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Today: 25 articles and 43 comments as of 10:04.
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70 Gazooks titzup in IDF operation
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
1 00:00 Seafarious [4] 
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7 00:00 lotp [5] 
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14 00:00 The Conspiracy Guy [4] 
Page 2: WoT Background
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1 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [4]
3 00:00 ed [3]
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4 00:00 SteveS [4]
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4 00:00 MarkZ [4]
3 00:00 DarthVader [3]
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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1 00:00 trailing wife [4]
2 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [4]
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
1 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [6]
2 00:00 trailing wife [4]
Caribbean-Latin America
Venezuela 'sends tanks to border' after FARC leader killed
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered his military to send troops and tanks to the border with Colombia, after Bogota killed a leading rebel. Speaking on his weekly television show, President Chavez also said Venezuela's embassy in Colombia would close.

Mr Chavez said Colombian President Alvaro Uribe was a "criminal". He said the killing of Raul Reyes, a top commander of the left-wing Farc rebels, just inside Ecuador on Saturday was a "cowardly murder".

Mr Chavez has been mediating with Farc to secure the release of hostages the rebels hold, and six have so far been freed under this initiative.

But he lamented the killing of Reyes - whom he called a "good revolutionary" - and at least 16 other Farc rebels when he spoke on his show, "Alo, President".

"It wasn't any combat. It was a cowardly murder, all of it coldly calculated," Mr Chavez said.
Unlike, say, kidnapping and killing 3rd parties for ransom, no es verdad?
He said Colombia "invaded Ecuador, flagrantly violated Ecuador's sovereignty".

Mr Chavez addressed his defence minister, asking him to "move 10 battalions to the border with Colombia for me, immediately" - a deployment likely to involve several thousand soldiers.
For me. ME!! Where's my white stallion, just like Bolivar??
He ordered the Venezuelan embassy in Bogota closed and said all embassy personnel would be withdrawn.
Sounds good to me - that's a couple subversive SOBs out of the country.
Mr Chavez had earlier warned Bogota that any incursion into Venezuelan territory similar to Saturday's operation would be a "cause for war".
Hugo, you tease - you always promise but you never perform.
Posted by: lotp || 03/02/2008 13:40 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They probably mean AMX 30 main battle tanks, one of the better French vehicles since WWII. However MBTs would get shredded if the US sends Colombia a single plane load of effective anti-tank weapons, because they are lightly armored for an MBT.

If the second plane brought some US advisers with Stingers, that would be pretty much the end of the Venezuelan AF as well.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/02/2008 19:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Uh oh -- lotp is in a mood! ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/02/2008 19:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Reyes is a "good revolutionary" only because he is a dead revolutionary.
Posted by: Iblis || 03/02/2008 20:11 Comments || Top||

#4  He said Colombia "invaded Ecuador, flagrantly violated Ecuador's sovereignty".

I don't hear Ecuador complaining, they were informed too. Chavez sticking his nose in other people's business, because it stinks at home.
Posted by: Angens Bucket5875 || 03/02/2008 20:36 Comments || Top||

#5  lotp is in a mood!

Nothing a nice cup of cocoa and a handful of light anti-tank weapons can't cure.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/02/2008 20:46 Comments || Top||

#6  I bet lotp gets what lotp wants! >:")
Posted by: RD || 03/02/2008 20:54 Comments || Top||

#7  Well, I did make myself a nice cup of hot chocolate this afternoon.

Unfortunately my state has strong anti-tank-missile laws so I've had to forego those. Not that Hugo doesn't deserve a special delivery of them coming his way.

This guy and Short-Round are pretty nasty stuff. Stupid, but in a cunning sort of way.
Posted by: lotp || 03/02/2008 20:59 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
USS New York Christened - Built in Part with 911 Steel
This is from the Times-Picayune that Fred doesn't publish.
The memory of the 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York will always be part -- a literal part -- of the Navy's latest ship to carry the name USS New York, which was christened Saturday in Avondale.
You guys remember that attack, don't you? It was in all the newspapers at the time, not counting the NYT.
The bow stem of the $1 billion amphibious transport dock ship contains 7.5 tons of steel salvaged from the rubble of the World AQ2Trade Center.
Yeah, but from here on out we're just gonna build them from Obama's speeches, or from leftover copies of Hillary's healthcare plan.
A crowd of 4,000 watched the elaborate ceremony. The VIPs in the front sections included New York firefighters, octogenarian veterans who served on a World War II battleship also named New York, and Northrop Grumman, government and military officials.
World War II? Wasn't that, like, a million years ago?
The ship is massive: Its length -- 684 feet -- is nearly twice that of a football field, including end zones. Its height rivals a 10-story building.
Thus making it nearly as big as Hillary's ambition, which is really saying something.
The fifth in a new class of warships designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists, it can carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.
Just in case the sheer power of Obama's rhetoric isn't enough.
AQ1: "Achmed, President Obama just called you an old meany pants"
AQ2: "Pfft."
AQ1: "And there's a battalion of Marines outside."
AQ2: "Holy shit!!"

Above a gray arrow representing the ship's bow were two gray vertical bars representing the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
With that, red, white, and blue streamers shot into the air and the Navy Band launched into a medley honoring every arm of the U.S. military, including "Anchors Aweigh" for the Navy.
I didn't know the Ohio State band was in town again.
Most of Saturday's ceremony was devoted to the city of New York and the events of 9-11. Among the guests of honor was a group of New York firefighters who, after Hurricane Katrina, spent months fighting fires here alongside the New Orleans Fire Department.
Thank you, NYFD.
As the actual christening approached, Abigail Foret, 8, stood near the hull watching closely. "I really wanted to watch the lady break the bottle," said Abigail, who comes from a family of longtime Avondale shipyard workers.
And on just this one day, little Abigail gets bragging rights over her friend Muffy, who comes from a long line of investment bankers.
Last month, the company sent some of the men and working on "21" to New York to meet families who'd lost loved ones in 2001 and see the memorial that's been established at ground zero.
In that group was Rachelle Gaines, 25, a shipfitter. "I work with steel everyday," she said. "But to see it twisted up like that -- you never think it could happen."
It did. And it could again.
She hopes to make it to New York to see the ship commissioned, tentatively scheduled for September 2009.

Posted by: Matt || 03/02/2008 19:57 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Nevet forget, never forgive, never "understand".
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/02/2008 21:00 Comments || Top||


Iraq
US military kills al-Qaida leader
Not the al-qaida leader I was hoping for...
Posted by: Ol Dirty American || 03/02/2008 12:34 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
70 Palestinians killed in IDF operation in Gaza
Israeli forces launch military operation Friday night near town of Sajaiya in northern Strip. Some 70 Palestinians killed in heavy exchanges of fire with soldiers, dozens of casualties reported.

Hanan Greenberg Latest Update: 03.02.08, 01:20 / Israel News

IDF soldiers entered the Gaza Strip on Saturday morning and began operating near the northern Strip town of Sajaiya.

According to reports, 70 Palestinians were killed in heavy exchanges of fire which erupted in the area – the largest number of fatalities in a single IDF operation in the area since the Gaza pullout. The Palestinians further reported that 12 of the casualties were civilians, including eight children, three women and two unarmed men. More than 60 Palestinians were injured.

Most of the gunmen killed were Hamas members. Several others were Islamic Jihad operatives and one was a member of the Popular Resistance Committees.

Five IDF soldiers were lightly to moderately injured in the clashes, two sustaining light to moderate wounds, and the other three lightly injured. The troops were evacuated via helicopter to the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.

Givati and armor forces were deployed near Sajaiya on Friday night, not far from the populated area, in a routine operation aimed at uncovering terror infrastructures in a bid to thwart terror attacks planned in the border fence area.

Although there is no direct connection between the recent escalation in the south and Friday night's activity, IDF officials estimated that terror organizations would attempt to target the soldiers, and that the resistance level to the operation would be high.

"The activity is taking place in areas which the terror organizations want to guard, including launching pads," a military source explained. "We are fighting against a large scope of armed gunmen. The soldiers have encountered various countermeasures, such as explosive devises, anti-tank missiles and sniper fire.

"There have been several attempts (by gunmen) to try and harm the troops in order to accomplish a show of force, but the soldiers are ready for it," added the source. "The IAF is assisting us and the cooperation between the ground forces and the aerial ones is satisfactory."

Conflicting versions over child's death
Earlier Friday night, the Palestinians reported of four people killed in IDF strikes in the Strip, including a one-year-old baby. However, there were conflicting versions over the circumstances of the child's death.

At first, the Palestinians accused the IDF of attacking the baby's house, but later reported that the house was hit by a stray rocket fired by the Palestinians from within Gaza.

On Friday evening, the IDF reported that it had struck a weapon manufacturing site in the central Strip, as well as a rocket launching pad in the northern Strip.

At around midnight, sources in Hamas reported that Eyad al-Ashram, an arms expert, died when a missile fired by the IDF struck open ground after dark in the north of Gaza.

The rocket attacks on Ashkelon and the western Negev continued Saturday morning, as Palestinians fired three Grad missiles at Ashkelon, one of them directly hitting an apartment building.

Three residents, two of them children, were evacuated in light condition to the Barzilai Medical Center in the city. Several people were treated for shock. More than 30 rockets were fired from Gaza since Friday night.

Ongoing fire
Meanwhile, Palestinian sources in Gaza reported that the IDF has struck two militant cells in northern Gaza. Earlier, IDF forces targeted a vehicle in the Strip's north.

The sources reported that two gunmen were killed in the strike, one in a targeted strike and the other by sniper fire.

Saturday night saw two more Hamas operatives killed in an IAF raid on a Hamas police station in southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis.

Palestinian sources later reported that the bodyguard of Hamas leader Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar was killed by IDF fire in the northern Gaza Strip.

IDF forces continued to hammer targets in Gaza all through Saturday, as Palestinian sources reported five people were killed in two separate IAF strikes in Rafah. According to reports, the strikes targeted both a Hamas police station and a local mosque.

A Palestinian security officials called the Rafah strike "the height of the IDF’s moral bankruptcy," adding "the IDF realized it cannot win the battle against Palestinian operatives, so it is now targeting civilians and civilian infrastructures.”

The IDF confirmed its forces struck a Rafah building housing several Hamas operatives, Saturday night; confirming a hit.

Palestinian sources later reported that two more Hamas operatives were killed in Gaza Saturday. One of the men was Haled Attallah, a senior operative of Hamas' Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, whose home was raided by IDF troops earlier Saturday. The other was reportedly killed IDF fire in northern Gaza.

Attallah died of his wounds at a Gaza City hospital. His wife and three of his children were also killed in the IDF raid.

Faced with the weekend's death toll, the Hamas government in Gaza declared a full school strike and three days of mourning. The decision is not expected to be implemented in the West Bank.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/02/2008 15:45 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Southeast Asia
Six wounded in Philippine bomb blast
JOLO, Philippines - A homemade bomb ripped through a bar near an army base in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, wounding six people, officials said on Sunday. Experts were sifting through the damage for clues in late Saturday’s attack.

“Six people are wounded in the blast, four women and two soldiers, and we are still investigating the explosion,” said Army Major Roel Ebreo, spokesman for an anti-terrorism task force.

No group claimed responsibility for the bombing, but previous attacks in the south have been blamed on Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militants. “We are determining what type of explosive was used and who is behind this blast,” provincial police chief Julasiri Kasim said.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/02/2008 00:26 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf


Semi tech note
'Burg still wonky and content will improve as circumstances allow. In the meantime, take a walk and say "hi" to your families, they prolly miss you, I know mine does.
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/02/2008 00:11 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thanks Em for the update...
and I'll go and see mom tomorrow then.
Posted by: RD || 03/02/2008 6:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Comments page takes forever to load, which would suggest there is something wrong with it besides its inability to handle single quotes.
Posted by: Fred || 03/02/2008 14:31 Comments || Top||

#3  Mod test on comments.
Posted by: Vinegar Craviter9050 || 03/02/2008 16:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Using Safari under Windoze, the comments page just pops right up...
Posted by: Fred || 03/02/2008 16:29 Comments || Top||

#5 

At Halliburton/KBR, sexual assault is just part of the workplace experience
for women Like many viewers, I watched this ABC 20/20 report when it first aired
in December with jaws-open, eyes-bugging horror. It told the story of two women
workers for Halliburton/KBR who had been sent to Iraq. There, one, Jamie Lee
Jones, a young computer tech, was gang-raped on her fourth day by coworkers
after being drugged; the other, Tracy Barker, was sexually assaulted by a State
Department employee. Both immediately reported their assaults, only to have
KBR first lock them in isolation, then question their accusations. In the case
of Jones, it even "lost" the medical report that documented evidence
of gang rape.

Click on a small picture to see shocking photos:



Posted by: ORDERLYHIENRY || 03/02/2008 17:08 Comments || Top||

#6  Why is it that nobody can get in today, and yet we get hit by some stoopid pørn dork?
Posted by: Fred || 03/02/2008 17:48 Comments || Top||

#7  Maybe he's using K/Y jelly, Fred.
Posted by: GK || 03/02/2008 18:13 Comments || Top||

#8  Trying again with a mod comment.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/02/2008 18:22 Comments || Top||

#9  Another mod test
Posted by: Steve White || 03/02/2008 19:16 Comments || Top||

#10  Follow the money.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/02/2008 19:49 Comments || Top||

#11  30 hours later, my Rantburg withdrawel symptoms are in the red zone! Ashkelon gets hit with a dozen rockets, Hugo is going nuts again, and and and....!!!!!
Posted by: Omung Squank9908 || 03/02/2008 20:14 Comments || Top||

#12  Whew!

Was getting a little worried....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 03/02/2008 20:30 Comments || Top||

#13  At the moment the server is handling only about 45 or 50 connections. At its peak it was trying to deal with 700 at a time. The attack seems to have been a "syn flood," which would have told me zip before I read up on it.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience and for the paucity of posts. I've been parked here for two solid days, trying to do something when there hasn't really been much I could do. I've set up a second web server on a second IP address, which is probably how most of you have gotten in today. In the process I managed to hose some configurations, which I'll have to fix over the course of the next few days.

I think I might, when things get back to normal, dedicate the new server to the O Club. That way we'll have two pretty much autonomous systems running. The O Club uses Oracle, for the most part, and by the time I'm done it'll use it exclusively. The only limitation there will be system resources -- if the CPU's too busy it won't be able to serve the club, either.

I've installed a couple things that should make the site stronger -- presumably that's why we're still running. I installed one of them just before the number of connections went down. Dunno if it was cause and effect or serendipity. I guess we'll find out.


Posted by: Fred || 03/02/2008 20:45 Comments || Top||

#14  A little over 24 hours till super-Tuesday. Ricin found in Las Vegas. Internet cables cut to the middle east. And NOW Rantburg goes down for an extended outage. Coincidence? I think not!
Posted by: The Conspiracy Guy || 03/02/2008 20:46 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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1al-Qaeda in Britain
1al-Qaeda in Iraq
1Hamas

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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.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2008-03-02
  70 Gazooks titzup in IDF operation
Sat 2008-03-01
  Colombia bangs FARC 2nd in command in Ecuador
Fri 2008-02-29
  Predator zap kills 10 in South Wazoo
Thu 2008-02-28
  VA imam thought to have aided al-Qaida
Wed 2008-02-27
  Boomer on a bus kills 40 near Mosul
Tue 2008-02-26
  Wheelchair boomer kills cop in Samarra
Mon 2008-02-25
  Yemen foils attempt to bomb oil pipeline
Sun 2008-02-24
  Iraqi security forces kill 10 al-Qaida insurgents
Sat 2008-02-23
  Turk troops enter Iraq after Kurdish fighters
Fri 2008-02-22
  Morocco busts another terror cell
Thu 2008-02-21
  Thirty Taliban killed in joint strikes
Wed 2008-02-20
  Mullahs lose NWFP control after five years
Tue 2008-02-19
  Dulmatin titzup in Tawi-Tawi?
Mon 2008-02-18
  Explosion rocks West Texas oil refinery
Sun 2008-02-17
  Somali president unhurt in mortar attack on residence

Better than the average link...



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