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Today: 81 articles and 279 comments as of 11:03.
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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Iran confirms Ahmadinejad's victory
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 6: Politix
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mary Bickford Dunn, aka Marie Prevost, made 121 films in her 38 year life. Jack Daniels and Johnny Walker broke her heart.



Ahoy there Sailor

Hey Big Boy

Daily Gam Shot

Pile Driver

Back to the Future

Riding the Rail

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 06/30/2009 1:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Hat? She's got a hat on? I don't see it, but her socks are uneven.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 06/30/2009 11:05 Comments || Top||

#3  her socks are uneven

except in the Daily Gam Shot
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 06/30/2009 12:47 Comments || Top||

#4  She must have a hat, Richard. She didn't pin that feather to her scalp, y'know. If you look veeeery closely, you'll see it's a kind of a beret thingy. It looks like it ought to be her hair in a smooth bob, but it's the hat.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/30/2009 15:01 Comments || Top||

#5  TW, somewhat personal but I'll ask anyway. It might appear she's getting ready to go Trout fishing. Isn't that a beaded Red & White Spoon spin casting lure adorning her right huh, hmmmm.
What is your assessment?
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/30/2009 15:10 Comments || Top||

#6  Besoeker

You broke the code. See "Pile Driver" pic above.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 06/30/2009 15:58 Comments || Top||

#7  I'm afraid I don't fish except with safety pins, string and just the right stick, Besoeker, so I can't say. I'd assumed the tassel on the other side of her camisole had fallen off during the previous excitement, during which one of her stockings slipped down.

--trailing wife on trailing daughter #1's laptop
Posted by: Snomose Hatfield3988 || 06/30/2009 22:48 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Coalition Air Strikes in Afghanistan Kill 12 Militants
U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan say air strikes have killed at least 12 militants allegedly involved in sneaking foreign fighters from Pakistan into Afghanistan.

The coalition said in a statement Tuesday, the overnight strikes hit a pair of bunkers in eastern Khost province. The operation targeted insurgents linked to Taliban militant leader Siraj Haqqani, who is accused of carrying out many attacks in Afghanistan.

The exact number of militant casualties is still not clear.

Meanwhile, in the nation's south, Afghan officials say a male suicide bomber disguised himself as a woman and attacked the Torkham crossing at the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Authorities say the burqa-clad bomber blew himself up at the women's crossing point, killing a police officer and a child. They say the bombing also wounded at least 10 people.
Posted by: ed || 06/30/2009 08:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Kandahar Police Chief Dies in Afghan Fighting
[Quqnoos] At least 4 including the police chief and head of the criminal department of Kandahar were killed Monday in a clash in the city, officials said

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Zemaray Bashari in a phone call confirmed the causalities of the gun-fire that erupted after the guards -- employed by US special forces -- opened fire on the police. The fighting happened as troops attempted to take away a prisoner from the provincial attorney's office, Bashari further said.

The provincial attorney department sought urgent help from the police department. Police Chief Gen Matiuallah Qateh, was gunned down when he reached the scene to prevent the assailant armed men to remove an alleged criminal. Five other policemen were also wounded in today's fighting in Kandahar city, MoI spokesman added.

A local witness said that US troops were also involved in the fighting. The US military spokesman in Kabul, Colonel Greg Julian, confirmed to AFP there had been an incident but he did not immediately provide details. "I am not sure which unit was involved," he said. "It does appear that there were some Afghan police casualties," he said.

Quqnoos' Mohammad Masumi in Kandahar said the gun-battle last over an hour in the city and all the security forces have turned on alert in the city.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Afghan guards working for US arrested
[Iran Press TV Latest] Kabul has detained more than 40 Afghan guards, who were on the payroll of the US military, after a deadly shootout left several police officers dead.

Afghanistan arrested and disarmed 41 guards employed by an international base in the southern province of Kandahar on Monday. Sources said the guards would be sent from the southern province to the capital Kabul for investigation and trial. The guards are accused of raiding the provincial prosecutor's office in the volatile region.

Earlier, Afghan President Hamid Karzai accused Afghan guards, purportedly working for US coalition forces, of engaging in a gun battle that killed 10 police officers including Kandahar Police Chief Mutaiullah Khan Qateh. In a statement, Karzai demanded that the US-led troops hand over the guards involved in the incident.

US forces have denied responsibility for the controversial attack, saying that no international force had been involved in the lethal shoot out. The US further called the deadly shootout an 'Afghan-on-Afghan' incident.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Two seemingly different incidents the same day where Afghan guards on US payroll shoot multiple Afghan police? That seems like a pattern. Question is (given the source of the stories) whether it's a publicity pattern or a Tali-tactic. Either way it's damaging.
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/30/2009 6:49 Comments || Top||

#2  It's the same incident. This is a followup article.
Posted by: ed || 06/30/2009 7:22 Comments || Top||


Blast at Taliban Compound Kills 9
[Quqnoos] A bomb blast killed at least 9 militants in Paktika province while rigging explosive devices, an official said

The explosion occurred Monday inside a house in Yousuf Khail district, south of the provincial capital, Sharan. "It was a Taliban compound where they were making bombs. Suddenly, the explosives went off and killed nine of them," a spokesman for the provincial government, Hamidullah Zwakh said. Three of the militants were foreign nationals, the spokesman further said without naming a specific country.

Taliban militants confirmed the incident in which according to them, only three Taliban elements were killed. A Taliban spokesman denied the casualties of any foreign fighters in Paktika's incident.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  (A)OSHA needs to shut this outfit down for serious and repeated workplace safety violations.
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/30/2009 6:53 Comments || Top||

#2  thank goodness for work accidents
Posted by: liberal hawk || 06/30/2009 12:22 Comments || Top||

#3  I remember reading inbreeding can cause color blindness.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/30/2009 12:31 Comments || Top||

#4  Stupidity can cause death.
Posted by: tu3031 || 06/30/2009 12:49 Comments || Top||

#5  Seems like the US has perfected that nanometer oscilator that sets off certain kinds of explosives. The trick now is to get enough electricity to use it more than once a month.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 06/30/2009 13:35 Comments || Top||

#6  We could be using it daily, Old Patriot. News coverage is spotty out there in the compounds, after all. And who is to know or care why the daughter and son stealing bastards no longer roll into town to bother the locals... by the time anyone bothers to knock on the door, the evidence has long since been eaten by maggots.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/30/2009 15:04 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Somali hardline Islamists threaten Ethiopia
Somalia's Islamist rebels threatened Tuesday to attack Ethiopia after repeated witness reports that Ethiopian troops were back in the chaotic Horn of Africa country they withdrew from in January.

"I'm telling the people that it's time we attacked Ethiopia, who are our Christian neighbours," Sheikh Abdiqani Mohamed Yusuf said on a radio station controlled by the al Shabaab rebels in the southern port of Kismayu. "We have to invade their country, like they did to our country. This is our best chance," he said. "The people should be ready to take part in jihad."

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said last week possible suicide attacks in Ethiopia by Somali Islamist rebels were a threat he "didn't expect to go away any time soon." Witnesses have said heavily armed columns of Ethiopian troops have crossed the border and are in several parts of Somalia. The Ethiopian government has repeatedly denied that.

President Ahmed, a moderate extremist Islamist, fled into exile after the Ethiopian intervention but joined a peace process last year and was elected in January. His government is battling hardline jihadis insurgents who were once allies in the Islamist movement. Addis Ababa has said it supports the new government, but is wary of the hardline Islamists, who are obviously seen as a proxy for al Qaeda, because they control large areas of Somalia and have threatened to destabilise neighbouring Ethiopia and Kenya. With reports of foreign jihadists streaming into Somalia, Western security services are worried al Qaeda may get a grip on the failed Horn of Africa state that has been without central government for 18 years.

Tuesday, the hardline insurgents beheaded two residents and shot dead a clan chief in Wajid district of Bakool region in which borders Ethiopia in southern Somalia, witnesses said. Another man was beheaded in the region Monday.

The government, which controls little but a few blocks of the capital, has declared a state of emergency and appealed to neighbouring countries for military assistance. Ethiopia's Meles has not ruled out sending troops to Somalia if Ethiopia is threatened but says he is waiting to see how the international community responds to the deteriorating security situation in the country.
Posted by: ryuge || 06/30/2009 06:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The day after the jihad starts seems like a good time for Ethiopia to annex Somalia and deport any survivors to Yemen.
Posted by: ed || 06/30/2009 7:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Somalia isn't een a real country anymore. Unless someone is willing to invest an awful ot of blood and treasure to create one the alternative is to quarantine the place.
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/30/2009 7:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Somalialand in the north might be okay. Puntland has a ghost of a chance. The south? Fence, moat, and alligators with lasers on their heads.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/30/2009 8:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Nuke Somalia Nobody bar the Islamist will miss them!!!!
Posted by: Paul2 || 06/30/2009 11:15 Comments || Top||

#5  Nuclear devices have all sorts of side effects, Paul2. How about a nice round of Daisycutters instead?
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/30/2009 15:13 Comments || Top||

#6  There are daisies in Somalia?
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/30/2009 16:38 Comments || Top||

#7  Do cutters and atomics qualify for 2 drinks?
Posted by: 3dc || 06/30/2009 19:45 Comments || Top||


Darfur rebels charge Khartoum air raid killed at least 8 civilians
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] Darfur rebels on Sunday accused Sudan government forces of a bombing raid on their territory which killed at least eight civilians, as mediators step up pressure for a settlement in the violent western region. Fighters from the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) said military planes bombed land they controlled near the settlement of Hashaba in remote North Darfur around midday on Saturday. SLA founder Abdel-Wahed Mohammad Ahmad al-Nour told Reuters his commanders reported eight civilians were killed in Hashaba, about 70 kilometers west of the North Darfur state capital, Al-Fasher. Another SLA commander reported over 20 casualties.

Sudan's armed forced were not immediately available to comment and it was impossible to verify the figure independently. United Nations sources could not confirm the reports. "Tens of people have been injured and hundreds of cattle have died. This is the government's policy, to kill people to hang on to power," Nour told Reuters from Paris. He has refused to enter peace talks until after a full ceasefire.

Other international sources said they had unconfirmed reports of fighting in the area and several Sudanese Army planes had been seen leaving Al-Fasher airport. If confirmed, the attack will dismay UN and African Union mediators who have been building up pressure for a political settlement in Sudan's west, which has been going through a period of relative calm.

The attack would mark the first significant number of casualties in government-rebel clashes since Khartoum and the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) fought over the two northern towns of Umm Baru and Kornoi in May.

SLA and JEM took up arms against Sudan's government in 2003, accusing it of marginalizing the region and starving it of funding. Khartoum mobilized troops and militias to crush the uprising, launching a counter-insurgency the US calls genocide.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan


India-Pakistan
Soldier killed on Kashmir border
An Indian soldier has been killed in cross-border firing across the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed territory of Kashmir, officials say.

Indian army officials said the firing occurred as they foiled an attempt by a group of militants to infiltrate Indian-administered Kashmir on Sunday. They say the attempt was "apparently backed by the Pakistani army".
Usually is, isn't it?
Pakistan has not yet commented on the incident. The two armies have observed a ceasefire on the LoC since 2003.

"If it was fire from the Pakistani army then it can be termed as a ceasefire violation," an Indian army official said. The army has said it will assess the situation and "will communicate disappointment to Pakistan over the incident".
I'd attach the note to a dead Pak terrorist. It would get the point across more quickly. If I didn't have a dead terrorist to which to attach the note, I'd make one.
The BBC's Binoo Joshi in Jammu, in Indian-controlled Kashmir, says that if this did turn out to be a ceasefire violation, it would be the third such violation in the area this year. Indian Defence Minister AK Antony said last year that Pakistan had violated the ceasefire more than 30 times since it had been put in place.
Posted by: john frum || 06/30/2009 13:03 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


7 killed by shelling near Landikotal
At least seven people were killed and three seriously wounded when mortar shells hit Sra Shaga area here on Monday, official and local sources told Daily Times. The sources said that five shells were fired from Soor Dhand in Bara. A Khasadaar official said those who had been hit by the shells were having tea in a guesthouse. Sra Shaga is about 15 kilometres from Landikotal bazaar near the Pak-Afghan border.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Seven terrorists arrested in Lahore
The Lahore police on Monday claimed arresting seven terrorists linked to the Jaish-e-Muhammad and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and recovering explosives and weapons.

According to a handout by the Capital City Police office, the police arrested the terrorists from T-4 Ali Park, Bund Road Lahore after a brief exchange of fire. It said the men planned to launch terrorist attacks in the city. The handout said the suspects were arrested at a checkpost near Shera Kot bus station. They were identified as Karim Bukhsh, Abdul Rehman, Muhammad Younas, Shafaqat Farooqi, and Hafiz Muhammad Ijaz. The police said two rifles, three pistols, 22 kilogrammes of explosives and bullets were recovered. It said the arrested suspects informed the police about their three accomplices residing in the Bund Road area. The police raided their hideout and arrested Shehzad and Ijaz Mahmood. However, Muhammad Ramazan, a resident of Rahim Yar Khan, managed to escape. The police recovered 12 kg of explosives from the suspects' hideout.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


45 Taliban killed in airstrikes, clashes
21 Taliban, 4 tribesmen killed in Kurram clash
8 Taliban killed in Swat
Lashkar kills two Taliban, apprehends 14 in Upper
Dir

At least 45 Taliban were killed as jet aircraft bombed suspected Taliban hideouts in Waziristan and in clashes with the security forces and pro-government tribal militias in Swat and Kurram on Monday.

The airstrikes hit a guesthouse used by Taliban in the village of Kani Guram in South Waziristan Agency, killing four Taliban, according to intelligence officials.

Twenty-one Taliban were killed in overnight clashes with an anti-Taliban militia in Kurram Agency, tribal elder Ali Akbar Toori and lawmaker Sajid Toori said. Four militiamen were also killed.

Security forces launched an early morning raid on a suspected Taliban hideout in Tank, killing two suspected Taliban and arresting nine others, senior police officer Abdul Rasheed said.

Chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said security forces raided a compound in Khawazakhela area of Swat on a tip-off, killing eight Taliban and seizing weapons and explosives.

A lashkar in Upper Dir closed in on the Taliban trapped in the Shortkas Dogdarra village. Citing a private TV channel, APP said the lashkar killed two Taliban and arrested another 14 from the area and demolished their five houses.

In Swat, the Taliban "command structure has been totally dismantled, their training centres discovered and destroyed, their recruits either killed or driven away, their ammunition dumps destroyed and their headquarters ... destroyed," the military spokesman said.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  Do the pakis have the force to "hold and build" Swat? Is moving into S waziristan to clear, when hold not yet implemented in Swat, premature? Over stretch?
Posted by: liberal hawk || 06/30/2009 12:23 Comments || Top||

#2  The strategy appears to be to administer a serial-beating to the Taliban; 'hold and build' wouldn't on the list of objectives.
Posted by: Pappy || 06/30/2009 13:06 Comments || Top||

#3  the minute the Heroic Pak Army© can declare "victory™", they'll be immediately sent to the Indian border, all saying "la la la la" with their fingers in their ears as the Talibs and ISI reassert themselves. It's all for show
Posted by: Frank G || 06/30/2009 18:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Phoebe from "Friends": MY EYES!! MY EYES!!
Posted by: anymouse || 06/30/2009 19:11 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Baghdad Says a Nasty Goodbye
Four U.S. soldiers were killed in combat on the eve of the withdrawal of American troops from Baghdad and other Iraq cities, the U.S. military said, as Iraqi forces on Tuesday assumed control for security in urban areas.

The U.S. military said the four soldiers served with the Multi-National Division-Baghdad but did not provide further details pending notification of their families. It said they died as a "result of combat related injuries."
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/30/2009 06:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And somewhere the orcs dance with joy.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 06/30/2009 6:46 Comments || Top||


Senior Sunni politician assassinated in Iraq
[Khaleej Times] A senior Iraqi leader of the Iraqi Islamic party was killed in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, security sources told the German Press Agency dpa on Monday. The source said that a sticky bomb put under the car of Jalil Matar went off as he was coming out of the Ramadi hospital on Sunday evening.

Leaders of the Sunni parties, including the Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest Sunni party in Iraq, are a constant target for assassination by military groups operating in Iraq. On June 12, Harith al-Obeidi, the leader of the leader of the Iraqi Accord Front, Iraq's largest coalition of Sunni political parties, was shot dead as he was leaving a mosque where he led the Friday prayers in the western Baghdad neighbourhood of Yarmuk.

Separately, two Iraqi policemen died on Monday when a bomb went off near a security check point in Mosul, 400 kilometres north of Baghdad. Two further policemen were wounded.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  I wonder if George is reading this now, and rolling on the floor laughing.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/30/2009 5:01 Comments || Top||

#2  I don't think he's laughing, g(r)om. I wouldn't want my grandchildren hearing what he's saying, though.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 06/30/2009 13:49 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
PA says it foiled Hamas cells plot to scupper talks
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] The Palestinian Authority (PA) said on Monday that it dismantled a Hamas cell that was planning attacks against Palestinian leaders and public buildings in the Occupied West Bank.

PA secretary general Tayeb Abdel-Rahim claimed that the plotters had hoped to torpedo reconciliation talks between Fatah, the party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas, the Islamist rulers of the Gaza Strip.

Egyptian mediators hope to persuade the two rival factions to sign a national unity agreement on July 7.

Abdel-Rahim said the members of the cell had been arrested over the past days, without specifying how many arrests had been made.

"Interrogation revealed that the leadership in Gaza of Hamas and [its armed wing] told them to carry out terrorist attacks on personalities and institutions of the PA," Abdel-Rahim said at a news conference. "They admitted that their leaders asked them to commit those attempts on July 7, date of the signing of the reconciliation accord we are determined to reach," he added "We are now convinced [Hamas] doesn't want to reach an accord in Cairo," he said.

Fatah also accused Hamas of arresting dozens of Fatah activists in the Gaza Strip Monday.

A Hamas spokesman said there had been no arrests and accused Fatah of distortion aimed at undermining the talks.

Arrests and counter arrests by forces loyal to the two groups have hampered efforts to restore political unity and boost prospects for a resumption of peace-making with Israel.

Senior Fatah lawmaker Ashraf Gomaa told Reuters by telephone from Gaza that at least 90 of those arrested on Monday had been identified, but that the Hamas sweeps were continuing. "We urge the Egyptian leadership to take a stronger position towards these actions by Hamas, which create doubt among our people over the importance of, and the need for, these continued talks in Cairo," Gomaa said.

"These Fatah positions have only one aim, which is Fatah's desire to foil the dialogue," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters by phone from the Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Too bad.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/30/2009 5:00 Comments || Top||

#2  so hamas cells are trying to undermine Fatah-hamas talks? Hmmm. Must be dissident hard line elements of hamas (Okay, i could buy that, though the folks who would usually be behind that sort of thing, the Syrians, are supposed to be interested in talks themselves - perhaps that is true but they still dont want fatah- hamas reconciliation?)

but wait, its not so complicated, the cells were TOLD by Hamas leadership to plan the attacks. So Hamas leadership wants the cells to commit acts of violence, to undermine the very talks Hamas leaders are participating in.

Wouldnt it be easier to just not participate in talks? Unless you are under heavy pressure to talk, and want to make it look like youre talking, while provoking violence to create an excuse to end the talks.

Byzantine, even for me.
Posted by: liberal hawk || 06/30/2009 12:15 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Two gunned down in southern Thailand
A Muslim religious teacher and his friend were killed in a drive-by shooting in the southern province of Narathiwat Monday evening, prompting provincial authorities to call a meeting to revise security measures for teachers on Tuesday.

Abdulrosah Baha, a teacher of Islam, 25, and his 19-year-old friend, Yakoh Samae, were gunned down by terrorists suspected insurgents as they left a religious school in Rangae district Monday evening. Mr. Abdulrosah was shot in his face and torso, while Mr. Yakoh was shot in the back of his head. Both died at the scene, according to Pol. Col. Nitinai Langyanhai, superintendent of Rangae police station. Police and security personnel found at least 25 spent M16 cartridges at the scene of the attack. According to an initial investigation, Mr. Abdulrosah is a classmate of Masae U-seng, a key jihadi insurgent with an arrest warrant and a five million baht bounty offered for his head.

Meanwhile, Narathiwat deputy governor Thanon Vejjakornkanont convened a meeting on Tuesday with administrators from 78 schools in the three violence-prone districts. Participants discussed revising and improving the existing teacher protection plan following rumours of a plot to kill 50 teachers by terrorists presumed insurgents. At the same time, security forces also asked for co-operation from teachers, requesting that they inform a teacher protection unit every time they travel regardless of official hours, so that an appropriate security plan will be provided.

Attasit Ratanklaew of Narathiwat's Educational District Office 1 revealed that a rumour about a plot to kill teachers terrified teachers in the areas, so security will be tightened stringently throughout the semester, but he advised the teachers not in any case to be reckless. Mr. Attasit acknowledged that a number of teachers in Raman district have submitted requests to transfer out of the area as fear rose after recent fatal attacks on teachers. He said if the teachers continue to ask to move out of the district, this will affect the quality and amount of schooling which can be offered. Consequently, he said, security must be tightened to restore confidence among teachers.
Posted by: ryuge || 06/30/2009 06:26 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Arm the "Teachers" a 9mm apiece will do wonders in deterring shit like that.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/30/2009 12:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Actually, RJ, that wouldn't do much good. The teachers are being killed by ambush, and are usually dead before anyone could respond. You'd need to arm the entire three provinces, and teach them how to defend themselves. That wouldn't be a bad idea if you knew for certain the bad guys were from somewhere else, and not locals. Unfortunately, that's not a given.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 06/30/2009 14:00 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanon charges Qaeda suspects for attack plots
[Al Arabiya Latest] Lebanon's military prosecutor on Monday charged three suspects allegedly linked to al-Qaeda with planning terrorist attacks in Lebanon and Syria, a judicial source said.

"Judge Saqr Saqr has charged the three people, none of whom are Lebanese, with forming a gang linked to al-Qaeda and preparing to carry out terrorist acts in Lebanon and against the regime in Syria," the source told AFP.

" (The al-Qaeda network planned to) destabilize Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Gulf countries including Kuwait "
Brigadier General Jean Kahwaji
The suspects were identified as Syrian national Samir Hijazi, Kuwaiti Mohammad Abdul Latif al-Dosari and Mohammad Zahamor bin Qamaruddin of Tajikistan.

Lebanon dismantled an al-Qaeda network earlier this month, according to army chief Brigadier General Jean Kahwaji, who told a Kuwait newspaper it planned to "destabilize Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Gulf countries including Kuwait."

In December 2007, Lebanon indicted 31 al-Qaeda-linked suspects, including a Saudi national and four Syrians, on charges of plotting to carry out attacks in the country.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Police, Basij 'imposters' arrested in Iran
Iranian police officials have reportedly arrested the armed imposters who posed as security forces during post-election violence in the country.

Iran's Basij commander, Hossein Taeb, said Monday that the imposters had worn police and Basij uniforms to infiltrate the rallies and create havoc. Taeb added that the recent anti-government riots have killed eight members of the Basij and wounded 300 others.

Iranian security officials --and in particularly the Basij volunteer forces-- have been accused of killing and injuring protestors who took to the streets to protest the outcome of the June 12 election -- which saw incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad win by a landslide. "Basij forces are not authorized to carry weapons," said Taeb, asserting that armed groups are the main culprit behind the killings.

Tehran Police Chief Azizallah Rajabzadeh has also insisted that his department had no role in the shoot-out that has become the focus of most media outlets in the West. "Policemen are not authorized to use weapons against people," said Rajabzadeh. "They are trained to only use anti-riot tools to keep the people out of harms way," said Rajabzadeh.

Last week saw some of the worst violence since the election after some 'terrorist elements' infiltrated the rallies on Saturday, according to Iranian officials. The insurgents set fire to a mosque, two gas stations and a military post in Western Tehran, leaving scores of people dead and wounded.

Supporters of the defeated candidates have staged a torrent of rallies, which have provoked unprecedented mayhem in the country over the past nine days. Mir-Hossein Mousavi election campaign officials, however, have insisted that the defeated candidate's supporters are not within the rioters.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Dinner Jacket has a bus to throw his people under too?
Posted by: Glenmore || 06/30/2009 7:33 Comments || Top||

#2  That's their out. It's a pretty good one, too - blame "outside agitators" who were pretending to be basji, and they'll pull a karma houdini & preserve the basji for the next round of motorcycle-riding axe-swinging suppression of political unrest.

Some of the Arab mercenaries who were brought in to fill out the basji ranks are about to get prominently lynched for the mullahs' sins.

I'd call this endgame preparation. They think they've won, and they're getting ready for the aftermath.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 06/30/2009 9:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Ah, the "no good Scotsman" excuse
Posted by: European Conservative || 06/30/2009 11:54 Comments || Top||

#4  They had better see to it that the imposters don't talk to journalists. Tongues out every one!
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 06/30/2009 12:04 Comments || Top||


Iran confirms Ahmadinejads victory
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's top legislative body confirmed on Monday the results of a disputed June 12 election which was won by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, state broadcaster IRIB reported, while British staff remained in detention in Tehran. "The secretary of the Guardian Council in a letter to the interior minister announced the final decision of the Council ... and declares the approval of the accuracy of the results of ... the presidential election," IRIB said.

Iran's English-language Press TV television station said a partial recount of the election that was carried out on Monday had shown no irregularities in the vote.

Defeated opposition candidate Mirhossein Mousavi had previously rejected the Council's offer of a partial recount, saying the vote was rigged in Ahmadinejad's favor and that the whole election should be annulled.

"This recount is being done before (state broadcaster) IRIB cameras in various provinces and cities and we will subsequently announce the outcome for public information. ... We will try to release the outcome by the end of working hours (on Monday)," Kadkhodai had said.

Iran's state-run Press TV broadcasted live from one Tehran district where a Guardian Council supervisor was quoted as saying the recount in the area showed no major irregularities. The information could not be independently verified as foreign media are banned from the streets under tough new restrictions imposed by the authorities in the wake of the election.

The results of the election that saw record turnout were announced 12 hours after polls closed.
Posted by: Fred || 06/30/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  TOPIX > CHAVEZ BELIEVES CIA CAUSING IRAN UNREST; + AZERBAIJAN ACCUSED OF FOMENTING "ORANGE REVOLUTION" IN IRAN.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/30/2009 2:33 Comments || Top||

#2  4 more years of no peace in the Middle East!!!
Posted by: Paul2 || 06/30/2009 11:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Serious question, Has there EVER been peace in the mideast? Even when the crusaders were in charge?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/30/2009 12:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Yes, RJ, there was. From about 1450 to about 1890, the Ottoman Empire kept the peace over an area stretching from Albania to the Iranian border, over about half of North Africa, and all of the Arabian Peninsula. The Ottomans began to lose control in 1840, when the Greeks managed to gain their independence on a small portion of what is now Greece. The Ottoman Empire maintained peace by a complex system of bribes, assassinations, and religious supremacy. The end of WWI saw the Ottoman Empire broken into about a dozen entities, controlled by Britian or France, that gained independence beginning in the 1920's. That's the "map" - and the mess - we're currently living with.

Iran was actually fairly peaceful but backward until WWII, and the needs of the British and Americans to ship war material to the Russians. The Allies practically occupied the country, while building a road and rail net from Abadan to Baku. The US also interfered to keep the Russians from claiming a large part of Kurdish Iran as Russian territory following the war.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 06/30/2009 14:14 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2009-06-30
  Iran confirms Ahmadinejad's victory
Mon 2009-06-29
  Mousavi's website shut down
Sun 2009-06-28
  Saad al-Hariri Leb's new premier
Sat 2009-06-27
  Council appoints commission to probe election
Fri 2009-06-26
  Mousavi warns of more protests
Thu 2009-06-25
  Somali legislators flee abroad, Parliament paralysed
Wed 2009-06-24
  Khamenei agrees to extend vote probe
Tue 2009-06-23
  Revolutionary Guards Say They'll Crush Protests
Mon 2009-06-22
  Guardian Council: Over 100% voted in 50 cities
Sun 2009-06-21
  Assembly of Experts caves to Fearless Leader
Sat 2009-06-20
  Iran police disperse protesters
Fri 2009-06-19
  Khamenei to Mousavi: toe the line or else
Thu 2009-06-18
  Iran cracks down
Wed 2009-06-17
  Mousavi calls day of mourning for Iran dead
Tue 2009-06-16
  Hundreds of thousands of Iranians ask: 'Where is my vote?'

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