Major General Hindmarsh was unapologetic about the level of secrecy surrounding SAS operations in Afghanistan. The Taliban were technically savvy, had access to the internet and closely monitored any news involving the movement of Australian special forces, he said.
How savvy is the enemy in Iraq? ("At least as much as" would be my guess.) Think they know how to read the likes of Bill Roggio or the MNF reports? How much help is it to them to know about which units are where in Iraq? It's no slam against any of these guys, but I do wonder how much we give away freely on the net, and how much it could be of help to the enemy.
#6
The Taliban, they're tough resilient fighters, but they're also a nasty bunch of bastards and our guys are very happy about the work they're doing there,"
#7
how much we give away freely on the net, and how much it could be of help to the enemy.
If we're inside their OODA loop, I doubt it does much good and if we're not, we've got bigger problems.
If you look at what Petraeus has done, a lot of it is just getting inside the loop. The former leadership seemed to have become too formulaic from my underinformed civilian armchair perspective.
#8
The secret war pitting Australian special forces against the Taliban was classic counter-insurgency involving small, long-range patrols pushing deep into enemy territory.The effect had been "unsettling" for the Taliban.
I'll bet.
"Bashir, is that you?"
"G'day, mate."
Posted by: Matt ||
09/18/2007 23:29 Comments ||
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A suicide bomber on foot entered a government office and blew himself up Monday in the volatile south, killing eight people, including four policemen, officials said. The district police chief was among the seven people wounded in the attack on the Nad Ali district center in Helmand province, said deputy provincial police chief Faqir Askeryar. Four civilians were among the dead, said district chief Mehbob Khan. The seven wounded included policemen and civilians.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
When the Army (or Blackwater) shoot BACK at terrorists and kill some civilians too, it's a horrible crime and the end of civilization as we know it. When terrorists blow up some cops who aren't even shooting at them and kill some civilians too, it's normal and unavoidable collateral damage.
(SomaliNet) An armed confrontation has renewed in the disputed Sool region
"There is no Dana! Only Sool!"
between troops of Somaliland and Puntland, reports say on Monday.
This has been a long-simmering dispute between the two regions. From Google Earth it looks like a pile of rocks stuck in the middle of a desert.
The rival forces exchanged heavy artillery weapons in Ari-Adeye village of Sool region. One person has been confirmed dead and another was wounded in the latest fighting but it is not yet clear whether the victims were civilians or soldiers.
Sources told Somalinet that the fighting came hours after local armed militiamen in Las-anod of Sool region supporting for Somaliland authority clashed with soldiers of Puntland, the semi-autonomous region in northeast Somalia, last night. No casualty was reported from the Las-anod skirmishes.
Puntland and Somaliland fought over the ownership of two regions, Sool and Sanaag, which are now under the control of Puntland state. The dispute over the regions still stands and not solved as rival soldiers of the two states filled at the frontline.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"From Google Earth it looks like a pile of rocks stuck in the middle of a desert."
Doc, I understand that's pretty much what it looks like if you are standing there as well.
A Muslim student who once threatened to become a suicide bomber was convicted Monday of a series of terrorist offenses.
A jury found Mohammed Atif Siddique, 21, of Alva, Scotland, guilty of four counts involving possession and distribution of terrorist material via websites and providing instructional material about guns and explosives over the Internet. As a student at Glasgow Metropolitan College, Siddique threatened to become a suicide bomber and blow up Glasgow, and showed images of suicide bombings and beheadings, prosecutors said.
This article starring:
MOHAMED ATIF SIDIQUE
al-Qaeda in Britain
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
What should the sentence be? I mean he didn't hurt anybody or actually HAVE a gun, right? Maybe two hours of community service would make him see the error of his ways? But don't make him wear prison ID warning vest - that would be demeaning.
#7
There are some islands up northeast of Scotland that are pretty desolate. Make him the trashman up there, responsible for keeping the area clean. Issue him a standard fluorescent orange jail jumpsuit and a thin jacket. It gets MIGHTY cold in those islands, most of them uninhabited.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/18/2007 12:29 Comments ||
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#8
Tell him the good Scots whiskey helps ward off the cold.
The body of Rappani Khalilov, one of most wanted militants, was found under the debris of a house, assaulted by special police forces on Monday. The operation took place in the suburbs of the town of Kizilyurt in the North Caucasian republic of Dagestan.
The firefight involving the use of heavy weapons and armour, lasted more than 12 hours, as the militants showed fierce resistance. The house where they had been hiding was destroyed during the fight.
"Vnimanie vsem!! Drop the house!" "Tak tochno! Vypolnyayu srochno!"
[CRUMBLE!]
At least three militants are thought to have been killed during the operation. For the moment only two bodies have been found.
"Boris Vasil'evich! Either there are three bodies here, or one of these guys had two elbows!"
"Keep looking!"
One of them was identified as Rappani Khalilov, a major militant field commander. He was allegedly involved in organising and conducting a series of terrorist attacks across Russia, including the blast during the Victory Day military parade in the town of Kaspiysk in 2002, which left more than 40 people dead, and wounded another 130. The authorities call the killing of the militant commander a significant success, as it will reduce the number of terror acts in the country.
With kung fu, automatic rifles and armoured personnel carriers, China showed off its new-found power this weekend, and how it says it intends to use it for good in the world.
The country accused of supporting genocide in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur announced it is planning to send peace-keepers to the region next month.
It also invited the outside world, in the form of Beijing's resident foreign media, to meet the team in a display of growing openness about its military, the world's largest in terms of numbers.
The force is small: just 315 engineers, medics and camp guards out of a total United Nations peace-keeping force of 26,000.
But the government hopes it will dispel the idea that it is happy to extract the riches of poorer countries, such as Sudan's oil, and turn a blind eye to atrocities or even fuel them.
"China's government has always played a positive and constructive role in the solution of the Darfur question," said senior Col Dai Shao'an, deputy head of China's peace-keeping affairs office, as he watched his men practise building a bridge at a base in Qinyang, central China.
Well drilled in government policy, he objected in particular to calls to boycott the Olympics in Beijing next year over China's friendship with the Sudanese government of President Omar al-Bashir.
He said that blaming China for Darfur was like blaming someone because his friend's brothers argue among themselves.
"The spirit of the Olympic movement is that the Games are not political," he said. "So it's completely unreasonable to link the Olympic Games with the issue of Darfur."
China's role in Sudan was highlighted three years ago when it threatened to use its Security Council veto at the United Nations to block sanctions over the atrocities in Darfur, where it is estimated that at least 200,000 people have been killed and more than two million displaced in attacks by government-backed militias.
China is the biggest single customer for Sudanese oil and state-owned Chinese oil companies have invested more than £8 billion in the industry.
Since then, China has been bitterly stung by a campaigning alliance of human rights groups, Hollywood stars and politicians, some of whom began to christen next year's Olympics the "genocide games".
The decision to send troops to the UN peace-keeping mission is part of the fight-back, and follows the appointment of a special envoy on African affairs, Liu Guijin.
He has attempted to draw attention to the "quiet pressure" China is applying behind the scenes to encourage president Bashir to support the peace-keeping effort.
The difficult balancing act involved in being both friend to Sudan, and meeting what China now has begun to accept are international responsibilities to ensure stability in its trading partners, were on full display at Qinyang.
Lt Col Shangguan Linhong, who will lead the Chinese contingent, stressed that his men were engineers and would not be involved in combat duty should it be necessary to separate warring factions.
The first drill of the display was an unarmed run-through of standard kung fu moves - taught to soldiers as a method of keeping fit but more likely to be put into practice in Hong Kong movies than in Sudanese refugee camps.
One troop demonstrated a drill involving the use of armoured vehicles and infantry to establish a position by force.
Troops had also been studying the UN Charter, and had learned to shout "Freeze or I shoot" in both English and Arabic, said Lt Wang Yong.
Yesterday, Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, promised Britain would send technical support to the peacekeeping force, and again threatened there would be further sanctions on Sudan should it fail to enable the UN to do its job.
He spoke as "Gobal Day for Darfur" was marked by a series of rallies around the world for action to end the killings.
Lord Malloch Brown, the Foreign Minister, also gave an upbeat account of recent negotiations with President Bashir, but said little had been done to ready Darfur for the peace-keeping operations.
Chinese officials privately down-play the level of violence in the area, suggesting it is exaggerated by the media.
Lt Col Shangguan, who led the Chinese reconnaissance mission to prepare for deployment, said the situation seemed "not too tense" with shops open for business and children going to school.
His main challenge, he thought, would be more fundamental. "It is very hot," he said.
His superior, Col Dai, was more cautious. China had participated in 17 peace-keeping missions since 1990, he said, but he thought this would be the most dangerous yet.
#3
20 years or so ago a US oil company (Chevron) invested a good deal of money in Sudan and put the first (I think) significant oil field on production. After a few years they left and forfeited that investment: it was not a safe place to operate, they did not have the force of the US government to back them, and lending support to the Sudanese government was not moral. I imagine China is now using that oil to make our Barbie dolls.
Rantburg pal Samir Azzouz gets a few more years tacked on to his sentence:
A Dutch court found a convicted Muslim militant guilty today of planning attacks on government buildings, adding four years to his eight-year sentence.
Dutch-Moroccan Samir Azzouz, 21, was sentenced in 2006 for plotting attacks and possessing firearms ''with terrorist intent''.
In an embarrassment for the Dutch authorities Azzouz was rearrested shortly after on suspicion of a new plot and later convicted under tougher new laws.
Today an Amsterdam court, which had been ordered to reassess the case after the prosecutors' appeal, found those first plans had posed a threat and sentenced Azzouz to four years, a spokesman said.
Prosecutors had sought a six year sentence.
Azzouz was initially arrested in a police crackdown following the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004 by another Dutch-Moroccan, Mohammed Bouyeri.
This article starring:
SAMIR AZZUZ
al-Qaeda in Europe
Posted by: Seafarious ||
09/18/2007 00:41 ||
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Posted by: Linker ||
09/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
More for Tehran to be angry about.
Kim Willsher in Paris
Friday February 10, 2006
The Guardian
France has secretly modified its nuclear arsenal to increase the strike range and accuracy of its weapons. The move comes weeks after President Jacques Chirac warned that states which threatened the country could face the "ultimate warning" of a nuclear retaliation.
A military source quoted yesterday by the Libération newspaper claimed France had tinkered with its nuclear weapons to improve their strike capability and make this threat more credible.
The source said there had been two major changes: the bombs can now be fired at high altitude to create an "electromagnetic impulsion" to destroy the enemy's computer and communications systems; and the number of nuclear warheads has been reduced to increase the missiles' range and precision.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,1706776,00.html
#10
I sure hope that if France comes to the a$$-kickin' party that they coordinate with the other players for maximum effect. I would hate to have their stuff going off and neutralizing any surprises anyone else might have planned.
#14
The top level has changed. I don't know how much the entrenched bureaucracy will go along with the change. Look at our own CIA and State Dept. Theirs may be doing to the same kind of back-stabbing.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
09/18/2007 8:47 Comments ||
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#15
Though it would be hilarious if after decades of dicking around from Reagan and Thatcher on down to the present day and if after a variety of bloodcurdling threats if it was the French and not, say, the Israelis who fixed the problem. I wonder how you say WTF? in Farsi...
#16
I'd really really like to believe that with Sarkozy things have fundamentally changed in France towards the US and NATO.
Don't mistake a change in French policy toward Iran and Islam as implying any change in its attitude toward the US. That we hay have a common enemy may make us appear to be temporary and tactical allies, but we are still permanent enemies. Have been since 1789. It won't change any time soon. See yesterday's Microsoft ruling by the EU (France's stooge front).
#18
Don't mistake a change in French policy toward Iran and Islam as implying any change in its attitude toward the US.
France does not have an attitude. Its ledadership has and this attitude changes when leaders change.
It happens that Sarkozy (remember its ties to East Europe?) does not share the Louis XIV complex (ie dream of ruling teh world) of his predecesoors who led to confrontattion with the United States and still less Chirac's hate.
Now you would be right in pointing that France is no long term ally since genarations of French minds have been poisoned towards antiamerricanism so it is highly likely that Sarkozy's successor will be hostile again. But please stop bashing France and a pay bit more attention to the British.
Posted by: an ||
09/18/2007 10:26 Comments ||
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#19
pay bit more attention to the British.
I must have missed the part where the British did anything attention worthy.
/sarcasm
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/18/2007 11:47 Comments ||
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#20
More nukes pointed at pointyturbanbutt is always a good thing.
#23
Debka's article on Iran's 600 missile comment said this regarding the Syria attack: According to US media, the Syrian missiles destroyed carried nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. Does than mean the 600 Iranian missiles are similarly equipped
#24
New York Sun reports Achmadinutjob is coming to New York for a September 24 U.N. appearance. A protest is planned. Sure wish I could be there. I'd like to carry a big, old sign on the route of his motorcade that says "Bomb Qom".
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
09/18/2007 18:27 Comments ||
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#28
I must have missed the part where the British did anything attention worthy.
Then you have missed the way the Scots Tony and George have destroyed the United Kingdom and "the Special Relationship." Britain is no longer a dependable ally but just another part of the EU. The only hope is a struggle for English independence, but there seems to be little chance of that.
So America's attention should turn to that part of the world where the future lies and where it can find more dependable allies, the Pacific.
Number expected to drop to 300 in two weeks; congressional delegation concerned.
The number of National Guard troops stationed along New Mexico's border with Mexico as part of the 15-month-old Operation Jump Start is expected to drop to 300 as of Sept. 30, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported on Sunday.
That's down from about 1,000 troops along the border a little more than three months ago in New Mexico's portion of the operation that began in June 2006 to place 6,000 troops all along the U.S. border with Mexico to support beleaguered Border Patrol agents, the Sun-News said.
Although President George W. Bush and the Department of Homeland Security had envisioned a drawdown of National Guard troops after the first year of Operation Jump Start, members of New Mexico's congressional delegation are expressing their concern about the downsizing and its potential effects, the Sun-News reported.
"I am concerned that if we prematurely reduce the number of Guard personnel it will be difficult to maintain recent achievement," Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said in a July 16 letter to the president. "I do not believe that there are enough Border Patrol agents on the ground in New Mexico yet to justify a reduction of National Guard personnel by over 50 percent."
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., also joined in July with Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl and California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein in urging the president to keep the Guard's border operation going, the Sun-News said.
"I remain concerned about the plan to draw down Operation Jump Start," Domenici wrote the president. "As I understand it, both the Border Patrol and the participating guardsmen are benefiting from this program and I would like to see it continued."
Operation Jump Start is supposed to end next June, but Domenici and Kyl are trying to revive an amendment to the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill that would provide $400 million to keep the operation going, the paper reported.
Meanwhile, Customs and Border Patrol officials say their agency is ready to take up the duties National Guard troops have been handling for the past 15 months, according to another article in Sunday's Sun-News.
"We are ready," CBP spokesman Lloyd Easterling told the paper. "We have met our goals of hiring and training an additional 14,400 agents nationwide, and by the time Operation Jump Start ends next year we should be at the 18,000 agents that has been our goal all along."
And Doug Mosier, spokesman for the Border Patrol's El Paso sector -- which includes all of New Mexico and parts of West Texas -- said the number of agents assigned to the area has increased to about 2,200, the Sun-News said.
Deming Mayor Andres Silva told the Sun-News that the Guard presence has had a positive economic impact on his city, which has been the National Guard's forward operating base for about a year.
"I've already started lobbying Bingman, Domenici and (U.S. Rep. Steve) Pearce," Silva told the paper. "Without a doubt, I'd hate to see them go. There's so much good, in so many ways, that the National Guard has had a positive impact on Deming and the region. I'd like to see them stay around."
GHALANAI: Terrorists Militants blew up a welfare hospital on Monday in Mian Mandi bazaar, 10 kilometres northwest of the agency headquarters in Mohmand Agency. Sources said that two explosions were heard at around 2am when the Al Sehat Welfare Hospital building collapsed. Saadullah, a hospital employee, said that financial losses from the bombing amounted to Rs 1.2 million. He said that the masked terrorists militants held the chowkidar hostage, planted the bombs near the hospital boundary walls and blew up the building.
Assistant Political Agent Syed Ahmed Jan said that the Aswad had its office in the hospital building and that an investigation was underway. Local sources said that unidentified armed terrorists men forced the hospital staff to evacuate the building prior to detonating the explosives, SANA reported.
Oh, must be 'moderate' terrorists.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Mo didn't have a hospital so they are forbidden.
Security forces killed an estimated 18 suspected militants during a firefight late Sunday evening near the Afghan border in North Waziristan, a pro-Taliban cleric announced on Monday. Please donate for the burial of 18 martyrs who died in clashes with security forces, cleric Qari Muhammad Roman announced during Zuhr prayers here. He told worshippers that the army informed him that 18 militants were killed when they attacked the Pusht Ziarat checkpost in Shawal, west of Miranshah and close to the Afghan border.
People donated more than Rs 10,000 for burial arrangements of the militants, local Taliban sources said. The cleric was airlifted by the military Monday afternoon and perhaps taken to the place where the clash occurred, a close aide to the cleric said.
Qari Roman has been asking for such donations since the militants blew up the only Town Committee Hall where the military previously kept unidentified bodies of militants.
14 casualties confirmed: Army spokesman Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad said on Monday that 14 militants had been killed in the attack on Pusht Ziarat checkpost, reported AP. He said the posts commander reported the deaths of 14 militants before it came under fire again at about noon. According to AP, officials then lost contact with the post and did not know the fate of the 16 soldiers stationed there.
Two soldiers killed at Pusht Ziarat checkpost: An intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two soldiers were killed and five injured at the checkpost. However, Arshad said he had no information of these casualties.
Alleged US spy killed: Meanwhile, masked gunmen killed a tribesman in Mir Ali bazaar for allegedly spying on the Taliban for the US, eyewitnesses said. Two masked gunmen appeared from a car and sprayed Waliullah with bullets and announced that he had been an American spy, the eyewitnesses told Daily Times. Previously, militants had kidnapped and beheaded spies and the Monday killing showed a changed strategy in discouraging spying.
Late Monday evening, loud explosions were heard in Miranshah and security sources said gunfire was directed at suspected militant hideouts. However, it was not clear in which direction the artillery shots were fired.
The Pakistan Army agreed to a ceasefire with militants holding some 260 soldiers hostage, AP quoted officials as saying. Tribal officials negotiated the ceasefire, said Arbab Arif Khan, the government official responsible for security in the tribal belt. Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad confirmed the agreement.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"Alleged US spy killed"
Don't they risk 'Awakening' the tribes when they do this? What if the guy isn't really a spy (or maybe even if he is) - don't his cousins now have to avenge him?
#2
"People donated more than Rs 10,000 for burial arrangements of the militants..."
So doesn't that make them sympathizers (sic)? target them for the next round.
A rocket attack on a security forces convoy in Balochistan left at least two security personnel dead and four others injured on Monday, according to the police.
The security forces came under attack at Talli village near Sibbi town, with unidentified assailants firing rockets at the convoy from nearby mountains, said police officer Shariq Jamal. The security forces, engaged in clearing mines in the area, returned fire but there were no immediate reports of militant casualties, a security official said. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2007 00:00 ||
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GHALANAI: A 60-member Halimzai tribe jirga on Monday banned the sale of narcotics and obscene CDs in Mohmand Agency, and gave shopkeepers a week to change their businesses or face action. A jirga member, Mohammad Ali Halimzai, told Daily Times that they had set a one-week deadline for those selling obscene CDs, heroin, alcohol and other narcotics in the agency. He said the jirga would take action through a Qaumi Lashkar against the violators of the ban. He said the shop owners, if found guilty, would be fined and their shops and houses would be demolished. Another jirga member said such measures would protect tribal youngsters from immoral activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
that they had set a one-week deadline for those selling obscene CDs, heroin, alcohol and other narcotics in the agency.
Now that's what I call your "One Stop Party Store"...
...Officials in northern Iraq launched Operation Lightning Hammer II at the start of the month. The offensive partners 12,000 coalition forces with 14,000 Iraqi security forces to drive al Qaeda out of the provinces of Salah Ad Din, Ninewa, Diyala and Kirkuk. Officials are supporting the forces with attack helicopters, close-air support, Bradley fighting vehicles, Stryker vehicles, and tanks.
Its predecessor, Operation Lightning Hammer, focused operations on the Diyala River Valley, northeast of Baqubah, where they believe the insurgents have fled to once they were driven from their previous stronghold.
Officials there also are working hard with local tribal sheiks to garner support from tribes disenchanted by al Qaedas tactics. It is more difficult there, though, to mimic the much heralded successes of similar operations in Anbar province, Bednarek said. Anbar is predominately Sunni. The Diyala province is home to 23 major tribes and as many as 100 sub-tribes, and its makeup is Sunni, Shiia and Kurdish.
Still, Bednarek said, he has seen progress.
"The reaction of the citizens has been very positive. I think not only in Diyala province, but also in our other provinces where the citizens are starting to stand up and take a position on their own," the general said. "They have seen what al Qaeda has to offer, which is nothing. They have seen that the horrific acts of violence against women, family, children, infrastructure is not the future. They see that they can have a future of prosperity and security without al Qaeda and are starting to fight back."
Locals also are starting to trust the local Iraqi security forces, he said, which was a problem in the past. Locals are starting to report weapons caches and emplaced bombs to security forces patrolling the areas.
"Engaging the tribal sheiks, coming together to be part of the future as opposed to the dark past is something that were putting huge amount of senior-leader energy in every day," Bednarek said. And I wonder how much Corps level training the Iraqi divisional command staffs are getting at the same time.
In early 2007 Ramadi, the capital of Iraqs Anbar Province, was one of the most violent war-torn cities on Earth. By late spring it was the safest major city in Iraq outside Kurdistan. . . .
It is not, however, completely secured yet.
Al Qaeda lost their capital, Major Lee Peters said, and the one city that was called the worst in the world. It was their Stalingrad. And they want to come back.
In July and again in August they did try to retake it and lost pitched battles on the shores of Lake Habbaniya and Donkey Island just on the outskirts. They destroyed a bridge over the Euphrates River leading into the city with a dump truck bomb. Four other bridges in Anbar Province were also destroyed in acts of revenge in the countryside by those who no longer have refuge in cities. And just last week Sheikh Sattar Abu Risha, the leader of the indigenous Anbar Salvation Council that declared Al Qaeda the enemy, was assassinated by a roadside bomb near his house.
That murder cant undo the changes in the hearts and minds of the locals. If anything, assassinating a well-respected leader who is widely seen as a savior will only further harden Anbaris against the rough men who would rule them.
All the tribes agreed to fight al Qaeda until the last child in Anbar, the Sheikhs brother Ahmed told a Reuters reporter. . . .
It was nothing we did, said Marine Lieutenant Colonel Drew Crane who was visiting for the day from Fallujah. The people here just couldnt take it anymore.
What he said next surprised me even more than what I was seeing.
You know what I like most about this place? he said.
Whats that? I said.
We dont need to wear body armor or helmets, he said.
I was poleaxed. Without even realizing it, I had taken off my body armor and helmet. I took my gear off as casually as I do when I take it off after returning to the safety of the base after patrolling. We were not in the safety of the base and the wire. We were safe because we were in Ramadi. . . .
Go read it all. Michael Totten is the best reporter in Iraq who isn't named "Michael Yon."
Posted by: Mike ||
09/18/2007 10:18 ||
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#1
The reason Yon and Totten are so good at what they do is because they *get off their asses* and go to the hot spots. They don't confine themselves to the Palestine Hotel in the Green Zone sipping martinis and plagerizing everyone elses storyline. They continue to carry on the "war correspondent" tradition of Ernie Pyle, Bill Mauldin and Edgar Rice Burroughs. God bless both, keep them safe and give them every opportunity to report the facts, just the facts and be on the side of honor, duty and country. Hit the tip jar while there.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/18/2007 10:59 Comments ||
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#2
A critical, vital piece of information that will truly tell us the end is near is when we hear that Sunnis who left Iraq, those that can, are returning.
This will mean that they have word from their kin that it is safe to return, that prosperity is increasing so that there is a reason to return, and that the bad Sunnis living in other nations are soon to be deprived of a Sunni expat community to feed from and hide among.
Certainly some bad apples will try to return with the rest, but they will probably be either quickly picked up, or be in deep trouble because they no longer have power, or protection from their enemies.
#3
We hand out care packages from the U.S. to Iraqis now that the area has been cleared of terrorists, one Marine told me. When we tell them that some of these packages arent from the military or the government, that they were donated by average American citizens in places like Kansas, people choke up and sometimes even cry. They just cant comprehend it. It is so different from the lies they were told about us and how were supposed to be evil.
If I read that again, I'm going to choke up!
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/18/2007 15:52 Comments ||
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#4
Anbar Awakens, slightly off topic
Yes as our success grows and spreads in Iraq, once brutal AOs are now so changed that some of the Marine's and Army's rules about wearing body armor including the Kevlar Lid have been subject to change, way relaxed.
All good stuff, but we must be vigilant for the Quds Forces, al-Qaeda and the un-surrendered old Army Baathists that have proven they can put a professional plan together and have the funding to pull it off.
I'm sure they've love to pull off a spectacular Kidnap OP against our Armed Forces, Diplo Folks, Civilians and/or the Coalition.
[diplos..eh.. lets use 'em, like the Canaries in the Coal Mine, or better still as BAIT!]
Ima sure these security concerns are drilled into the Soldiers and Marines, we probably already have a tune up program but it may require some new thinking out of the BOX!
/Heavyweight Rocking Chair Tactician and Strategery
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
09/18/2007 16:51 Comments ||
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#5
OT: average American citizens in places like Kansas
Hell Kansas and Iowa always get to be the damn average Americans. I'm tempted to call the Mullet Muster and show serious averageness.
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
09/18/2007 18:30 Comments ||
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#6
My e-mail to W, two senators, and my congressman, all with one click or th mouse at Congress.org:
I noticed earlier in the week that Senator Reid still considers the war lost, and is hoping to get more Republican backing for the Webb Amendment. Purportedly to give the troops equal time off following deployments, it is just a thinly disguised vehicle to bring the troops home as soon as possible.
Isnt it odd, Senator, that the President has changed Defense Secretaries, Generals, troop levels, strategies, and tactics, yet the Democrats still keep playing the same old broken record about how nothing has changed. For the moment, let us assume everything negative said about the war thus far is true, every word. What do we do now? Did you read Dr. Kissingers opinion in the Washington Post last Sunday? He said early withdrawal would be disastrous for the U.S. and urged politicians to put the war above politics. Id settle for that.
I read today about the biggest change since 2006, when Anbar Province was called lost by the Marines on the ground in Iraq. The words were frequently printed in the press at the time, but you dont see that anymore. In Ramadi, once the most violent city in the violent Sunni Triangle, U.S. troops do not wear body armor or helmets. Michael Totten reported that from Ramadi, where he, too, was reporting without body armor. You, or at least one member of your staff, might want to read it at -http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001517.html
but let me quote you my favorite part:
We hand out care packages from the U.S. to Iraqis now that the area has been cleared of terrorists, one Marine told me. When we tell them that some of these packages arent from the military or the government, that they were donated by average American citizens in places like Kansas, people choke up and sometimes even cry. They just cant comprehend it. It is so different from the lies they were told about us and how were supposed to be evil.
Nothing has changed, Senator?
Having finished reading Tottens story, I believe it is the best news out of Iraq since the people of Baghdad tore down the statue of Saddam in 2003, and my son helped bring it about. He helped set the stage for the current awakening by showing Iraqis in Anbar that Marines were not evil in 2004.
Dont give the enemy any reasons for hope, Senator. Withdraw the Webb amendment. Consider how al Qaeda killed its enemies in Ramadi, according to the Totten story, and remember they want to come here after they drive us out of Iraq.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/18/2007 18:39 Comments ||
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This isn't the final word, but it is interesting. Seems Maliki screwed himself again. Or maybe not.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) &0151; Iraqi officials Monday condemned the weekend killings of eight civilians during a Baghdad street battle involving American security contractors and said they would shut down Blackwater, the company involved.
Blackwater said its employees acted in self-defense. The U.S. State Department said it plans to investigate what it calls a "terrible incident."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to express regret for the weekend killings, both governments said.
In addition to the fatalities, 14 people were wounded, most of them civilians, an Iraqi official said.
Sunday's firefight took place near Nusoor Square, an area that straddles the predominantly Sunni Arab neighborhoods of Mansour and Yarmouk.
The ministry said the incident began around midday, when a convoy of sport utility vehicles came under fire from unidentified gunmen in the square. The men in the SUVs, described by witnesses as Westerners, returned fire, the ministry said.
Blackwater's employees were protecting a U.S. official when they were hit by "a large explosive device, then repeated small-arms fire &0151; and to the point where it disabled one of the vehicles, and the vehicle had to be towed out of the firefight," said Marty Strong, vice president of Blackwater USA.
A senior industry source said Blackwater guards had escorted a State Department group to a meeting with U.S. Agency for International Development officials in Mansour before the shootings.
A car bomb went off about 80 feet (25 meters) from the meeting site and the contractors started evacuating the State Department officials, he said. A State Department report on the attack said the convoy came under fire from an estimated eight to 10 people, some in Iraqi police uniforms.
The guards called for backup, at one point finding their escape route blocked by an Iraqi quick-reaction force that pointed heavy machine guns at one vehicle in the convoy. A U.S. Army force, backed by air cover, arrived about half an hour later to escort the convoy back to the Green Zone, the report states.
A team from another security company passed through the area shortly after the street battle.
"Our people saw a couple of cars destroyed," Carter Andress, CEO of American-Iraqi Solutions Groups, told CNN on Monday. "Dead bodies, wounded people being evacuated. The U.S. military had moved in and secured the area. It was not a good scene."
An Interior Ministry spokesman, Brig. Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf, said, "We have revoked Blackwater's license to operate in Iraq. As of now they are not allowed to operate anywhere in the Republic of Iraq. The investigation is ongoing, and all those responsible for Sunday's killing will be referred to Iraqi justice."
Company and State Department officials said they had not been notified of any order to that effect.
Rice and al-Maliki agreed to conduct "a fair and transparent investigation into this incident" and punish those responsible, the prime minister's office said.
The Diplomatic Security Service has launched an official investigation, a review that will be supported by the Multi-National Forces-Iraq, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
"The secretary wants to make sure we do everything we possibly can to avoid innocent loss of life," he said.
McCormack said that while the United States tries to avoid innocent casualties, "we are fighting people who don't play by any rules" and have no problem killing innocent civilians.
The weekend's incident raised concerns in the U.S. Congress about the use of private security guards. Rep. Henry Waxman, whose House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held hearings on contractor operations in February, said he will hold new hearings into the issue in light of Sunday's shootings.
"The controversy over Blackwater is an unfortunate demonstration of the perils of excessive reliance on private security contractors," said Waxman, D-California.
Blackwater, founded in 1997 and based in Moyock, North Carolina, is one of many security firms contracted by the U.S. government during the Iraq war. An estimated 25,000 employees of private security firms are working in Iraq, guarding diplomats, reconstruction workers and government officials. As many as 200 are believed to have been killed on the job, according to U.S. congressional reports.
Some Blackwater personnel died in a grisly attack in Iraq more than three years ago that sparked shock and outrage in the United States.
Four Americans working as private security personnel for Blackwater, all of whom were military veterans, were ambushed, killed and mutilated in March 2004 in Falluja, west of Baghdad.
People close to the company estimate it has lost about 30 employees during the war.
Iraqi authorities have issued previous complaints about shootings by private military contractors, the Congressional Research Service reported in July.
"Most recently, a news article discussing an incident in which a Blackwater guard shot dead an Iraqi driver in May 2007 quoted an Iraqi official's statement that the Iraqi Interior Ministry had received four previous complaints of shootings involving Blackwater employees," the congressional service report said.
The Congressional Research Service report cited other concerns, such as "the apparent lack of a practical means to hold contractors accountable under U.S. law for abuses and other transgressions and the possibility that they could be prosecuted by foreign courts."
The reported added, "Iraqi courts do not have jurisdiction to prosecute contractors without the permission of the relevant member country of the Multi-National Forces in Iraq."
Contractors fall under Justice Department and FBI jurisdiction for alleged crimes, said a Pentagon official, who confirmed the accuracy of the congressional report.
Mabye the US ought to assign Blackwater to protect Maliki.
#1
Iraqi officials Monday condemned the weekend killings of eight civilians during a Baghdad street battle
Quick, grab those rifles and scram, then there's no proof.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/18/2007 11:58 Comments ||
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#2
A State Department report on the attack said the convoy came under fire from an estimated eight to 10 people, some in Iraqi police uniforms. The guards called for backup, at one point finding their escape route blocked by an Iraqi quick-reaction force that pointed heavy machine guns at one vehicle in the convoy.
#3
I think it's time for Blackwater to consider moving their operations offshore from the US. Since right now they have considerable money and influence, they should consider buying an island to make their new headquarters.
This would both benefit them from the almost certain eventuality of a US government that doesn't like them and wants to put them out of business; and it also gives them a corporate "Chinese wall", so that while the US government does like them, they can keep most of their operations in the US.
If the island was big enough, they might also set up a conglomeration of other service providing corporations, like KBR, on the island. In this way, they could be a "full service provider".
Finally, they could also freely import and train talent to be their enlisted personnel. Gurkhas, Sikhs, Samoans, Maori, Europeans, Africans, who knows who else. In short order they could have a brigade of light infantry for the big bucks, multi-billion dollar operations.
With the contracting nation either providing transport and logistical support, or a LOT more money so they could subcontract it, costs would be minimal compared to a regular army force.
#4
This is some thoughts about this from Andrew Lubin (I don't know him or his background, his name comes up lots in the bloggers round-tables) and he does raise a few questions, me being just a litt'le ole lady in Texas would have never consider. Some thoughts I found interesting:
It is unclear as to whether or not the suspensions are political blowback from the Jones Commissions scathing report on the MoI. Gen Jones called the Ministry of the Interior incompetent, dysfunctional and corrupt, as well as stating that the National Police were hopelessly corrupt and sectarian, and should be abolished
Early afternoon yesterday, the insurgents attacked a six-vehicle U.S. State Department convoy returning to the Coalitions highly protected Green Zone, when an I.E.D detonated as the convoy passed through Nisoor Square. Ak-47 armed insurgents then attacked the convoy in a 20-minute gunfight with the State Departments Blackwater escorts. The Blackwater helicopter over-watch then fired into the street in an attempt to provide cover to the convoy on the ground, with at least one vehicle in the convoy being disabled by the insurgents.
When a convoy is attacked, the contractor's priority is to rush its clients out of the area as rapidly as possible. The extended gunfight suggests that the attackers had blocked the escape route or at least keep the convoy pinned down. This suggests the ambush was complex, well planned and well executed. When the shooting was over, at least eight civilians lay dead.
This incident and the strong Iraqi reaction could cause an escalation in attacks by groups looking to increase tensions. Should this occur, it could further destabilize and complicate the political process in Baghdad. With the American military barely having sufficient troops to conduct its own operations, these private security contractors are necessary in order to conduct security in the Green Zone and throughout the country.
They protect Ambassador Crocker, the many congressional delegations, as well as all the logistics convoys. Getting the Shia-heavy Minister of the Interior to kick the largest contractor out of the country will prove a most effective and efficient way to get the American forces out of Iraq.
Additionally, the Iraqi Parliament (with its large Shia majority) has already voted in July to forbid Prime Minister Maleki to renew the Iraqi government mandate inviting the United States to assist in its defense. This mandate expires 10 December 2007. While Mr. Maleki unilaterally renewed it a year ago (it is renewed annually), it is incidents like this, when added to the rising Shia opposition to the Coalition troops, that will make the signing of a new one most uncertain.
Some worrying thoughts, there. And I have no idea if he is right in any of this. But thought I would share.
#5
To whom should be given the benefit of doubt? Blackwater or "the other". "The other" being those oh so brave lions notorious for the use of human sheilds comprised of women and children.
I'll give Balckwater the benefit of doubt.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
09/18/2007 14:52 Comments ||
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#6
Blackwater's doing important work.
But I'm not thrilled at the thought of them setting up a quasi-nation of their own. They've already made public suggestions that countries hire them in a standing security role (i.e. as an army vs. for individual tasks). The history of large mercenary forces doesn't fill me with great glee at the thought of another in our day.
OTOH, if things really fall apart geopolitically in the next decade they will grow anyway. And our special ops can only grow so large without major dilution of skills, talent and ... discretion in executing their work.
#9
The convoy is being described as being controlled or under the US State Department - there have been calls for Iraqi police forces to be abolished and redone.
#10
"The controversy over Blackwater is an unfortunate demonstration of the perils of excessive reliance on private security contractors," said Waxman, D-California.
Henry might want to reconsider that statement in light of both his and Congress' failure to boost overall troop levels and the transparent attempt to restrict further US troop deployments. I won't even go into their counterproductive attempts at foreign diplomacy.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A row of beds lies empty in the emergency ward of Baghdad's Yarmouk Hospital. The morgue, which once overflowed with corpses, is barely a quarter full.
Doctors at the hospital, a barometer of bloodshed in the Iraqi capital, say there has been a sharp fall in victims of violence admitted during a seven-month security campaign.
Last month the fall was particularly dramatic, with 70 percent fewer bodies and half the number of wounded brought in compared to July, hospital director Haqi Ismail said.
"The major incidents, like explosions and car bombs, sometimes reached six or seven a day. Now it's more like one or two a week," he told Reuters.
The relative calm at the Yarmouk hospital lends weight to U.S. and Iraqi government assertions that a security campaign launched around Baghdad in February has achieved results.
In one emergency ward at the hospital, in a Sunni Muslim district of west Baghdad which has suffered disproportionately from sectarian conflict, just two patients were being treated. Neither showed signs of serious injury.
At the hospital morgue, only two of the eight refrigerated rooms contain bodies, many of them dating to violence weeks ago.
Bloodstained floors in the empty sections were the only reminder of days when the morgue was so flooded with victims of bombings and shootings that the bodies overflowed, laid out on the ground outside
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/18/2007 10:02 Comments ||
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#2
""The major incidents, like explosions and car bombs, sometimes reached six or seven a day. Now it's more like one or two a week," he told Reuters."
/snark
"And if this keeps up , we will have no choice but begin the painful process of downsizing our workforce."
/end snark
#3
The relative calm at the Yarmouk hospital lends weight to U.S. and Iraqi government assertions that a security campaign launched around Baghdad in February has achieved results.
how civil and understated..
~:)
Ill bet the desk editors [pointed heads] were grinding their *tooth* when this was allowed to slip through..
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
09/18/2007 15:08 Comments ||
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#4
Hugh Hewitt has a discussion of Iraqi casualites today. It appears that September deaths (Iraq-wide) are projecting to be a quarter what they were at their peek.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/18/2007 18:08 Comments ||
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#5
Perhaps so, but there have already been 1,750,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 deaths in Iraq.
Posted by: The Democrats ||
09/18/2007 18:38 Comments ||
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#6
WAPO reports 72,000 to 79,000 civilian deaths since 2003. Dingy Hairy Ried and Rep Kotexinich think we've killed 1 Million.
Iraqi soldiers killed a top al-Qaida emir in Iraq leader along with two militants from Saudi Arabia and Libya in a gunbattle in western Mosul, the US military said Sunday.
Residents contacted Iraqi police to report activity by suspected al-Qaida operatives in the area, and US and Iraqi forces launched the raid around noon Saturday, said. Lt. Col. Eric Welsh, commander of the US Army's 2nd battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. The suspected militants had pulled their cars up alongside one another and were meeting at an intersection on the city's west side, Welsh said. When about 100 Iraqi soldiers arrived, the suspects fled into a neighboring residential area, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#3
The suspected militants had pulled their cars up alongside one another and were meeting at an intersection on the city's west side When about 100 Iraqi soldiers arrived
hummm... mahmood I think we coulda picked a better place to hold a meeting..
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
09/18/2007 14:55 Comments ||
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A suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car on Monday near a busy Baghdad market, killing three people and wounding 10, a police officer said.
The 1:30pm blast apparently targeted a police patrol on the main street of the capitals Shiite district of Jamila, next to a bustling marketplace. Two policemen were wounded in the explosion, according to the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Two cars and a minibus were also damaged in explosion, which claimed the bombers life as well.
Juice vendor Hamid Ghassan, 20, said he heard the blast and came out of his shop to see what happened. I went out and saw that the bomber targeted poor innocent people, Ghassan said, adding that he was dismayed that the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is sitting safe, making agreements and lying to people while masses of people are being killed. The midday bombing near the busy marketplace is a blow to Iraqi government hopes that the holy month of Ramadan would be peaceful, to show the success of a 7-month-old security operation in the capital and surrounding areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2007 00:00 ||
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Police arrested an Israeli who had tried to smuggle 21 Palestinians without entry permits into Israel on Monday. The man was chased by soldiers after having fled from a checkpoint near the Tapuah Junction while he was driving a vehicle carrying the group. Forces discovered a forged police identification card in the car. All of his passengers were transferred to security interrogations.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
ION, dead hosses and camels are showing up on Israeli beaches [Tel Aviv]. Jeebus, in the Middle/Dark Ages they just catapulted 'em over the wall filled with plague???
#2
Joe gives me an idea. Plague. Fleas. Rats. Gaza. Some assembly required. Though I am kind of surprised it hasn't 'self-assembled' already, given the conditions. Maybe the rats won't hang around long enough.
A Palestinian opened fire at IDF troops in the northern Gaza Strip Monday night. Israel Radio reported that the troops returned fire and hit the shooter.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2007 00:00 ||
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A group of fighters from Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, attacked an Israeli military jeep in the eastern sector of Gaza Strip on Monday. The brigades said in a statement that the jeep was attacked with a single rocket-propelled grenade near the Jewish settlement of Kissufim. "The operation was carried out in an affirmation of our option of continuing jihad and resistance against the Israeli occupation," it said. The Israeli side of the story:
Israel on Monday confirmed that a military jeep was fired on in the eastern sector of Gaza Strip. A Military spokesman told Israeli radio that Palestinian gunmen had fired an anti-armour missile targeting military engineering vehicles near the separation barrier wall between Gaza Strip and Israel, but no casualties or damage were reported. The Israeli military retaliated. Earlier today the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, claimed in a statement the responsibility for the attack with an RPG shell.
Lebanese Police has arrested four suspected terrorists, a Libyan and three Lebanese, and confiscated explosives and Katyusha rockets, a reliable source told Naharnet. Two suspects, a Lebanese and a Libyan, were rounded up Sunday in a police bust of a hideout and a camouflaged dump in the village of Anout, in the Kharoub province southeast of Beirut. The other two suspects were rounded up in the southern village of Zawtar in a separate bust carried out the same day.
The coordinated operation followed months of monitoring, said the source who asked not to be identified. He said two other suspects of the six-man cell remain at larges and a man hunt has been launched for them. He refused to disclose further information pertaining to their names or nationalities. The Lebanese citizen arrested in Anount was identified as Walid Mohammed Ammar, a reputed Salafist in this Sunni Muslim region. The cell, according to the source, had been active in carrying out attacks and planning for attacks in the sector of south Lebanon patrolled by the U.N. Interim Force (UNIFIL).
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2007 00:00 ||
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The civilians in the village of Ain Burg in al-Minya area , north Lebanon helped the Lebanese security forces in arresting a fugitive Islamist militant The arrested militant belongs to Fatah al-Islam terrorist organization . His name is Abdul Aziz Al-Masri, a Syrian citizen. He was arrested near the coastal area of the village . In his possession he had 3 cans of Tuna and vitamin pills.
According to the army intelligence Masri remained inside the camp on September 2 when all the militants escaped . He survived on food leftovers. He tried to escape yesterday but was caught. This is the third Syrian citizen connected with Fatah al-Islam militants arrested since Saturday by the Lebanese authorities. The other 2 Syrian citizens arrested on Saturday are :
1- Mohamed Saleh Zawawi who used the title of Abu Salim Taha, Spokesman of Fatah al-Islam.
2- Omar Mohammad Othman , whose title is Abu Al-Hareth, a key member of Fatah al-Islam leadership council which is called 'the Legitimate body '. The ' legitimate body' elected the fugitive Shaker al- Absi as the leader of Fatah al- Islam.
Lebanon's majority alliance has accused Syria of creating, training, arming and funding Fatah al-Islam. Shaker al-Absi, like Zawawi and al-Masri came to Lebanon from Syria. Syria has denied any connections with Fatah al-Islam.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[6 views]
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#1
The civilians in the village of Ain Burg in al-Minya area , north Lebanon helped the Lebanese security forces in arresting a fugitive Islamist militant
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/18/2007 10:44 Comments ||
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#6
Hyer and Hyer and Hyer. (Well somebody had to say it.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/18/2007 11:45 Comments ||
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#7
Before I saw the name, I thought it was Grace Kelly. Mmmmmm! Good memories! Saw her (Grace not Martha) in 1968 at the Hemisfair in San Antonio. Stood about 10 feet away when she walked past. What a beauty! I swear she didn't smile until she saw me. At least that's the way I remember it.
Oh, Martha's OK too, I guess.
Posted by: Almost Anonymous5839 ||
09/18/2007 12:06 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A suicide bomber on foot entered a government office and blew himself up Monday in the volatile south, killing eight people, including four policemen, officials said. The district police chief was among the seven people wounded in the attack on the Nad Ali district center in Helmand province, said deputy provincial police chief Faqir Askeryar. Four civilians were among the dead, said district chief Mehbob Khan. The seven wounded included policemen and civilians.
The body of 
GHALANAI: 
Security forces killed an estimated 18 suspected militants during a firefight late Sunday evening near the Afghan border in North Waziristan, a pro-Taliban cleric announced on Monday. Please donate for the burial of 18 martyrs who died in clashes with security forces, cleric Qari Muhammad Roman announced during Zuhr prayers here. He told worshippers that the army informed him that 18 militants were killed when they attacked the Pusht Ziarat checkpost in Shawal, west of Miranshah and close to the Afghan border. 
GHALANAI: A 60-member Halimzai tribe jirga on Monday banned the sale of narcotics and obscene CDs in Mohmand Agency, and gave shopkeepers a week to change their businesses or face action. A jirga member, Mohammad Ali Halimzai, told Daily Times that they had set a one-week deadline for those selling obscene CDs, heroin, alcohol and other narcotics in the agency. He said the jirga would take action through a Qaumi Lashkar against the violators of the ban. He said the shop owners, if found guilty, would be fined and their shops and houses would be demolished. Another jirga member said such measures would protect tribal youngsters from immoral activities.
Doctors at the hospital, a barometer of bloodshed in the Iraqi capital, say there has been a sharp fall in victims of violence admitted during a seven-month security campaign.
A suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car on Monday near a busy Baghdad market, killing three people and wounding 10, a police officer said. 
Lebanese Police has arrested four suspected terrorists, a Libyan and three Lebanese, and confiscated explosives and Katyusha rockets, a reliable source told Naharnet. Two suspects, a Lebanese and a Libyan, were rounded up Sunday in a police bust of a hideout and a camouflaged dump in the village of Anout, in the Kharoub province southeast of Beirut. The other two suspects were rounded up in the southern village of Zawtar in a separate bust carried out the same day.
