Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/13/2009 18:55 Comments ||
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#13
They just can't stay away.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2009 20:11 Comments ||
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#14
I'm going to have to say... she is almost as pretty as the trailing daughters.
TW- you may smack me upside my head at your convenience.
Free Radical, you are a very silly man. Miss Patterson was a very beautiful girl, and the world only benefits from more beautiful girls in it. Beautiful boys, too, of course, but that is not the subject at hand.
President-elect Barack Obama intends to sign off on Pentagon plans to send up to 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, but the incoming administration does not anticipate that the Iraq-like "surge" of forces will significantly change the direction of a conflict that has steadily deteriorated over the past seven years.
Instead, Obama's national security team expects that the new deployments, which will nearly double the current U.S. force of 32,000 (alongside an equal number of non-U.S. NATO troops), will help buy enough time for the new administration to reappraise the entire Afghanistan war effort imagine the song, "we'll be over;we're coming over; and we won't be back until and appraisel is made"
and develop a comprehensive new strategy for what Obama has called the "central front on terror."
#2
So the central front in the war on terror is this landlocked country we can't support troops in and is ten times easier for Pakistan to support its troops in than we can?
#3
"will help buy enough time for the new administration to reappraise the entire Afghanistan war effort"
Oh sure--send our guys into harm's way while you idiots try to figure out what you're doing.
"Um-uh-, look-- we haven't caught Bin Laden, so I'm sending thousands of troops into an area where they won't make any difference at all, and where many will be killed. Soon, it will be up to all of us to accept the differences between Islam and the West and to learn to live together in peace." ~Obama
#5
The real zinger here will be if India follows through and sends a butt load of infantry to Afghanistan as well. It would rise the Pakistani infection like epsom salt.
#6
The real zinger here will be if India follows through and sends a butt load of infantry to Afghanistan as well. It would rise the Pakistani infection like epsom salt.
I've looked at the map, there doesn't seem to be a way of getting them there.
#7
I saw an interesting (to me) report of a future logistics deal with RUSSIA a week or so ago. The amount mentioned was 50,000 railcars. The report seemed a bit odd, but I suppose the Russians could use the money.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
01/13/2009 10:49 Comments ||
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#8
The Russians are needing money. Plus the propaganda value of helping the poor Americans in their quagmire, plus the political card to use in future negotiations of pulling the supply line out from NATO's feet.
#13
Putin might be smart enough to understand that we need to fight the muzzies. He's probably perfectly content to let us have at it. But it sucks to be beholden to him. Well, everybody knows that the real problem is Pakistan. Maybe we're just keeping Afghanistan on hold to use as a launching pad into Land of the Pure. I don't like to think of American troops slogging their way through there. Might work, though, if we can get together with the Indians to execute a pincer.
#14
Correct bman. But the British problem was with the Afghans. We and the Indians don't seem to have that problem.
It's really an old engineering project - completing the Orient Express, linking the stub at Constantinople with - pick one, Delhi, Rangoon, Singapore, Saigon.
#15
The route from Amritsar through Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar should work just fine, once you secure it from the natives. Posted by: Glenmore|| 2009-01-13 12:20
Clearing and securing that route through Pakistan would pretty well eliminate the need for India to put troops in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/13/2009 12:50 Comments ||
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#16
30,000 troops which the next administration calls a central front but does not think that they will make a difference.
30,000 sons and daughters so Obama can vote 'present'? Better not be.
#17
The "new surge" may succeed (as much as might be possible) without BHO's help and he probably dare not be seen as trying to lose. Cross you fingers folks, it's going to be a ride.
I went through this bullshit in my second tour of Vietnam, Vietnamization. Go die while the politicians figure out how to lose this sucker. That's why I ended my career at 10 1/2 years.
Go ahead and get a UN resolution against the Taliban, send the evacuation helicopters to the US Embassy in Kabul and call it a day.
#22
I wonder what their ROE is going to be and what kind of support they will receive.
"We're going to send you 30,000 to the front lines... but we don't expect you to make any differences [except to die while we discuss this in commitee].
#23
Golf Bravo USMC: I was thinking the same thoughts, and you *know* that's what they've been thinking in the Pentagon since way back when.
I've always been concerned that Afghanistan was much more like Vietnam than Iraq could ever be. Substitute Iran for Laos and Pakistan for Cambodia and there you are.
And now you've got people like Jack Murtha, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reed, who are just itching to tell the military how to do their job. Who it is forbidden to shoot at, and how the enemy have to be notified before being attacked.
And the worse part is that radical Democrat federal prosecutors are going to want to prosecute soldiers for what might happen in Afghanistan.
The Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act law was written in 2000 and amended in 2004 primarily to prosecute civilian contractors who commit crimes while working for the U.S. overseas.
It was not intended to prosecute soldiers back in the US, but that is how it is already being used. Fortunately, Jose Luis Nazario, Jr. was acquitted, but the law is still on the books.
#25
This sounds more like your typical Washington Post "doom and gloom" then Barry throwing in the towel already. Do you really think Barry wants to go down as a president who lost a war. His "legacy" and all that good shit...
#26
Patreus is still the theater commander and my gut says that he will use these troops wisely. Hopefully they will get enough air assets (helicopters) to support them. But I understand the quagmire-like characteristics of Afghanistan. Wish we could just leave. Although it is a nice spot from which to launch drones for HVT raids into the tribal belt.
I've been thinking that for a long time. At least in Iraq there is an educated base to build on no matter how imperfect the result. In Afghanistan we are building sandcastles at the water's edge at low tide and calling it a Nation.
Our Military has been handed a Blivet, 10 pounds of shit in a five pound bag.
The Pakistan/Afghanistan area is a fourth world toilet and it will always be that way. The Pashtuns are the problem on both sides of the border.
Give the Pashtuns their own country, quarantine that sucker and let them eat their poppies.
#29
Fpr reasons I have alrady stated I am completely oppsoite to abandonnong Afgansistan. Howver I am concerned about the thinness and the unstabilty of the Allied supply lines in Afghanistan who could easily become a trap for troops sent there (in addition to making the Allies vulnerable to black mail). That is why, IMHO, the solution is keep as few troops as possible: the lesser, the easier to supply and the smaller the impact if things go badly with these supply lines) and pûtt the problem in Afgahan hands. A! and get rid of Karzai: he is at the very meast incompetent and probably corrupt, at the worst, well before the invasion his opposition to the Taliban was not taht strong...
Posted by: n ||
01/13/2009 14:23 Comments ||
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#30
If we invade Iran that kind of solves the Afghanistan logistics/land access problem.
#32
Yah, I think it's pretty obvious that the aristocracy over here latched onto working through a corrupt aristocracy over there, and it's been a massive force divider ever since.
#33
32,000 (alongside an equal number of non-U.S. NATO troops), will help buy enough time for the new administration to reappraise the entire Afghanistan war effor
All I have heard from these libs before the election is how GWB is doing it all wrong and how they have better ideas. So why the hell do they need time to reappraise? They already said "The One" has the answers. And that's why people should vote for them.
#34
Afghanistan will turn into Vietnam because Washington will soon be filled with the Best and the Brightest. They will turn Petraeus into some sort of John Paul Vann.
#35
Exactly. While the left was claiming Iraq was another Vietnam because it was politically expedient to do so, they claimed the Vietnam Waiting to Happen was 'The Right War'.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/13/2009 16:16 Comments ||
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#36
#3 "will help buy enough time for the new administration to reappraise the entire Afghanistan war effort"
Oh sure--send our guys into harm's way while you idiots try to figure out what you're doing.
"Um-uh-, look-- we haven't caught Bin Laden, so I'm sending thousands of troops into an area where they won't make any difference at all, and where many will be killed. Soon, it will be up to all of us to accept the differences between Islam and the West and to learn to live together in peace." ~Obama
Obama
Posted by ex-lib 2009-01-13 10:12|
Obama -
P.S
Were going to lose and I dont care about you.
About summs it all up...
And this man is going to be POTUS because? Hes not fit to sell shoes.
#39
Winning is impossible as long as an overwhelming majority of Americans refuse to shake the belief that Muslims are anything but inherently belligerent. (At least those who understand the koran terror manual)
Bush allowed the Heroin industry to flourish because he wanted to keep up appearances of Pashtun support for the nominal national government. He knew that most Pashtuns support Taliban, and allow tacit shariah constitutionalism to serve as the real basis of law in that territorial gutter.
I can't see how Obama could possibly be any worse. As long as the local drug business is allowed to flourish, Taliban Summer offensives will continue unabated.
In 1984 George Orwell predicted a future polluted War-Wars, fought only to sustain popular illusions. That is what we have in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Albert Throth9101 ||
01/13/2009 19:03 Comments ||
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#40
John Frum can correct me if I am wrong... but I suspect if India sends those 120K troops -- they will be supplied via the land of India's friend IRAN.
#41
From things I've been reading lately, it seems that US presidents have historically had a hard time controlling their secretaries of state and defence/war. President-elect Obama hired himself very strong individuals in both those positions so that he would, I think, be able to concentrate on domestic issues, which is where his interests lie. Secretary of Defence Gates has accumulated a reputation for success based on Iraq, which gives him a great deal of influence on future decisions within his pervue. Add to that the weight of any opinion General Petraeus should choose to express on the matter. Neither of the two gentlemen will want to lose in Afghanistan if they believe the war can be won. They have legacies to protect as well as their incoming boss.
#42
If the Pentagon brass sees disastrous policy being dispensed, they should honorably resign rather than implement said policy
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/13/2009 21:20 Comments ||
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#43
The logistics supply problem will shortly get a lot worse in Pakistan. Food shortages will trigger social unrest and hungry people are not going to standby while trucks full of MREs roll by.
#44
Iff both INDIA + CHINA send 100,000 - 120,000 of thier own troops into Afghanistan [andor Pakistan] as indic in Mil Forum news threads, THE US WID 30,000 TROOPS WON'T BE ALLOWED TO WIN.
#45
INDIAN MILITARY FORUM > CHINA: STRATEGIC EXPERTS TALK ABOUT A PARTIAL/LIMITED SINO-INDIAN WAR. China = PLA + CMC worry over possible conflict scenarios as per:
* NORTH KOREA - Chin cannot allow the US = US-Allies to control or occupy NOKOR.
* INDIA-PAKISTAN - potential for Regional-Global nuclear war, INDIAN improvements in Miltechs vee CHINA.
* US-IRAN WAR [includ ISRAEL-IRAN] - Chin prevented from assisting ally Iran, or protecting Chin interests in the Persian Gulf-ME due to variable US-ISRAELI-Allied actions agz Iran.
MOGADISHU - Shells hit a crowded Mogadishu market and nearby residential area on Monday, killing at least 11 people in fighting between Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government forces. Medical staff told Reuters they had transported 11 corpses and 16 wounded people from Bakara market and the Gedjael neighbourhood after the insurgents exchanged shells with Somali soldiers and their Ethiopian military allies.
Islamists have been battling government and Ethiopian troops for the past two years, since Addis Ababa sent forces to oust the Islamic Courts Union from Mogadishu. With an estimated 3,000 Ethiopians now withdrawing, some Islamist factions appear to be turning on al Shabaab fighters, a hardline insurgent group that wants to impose a strict version of Islamic law traditionally shunned by Somalis.
Witnesses said about 51 people, including civilians and fighters, died in battles at the weekend between al Shabaab and another Islamist group, Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca, as that group took over the central Somali trading town of Gurael.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Well, the left is always telling us how eeeeevil materialism and consumerism is, so people killed in a marketplace should make them happy, right?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/13/2009 1:05 Comments ||
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Two suspected members of Laskhar-e-Taiba (LT) blamed for the Mumbai attacks appeared in court here on Monday and were remanded in police custody for further questioning, police said. A city magistrate granted detectives until January 23 to hold and quiz Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed over the November attacks, Mumbai police commissioner Deven Bharti told AFP. Both men were initially arrested last February in connection with an assault on police in northern Uttar Pradesh state. They are alleged to have prepared surveillance on Mumbai and submitted information to the banned LT about possible targets before they were arrested.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
TOPIX > MUMBAI ATTACK MAY SIGNAL RUIN FOR SOUTH ASIA + WHERE IS THE ATTACKS FROM AL-QAEDA HEADED?
The two Artics just answered each other's question or premise!
The security forces in Mohmand Agency on Monday attacked the Taliban holed up in mountains near the Afghan border, as fresh troops arrived following heavy fighting with insurgents, government officials said.
More than 600 Al Qaeda-linked terrorists attacked a paramilitary force camp and two checkposts in the agency on Saturday night, killing six soldiers and injuring seven, the officials said. At least 40 attackers were also reported killed.
Pakistani forces fired artillery at Taliban hideouts in the mountains above two villages, said Meraj Khan, a senior government official in Mohmand. "Heavy firing is going on in the mountains but we don't have any details of casualties yet," Khan told Reuters.
Another official in Mohmand, Syed Ahmed Khan, said additional soldiers and equipment, including tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APCs), arrived at a military camp in Ghalanai on Monday, the agency's main town.
Meanwhile, AP reported the security forces as saying that the four Taliban captured after the Taliban's Saturday raid on Mohmand came from across the border in Afghanistan. The Frontier Corps did not say how they had been captured.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2009 00:00 ||
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A terminal storing NATO supplies in Peshawar came under rocket fire on Monday as security forces expanded a military operation to Landikotal tehsil of Khyber Agency.
Unidentified assailants fired six rockets at the terminal on Pusht Khera Road, said a private TV channel, adding that security personnel deployed to protect the terminal retaliated and the ensuing gunbattle lasted for almost half an hour, but there were not casualties.
Meanwhile in Khyber Agency, the security forces targeted the houses of a Taliban supporter and a criminal, said an official source. The political administration has also warned eight other tribesmen supporting terrorists and criminals to surrender.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2009 00:00 ||
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The State Department Monday unveiled sanctions against 13 people and three firms implicated in the nuclear proliferation network set up by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.
"The Department of State announced that sanctions will be imposed on 13 individuals and three private companies for their involvement in the AQ Khan nuclear proliferation network," it said in a statement.
"We believe these sanctions will help prevent future proliferation-related activities by these private entities, provide a warning to other would-be proliferators, and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to using all available tools to address proliferation-related activities," it added.
"While we believe the AQ Khan network is no longer operating, countries should remain vigilant to ensure that Khan network associates, or others seeking to pursue similar proliferation activities, will not become a future source for sensitive nuclear information or equipment," it said.
In the statement, it added that sanctions "have been imposed" under the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act (NPPA) against Selim Alguadis, Kursad Zafer Cire, Muhammad Nasim ud Din, EKA Elektronik Kontrol Aletleri Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., ETI Elektroteknik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Muhammad Farooq, Paul Griffin, Peter Griffin, Abdul Qadeer Khan, Shamsul Bahrin bin Rukiban, Buhary Seyed Abu Tahir, and Shah Hakim Shahnazim Zain
It also said sanctions have been imposed under Export-Import Bank Act (EXIM) against the same people firms mentioned above as well as Daniel Geiges, Gotthard Lerch, and Gerhard Wisser.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Wait, there's more. Next to be investigated by State, economic relations between Nazi Germany and Franco's Spain.
Aswat al-Iraq: A policeman was injured by gunmen and two bombs exploded in two separate incidents in Mosul, a security source said on Monday. "A cop was injured on Monday (Jan. 12) by gunmen in al-Najafi street in central Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "Two bombs went off targeting police and army forces; the first was at al-Baladiyat neighborhood in northern Mosul, and the other was near Garage Baghdad in southern Mosul, without leaving casualties," the source added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2009 00:00 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: Policemen on Monday arrested a kidnapping gang in Muqdadiya district, a security source said. "Police forces on Monday (Jan. 12) arrested three suspected gunmen accused of looting and kidnapping citizens in al-Amal al-Shaabi square in Muqdadiya, northeast of Baaquba," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The detainees are under investigation now," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2009 00:00 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: Police forces on Monday found a stockpile of explosives and ammunitions in northern Wassit province, the director of the anti-drug department said. "Acting on a tip-off, the forces found the depot on Monday (Jan. 12) at the house of a wanted man in Juwimisa region in northern Suwiera district, north of Kut," Captain Haydar Ali told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The depot contains 120 explosives instruments, 150 cannonballs and 8kg of highly explosive materials," he explained.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
120 explosives instruments
Violin bombs? Or maybe accordians?
150 cannonballs
Collected from the front of the museum?
By Tuesday [11:50 pm 1-13-2009 local time] evening, 17 rockets had been fired at the South, a significant drop from the numbers of projectiles fired in the opening days [dec 26,27]of Operation Cast Lead [which was about 70].
Israeli forces continued to bombard the homes of Hamas leaders on Monday as the war in the Gaza Strip entered its 17th day. So far Israel says that at least 300 militants are among the more than 900 Palestinians killed.
But Hamas insists that it has not been significantly hurt tactically speaking by the onslaught. Government offices and tunnels have been destroyed. Its leaders are pinned down, unable to move freely or show their faces in public or even communicate on cellphones that can be tracked by the Israeli army. Israel recently killed Amir Mansi, commander of Hamas's Gaza rocket division, and its stream of Qassams has dropped 50 percent since the assault began. But it is still able to launch rockets at Israel. Looks like yet another stunningly lopsided Arab victory.
Has Israel decimated the Hamas leadership and eroded its support among Gazans? Are its senior political chiefs based in Syria calling the shots and prolonging a battle that war-weary Gazans would increasingly like to see ended? Try taking the guns away from the brave men wearing the black ski-masks and ask the question again.
Inside Gaza, relief is needed immediately; rebuilding could take five years. Hamas in Gaza sent a three-man delegation to Cairo to work on reaching a deal. But Hamas leaders from abroad have taken a harder line, indicating that it would rather fight until the last Gazan man than agree to a cease-fire that doesn't meet its demands.
Khaled Mashaal, the Syria-based political leader of Hamas and the man who holds more sway than any of the Hamas leadership in Gaza, says that Hamas will only agree to a truce if all border crossings are open. He rejects any new measures to prevent the smuggling of additional weapons into Gaza.
Mr. Mashaal said Monday that Hamas won't accept "any discussion" about restricting its possession of weapons, adding, "No one has the right to limit the right of our people to look for a rifle to defend ourselves." Gee. I wonder what Palestinian offensive operations would look like.
Israel, meanwhile, says that Hamas has been seriously damaged and may be close to agreeing to the Egyptian-brokered deal. It told reporters that Hamas's military wing is in disarray and falling apart.
"Whether Hamas is weakened or not, and certainly, it must have been weakened structurally very seriously in the last few weeks, Hamas is saying in terms of its spirit, it is not going to be destroyed. And the indication of that for them is the continued launch of missiles," says Maha Azzam, an expert on Hamas and Political Islam at London's Chatham House. That's right. You can't destroy their spirit! But you can separate it from their bodies.
"It doesn't mean that Hamas as an organization wouldn't be ready to come to some kind of cease-fire agreement, so it can survive as an organization," Ms. Azzam says. But the heavy losses Hamas has sustained, she says, makes it look more heroic in the eyes of many across the Muslim world. "Although continued bombardment of civilians poses a problem of Hamas, they can say as Hamas, we're never going to succumb."
6nl92
In an interview in Damascus, Mr. Mashaal's deputy, Musa Abu Marzook, said that Israel's war in Gaza has only served to increase Hamas's popularity, not detract from it. And he said that Israel's real goal was not stopping rocket fire, but ending Hamas rule in Gaza. [Editor's note: The original version misstated comments by Musa Abu Marzook regarding the Palestinian Fatah Party.]
"The real reason for Israel's aggression is to change Hamas's government in the Gaza Strip. They have been thinking about this since Hamas won the elections [in January 2006]," Abu Marzook says. "They failed to lead the people in an uprising against Hamas in the Gaza Strip with the economic embargo. They tried to push Fatah to stand and fight Hamas, but we defeated them in the Gaza Strip. So Israel took action themselves."
Abu Marzook, interviewed last week, said that Hamas had no intention of halting its rocket fire from Gaza. He views these rockets 14 of which hit Israel on Monday as just "sending a message" to the Jewish state. And the Jewish state is just sending their reply.
"We are only talking about stopping the aggression from the Israelis against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. But we are sending a message [by firing rockets]: 'We will not surrender.' We have to fight the Israelis and we will win this battle," he says. "We know we are going to lose a lot of people from our side, but we are going to win, inshallah [God willing]." Many more victories like this and there won't be anyone left to do any fighting.
"Perhaps it has had quite a beating, but in terms of support in Gaza, the West Bank, and elsewhere, the support is increasing because Hamas is seen as taking on a somewhat heroic role," says Azzam. That's why they need to be crushed. Arabs have a problem picking the right role models.
Israel began the offensive on Dec. 27, following Hamas's resumption of rocket attacks when a six-month truce ran out on Dec. 19. Since then Hamas can't meet in what were government ministries and other Hamas headquarters, because most such buildings have been destroyed. Hamas leaders who have survived move secretly and have occasional meetings in different locations, but sometimes go days without holding strategy sessions. We don't need no steenking strategy sessions! We got JIHAAAAAD! And besides, we're pussies.
Palestinian reporters are afraid to get too close to Hamas leaders for an interview because, as one put it, "They are wanted men. To stand next to them for five minutes is dangerous." Foreign journalists have not been allowed into Gaza for more than two months. Oh, come on. You'll be a martyr and get your 72 raisins. What could be better than that? Or are you chicken?
Even the rank-and-file policemen, who 18 months ago were put on the streets by Hamas to convey a sense of law and order, are no longer anywhere to be seen. Those who are out wear plainclothes in order to draw more civilian casualties make it more difficult for the Israeli army to target them and ultimately, for anyone to distinguish between civilian and military casualties.
#2
I am not getting the impression that Hamas is taking all that much of a "pounding" of late. Judging from what I am reading from the IDF an Israelis live blogging events, it seems that they are getting hit with a series of bee stings rather than hammer blows from Israel.
On the surface it would appear that the political strategy in Gaza is the same as it was in Lebanon in 06. Stay engaged long enough for the international community to broker some kind of truce that puts a third party in place to monitor things. It looks like all this is designed to do is to get external monitors in place and that is about it.
Yes, Hamas has taken some serious hits but Israel does not have appeared to have unleashed a full-on "kick ass and take names" offensive.
#3
Put another way, the objective doesn't appear to be the destruction of Hamas (which means Israel will be doing this again someday) but rather a different arrangement of the deck chairs where Israel would be protected from rocket fire by promises and people who will "tell on them" if Hamas fires a rocket.
Seems all rather pointless as Hamas will never stop fighting Israel as long as it exists.
#4
Looks to me like Hamas is pressing on toward unconditional defeat. They keep firing rockets, which gives Israel cover for it's continuing offensive. Egypt gets more and more p'd off with Hamas.
And the endgame of the Egyptian border effectively sealed from weapons smuggling gets closer. When that happens it's game over for Hamas. No justifying their existence by 'resistance', and Fatah will sooner rather than later outgun them and roll them up from the bases that will be handed to Fatah along the Egyptian Gaza border.
#5
Also note Hamas' key demand of 'opening the border crossings'. While the MSM obfuscate this point and imply its a reference to the Israeli crossings. It's not. The demand is for the Egyptian border crossings to be opened.
Hamas aint stupid. They know the Israeli crossings will be useless for getting in arms, the key to Hamas' survival in Gaza.
Egypt aint budging, which doesn't surprise me in the least, because Hamas is an exustential threat to the Egyptian regime. What I don't understand is why Turkey is getting its knickers in a twist over opening the border. Maybe its some perceived role as the defender of Islam in the old Ottoman Empire.
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/13/2009 21:43 Comments ||
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#7
"Hamas is saying in terms of its spirit, it is not going to be destroyed." says Maha Azzam, an expert on Hamas and Political Islam at London's Chatham House.
#8
Khaled Mashaal, the Syria-based political leader of Hamas and the man who holds more sway than any of the Hamas leadership in Gaza, says that Hamas will only agree to a truce if all border crossings are open.
In enterprise of martial kind,
When there was any fighting,
He led his regiment from behind,
He found it less exciting.
But when away his regiment ran,
His place was at the fore-o,
That celebrated, cultivated, underated nobleman,
The Duke of Plaza-toro.
- "The Gondoliers"
Posted by: W. S. Gilbert ||
01/13/2009 21:55 Comments ||
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#9
Until Hamas BEGS to surrender UNCONDITIONALLY, they need to keep getting pounded - hard. No compromises.
#10
I am watching a Gaza webcam right now from Gaza city. Nothing to be heard but chickens crowing, dogs barking and the morning call to prayer. I heard a little automatic weapons fire about a half hour ago, but nothing at all recently. Just doesn't seem like much of a "pounding" going on there. The chickens crowing are the loudest thing heard.
#9
The Spartacist League was a Marxist revolutionary movement founded in Germany during World War I by Rosa Luxemburg among others. In Germany it became the German Communist Party, but it continues in Berkeley, CA.
The International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist) is a proletarian, revolutionary and internationalist tendency committed to the task of building Leninist parties as national sections of a democratic-centralist international. Our aim is the achievement of new October Revolutionsnothing else, nothing other, nothing less. The ICL bases itself on Marxist historical, dialectical materialism and seeks in particular to carry forward the international working-class perspectives of Marxism developed in the theory and practice of the Bolshevik leaders V. I. Lenin and L. D. Trotsky and embodied in the decisions of the first four Congresses of the Communist International as well as key documents of the Fourth International such as the Transitional Program (1938) and "War and the Fourth International" (1934). We also look to James P. Cannon, a leader of the early American Communist Party who was won to Trotskyism and went on to become a principal founder of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), working in close collaboration with Leon Trotsky. The origins of the ICL are in the Spartacist League/U.S., which began as the Revolutionary Tendency in the SWP and was bureaucratically expelled in 1963. Our ICL "Declaration of Principles and Some Elements of Program" was modeled on the Declaration of Principles adopted at the 1966 founding conference of the SL/U.S.
Adopted at the Third International Conference of the ICL in early 1998, the declaration presently exists in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, German, Russian, Polish, Italian, Turkish, Indonesian, Greek and Tagalog. In this post-Soviet period, marked by a deep regression of proletarian consciousness, we continue to be guided by Trotsky's statement that "the task of the vanguard is above all not to let itself be carried along by the backward flow; it must swim against the current." Reforge the Fourth International, world party of socialist revolution!
Just the ignition of all the accumulated dry dust particles from within the powdered baby milk factory. You know they had to move it from Iraq after the first Gulf War./sarcasm off
[as of noon local time 1-13-2009]
Hamas is set to announce that it is willing to allow a Turkish force to deploy at Rafah crossing, despite earlier insistence that it would treat any international presence along Gaza's border as an occupying force, according to a report Tuesday in the London-based Arabic daily Al Hayat.
According to the sources, in the current talks Turkey is acting as the mediator between Egypt and Hamas, and not between Hamas and Israel.
#1
I'm all in favor of a lot of both Egyptian and Turkish military entering Gaza, because neither of them will tolerate Hamas' antics one bit.
Ideally, Israel could ask Iraq to send a brigade to Gaza, as they are skilled at reestablishing order. There would be a butt load of dead Hamas, if they did.
#4
"Set to announce" is meaningless. When there is an agreement with firm timelines, then I will begin to think something might possibly actually happen. When the troops deploy, then I'll believe it is probable, for probability values closer to one than zero.
Hamas on Monday raided some 100 aid trucks that Israel had allowed into Gaza, stole their contents and sold them to the highest bidders. Well it is an improvement if you consider the fact that they didn't keep it for themselves . . . .
The IDF said that since terminal activity is coordinated with UNRWA and the Red Cross, Israel could do nothing to prevent such raids, Israel Radio reported. Let's see, I could donate to Fred's cause, or I could donate to the Red Cross, or the ICRC which has hijacked the Red Cross' name. Hmm. Let me think.
Between 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the army had ceased all military activity in Gaza and once again established a "humanitarian corridor" to help facilitate the transfer of the supplies. I'd say given events, they don't need any more of this "humanitarian aid".
The Kerem Shalom and Karni crossings had been opened to allow in the aid trucks.
Security officials at Kerem Shalom thwarted an attempt to smuggle electrical goods, disguised as humanitarian supplies, into Gaza. The electrical goods included computers, infra-red cameras, ovens, microwaves and other electronic equipment. And I thought the fluffy bunnies didn't have any power. To me, it looks like they're more worried about what they're going to be doing after this tat is over than they are over whether or not they're going to survive. Interesting.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has forbidden the entry of electronics to Gaza since the goods do not fall under the category of humanitarian aid. Some electronic equipment has been let in as per an official Palestinian request, such as equipment used to repair the damaged electrical grid in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israel is considering establishing a field hospital in the Gaza Strip to treat Palestinian civilians wounded in fighting between the IDF and Hamas. Perhaps they could as the Europeans or other Arab nations for the funds necessary to do this. Boy, wouldn't that be a silent hoot!
The plan would be to establish the field hospital outside the Gaza Strip, but the IDF is also considering the possibility of erecting the hospital inside the Palestinian territory so it will be more accessible to the Palestinian population. It would be run by the IDF Medical Corps. And it would be mortared by Hamass.
Also Monday, in an effort to promote Israeli humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip, the Defense Ministry launched a new Web site that provides a live video feed of the Kerem Shalom cargo crossing, through which international organizations have been transferring basic foods and medical supplies to Gaza. Like computers and microwave ovens?
The footage can be viewed here. Since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead, the IDF has facilitated the transfer of close to 900 trucks into the Gaza Strip with over 20,000 tons of basic foods and medical supplies. And I sort of wonder how many tons of explosives.
According to an army estimate on Monday, slightly over 900 Palestinians have been killed since Operation Cast Lead began in December 2008. Based on intelligence and information obtained by the Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration, the IDF has determined that at least 400 of those killed are known Hamas operatives. The IDF further believes that among the remaining 500, a significant number are also Hamas operatives. And I also sort of wonder how many were shot in the back by evildoers. But we'll save the talk about Hamass' "ethics" for after it's all over.
#1
wonder how many were shot in the back by evildoers
Are you suggesting the Paleo front-line (such as it is) soldiers (such as they are) only fight the Israelis because they are more afraid of being shot by their own 'officers?' Sounds like the Stalin model of military leadership.
#4
Glenmore: no, that's a speculation that they're counting the liquidation of Fatah operatives and sympathizers in the fatality lists. Last time I checked, that's at least 50-60 dead according to published reports, but I haven't looked since sometime last week.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
01/13/2009 15:30 Comments ||
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Israeli warplanes pounded the homes of Hamas leaders and ground troops edged closer to the Gaza Strip's densely-populated urban centre yesterday, as Israel stepped up the pressure ahead of deciding whether to escalate its devastating two-week offensive.
Israeli infantry units battled with Hamas fighters across Gaza yesterday as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he hoped Egyptian peace efforts could bring about a swift end to the war.
At least 19 people were reported killed in Monday's clashes, medics said, pushing the overall toll past the 900 mark in a 17-day-old conflict, which has also wounded nearly 4,000 people.
From downtown Gaza City black smoke could be seen rising over the eastern suburbs, where the two sides skirmished throughout the night. At least six Palestinians were killed in the new airstrikes or died from their wounds on Monday, Gaza health officials said. One of the dead was a militant killed in a northern Gaza battle.
Israeli ground forces made their deepest foray yet Sunday into Gaza's most populated area, with tanks rolling into residential neighbourhoods and infantry fighting urban warfare in streets and buildings with Hamas militants who kept up their rocketing of southern Israel.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said residential neighbourhoods in Gaza are riddled with homemade bombs and booby traps, including mannequins placed at apartment entrances to simulate militants and rigged to explode if soldiers approach.
The army "is advancing more into urban areas," said the spokeswoman, Maj. Avital Leibovich. "Since the majority of the Hamas militants are pretty much in hiding in those places, mainly urban places, then we operate in those areas."
Despite the tightening Israeli cordon, however, militants still managed to fire off a rocket Monday morning, which fell near the southern town of Kiryat Gat but caused no casualties, police said.
Thousands of Israeli reservists also joined battle against Hamas, the Islamist movement which has continued to fire missiles into Israel throughout Operation Cast Lead, launched with the avowed intent of ending the rocket attacks.
In Egypt, which has been spearheading Western-backed efforts to end the war that has sparked widespread protests across the world, talks were due to resume between Egyptian officials and Hamas.
But Israel's pointman for Gaza truce talks, Amos Gilad, delayed a planned visit in what Israeli radio speculated was meant as a pressure tactic on Hamas.
Speaking on a trip to Holon, a suburb of Tel Aviv, Olmert said Israel was achieving its objectives in the conflict.
"We hope that the violence will end swiftly but in order for that to come about, two things must happen: rocket fire must stop and the terror organisations must stop rearming," he said.
"These things are not impossible and we are closer to them today than a few days ago.
"I hope that the efforts of recent days by the Egyptians will allow us to end the war," added Olmert who is to stand down after elections on February 10.
The negotiations in Cairo are cantering on a three-point plan that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak unveiled last week.
The plan calls for an immediate ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, talks on opening Gaza's border crossings and taking steps to prevent arms smuggling, and relaunching Palestinian reconciliation efforts.
On Sunday, Cairo upped the pressure on Israel by summoning its ambassador to demand that the Jewish state comply with last week's UN Security Council resolution and open humanitarian corridors to relieve the besieged territory.
Both Israel and Hamas have waved off the resolution that called for an immediate end to the fighting.
Officials in Cairo said that the talks with Hamas had been positive, saying the Islamists agreed "on the importance of ... stopping the shedding of Palestinian blood as soon as possible."
Osama Hamdan, Hamas's representative in Lebanon, told Al-Jazeera television afterwards that "there was some progress on some points" of the Egyptian proposal.
"We reject parts of this proposal ... but that does not mean rejection of all the proposal."
Although it has so far ignored the UN ceasefire resolution, Israel is aware it cannot afford to remain diplomatically isolated for long, especially with Barack Obama due to enter the White House next week.
Israeli security officials believe they have struck a tough blow against Hamas, killing hundreds of the Islamic militant group's fighters, including top commanders. The director of the Shin Bet security agency told the Cabinet on Sunday that Hamas leaders in Gaza are ready to surrender.
The army also says Hamas has been avoiding pitched battles against the advancing Israelis, resorting instead to guerrilla tactics as its fighters melt into crowded residential areas.
Israeli officials on Sunday suggested that what is now Israel's deadliest onslaught against Gaza could be approaching an end.
"The decision of the (UN) Security Council doesn't give us much leeway, thus it would seem that we are close to ending the ground operation and ending the operation altogether" said deputy defence Minister Matan Vilnai.
Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayad, whose remit is limited to the West Bank, said the Egyptian initiative offered the best hope of peace, putting pressure on both Israel and Hamas to respond positively.
"Not accepting the Egyptian initiative should not be an option. He who refuses, voices reservations or moves slowly on this initiative bears the responsibility of explaining themselves, especially to the people of Gaza," Fayad told a press conference in Ramallah on Monday.
"We need (a ceasefire) in order to bring about an end to the misery and catastrophic human conditions in the Gaza Strip."
Aid deliveries have been massively disrupted by the conflict, with agencies warning that residents are running out of food and even having to burn their furniture to stay warm in the bitterly-cold nights.
Since the start of the operation on December 27, at least 905 people have been killed, including at least 277 children, and another 3,950 wounded, according to Gaza medics.
Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or in rocket attacks since the operation began. Palestinian militants have fired nearly 700 rockets, some of them penetrating deeper than ever inside Israel.
The conflict has sparked worldwide pro-Palestinian demonstrations, and US president elect Obama said he is assembling a team of diplomats to start addressing the Middle East conflict once he is sworn in on January 20.
Earlier Human Rights Watch said Sunday that Israel's military has fired artillery shells with the incendiary agent white phosphorus into Gaza and a doctor there said the chemical was suspected in the case of 10 burn victims who had skin peeling off their faces and bodies.
Researchers in Israel from the rights group witnessed hours of artillery bombardments that sent trails of burning smoke indicating white phosphorus over the Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. But they could not confirm injuries on the ground because they have been barred from entering the territory.
The chief doctor at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza said he treated several victims there with serious burns that might have been caused by phosphorus. He said, however, that he did not have the resources or expertise to say with certainty what caused the injuries.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Hope the leadership read the books about Fallujah and the tactics used by al queda and the Marines.
#2
MOUT City. Could be nastier than Fallujah, if you are trying to clean out the place with gobs of human shields rubes ignorant fools civilians in the way.
Posted by: Alaska Paul in Haines, AK ||
01/13/2009 22:26 Comments ||
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Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Monday fired 19 rockets at the western Negev, one of which scored a direct hit on a home in the northern Negev city of Ashkelon. The five residents of the house managed to flee to a bomb shelter before the strike, thus avoiding casualties. A number of people were treated for shock.
Another few rockets were also reported in Sderot and in the central Negev city of Be'er Sheva. Another rocket fired from Gaza exploded in an open field near Kiryat Gat, causing no casualties or damages.
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that there has been a dramatic drop in the ability of Hamas to launch rockets against Israel. Currently, the launches have dropped by 50 percent compared to to the first day of Operation Cast Lead, 17 days ago.
Meanwhile, Palestinian militants have resumed their rocket fire every day since the offensive began. A total of 22 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip struck Israel on Sunday, one of which exploded in an empty school playground in the northern Negev city of Ashdod. There were no casualties in the incident.
On Saturday, at least 21 Palestinian rockets hit Israeli territory, wounding 14 people. The number of rockets fired from Gaza was somewhat lower than had been shot daily since Israel launched Operation Cast Lead on December 27.
An Ashkelon man was lightly wounded and required medical attention after a Qassam rockets slammed into his apartment building Saturday in the center of town. In addition, the Ashkelon city center sustained another Qassam strike Saturday
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Good thing Jews are not human else HRW would have had to investigate this.
Senior Hamas officials in Gaza are hiding out in a "bunker" built by Israel, intelligence officials suspect: Many are believed to be in the basements of the Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City, which was refurbished during Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip.
Shifa, the coastal strip's largest hospital, was built while Gaza was under Egyptian rule, before 1967.
During the mid-1980s the building underwent massive refurbishment as part of a showcase project to improve the living conditions of residents.
Millions were invested in the project, which was overseen by Shmuel Goren, the coordinator for activities in the territories at the time.
The Israeli civil administration in the territories constructed the hospital complex's Building Number 2, which has a large cement basement that housed the hospital's laundry and various administrative services.
During a cabinet meeting a week ago, Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin said senior Hamas officials found refuge in the hospital basement because they know Israel would not target it, due to the patients in the upper floors. Palestinian sources told Haaretz that not all the senior Hamas leaders are hiding in one place.
Rather, they have spread out, and some are constantly changing locations. Some of the bunkers they are using were linked by tunnels Hamas built in recent years.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
close the tunnels, weld the doors to the basement shut, and bring in fans for the smell
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/13/2009 0:27 Comments ||
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#2
flood the tunnels with sewage and see where the turds pop out...
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/13/2009 1:02 Comments ||
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#3
A generous serving of mustard gas followed by flamethrowers for clean-up.
Iran's state radio was quoted by Reuters, reporting on Tuesday:
"An Iranian ship that was carrying foodstuff and medicine was stopped by the Zionist regime's navy 20 miles off the coast of Gaza," the Iranian radio station reported, adding that the ship had left the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas 13 days earlier.
#12
same blog:
IDF uncovers another Hamas tunnel, going from Gaza to Israel (West to East), which was going to be used for a terror attack against Israel -- found in the Nachal Oz area.
#13
3dc, I know that's what the Iranians say that cargo is. I'd like to know if the Juice happened to take their own look, and if so, what did they really find it to be.
Israeli troops pushed deep into the Gaza Strip's most populated area Sunday, producing some of the fiercest fighting of the 16-day war against Hamas as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared that Israel is "close" to achieving its goals but is not there yet.
The Israeli advance marked a possible precursor to a new phase of the conflict, in which Israeli forces engage Hamas and its allies in sustained urban combat. Despite international pressure to halt the fighting, which has wreaked havoc for Gaza's 1.5 million people, it could well grow more intense. Israel announced for the first time Sunday night that reservists had joined the fight and were operating in Gaza.
The Israeli military has been warning for days that it would soon begin a "third phase" of its offensive in Gaza, after a week of air raids and another week of ground operations by regular-duty forces. Tens of thousands of Israeli reservists had been called up and massed along the border, ready to support a possible push into Gaza's major population centers, where Hamas leaders are believed to be hiding.
The Israeli military said Sunday night that reservists had gone into Gaza several days ago, though the number was relatively small, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman, Maj. Avital Leibovich. Thousands of active-duty soldiers are already operating in the strip.
As of late Sunday night, the troops -- both active-duty and reserve -- remained in the open areas on the fringes of Gaza's cities and refugee camps. But in the pre-dawn hours Sunday morning, tanks backed by helicopter gunships had made their furthest push yet into the Gaza City area, home to 400,000 people. Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed that they ambushed the advancing troops in a Gaza City suburb, Sheikh Ajleen, prompting a pitched battle that ended in the early afternoon.
In the fighting, 27 Palestinians were killed, according to medical officials in Gaza. There was no report of Israeli casualties. The overall Palestinian death toll rose to 876 on Sunday, the medical officials said, as many as half of whom were civilians. Thirteen Israelis have been killed since the war began Dec. 27.
While the tanks later retreated, their foray into the outskirts of Gaza City could be a prelude to the sort of urban warfare that would mark any Israeli advance into the sprawling, densely packed cities and refugee camps where most Gazans live. "We have to push Hamas into the corner," said Yaakov Amidror, a retired major general who served as the military's chief of research and assessment. "The way to do that is to control the ground, and to control the ground we have to go in with more forces."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2009 00:00 ||
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Shootings and a bomb attack carried out by terrorists suspected separatist insurgents have killed one soldier and two civilians in Thailand's Muslim-majority far south, police said on Tuesday.
A 22-year-old army private died early on Tuesday, after he and five other soldiers were seriously wounded when a powerful roadside bomb exploded near their armoured vehicle in Narathiwat province on Monday afternoon. Also on Monday, two men aged 48 and 36 were shot dead in separate attacks in neighbouring Pattani province, police there said.
Sri Lankan fighter jets and attack helicopters pounded rebel positions yesterday as troops pushed ahead with their offensive to crush the Tamil Tigers and seize the insurgents last stronghold in the north.
Helicopter gunships and warplanes attacked suspected Tamil Tiger strong points in northern Sri Lanka on Monday while at least 19 rebels were killed in ground battles, the defence ministry said.
Aircraft hit two positions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at Iranamadu, just south of their political capital of Kilinochchi which fell to government forces earlier this month, the ministry said.
"Sri Lanka air force Mi-24 helicopter gunships and fighter jets made precision air assaults against two identified LTTE gathering points located in general area of Iranamadu," the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said 19 Tiger rebels were killed and many more wounded in clashes in the Kilinochchi district on Sunday. It did not say if its troops suffered any casualties.
The military won a string of major victories over the rebels in recent weeks, capturing their administrative capital and seizing their main base on the Jaffna peninsula.
The Tigers, who once controlled a substantial swath of territory in the north, retreated to a small region of jungle in the northeast.
The ministry said last week that security forces were ready to deal a "decisive blow" to the rebels after the capture of the strategic Elephant Pass causeway linking the Jaffna peninsula with the rest of the mainland.
The LTTE's main political headquarters of Kilinochchi town was overrun by government troops earlier this month and the rebels are now confined to the jungle and lagoon district around Mullaittivu on Sri Lanka's northeast coast.
The military kept the pressure on Monday, launching airstrikes on rebel gathering points in support of ground troops, the military said.
The two sides also fought nearly three dozen battles on Sunday, the military said. Troops recovered four rebel bodies. The rebels fought back with mortar barrages and roadside bombs. The Tigers were not available for comment, but the rebel-linked TamilNet Web site reported a sharp rise in civilian casualties from the fighting in recent days.
Aid groups have expressed concern that hundreds of thousands of civilians living in the rebels' shrinking territory will increasingly fall victim to the encroaching violence. The rebels have been fighting since 1983 to create an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, who have suffered decades of marginalisation by governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority. The conflict has killed more than 70,000 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2009 00:00 ||
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A small amount of plastic explosives were found at the weekend in a garbage truck entering a UN base in southern Lebanon and two suspects were detained, a United Nations military spokesman told AFP on Monday.
"Yesterday, during a routine check of a garbage truck outside the Italian base of the UN force deployed in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) we found a modest quantity of explosives," Colonel Enrico Mattina said. "The driver and another worker, along with the explosives, were handed over to the Lebanese Armed Forces," he added. Officer Joseph Flebuf, a member of the Italian battalion based in the town of Tebnin, told AFP that the plastic explosives were found inside a metal tool box at the front of the garbage truck.
A spokesman for the Lebanese army said the two suspects detained were Lebanese nationals and that the explosives seized amounted to 20 grams. He had no further details. UNIFIL has some 13,000 troops from various countries stationed in southern Lebanon. The force, which was set up in 1978 to monitor the border between Israel and Lebanon, was considerably boosted in the wake of Israel's 2006 war on Lebanon.
Since then, it has been the target of three attacks by unknown elements, the latest being in January of last year when two Irish officers were wounded by a roadside bomb. In the deadliest incident, three Spanish and three Colombian peacekeepers were killed in June of 2007 when a booby-trapped car exploded as their patrol vehicle drove by. A month later, a vehicle belonging to the Tanzanian contingent was damaged in a bomb blast, but there were no casualties.
UNIFIL last week said it had boosted the number of troops deployed in southern Lebanon after rockets from the area were launched on northern Israel, prompting fears of another front opening in the Gaza war.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"three attacks by unknown elements"
Hmmm, who could that be ?
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
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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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.
MOGADISHU - Shells hit a crowded Mogadishu market and nearby residential area on Monday, killing at least 11 people in fighting between Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government forces. Medical staff told Reuters they had transported 11 corpses and 16 wounded people from Bakara market and the Gedjael neighbourhood after the insurgents exchanged shells with Somali soldiers and their Ethiopian military allies.
Two suspected members of Laskhar-e-Taiba (LT) blamed for the Mumbai attacks appeared in court here on Monday and were remanded in police custody for further questioning, police said. A city magistrate granted detectives until January 23 to hold and quiz Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed over the November attacks, Mumbai police commissioner Deven Bharti told AFP. Both men were initially arrested last February in connection with an assault on police in northern Uttar Pradesh state. They are alleged to have prepared surveillance on Mumbai and submitted information to the banned LT about possible targets before they were arrested.
The security forces in Mohmand Agency on Monday attacked the Taliban holed up in mountains near the Afghan border, as fresh troops arrived following heavy fighting with insurgents, government officials said.
Aswat al-Iraq: Policemen on Monday arrested a kidnapping gang in Muqdadiya district, a security source said. "Police forces on Monday (Jan. 12) arrested three suspected gunmen accused of looting and kidnapping citizens in al-Amal al-Shaabi square in Muqdadiya, northeast of Baaquba," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The detainees are under investigation now," he added.
Israeli forces continued to bombard the homes of Hamas leaders on Monday as the war in the Gaza Strip entered its 17th day. So far Israel says that at least 300 militants are among the more than 900 Palestinians killed.
Israeli troops pushed deep into the Gaza Strip's most populated area Sunday, producing some of the fiercest fighting of the 16-day war against Hamas as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared that Israel is "close" to achieving its goals but is not there yet. 
