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'Commandos captured nuclear materials before air raid in Syria'
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
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2 00:00 Secret Master [3]
The Triumph of Dr. Fu Manchu
"Imagine a person, tall, lean and feline, high-shouldered, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan, a close-shaven skull, and long, magnetic eyes of the true cat-green. Invest him with all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race, accumulated in one giant intellect, with all the resources of science past and present, with all the resources, if you will, of a wealthy government--which, however, already has denied all knowledge of his existence. Imagine that awful being, and you have a mental picture of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the yellow peril incarnate in one man."
-- Nayland Smith to Dr. Petrie,
The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu,
Chapter 2
Kids, assuming they still read, probably aren't exposed to the works of Sax Rohmer anymore. Fu Manchu would be terribly un-PC today, positively racist, in fact. Yet Nayland Smith's description of the Insidious Doctor would fit with little change someone else we know, who is decidedly not a character of fiction.

Fu Manchu appeared in at least a dozen novels and probably twice that many short stories. His organization, the Si Fan, was made up of fanatical orientals, pigtailed Chinamen willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater glory of Fu. Their enemy, the West, was responsible for the usual assortment of dreary offenses, all of which required Dire Revenge™. The difference between Fu Manchu and his competitors was that Rohmer was a good enough writer to endow his creation with a few good traits to go with his lust for power and the low price -- well under a dollar, even adjusted for inflation -- he put on human life.

By the time the world had gone through the real horrors of the Second World War Rohmer was old and gray and eventually -- in 1959 --dead. The Doctor and his competitors were by then hopelessly comic-bookish, not to be taken at all seriously. SS divisions were a much more frightening -- and more demonstrably evil -- proposition than Si Fan was, and the prospect of nuclear anihilation made the Nazis look amateurish. Similarly cartoonish villains, for instance James Bond's nemesis SPECTRE, dwelt in the realm of fiction and never ventured out. No one really took them seriously. Those who believed in secret societies, sinister international conspiracies, and wheels within wheels were dismissed as crackpots and banished to Bilderberg.

Rohmer, it turns out, is the one who got it right. In fact, it is possible to build an international organization devoted to World Domination™, staffed by masked fanatics who're ready to sacrifice themselves in the name of... ummm... whatever it is. In the present instance, "whatever it is" turns out to be Islam, whether in the Sunni version pushed by al-Qaeda and its allies, or the Shia flavor they go for in Iran and Hezbollahstan, but it could just as easily be something else. Sri Lanka has a tiny Muslim minority that's uninvolved in their civil war, but the Tamil Tigers invented the boomer.

We're suddenly confronted with real-life versions of people who in 1999 were regarded in the same light as Lex Luthor or the Council of Boskone. The shadowy international financiers are there, just where in any half-decent pulp novel we would expect them, moving large sums of money through hidden channels. The Masters of War™ who make big money selling arms are in evidence, though they don't usually make the headlines. There are secret passwords and kabalistic signs, and those suspected of spying are bumped off painfully and without scruple. There are potentates and grand viziers of one sort or another, rubbing their hands as they ponder the advancement of complicated schemes. Occasionally we even find a perky blonde in peril and a cleft-chinned hero trying to get her out. And of course there's the signature of the Fu Manchu approach, the fanatical myrmidon, who blows himself up with distressing regularity.

The question from the first has been how the rational, non-comic book world handles the very real depredations of a world populated by people who favor capes, robes, masks, funny hats, and multiple aliases. The answer has been disappointing from societies that claim to treasure thinking "outside the box":
  • Denial: There is no al-Qaeda. There is no vast international conspiracy dedicated to the destruction of the West. The very idea's a hoax, ridiculous on its face, probably perpetrated by Karl Rove.

    Suprrisingly enough, this idea's pretty current among those who always expect the worst from the U.S. in particular and the West in general. The tell-tale for this attitude is someone who "questions the timing" of a major bust or the details of a plot coming out.

  • Send in the Police: Terrorist attacks are crimes under criminal law. The proper response is to issue arrest warrants through Interpol, have the perps arrested, and brought before the International Criminal Court.

    This is the legalist train of thought. It's prevalent in Europe and Britan, where the police are actually chasing down and arresting people who blow up trainloads of people or drive flaming cars into airports. While this works to an extent, there is the fact that jail sentences run short there, and the perps will be out in five or six years to continue what they were doing, their debt to society paid.

    The thought of Pakistain acting on an Interpol warrant, sending the cops to Chitral, and arresting and deporting bin Laden is pretty laughable. Ditto the thought of them knocking on the door of Mullah Omar's plausibly denied house in downtown Quetta. We won't even mention Dawood Ibrahim, for whom India still patiently waits.

    This train of thought also doesn't consider governmental organizations like the IRGC, which are busily engaged in the terrorism business, or the government of Syria. Before you can bring them to Nuremburg you've got to catch them. To date, they've had something to say about that.

  • There is an al-Qaeda, but it's not a threat: There hasn't been an attack since 2001. That was six years ago. Therefore there won't be another one. The threat is way overblown. There's more chance of being abducted by aliens than there is of being killed in a terrorist attack.

    This line is first cousin to the denial line, and will occasionally be echoed by the same people, sometimes in the same sentence. We never said logic was a requirement for an opinion, did we?

    The approximately 2,974 people killed on 9-11-01 were a tiny fraction of a smidgeon of one percent of the U.S. population. But it seemed like there were a lot of them at the time.

  • It's all Our Fault: There is an al-Qaeda, but its attacks were justified in response to our own arrogant and misguided policies. We deserve to lose. The world will be better off without Western Civilization.

    This is the Noam Chomsky-Howard Zinn-Arundati Roy line of thinking. There are no superior cultures, there is no better way of life. Since all cultures are alike, and since the U.S. and the West have demonstrated sufficiently that while there are no superior cultures there are inferior cultures, too mired in greed and ulterior motives to be of any worth, it's fine that they're dragged under by the weight of history, to join the Hittites and the Gepids and Mohenjo Daro on the list of historical also-rans.

    Of course, if the Islamists ever do win, they'll chop the heads off Chomsky, Zinn, and Roy.

  • Politix as Usual: There is an enemy, we are in a war, but the threat of societal oblivion is just another political talking point, of the same weight as social security reform, the highway trust fund, or pork for Boston.

    We've got most of an entire political party that adheres to this line. Votes are what counts. Probably those pushing the line have no conception that the West could possibly lose the war on terror. Their intellectual horizon doesn't extend that far out -- it, in fact, goes no further than the next election. Probably some few are simply too stoopid to realize that if Western society is replaced by the caliphate there won't be any social security to reform. Either that, or they expect to be on the shura, doing business at the same old stand while wearing a new turban, come the new order.

  • Compromise: There is an enemy, we are in a war, but the way to get out of war, which is bad by definition, is to hold endless series of talks, addressing the enemy's concerns and making tradeoffs until both parties are happy. Then hostilities will end.

    Every once in awhile we hear an academic talking about this. It's a purely theoretical position and it always has been. If the enemy's position is submit or die, where's the room for compromise?

  • Don't Hurt Anybody: There is an enemy, we are in a war, but taking strong measures against that enemy makes us "just like them." We have to avoid killing anyone who's not in the process of shooting at our guys. This attitude is a reflection of the basic good-heartedness of the West. In a refutation of the charges of Chomsky-Zinn-Roy, we really don't want to kill any innocents. We're willing to stretch the point and not even kill any sympathizers.

    Confining the carnage only to shootouts allows the Masterminds™ to get away -- I can't recall reading about Dr. Fu Manchu ever whipping out a rod. The fastidious aversion to "targeted killings" addresses the symptoms, not the disease. Myrmidons, in the original Greek mythology, were created from ants. They're cheap and they're easily replaced. Killing one commander, even if he's unarmed, accomplishes more than killing a battalion of cannon fodder.

At the other end of the spectrum lies the baleful prospect of total war against Islam: Lahore, Jeddah, and Khartoum as Dresden, and Mecca and Medina as Nagasaki and Hiroshima. This is the scenario we've been trying to avoid, ever since we realized we were at war with the Si Fan -- or to define them more precisely, the Learned Elders of Islam. That leaves us trying to find the middle ground while the enemy, convinced that the Mahdi is going to pop up as soon as the going gets really tough, tries to push us into the total war of annihilation.

If they're lucky, they won't succeed.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2007 10:19 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  But where is the center of gravity? It is the radical Islamic teachings of extremist imans and mosques and madrassas that hide behind "religion" or untouchable. We never seem to talk about dealing with this problem using "extreme prejudice". If Hitler was alive today, would it be morally responsible to short-fuse genocide by assinating him? If so, why isn't it the same to put a bullet between the eyes of those responsible for preaching 'Death to America"?
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 09/23/2007 11:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

"The Mask of Fu-Manchu", as played by Boris Karloff.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/23/2007 13:30 Comments || Top||

#3  The question from the first has been how the rational, non-comic book world handles the very real depredations of a world populated by people who favor capes, robes, masks, funny hats, and multiple aliases.

I seem to recall that trashy comic books degrade quite well when exposed to high heat.

The fastidious aversion to "targeted killings" addresses the symptoms, not the disease. Myrmidons, in the original Greek mythology, were created from ants. They're cheap and they're easily replaced. Killing one commander, even if he's unarmed, accomplishes more than killing a battalion of cannon fodder.

Boy howdy! What a concept!!! You doubters getting any of this?

At the other end of the spectrum lies the baleful prospect of total war against Islam: Lahore, Jeddah, and Khartoum as Dresden, and Mecca and Medina as Nagasaki and Hiroshima. This is the scenario we've been trying to avoid

At some point we'll need to realize that this is exactly what Islam is pushing for. While it is far from an ideal solution, it is one of the few that promises any results. Until Islam abandons its obsession with death and martyrdom, extermination will remain one of the few viable options. Make no mistake, they already are pushing us into "into the total war of annihilation". Our only responsibility is to survive and of far secondary importance is any concern over how many Muslims make it across that event horizon.
Posted by: Zenster || 09/23/2007 16:30 Comments || Top||

#4  Mr. Fred - there does not seem to be a link to the original source. While it is possible that this is an error on the part of the poster, it seems rather unlikely in this instance. Therefore, I take it that this is an original work?

Congratulations! Too bad more folks don't have your intellect!
Posted by: Bobby || 09/23/2007 17:51 Comments || Top||

#5  Outstanding analysis, Fred. You rightfully pair Islam's rabid foaming with the incredibly ridiculous cartoon universe that they inhabit. Pure genius.
Posted by: Zenster || 09/23/2007 18:05 Comments || Top||

#6  We're going to get both in our next president who will start out being a combination of all the former and after the inevitable attack will become the latter. And there is no greater bitch than a woman scorned twice.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 09/23/2007 18:17 Comments || Top||

#7  Fred's ™ - it's telling
Posted by: Frank G || 09/23/2007 18:26 Comments || Top||

#8  Kinda says it all. I wonder if kids these days might like 'da pulps?
Posted by: Thomas Woof || 09/23/2007 22:31 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Afghan forces kill two Taleban commanders
We just keep killin' and capturin', killin' and capturin' ...
KABUL - Afghan forces killed a number of Taleban terrorists militants and wounded two others during operations in southern Afghanistan, the Defence Ministry said in a statement on Saturday. Among those killed in Friday’s operation were two provincial level Taleban commanders named Mullah Waseem and Mullah Abdullah, who were involved in ‘sabotaging activities’ in Wardak province, the statement said.

On the same day, government forces detained Mullah Qaderi, leader of 15 terrorists insurgents in Nirkh district of Wardak province, it added.
Nirkha nirkha Mohammad jihad!
Elsewhere, two Afghan police and three Taleban were killed, and three policemen wounded when Taleban attacked an Afghan police checkpoint in the Khan Abad district of Kunduz province on Saturday, the provincial governor said.
This article starring:
MULLAH ABDULLAHTaliban
MULLAH QADERITaliban
MULLAH WASIMTaliban
Posted by: Steve White || 09/23/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  how many damn mullah abdullahs, are they
Posted by: sinse || 09/23/2007 12:43 Comments || Top||


Iranian, Chinese weapons seized in Afghanistan
Afghan authorities said they had seized dozens of Iranian and Chinese-manufactured weaponry after a brief battle on Saturday with Taliban fighters near the border with Iran. The weapons found in the western province of Herat included about 40 mines and rocket-propelled grenades, the government’s intelligence agency said in a statement. They were found in a vehicle that Taliban fighters abandoned following an exchange of fire in the province’s Ghoryan district on the Iranian border.

“The weapons were seized after the Taliban escaped and left one of their vehicles behind with the weapons,” it said. An intelligence official told AFP separately and on condition of anonymity that the arms appeared to have been manufactured in Iran and China. Some of the rockets showed to reporters carried Persian writing and the coat of arms of Iran, which reads “Allah”. US and British officials have previously alleged that the Taliban are being supplied by weapons from Iran, although not necessarily from Tehran, which denies involvement. A sizeable convoy carrying explosives was seized early this month by NATO troops in the western province of Farah, which also borders Iran, the top NATO general here, General Dan McNeill, said last week. “The geographic origin of that convoy was clearly Iran but take note that I did not say it’s the Iranian government,” the US general told AFP.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: IRGC

#1  who would have ever thought such a thing
Posted by: sinse || 09/23/2007 12:48 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Baitullah hiring Sipah hitmen
Two wanted men join Baitullah Mehsud
Two wanted terrorists, Matiullah and Qari Ehsanul Haq, have joined hands with Baitullah Mehsud to execute attacks in various parts of the country, sources in law enforcement agencies told Daily Times on Saturday.

The sources said the two men were helping organise terrorist attacks, including suicide attacks, on security forces in Punjab. The government has already announced a reward of Rs 10 million for the arrest of Matiullah, while it has raised the bounty on Qari Ehsanul Haq from Rs 5 million to Rs 10 million. They said information about the presence of the two in tribal areas had been gained from militants during questioning.

According to the sources, Matiullah and Haq, both residents of Bahawalpur, are top aides of Baitullah Mehsud, who is believed responsible for suicide attacks in various parts of the country, particularly on personnel of the law enforcement agencies. They said both men were close friends and had also worked for Sipah-e-Sahaba and Harkat Jihad-e-Islami. The sources claimed that the two terrorists had played an important role in planning a suicide attack on President Pervez Musharraf. “Both are very close friends and they always remain together,” Waseem Ahmed, brother-in-law of Qari Ehsan, told Daily Times.
"Not that there's anything wrong with that!"

This article starring:
Harkat Jihad-e-Islami
Sipah-e-Sahaba
Baitullah MehsudTaliban
MatiullahSipah-e-Sahaba
MatiullahTaliban
Qari Ehsanul HaqSipah-e-Sahaba
Qari Ehsanul HaqTaliban
Waseem Ahmed, brother-in-law of Qari Ehsan
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Two people killed in Mohmand Agency festivities
At least two people, including an Afghan refugee, were killed in the remote Sorandara Musakhel area of Mohmand Agency here on Saturday, political authorities said. Hundreds of people attacked the houses of local residents Gul Khan and Jehanzaib in the Sorandara area of Banazai subdivision for sheltering proclaimed offender Rahim Shah, who is wanted for dacoity and kidnapping. The area’s residents attacked the locals because a jirga had decided that Shah would no longer be granted sanctuary.

Upon learning that Gul Khan and Jehanzaib had violated the jirga’s decision by sheltering Shah, a Lashkar (tribal army) raided their homes and in the resultant clashes, Karim, an Afghan refugee, was killed along with one of Rahim Shah’s nephews. According to political authorities, local elders have managed to negotiate a truce between the warring parties, but the Lashkar is still holding its position around the houses. Jehanzaib, meanwhile, has surrendered himself to the custody of the Lashkar and a jirga will decide his fate.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


6 killed, 7 injured in Swat, Bajaur clashes
MINGORA: A policeman was killed while two others were reported missing when militants attacked a police checkpost in Totano Banday area of Kabal tehsil, Swat, on Saturday, police said. The militants also took wireless and other communication equipments and the missing soldiers are feared kidnapped, a senior police official told Daily Times. The incident occurred after pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah ordered his followers to abduct policemen and FC personnel, but he refused to accept responsibility for the attack.
Whoa! That's never happened before, has it?
In Bajaur, a suicide bomber blew up his car near a paramilitary convoy, wounding a soldier, AFP quoted officials as saying. The convoy was heading from Tank to Jandola when the bomber detonated the explosives, a security official said, adding that the attacker’s car was completely destroyed. “The bomber’s body parts have been recovered from the scene and a probe is under way,” the official said.

In Bajaur tribal district, the authorities reported that pro-Taliban militants killed a soldier and two women in overnight attacks. The paramilitary soldier died when mortars hit a camp in the Bajaur, and the women were killed when a mortar shell struck their house, local official Fazal Rabi told AFP. He said two other soldiers were injured, as were six tribesmen.

Also in Bajaur, an Afghan national and a local tribesman were found shot dead outside Khar. “The two were murdered by militants who suspected them to be spying for government forces,” an official said.
This article starring:
local official Fazal Rabi
Maulana Fazlullah
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: TNSM

#1  Reading Rantburg day after day for almost six years, I've reached the conclusion that there are NO sane muslims. If they're not fighting outsiders, they're fighting among themselves over whatever flimsy excuse they can come up with.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 09/23/2007 14:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah, after these years, I've come to the conclusion that Fred's a great propagandist, I'm a dupe, or these people...well, it's generous to call them people.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 09/23/2007 15:32 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Banished Bomber Brought Back, Bagged
Coalition forces positively identified a terrorist killed in an operation Friday in Baghdad as a key leader in the city’s car-bombing network. Rafid Latif Jasim Muhammed Sabah, also known as Abu Taghrid or Abu Azar, was a key leader in the organization of al-Qaeda in Iraq’s Baghdad military and car-bombing operations. After being banished to Tikrit for extorting $200,000 in terrorists’ funds, al-Qaeda in Iraq recalled Taghrid to assume a key appointment within the organization focused on reenergizing the car-bombing network in the east Baghdad area, after it suffered attrition from Iraqi and Coalition forces operations.
In other words, he was a crook but beggers can't be choosers.
Turns out not to be an easy thing to do, rig bombs. One of the dumber things we did, based on dubious 'legal' advice, was to not take out (kill) the bomb-riggers when we could.
Coalition forces targeted Taghrid and other al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders associated with the car-bombing network in Baghdad during a raid Sept. 21. When the ground forces entered the target building, Taghrid reached for a weapon and Coalition forces, responding in self-defense, engaged and killed him.

Intelligence reports indicate Taghrid was involved in the kidnapping of foreign diplomats in May 2006, and was associated with a former al-Qaeda in Iraq military emir of Baghdad, captured Dec. 19, 2006. Before joining al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2005, Taghrid was a member of Ansar al Sunna.
This article starring:
Abu Azar
Abu Taghrid
Rafid Latif Jasim Muhammed Sabah
Ansar al Sunna
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 09/23/2007 18:43 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Guess he won't be the guest of honor at columbia anytime soon.

Posted by: macofromoc || 09/23/2007 20:07 Comments || Top||


Iraqi, US forces kill 10 militants, arrest 16 in Miqdadiya
(KUNA) -- Joint Iraqi and US forces killed ten militants and detained 16 others in the town of Miqdadiya in Diyala Province, northeast of Baghdad, according to Iraqi police on Saturday. A police press release quoted an official source as saying that the joint forces made progress in search operations for terrorist groups in Miqdadiya and its suburbs, considered a launch point for Al-Qaeda operatives in the area.

According to the source, ten militants were killed and 16 others were arrested, while 11 explosive devices were defused and eight others were safely detonated. They also safely detonated two booby-trapped houses and discovered three weapons caches, the statement said, adding that the forces were supported by residents of the two. Miqdadiya is still being struck be terrorist attacks despite the considerable improvement in Diyala security.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  despite the tragic VEHICLE ACCIDENT that claimed 7 of our troops in a single day, the American casualty rate is the lowest it has been in a YEAR.

Somehow the MSM has failed to note this fact. They seem to also have missed the dramatically lower Iraqi civilian casualty rate, the fact that alQueda is on the run, and the fact that political progress at all levels IS occuring in Iraq.

I guess they've got all their reporters tied up with the O.J. story.
Posted by: Justrand || 09/23/2007 10:02 Comments || Top||

#2  I've notivce that, too, and assume I'm not alone.

This morning's Washington Post did not have an article on the chaos in Iraq, or the troop drawdown - they had to console themselves with an anti-military story about the Barksdale Bombs (the atomic bombs unknowingly flown over America). Plus an article about Hilly's Mom, and the Saudi yoot article I posted. Nothing about Iraq.

I assume that means we've won.......
Posted by: Bobby || 09/23/2007 11:38 Comments || Top||


Iraqi civilian killed, dead body found in Kirkuk
(KUNA) -- A civilian was shot dead in Kirkuk north of Iraq while a police patrol found a dead body in the city, the Iraqi police said on Saturday. Unidentified men shot dead the owner of a car accessories shop in the area known as June 1 in Kirkuk while a police patrol found a dead body in a white plastic case in the district of Al-Hajaj near Al-Khansaa school. Meanwhile, two time-IED (improvised explosive devices) were detonated in Al-Hawija southwest of the city. No harm was reported.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Unidentified men shot dead the owner of a car accessories shop in the area known as June 1 in Kirkuk

is "June 1" near the brisket?
Posted by: Frank G || 09/23/2007 7:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Was it a "Pimp My Ride" fatwa?
Posted by: whitecollar redneck || 09/23/2007 9:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Wonder what the kill count last night was in NYC, Miami, Detroit...?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/23/2007 9:16 Comments || Top||

#4  I don't know, but there's certainly a case for preferring Kirkuk to Philadelphia.
Posted by: Darrell || 09/23/2007 18:10 Comments || Top||


Car bomb explodes near Iranian consulate in Basra
(KUNA) -- A car bomb exploded on Saturday near the Iranian consulate in Basra south of Iraq, a police source told KUNA. The source added that no casualties were reported but the explosion caused huge damage to nearby houses and cars. No more details were available.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Explosion rips through Beit Hanoun
(KUNA) -- A large explosion ripped through the town of Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, late Friday evening, apparently the result of Israeli shelling, witnesses said Saturday. They added that the explosion hit the building of the agriculture union, destroying a large part of it and some of the nearby houses. No casualties were reported, they said. The agriculture union is a non-governmental organization that helps Palestinian farmers gain access to fertilizers and seeds at lower prices, thus assisting them in rehabilitating their farmlands. The witnesses noted that the bombing coincided with the hovering of Israeli helicopters overhead.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  The agriculture union is a non-governmental organization that helps Palestinian farmers terrorists gain access to fertilizers large quantities of ammonium nitrate

All fixed. Sounds a lot like that Syrian "agricultural research station".
Posted by: Zenster || 09/23/2007 0:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Fuel-oil storage right next door?
Posted by: Bigfoot Juling7040 || 09/23/2007 1:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Fertilizers? So the Paleos have an agriculture? That they work at something?
Posted by: JFM || 09/23/2007 3:23 Comments || Top||

#4  They must, JFM. They'd been selling vegetables -- cucumbers and tomatoes, I think -- to Israel. It causes terrible problems for them when the border crossings are closed after the children misbehave.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/23/2007 5:25 Comments || Top||

#5  cucumbers and tomatoes

Arrrrgh! You've put them side by side, you Zionist hussy!

Personally, I think all that the Israelis did was drop a lit match on the place and then quickly back away from the secondaries.
Posted by: Zenster || 09/23/2007 5:28 Comments || Top||

#6  You caught me, Zenster. I promise to work on that hussy thingy right after my morning nap -- Mr. Wife would be so pleased were I to get better at hussying.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/23/2007 7:37 Comments || Top||

#7  well as long as it's not brazen hussying, I can deal with it...
Posted by: Frank G || 09/23/2007 7:55 Comments || Top||

#8  I think brazen would take two naps, Frank. I fear I'm not as strong as I used to be.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/23/2007 8:07 Comments || Top||

#9  They must, JFM. They'd been selling vegetables -- cucumbers and tomatoes, I think -- to Israel. It causes terrible problems for them when the border crossings are closed after the children misbehave

The day they will have to work for living instead of relying on international aid then there will be peace in Middle East. There will not be as enthousiastic in firing at Israel they day they will have to pay their ammo from their own pockets.
Posted by: JFM || 09/23/2007 14:44 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan jets bomb rebels, bus ambushed
Sri Lankan fighter jets bombed Tamil Tiger territory for a third day running on Saturday, the military said, while a suspected rebel roadside bomb hit a civilian bus in the island’s northeast, killing the driver.

The violence in the restive north, the focus of renewed civil war between the state and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), is the latest in a rash of near daily land and sea battles, ambushes and air strikes in recent months. The air force said jets bombed a rebel convoy early on Saturday, near the site of a military complex it said pilots hit on Friday. The Tigers said the bombs hit a civilian settlement, killing an 85-year-old man and wounding five others. “We had intelligence reports that there was vehicle movement in that area removing some items from the military installation and the jets went and took the target this morning,” air force spokesman Group Captain Ajantha de Silva said.

Pro-rebel website www.tamilnet.com posted photographs of two civilians they said were admitted to hospital in the Tiger de facto capital of Kilinochchi in the far north lying in bed with bandages, one on a saline drip. “Do you think that people will survive and just need saline if they are caught in an air raid?” said de Silva. “We are 100 percent sure about the target,” he added. “The air force don’t bomb civilian targets.”

There was no independent confirmation of what the jets hit or how many people were killed or injured.

In a separate incident in the northeastern district of Trincomalee, suspected rebels ambushed a civilian bus with a Claymore mine, killing the driver, police said.

The violence comes on the heels of a new offensive launched by the Sri Lankan military this month to drive the rebels from the northwestern district of Mannar, after pushing them out from jungle terrain they controlled in the east earlier this year. An estimated 5,000 people have died since early last year in renewed fighting after a peace process collapsed. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced since the war erupted in 1983.

Meanwhile, a suspected Tamil Tiger roadside bomb hit a civilian bus in the island’s northeast on Saturday killing the driver, police said, while the rebels said a third day of air strikes killed an elderly man in their territory.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Jets scramble towards Syrian aircraft
IAF fighter jets were alerted to the northern border with Syria on Saturday after a Syrian military jet, being tracked by Israel, disappeared from military radar systems. A short time later, the IAF discovered that the Syrian jet had crashed in Syrian territory. The IAF jets returned to their bases and the level of alert was lowered. On Friday, the IDF raised the level of alert along Israel's northern border out of concern that Syria will attempt to retaliate for an alleged IAF attack within its borders on September 6.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Crashed, eh?
Posted by: Iblis || 09/23/2007 0:05 Comments || Top||

#2  "Syrian jet had crashed in Syrian territory"

They misspelled "shot down."
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 09/23/2007 0:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Jets scramble towards Syrian aircraft

There, fixed that.
Posted by: Zenster || 09/23/2007 0:11 Comments || Top||

#4  Actually, considering the performance of the Syrian Air Force in every major conflict since the Israeli War of Independence, that plane crashing is a reasonable assumption. Of course, the IAF could have easily "assisted" the crash, but the Syrians have had problems with their MiGs before -- just like the Indians did.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 09/23/2007 0:11 Comments || Top||

#5  I remember hearing stories how during the Yom Kippur war, the Israeli pilots were so good that as soon as they locked on with their fire control radars, the Arab pilots would bail out, even before the Israelis fired.
Posted by: Rambler || 09/23/2007 1:34 Comments || Top||

#6  Following the first Gulf War the "Northern and Southern No Fly Zones" often found Iraqi AAA gunners firing the obigatory few rounds at US and coalition aircraft (after they had already passed overhead), then hoofing it, or jumping into a vehicle and going for a drive some distance away from the radar trailer.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/23/2007 2:13 Comments || Top||

#7  I believe the score of the Bekaa Valley Turkey Shoot in 1982 was 82–1.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 09/23/2007 2:28 Comments || Top||

#8  What, the one IAF guy had a heart attack?
Posted by: Bobby || 09/23/2007 7:43 Comments || Top||

#9  Fell asleep at the stick from boredom.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2007 8:04 Comments || Top||

#10  He was the reason they don't let you drink and fly.

"Hey, Aram. Hold onto my beer and watch this!"
Posted by: DarthVader || 09/23/2007 8:16 Comments || Top||

#11  I think it was shot down by the vaunted Syrian anti-aircraft system they purchased from Russia. Remember the Russian systems were always calibrated to keep "their planes from leaving" not for other coming into their airspace.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 09/23/2007 11:04 Comments || Top||

#12  The Syrian crash evidence is most likely pointed straight towards Mecca. I believe that is plan 'A' on the muslim flying circus check list...
Posted by: Phinater Thraviger || 09/23/2007 11:42 Comments || Top||

#13  I would find it amusing if the Israelis had tried out their anti-projectile laser and discovered that it could do a new trick.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/23/2007 13:33 Comments || Top||


Good morning...
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Dove-ly!
Posted by: JDB || 09/23/2007 0:29 Comments || Top||

#2  troll alert!
Posted by: Frank G || 09/23/2007 6:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Just whacked him
Posted by: john frum || 09/23/2007 7:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Just wondering if she's a lovey-dove or a mourning-dove... Looks like the former from here!
Posted by: Old Patriot || 09/23/2007 14:21 Comments || Top||



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Sun 2007-09-23
  'Commandos captured nuclear materials before air raid in Syria'
Sat 2007-09-22
  Islamists stage rally against Musharraf
Fri 2007-09-21
  Binny Declares War on Perv
Thu 2007-09-20
  al-Awdah turns against Al Qaeda
Wed 2007-09-19
  Beirut car bomb kills another anti-Syrian lawmaker
Tue 2007-09-18
  Rappani Khalilov Waxed
Mon 2007-09-17
  Pak Talibs agree to release abducted soldiers?
Sun 2007-09-16
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Sat 2007-09-15
  Sudan offers truce in Darfur
Fri 2007-09-14
  Majority OKs Berri's initiative to resolve Lebanon crisis
Thu 2007-09-13
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Wed 2007-09-12
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Tue 2007-09-11
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