#3
I started the Ekberg thread last night but just got back to the 'burg. I am indeed too young to remember her and somehow missed her old movies. Trust me, I will be at Blockbuster this weekend.
But, despite my ignorance of Ekberg, I recall Claudia Cardinale from a couple movies. She was mentioned yesterday so I hope she appears in the Defender Scimitar soon if I did not somehow miss her recently.
Also, Fred once humored me by showing Hedy Lamar. This should demonstrate my sincere appreciation and respect for past generations of hotties. Ingrid Bergman, btw, is my favorite. The closest we have now (I'm partial to Catherine Zeta Jones) is but an echo of her star power.
#6
I like Caroline Munro, she was one of the original scream queens, along with earlier Barbara Steel, and while she was less charismatic, she defintively was more shapely.
That pic is from The Golden Voyage of Sinbad IIRC, a very nice Ray Harryhausen monsters flcik.
#7
Ahh, Rantburg U. at its finest. but tell me, is this the School of Performing Arts or the History Department?
Oh, her? Looks nice enough, but I'm partial for that "no nonsense but I'm still a lady" look and attitude that only short hair can adequately convey....
#8
apparently a studio wanted to do a movie version of the Marvel comic book Vampirella and wanted CM to star but the studio required nudity.
Vampirella is never nude in the comic book -- but does strip to G string and pasties -- perhaps this was an inspiration for the animated Spike TV show Stripperella (who fought crime by day and stripped at a club each evening - rode a very fast motorcycle, etc.)
#10
Yes, this is Munro, damn, I hope it is not actually "Monro", and I hijacked this to a totally different actress that looks like her, though to me, it's her. Didn't notice the spelling, I blame her clothing.
#14
...Miss Caroline was also one of the hottest Bad Bond Girls ever in The Spy Who Loved Me. By all accounts she's not only a hottie, but a smart and genuinely likeable one.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/21/2008 15:47 Comments ||
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#15
This sort of fashion always makes me want to thank an engineer.
#16
Someone explain to me why we can have Caroline Monro but not Angie Harmon. Hmmmmph ....
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/21/2008 18:40 Comments ||
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#17
it says in her bio that she was 36B - that particular top she has on is doing one heck of a job of providing deception ops to my eyeballs...
Posted by: Snash Oppressor of the Mohammatans aka Broadhead6 ||
05/21/2008 20:47 Comments ||
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#18
It's awfully nice of Fred to provide tidbits for all tastes. We Rantburg ladies even occasionally get Superman or Tarzan. Stop fussing, gentlemen; just be grateful Fred formed this vehicle to share his favourites from what is clearly a large collection.
Taliban fighters in Afghanistan claim to have killed a woman by slitting her throat after accusing her of spying for US forces in Afghanistan.
They said they killed the alleged female American informer in the Afghan valley of Kunar on Monday. "Bachagai, 32, was part of an American proxy network in the Sarkano district's village Barogai," a Taliban spokesperson Zubair Mujahid told Adnkronos International (AKI) from the Kunar valley. "Her information caused a lot of American attacks on the position of the mujahadeen, their killings and arrests," said Mujahid.
"We throughly investigated the matter and confirmed her links with Afghan intelligence and American troops. She also received cash rewards on the information she provided against the Taliban," he said. Mujahid told AKI that once all the evidence against the alleged spy was gathered, they slit her throat with a knife and killed her.
The Taliban have killed many suspected informers in past especially in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar but killing a woman is a rare occurence among the former ruling student militia.
#2
These big brave "Islamic Pigs" make me sick with their "bull shit" religion. Killing woman and children comes easy to these "shit birds". Our military will send many of these ISLAMIC PIGS TO SEE THEIR "BULL SHIT GOD" AND EAT PORK SANDWICHES WITH HIM!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
05/21/2008 23:23 Comments ||
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AP is misleading, NATO casualties occurred from IED, clashes were one-sided, as shown just below.
At least 14 Taliban fighters, two NATO soldiers and their interpreter were killed in clashes in southern Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday.
The militants were killed in a clash with Afghan and NATO-led soldiers in Khaki Afghan district of Zabul Province late Tuesday, according to Zabul Deputy Gov. Gulab Shah Alikhail. "Seven of the 14 militants killed in the clash were Pakistani nationals," Alikhail said, adding that there were no casualties suffered by the Afghan and NATO forces.
Meanwhile, two NATO soldiers and their Afghan interpreter were killed when a blast hit their patrol in Ghazni Province on Tuesday, the NATO- led International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. One soldier and the local interpreter died on the spot, and another soldier died of wounds later in hospital, it said, adding that a third soldier was also wounded. The statement did not disclose the nationality of the soldiers.
(KUNA) -- Five members of an Afghan nomadic family were killed as a vehicle, they were traveling in, hit a landmine in western Afghanistan, officials said. The incident happened in Nimroz province as a nomadic family was shifting sheep in a truck from one place to another, said provincial Governor Ghulam Dastagir Azad. The governor said Taliban were responsible for planting the bomb. However, the militants so far did not issue any comment.
Separately, the US-led coalition troops claimed capturing a "Taliban leader" and his two colleagues during an operation in Khost province of Afghanistan. A statement from the US forces' Bagram base, located north of here, said the detainee belonged to the notorious Haqqani group. The group is said to be involved in attacks on Afghan and foreign troops and planting of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to target the troops. The statement said the arrest was made during search of several compounds by the Afghan and coalition forces in the province. Several Kalashnikovs, grenades and pistols and ammunitions were also recovered during the search operation, it added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Islamic extremist insurgent attacks killed at least 10 people Tuesday in and around the Somali capital Mogadishu, witnesses and officials told AFP.
Three government soldiers and two civilians died when insurgents armed with machine guns and rockets ambushed a checkpoint manned by Somali soldiers around 15 kilometres (nine miles) south of Mogadishu.
"Heavily-armed insurgents attacked a checkpoint in Sinkadher. Three soldiers were killed and two civilians were caught in the crossfire," eyewitness Ali Muhidin Jama said, adding that seven other people were wounded.
A Somali police officer, Mohamed Ibrahim, confirmed the attack had taken place but was unable to provide a death toll.
"The terrorists attacked a checkpoint controlled by our forces this evening and there were casualties, but I cannot say how many for the moment," he said.
In a separate incident, a joint Somali and Ethiopian patrol was struck by a roadside bomb blast near a former military academy in southern Mogadishu.
"There was a heavy explosion near Kuliyadda Jale Siyad as Ethiopian and Somali forces were patrolling the area," said local resident Abdullahi Ibrahim.
"Minutes later, the Ethiopian forces retrieved five bodies from the blast scene. Three of them were Ethiopian while the other two were from the Somali forces," he said.
"The Ethiopian forces collected three of their soldiers after the explosion and two Somalis. They were firing shots to prevent people from coming close," said another witness, Shukri Adan Ali.
Further witnesses gave the same death toll and said Ethiopian forces arrested several people from neighbouring houses.
Ethiopian forces came to the rescue of Somalia's embattled transitional government in late 2006 and soon defeated an Islamist militia that had taken control of large parts of the Horn of Africa country.
The remnants of the militia have since waged guerrilla warfare against government forces, its Ethiopian allies and African Union peacekeepers, mainly in Mogadishu.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2008 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- The Sudanese army announced Tuesday that the oil rich area of Abyei was under government control after heavy clashes with the rebel poular movement of the south. The army indicated that the rebels withdrew from the city after they attacked an army base before dawn. Abyei locals told KUNA by phone that sounds of heavy artillery have stopped completely, adding that the clashes left most of the buildings heavly damaged. They also indicated that dead bodies were scattered in the streets and it was impossible to retrieve the dead. The army announced that several Sudanese soldiers were killed in the attack. Casualties in the ranks of hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping force were also reported.
The UN deployed about 10,000 peacekeeping soldiers to Abyei in accordance to the peace deal signed between the government and the rebels in 2005. Despite the accord, Abyei remains under dispute between the south and north. In 2011, Abyei will witness a referendum which is going to allow residents of the city to decide on its loyality status.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
Two Swedish contractors were arrested on Wednesday suspected of preparing to sabotage the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant in southern Sweden, after traces of explosives were found on one of the men, police said.
"Two Swedish men were arrested ... The prosecutor suspects them of sabotage," Sven-Erik Karlsson of the Kalmar county police told AFP, adding that both men were contractors who had been working at the Oskarshamn nuclear plant "for some time."
One of the contractors was arrested on Wednesday when traces of highly explosive material were found on him as he was about to enter a nuclear power plant in southern Sweden, police and the plant said.
"At 8am we received a call from the nuclear plant at Oskarshamn. They told us one worker was stopped in the control. He had explosive material in his bags," Sven-Erik Karlsson of the Kalmar county police told AFP.
The company that operates the Oskarshamn plant, OKG, meanwhile said the man's bags contained "no visible illegal substances" but routine tests at the entrance to the plant "detected traces of explosives."
"We can see that our security routines functioned properly," the managing director of OKG, Lars Thuring, said in a statement, adding that the plant was collaborating with police.
Karlsson said the man, who was being interrogated by police, was a welder hired for temporary purposes, but could provide no further details on his age nor his background.
"The explosive material has been taken care of by ... police and apparently it is highly explosive, probably TATP," Karlsson said.
TATP is relatively easy to make and has surfaced in a number of recent terrorism investigations, including bombings in the Middle East and the London bombings in July 2005.
It was the same type of explosive that Al-Qaeda "shoe bomber" Richard Reid tried to detonate on a Miami-bound flight in December 2001, three months after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington that killed some 3,000.
Although the recipe for TATP is complex, its ingredients can be found in simple household goods: sulfuric acid -- found in drain cleaner -- hydrogen peroxide, and acetone, often a constituent of nail polish remover.
The Oskarshamn plant, which is owned by German energy giant EON, has three boiling water reactors, in service since 1972, 1974, and 1985. The three reactors produce about 10 percent of Sweden's electricity, according to the plant.
Two of the three reactors were running as normal on Wednesday, while the third reactor had already been shut down for maintenance, according to the TT news agency.
"Our joint assessment is that the security of the reactors was never threatened," OKG's Thuring said.
"We are however taking all necessary measures to verify this, of course" he added.
Nuclear power accounts for nearly half of all electricity production in Sweden, which has 10 working nuclear reactors.
The plant said there were no signs that Wednesday's incident was linked to an act of vandalism in April, when a half dozen fire extinguishers were sabotaged. That incident was still being investigated internally and had not been reported to police, plant spokeswoman Emelie Johannesson said.
(KUNA) -- A top insurgent of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was killed in an encounter with security forces in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday. The LeT rebel identified as Abdul Rehman, alias Zia, was killed in North Kashmir's Bandipora district, the news agency Press Trust of India reported, quoting a police official. Arms and ammunition were also recovered from the slain insurgent, the official added.
I'm starting to wonder if they have any middle- and low-level insurgents. Or is it like Lake Woebegone, where the children are all above average?
This article starring:
ABDUL REHMAN, ALIAS ZIA
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba
(KUNA) -- At least seven people including soldiers were wounded in a roadside bomb explosion in northern Pakistani town, third in last two days targeting security forces. Also two rockets were fired in Peshawar city, capital of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), but there were no casualties reported.
A military truck hit a roadside bomb near a military headquarters in Kohat town, about 150 kilometers north of Islamabad, police sources told KUNA. They said militants had planted the remote-controlled bomb on a bicycle which exploded with a huge bang when the military truck was passing by. Sources said that the explosion wounded at least seven persons including four soldiers. No one claimed responsibility for the explosion. It was the third incident reported in last two days in northern Pakistan, coinciding with peace talks between the government and local Taliban militants to curb rising militancy in the country.
Meanwhile, two rockets were fired in Peshawar city. One landed in the cantonment area and the other crashed into the house of a government official, said senior local police officer Muhammad Imtiaz while talking to newsmen. He said there was no life loss or property damage reported. Security was put on high alert in the city after the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
WAFF.com > TIMES OF INDIA artic > NO RETREAT BY PAKISTAN AGZ INDIA AND KASMIR:LASHKAR-E-TOIBA AND HIZB MUJAHEDEEN WARN OF ATTACKS/VIOLENCE IN ISLAMABAD AND LAHORE; + TOPIX > HINDU-MUSLIM RIFTS THREATEN TO ESCALATE INTO NEW VILENCE.
Gaawd, another long one.
Also from WAFF + TIMES OF INDIA > PAKISTAN SIGNS PEACE DEAL WITH MILITANTS.
Saving ASIA for IRAN + RADICAL ISLAMISM + NUCLEAR JIHAD, the Diplomatic-Political way???
Police on Tuesday arrested 50 members of a tribal jirga from Kurram Agency after they failed to reach an agreement. Hangu District Nazim Shah Hussain told Daily Times that the detained members included 25 elders each from the Shia and Sunni sects of Kurram Agency. They had been tasked with finalising proof of those responsible for violating the peace agreement between the two sects.
However, the two sides could not reach a final decision after 10 days of deliberations, resulting in the police arresting them on the recommendations of a 16-member Hangu Peace Jirga led by District Nazim Shah Hussain and Orakzai Agency Political Agent Zaheerul Islam.
According to officials, the Kurram Agency jirga members were provided boarding and lodging at a hotel for 10 days, besides transport in a helicopter from Kurram Agency to Peshawar. They were asked to prove the guilt of the people who violated an earlier peace accord so that they could be fined Rs 2 million.
However, no complaints were lodged, apparently with mutual understanding to avoid the fine as both sides had violated the accord. Ultimately, the political agent and the Hangu Peace Jirga asked the local police to arrest all of them. More than 600 people have been killed, and nearly 1,500 injured, with huge losses to public and private property since the breaking out of sectarian clashes in Kurram Agency in early April.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Ten people were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a military vehicle in Kohat on Tuesday, the third blast to hit the country in three days, police said.
Kohat is a major base for troops involved in military operations against Taliban militants in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan. Six paramilitary personnel and four civilians were wounded. It appears to have been caused by a remote-controlled improvised explosive device which was planted on the roadside, police official Nizam Khan told AFP.
It exploded at a main road junction as the military vehicle was turning. A cycle rickshaw and another car were also damaged, he added. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Pakistan has suffered a spate of attacks in recent days despite ongoing peace talks between the new government and the militants. A suicide attack on a military-run bakery in Mardan killed 13 people on Sunday, while three more people died in a bomb blast outside a mosque in Bajaur on Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2008 00:00 ||
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A leader of the Ansarul Islam, a religious group in the Khyber Agency, was killed in a local bazaar on Tuesday.
Maulana Mastamin, an outspoken leader of the group, was killed in Gagrina Bazaar in the Zakha Khel area at 10am. According to eyewitnesses, some unidentified men threw Mastamin out of a vehicle in the bazaar and shot him dead.
The Lashkar-e-Islam (LI), a militant group, has claimed that it had killed Mastamin. A spokesman of the group told Daily Times that Mastamin was a US spy, and that his killing had become obligatory because he was passing information regarding the Tribal Areas to the United States.
The LI had reportedly detained Mastamin for three months before killing him. But LI chief Mangal Bagh had denied such reports on his private FM radio. He had been suggesting that Mastamin might have been kidnapped by government agencies with his own consent.
Mastamin had been kidnapped from Peshawar near the Hayatabad hospital complex three months ago and reportedly handed over to the LI. He was believed to have been a strong supporter of Ansarul Islam chief Maulana Mehboob, who leads a Deobandi religious group of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, and is the archrival of the LI in Tirah Valley.
The LI spokesman alleged that Mastamin was instrumental in the fight in Tirah Valley, in addition to supporting the political administration against the LI. The LI charged Mastamin with crimes against the local people for his financial gains.
Mastamins father, Muhammad Amin, said they had been targeted for their support to the government. Another Ansarul Islam leader, Haji Ghulam Nabi, was also kidnapped from Peshawar a few days ago.
This article starring:
HAJI GHULAM NABI
Ansarul Islam
MANGAL BAGH
Lashkar-e-Islam
MAULANA MASTAMIN
Ansarul Islam
MAULANA MEHBUB
Ansarul Islam
MUHAMAD AMIN
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Lashkar-e-Islami
Amid cries of Allah o Akbar (god is great), a young boy, barely 12 years old, lifts his machete and strikes at his victim who is lying on the ground, all tied up for the kill.
Didn't we have this story about six months ago? Is CBS just now getting around to hearing about it?
Waving a V for victory sign with his right hand, the boy picks up the severed head and shows it around to the chants of applause from an audience gathered in a remote part of the region straddling the mountainous range which divides Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The performance in this chilling episode which may simply shock most people around the world, is the case of militant justice meted out to supposed traitors. It involves Al Qaeda and the Taliban slapping exemplary punishment to an individual suspected to be a spy for the government.
This (boy) is a killing machine who has been indoctrinated from age nine and prepared for his act by the time he is 12 says a Pakistani intelligence official who showed the video clip to CBS News as just one piece of evidence of Al Qaeda and the Taliban training young boys to become accomplished killers, even before they become teen-agers.
This video has been captured by Pakistans military troops during their operations in the countrys semi autonomous tribal areas, as they went from village to village, searching for militant sanctuaries.
In the village of Spinkai-Roghzai where a group of journalists including CBS News were taken by Pakistans military on Sunday in the Waziristan tribal region, officials showed debris of what is described as a suicide training nursery. Under a pile of bricks lay the remains of an oil extracting factory which was a cover for training young boys to become ideologically charged up.
There is no harm in taking jehad (holy war) for the right cause read the sign board in a training class, documented in yet another Pakistani intelligence video, secretly captured ahead of the operation, through the use of hidden cameras inserted around the front compound of the school. A teacher, who wrapped himself up to his face with a piece of cloth, pointed towards a list of recommendations for students while surrounded by teenagers, urging them to embrace virtues such as accept the way forward through sacrifice and accept that laying down your life for the right cause is not a waste.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
this made the rounds in the forums about a year + ago...
The US military killed a senior member of the Mahdi Army, according US and Mahdi Army sources. Arkan Hasnawi, a senior lieutenant of the Mahdi Army commander in Sadr City, was killed in a guided rocket strike in Sadr City on March 3. The news of Hasnawi's death comes as details emerge on the senior leadership of the Mahdi Army in Baghdad and the blurring of the lines between Sadr's militia and the Special Groups.
Hasnawi was among several senior Mahdi Army leaders killed or wounded in the GLMRS strike on a Mahdi Army command and control center that was placed next to the Sadr Hospital inside Sadr City, according to a report in The Washington Post. The command and control center, called "Tahseen's trailer" by US troops after Tahseen al Freiji, the senior Mahdi Army commander in Sadr City, was used to direct Mahdi Army operations during the fighting from late March to mid May.
Arkan Hasnawi was a brigade commander in Sadr's Mahdi Army. He fought against US and Iraqi forces in Najaf in 2003 and 2004 and has been linked to multiple attacks on US and Iraq security forces in Baghdad. He runs a network of Mahdi Army fighters in the Sha'ab neighborhood, just east of Sadr City. The US military and Iraqi security forces fought pitched battles against the Hasnawi network in February, and killed a senior lieutenant of Hasnawi and scores of fighters in the organization.
Hasnawi was behind the kidnapping of Shia and Sunni tribal leaders in Diyala province in October 2007. His network was also behind the kidnapping of six Sons of Iraq from a checkpoint in Baghdadâs Ur neighborhood on Feb. 7.
#1
I'd say the collateral damage (whatever it might have actually been) was worth it in this case...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/21/2008 18:01 Comments ||
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#2
Here is a video of the site just after Arkan Hasnawi received his Virgin Vouchers and got his Ticket to Paradise stamped. The headline is correct but the article has a misprint on the date. It was May 3 not March 3.
Hello Boss, this is Haji, Muji and I are going to be late again. Let me explain.
I took yesterday's damaged borrowed taxi to Farouk's Autobody and VBIED Shop. This is the same place I took my damaged car. He said since I had two cars in the shop I qualified for the Frequent Fender-bender program and got a free loaner.
After we removed the 155 rounds there was plenty of room so I picked up Muji on my way to work. By the way his Al Sadr Teeth Browning Kit worked well. Muji's teeth now are a perfect match with his goat's teeth.
We were making good time on the Avenue of the 72 Virgins when we came to the intersection of Paradise Boulevard. Here we had a little fender bender with an Infidel in a Bradley.
He didn't stop, but he yelled something that sounded like "Get the Farouk out of the way". How did he know I was driving one of Farouk's cars? Other infidels yelled as they passed, things like "Cool Rake Job" and "lowered front ends were big in the fifties".
Boss, can you have the company truck pick us up tomorrow. I don't think I can get any more cars. Oh, and by the way, I think Muji and I are going to be on German TV.
#1
GB: I can hardly wait for the next installment of the Hardly Boyz. coffee and cookies through the nose never hurt so good.
Gotta ask tho' it appears the Bradley is guilty of hit (smash) and run.... Is Geico's lizard gonna get pissed?
American soldiers killed 11 suspected Shiite gunmen in clashes Wednesday in a militia stronghold near Baghdad's Sadr City, scene of a major Iraqi army clampdown, the U.S. military said.
"Sir! I suspect those guys over there are Shiite militiamen!"
"Hmmm... You may be right, Jones. Or they could be simple but well-armed grocery shoppers. Go ahead and kill them, just to be on the safe side!"
Sadr City itself remained calm, a day after some 10,000 Iraqi troops fanned out in the district in the government's biggest move yet to establish control in the bastion of the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
"It's calm, Sarge!"
"Yeah. Too calm!"
Mahdi Army fighters were not visible in the streets of Sadr City, and long-closed shops began to reopen in parts of the district hardest hit by past clashes, as Iraqi soldiers and police set up more checkpoints to beef up their hold.
If the move into Sadr City succeeds, it will be a major boost for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government, which is trying to extend its authority over regions where armed groups and militias have held sway. But much depends on whether a truce holds with Mahdi Army fighters, who remain armed and could resist when the troops carry out their plans to confiscate any heavy weapons hidden in the area and arrest key suspects. The violence Wednesday also raises fears that Shiite fighters could stir up trouble in nearby parts of eastern Baghdad.
The U.S. military identified the 11 killed Wednesday in the New Baghdad district as "special group criminals," terminology it uses to refer to rogue Shiite fighters who defy al-Sadr's cease-fire orders. Four heavily armed militants were killed while traveling in a sport utility vehicle, four others were killed because they engaged in suspicious behavior,
"You, there! [BANG! BANG! BANGETY BANG!] Cease and desist that [BANG!] suspicious behavior!"
after they were spotted planting two separate roadside bombs, according to a statement. But they are only "suspected", right?
"Sir! I suspect them roadside bomb-plantin' guyz wuz Shiite militants!"
"Really, Jones? What made you think that?"
Two Iraqi police officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information, said earlier that 11 bystanders, including two street sweepers, were killed and one wounded when joint U.S.-Iraqi troops opened fire after a roadside bombing in the area. Yes, this is an AP piece. Could have been rooters, though.
"Jones!"
"Yessir?"
"Shoot the street sweepers!"
The U.S. military initially denied its forces were involved but later issued a release detailing a series of attacks.
"Yeah. It wuz us."
AP Television News footage showed the body of a man in a track suit covered by a blue blanket and another body in a blood-spattered wooden coffin nearby.
Under the truce that paved the way for the deployment in Sadr City, the Mahdi Army promised not to attack residential areas or the Green Zone. Iraqi forces promised to try to refrain from seeking American help to restore order in the district. No American forces were involved in the deployment, code-named "Operation Peace."
The so far peaceful move into Sadr City is in stark contrast to a trouble-ridden offensive launched in late March in the southern city of Basra, which sparked widespread fighting across the south and in Sadr City between the Mahdi Army and U.S.-Iraqi forces. In the weeks of violence that followed, militants in Sadr City barraged the Green Zone with rocket fire. In response, U.S. and Iraqi forces moved into the southern part of Sadr City in April, seizing two sectors and building what is now a nearly completed concrete wall between them and the rest of the district.
Both sides appear intent on avoiding a similar confrontation in Sadr City, which would mean tough urban fighting in crowded slums. Iran, which is close to both the Sadrist movement and the Shiite parties in al-Maliki's government, also appears to want calm. It mediated a truce in Basra in mid-April, and Iraqi officials consulted with Iran ahead of the Sadr City agreement as well.
Basra has calmed greatly in recent weeks, and government forces appear to have increasing control there as they continue to arrest militia fighters.
Al-Maliki launched a sweep more than a week ago in the northern city of Mosul aiming to uproot al-Qaida in Iraq and other Sunni insurgents.
An official with the provincial command center for Ninevah said a man said to be al-Qaida in Iraq's top leader in Mosul confessed to having contacts with a senior member of the ousted ruling Baathist party, Mahmoud Younis al-Ahmed, as well as directing brigades from Sunni insurgent groups.
The official was familiar with the investigation but declined to be identified because he was releasing the information ahead of a formal announcement.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry said Monday that al-Qaida's self-confessed "wali"or "governor"in Mosul, Abdul-Khaliq al-Sabawi, was captured in the nearby province of Salahuddin.
Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, the commander of American forces in northern Iraq, denied that al-Sabawi was the leader of the terror network in Mosul, saying he was a leading insurgent but belonged to a rival group, not al-Qaida.
Meanwhile, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani joined other Iraqi officials in denouncing the use by an American sniper of a copy of the Quran for target practice. He said the May 9 incident angered and disappointed all Iraqis, according to a statement by his office.
Jalal Talabani, a Sunni Kurd, said leaders of U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq had a duty to "educate" their troops on the need to respect all religions and holy books.
President Bush apologized to al-Maliki over the incident on Monday.
Basra, Mosul, and now this - IA seems to be on a roll (granted this is part of a deal with Sadr, but he can hardly have wanted to have the IA running around his homebase) Is this the turning point? Is that light at the end of the tunnel?
Considering Saddams army spent 8 years trying, and failed miserably, Id say no.
Half decent counter insurgency work is one thing, but logistics, combined arms, etc is another, IIUC. Just cause WE can beat any army in the world in conv warfare, and struggle in counter insurg, doesnt mean a 3rd world army has the same relative strengths
#5
It ain't Saddam's Army any more. It appears to be better than any Arab ME army. With US air supremacy, it's just a matter of time. And the mullah's army hasn't improved in the meantime.
#7
Hillary Clinton is sounding like a Republican and the NYTs is sounding like a newspaper. What is the world coming to? Must be the effects of global warming or global insanity infecting the liberals.
#9
Nah, they left themselves plenty of caveats. Heck, according to the NYT, Elliot Ness made some strides with gang warfare in Chicago, but no one knows how long it will take for Al Capone to resurface.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/21/2008 18:09 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- Up to 11 police conscripts were killed in a ferocious armed attack near the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, police said. A police source told KUNA that the conscripts were shot dead in the attack that targetted a conscription station in the province of Al-Baaj west of Mosul.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
The IDF attacked a number of Palestinian terror suspects on the border near the Karni crossing in the northern Gaza Strip Tuesday. The army has not yet confirmed whether or not the target was hit. The attack was the third IDF strike in the Gaza Strip since Tuesday morning.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
(KUNA) -- Four Palestinians were killed, among them a child, and 15 were injured in various attacks and raids by Israeli forces in Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
Mo'awiya Hasanain, a Palestinian hospital administrator said the first of the four killed was Majid Abu Owkal, a 13-year-old boy that was killed as result of Israeli air raid in northern Gaza. The boy was killed when hit by shrapnel of a missile fired from unmanned Israeli warplane south of Bait Hanoun, Hasanain said. An Israeli spokesman claimed the missile targeted a Palestinian resistance cell in the area.
In another missile attack, a Palestinian farmer was killed in Hajar Al-Deek south east of Gaza. Palestinian eyewitnesses said the farmer was killed by a missile coming from an Israeli reconnaissance plane which was giving support to Israeli incursion in the area.
Hasanain added a young Palestinian man, Ziad Abu Wadi, 21, died of his injuries in hospital as result of Israeli air attack in Zaytoun area east of Gaza. Palestinian local radio said Abu Wadi was a member of Izz Eddin Al-Qassam Battalions, the military wing of Hamas. A 28-year-old Palestinian activist from the same group was martyred as result of Israeli armory shelling in Zaytoun area.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
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.
Taliban fighters in Afghanistan claim to have killed a woman by slitting her throat after accusing her of spying for US forces in Afghanistan. 
(KUNA) -- A top insurgent of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was killed in an encounter with security forces in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday. The LeT rebel identified as 
Police on Tuesday arrested 50 members of a tribal jirga from Kurram Agency after they failed to reach an agreement. Hangu District Nazim Shah Hussain told Daily Times that the detained members included 25 elders each from the Shia and Sunni sects of Kurram Agency. They had been tasked with finalising proof of those responsible for violating the peace agreement between the two sects.
American soldiers killed 11 suspected Shiite gunmen in clashes Wednesday in a militia stronghold near Baghdad's Sadr City, scene of a major Iraqi army clampdown, the U.S. military said. 
(KUNA) -- Four Palestinians were killed, among them a child, and 15 were injured in various attacks and raids by Israeli forces in Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
