Since the publication of “Bless the Beasts and Children” many questions have arisen: some of which I can and will answer here, and some whose answers lie elsewhere. . . .
. . . the biggest question rippling across the internet–“Why hasn’t the mainstream media picked this up?” –is something only representatives of mainstream media can answer.
In fairness, several large outlets did publish it online: National Review Online and Fox News were both quick to place the story prominently on their websites. A few others also published excerpts. It was even briefly up on the Drudge Report. On the blog front, Instapundit, Hugh Hewitt, Blackfive, Andrew Sullivan, CaptainÂ’s Quarters and many others picked it up.
But for those publications who actually had people embedded in Baqubah when the story first broke and still failed to cover it, their malaise is inexplicable. I do not know why all failed to report the murders and booby-trapped village: apparently no reporters bothered to go out there, even though itÂ’s only about 3.5 miles from this base. Any one of the reporters currently in Baqubah could still go to these coordinates and follow his or her nose and find the gravesites.
On this question of media selectivity, the blogosphere has become incensed that big media mostly ignored the murders, especially given that there are reporters currently in Baqubah. Newsbusters and countless others are on it. More disturbing to many bloggers is that major mainstream players were busted (again) by Pajamas Media just days ago for reporting outright fabrications of a “massacre” that never occurred.
Although I canÂ’t answer to the cause of the problem, I humbly offer permission to media outlets to republish excerpts of the dispatch or the dispatch in its entirety, including my photographs from the story (if used as they are in the dispatch) at no cost during the month of July 2007. I only ask that the site receive proper attribution and that any publication taking me up on the offer email the website with the details.
If much of mainstream media does not recognize barbarity, clearly their readers can and do. Readers throughout the world might consider contacting their local papers and favorite websites with the link to this update. The story is very important in that it is well-documented with photos and video, and the Iraqi and American soldiers who were present are named and easily reachable. Those mainstream reporters currently in Baqubah could readily take up the baton.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/04/2007 10:48 ||
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#1
Instapundit notes: UPDATE: A journalist whose name you'd recognize emails:
Yon's story doesn't get attention because it is humiliating.
It is humiliating because it is obvious that we media – and our allies in the state department, the legal trade, the NGOs, the Democratic Party, the UN, etc., - can’t do squat about such determined use of force.
Our words, images, arguments and skills canÂ’t stop the killing. Only the rough soldiers and their guns can solve the problem, and we wonÂ’t admit that fact because the admission would weaken our influence and our claim to social status.
So we pretend Yon’s massacre – and the North Korean killing fields, the Arab treatment of women, the Arab hatred of Israel, etc. - doesn’t exist, and instead focus our emotions and attention on the somewhat-bad domestic things that we can ‘fix’ with our DC-based allies. Things such as Abu Ghraib, wiretapping, etc. When we ‘fix’ them, then we get status, applause, power, new jobs, ego, etc.
Please donÂ’t be surprised. We media are an interest group not much different from the automakers, the unions, and the farmers.
pretty damning
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/04/2007 11:45 Comments ||
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#2
Yes, pretty damning. In addition to the story being humiliating for the MSM it does not fit with their perceptions of who they are and what "important" role they play in society--in a few words, it does not fit their agenda. Their agenda should be honest reporting which they have not done for a long time but alas is not. The "fourth estate" becomes part of the "fifth column" because of false reporting or no reporting.
#5
Surprisingly, my local newspaper did run the story, but without photos. It wasn't a large piece - less than four inches - but it WAS reported. Of course, the local area has about 40,000 US military present, and dozens of Rantburg "lurkers".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/04/2007 13:33 Comments ||
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#7
Its a dangerous world out there and the media is not making it any safer. Actually, they want to see a conflaguration where AQ or some other terror group strikes us and kills only republicans and gives money, oil and tickets to U2 concerts to democrats, journalists and film makers.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/04/2007 14:42 Comments ||
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#8
Journalist, Tree, Rope
Some assembly required"
Correction required, replace "Journalist," with "Editor"
(He sets policy, not the reporters/journalists)
they report, he ignores, fix the problem at it's source.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/04/2007 15:11 Comments ||
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#9
The MSM has finally crossed the line into irrelevance. That was fast.
Michael Yon, keeping busy with troops in Iraq didn't see it coming, but those of us who have watched the media decline with wild eyed anticipation, welcome it. The really interesting thing is that they still refuse to correct their methods. I guess this is a lesson in denial.
Some day, the left, the donks, and the MSM will slam into a wall, and then they will know that time has moved on without them. Don't look back.
The deadly blast happened on a gravel road "that we have travelled regularly in the past month," Grant said.
"What doesn't get reported is the number of times, the many number of times, when we neutralize IEDs - where they're pointed out to us by locals, or we find them ourselves. We dismantle them and we're able to exploit them so that we learn how to defeat them."
"We're not perfect and we do miss some, as we have seen today, but the battle against the Taliban and the battle against their choice of weapons, IED, is successful," Grant insisted.
In response to questions, Grant said: "When IEDs are successful, they get reported."
Sounds like Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant has been dealing with the same species of Rapporteurs™ we've had from day one.
You know the ones who disrespect our Men and Women sacrifice by distorting their mission.
(SomaliNet) Two explosions have happened Tuesday in the Somalia capital Mogadishu targeting the interim government soldiers and the Ugandan peace keepers – as part of the insurgency against the government and its allied forces.
The first blast which was a car bomb attack took place around 9:46 am local time on the road between the Kaah and Ramadan hotels in north of Mogadishu targeting on a pickup truck carrying government soldiers. No casualty was reported on the soldiers but the blast wounded one civilian person.
Hawo Elmi, among the local witnesses told Somalinet shortly after the explosion that the blast was loud and heavy as convoy of the government soldiers were passing there. “I have not seen any soldiers wounded in the explosion but I saw the car windows smashed,” Hawo Elmi said in a shocking mood.
The second explosion happened around 12:10 pm local time on the road of the main Aden Abdule Airport in Mogadishu where passed by a convoy carrying African Union peacekeepers from Uganda. The blast, which was sparked by a hand grenade bomb hurled by unknown man, caused no casualty on the soldiers, according to Ugandan officers. The Ugandan soldiers suddenly sealed off the area of the blast and began investigations but no one was arrested for the latest attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2007 00:00 ||
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(SomaliNet) Unknown gunmen have shot dead the deputy district commissioner of Huriwa district in north of Somalia capital Mogadishu late Monday as the killing and hunting down the authorities in the interim government continues. Osman Ali was gunned down tonight by two men armed with pistols as he was walking in one of the districtÂ’s villages, according to the local residents. Mr. Ali dies on the spot and the assailants escaped unharmed.
Two months ago, the former DC of Huriwaa was killed by unknown armed men as he standing outside of his house in Wardhigley district.
Meanwhile, Mogadishu is still under curfew for the second week with killings, bombings and ambush attacks on the government positions are rampant.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Somali government officials must enjoy the same life expectancy the beachmasters did in the Pacific Theater of WWII.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/04/2007 1:10 Comments ||
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#2
These hits are most likely staged out of various mosques. I am surprised the government does not have informers telling them which ones. The counter to these assassinations is the assassination of the appropriate mosque leaders (I know, I know, they ALL qualify).
#1
At first, I thought Chavez might be having oil workers kidnapped for Venezuelian oil fields since many oil workers are abandoning oil facilities which he expropriated pilferred.
Two Indian doctors detained in connection with last weekÂ’s terrorist plots are distant cousins who studied medicine together in the southern Indian city of Bangalore and used to visit each otherÂ’s homes, The Times has learnt.
Mohammed Haneef, the doctor detained in Australia, also left his mobile phoneÂ’s SIM card with Sabeel Ahmed, the physician detained in Liverpool, when he left Britain in 2006, according to relatives. Dr HaneefÂ’s younger brother, Mohammed Shoaib, told The Times that they were related to Dr Ahmed through their mother, who is the niece of Dr AhmedÂ’s father. The two men both began studying at the Ambedkar Medical College in 1998, although Dr Ahmed did not graduate until 2003, a year later than Dr Haneef, because he had to repeat a year.
Relatives said they used to visit each othersÂ’ homes in Bangalore occasionally, but denied that they became roommates after moving to Britain to work in the NHS. Of the family relationship between the doctors in Australia and Liverpool, Mr Shoaib said: "They were not that close. They never worked or lived together in the UK." However, other relatives said that Dr Haneef left his British mobile phoneÂ’s SIM card with Dr Ahmed when he left Britain last year to take a job at the Gold Coast Hospital in Queensland, Australia.
Posted by: ||
07/04/2007 12:26 ||
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#1
His mother, Dr Zakia Ahmed, said these were testing times. "Allah is testing us. I am confident that my son will come out clean. There is no arrest made and my son has only been detained for questioning."
Asked if she knew Haneef, she said he was distantly related to them. She added that she knew Haneef quite well as he and Sabeel were college-mates. She said Haneef was a very shy person, while her son was more of an extrovert who would not dream of hurting anyone.
She said she last spoke to Sabeel on Sunday. Her son would call her every day, but all of a sudden when he stopped calling she got worrried.
Asked if her son could be a fundamentalist, she shot back, saying, "Who is not a fundamentalist? You too are a fundamentalist. Everyone follows their religion and my son too was doing the same."
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/04/2007 14:38 Comments ||
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#2
Ahmed is a resident of Banashankari II stage in Bangalore. Both his parents are doctors. His parents were practicing until recently, and decided to stop their practice after their son settled down in life.
Clearly a poverty stricken oppressed muslim driven to 'militancy' by the evil hindus.
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/04/2007 14:39 Comments ||
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#3
Yeah, but their good boys. Always kind and studious. Couldn't be them. They loved cats and help little old ladies cross the street. They were quiet. They never wet their bed.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/04/2007 14:44 Comments ||
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#4
The heading needs an adjuctive at the start "Muslim"
Posted by: anonymous5089 ||
07/04/2007 12:33 ||
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#1
British Cleric: 'Al-Qa'eda leader told me of bomb plot'. Daily Telegraph reports that in April, British Anglican Canon Andrew White "met an unnamed al-Qa'eda leader on the sidelines of a religious reconciliation meeting in Amman, Jordan", where the Al-Qaeda leader told White that " 'the plans were already made and they would soon be destroying the British' and that 'the people who cure you would kill you'." Sky News has a similar report.
That sums up one of the problems in a nutshell. Episcopalians thinking they can involve AQ in reconciliation talks. Between religions, MSM and the left it is a miracle we are still alive and not chattel picking poppy or pushing up daisys. Not only that he says he passed on the meeting and name of the AQ leader to British intelligence but forgot to mention the "who cure you kill you" comment. Because he didn't make anything of it until the arrests. With that kind of inane intelligence he could work for Condi if religion gets to hectic.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/04/2007 14:49 Comments ||
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#2
not Episcopalians, Anglicans but the clergy there also is also about 80% effectively clueless on Islam
in fact even in Judaism, about 60% of the clergy believes that Muslim-Jewish dialogue is great thing and would happily participate with any but the most egregious terrorist supporters
British police have found a suicide note in connection with the two men who rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into Glasgow's airport, sources close to the investigation told CNN.
Investigators believe the two men had earlier driven for six hours from central London where on Friday they parked two cars packed with explosives but which failed to detonate.
The letter's contents had all the hallmarks that the men intended to detonate the sport-utility vehicle while they were inside,
Police did not say where the suicide note was found, but the letter's contents had all the hallmarks that the men intended to detonate the sport-utility vehicle while they were inside, the sources said.
Investigators also believe the plot may have been hatched before the suspects arrived in Britain in recent years.
U.S. officials told CNN that some of the suspects were recruited by al Qaeda while they were living in the Middle East.
A British Anglican cleric working in Baghdad said a man he met in Jordan issued a disturbing threat that is now feared to be a dire portent in the aftermath of the failed British bombing attacks.
"Those who cure you will kill you," the man told Canon Andrew White, who spoke to CNN on Wednesday, now taken as a reference to the terror plot in Britain.
In his first question-and-answer session since he took office, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Wednesday vowed to take measures to increase security in the wake of the attempted bombings, which happened days after he became prime minister.
In addition to expanding the watch list of potential terrorists, Brown said background checks will be stepped up and British authorities will keep a closer eye on how it recruits doctors from other countries.
"I've asked Lord (Alan) West, the new terrorism minister, to conduct an immediate review as to what arrangements we must make in relation to recruitment to the NHS (National Health Services) recruitment because of what we know has happened over the last few days," Brown told the House of Commons.
Posted by: lotp ||
07/04/2007 12:25 ||
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#1
"I've asked Lord (Alan) West, the new terrorism minister, to conduct an immediate review as to what arrangements we must make in relation to recruitment to the NHS (National Health Services) recruitment because of what we know has happened over the last few days," Brown told the House of Commons.
lotp nailed it yesterday. I wonder how many bad guys they'll find already on site?
#2
Investigators believe the two men had earlier driven for six hours from central London where on Friday they parked two cars packed with explosives but which failed to detonate.
#3
I have to wonder if they heard the news that their bombs fizzled, and drove to glasgow as a last-ditch effort to salvage SOME form of boom,(realizing that London was too hot to even move around in, if so it didn't work.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/04/2007 21:06 Comments ||
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LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday the government will expand checks on immigrants taking skilled jobs and review recruiting for the National Health Service, which employed all eight suspects in last week's foiled terror plots. A government security official said several of the men had been on a British intelligence watch list. One of the suspects on the list had posted a comment on an Internet chat room condemning cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published last year in Danish newspapers, The Evening Standard reported, citing unidentified intelligence sources.
A senior U.S. counterterrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said none of the eight suspects was on any American lists of potential terror suspects.
It was unclear why the other suspects might have been put on the British list. One suspect, Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdulla, reportedly had links to radical Islamic groups, and several others were linked to extremist radicals listed on the database of MI5, the domestic intelligence agency, The Times of London reported. "Some, but not all, have turned up in a check of the databases, but they are not linked to any previous incident," the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the material. The official said Britain's security services are currently watching around 1,600 people and have details logged of hundreds more.
Watching too many people to keep active files open. They're loading all this data into their computers where they can pull it up if they need to. Works fine, after a attack happens.
Shiraz Maher, a former member of a radical Islamic group, said he knew Abdulla at Cambridge University. "He was certainly very angry about what was happening in Iraq. ... He supported the insurgency in Iraq. He actively cheered the deaths of British and American troops in Iraq," he told BBC television's "Newsnight."
He said Abdulla berated a Muslim roommate for not being devout enough, showing him a beheading video and warning this could happen to him. He also said he had a number of videos of al-Qaida's former leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed by a U.S. airstrike last year. Abdulla had been disciplined at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, outside Glasgow, for spending too much time on the Internet, according to the Evening Standard.
Meanwhile, a senior British cleric working in Baghdad said Wednesday that he met with a suspected al-Qaida leader in Jordan in April who warned of several British attacks and issued a cryptic warning. "It was so awful that, in my update for the day, I wrote that I have met with the devil today," White told British Broadcasting Corp. radio. "At one moment in the meeting he said, 'Those who cure you are going to kill you.'"
White — who runs Baghdad's only Anglican parish and has been involved in several hostage negotiations in Iraq — said he did not understand the threat's significance at the time. Although he said he passed the general threat warning on to Britain's Foreign Office, White said he did not mention the comment, who could be interpreted as hinting at the involvement of doctors.
It's like a quote from Nostadamos, you can read anything into it
All eight of the suspects arrested following the car bombing attempts in London and Glasgow were employed or previously employed by Britain's National Health Service.
Socialized medicine kills!
The suspects, whose names have not been confirmed by police, include two doctors from India, and one doctor apiece from Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan. The Jordanian doctor's wife — also arrested — is a medical assistant. Another doctor and a medical student are thought to be from the Mideast. Some of the suspects worked as colleagues at hospitals in England and Scotland. Officials say the evidence points to the plot being hatched after they met in Britain, rather than overseas.
"We'll expand the background checks that have been done where there are highly skilled migrant workers coming into this country," Brown told the House of Commons in his first appearance at the weekly prime minister's questions. "As a result of what has happened in the National Health Service, I have asked Lord West, the new terrorism minister, to conduct an immediate review as to what arrangements we must make in relation to recruitment," Brown said.
Investigators believe the main plotters have been rounded up, though others involved on the periphery, including at least one British-born suspect, were still being hunted, the British security official said.
The family of one suspect — Muhammad Haneef, a 27-year-old doctor from India arrested Monday in Brisbane, Australia — professed his innocence. He had worked at Liverpool before. "He has been detained unnecessarily. He is innocent," Qurat-ul-ain, Haneef's mother, told The Associated Press in the southern Indian city of Bangalore. Sumaiya, Haneef's sister, said Wednesday he was coming to Bangalore to see his daughter, who was born a week ago. Sumaiya uses one name.
Haneef worked in 2005 at Halton Hospital near Liverpool in northern England, hospital spokesman Mark Shone said.
Another suspect arrested in Liverpool was named in British media as Sabeel Ahmed, but police refused to confirm his identity. He is believed to be a 26-year-old doctor.
Posted by: ||
07/04/2007 10:31 ||
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#1
I din't even know how you would conduct a background check on someone from Pakistan.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/04/2007 11:16 Comments ||
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#2
That's right, the man who has banned his ministers from saying the word "Muslim" in relation to terrorism is going to "crack down" on "foreign" medics.
#3
The PM is actually correct but he made a mistake of not proposing a new term when he came out against the use of the other. Salafist terrorism or Islamofacist terrorism would be closer to the reality as not *all* Muslims are terrorists.
He is attempting not to create *more* terrorists by making anyone who is a Muslim assumed to be one.
#5
'Salafis/Wahhabists' or 'Islamofascists' are probably the best terms to describe the type, crosspatch, but the use of either term will undeniably be condemned by CAIR and its minions anyway as part of their massive dissimulation/propaganda campaign.
A senior al-Qaeda terrorist who plotted a wave of car bomb attacks in Britain is feared to have passed on his plans to other militants from prison.
Dhiren Barot, who is serving 30 years for conspiracy to murder, wielded huge influence over other imprisoned terror suspects and tried to convert non-Muslim inmates to his brand of radical Islam. The Times has learnt that the authorities were so concerned about his ability to radicalise other prisoners that he was moved out of Belmarsh jail in southeast London. Growing numbers of inmates were attending Friday prayers in the high-security prison, and it was believed that terrorists from different wings were using the facility to exchange messages and indoctrinate other prisoners.
Barot was transferred to Frankland jail, Durham, where he demanded to be given the right to lead Friday prayers. His demands were rejected.
"I'll go, but I get to lead the prayers!"
"You ain't leadin' no damn prayers!"
"Then I ain't goin'!"
"Smith!"
"Sir!"
"Hit him!"
"Yessir! [WHACK!]"
"Oooowwww!"
"This is jug, knucklehad. You're not in charge here."
Barot was the author of the Gas Limos Project, a plan to blow up hotels and London landmarks with stretch limousines packed with gas cylinders, petrol and nails. It was thwarted by a series of raids in August 2004. A British Hindu who converted to Islam, Barot trained in Afghanistan under Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of 9/11. He wrote a book about the need for Muslims to wage a terrorist campaign against the West. It was published in Britain under his nom de guerre, Essa al-Hindi.
Barot pleaded guilty to planning a bombing campaign in November last year. Even as his defence team attempted to mitigate for him, he insisted that his plans could and would have worked. A security source told The Times: “Nothing would delight him more than to see his plans reach fruition, even if he is behind bars.”
Counter-terrorist agencies have also been concerned that two men who absconded while under terrorist control orders have been visiting high-security inmates in Belmarsh. Lamine and Ibrahim Adam have been on the run for six weeks and the public have been told not to approach them. Their brother, Anthony Garcia, was convicted in April for his part in a fertiliser bomb plot to attack London. Zeeshan Siddiqui, another associate of the fertiliser bomb cell, is another control order absconder whose whereabouts are unknown. Siddiqui had terror training in Pakistan with members of the gang and Mohammed Sidique Khan, the leader of the 7/7 bombers. “We thought they would all go to Peshawar overseas, but it is not inconceivable that, given their contacts with terrorists here, they might attempt to do something in this country,” the source said.
After sentencing Barot to life last November, Mr Justice Butterfield said that he would have to serve at least 40 years in jail. The judge said that Barot’s plans would have caused carnage on a “colossal and unprecedented scale” if successful. He told Barot, who had worked as an airline ticketing clerk in Piccadilly: “Your intention was not simply to cause damage, panic or fear. Your intention was to murder, but it went further. It was designed to strike at the very heart of democracy and the security of the State, and, if successful, would have affected thousands personally, millions indirectly and ultimately the whole nation of the US and the UK.” The judge added: “You have devoted most of your adult life to seeking means to bring death and destruction to the Western world.”
This article starring:
ANTHONY GARCIA
al-Qaeda
DHIREN BAROT
al-Qaeda
ESA AL HINDI
al-Qaeda
IBRAHIM ADAM
al-Qaeda
KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMED
al-Qaeda
LAMINE ADAM
al-Qaeda
MOHAMED SIDIQUE KHAN
al-Qaeda in Britain
ZISHAN SIDIQUI
al-Qaeda in Britain
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2007 09:08 ||
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#1
the Death sentence seems entirely warranted here.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/04/2007 9:46 Comments ||
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#2
"Counter-terrorist agencies have also been concerned that two men who absconded while under terrorist control orders have been visiting high-security inmates in Belmarsh."
Seems to me that since the authorities know who these guys are, and what they look like, it woud be a simple matter that once they are 'visiting' they could be apprehended and perhaps then be given the opportunity for some long term 'visiting.'
Just sayin, is all....
#5
At a certain point we need to look at a level of solitary confinement that precludes all contact with anyone else. Probably lawyer contact will have to be allowed. In America we run into cases where prison executions in Lewisberg PA are being approved by Arayan Brotherhood board members from the SHU in Peilcan Bay CA.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/04/2007 12:30 Comments ||
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#6
At a certain point we need to look at a level of solitary confinement that precludes all contact with anyone else.
Super Hose has it. I've long pushed for solitary confinement of Islamic radicals. They infect a morally void prison population with the greatest of ease. Never willing to hurl themselves into the furnace, Islam's clerical elite are the "Thyphoid Marys" of global terrorism. Until we find the courage to dismantle Islam, we must at least halt communication of its virulent meme.
#7
“You have devoted most of your adult life to seeking means to bring death and destruction to the Western world.”
That seems to apply to about 3/4 of the muzzies in our midst. Why can't we say it out loud? They're either hard at work to ensure death and destruction, openly or covertly supporting it, or secretly in agreement with those who actually do the dirty work. The number of truly "moderate" muzzies who actively oppose such operations can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and not run out of digits. We don't need such people in our midst. As I've said before, and others have agreed to, islam is incompatible with the basic precepts of the United States, as stated in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. It's time to recognize that politically incorrect truth, and treat muzzies accordingly.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/04/2007 14:52 Comments ||
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#8
As I've said before, and others have agreed to, islam is incompatible with the basic precepts of the United States, as stated in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
It goes beyond incompatibility. Islam is actively seeking to overthrow our Constitutional law and will use any means to do so. As we celebrate our freedom today, all of us need to consider just how much we are willing to tolerate such a profound threat to it. Over half a decade after the 9-11 atrocities, I'm ill prepared to wait even another half-decade for action to be taken.
We simply cannot hope to grant equal liberty to those who do not blanch at granting themselves every unfair advantage in their quest to destroy us.
A third man with close links to al-Qa'eda in Iraq has admitted using the internet to urge Muslims to wage a violent holy war against all non-believers. Tariq al-Daour, along with accomplices Younes Tsouli and Waseem Mughal, believed there was a "global conspiracy" to wipe out Islam and spent at least a year trying to encourage people to follow the extreme ideology of Osama bin Laden using email and radical websites.
The jury at Woolwich Crown Court heard how the "intelligent" young men used computers to try and recruit people to a global jihad. Films of hostages and beheadings were found in their possession. These included footage of Ken Bigley pleading for his life and Americans Nick Berg and Daniel Pearl being killed.
In one online conversation, when Al-Daour was asked what he would do with £1 million, he replied: "Sponsor terrorist attacks, become the new Osama [Bin Laden]." In another conversation he said suicide bombings were permissible but he did not like them unless they killed many people because "a Muslim life is worth more than that".
Al-Daour had CDs containing instructions for making explosives and poisons including a recipe for creating a rotten meat toxin which, in its pure form, is "the most toxic substance known to man", the court was told.
UAE-born Al-Daour, 21, of Bayswater, west London, admitted inciting another person to commit and act of terrorism wholly or partly outside the United Kingdom which would, if committed in England and Wales, constitute murder. Moroccan-born Tsouli, 23, of Shepherd's Bush, west London, and British-born Mughal, 24, of Chatham, Kent, admitted the same charge on Monday. Their guilty pleas come two months into their trial. The men also admitted conspiring together and with others to defraud banks, credit card companies and charge card companies.
The judge directed the jury to return formal guilty verdicts against Al-Daour, in light of his pleas. The three men will be sentenced tomorrow.
This article starring:
Daniel Pearl
Ken Bigley
Nick Berg
TARIQ AL DAUR
al-Qaeda in Iraq
WASIM MUGHAL
al-Qaeda in Iraq
YUNES TSULI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: ryuge ||
07/04/2007 08:07 ||
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#1
Even after the latest London jihadi outrages, these clowns will be sentenced to have lollipop breaks and extra time at the mosque. Just watch...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/04/2007 10:16 Comments ||
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#2
instructions for making explosives and poisons including a recipe for creating a rotten meat toxin which, in its pure form, is "the most toxic substance known to man", the court was told.
Sounds like botulism.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/04/2007 21:12 Comments ||
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Several doctors arrested over the London and Glasgow car bomb plot were on the files of MI5, it has been disclosed. At least one was on a Home Office watch list after being identified by security services - meaning their travel in and out of Britain was monitored by immigration officers. Others were found to be on the MI5 database, which contains an estimated 2,000 suspected jihadists or supporters of terrorism. Whitehall sources said they had not been involved in previous plots, but were "people who knew people'' who were under observation.
Bet they also have files on people who know people who know another guy who once sat on a bus with a person who was on another list
The fact that they were "on the radar" was one reason why the investigation has moved so fast since the failed plot was sprung last Friday morning.
Seven NHS doctors have been arrested over the latest alleged conspiracy, most of them originating from the Middle East. The investigation spans the world, with an eighth suspect arrested in Australia.
After a frantic four days of investigation and with Britain in the midst of a major security operation, police are confident that they have all the "major suspects" in custody. The arrest of an Indian doctor at Brisbane airport on Monday was described as a "watershed" in the inquiry. Scotland Yard asked their Australian counterparts to swoop on Dr Mohammed Haneef, 27. He was at the airport with a one-way ticket to India, having not told his employers or his landlord of any plans to leave.
The international nature of the alleged conspiracy and the fact that the suspects being held worked as doctors has surprised investigators.
American intelligence sources suggested yesterday that some cell members were recruited by al-Qa'eda in Iraq up to three years ago.
But British security sources insisted there was no intelligence that al-Qa'eda commanders plotted to infiltrate the NHS.
American intelligence sources suggested yesterday that some cell members were recruited by al-Qa'eda in Iraq up to three years ago. Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, an insurgency leader, was said to have been ordered to find young men to blend into Western society before staging an attack, said the CBS television network in America.
But British security sources insisted there was no intelligence that al-Qa'eda commanders plotted to infiltrate the NHS.
Careful with their wording, they are. This article says Zarqawi recruited them when he was head of al-Q in Iraq.
Most of the alleged cell members arrived in this country after 2004 to take up NHS jobs. It is believed they were recruited in Britain. Whitehall sources said that, as yet, there was no sign of any orders, instructions or training from al-Qa'eda based in Pakistan.
There has also been none of the tell-tale ''chatter'' on jihadi websites that usually follows such attacks. It is possible that this is because the attacks failed and Islamist groups are reluctant to be seen endorsing them.
Posted by: lotp ||
07/04/2007 06:13 ||
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#1
MI5 Issues CYA Report
"We were all over this," boasts unnamed government official. A calmed nation resumes its focus on Elton John hissy fit.
Posted by: regular joe ||
07/04/2007 7:56 Comments ||
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#2
The arrest of an Indian doctor at Brisbane airport on Monday was described as a "watershed" in the inquiry.
Must mean Oz used the feared and deadly chemical di-hydride-monoxide in the interrogation. Perhaps with boards.
The plot to mount car bomb attacks in Britain was hatched outside the UK, with the doctors allegedly involved linked to a ringleader or mastermind abroad, counter-terrorism officials believe. One theory is that the alleged plot was orchestrated by one or two jihadists who infiltrated the NHS and indoctrinated others.
It emerged last night that investigators suspect that the two men caught at Glasgow airport trying to ram a Jeep into the terminal building were also behind the failed attempt to detonate two car bombs in central London last Friday.
Sources also suggested that all known members of the cell had been accounted for. "There is not a huge manhunt," one well-placed official said. Though the terrorist threat level remains at "critical" there were indications that it would soon be downgraded to "severe", meaning an attack is highly likely but not imminent.
All eight people arrested have links with the NHS - seven are doctors or medical students and one worked as a laboratory technician. All entered the UK legally.
It is likely, given the dates on which some of the suspects entered Britain, that the plot was hatched a year ago, or even earlier.
Intelligence sources last night declined to say where the "guiding hand" or mastermind behind the plot was based. It is likely, given the dates on which some of the suspects entered Britain, that the plot was hatched a year ago, or even earlier.
Though MI5 insists none of the suspects arrested in connection with the plot were under surveillance, the mobile phones detectives recovered from the would-be car bombs contained details that matched material on the security service database.
Though MI5 insists none of the suspects arrested in connection with the plot were under surveillance, the mobile phones detectives recovered from the would-be car bombs contained details that matched material on the security service database. Counter-terrorism officials say data from the phones and email traffic was checked on the database used by MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, the government's eavesdropping centre. Connections were found linking that information and communications abroad, which enabled the police and security services to speed up their investigations in Britain.
"This linkage allowed the police to move quickly," said a source. The foreign intercepts included talk of jihad, an official added. Counter-terrorism officials say the links between members of the British-based cell were via the foreign intercepts. It is believed, for example, that Mohamed Haneef, the doctor arrested at Brisbane airport, had long conversations with one of the suspects arrested in Britain.
Security and intelligence sources said yesterday that no link had yet been made between the failed bomb attacks and al-Qaida. However, they say al-Qaida's tactics are more flexible than they were at the time of the 9/11 attacks and that their sympathisers are increasingly left to decide for themselves the means of attack.
Anti-terrorist officials suggested yesterday that the use of car bombs was a response to warnings to farmers and suppliers fertiliser - the favoured ingredient of previous terror plots - to report suspicious demands for large quantities of the product. The bombers turned to the more easily obtainable fuel and propane gas. The fact that the attacks were bungled suggests the perpetrators did not have the same expertise as British bombers, many of whom were trained in Pakistan.
Separate sources say the attack on Glasgow's airport terminal was intended as a suicide car bombing. It was the first time such an attack had been attempted in Britain. One source said the attack happened as the terrorists felt the police were closing in on them: "They felt the police were on to them; it was a bit of a panic attack."
It emerged yesterday that all three suspects arrested in Scotland after the Glasgow attack, including the alleged passenger of the Jeep Cherokee used in the attack, a hospital doctor called Bilal Abdulla, were secretly transferred to Paddington Green high security police station in London on Monday night.
The driver of the car, Lebanese doctor Khalid Ahmed, is in a critical condition at the Royal Alexandra hospital in Paisley with severe burns. The decision to transfer the other suspects, two men thought to be Saudi trainee doctors working at the hospital in Paisley, was taken on Monday afternoon by the head of the Scottish prosecution service, Eilish Angiolini, QC.
One of the men arrested in Scotland told police he had left a hired car in the car park at Forth Road mosque. Early yesterday morning police bomb disposal experts carried out a series of controlled explosions on the silver Vauxhall Vectra. It was then taken away for forensic examination.
In a separate development, two Asian men were being questioned by detectives in Lancashire last night after they were arrested on a Blackburn industrial estate following a reported delivery of around 10 large gas canisters.
Passengers at Heathrow were delayed for up to five hours yesterday after an alert caused by a suspect package, which proved to be a false alarm.
Posted by: lotp ||
07/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Is it a cooincidence that Bob Barker just retired? Maybe I'm too much of a conspiracy theorist.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/04/2007 0:49 Comments ||
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#3
They trot out the Evil Mastermind theory every time. This Evil Mastermind seems to have lost his Rolodex containing the names of competent bomb makers.
#5
Bob Barker has been an activist for the SPCA for years. Any organization whose name is an acronym should be looked at closely in these troubled times.
While Paris Hilton's activity is often controverial, she has never been associated with an organization charecterized by an acronym - I don't think her most celebrated movie appearance involved representation by the SAG. One can only conclude that she is under deep cover.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/04/2007 12:21 Comments ||
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SECURITY at tonight's third State of Origin rugby league match in Brisbane and at APEC meetings elsewhere in Queensland will be beefed up following the arrest of Gold Coast-based doctor Mohammed Haneef in connection with terror plots in the United Kingdom.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to pack Suncorp Stadium in inner Brisbane for tonight's match. Queensland Police have said there is no specific threat to the match, but police will be out in extra numbers just in case. Extra patrols will also be in force at an APEC 2007 trade ministers' meeting starting in Cairns tomorrow.
Australian Federal Police officers have been granted an extra 48 hours to hold Dr Haneef, who was detained at Brisbane international airport for questioning over the car bomb plot in London and the attack on Glasgow airport. AFP commissioner Mick Keelty has said it should be known by then if Dr Haneef - who was arrested as he was preparing to board a flight to Kuala Lumpur on Monday night - will be charged with any offences.
"We have had obviously significant time with Dr Haneef. We are hopeful that we'll be able to clarify his situation in the course of the next 48 hours or so," he said on ABC radio. "If we wanted to detain him any longer we would have to go back to the court."
Mr Keelty later gave his first hint at the evidence that led to Dr Haneef's arrest. "I know there is speculation in the press about a phone call," he said, adding that there was "a lot more" to it than that. "There is a considerable amount of material that's been provided to us that we are working through."
A senior British police officer is heading to Australia to interview Dr Haneef. She will arrive tomorrow.
A second doctor questioned yesterday by AFP officers has been released without charge this morning. "This person is now free to go and free to go about his own business, and we should respect his liberty and his privacy," Mr Keelty has said on the Nine Network.
Prime Minister John Howard has also stressed that Dr Haneef has not been charged with any crime. "The man has been detained, he has been taken into custody, he has not been charged with any offence," Mr Howard has said. "Until he is - and he may not be, it will depend very much on how the investigations go - it is appropriate to extend to him a presumption of innocence."
British police are reported to have requested a speedy extradition of Dr Haneef, amid speculation that he may have been known to Britain's top spy agency MI5 before his arrest. Reports in the UK have said all eight suspects held have appeared on the MI5 database. Seven of those arrested are doctors or trainee doctors while the sole woman among those held - believed to be the wife of another of the suspects - is a laboratory researcher, reports have said.
The head of the Brunel Centre for Intelligence and Security, Professor Anthony Glees, said he believed at least one of those arrested was already known to Britain's top spooks and on MI5's database. Security sources quoted in British reports have said their appearances on watchlists shows was to be expected and proves the security services are keeping tabs on the right areas of society.
Dr Haneef was appointed registrar at the Gold Coast Hospital at Southport last September after being recruited from a hospital near Liverpool in northern England. He studied in Bangalore.
One of the doctors arrested, a 26-year-old man arrested in the northern English city of Liverpool on Sunday, worked at the same hospital as Dr Haneef and the nearby Warrington Hospital. The other doctors arrested reportedly worked at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, Scotland, and the University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Stoke-on-Trent in England.
Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock has denied national security was being compromised by poor vetting of temporary visas. Mr Ruddock said there had been no "lowering of the bar" in relation to the processing of doctors when they arrived to work in Australia.
Posted by: Oztralian ||
07/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Bombs severely damaged two houses Tuesday in France's southern Basque region, but there were no injuries, emergency services said. The bombs went off in the fishing village of Guethary.
Three suspected members of the armed Basque separatist group ETA were arrested near the Spanish border on Monday, police said
#3
Pyrenee Mountains, Gary...most likely a clan-on-clan fight. I...ahem...have Basque relatives there. Very insular
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/04/2007 11:24 Comments ||
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#4
Very insular
That's putting it mildly. Euskara, the Basque language is so unique that language researchers have abandoned any attempts at connecting it to other European languages. Some are examining links to Sanskrit, one of the world's oldest spoken languages.
But sometimes, regardless of approach, historical linguistics is faced with an unsolvable puzzle. There is one language in Europe which has baffled scholars for centuries. Sarak looks like a typical French village, but its graveyard holds a linguistic secret. Inscribed alongside the French is the mysterious language of the Basque people. The language is called Euskara, and it has resisted any classification so far. It is called a language isolate, an orphan among languages with no known relatives. The land of the Basques straddles the borders of France and Spain. No amount of analysis has been able to link Euskara to French, Spanish, or to any European language, nor, in fact, to a language anywhere in the world. How could this linguistic isolation come about? Perhaps it was the fierce independence of the Basque people, their resistance to outside invaders and their strong history of oral tradition. But, whatever the reason, the Basque language has withstood centuries of influence. Scientists have wondered whether a biological comparison between the Basques and their Indo-European-speaking neighbors would reflect that isolation as well.
The rest of the girls looked like girls, but he was taller and had a pot belly.
The leader of a radical mosque besieged by Pakistani security forces in Islamabad has been caught trying to escape wearing a woman's burqa. Security forces seized Abdul Aziz as he tried to leave the Red Mosque amid a crowd of women. "He was the last in a group of seven women all wearing the same clothes. He was wearing a burqa that also covered his eyes," a security official told the AFP news agency about the cleric's escape bid. "Our men spotted his unusual demeanour. The rest of the girls looked like girls, but he was taller and had a pot belly."
#8
The head of the Lal Masjid, Abdul Aziz Ghazi, posed as an ''aunty'' while trying to escape on Wednesday in a burqa from the shrine surrounded by Pakistani troops.
Considered as the mastermind of the present stand off, Aziz, his wife and daughter, all wearing burqas, managed to walk past the first level of security manned by paramilitary Rangers but was caught by Islamabad women police constables while physically checking him.
As the women constables approached to check Aziz, his wife referred to him as an aunty who was very sick and asked the constables to not to touch him. But the women constables insisted on checking and yelled to see a bearded ''aunty'' beneath the burqa.
At this point of time he along with his daughter tried to run back to the Lal Majid, but was caught, officials said. It was only later they came to know that he was Aziz.
The title ''Aunty'' became famous as Aziz's moral brigade a few months ago had abducted a woman called ''Aunty Shamim'', a middle aged woman from the near by locality alleging that she ran a brothel.
Posted by: John Frum ||
07/04/2007 15:18 Comments ||
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#9
Mastermind, in his own mind, Aziz goes from anti to aunty to the Great Maroon of the Red Mosque.
More than 100 radical Islamic students holed up at an Islamabad mosque compound surrendered Wednesday morning, winding down an intense standoff between militants and government forces, a government source told CNN.
I thought the little brats were gonna fight to the death? Was a change of plans that nobody told me about?
More were expected to leave the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, and its surrounding area shortly after a government-imposed deadline for their surrender lapsed at 11 a.m. (0600 GMT), the source said.
In other words, dying for jihad looks different from a distance; up close it's not nearly as pretty.
No operations have been launched by security forces at the scene, according to the source. They are waiting as militants slowly surrender.
And as the Lal Masjid sympathizers in the military and government do their stuff.
Two more army brigades have been deployed in the NWFP tribal region, according to a Pakistan embassy official.
In a letter published in the Washington Times from the embassy’s press minister, M Akram Shaheedi, it has been said that the peace agreement in Waziristan was not concluded under pressure from the Pakistan army, but at the insistence of tribal chiefs who committed themselves to preventing terrorist activities in Pakistan or across the border into Afghanistan. Not a single solider has been withdrawn, he writes, “instead, more army brigades have been deployed quite recently, raising the troop strength to more than 85,000” in the region.
The official claims that the policy is “paying dividends” as more than 300 foreign militants have been killed in the last couple of months. There are some “spoilers” but they would not succeed. The Taliban are not a “strategic tool” for Pakistan, as an article in the newspaper had suggested, he added. The letter suggests that the US should follow the same strategy in Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2007 00:00 ||
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The government decided late on Tuesday to launch an operation against Lal Masjid in Islamabad to enforce the writ of the state, after clashes between students of madrassas affiliated with the mosque and security forces claimed 12 lives. This decision was taken in a three-hour meeting chaired by President General Pervez Musharraf at his camp office in Rawalpindi, sources privy to the meeting told Daily Times.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Secretary General Mushahid Hussain, Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani and top security officials attended the meeting. It was decided that the
Lal Masjid administration would be given a brief ultimatum to surrender and vacate the mosque and its allied madrassas.
Lal Masjid administration would be given a brief ultimatum to surrender and vacate the mosque and its allied madrassas. They would also be asked to hand over madrassa students accused of taking the law into their own hands and attacking law enforcement officials. If the demands are not met, security forces would start an operation, possibly amidst a curfew.
Sources privy to the meeting said that Gen Musharraf was briefed on the ongoing clashes between madrassa students and law enforcement officials and expressed grave concern at the situation. He said he was resolved to ensure the writ of the state in the face of any challenge. “The government has decided to launch the operation. The army will be on standby and police and Rangers will conduct the operation,” a senior official told AFP. “They have forced it on us. The operation will be soon.” The official indicated the operation was unlikely to be an immediate raid on the compound and would probably start with the area around the mosque being sealed off. Utilities could then be cut to the site, the official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Twelve people were killed and around 150 injured in a daylong shootout between madrassa students and Rangers near Lal Masjid on Tuesday. The administration confirmed that one journalist, a Rangers soldier, a businessman, madrassa students and bystanders were among the dead. Unconfirmed reports suggested that the death toll had mounted to 16.
The shootout began at around 11am after students of Jamia Hafsa and Jamia Fareedia, madrassas affiliated with Lal Masjid, marched towards the nearby Environment Ministry building and a security picket outside it. The students snatched weapons from police and took four officials hostage, according to police. Rangers fired teargas to repel them, and students stationed inside the mosque responded by opening fire, witnesses said. The students set fire to the ministry and Estate Office buildings in front of their madrassas. The buildings were almost completely gutted as fire fighters could not reach the spot due to heavy firing from both sides.
The Rangers had taken up positions in these two buildings and the nearby F G Girls High School after evacuating government staff from them on Monday. The pitched battles continued all day. Students carrying batons mixed up with the general public who had gathered there to witness the battle and threw stones at security personnel. Students armed with AK-47s and wearing gas masks took up positions behind sandbags on the roof of the mosque and bunkers inside the mosque courtyard, chanting “Jihad, jihad!”. Armed madrassa students continued to roam around in front of the mosque and nearby roads after dark.
Loudspeaker announcements from the mosque urged “fedayeen” to prepare themselves. “Jihad against the government has started. Arrest these rangers and police officials wherever they are seen!”
As gunfire rang out, loudspeaker announcements from the mosque urged “fedayeen” (suicide attackers) to prepare themselves. “Jihad against the government has started. Arrest these rangers and police officials wherever they are seen,” said other announcements.
SSP Captain Zafar Iqbal told Daily Times that the “Lal Masjid administration initiated the action and now we are into it”. He said there were reports of 11 unconfirmed deaths and 16 arrests so far. At least 148 people were reported injured, some with bullet wounds but most due to teargas inhalation. The roads leading to Lal Masjid were closed and Appra and Melody markets remained closed throughout the day.
MMA MNA Maulana Shah Abdul Aziz visited Lal Masjid and made an abortive attempt to broker a ceasefire. A five-member committee including Maulana Zahoor Alvi, Maulana Nazir Farooqi, Maulana Saeedur Rehman, Senator Telha Mehmood and Qazi Rasheed started negotiations with the Lal Masjid clerics to resolve the crisis on Tuesday night.
Among the confirmed dead were journalist Javed Khan, Rangers soldier Mubarik Hussain, student Muhammad Rafi, Muhammad Ijaz, a labourer, Umraiz Ahmed, a businessman, Ghulam Hussain, and an unidentified Uzbek national.
Reuters adds: Three journalists, including two westerners, were conducting interviews in the Jamia Hafsa madrassa for girls in the mosqueÂ’s compound when the shooting started, and were believed to be still inside.
The government said it wanted talks. “Despite unprovoked firing by the students of Lal Masjid, the government still wants to settle the issue through dialogue,” State Interior Minister Zafar Warraich told PTV. There are some 5,000 students at the madrassas affiliated to the Lal Masjid, most of them from poorer parts of NWFP.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
"The students snatched weapons from police and took four officials hostage"
WTF???? Either Paki cops are the world's least competent or they're on the 'students' side. Snatching a cop's weapon generally has the effect of getting one killed on the spot, at least in New Orleans, and we are not known for the competence of our police.
#6
That picture looks like an "Oh Shit" moment, the clip at his right foot is empty, and I cannot see any bullets in the clip in his hand, just the formed wrinkle thats in clips to feed the cartriges correctly.
Ran out of ammo did you? Oh Shit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/04/2007 20:58 Comments ||
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#7
LOL RJ - you looked closer than I did - good catch :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/04/2007 20:59 Comments ||
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Pakistani forces Tuesday arrested a Libyan national suspected to have links with Al-Qaeda terror network and seized important documents from his possession. Abdul Salaam, 23, a Libyan national was arrested afternoon Taftan bordering town while he was trying to cross Pak-Iran border illegally, Levis force sources told KUNA.
Which way?
Sources said important documents and a number of fake identity cards of Afghanistan as well as Pakistan and Iran were seized from his possession. They said further that during interrogation he revealed his original identity and admitted to have links with Al-Qaeda.
Pak Forgerers' Guild protecting its turf and its trade secrets...
#3
The following primary factors favor release or transfer:
The detainee stated he is an honest businessman and has never received money on behalf of the Taliban or al Qaida or any other groups.
He stated that the money received was from families from outside that country trying to get money on behalf of the Taliban or al Qaida or any other groups.
He stated that the money received was from families from outside that country trying to get money to support their families in Afghanistan.
The detainee has no knowledge of money transfers outside the three hawallas owned by his family in the United Arab Emirates, Miram Shah, Pakistan, and Bermal, Afghanistan.
The detainee claims all he and his brothers were trying to accomplish was to make an honest living and provide for their families.
Just a simple farm boy, trying to make a living out of the family hawallas.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/04/2007 9:37 Comments ||
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#4
Someone believed his bullshit that he was just a piano player in the whorehouse. "Catch and release" should be replaced by kill on the battlefield or kill and release the body for pig slop.
#5
Or, JohnQC, he was turned and is one of ours. Doubtful, I know but he does look a little bit like Tom Cruise.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/04/2007 15:12 Comments ||
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#6
It's blatantly obvious that this Libyan national is not Gitmo Detainee 826, who is an Afghani. Here is a long list of people named Abdul Salaam. The fact-checking and self-criticism here seems to be lacking.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
07/04/2007 19:53 Comments ||
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#7
The fact-checking and self-criticism here seems to be lacking.
I dunno, we ran your UN ass-kissing self off before didn't we? Happy 4th!
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/04/2007 20:49 Comments ||
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#8
My memory is a bit blurry from being a habitual drunken bachelor, so help me out here. Was he run out on a rail or tarred and feathered? I quite honestly can't recall.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
07/04/2007 21:16 Comments ||
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#9
a hissy fit
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/04/2007 21:17 Comments ||
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#10
Makes sense. People who think they're better than everyone else tend to have those.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
07/04/2007 21:23 Comments ||
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#11
This misidentification is obvious immediately to anyone who bothers to look at the link, but no Rantburgers bother to correct it, because they are too busy making inane comments. When an outsider corrects it, they attack him.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
07/04/2007 23:19 Comments ||
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#12
not an attack, just recalling history. G'nite Mike - enjoy life
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/04/2007 23:26 Comments ||
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#13
I for one, am glad Spike was here to tell us about ourselves.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
07/04/2007 23:38 Comments ||
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#14
*sigh* Good catch, Mike Sylwester. What a pity you had to come charging in with residual attitude, instead of starting afresh. Happy Fourth of July, anyway -- may the coming year be happier for you, your wife, and your lovely daughter.
Mukhisa, northeast of Baqubah June 30 - July 2
During a patrol along the Diyala River near Baqubah, Coalition Forces were engaged by three men with rifles and military-style assault vests from across the river. Coalition Forces returned fire and the enemy fire subsided, but enemy reinforced its numbers and escalated to include rocket-propelled grenades.
Coalition Forces determined the enemy fire was coming from an organized terrorist force that had moved into a nearby palm grove. Coalition Forces fired and maneuvered on the enemy and called in close air support from a fixed-wing aircraft. During the engagement Coalition Forces killed an estimated 25 terrorists and the enemy fire stopped. The patrol also observed secondary explosions coming from within the palm grove.
Throughout the firefight, a nearby mosque was broadcasting chants for local residents to “rise up against” the Coalition Forces; the chants were later replaced by a voice that seemed to be giving orders.
Anbar Province July 4
In western Iraq, Coalition Forces raided a series of buildings in Anbar province looking for a suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq leader who is known to be responsible for the torture of Iraqis civilians who are viewed as supporting Coalition Force.
As ground forces approached the first targeted location they encountered three individuals. Two of the men were armed and the third attempted to draw his weapon on ground forces. Responding to the threat, ground forces engaged the three armed men, killing them. During this engagement three men from the targeted location across the street came outside of the building an began firing at Coalition Forces. Coalition Forces returned fire in self-defense, killing the three armed terrorists from the building across the street.
Immediately following engagement with the six armed terrorists, Coalition Forces began receiving heavy machine gun fire from a third targeted location down the road from three armed terrorists on the buildings rooftop, while a forth individual on the ground was maneuvering towards the ground force. Using appropriate escalation of force and responding to the threat, Coalition Forces called in close air support to suppress the enemy fire. During the strafing conducted by the close air support aircraft, the three terrorists on the rooftop and the one terrorist on the ground were killed.
#2
"Throughout the firefight, a nearby mosque was broadcasting chants for local residents to “rise up against” the Coalition Forces; the chants were later replaced by a voice that seemed to be giving orders."
They say "mosque" I say "Command Post".
Potato, potatoe...just bomb the freaking thing out of existence...ok?
#4
Throughout the firefight, a nearby mosque was broadcasting chants for local residents to “rise up against” the Coalition Forces
Har har! Little do they know that it is really the new coalition tactic of blaring this stuff on loudspeakers just so they flush out all the terrorists they can. Perhaps it might be going a bit far to refer to all the locals as "pansies" in the recording, but we can let the left wring their hands about that later.
I especially like the part about how when one of the group shoots, then everyone standing around them with a gun gets it.
And that there were no coaliton or "civilian" casualties.
Apache pilots evacuate critically-wounded Soldier, kill several extremists in Ramadi firefight
Staff Sgt. Lorin T. Smith
36th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs Office
LSA ANACONDA, Iraq Apache pilots from Company B, 1st Battalion, 149th Aviation Regiment (Attack), 36th Combat Aviation Brigade and Company A, 2nd Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, engaged extremists and saved a critically-wounded Soldiers life during a firefight in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on June 30, 2007.
Two attack weapons teams (with two AH-64 helicopters making up a team) flew to Ramadi in support of Coalition Forces in search of insurgents and weapons caches.
The teams reached Ramadi and received notice that Coalition Forces were taking heavy small arms fire. To maximize the helicopters time over a potential target, one team immediately went to the Ramadi forward arming and refueling point and the other attack weapons team flew into the fight.
They engaged extremists with 30 millimeter cannon fire neutralizing them. The team then supported other Coalition Forces engaging extremists using two tractor trailers as cover. The crew took small arms fire and multiple enemy rounds to their aircraft.
Despite the small arms fire, the attack weapons team destroyed the tractor trailers, causing secondary explosions, indicating to the crew that the trailers were possibly used as vehicle-born improvised explosive devices.
The crew stayed on station with the Coalition Forces until fuel levels became low, and returned to the FARP to refuel. Due to battle damage sustained, the Apache team performed a battle handoff to the second attack weapons team and flew back to LSA Anaconda.
The second team entered the engagement area in Ramadi. Coalition Forces were still taking heavy enemy fire. The attack weapons team shot hundreds of cannon rounds and rockets, expending their ammunition. As the team returned to the FARP to rearm and refuel, the ground forces commander informed the crews that he was coordinating a medical evacuation of wounded Soldiers including one critically-wounded.
Approximately 40 minutes later, after rearming and refueling, the team went back to the area and learned that the MEDEVAC aircraft had not arrived. Due to the critically-wounded Soldier and despite continued enemy activity, the Company B aviators landed and extracted the critically-wounded casualty with the Apache helicopter. While the Company A crew provided overhead security, the Company B crew landed within two kilometers of the enemy position.
Upon landing, the co-pilot/gunner helped load the injured Soldier into the front seat without further injury. Despite the heavy small arms fire and surface-to-air fire events in the area, the co-pilot/gunner strapped himself onto the left side of the aircraft and hunkered down on the wing. The pilot flew to Camp Ar Ramadi medical pad, where emergency medical personnel provided treatment. The team went back to the fight and continued to provide support for Coalition Forces. Upon neutralizing the extremists, the crew returned to LSA Anaconda.
Due to the extent of the battle damage, one extremists was confirmed killed in action, but multiple extremists were killed in conjunction with ground forces. The wounded Soldier has been transferred to LSA Anaconda and is in stable condition.
#2
Note: "Despite the heavy small arms fire and surface-to-air fire events in the area, the co-pilot/gunner strapped himself onto the left side of the aircraft and hunkered down on the wing. "
The co-pilot/gunner deserves several medals for this. The pilot, too.
For bombs? Or just market resale?
Hilla, Jul 3, (VOI)- Unknown gunmen took by force four oil tanker trucks that were carrying gasoline to the Iraqi capital Baghdad on the highway north of Hilla, a police source said on Tuesday. "Unknown gunmen intercepted, today, four oil trucks that were carrying gasoline on the highway linking Hilla to Baghdad and took them towards al-Sayafiyah area in Latifiyah district," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The source, who declined to give any information about the fate of the trucks' drivers, said, "police forces are launching a campaign in search of the trucks."
Latifiya district is one of the most dangerous areas just south of Baghdad where al-Qaeda-linked armed groups are active. Armed groups sometimes detonate oil trucks crammed with explosives to cause high amounts of human casualties.
Hilla, capital city of Babel province, is 100 km south of Baghdad.
BAGHDAD (AP) - Pentagon video released Tuesday showed the dramatic rescue of two U.S. helicopter pilots after their aircraft went down amid insurgent fire.
The military said the Kiowa helicopter was forced down by insurgents south of Baghdad on Monday and two pilots in an Apache helicopter ferried the men to safety. The two downed pilots were slightly injured.
The rescued pilots told AP Radio that their helicopter - used mostly for reconnaissance and light attack - went down near a drainage canal while insurgents were still shooting from houses nearby. The men shielded themselves by climbing into the canal, and the Apache arrived 15 minutes later.
Chief Warrant Officer Steven Cianfrini, one of the rescued airmen, said he was given one of the two seats in the Apache because he was wounded. The other rescued pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Mark Burrows, and a member of the Apache crew strapped themselves to the outside of the chopper.
``It happened so fast. I don't think we really thought about much ... just try to stay alive,'' said Cianfrini
#1
Great rescue op - strapped onto the Gun mounts - quick thinking - and then when the rescue was complete - the Apache continued on mission - discipline at its finest!!
#2
I guess ABC posted the video because it showed the insurgents' victory over American air power, not because of the heroic rescue.
After the rescue we kept the wreckage out of insurgents' hands by dropping a pair of 500 pound bombs on it. I'd have waited for a good, Paleo-style 'swarm' to have developed first.
#3
Even featured on the front page of today's Washington Post with a nice picture of the two guys on front of a flag, with the caption, "...shot down Monday in Iraq, only to be rescued despite taking heavy fire from insurgents."
Shot down "only to be resuced"? Am I missing the hidden MSM message?
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/04/2007 8:30 Comments ||
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#4
There was another incident a few years ago--duirng the initial invasion,I think--where an Apache lifted the crew of another downed helicopter on the skids.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/04/2007 9:47 Comments ||
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#5
I understand they teach this and practice it at Ft. Rucker.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/04/2007 15:18 Comments ||
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#6
It is a taught emergency procedure, and for Mike it was just a few months ago and it was the Brits who did it with one of their crews.
US troops won a fierce battle outside Al QaedaÂ’s former stronghold in western Iraq, the military said on Tuesday, as commanders warned that recent victories must not be taken for granted while car bombings in the cities of Kirkuk and Baghdad killed at least 20 Iraqis.
US soldiers and marines killed 23 insurgents and foiled an apparent attempt to revive Al Qaeda influence near the groupÂ’s former bastion of Ramadi.
US soldiers and marines, backed with attack jets and helicopter gun ships, killed 23 insurgents in the weekend clash and foiled an apparent attempt to revive Al Qaeda influence near the groupÂ’s former bastion of Ramadi. Although Al Qaeda declared the city its capital last year, the groupÂ’s attacks against civilians and local leaders have turned much of Anbar provinceÂ’s population against it.
Senior US officials, including President George W Bush, have hailed the resulting turnaround in Anbar — where attacks are down dramatically — but US commanders warn that Al Qaeda fighters have regrouped elsewhere. “I don’t think that there’s any question that they’ve gone somewhere else,” Brigadier General John Allen, the number second most senior officer in western Iraq, told AFP.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
Brigadier General John Allen
Human Rights Watch
Ansar Al-Islam
Ansar Al-Sunnah
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Doesn't matter. We've lost. I'll make sure of it, if necessary.
Posted by: Sen Harry Reid (D-immi) ||
07/04/2007 0:12 Comments ||
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#2
HRW has discovered that some Kurds are violent people. Will they move on to investigate whether ravioli is pasta?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/04/2007 1:07 Comments ||
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#3
You mean the Kurds don't do the old "catch-and-release" with their terrorists? Oh, the horror!
Posted by: Pearl Greaper5013 ||
07/04/2007 1:48 Comments ||
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#4
I think the Kurds are still pissed about that whole "gas my villages" beef they had a few years ago. Can't they just move on (.org)?
Posted by: regular joe ||
07/04/2007 7:59 Comments ||
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#5
23 goat buggers dead, good going guys. Let us know where to send the pig skin body bags to.
The report was based on interviews with 158 detainees held by the Asayish
Yup. Ask a Muslim terrorist, shuck we were mistreated, mind if you stone your wife and cut your head off?
#6
HRW, noting that the Kurdish north is an exception to the general Iraqi pattern of insecurity, violence, and atrocity, resolved to correct this imbalance. I don't know how some "human rights" people live with themselves. Lots & lots of cognitive dissonance, I suppose.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/04/2007 9:03 Comments ||
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#7
The Kurds are still pissed about the 1000+ years of suppression and domination by the arabs. And payback is a bitch.
#8
Some admitted to links with these groups, but “this was rare”, the report said. The report did not estimate how many detainees may be imprisoned, but a HRW spokesman said it might number in the thousands
sure smells like bullshit. I'd guess it is. Nice agitprop HRW!
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/04/2007 11:35 Comments ||
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MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq — Coalition Forces detained nine suspected insurgents while constructing a battle position between Mahmudiyah and Yusifiyah, Iraq, June 29-30. Soldiers of the 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, in conjunction with troops of the 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) from Fort Drum, N.Y., air assaulted into an area along a highway known as Route Sioux during the night. The Soldiers’ mission was to set up security for the construction of a new battle position to prevent movement of anti-Iraqi forces into Baghdad.
The battle position, strategically placed in the area which has long been a central terrorist haven, will provide a center for operations in the area, said Maj. Matt Zimmerman, operations officer for the 2-15th FA and a native of Willington, Conn. “The establishment of a new battle position in the Sayyid-Abdullah corridor consolidates the progress made by the Iraqi Security Forces in denying the area as a safe-haven to al-Qaeda in Iraq and other anti-Iraqi forces,” said Zimmerman. “It also establishes an additional line of communication between the cities of Mahmudiyah and Yusufiyah. Having that communication will allow the 4/6 IA to increase their control in their area of operations, and help them to provide a safe and secure environment for the local populace,” Zimmerman said.
Ground troops from Battery A, 2-15th FA discovered a small cache of anti-coalition propaganda compact disks, and Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd BCT, found an improvised explosive device consisting of six 60mm mortar rounds while traveling to the new battle position. An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team conducted a controlled detonation of the IED.
Six Iraqi citizens were detained at checkpoints leading to the site. One of the detainees was on a U.S. persons-of-interest list, three others were on the Iraqi armyÂ’s persons-of-interest list, and two carried false identification papers.
"These documents — they're all printed in crayon."
"Oh, yasss! That's been the provincial policy for ever so long! It's like a national tradition!"
"Only not national."
During construction efforts for the new position, 2-15 Soldiers came under small-arms fire; attack aviation was called in and the small arms fire was brought to a halt. Battery A Soldiers provided security as construction personnel built the battle position and reed-clearance teams cleared vegetation for better observation. The six detainees were taken to a detention facility for questioning.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2007 00:00 ||
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An AH-64 Apache helicopter rescued two Task Force Marne pilots after enemy fire brought down their OH-58D Kiowa Attack helicopter south of Baghdad July 2. The OH-58 pilots received minor injuries. An Air Force Thunderbolt II destroyed the downed helicopter with two 500-pound laser-guided bombs after the pilots were evacuated from the area. The incident is under investigation.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Lets hope there was a copter crash mob of insurgents there when the warthog vaporized it.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/04/2007 15:23 Comments ||
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Three suspects with known terrorist connections and nine other associates were detained by Coalition Forces in the Adhamiyah District of the Iraqi capital July 2.
The suspects were seized without incident by Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, operating in eastern Baghdad under the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. The troops detained the suspects after receiving information on a meeting site of this alleged terrorist cell. The detention of the 12 suspects is part of the 2nd “Falcon” BCT’s ongoing efforts to secure the Adhamiyah neighborhood and rid it of terrorists and sectarian violence. Several of detained are suspected to have direct involvement in the deaths of five American Soldiers June 21.
“The capture of these individuals will likely put a temporary end to the IED threat in this area. We expect the drop in violence will allow the local population to come out from under the burden of violence that has kept them isolated for so long,” said Maj. Charles Masarachia, operations officer with the Falcon Brigade. “As we increase our dialogue with this community, our ability to provide them security and allow the government of Iraq to provide them essential services will increase, ultimately eliminating the conditions that foster insurgencies.”
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2007 00:00 ||
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BABIL – Iraqi Police Forces detained the alleged brigade commander of a rogue Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) militia in Mahawil, a town about 50 miles south of Baghdad during an intelligence driven operation July 1. He is directly responsible for directing attacks using explosively-formed projectiles and improvised explosive devices on the Iraqi Police, the Iraqi Army, and Coalition Forces. One such EFP attack is directly responsible for the deaths of five U.S. soldiers.
He is also reportedly the JAM Special Groups Leader in Mahawil and Al Imam. During the operation, Iraqi Police detained their primary suspect without incident. Iraqi Police also detained three other individuals found on the targeted residence and confiscated cell phones, passports, computer hard drives, and other miscellaneous documents and booklets. Coalition Forces were present as advisors. No Iraqi or Coalition Forces were injured during the operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Keeping in mind this is the AP, invested heavily in our failure...
The U.S. tactic of using armed Sunni tribesmen in the fight against al-Qaida in Iraq offers short-term gains to weaken the insurgency, but could set the stage for a full-scale sectarian civil war when the Americans begin to draw down their forces. The danger that these alliances of convenience could backfire becomes all the greater if Iraq's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders fail to achieve genuine political reconciliation — the key to ending the conflict.
Instead, signs point to further polarization, despite some progress hammering out deals on sharing the oil wealth and returning many former Saddam Hussein loyalists to government jobs. Parliament could take up the oil bill as early as Wednesday. "If anything, the use of Sunni tribes in the West has created new forms of Sunni versus Shiite polarization," former Pentagon analyst Anthony Cordesman told a House committee last week.
Nevertheless, U.S. military officials insist the strategy is working to quell the violence, especially in Anbar province. The western desert region — threaded by the Euphrates River — had been largely written off as a haven for insurgents. But major Sunni tribal leaders agreed to come together to fight al-Qaida in Iraq late last year. Since then, al-Qaida in Iraq has been mostly driven out of Anbar's main population centers, according to Marine Brig. Gen. John Allen, the deputy commander for U.S. forces in western Iraq. Those include longtime troublespots such as Ramadi, Haditha and Fallujah that had been the major strongholds of the Sunni insurgency.
Encouraged by the shift in Anbar, U.S. commanders have sought to replicate the model in Diyala province northwest of Baghdad — the scene of an ongoing offensive to regain control of the provincial capital of Baqouba. Breakaway members of the 1920 Revolution Brigade, an insurgent group led by former Saddam backers, serve as scouts and intelligence gatherers, identifying al-Qaida hideouts. "They are tired of al Qaida and the influence of al Qaida in their tribes and in their neighborhoods," Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil, the U.S. commander for Baghdad, told reporters last week. "And they want them cleaned out and they want to form an alliance in order to rid themselves of this blight."
U.S. officials insist they aren't actually arming the Sunni tribesmen but simply utilizing them. Nearly every household in Iraq has at least one weapon and the country is awash in guns. "We've given them a little ammo, some flares, but mostly humanitarian aid. We're not arming these guys, we're just changing the direction they're pointing their guns in," Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the U.S. ground forces commander, said last month.
Regardless of where the weapons come from, the risk is that the Sunni tribesmen won't cooperate with the Shiite-led central government if they succeed in crushing their al-Qaida rivals. The effort could end up simply creating new Sunni militias, further undermining the authority of an already weak central government. In rural areas, tribal loyalty is often stronger than allegiance to the national government, especially when the central administration is weak.
"There's no question that the people with guns in Iraq are looking after their own self-interest," said Jon Alterman, a Mideast expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "And they don't have any sentimental attachment to the central government in Baghdad."
Mindful of that risk, the Shiite government's initial reaction to arming Sunnis in Anbar and elsewhere was cool. Last month, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said arming Sunnis was simply creating new militias.
Later, al-Maliki said his remarks were misunderstood and that the program should be carried out "under the supervision of Iraqi authorities and through the government."
But the effort to arm the Sunnis grew in part out of U.S. frustration with Iraqi officials, notably in the Shiite-led Interior Ministry.
U.S. officers had complained privately that they had found Sunnis willing to join but the Shiites at the ministry in Baghdad would not authorize the slots.
"We've been forced to go beyond the central government because the central government's reach doesn't extend much beyond the Green Zone, and local police are often extensions of militias in any event," Alterman said. "We've been forced to cut out the middleman because there's no effective middleman to be had."
The success of the program will likely depend on whether the Iraqis make progress in reaching power sharing agreements among the Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities. That would reinforce a sense of national cohesion — which the country now lacks.
Prospects for lasting agreements appear uncertain. The main Sunni political bloc has refused to attend Cabinet meetings to protest an arrest warrant against a colleague. Muqtada al-Sadr's Shiite faction has also suspended its participation in government.
Those issues would have to be resolved before meaningful agreements can be struck.
Frederick Kagan, a former West Point professor and senior analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, acknowledges that the Americans and Iraqis must be careful to ensure that the Sunnis are eventually integrated into the security forces.
But Kagan believes the gamble is worth it.
"We are serving as the bridge between the Sunni insurgents and tribal leaders and the Shia government," Kagan wrote in The Weekly Standard. "Before the end of last year, there were virtually no Sunnis willing to step on that bridge. Now, five months into the surge, tens of thousands are walking on it."
BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has been freed from kidnappers in Gaza after almost four months in captivity. Television pictures showed Mr Johnston, 45, leaving a building and entering a white car, accompanied by armed men. He said he was tired but in good health. During his time as a hostage, three videos were released featuring images of Mr Johnston or of his belongings. Calls were made for his release in rallies worldwide and in an online petition signed by some 200,000 people. Mr Johnston was handed over to officials of the Hamas administration, reports say.
#1
I am glad he was released safely. Now excuse me while I prepare to induce electroshock therapy on myself. I'm sure he has something to say that will give me a very bad headache.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/04/2007 0:55 Comments ||
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#2
I am preemptively calling Stockholm Syndrome on this one
#7
'We are all indebted to Hamas for their tireless effort to free Mr. Johnson. For this reason, I recommend we restart humanitarian aid to the helpless inhabitants of Gaza' - Tony Blair, Quartet Envoy to Peace Effort, sometime in the near future
A Palestinian boy was killed by the Israeli army forces in Khalil, or Hebron, in southern West Bank on Tuesday, medical sources said. They said in press remarks that 13-year-old Ahmad Sakkafi was killed after he received several bullets in different parts of his body. The Israeli forces let their dogs attack the boy even after his death, they said. The Israeli forces opened fire at the boy while he was playing with his friends in Khalil, eyewitnesses said.
Alternatively:
But the Israeli radio quoted the army as saying the forces shot at Sakkafi after suspecting he was carrying a gun, but it appeared that it was a plastic toy.
#7
My armchair analysis is that the Gaza coup interrupted the Paleo anti-Israel operational capabilities as the Gaza warlords have to rearm, reload, restock and train up more gunnies and boomers with less resources, while the West Bank politicians are still in shock over the loss of their seaside dachas. (And where *is* Yasser's Nobel prize, anyway?)
And while Hamas' and Fatah's cooperation was tenuous, they could at least triangulate effectively with PIJ to kill a Jooo or three from time to time.
Now, the tenuous bonds are (probably? it's hard to tell with Paleos) shattered, and the Western nations are elbowing each other to be first in line to throw cash and guns at Fatah.
In order to keep the international press happy, and to keep the populace seething in Israel's direction, they are causing the deaths of their own children.
I realize this is an unenlightened and arguably unhelpful thought. But it is far less so than pushing a child out to be martyred for the benefit of the soft-headed and weak-kneed viewing public of the West. They want a death cult? Give it to them.
#10
And in Part II of this epic story, the Israelis stomp a cute fluffy bunny to death and devour the dripping carcass uncooked.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
07/04/2007 20:48 Comments ||
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#11
At that age squirrels lived in mortal fear of me.
Yeah, but was it because of the gun?
They want a death cult? Give it to them.
As an unknown commentator once remarked: "Islam is a creed fixated upon martyrdom. Why should we in the West be so churlish as to deny them their wish?"
The time has come for Muslims must learn for once and all time that they must be very, very careful of what they wish for.
Hamas' forces on Tuesday began a military operation to release BBC's Alan Johnston, who was kidnapped on March 12, a Hamas spokesman said. Hamas' forces have begun to besiege persons in al-Sabra in Gaza for allegedly involving in the BBC reporter's abduction, Hamas Spokesman Ghazi Hamad told reporters. On Monday, Hamas forces in Gaza detained members of the Palestinian militant group of the Army of Islam, which claims to have abducted the journalist. Meanwhile, a Palestinian young man was killed here Tuesday in clashes between Hamas militants and gunmen of a family in al-Sabra accused of kidnapping Johnston.
Paleo Centre for Human Rights, call your office!
Mazen al-Qassas, 25, was killed in clashes between members of the family and the Army of Islam group on the one hand and Hamas activists on the other hand, Palestinian medical sources and eyewitnesses.
Young man? He was 25. In Gaza, that makes you a Learned Elder.
The clashes took place in al-Maghrabi Street, south of Gaza, where the Army of Islam is believed to have been holding Johnston for over three months. Hamas' operation, including the arrest of several suspects, was carried out as negotiations with the kidnappers of Johnston reached a deadlock. "The arrests were carried out after all negotiation attempts ... failed to free the abducted journalist," Hamas said in a statement. "The arrests are targeting figures who were involved in the abduction of the journalist," it added.
Tensions between Hamas and the Army of Islam have been growing since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip. Hamas has demanded that the Army of Islam release Johnston, threatening to "use all means to secure his life and to free him".
And AI is threatening to detonate the explosives vest Mr. Johnston happens to be wearing.
Israel has finalized a list of 250 Palestinian prisoners ready to be released, Israeli Radio said Tuesday. Israeli Justice Ministry will hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss the list before passing it on next Sunday for the cabinet to approve it, the Radio added. According to media reports, the list is made up of people who have nearly completed their terms and were not directly involved in attacks on Israelis. Most of the to-be-released prisoners were from the Fatah faction of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had previously pledged release of the prisoners as a "goodwill gesture" to Abbas, because of the latter's opposition to violence and support of the peace process.
A soldier was wounded in an insurgent ambush while another soldier was wounded in a bomb attack here on Wednesday morning. The clash between soldiers and about insurgents happened when ten-man military squad was patrolling on foot in Yaha district. They were ambushed by about 10 insurgents. The 10-minute gun battle wounded one soldier, Sgt. Charoon Thanirat, who was rushed to hospital. His condition has not yet been reported.
Meanwhile, a bomb exploded when a military response unit approached the area. Pvt. Uttapon Poyee was wounded in the bombing and was airlifted to hospital as presumed insurgents strewed spikes on the roads and felled trees to block the roads.
Australian boxing champion Ahmed Elomar was released by Lebanese authorities last night after more than a week under interrogation in which he was accused of belonging to a terrorist cell with links to al-Qa'ida. After being freed, Elomar, the national flyweight champion, told The Australian of his ordeal - including being blindfolded and beaten as authorities tried to extract intelligence on Sydney cleric Feiz Mohamed.
A second Australian released last night said the pair had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
And a second Australian released last night said the pair had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. "It's just a case of mistaken identity - they've got nothing on us," Mohammed Basal told The Australian from Lebanon last night.
"Da witnesses is all dead!"
His friend Elomar, the 24-year-old boxer from Sydney, revealed that he was repeatedly grilled over his links to Sheik Feiz, the former Sydney cleric. He said the Lebanese accused the cleric of being a "terrorist".
Elomar, known in boxing as Trigger, said his detention on suspicion of having ties to terrorists was the most "shocking experience of my life".
"I haven't seen daylight for a week and a half, and I'm still lost at the moment, I'm still dizzy," said Elomar, who was arrested on June 21 with three other Australian men by the Lebanese authorities on suspicion of belonging to terrorist cells linked to al-Qa'ida. "They reckon we've got a group or something like that," Elomar said in reference to his connection to the other three Australian men, including Mr Basal. The two other men, Omar Hadba and Ibrahim Sabouh, are still in detention.
Elomar, speaking from Abu Samra, in northern Lebanon, said he was asked if he had trained with al-Qa'ida leader Osama bin Laden in the use of weapons. "They asked 'me have you been trained to use weapons'," he said. "They started asking me about bin Laden and names I've never heard of before. And obviously when they do the interrogation, they hit you. I was getting hits from day one to the last day. Like with a stick they hit you. They made me stand up for eight hours straight, and every time I would go to go down they would start whacking into me with this stick. You're blindfolded and handcuffed 24 hours. When they feed you, you're handcuffed to the front not the back, so you can grab your food. But for two days they didn't give me anything, they just interrogated me."
He said his interrogators spoke with heavy English accents, but he could never see them from under the blindfold. "You could just see their feet."
Elomar said he took his family to Lebanon to buy a piece of land to build a holiday house and check on a business of breeding alpacas in Lebanon that he was trying to develop with Mr Basal. Elomar said he and Mr Basal were arrested at Mr Sabouh's home as they contemplated buying a piece of land.
Mr Basal, 27, who has been living in Lebanon with his wife and three children for the past three months, said authorities asked him if he belonged to or trained with any terrorist groups. He rejected allegations that he left Australia because he was being monitored by ASIO over his alleged links to Sheik Feiz.
Mr Basal said he was interrogated about his links to Mr Sabouh, a former Sydney financial adviser. "It's all garbage, mate - it's just because they've got beards and that, they've taken them in," Mr Basal said. Elomar and Mr Basal said they had no links to Mr Hadba.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Elomar said he took his family to Lebanon to buy a piece of land to build a holiday house and check on a business of breeding alpacas in Lebanon that he was trying to develop with Mr Basal. Elomar said he and Mr Basal were arrested at Mr Sabouh's home as they contemplated buying a piece of land.
Contemplating setting up a business in a war zone. He has taken one too many to the Noggen.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/04/2007 1:01 Comments ||
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#7
Yea, TW, figures. The jihadi flambeaux enjoying himself burning was undoubtedly almost in no pain. I hope that it did kick in later, because of both the burns and the ball paste.
Of course, that factor -- drugs -- may have been instrumental in the way the attack was executed.
#9
No doubt, SB. It seems that there is a mighty divide between gummint politicos and regular blokes. That, of course, needs to be expressed at the voting booth... but that may be a tough one. Is there a British politician (beside Tony Blair) that truly gets it?
#10
Actually, on second thought, Mr. Wife long ago warned me never to strike the testicles. He explained there's a long moment when the man knows it's going to hurt a lot but it doesn't yet, and that's when he'll get his revenge -- in advance. He made me promise if it ever came to that, to tear them off instead. But I only know gentlemen, so that's ok.
The reports make it sound like he's in quite enough pain to satisfy our basest natures, twobyfour. I don't particularly care which bit of him hurts the most.
As Americans celebrate the 4th of July today, Al Qaeda's top deputy Ayman Zawahiri is appearing in a new internet video praising jihadi fighters in Iraq and elsewhere. Dressed in all white and sitting before a news studio background, Zawahiri warns Americans that "Today, the wind - by grace of Allah - is blowing against Washington."
In the hour and half long video, which surfaced today on the website Strategic Translations, a translation and terror analysis firm, Zawahiri urges his followers to hurry to Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Somalia.
He also offers a message of confidence to the jihadi fighters in prison saying that victory in Iraq and Afghanistan will come soon.
"You must be patient and steadfast," he says. "Rejoice, for victory is near, with Allah's permission, and the herds of crusaders have begun to split up and their sole concern has become searching for a way out."
Entitled "The Advice of One Concerned," the video has English subtitles and includes clips from other videos and news broadcasts, including one from Al Furqan, the video production arm of the Islamic State of Iraq. There is a brief clip of Thomas Kean, chairman of the 9/11 Commission, speaking about the security challenges facing the United States. Also appearing on the tape is a clip of Abdul al-Bari Atwan, the editor of a London-based Arabic newspaper. In the clip, from an appearance on an Arabic news channel, Atwan declares that al Qaeda has become stronger since the September 11th attacks and that is truly an international organization.
The video does not reference the thwarted in attacks in London and Glasgow, but appears to be more of a 'state of the ummah' style address intended to try and provide advice to the Muslim world in a manner similar to the fireside chat.
Zawahiri offers what he calls his "reflections" on the scene in Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. Sometimes using charts or referring to lengthy excerpts, including one from Bob Woodward's book "Plan of Attack," the video is part-seminar, part-call to jihad.
At one point, Zawahiri even pauses to crack a joke about an article he read in an Egyptian newspaper that refers to a fax allegedly sent from a political prisoner there who renounces his extremist views from prison.
"Do the prison cells of Egypt now have fax machines?" he asks disbelievingly, "and I wonder, are they connected to the same line as the electric shock machine or do they have a separate line?"
I think Goatboy Gadahn is his speechwriter for the North American bureau of AlQ Inc.
#1
Let's make sure to backtrack the distribution channels of this filth so that we can flood them with a video of Zawahiri's bullet-riddled corpse when we finally nail his Islamic ass.
#2
their sole concern has become searching for a way out.
I wonder where he got that idea.
I'm tellin ya, Zen. We have to win America first, then we can take on terror.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
07/04/2007 20:22 Comments ||
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#3
We have to win America first, then we can take on terror.
I'm not entirely opposed to that, Mike N. While I'm confident we can prosecute terrorism in a parallel mode, domestic security should always take a front seat. Closing our borders and shutting down immigration from all Muslim majority countries would go a long way towards that end. I know we disagree about deportation so I'll suggest that we should at least make a formal declaration that shari'a law institutionalizes human rights abuse and begin economic sanctions against all countries that support it.
I realize that Iraq and Afghanistan are included in that group but it's better if we begin discouraging such backsliding now than wait for it to become thoroughly entrenched. Finally, I'd like to see an ultimatum issued to the MME (Muslim Middle East) that they must install religious freedom or face the shuttering of all mosques in our country. Reciprocity must come about or Islam goes behind the eight ball in progressively harsher phases.
#4
I'm against blanket deportation of people who are citizens or are currently in the process. Beyond that I'm with you on stopping future immigration, at bare minimum of military aged males. Getting back to deportation, I would check on everyone with a student visa. If they're not going to school, they're gone. If they've overstayed, they're gone. If they're going to school like good boys and girls, they can stay until their schooling is done, then they're gone. And that's only if their finances don't smell like fish. Beyond that, I'm for deporting people for progressively lighter causes until the toilet is flushed. If we have to go as far as deporting someone for a paperwork error like forgetting to dot an I, so be it. I'm not ready to start at that point though.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
07/04/2007 22:30 Comments ||
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#5
Agreed on the "progressively lighter causes" notion. Forgive me any condescending tone, Mike N., but I feel as though I may had some small part in shepherding you towards the light. Goodness knows that others here at Ranburg have patiently done the same for me. Are we now in agreement that Islam and shari'a law are inextricably conjoined? Please rest assured that I'm not trying to rub this in. You've demonstrated some admirable loyalty to your neighbors, I just do not want to see such valuable sentiment misplaced when push comes to shove.
#6
I've always been for reasonable deportation measures. its just that ive been engaging in discussion recently because of the abundance of comments that called for the drastic as the first step. I've been fairly aggressively trying to counter these calls which has probably made me look like an apologist, but that is not the case.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
07/04/2007 23:16 Comments ||
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#7
I don't see you as being an apologist. Certainly not in the light of your posts over the last few days. I would just as much hope that you do not think I was demanding mass deportation as a first step. I'll ask that my stance about outlawing shari'a law and the banning of Islam be duly noted. I remain convinced that Muslims in general will need to be exiled back to their native lands only because of how their willing embrace of taqiyya makes it impossible to determine who among them are our true enemies.
I refuse to blush about this. So long as Islam cannot summon the least embarrassment about such an intellectual travesty as taqiyya, Muslims have no place in American society. The Western social contract is built upon mutual trust that each of us would do unto each other as we would see done to ourselves. This is not the case with Muslims and they are out of the loop.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
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#1
Nearly 1 am RDST (Rantburg Daylight Server Time) and Google U.S. is not yet observing July 4. They're in Cali, so perhaps they go live at 3 RDST. I'll be watching. Yahoo had their holiday page up by 8pm on July 3.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/04/2007 8:39 Comments ||
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#5
Oh, I thought you'd promised to be up by 8 am today. Senioritis.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/04/2007 8:40 Comments ||
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#6
Nearly 1 am RDST (Rantburg Daylight Server Time) and Google U.S. is not yet observing July 4
Why would the running dogs of the Commies in Beijing celebrate the American Fourth of July?
Do you know what your neighbor is Googling comrade? Our monitors do, thanks to the ever vigilant champions of the party, like Google, Microsoft, Cisco ....
#8
Happy Independence Day, my dears! Wishing all the Americans delicious cook-outs and beautiful fireworks, homey gatherings with family and friends, and all the things our men and women in uniform are fighting so hard to protect. And for those many proud Rantburgers of other nations, please lift a glass with us, as we toast a friendship well worth treasuring. :-D
#10
happy 4th to all RBers and especially you, Fred
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/04/2007 10:17 Comments ||
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#11
Happy 4th to you all. I plan to cook some tasty animal flesh over a external global-warming device and consume vast quanities of beer.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/04/2007 10:25 Comments ||
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#12
What Steve said, plus vast quantities of gratiously water usage in the quest for the greenest lawn in my neighborhood. When I see rivlets coursing down the street, I know it is then time to move the sprinklers.
#15
#4: cisco makes configurable hardware, don't lump them in with yahoo and google giving out personal info to the gov't. it would be like blaming gun mfgs for shootings, we all know how that goes.
#17
Rita Hayworth wearing sensible shoes? Doesn't seem to fit by boyhood recollection of her.
On the other hand, I marched in our 4th of July parade today along with my son. We had a bunch of "anti-war vets" who looked more like ex-Japenese POWs (if you get my drift). One guy wearing a T that said "Marines". If he was a Marine then Capt. Manwaring was his CO. We also had the Unitarian Universalist Church marching with signs that were actually paragraphs of intellectual discourse but basically "make love not war'. Then to top it off we had our own chapter of Code Pink. My one reflection from all these oddball kooks is that it is a good thing we don't have to ever depend on them to defend us. The 4th of July has now been hijacked by the loons. God Bless America, please!
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/04/2007 14:38 Comments ||
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#18
God help America, Please. would be better
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/04/2007 15:00 Comments ||
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#19
Happy B-Day 'murica!...and a most Happy 4th of July to all denizens of the 'burg. Fire the coals, and may your beer be cold and plentiful.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/04/2007 15:09 Comments ||
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#20
The 4th of July has now been hijacked by the loons
Well, they did get kinda kicked out of Memorial Day, the Teamsters have a lock on Labor Day, and Arbor Day doesn't have the same speaking-political-truth-to-power as the 4th....
#22
We did our own little Fourth Parade here is beautiful downdown Oak harbor, and I am pleased to report that there were no reported sightings of any loons, troops out now, code pink, or any of that crap. The parade was kicked off by a fly over of a pair of our own hometown EA-6Bs; low altitude and the J-52s at full song. made this old airframer break out in goose pimples. Wing rock in formation was tops and lots of waves back at them from all the assembled multitudes.....
#23
I'm a bit late to the party....but hope everyone had a Happy 4th. The Tsarevich enjoyed his first fireworks show, and hopefully next year he'll be "ooh"-ing and "aah"-ing with the rest of us!
And thanks to all who are defending this land so me, the Tsar and my boy could sit by the Banana River and enjoy the show.
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.
(SomaliNet) Two explosions have happened Tuesday in the Somalia capital Mogadishu targeting the interim government soldiers and the Ugandan peace keepers – as part of the insurgency against the government and its allied forces. 
(SomaliNet) Unknown gunmen have shot dead the deputy district commissioner of Huriwa district in north of Somalia capital Mogadishu late Monday as the killing and hunting down the authorities in the interim government continues. Osman Ali was gunned down tonight by two men armed with pistols as he was walking in one of the districtÂ’s villages, according to the local residents. Mr. Ali dies on the spot and the assailants escaped unharmed. 
Two Indian doctors detained in connection with last weekÂ’s terrorist plots are distant cousins who studied medicine together in the southern Indian city of Bangalore and used to visit each otherÂ’s homes, The Times has learnt. 
British police have found a suicide note in connection with the two men who rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into Glasgow's airport, sources close to the investigation told CNN.
The plot to mount car bomb attacks in Britain was hatched outside the UK, with the doctors allegedly involved linked to a ringleader or mastermind abroad, counter-terrorism officials believe. One theory is that the alleged plot was orchestrated by one or two jihadists who infiltrated the NHS and indoctrinated others.
The leader of a radical mosque besieged by Pakistani security forces in Islamabad has been caught trying to escape wearing a woman's burqa. Security forces seized 
The government decided late on Tuesday to launch an operation against Lal Masjid in Islamabad to enforce the writ of the state, after clashes between students of madrassas affiliated with the mosque and security forces claimed 12 lives. This decision was taken in a three-hour meeting chaired by President General Pervez Musharraf at his camp office in Rawalpindi, sources privy to the meeting told Daily Times. 
Twelve people were killed and around 150 injured in a daylong shootout between madrassa students and Rangers near Lal Masjid on Tuesday. The administration confirmed that one journalist, a Rangers soldier, a businessman, madrassa students and bystanders were among the dead. Unconfirmed reports suggested that the death toll had mounted to 16.
LSA ANACONDA, Iraq Apache pilots from Company B, 1st Battalion, 149th Aviation Regiment (Attack), 36th Combat Aviation Brigade and Company A, 2nd Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, engaged extremists and saved a critically-wounded Soldiers life during a firefight in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on June 30, 2007. 
BAGHDAD (AP) - Pentagon video released Tuesday showed the dramatic rescue of two U.S. helicopter pilots after their aircraft went down amid insurgent fire. 
MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq — Coalition Forces detained nine suspected insurgents while constructing a battle position between Mahmudiyah and Yusifiyah, Iraq, June 29-30. Soldiers of the 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, in conjunction with troops of the 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) from Fort Drum, N.Y., air assaulted into an area along a highway known as Route Sioux during the night. The Soldiers’ mission was to set up security for the construction of a new battle position to prevent movement of anti-Iraqi forces into Baghdad.
An AH-64 Apache helicopter rescued two Task Force Marne pilots after enemy fire brought down their OH-58D Kiowa Attack helicopter south of Baghdad July 2. The OH-58 pilots received minor injuries. An Air Force Thunderbolt II destroyed the downed helicopter with two 500-pound laser-guided bombs after the pilots were evacuated from the area. The incident is under investigation.
Three suspects with known terrorist connections and nine other associates were detained by Coalition Forces in the Adhamiyah District of the Iraqi capital July 2.
BABIL – Iraqi Police Forces detained the alleged brigade commander of a rogue Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) militia in Mahawil, a town about 50 miles south of Baghdad during an intelligence driven operation July 1. He is directly responsible for directing attacks using explosively-formed projectiles and improvised explosive devices on the Iraqi Police, the Iraqi Army, and Coalition Forces. One such EFP attack is directly responsible for the deaths of five U.S. soldiers.
BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has been freed from kidnappers in Gaza after almost four months in captivity. Television pictures showed Mr Johnston, 45, leaving a building and entering a white car, accompanied by armed men. He said he was tired but in good health. During his time as a hostage, three videos were released featuring images of Mr Johnston or of his belongings. Calls were made for his release in rallies worldwide and in an online petition signed by some 200,000 people. Mr Johnston was handed over to officials of the Hamas administration, reports say.
