics and counterterrorism are effectively the same thing," said Schweich, the U.S.-based coordinator for counternarcotics and judicial reform in Afghanistan. "I think everybody recognizes that with the Taliban receiving funding from narcotics, much more so than in the past, that there has to be a coordinated effort." Bull$hit. The Taliban would drive into a farmer's field with a tractor and go nuts for a few minutes. No coordination whatsoever. Just a couple of guns and a promise to come back with more Talibunnies and exact revenge if the farmer gave them any crap. The West thinks too hard.
While poppy production is falling in north and central Afghanistan, where security is stronger, that decline is expected to be overwhelmed by a surge in production in the southern province of Helmand, the most violent region. Yeah, terrorists tend to go where the resistance is least.
Helmand is expected to account for more than 50 percent of Afghanistan's poppy crop for the first time, meaning the province by itself would be the world's largest opium-producing region. Blah blah blah. The country isn't that big that it makes a difference where they grow the stuff.
"The amount of production in Helmand has undone successes in other parts of the country," Neumann said. "What you see is that where you have a reasonable level of peace and a little bit of government, you can start to make progress against the poppy. Where you are in the middle of the insurgency, it's much harder." Why tie it to the quality of the government? Just spray it. It will go away.
The United States would like to see Afghanistan undertake ground-based spraying of poppy fields with herbicides. The new U.S. ambassador here, William Wood, oversaw U.S.-backed coca field eradication efforts in Colombia as ambassador there. That'll happen. Not.
But some Afghan Cabinet members have expressed reservations about the impact on legitimate crops or livestock. President Hamid Karzai at first agreed to allow spraying last year before changing his mind, according to the Western official familiar with the drug trade. Yeah, those red and white fields can be confused with wheat or corn just way too easily. Better study the problem for a few years first. And do an environmental impact study. Somehow I get the feeling that the Taliban aren't the only ones getting paid for "protection".
Khodaidad said the Afghan government may permit ground-based spraying next year and is even considering aerial spraying. Sounds like someone's trying to boost their take a bit raising the pressure.
Afghan officials have not talked publicly about aerial spraying before, out of fear of public opposition. Or losing their cut.
"We have left the option open," he said. Any decision to start ground-based or aerial spraying would have to come from Karzai, Western officials say. Well, Karzai, are you with us or not?
#1
What're they spending, a billion a month in Afghanistan? The poppy crop's worth 3.1? We ever think about buying it all up? The farmers get their money and the Taliban gets screwed outta their cut. Maybe get entrepenurial and setup some pharmacuetical companies to make morphine based pain killers creating more opportunities for Afghans? And, as a valued customer that they want to keep happy, maybe the farmers start having no qualms about giving up these mooks by the bushel full?
Just a thought.
Another "Blinding Flash of the Obvious" moment brought to you by Ric Romero(*).
(*) Ric Romero A Los Angeles television reporter for KABC-TV, noted for reporting on blogging as if it were a new discovery years after it had hit the mainstream. Ric Romero is usually mentioned in Fark.com articles when the topic is of an incredibly obvious nature.
Problem is, most crops are hard to grow and have poor return on investment. Poppies grow wild in Afghanistan, are easy to cultivate to increase yield, and provide a HUGE return on investment. We need to do something that will make the Afghans willing to switch to a different crop. Maybe we need them to grow switch grass or something similar, and create a biofuels industry in Afghanistan. They don't have any indigenous oil or gas, so it would be beneficial in two ways. Until you can give the Afghan farmer a similarly profitable crop, you're not going to eliminate poppies.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/22/2007 14:13 Comments ||
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#6
Biowarfare (Downy Mildew, Powdery Mildew, viruses, bacteria) can take care of the HUGE return on invest of opium. Fire up the sprayers.
Posted by: ed ||
05/22/2007 14:23 Comments ||
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#7
Old Patriot: #5 #3 Whatever happened to napalm?
#8
I feel that if we give the farmers something more profitable to do, then the Taliban will come and take a percentage of that free money for "protection". Just kill the freaking poppies and let the cards fall where they will. Perhaps next year they'll grow something they can eat.
#9
good idea Tu, then reading gorb's comment made me wonder. Although having the Taliban get money for protection would make them the bad guy here and that might help our cause with them.
I'm all for killing the poppy crops, just don't want to kill any good relations we have with the afghans. To possibly replace the poppy crop with something else, would the stuff we use killing the poppys ruin the earth for growing anything else?
Posted by: Jan ||
05/22/2007 22:44 Comments ||
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#10
It depends on what's used, Jan. The Round-Up herbicides sold in the garden center of your local big box store break down to salt and water within a few days, some others linger for years, some of the biologicals are pretty much species specific. Poppies are a perennial flower; Round-Up sprayed in the autumn will be absorbed into the roots, and the plants will not come back in the spring.
Afghanistan The set up of an illegal check point and the subsequent assault of a Jingle truck driver and destruction of a Jingle truck prompted local Tribal leaders to surround the insurgents responsible in a nearby house in Chapakoh village, Nuristan province May 17.
Coalition forces conducted a Shura where the tribal elders informed the Coalition that they had surrounded the insurgents, responsible for the attacks, in a nearby house. Villagers requested the Afghan National Police arrest the insurgents. Coalition forces provided additional security outside the village while the ANP searched the home. The insurgents ran away fled the village before the ANP or Coalition forces could make an arrest.
This is a perfect example of how much the people trust the ANP and Coalition forces, said Army Maj. Eric Zenk, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division spokesperson. They were willing to risk their lives to expel the insurgents who are not welcome in this village.
With the support of the local Afghans, Afghan National Security Forces and Coalition elements, we will rid the area of enemy fighters which is what these people want here in this province, Zenk said.
Since the incident, the road has been cleared for passage and the destroyed Jingle truck recovered.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/22/2007 07:40 ||
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Jingle trucks. No wonder the villagers were upset.
KABUL - New Taleban attacks killed 14 Afghan policemen, police announced on Monday. The bodies of 11 of the policemen were recovered on Sunday, a day after they were killed by Taleban fighters in the southern province of Helmand, a police commander told AFP on condition of anonymity. They were moved to Kabul, where they had come from, the commander said.
News of the killings was brought by a sole surviving policeman who made it to the town of Gereshk a day after the bloody incident, the official added.
Three more policemen, including a district counter-criminal chief, were killed in the eastern province of Nangarhar on Monday by a remotely controlled bomb similar to those regularly used by Taleban, a police spokesman said. Seven other policemen were injured. It was the work of the Taleban, provincial police spokesman Abdul Ghafoor told AFP.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/22/2007 00:00 ||
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A convoy of Ethiopians fell victim to a roadside bomb in the Somalia capital Mogadishu on Monday as explosions against the government and its allies are increasing these days. There were no immediate release of nmber of casualties. However, according to bystanders a civilian was shot dead by the Ethiopian soldiers after he refused to listen to soldiers orers.
The bomb exploded as the last military truck of the convoy was passing near the compound of the former defense ministry in south of Mogadishu, an eye witness told Somalinet. The explosion which rocked the area happened around 7:30 am local time.
Shortly after the blast, the Ethiopian forces cordoned the area and arrested one person. Searching for suspects continued. It is the first roadside bomb attack on the Ethiopians since the Islamists were dislodged.
#1
Has anyone been charting the use of IED's since Iraq war started? Seems to me that it is spreading expotentially. Haven't seen any in Florida yet but wouldn't be too darn surprised if one went off on Collins Ave. sometime.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
05/22/2007 7:40 Comments ||
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#2
Well, Jack, Islamos are backwards donkeys but they don't fight success. When something works for them, like car bombs and IED's, they keep using it. They're smart enough to know that. Sure, it's going to spread. The first large car/truck bomb here that takes out 100-200 US civilians will have everyone howling because it's a gruesome sight. But, it will happen. This is the way they function. The only way to prevent that is to start rounding them up and deporting them while there is still time.
Egyptian authorities have detained 25 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, a security official said on Monday, bringing to 39 the number of Islamists arrested in 24 hours. Eleven members of the Islamist group were arrested late on Sunday in the southern province of Beni Sueif, 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Cairo, on charges of holding "a secret meeting," the official said.
Fourteen others were detained in dawn raids in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiyah, including Abdel Aziz Abdel Qader, who heads the group's Sharqiyah office. Earlier Sunday, Egyptian security forces stormed the home of Brotherhood member Hossam Mohammed Abdel Salam in Sharqiyah and arrested 14 members on charges of holding a secret meeting and of being in possession of secret documents.
The Muslim Brotherhood is the largest and best organised opposition movement in the country but it is also officially banned, leaving it open to periodic crackdowns.
Sunday's arrests come as Egypt is set on Tuesday to close the door for candidate nominations for the election of parliament's upper house on June 11. The Muslim Brotherhood announced in April it would field 20 candidates despite constitutional amendments approved in March that specifically prohibit political activity on a religious basis.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has reshuffled the National Defence Commission which he heads to strengthen his grip on power in the communist state, news reports and analysts said yesterday. The reshuffle increases the number of full-time senior staff at the commission which has become the Norths most powerful body under Kims army-first policy, Seouls Yonhap news agency and newspapers said.
General Ri Myong-Su, formerly armed forces operations director, was recently named to serve exclusively as a standing member of the commission, Yonhap said quoting an unnamed source. It followed the April appointment of Vice Marshal Kim Yong-Chun as full-time vice chairman of the commission after he quit as military chief of staff, it said.
The military top brass of the nuclear-armed nation had previously usually assumed dual posts, both at the commission and with the armed forces.
The National Intelligence Service, Seouls main spy agency, refused to confirm the news reports. We are still checking it, a spokesman said. Local media said the reshuffle heralds a further strengthening of the already powerful National Defence Commission (NDC).
The NDC seems to have become, at least externally, the Norths highest decision-making body as a number of top military officials have recently been appointed to permanent posts of the defence commission, the source told Yonhap. We believe the NDC may become an actual (properly structured) organisation in the near future with hundreds of resident staff like the other top decision-making bodies such as the ruling Workers Party, the official added.
Nam Sung-Wook, a North Korea expert at Korea University, said the reshuffle was part of Kims long-standing policy of checks and balances.
A powerful blast believed to be a bomb ripped through an Ankara shopping district Tuesday, killing at least five people and wounding dozens more. Anti-terror squad police at the scene said they have found traces of A4 plastic explosives.
The rush-hour explosion went off in a busy shopping area of the city -- Ulus -- and during an international defense fair, where companies show their wares to militaries. Investigators are trying to determine whether the bomb was planted or was detonated by a suicide attacker, according to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan called the blast a terror bombing and said the "unfortunate event" occurred despite "very heavy precautions" against such attacks. "We have to unite against terrorism," he said. "We have to create a global platform against terrorism."
Police said A4 explosive is often used by militants in the radical separatist Kurdistan Workers Party -- known by its Turkish initials, PKK. Its fighters have been staging attacks against Turkey in the country's southeast and from the Kurdish region of neighboring Iraq. Police are also trying to track down a red vehicle that was at the scene.
Erdogan confirmed five deaths to news reporters. One of the dead was a Pakistani and the others were Turks. Four of the more than 60 people injured were Pakistanis as well, Erdogan said.
The blast went off at the entrance of a seven-story shopping center, according to a CNN Turk journalist. That location is near a bus station, and the area is known for its tourist sites and bazaars. News video showed covered bodies and bloody, injured people, some being carried onto stretchers. Witnesses described seeing body parts. Debris was scattered around the scene, and windows were knocked out of the building. Investigators were searching the rubble for clues. Initially, authorities thought the blast was the result of an accident.
Dozens were killed in 2003 when militants bombed two synagogues, the British consulate and a bank in Istanbul, the country's largest city. There have been other bombing attacks as well, claimed by Islamic militants and Kurdish radicals. Turkey is a secular country that is predominantly Muslim. There has been a lot of tension in the country between secularist and traditional Muslims, and the state has been battling Kurdish separatists for many years.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- A powerful explosion in the Turkish capital injured several people on Tuesday, CNN-Turk television reported. The cause of the blast, in one of the busiest commercial neighborhoods of Ankara, was not immediately known.
We'll have to wait and see
NTV television, however, quoted Gov. Kemal Onal as saying an "accident" -- and not a bomb -- was likely to have caused the explosion.
"Round up the usual leaking propane tank suspects!"
Several ambulances were dispatched to the area, CNN-Turk reported.
UPDATE: ANKARA, Turkey: A powerful explosion in a busy commercial neighborhood in the Turkish capital Tuesday, caused several casualties, CNN-Turk television reported. A CNN-Turk reporter at the site said he could see several bodies lying on the ground. Television footage showed medics tending to the injured and carrying people into ambulances on stretchers.
The cause of the blast, outside one of the oldest shopping malls of Ankara and near bus stops, was not immediately known. At least 15 people, some of them foreigners, were taken to a hospital nearby, hospital officials told CNN-Turk television. Although private NTV television earlier quoted Gov. Kemal Onal as saying that an "accident" may have caused the blast, the station later quoted police sources saying the most likely cause was a bomb. Police were considering the possibility of a suicide attack, CNN-Turk and NTV television reported.
Likely a response to the anti-islamic protests
"Police officials are investigating the cause, announcements will be made following the inspections," said Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin. The explosion shattered windows of the shopping mall and of buildings nearby, scattering furniture and debris onto the street.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/22/2007 12:32 ||
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Several killed, injured as blast rocks Turkish capital -- Police believe a bomb was behind the powerful blast which rocked the capital Ankara Tuesday, killing and injuring several people. A CNN-Turk news channel reporter at the scene said he saw at least three dead bodies on the street while the television network quoted police sources as saying that the blast had left more than 40 people injured. At least 15 people, some of them foreigners, were taken to a hospital nearby, hospital officials told CNN-Turk television.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/22/2007 12:50 Comments ||
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#2
Maybe it was an accidental detonation of a bomb?
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships Tuesday stormed a suspected Al Qaeda camp in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan, killing at least four foreign rebels, officials said. Soldiers raided the training camp at Zargarkhel village in North Waziristan after militants refused to meet a peace delegation flown in by helicopter and opened fire, military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said.
Arshad told AFP the security forces had cordoned off the area after confirmed reports that miscreants were operating a terrorist training facility in Zargarkhel. A peace committee of (pro-government) tribal elders was flown to the area by helicopter to negotiate but the militants started firing, Arshad said. We retaliated and the firing is going on. Training materials including explosives had been seized, although the final death toll was not yet available, he later told a private television channel.
Security officials said four foreign militants were killed.This is an Uzbek training centre which has been busted. The dead were foreigners, one official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Ground troops and Cobra gunships are carrying out the operation. Musharraf said in a television interview at the weekend that Osama bin Ladens Al Qaeda network was present in Pakistans tribal areas in the form of foreigners including Uzbeks and Arabs.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/22/2007 08:03 ||
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Only reason it happened was the terrs were delinquent in paying their dues to Islamabad...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/22/2007 13:18 Comments ||
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PESHAWAR: Suspected militants fired rockets, destroying seven fuel trucks at a key border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan early on Monday, an official said. The attack took place about 500 metres inside the Torkham border crossing, said local official Hamid Khan. No one was hurt. He said authorities were investigating who was responsible. It was not immediately clear if the trucks were carrying fuel to supply Western forces in Afghanistan. Taliban insurgents often target such supplies. Khan said the attackers fired two rockets at around 4am that blew up two fuel trucks in a parking lot and sparked fires that destroyed another five nearby. Two more fuel trucks were damaged.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called on all sides in Lebanon to protect civilians. In a statement released by his spokesperson, Ban said he is gravely concerned about the fighting in the last two days between Fatah el-Islam gunmen and the Lebanese army.
"The actions of Fatah al-Islam are an attack on Lebanon's stability and sovereignty," the UN chief said. He welcomed the "united stand taken by Palestinian factions in Lebanon denouncing these attacks on the Lebanese army" and called on all sides to do their utmost to protect innocent civilians.
Ban also strongly condemned Sunday's terrorist bombing in Beirut, and urged the Lebanese "to unite in the face of threats to their stability and security."
#1
"Ban said he is gravely concerned about the fighting in the last two days between Fatah el-Islam gunmen and the Lebanese army."
Got that diplospeak down pat,eh ? No need to be concerned, the Leb Army has opened fire with artillery and will have the bunch of ruffian boys reduced to small gobs of goo in a coupla more days. This solution will provide great relief to your already overtaxed brain.
Seriously this may be just the right size opponent for the Lebs, just big enough to challenge them and make them learn, and small enough to handle. Good training before they take on Hezb (if they ever do). Syrians may have made a mistake unleashing FI.
Seriously this may be just the right size opponent for the Lebs, just big enough to challenge them and make them learn, and small enough to handle. Good training before they take on Hezb (if they ever do). Syrians may have made a mistake unleashing FI.
#7
Once JUST ONCE! I would like them to call for the end of attacks on ISRAELI citizens, military, children, businesses, holy sites, hospitals, bunnies or residents. But I think I will be long gone from this world before that ever happens.
Coalition Forces freed 12 Iraqis who were held captive and beaten by terrorists during a raid Tuesday morning on a site northeast of Karmah targeted for its ties to another terrorist detention facility.
After five Iraqi hostages were freed May 21, intelligence reports indicated two buildings were being used for kidnappings and murders. As Coalition Forces approached the first building, armed men engaged them with small arms fire. In an appropriate response to the hostile threat from an organized force, ground forces returned fire and called in air support. Five terrorists were killed by the ground forces and four were killed in an air strike.
Coalition Forces then secured the building and discovered 12 Iraqis held captive in a locked room, three of whom appeared to have been beaten. The ground force evacuated the 12 individuals and provided treatment for their injuries. The hostages will be turned over to their respective tribal leaders for repatriation.
The first building also contained a cache of weapons, including two rocket-propelled grenades, a sub-machine gun, rifles and 19 military-style assault vests. The weapons were safely destroyed on site. In the second building, Coalition Forces found stolen goods and detained three suspected terrorists there for their alleged ties to the kidnapping network.
Iraq's military is drawing up plans to cope with any quick U.S. military pullout, the defense minister said Monday, as a senior American official warned that the Bush administration may reconsider its support if Iraqi leaders don't make major reforms by fall. The U.S. official did not say what actions could be taken by the White House, but his comments reflected the administration's need to show results in Iraqas an answer to pressure by the Democrats in Congress seeking to set timetables on the U.S. military presence.
With violence raging, pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Nouri al- Maliki's government to demonstrate progress on key reforms or risk losing American support for the unpopular war. On Monday, Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi told reporters Iraq's military was drawing up plans in case U.S.-led forces left the country quickly.
"The army plans on the basis of a worst case scenario so as not to allow any security vacuum," al-Obeidi said. "There are meetings with political leaders on how we can deal with a sudden pullout."
It was unclear whether al-Obeidi's comment referred to routine contingency planning or reflected a feeling among Iraqi leaders that the days of U.S. support may be numbered even though President Bush blocked an effort by Congress to set a withdrawal timetable.
Senior Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman confirmed that U.S. pressure was mounting, especially on the oil bill, which was endorsed by the Iraqi Cabinet three months ago but has yet to come to the floor of parliament. Kurdish legislators oppose the formula for distributing oil revenues among the Iraqi communities, arguing for a greater say in how the money is disbursed. Major Shiite and Kurdish parties oppose several proposed changes in the constitution, as well as Sunni Arab demands for a loosening of rules banning former Saddam Hussein supporters from government jobs.
#1
I give the Dems credit for only one thing. It's possible they have made some Iraqis realize the party may be coming to an end.
Posted by: john ||
05/22/2007 10:27 Comments ||
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#2
They could always function as the 'bad cop' with Bush being the 'good cop' from Iraq's perspective. Some of them do it by focusing criticism on the Maliki government rather than blaming America.
This is very different than undermining our policy in ways that make it more likely to fail just so they can win another election. Unfortunately many dems go well beyond playing the 'bad cop' role and make statements that undermine our strategy.
For an example, see the Al Guardian article describing how Iran thinks they can push us out of Iraq by stagine a Tet style offensive.
Hamas declared open war on Israel yesterday, pledging to renew suicide bombings after Israeli leaders vowed to kill senior politicians from the militant movement, including Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian Prime Minister. The tough rhetoric from both sides threatened to touch off a new war in the Middle East as Israel continued to pound Gaza in retaliation for Palestinian rocket attacks on its southern border towns, killing at least five Palestinians.
Last night, those rockets claimed their first fatality since November: an Israeli woman died in the town of Sderot when her car was struck by a rocket and burst into flames. The attack coincided with a meeting in the town between Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief, and Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Foreign Minister, though neither official was hurt.
Hamas politicians called on Palestinians to retaliate using any means necessary. Fathi Hamad, a Hamas member of parliament from Gaza, said: It is every Palestinians duty to seek vengeance. Kill the occupiers. Murder them with suicide bombings or bullets. It does not matter how.
Israeli politicians said that they would no longer differentiate between elected Hamas members of the Palestinian parliament and its militant leaders. None of them are immune, said Danny Yatom, who sits on the Israeli security cabinet. Hamas has one political and military leadership. They act as a unified body and will be targeted as such.
Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas leader-in-exile who lives in Damascus, was listed as Israels No 1 target. Mohammed Dief, Israels most-wanted man, was also cited alongside politicians such as Mr Haniya. Speaking to supporters yesterday, Mr Haniya appealed for unity against Israel.
#3
The Hamas death cultists are threatening more 'suicide attacks'? I was under the impression Hamas as a jihadist street gang was already engaged in rapidly meeting their moon god by their on going turf war with Fatah.
The IDF will simply clean up whomever remains from either faction.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
05/22/2007 2:45 Comments ||
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#4
Not so easy to carry out suicide bombings now, with the West Bank wall and most of their A-team in chokey. The number dropped off dramatically in 2004, well before the "hudna", which Hamas probably agreed to to avoid losing face for being unable to carry out its previous dire revenge threats.
Note to European peackeniks and appeasers: Israelis living within the pre-67 border are also "occupiers" to Hamas.
#7
If the Hamas start using the old Splodydope Gambit TM again, I am afraid Olmert and Peretz will have to take the finger out of their respective anuses (I mean their rectal orifices) and go berzerk on all the Hamas leadership or risk loosing their chairs faster than they would have imagined.
The IAF attacked a car in the northern Gaza Strip, killing four terror operatives, Palestinian security and medical officials said on Monday. Islamic Jihad said four of its members were killed in the raid.
The army confirmed the attack in the Jabalya refugee camp. Earlier, the IAF attacked a metal factory in Gaza, killing one man who IDF sources said was a weapons manufacturer affiliated with Hamas.
On Sunday, the security cabinet granted the IDF a green light to strike at terror chiefs, including politicians, involved in the nonstop Kassam rocket fire on Sderot. During the cabinet meeting, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz stressed the importance of striking at the Hamas leadership, claiming the tactic could eventually stop the Kassam attacks.
"We need to work in a way that is clear that they will pay a price for all Kassam attacks," Mofaz told The Jerusalem Post in an interview following the cabinet meeting. "The leadership needs to feel hunted and persecuted."
#1
Hmmm. Another hot spot where having air power is a bitch when you have none. You know IAF and USAF, USMC and USN air power must be getting stale in the air to air department. I hope they still have intensive air to air training because sooner or later they will need it for Iran, Syria, China et.al.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
05/22/2007 7:46 Comments ||
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Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said Thursday his intelligence officials had information that BBC journalist Alan Johnston, kidnapped more than a month ago in Gaza, was "still alive."
"I believe he is still alive. Our intelligence services have confirmed to me that he is alive," Abbas told reporters during a visit to Stockholm, saying he had received the information "in the last three days." Abbas said he wanted to secure Johnston's release.
"I want him to be released unharmed and safe without psychological or physical harm," he stressed. Last Sunday, an Islamist group claimed it had killed Johnston, one of the few Western reporters to have both lived and worked in the territory.
The Palestinian government has said that so far there was no proof of the death claim by the little-known group, Kataeb al-Jihad al-Tawheed (The Brigades of Holy War and Unity). Abbas said Palestinian officials knew of the group but had had no contact with them.
"We know those people and we want Johnston safe ... The less we say about it, (the better) it will be for our benefit and for Alan Johnston's benefit," he said. "This does not mean that we have any contact with the abductors. What I am saying is based on our intelligence-gathering services."
Abbas was in Stockholm on Thursday as part of a European tour aimed at convincing EU countries to lift a year-long suspension of direct aid to the Hamas-led government.
#1
Since Abbas is claiming the BBC reporter is alive, he must know where he is being held hostage. Return him Mr. (Fatah) Abbas, and then you can continue your inter-Islamic gang warfare with Hamas, sending as many jihad-o-holics from both Islamic street gangs to quickly meet Arafat, Hitler & Stalin, in Islamic Hell.
When the jihadists butcher enough of themselves, the IDF will clean out the rest, allowing Israeli citizens to once again live in Gaza, Israel.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
05/22/2007 2:24 Comments ||
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#2
When the jihadists butcher enough of themselves, the IDF will clean out the rest, allowing Israeli citizens to once again live in Gaza, Israel.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
05/22/2007 2:40 Comments ||
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#4
Of course he is alive. He is writing the most synpathetic potrait of Hamas and its leadership and its philosophy of destroying Israel that will end up winning the Booker prize, be made into a 6 part Panorama special on BBC and make him a knight of the empire once he is released and has put 2 million pounds into his accout at Coutts.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
05/22/2007 7:48 Comments ||
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#5
If England was still England we would invade Gaza - with a tip of the hat to Israel, of course - kill and kill until we found this Beeb scum, place him in irons and hang him as the traitor he is.
#7
"I want him to be released unharmed and safe without psychological or physical harm,"
Because he's still got to write a scathing anti-american book, make a few million in talk show apearances and moonbat talking heads interviews.
He just CAN"T be dead.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/22/2007 21:30 Comments ||
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#8
I'll wait for the photo of the gentleman holding up a dated newspaper before I believe.
An Australian photographer and three policemen were wounded Tuesday when a bomb believed set by Muslim insurgents exploded in southern Thailand, officials said.
The homemade bomb, hidden on a roadside, went off when a police team was inspecting the body of a Buddhist man shot dead and set afire in Yala province, said police Lt. Col. Saratwuth Wongderm. The officer said he believed the insurgents had set a trap for police, who rushed to the scene after a caller informed them that a person had been slain.
Australian photographer Philip Blenkinsop, who was on assignment for Time magazine, was among the wounded. "I was about four meters away from the body where the bomb was hidden. I am very lucky that the bomb didn't have too many sharp nails in it. I pity the man who was shot in the head and burned," Blenkinsop said at a hospital where he was being treated for minor wounds to the face and eye.
Blenkinsop, based in Bangkok since the mid-1980s, is an award-winning photographer who has covered a number of conflicts, including the guerrilla war in Indonesia's Aceh province, the communist insurgency in Nepal and the plight of the ethnic Hmong in communist Laos.
I tried to post the relevant Bangkok Post article this morning, but it wouldn't take. Maybe for the best, because at the link to this version, you can see a video of the actual explosion ~ if you don't mind sitting through an advertisement.
A roadside bomb planted by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels killed two soldiers in Sri Lankas restive north yesterday hours after insurgents had shot dead two soldiers in the islands east overnight, the military said.
Two soldiers were killed in a Claymore (fragmentation mine blast) in Vavuniya this morning, said military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe. He was referring to the district 260km north of Colombo, where fighting has shifted since the fall of the Tigers eastern stronghold. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who are fighting for an independent state in Sri Lankas north and east, were not immediately available for comment on the attacks, which come amid sporadic land and sea clashes.
The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert "black" operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current and former officials in the intelligence community tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.
The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, say President Bush has signed a "nonlethal presidential finding" that puts into motion a CIA plan that reportedly includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran's currency and international financial transactions.
"I can't confirm or deny whether such a program exists or whether the president signed it, but it would be consistent with an overall American approach trying to find ways to put pressure on the regime," said Bruce Riedel, a recently retired CIA senior official who dealt with Iran and other countries in the region.
A National Security Council spokesperson, Gordon Johndroe, said, "The White House does not comment on intelligence matters." A CIA spokesperson said, "As a matter of course, we do not comment on allegations of covert activity."
The sources say the CIA developed the covert plan over the last year and received approval from White House officials and other officials in the intelligence community.
Officials say the covert plan is designed to pressure Iran to stop its nuclear enrichment program and end aid to insurgents in Iraq.
"There are some channels where the United States government may want to do things without its hand showing, and legally, therefore, the administration would, if it's doing that, need an intelligence finding and would need to tell the Congress," said ABC News consultant Richard Clarke, a former White House counterterrorism official.
Current and former intelligence officials say the approval of the covert action means the Bush administration, for the time being, has decided not to pursue a military option against Iran.
"Vice President Cheney helped to lead the side favoring a military strike," said former CIA official Riedel, "but I think they have come to the conclusion that a military strike has more downsides than upsides."
The covert action plan comes as U.S. officials have confirmed Iran had dramatically increased its ability to produce nuclear weapons material, at a pace that experts said would give them the ability to build a nuclear bomb in two years.
Riedel says economic pressure on Iran may be the most effective tool available to the CIA, particularly in going after secret accounts used to fund the nuclear program.
"The kind of dealings that the Iranian Revolution Guards are going to do, in terms of purchasing nuclear and missile components, are likely to be extremely secret, and you're going to have to work very, very hard to find them, and that's exactly the kind of thing the CIA's nonproliferation center and others would be expert at trying to look into," Riedel said.
Under the law, the CIA needs an official presidential finding to carry out such covert actions. The CIA is permitted to mount covert "collection" operations without a presidential finding.
"Presidential findings" are kept secret but reported to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and other key congressional leaders.
The "nonlethal" aspect of the presidential finding means CIA officers may not use deadly force in carrying out the secret operations against Iran.
Still, some fear that even a nonlethal covert CIA program carries great risks.
"I think everybody in the region knows that there is a proxy war already afoot with the United States supporting anti-Iranian elements in the region as well as opposition groups within Iran," said Vali Nasr, adjunct senior fellow for Mideast studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"And this covert action is now being escalated by the new U.S. directive, and that can very quickly lead to Iranian retaliation and a cycle of escalation can follow," Nasr said.
Other "lethal" findings have authorized CIA covert actions against al Qaeda, terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
Also briefed on the CIA proposal, according to intelligence sources, were National Security Advisor Steve Hadley and Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott Abrams.
"The entire plan has been blessed by Abrams, in particular," said one intelligence source familiar with the plan. "And Hadley had to put his chop on it."
Abrams' last involvement with attempting to destabilize a foreign government led to criminal charges.
He pleaded guilty in October 1991 to two misdemeanor counts of withholding information from Congress about the Reagan administration's ill-fated efforts to destabilize the Nicaraguan Sandinista government in Central America, known as the Iran-Contra affair. Abrams was later pardoned by President George H. W. Bush in December 1992.
In June 2001, Abrams was named by then National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to head the National Security Council's office for democracy, human rights and international operations. On Feb. 2, 2005, National Security Advisor Hadley appointed Abrams deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for global democracy strategy, one of the nation's most senior national security positions.
As earlier reported on the Blotter on ABCNews.com, the United States has supported and encouraged an Iranian militant group, Jundullah, that has conducted deadly raids inside Iran from bases on the rugged Iran-Pakistan-Afghanistan "tri-border region."
U.S. officials deny any "direct funding" of Jundullah groups but say the leader of Jundullah was in regular contact with U.S. officials.
American intelligence sources say Jundullah has received money and weapons through the Afghanistan and Pakistan military and Pakistan's intelligence service. Pakistan has officially denied any connection.
A report broadcast on Iranian TV last Sunday said Iranian authorities had captured 10 men crossing the border with $500,000 in cash along with "maps of sensitive areas" and "modern spy equipment."
A senior Pakistani official told ABCNews.com the 10 men were members of Jundullah.
The leader of the Jundullah group, according to the Pakistani official, has been recruiting and training "hundreds of men" for "unspecified missions" across the border in Iran.
#3
The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert "black" operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current and former officials in the intelligence community tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.
Aren't you glad these bozo journalists weren't around during WWII:
#5
the source of the leak is buried in the report:
""Presidential findings" are kept secret but reported to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and other key congressional leaders."
#7
Interesting angle over at the American Future blog (one of the best blogs on the net BTW):
Tomorrow, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected to confirm Irans rapid progress in advancing its uranium enrichment program.
Is it a coincidence, then, that ABC News chose today to report, based on information obtained from current and former officials in the intelligence community, that the CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert black operation to destabilize the Iranian government? Was this information leaked with or without the Administrations approval? We wont know until the Administration reacts (or doesnt react) to the disclosure.
#10
Hey, 25 years late, on-time or six months ahead of schedule, who cares? All I ask is that we please get the hell going with this. Potentially, millions of lives depend upon this, American and Muslim alike. Toppling Iran's Islamic Theocracy is job #1.
EFL - More at link
Tripoli- Lebanese army gunners pounded hideouts of heavily armed Fatah al-Islam terrorists in the northern refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared Monday in an apparent effort to uproot the group that is targeting the nation's stability. Staccato bursts of machine gun fire and the explosion of howitzer shells echoed across the camp and the nearby northern town of Tripoli shortly after heavily-armed terrorists of Fatah al-Islam burst out of their seafront enclave and opened fire on rescuers trying to evacuated civilians wounded in the cross-fire of clashes with the Lebanese army.Sources in Nahr el-Bared, which has an estimated population of 40.000 refugees, told Naharnet around 200 fighters from Fatah al-Islam streamed across the narrow alleys of the camp opening fire from assault rifles at rescuers trying to evacuate civilians wounded in the cross-fire. Wedad, a Native of the camp, told Naharnet by telephone the terrorists are "using us as human shields."
"They have taken the population hostage. They even interrupted the evacuation of the wounded civilians. They opened fire at civilians who were trying to run away from the camp" to safer areas in the nearby Baddawi camp and the northern town of Triploi, said Wedad who was reached through her mobile telephone. Abdul Qader, a 50-year-old resident of the camp, said about 150-200 armed elements from Fatah al-Islam carried out a broad-front advance from their beach enclave across the narrow streets of the camp and took up sniping nests on rooftops and in residential apartments from which they opened fire on rescuers and Lebanese troops. Abdul Qader, himself a veteran Palestinian guerrilla who had fought for the mainstream Fatah faction, said terrorists had brought in seaborne support by fishing boats from neighboring Syria to fight what appears to be a final showdown with the Lebanese army.
"They appear determined to fight it out to the end, with the civilian population forced to serve as human shield for their fighters. They shoot at every civilian who tries to evacuate the camp and seek refuge with the Lebanese army," Abdul Qader told Naharnet."In brief," he said, "the whole camp population was taken hostage by Fatah al-Islam."Before Fatah al-Islam gunmen took control of the whole camp, rescuers from the Lebanese Red Cross and the Palestinian Red Crescent committees managed to evacuate eight wounded civilians. As fighting raged, Palestinian factions issued a statement saying about 50 people were killed and wounded by the cross-fire.The statement pleaded with the government of Premier Fouad Siniora to intervene and "protect the civilian population." This article brought to you by the Brave Lions of Islam
Sadly, this is what it is going to take for Arab Muslim populations to finally realize that terrorism threatens them just as much as it does the West. One can only hope that they begin to understand how important it is to monitor and report subversive activity BEFORE IT GETS THEM KILLED. I really wish I could muster some sympathy here but the Palestinians have struggled valiantly to place themselves in this position and they can rot in Hell for it.
#4
Is there truly anyone in the camps over the age of five who doesn't own a firearm? If only they'd organize themselves, they could easily overwhelm the formerly 100-150, now 150-200 Fatah al Islam idiots.
#5
"Terrorists 'using civilians as human shields' in north Lebanon"
Well, I for one am just shocked!
Hooda thunk it?
Other than anybody with 2 functioning brain cells....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/22/2007 15:49 Comments ||
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#6
There may be more to this than meets the eye. When Israel last left Lebanon, the Paleos used large numbers of women and children to charge the Israeli positions, which turned an orderly retreat into a rout. The Arabs figured it was a win-win situation with the alternative being the Israelis slaughtering the women and children.
Either way, the bragged about it ever since as a great "Arab victory".
And so the Arabs in the area have since calculated how they can use women and children in their military operations. (N.B.: and might also explain the US development of the Sheriff Humvee mounted microwave crowd disperser.)
I was surprised that Hezbollah didn't try a similar stunt in their recent defeat by the Israelis. They only did it late in the game, trying to stop evacuations of Shiites in their northern territory.
But in this case, the Fatah al-Islam thugs, are more than willing to expend as many Palestinian lives as possible to keep them as human shields.
#9
Per other reports, the Fatah al-Islam group may be pretty unpopular in Nahr el Bared (basically because Sharia is much nastier in practice than most moslems imagine in principle) and thus, the former don't mind at all using people who they consider potential enemies.
#11
(basically because Sharia is much nastier in practice than most moslems imagine in principle)
As astonishing as it may sound, this seems to be the case with a large portion of this world's Muslim population. While you would think that might exonerate them of guilt in helping to advance the cause of Islam, it really serves to condemn them further. They have chosen to blindly follow a creed no matter how bloodthirsty and cruel its own doctrine is. Ignorance of shari'a law is no excuse. They are pushing for it to be globally enforced and it is their fault.
#12
Muslim on muslim violence. Ima thinkin the Lebanese Army isn't going to worry as much as we do about human shields. Lebanese Army will probably shoot first and let Allan sort out the human shields from the Fatah.
#1
Somebody tell me if those smoke clouds look slightly doctored to you too?
I was watching this on the tube yesterday afternoon and those clouds look like they're coming from the exact same spots as yesterday, but are much heavier and much taller.
Posted by: ed ||
05/22/2007 14:59 Comments ||
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#4
"UN aid convoy under fire in Lebanon"
I have just got to find my nano-violin.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/22/2007 15:50 Comments ||
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#5
Can I say that I enjoy knowing that the Lebanese are pounding the Paleo refugee camp?
Posted by: Mike N. ||
05/22/2007 18:58 Comments ||
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#6
Can I say that I enjoy knowing that the Lebanese are pounding the Paleo refugee camp?
I don't know. Can you?
Somebody tell me if those smoke clouds look slightly doctored to you too?
A brief analysis using my RSP (Retinal Spectro-Photometer) assesses the plumes as being a rich admixture of ordinary smoke in combination with fumes from seething Palestinians, steam rising from the humiliated brows of Fatah al-Islam terrorists and abundant levels of particulate byproducts related to the thermal decomposition of cordite and various other high explosives.
Tuesday, 22 May, 2007 @ 2:38 PM TRIPOLI - Artillery and machine gun fire echoed around a crowded Palestinian refugee camp Tuesday as the Lebanese government ordered the army to finish off the Fatah el- Islam militants holed up inside the refugee camp in the country's north.
Artillery and machine gun fire echoed around a crowded Palestinian refugee camp Tuesday as the Lebanese government ordered the army to finish off the Fatah el-Islam militants holed up inside the refugee camp in the country's north. The fighting which resumed for a third straight day after a brief nighttime lull reflected the government's determination to pursue the Islamic militants who staged attacks on Lebanese troops on Sunday and Monday, killing 29 soldiers. Some 20 militants have also been killed, as well as an undetermined number of civilians. The Cabinet late Monday authorized the army to step up its campaign and "end the terrorist phenomenon that is alien to the values and nature of the Palestinian people," Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said. Hate to break this to you, Ghazi baby, but only peace is alien to the Palestinians.
Hours after the decision, fighting flared up again Tuesday morning around the Nahr el-Bared camp, with black smoke billowing from the area after artillery and machine gun exchanges. A spokesman for Fatah el-Islam, Abu Salim Taha, said fighters of the group repulsed several attempts by Lebanese troops to advance on their positions inside the camp.
"The shelling is heavy, not only on our positions, but also on children and women. Destruction is all over," he said Tuesday. Lebanese artillery has pounded the suspected positions of the Fatah el-Islam militants, seeking to destroy the group with al-Qaeda ties or force them out of the camp on the outskirts of this northern port, Lebanon's second-largest city. The fighting has also raised fears that Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war could spread in a country with an uneasy balancing act among various sects and factions. Fighting paused briefly Monday afternoon to allow the evacuation of 18 wounded civilians, according to Saleh Badran, an official with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. Palestinian refugees have been hiding in their homes inside the camp and Palestinian officials there said nine civilians were killed Monday. Reports from the camp of food and medical supplies running out could not be confirmed because officials and reporters could not enter. The camp is home to more than 31,000 people living in two- or three-story white buildings on densely packed narrow streets. It is one of more than 12 impoverished camps housing more than 215,000 refugees, out of a total of 400,000 Palestinians here. Lebanese authorities do not enter the camps, according to a nearly 40-year-old agreement with the Palestinians.
Major Palestinian factions have distanced themselves from Fatah el-Islam, which arose here last year and touts itself as a Palestinian liberation movement. But many view it as a nascent branch of al-Qaeda-style terrorism with ambitions of carrying out attacks around the region. The military assault adds yet another layer of instability to Lebanon's potentially explosive politics. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government already faces a domestic political crisis, with the opposition led by Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah demanding its removal. Raising fears of spreading violence, an explosion went off in a shopping area in a Sunni Muslim sector of Beirut late Monday, wrecking parked cars and injuring seven people a day after a bomb blast in a Christian part of the capital killed a woman. Although there were no claims of responsibility, the confluence of two bombings in as many days while the fighting was going on in Tripoli was highly unusual. Siniora now risks sparking a backlash among Palestinians in Lebanon's other refugee camps, where armed groups and Islamic extremists have been growing in influence and, in at least one case, have been sending recruits to fight U.S. troops in Iraq. Garsh, mebbe they'll have to shell those camps too. Q'elle domage.
The White House said it supports Siniora's efforts to deal with the fighting, and the State Department defended the Lebanese army, saying it was working in a "legitimate manner" against "provocations by violent extremists" operating in the camp. The leader of Fatah el-Islam, Palestinian Shaker al-Absi, has been linked to the former head of al-Qaeda in Iraq and is accused in the 2002 assassination of a U.S. diplomat in Jordan. He moved into Nahr el-Bared last fall after being expelled from Syria, where he was in custody. Since then, he is believed to have recruited about 100 fighters, including militants from Saudi Arabia, Yemen and other Arab countries, and he has said he follows the ideology of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Among the militants killed in the fighting Sunday was a man suspected in a plot to bomb trains in Germany last year, according to Lebanese security officials. Lebanese security officials accuse Syria of backing Fatah el-Islam as a tool to disrupt the country, charges that are denied by Damascus, which controlled Lebanon until 2005 when its troops were forced to withdraw from the country following the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
#1
Be still my heart....you mean we actually have a government willing to finish what it started ? An army off the leash ? We must've turned some corner while I slept. We went from surealistic bullshit war blather to actual killing and taking real estate. I must have awakened from a deep, prolonged nightmare.
#5
The Leb's opt for the Ethiopian model. Notice how unconcerned the usual suspects are when its muzzie on muzzie killing or 'anyone other than Americans' on muzzie killing.
Iran is secretly forging ties with al-Qaida elements and Sunni Arab militias in Iraq in preparation for a summer showdown with coalition forces intended to tip a wavering US Congress into voting for full military withdrawal, US officials say.
"Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq and it's a very dangerous course for them to be following. They are already committing daily acts of war against US and British forces," a senior US official in Baghdad warned. "They [Iran] are behind a lot of high-profile attacks meant to undermine US will and British will, such as the rocket attacks on Basra palace and the Green Zone [in Baghdad]. The attacks are directed by the Revolutionary Guard who are connected right to the top [of the Iranian government]."
The official said US commanders were bracing for a nationwide, Iranian-orchestrated summer offensive, linking al-Qaida and Sunni insurgents to Tehran's Shia militia allies, that Iran hoped would trigger a political mutiny in Washington and a US retreat. "We expect that al-Qaida and Iran will both attempt to increase the propaganda and increase the violence prior to Petraeus's report in September [when the US commander General David Petraeus will report to Congress on President George Bush's controversial, six-month security "surge" of 30,000 troop reinforcements]," the official said.
"Certainly it [the violence] is going to pick up from their side. There is significant latent capability in Iraq, especially Iranian-sponsored capability. They can turn it up whenever they want. You can see that from the pre-positioning that's been going on and the huge stockpiles of Iranian weapons that we've turned up in the last couple of months. The relationships between Iran and groups like al-Qaida are very fluid," the official said.
"It often comes down to individuals, and people constantly move around. For instance, the Sunni Arab so-called resistance groups use Salafi jihadist ideology for their own purposes. But the whole Iran- al-Qaida linkup is very sinister."
Iran has maintained close links to Iraq's Shia political parties and militias but has previously eschewed collaboration with al-Qaida and Sunni insurgents.
US officials now say they have firm evidence that Tehran has switched tack as it senses a chance of victory in Iraq. In a parallel development, they say they also have proof that Iran has reversed its previous policy in Afghanistan and is now supporting and supplying the Taliban's campaign against US, British and other Nato forces.
#2
Iran recognizes the lack of will of America, as demonstrated by both polls and Congress. Therefor they have little fear of being counter-attacked at home as they push forward in both Iraq and Afghanistan (and in their nuclear weapons program.) This is pretty much the same situation bin Laden saw during the Clinton administration - and thought existed on 9/11. Turns out he was probably right, but with a brief speedbump in the road.
#3
Pi$$ on Iran. Close the border. Kill anything that has an IR signature within 10 miles. Send in teams to blow up a gasoline terminal or refinery, or two. Send millions to fund Kurdish insurrection in the north. strangle their finances and trade.
Pi$$ on the blackhats...and their little dog, Toto.
Posted by: ed ||
05/22/2007 14:09 Comments ||
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#5
I'd like to see Bush develop a pair, and completely devastate the MME - nuking Iran (Qom, Isfahan, Natanz, Busaher, Bandar Abbas, etc), Soddy aRabida (Riyadh, Jedda, Mecca Medina, Dahran), Syria (Damascus, Homs, Latakia, etc.), and pakiwakiland. It may not stop the jihad, but it will set it back 40 years or more, and give the West some breathing room. Getting rid of the house of sh$$saud will reduce the wahabbi threat. Getting rid of Qom and its mullahs will reduce the Iranian threat. Just to keep things even, I'd also recommend flattening Brussels, to eliminate the unelected rulersbureaucrats of EUrope.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/22/2007 15:28 Comments ||
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#6
Secret?
Only secret to the American public, kept secret by the American MSM who, as always, are happy to openly print info on American secrets.
Mansouriyieh - The Lebanese security forces were able to foil an attempted bombing of this summer resort village in the Metn region of Mount Lebanon which is about 15 KM from Beirut. The police stopped the car in which there was one Palestinian and one Egyptian terrorist . In their possession they had a suite case with a bomb inside that was completely wired and ready to be exploded. The police confiscated the bomb and arrested the terrorists.
"The Number Seven truncheon, I think. And my leather gloves."
There were no details about the size of the bomb nor the organization to which the 2 terrorists belong. Ya Libnan will provide more details as they become available
Posted by: Steve ||
05/22/2007 08:13 ||
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#1
Hmm. Which terrorist organization has a lot of Palestinians and Egyptians?
Posted by: ed ||
05/22/2007 9:00 Comments ||
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Artillery and machine gun fire echoed around a crowded Palestinian refugee camp for a third straight day Tuesday, as the Lebanese government ordered the army to finish off the Fatah Islam militants holed up inside the camp in the country's north. Black smoke billowed from the area after artillery and machine gun exchanges at the Nahr el-Bared camp on the outskirts of the port city of Tripoli.
Relief supplies could not enter the camp as the U.N. Relief and Works Agency scrambled to evacuate one of its employees, a Palestinian aid worker wounded Monday, Taleb al-Salhani of UNRWA said. Lebanese army stopped six UNRWA trucks, including a water tanker, saying it was too dangerous to enter the camp, leaving them parked by the roadside. Al-Salhani said he hoped for a cease-fire later in the day to allow the U.N. convoy through.
Inside the city itself, security forces moved in against a suspected Fatah Islam hideout in an apartment building, witnesses said. Shots rang out on Mitein Street at midmorning as security forces, after receiving a tip about armed men in an apartment, raided the building using tear gas and leaving it gutted. Apparently no one was caught.
The developments reflected the government's determination to pursue the Islamic militants who have staged attacks on Lebanese troops since Sunday, killing 29 soldiers. Some 20 militants have also been killed, as well as an undetermined number of civilians. Lebanon's Cabinet late Monday authorized the army to step up its campaign and "end the terrorist phenomenon that is alien to the values and nature of the Palestinian people," Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said.
Major Palestinian faction leaders met with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora for the second time in as many days. European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana arrived Tuesday in Beirut to discuss the latest crisis gripping Lebanon. A spokesman for Fatah Islam, Abu Salim Taha, said the group managed to repulse several attempts by Lebanese troops to advance on their positions inside the camp. "The shelling is heavy, not only on our positions, but also on children and women and baby ducks and puppies. Destruction is all over," he said. Speaking to The Associated Press by telephone from the camp, he denied his group was behind bomb blasts in Beirut on Sunday and Monday night.
The latest fighting has raised fears that Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war could spread in a country with an uneasy balancing act among various sects and factions.
Palestinian refugees have been hiding in their homes inside the camp and Palestinian officials there said nine civilians were killed Monday. Reports from the camp of food and medical supplies running out could not be confirmed because officials and reporters could not enter.
Mufti Salim Lababidi, a Sunni spiritual leader of Palestinians in Lebanon, denounced the shelling which he claimed has killed or wounded some 100 civilians. "There are thousand ways to uproot Fatah Islam ... there are ways other than this," he said on al-Jazeera television.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/22/2007 07:38 ||
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#1
Lebanon's Cabinet late Monday authorized the army to step up its campaign and "end the terrorist phenomenon that is alien to the values and nature of the Palestinian people," Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said.
The Lebanese government offered late Monday a truce in its confrontation with Islamists in north Lebanon that cost 58 lives, as a bomb exploded in Beirut for the second straight night. "The Lebanese army is ready to stop firing if the other side does the same. It will not open fire if it is not attacked," a government source in Beirut said, on condition of anonymity. The offer followed indirect negotiations between the army and the splinter group Fatah al-Islam through the mediation of Jamaa Islamiya, a Sunni organisation, participants in the contacts told AFP.
The fighting had eased off by late Monday, but three soldiers were killed in an attack on an army post outside the Nahr al-Bared camp, raising the overall toll to 58 dead. Hospital and security sources gave a breakdown of the deaths: 30 soldiers, 17 Islamist fighters, 10 Palestinian civilians and a Lebanese civilian.
"The army is not only opening fire on us. It is shelling blindly. If this continues, we will carry the battle outside the (nearby port) city of Tripoli," spokesman Abu Salim Taha told AFP.
"Yar!"
After the threat to expand the confrontation from around their camp in north Lebanon, 10 people were wounded in the second unclaimed bomb blast to target Beirut in as many nights, hospital sources said. Police said the bomb in the upmarket residential district of Verdun in mainly Muslim west Beirut was placed under a car, setting ablaze several vehicles and damaging buildings. Verdun is home to Information Minister Ghazi al-Aridi, who at the time was giving a press briefing at the premier's office on an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the deadly clashes around Nahr al-Bared.
Save The Children, which supports projects in the camp located near Syria's border and the port city of Tripoli, warned that the humanitarian situation for non-combatants was "deteriorating rapidly". Fears mounted of a humanitarian crisis in the camp, a coastal shantytown of narrow alleyways where rescue workers struggled to evacuate the dead and wounded and buildings were bombed out and power supplies cut.
The international community condemned the violence and voiced support for the Lebanese government's efforts to restore order after 46 people were killed on Sunday alone. "It would appear that the Lebanese security forces are working in a legitimate manner to provide a secure and stable environment for the Lebanese people, in the wake of provocations and attacks," the US State Department said. UN chief Ban Ki-moon regards the Fatah al-Islam actions as "an attack on Lebanon's stability and sovereignty," the secretary general's spokeswoman said.
But Syria predictably saw the turmoil as a bid to prod the UN Security Council into setting up the international tribunal to try suspects in the murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, for which Damascus has been widely blamed.
That's funny. I was just thinkin' this was designed to *distract* attention from the tribunal...
Syria's UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari also denied any ties between Damascus and Fatah al-Islam.
"So piss off!"
Officials had voiced fears about the plight of refugees trapped in the camp, where the Red Cross was able to evacuate about 17 people during a brief lull in the fighting on Sunday. Doctors described seeing bodies strewn on the streets of Nahr al-Bared, which like all refugee camps in Lebanon remains outside the control of the government and in the hands of Palestinian factions.
Those're 'civilian' bodies. The fighters get drug under cover...
#1
"The army is not only opening fire on us. It is shelling blindly. If this continues"
If this continues, they're going to blow your lousy asses right off the face of the earth. Get used to some real punishment goat f**kers. The Lebs need a cease fire to bring up two more flat cars of HE arty shells. Keep on whinin'
#4
The Lebanese Army is combating the same jihadist cancer the Israelis are are fighting in Gaza, at the very same time. The cancer must be removed, preventing it from spreading any further.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
05/22/2007 2:14 Comments ||
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#5
The army is not only opening fire on us. It is shelling blindly.
It pisses them off when it happens to them.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/22/2007 6:21 Comments ||
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#6
"It's annoying when the army hits our fortified positions, instead of the carefully placed wimminz and endangered skink hatcheries!"
#7
But Syria saw the turmoil as a bid to prod the UN Security Council into setting up the international tribunal to try suspects in the murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, for which Damascus has been widely blamed
what an unadulterated load of crap! Who wrote this nonsense, Syria's PR firm? Their Islamic puppets are the ones getting shelled
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/22/2007 8:17 Comments ||
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Lebanese troops bombarded Islamist militiamen with tank shells and heavy artillery on Monday, the second day of the bloodiest internal fighting since the civil war that has now left 55 people dead and raised fears about Lebanon's fragile security.
Nine civilians were killed in heavy shelling of a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, besieged by soldiers in tanks who are battling militants from the shadowy Sunni group Fatah al-Islam, a camp medic said. Huge plumes of thick black smoke billowed into the sky over the Nahr al-Bared camp, which has been turned into a war zone by ferocious gunbattles between soldiers and Fatah al-Islam, a group accused of links to Al-Qaeda and Syrian intelligence services.
Warships patrolled nearby coastal waters, troops were locked in heavy exchanges of artillery and machinegun fire and a military spokesman said the army had extended its control to all camp entrances. But Fatah al-Islam threatened to extend attacks beyond Tripoli if the army continues to pound its positions.
Fears were mounting of a humanitarian crisis in the camp, a coastal shantytown of narrow alleyways where rescue workers were struggling to evacuate the dead and wounded and buildings were bombed out and power supplies cut. The international community condemned the violence and voiced support for the Lebanese government's efforts to restore order. Officials voiced fears about the plight of refugees trapped in the camp, where the Red Cross was able to evacuate about 17 people during a brief lull in the fighting. Doctors described seeing bodies strewn on the streets of Nahr al-Bared, which like all refugee camps in Lebanon remain outside the control of the government and in the hands of Palestinian factions.
Officials from the main Palestinian factions -- which deny any links with Fatah al-Islam -- offered to help crush the militiants in talks with Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. Siniora, whose Western-backed government has been paralysed for months by feuding between opponents of former power broker Damascus and pro-Syrian factions, said the government was determined to enforce law and order across all of Lebanon.
The German presidency of the European Union condemned the bloodshed and called for the disarmament of militias in Lebanon while France voiced solidarity with the government. Saudi Arabia, Lebanon's biggest foreign financier, also said it deplored the violence.
Lebanese authorities have accused Fatah al-Islam, inspired ideologically by Osama bin Laden's network, of working for the Syrian intelligence services, which Damascus has denied. It is headed by Shaker Abssi, said to be linked to former Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a US raid in 2006.
#2
The international community condemned the violence and voiced support for the Lebanese government's efforts to restore order.
Does this mean the HillSide Singers are supporting the efforts of the Lebaneese Army? No? What does it mean? Ah, of course. 1:10 is fine. Yes, my turn, no not really, my NGOs turn. Yes, the good table.
One of the FBI's most-sought terrorism suspects has surrendered to authorities in Yemen, more than a year after tunneling out of a prison there, a spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy said Monday. Jaber A. Elbaneh lived in Lackawanna, N.Y., before leaving to train at Osama bin Laden's al-Farooq training camp in Afghanistan in 2001, according to a federal indictment in Buffalo, N.Y.
Six of his traveling companions dubbed the "Lackawanna Six" returned to the United States and were arrested in September 2002. All are serving sentences ranging from seven to 10 years after pleading guilty in 2003 to supporting terrorists.
Elbaneh never returned to the United States, authorities believe, traveling instead to his native Yemen to live with his wife and children.
Just a family man. A heavily-armed family man.
Mohammed Albasha, a spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that Elbaneh had surrendered. "He is in our custody and this is a big break through in the case of his prison break last year," Albasha wrote in the e-mail.
The FBI could not confirm that Elbaneh was in custody. "We certainly do hope he is caught," FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said Monday.
The fugitive leader of the shadowy militant organization Fatah Islam openly embraces Osama bin Laden and has recruited Arab fighters to carry out attacks around the region. The little known about Shaker al-Absi has raised concerns that he is building an al-Qaida-style branch in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared a potentially explosive new element in already volatile Lebanon.
So far, he has not gained the reach or strength of militants like former al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, according to Western intelligence and local officials.
Lebanese security officials see another cause behind the rise of Fatah Islam. They accuse Iran Syria of backing it to stir up trouble in Lebanon, which Damascus long controlled until forced to leave in 2005. Syria denies the claim, saying it considers the group a dangerous terrorist organization.
Al-Absi set up shop in the refugee camp last fall after arriving from Syria, where he spent a number of years, some of them in prison. In Nahr el-Bared safe from Lebanese authorities, who cannot enter Palestinian refugee camps he built up his organization. Lebanese officials have said they believe he has about 100 fighters, including militants from Saudi Arabia, Yemen and other Arab countries. One of his followers, killed in fighting Sunday, was suspected in a foiled plot to bomb trains in Germany last year, Lebanese officials said.
Al-Absi has denied in media interviews that he has direct links to al-Qaida and insisted his movement's aim was to "liberate Palestine."
"There is no organizational relationship with al-Qaida, but we are in agreement to fight the infidels. This is the ambition and doctrine of every Muslim to fight the enemies," he told Al-Jazeera television earlier this year. "The only way to achieve our rights is by force," he said in a recent interview with The New York Times. "This is the way America deals with us. So when the Americans feel that their lives and their economy are threatened, they will know that they should leave."
But unlike traditional Palestinian militant groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, al-Absi has for years been interwoven with the al-Qaida-linked underground, reportedly visiting Iraq and Afghanistan and associating with the late al-Zarqawi, one of al-Qaida's most brutal leaders. Al-Absi is wanted in 12 systems three Mideast countries Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Jordan convicted al-Absi in absentia in 2004 for involvement in a plot that led to the 2002 assassination of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman. Al-Zarqawi was also convicted in absentia in the plot, and both were sentenced to death.
Details from the Jordanian indictment paint a picture of al-Absi's links. According to Jordanian prosecutors, the plot began in 1999, when al-Absi met with Libyan militant Salem bin Suweid in Syria. The two men and a Syrian, Mohammed Tayyoura, allegedly agreed to carry out military attacks on Americans and Jews living in Jordan.
Over the next few years, the three began preparing the attacks, with al-Zarqawi mapping out plans and providing financing to buy weapons, the indictment said. Al-Absi sent money to bin Suweid and arranged weapons and explosives training in Syria for the other suspects, it said.
When Foley was gunned down in the Jordanian capital in October 2002, al-Absi was being held in a Syrian prison after authorities there arrested him for allegedly plotting terror attacks in Syria against U.S. and other Western targets, a Jordanian security official said.
Al-Absi dropped from view after being let go by Syria in 2005 then resurfaced in Lebanon last fall, the Jordanian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to talk to the press. His time in Syria has fueled Lebanese accusations that Damascus is behind Fatah Islam. But Syria insists the group is a danger to it as well. Syria's U.N. ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, said Monday that Fatah Islam leaders were jailed in Syria for several years. He said that after they were released, Syria discovered they were still involved in terror activities and tried to re-arrest them, but they escaped.
A U.S. counterterrorism official called al-Absi a double threat from his past in Syria and his al-Qaida connections. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said al-Absi had not yet shown an ability to mount major terror operations, but added that it would be dangerous to wait for the group to prove itself. "That is too late," the official said.
#3
Gladys, what I know comes from an article here yesterday, about the same story:
The army sent in reinforcements to the outskirts of the camp where smoke could be seen rising into the air. The army is not allowed into Palestinian camps under a 1969 Arab agreement.
#4
This was mentioned yesterday, becasue there is a 1969 arab agreement that grants the "refugees" that right. And this extra-territoriality and loss of sovereignty was the direct root of the lebanese civil war and subsequent downfall of what was once a christian haven in the midst of the muslim middel east.
Note that some christian lebaneses have warned their french friends that what was going on in the 'hoods in France was an exact replica of what happened to lebanon with the paleo camps, with police and other representatives of the State prevented from entering what became hostile bastions which later evolved into guerilla rear bases.
#6
Not foiled, cher anonymous5089. Your post is full of useful background that is so helpful in putting present occurrences into perspective. Mercy bookays, my dear. ;-)
#8
OK I looked it up and now understand why they agreed to it in the first place, however, it appears the Cairo Agreement was cancelled in 1987 so I guess the Lebanese Army is now trying to change the status quo.
#9
The army sent in reinforcements to the outskirts of the camp where smoke could be seen rising into the air. The army is not allowed into Palestinian camps under a 1969 Arab agreement.
It's only fair that Fatah not come out of the camp also.
#10
"There is no organizational relationship with al-Qaida, but we are in agreement to fight the infidels. This is the ambition and doctrine of every Muslim to fight the enemies," he told Al-Jazeera television earlier this year.
This man is clearly a bigoted, racist Islamophobe. All right thinking people know that Islam is a religion of peace.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
05/22/2007 10:52 Comments ||
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#11
"I wonder why any nation would acquiesce to such an agreement in the first place."
cause Leb has always existed on sufferance. When the Free French gave them independence in '43, most Maronites were French speakers, and they really didnt see themselves as an Arab country. Arab League, says, fine, be like that, and we will support the Syrian claim that Leb is part of Greater Syria. Lebs, say, we are Arabs, make Arabic, not French, the official language, join Arab League, oppose Zionists, and join the Arab side in '48. In return the Arab League recognizes their independence and denies the Syrian claim, even looking aside at the Leb constitution that guarantees Maronite power.
#12
This particular situation has some interesting nuances. According to Walid Phares, who is from Lebanon, has extensive contacts there and is both knowledgeable and sane on Mideast subjects, the general population in Nahr el-Barad is pretty ticked off at the FatahIslam group (probably cause the don't like Sharia once they've actually experienced it). Thus the Lebanon military has recently gotten a lot of intel help.
However, the AlQ wannabees in neighboring areas are panting to copycat the FatahIslam group.
#13
This is the Leb Army's big chance. They should LEVEL Our All Bared as an object lesson to Paleos that the old days are over and they will behave themselves in Leb or ELSE. Hama Rules, baby!
Posted by: Mac ||
05/22/2007 17:40 Comments ||
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#14
It's only fair that Fatah not come out of the camp also.
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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.
Profits from Afghanistan's thriving poppy fields are increasingly flowing to Taliban fighters, leading U.S. and NATO officials to conclude that the counterinsurgency mission must now include stepped-up anti-drug efforts.
KABUL - New Taleban attacks killed 14 Afghan policemen, police announced on Monday. The bodies of 11 of the policemen were recovered on Sunday, a day after they were killed by Taleban fighters in the southern province of Helmand, a police commander told AFP on condition of anonymity. They were moved to Kabul, where they had come from, the commander said.
A convoy of Ethiopians fell victim to a roadside bomb in the Somalia capital Mogadishu on Monday as explosions against the government and its allies are increasing these days. There were no immediate release of nmber of casualties. However, according to bystanders a civilian was shot dead by the Ethiopian soldiers after he refused to listen to soldiers orers.
Egyptian authorities have detained 25 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, a security official said on Monday, bringing to 39 the number of Islamists arrested in 24 hours. Eleven members of the Islamist group were arrested late on Sunday in the southern province of Beni Sueif, 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Cairo, on charges of holding "a secret meeting," the official said. 
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has reshuffled the National Defence Commission which he heads to strengthen his grip on power in the communist state, news reports and analysts said yesterday. The reshuffle increases the number of full-time senior staff at the commission which has become the Norths most powerful body under Kims army-first policy, Seouls Yonhap news agency and newspapers said.
PESHAWAR: Suspected militants fired rockets, destroying seven fuel trucks at a key border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan early on Monday, an official said. The attack took place about 500 metres inside the Torkham border crossing, said local official Hamid Khan. No one was hurt. He said authorities were investigating who was responsible. It was not immediately clear if the trucks were carrying fuel to supply Western forces in Afghanistan. Taliban insurgents often target such supplies. Khan said the attackers fired two rockets at around 4am that blew up two fuel trucks in a parking lot and sparked fires that destroyed another five nearby. Two more fuel trucks were damaged.
Hamas declared open war on Israel yesterday, pledging to renew suicide bombings after Israeli leaders vowed to kill senior politicians from the militant movement, including Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian Prime Minister. The tough rhetoric from both sides threatened to touch off a new war in the Middle East as Israel continued to pound Gaza in retaliation for Palestinian rocket attacks on its southern border towns, killing at least five Palestinians.
The IAF attacked a car in the northern Gaza Strip, killing four terror operatives, Palestinian security and medical officials said on Monday. Islamic Jihad said four of its members were killed in the raid.
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said Thursday his intelligence officials had information that BBC journalist Alan Johnston, kidnapped more than a month ago in Gaza, was "still alive."
Mansouriyieh - The Lebanese security forces were able to foil an attempted bombing of this summer resort village in the Metn region of Mount Lebanon which is about 15 KM from Beirut. The police stopped the car in which there was one Palestinian and one Egyptian terrorist . In their possession they had a suite case with a bomb inside that was completely wired and ready to be exploded. The police confiscated the bomb and arrested the terrorists. 
One of the FBI's most-sought terrorism suspects has surrendered to authorities in Yemen, more than a year after tunneling out of a prison there, a spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy said Monday. 
The fugitive leader of the shadowy militant organization Fatah Islam openly embraces Osama bin Laden and has recruited Arab fighters to carry out attacks around the region. The little known about Shaker al-Absi has raised concerns that he is building an al-Qaida-style branch in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared a potentially explosive new element in already volatile Lebanon.
