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Anti-Tank Missile Miss Israeli School Bus
Today's Headlines
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Down Under
How to keep ahead
John Martinkus could have been beheaded but was safely released. In Iraq's propaganda war, some journalists are better alive than dead.AUSTRALIAN journalist John Martinkus said he was going to be killed by the Iraqi terrorists who grabbed him on Sunday — until he convinced them he was on their side. "I was not hurt and treated with respect once they established my credentials as an independent journalist who did not support the occupation," the SBS filmmaker told Reuters. An SBS producer, Mike Carey, confirmed on 3AW yesterday that Martinkus told the terrorists he sympathised with them — "as you would" to save your life. As I sure would, too. And then, added Carey, his captors got onto the internet to check him out.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: ed || 10/21/2004 12:19:16 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I didn't even need to go to page 71 after reading this:
"…once they established my credentials as an independent journalist who did not support the occupation,…"

However I did and reading further on page 71 I see.
…"You might consider that, the next time you read Iraq is going to hell, the terrorists there are really "the resistance", and the American "occupiers" are hated and should pull out.…"

I already know whats comming now speaking of SBS who John Martinkus works for:
"So frenzied has its demonisation of this war since become that SBS this year twice showed a French "documentary" – The World According to Bush – that claimed US President George W. Bush was a religious crazy, "idiot" and "political whore", who was conned into attacking Iraq by a handful of "calculating" Jews, even while secretly pocketing pay-offs from their Muslim enemies."

Further along speaking of Martinkus.
"… his sympathies follow the SBS line and are not, it seems, primarily with the Americans and Iraqis trying to make Iraq democratic.In fact, Martinkus has appeared recently at rallies and film evenings organised by anti-war groups and the far-Left Socialist Alliance. He also spoke at this year’s Melbourne Writers Festival, arguing Iraq was worse off for having been freed and his book, Travels in American Iraq, makes Iraq’s liberation seem an occupation instead – and one heading for civil war.…"
A useful fool who will sell out his culture and the everyday Iraqi's he must think are misled because they don't want to live under a Sunni led terrorst cabal or a Sadar dominated theocracy.

I hope this waste of human skin catches a peice of copper clad steel core. So he may not sell his fellow Austrialians out to the Zarqawi's of this world any longer.

As for the rest of the reporters mentioned in this article, well, you can decide for yourself. I hope I never meet the last one mentioned. He will be black and blue before I part company with him.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 10/21/2004 1:45 Comments || Top||

#2  someday this guy will wake up and realize - wow! The reason that these murdering thugs didn't kill me was because I was promoting their cause. A person with even an ounce of good in them might ponder; ouch! what does that say about me?
Posted by: 2b || 10/21/2004 10:52 Comments || Top||


Europe
3 Inmates Questioned on Alleged Spain Plot
Three Algerians who are considered close to a suspected ringleader of the Madrid train bombings are being questioned about an alleged plot to kill judges investigating Islamic terrorists, officials said Thursday. The three are among 10 prisoners who have been isolated from other inmates for questioning over a possible link to the alleged plot targeting the National Court with a suicide truck bomb packing 1,100 pounds of explosives, police said. In 2001, the court convicted the three of belonging to an Algerian terrorist group along with Allekema Lamari, who was released from jail in 2002 in what officials said was an administrative mistake. Lamari is now suspected of having been a ringleader of the March 11 train bombings in Madrid, which killed 191 people.

Lamari has been identified as being among seven suspects who blew themselves up April 3 as police investigating the bombings prepared to arrest them in an apartment outside Madrid. A police spokesman declined to comment on Lamari's relationship with the three isolated inmates. But the newspaper La Vanguardia quoted one investigator as saying: "It is not that the three knew Lamari. Rather, they were his people." The alleged leader of the court bombing plot, Mohamed Achraf, is said to have recruited cell members while jailed in Spain for credit-card fraud. Eight suspected cell members were arrested in Spain this week on the basis of testimony from an informant who was in contact with Achraf. One of those eight detainees, Madjid Sahouane, was arrested in Spain in September 2001 on suspicion of links to terror suspects elsewhere in Europe, but a judge freed him on bail a month later and threw out the case in February of this year, citing lack of evidence.
Posted by: Fred || 10/21/2004 2:56:32 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


French Al Qaeda man tells all to interrogators
The Advertiser, an Austrialian newspaper, has come out with some startling revelations about an Al Qaeda man, a French national, captured in Australia and now being interrogated by the French. According to a report published by the newspaper on 18 October, Willie Brigitte, the captured man, has told French investigators of his extraordinary journey from failed butcher to linchpin in an Al Qaeda plan to launch a terror attack on Australia.
"M'sieur Brigitte, it is time we talked!"
"Are those... ummm... pliers?"
"Would you be so kind as to tell us where you were trained?"
"Mrrf?"
"Legume! Get off his head!"
He has detailed the high-altitude paramilitary training he undertook in a vast camp overlooking the Himalayas in which he and thousands of jihad warriors were schooled in terrorism.
"Yes, yes. Lovely, no doubt. But we were looking for more detail, M'sieur Brigitte."
"I can't talk with these underwear on my head!"
"Those are crotchless. Legume, would you be so kind as to arrange them for our... guest?"
He has told of how Osama Bin Laden's allies have penetrated the Pakistani Army to thwart US efforts to crack terrorist training operations in the remote Pakistani mountain regions that border Afghanistan.
"Legume? You are writing all this down?"
"Yes, Inspector!"
"Be careful not to let your notes fall into the hands of Australian newspapers!"
A year after the French national was captured in a western Sydney apartment with documents indicating he was planning to launch an attack on Australian targets, his interrogation transcripts are said to have come into the possession of the Australian newspaper.
"M'sieur Brigitte, I am always curious to know how the network of people prepared to join the Islamist jihad against the West function. Perhaps you could provide some insight?"
"Snnnnrr!"
"You can let go of his nose now, Legume."
The transcripts are said to give a rare insight into how the networks of people prepared to join the Islamist jihad against the West function. Brigitte told investigators the camp where he was trained in the use of explosives, small arms and terrorism tactics was a sophisticated three-tiered mountain complex close to the Indo-Pakistani border.
"Ahah! In Kashmir, then?"
"Ow!"
He was grouped with foreign recruits, including American and British citizens of Pakistani origin. "There were between 2,000 and 3,000 mujahideens," Brigitte told French anti-terror judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere.
"Pfeh! That many? Are you sure you remember the numbers correctly?"
"I remember it was very impressive because we gathered every morning and shouted Allah Akbar. What was more, the site was imposing since one could see the outline of the Himalayas."
"Yes, yes. You keep coming back to that. I am sure it was lovely. But I am more interested in who was doing the training. Hit him again, Legume!"
The camp was run by Lashkar e-Taiba (LET).
"A terrorist organization? I thought they were primarily interested in Kashmir? Or is there more there than meets the eye, M'sieur Brigitte?"
Brigitte said LET was filled with soldiers from the Pakistan Army who worked to sabotage efforts by the West to fight bin Laden and his allies.
"And the Pakistani army tolerated this state of affairs? They had nothing to say about it?"
"There was complete complicity between Lashkar e Taiba and the Pakistani Army," Brigitte said in a secret interrogation in the Paris judicial chambers of Judge Bruguiere on 3 December 2003.
"I believe he feels like talking now, Legume. You may take your thumb out of his eye."
"Yes, your honor!"
"So where did these weapons come from, M'sieur Brigitte?"
"Furthermore, the weapons were provided by the army. The munitions were brought in by night between the first and second levels (of the camp). There was everything — munitions, arms and food. We had the feeling that these weapons came from the Pakistani Army."
"And what type of weapons were there? No... French weapons, of course?"
"There were American M16s, French FAMS, Kalashnikovs and Makarovs."
"You are sure they were French, M'sieur Brigitte?"
"Ow! Owwwww! I may have been mistaken about those!"
"All the identification numbers had been removed."
"But surely someone must have noticed military activity in the area? If such a thing got out..."
Brigitte said on several occasions he was ordered to remove any evidence of military activity. The camp leaders had been warned that a raid by a coalition of CIA agents and Pakistani soldiers was imminent.
"There was this guy, they called him Mahmoud the Weasel..."
"Ah! I understand!"
"I can remember four raids by the Pakistani Army," Brigitte said. "They always asked the foreign volunteers, of whom I was one, to clean up the camp and particularly to collect the cartridge cases and cartridges. There were no more than 15 Pakistani soldiers who came to carry out these checks with the same number of Americans. We were told that they were CIA agents who had come to check for the presence of foreign mujahideens."
"And rather than a military camp, they saw nothing but 3,000 men with turbans, yelling 'Allahu Akbar'? Was it very cold where you were? They must have been numb! And you were there for how long?"
Brigitte stayed at the camp for six weeks before returning to Paris early in 2002.
"You returned to Paris early in 2002? In the spring?"
"I love Paris in the springtime!"
"Quiet, Legume!"
"And why did you return to Paris, M'sieur Brigitte?"
"I was lonely. I missed my... my lover."
"Perhaps we should ask her what your intentions were?"
"I assure you, my intentions were purely honorable!"
His lover flatmate in Paris, Ibrahim Keita, said Brigitte had returned under orders to organise a sleeper cell there.
"Ibrahim! You have betrayed me!"
"Quiet, M'sieur Brigitte! Legume! Hit him again!"
"Brigitte did explain to me he had been sent back to France in order to make contact with a certain number of people," Keita told Judge Bruguiere.
"Thank you, M'sieur Keita. Legume, let go of his ears."
"They were individuals who had either already fought or who had taken training in camps like him, as I understood it."
"And who was his controller?"
Brigitte was acting under orders from his mentor at the LET camp, known as Sajid Abu Braa, a 30-year-old Pakistan Army soldier in charge of foreign recruits. Abu Braa, who travelled with two personal bodyguards, was a close associate of the camp's leader, known only as Zakerahmane.
"I am not familiar with that name. He sounds like he may be an Algerian. Can you perhaps tell me a little more about him?"
In Afghanistan, he was Bin Laden's right-hand man.
"Pfeh! Aren't they all? Bin Laden must have dozens of right hands!"
Brigitte was arrested at his Sydney flat on 9 October 2003 and officials found maps of Australian nuclear sites, and the Perth headquarters of Australia's elite SAS unit. He was repatriated to France on October 17, where he remains imprisoned in Paris's Fleury Merogis Jail.
Posted by: Destro || 10/21/2004 4:00:16 AM || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I don't know about this about half way through the third paragraph I put my waders on.

"There were between 2,000 and 3,000 mujahideens…" I am pretty sure any location that can "train" that large a numkber of people no matter how primitave is quite visible from space. I know "someone" saw it and pointed it out even if just the Indains if in reality it existed.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 10/21/2004 9:02 Comments || Top||

#2  a couple bunker busters could do a real nice job on this place
Posted by: smokeysinse || 10/21/2004 11:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Why is this guy suddenly so helpful and forthcoming with us? Is it Grinch II-his heart grew three times that day? Anyone have a feeling we have a poisonous mix here of startling truths and diversionary lies?
Posted by: Jules 187 || 10/21/2004 11:38 Comments || Top||

#4  Sounds like quite a spinner. "2,000-3,000" bad boyz is ridiculous. That would require a football field-sized facility of maybe 50,000 square feet.

Also love the travel writer's touch about the "impressive" (I think the translation of impressionant was wrong) view of the Himalayas. Sounds like a complete wannabe.
Posted by: lex || 10/21/2004 15:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Actually the size of the training camps matches with Indian claims about Jihadi camps located in Pakistan (which India does have satellite proof of). This kind of training has been going on for years, but since most of the trainees are Pakistanis and Kashmiris, the Pakistani government has managed to get away with it.

In fact the majority of Jihadis training camps have always been located in Pakistan rather than Afghanistan, it is just that Al Qaeda tended to train their forces in the Afghan camps.
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 10/21/2004 18:28 Comments || Top||

#6  well, gosh, Paul! How could this happen with Pervez and the ISI as our allies?

(/naive)
Posted by: Frank G || 10/21/2004 18:52 Comments || Top||

#7  Wow! Even French JIHADIS are pussies.
Posted by: whitecollar redneck || 10/21/2004 22:53 Comments || Top||

#8  9.8! But it's tooooo late. Sad it'll get lost.
Posted by: Shipman || 10/22/2004 6:51 Comments || Top||

#9  a classix?
Posted by: Frank G || 10/22/2004 8:20 Comments || Top||

#10  ",,,officials found maps of Australian nuclear sites, and the Perth headquarters of Australia’s elite SAS unit... He was repatriated to France..."
No offense to the Aussies, but this guy needed a tribunal and a firing squad. Australia, is this a war on terror or not?
Posted by: Tom || 10/22/2004 8:32 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Government Moves to Strip Citizenship from Holy Land Foundation Board Member
CBS-11 News has learned that federal authorities have invoked a rarely-used federal statute — mainly used in past decades to deport former Nazis - to de-naturalize native Palestinian Rasmi Khader Almallah. The government's "Complaint to Revoke Naturalization" claims Almallah paid a woman for a "sham marriage" in 1981 that helped him gain permanent residency and then American citizenship in 1988. But sources tell CBS-11 the motive behind the government effort is Almallah's long association with the Richardson-based Holy Land Foundation, which the Bush administration shuttered in 2001 and accused of clandestinely providing funds to help the designated terrorist group Hamas deploy suicide bombers against Israeli civilians. Almallah, since remarried, the father of seven U.S.-born children, and the founding owner of the booming 50-store Carpet Mills of America chain, served as a board member of the Holy Land Foundation, according to a 2000 foundation tax return. He has maintained close ties to top foundation officers who the government in July criminally indicted on charges that their fundraising work supported suicide bombings against Israeli citizens. Almallah also has served as an officer of the Islamic Association of Palestine, which has come under federal investigation for alleged — and vigorously disputed — terrorist ties. But Almallah was not among the seven men indicted in Dallas this summer for their Holy Land Foundation fundraising work, and he has not been charged with any crime.
Well, except lying about his fake marrige.

Immigration law experts tell CBS-11 News that use of the de-naturalization statutes has been rare. Prior to the 9-11 terror attacks, the statutes were invoked mainly as a means to deport former Nazis who were discovered to have illegally gained American citizenship by lying on application materials about their pasts.
And now they are using the same tactics against Islamic Nazis.
But since 9-11, although still very rare, a number of denaturalization lawsuits have been brought against Middle Eastern Americans suspected of terrorist ties.
The lawsuit against Almallah would be the first such case brought against any Middle Easterner in the Northern District of Texas. Specifically, he is accused of paying Rose Marie Hawley, a United States citizen, to marry him on December 21, 1981 and help him gain permanent resident status, a required prelude to full citizenship. The government's lawsuit says the couple never lived together as husband and wife, although during a interview with the INS for permanent residence, "defendant testified...specifically that he and Ms. Hawley resided together as husband and wife. "That representation was false."
EFL - lot's of stuff about Ashcroft kicking suffering muslims out of the country on immigration issues instead of terrorism charges.
Posted by: Steve || 10/21/2004 8:35:14 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  wow - AshKKKroft is kicking this POS out? Good!
Posted by: Frank G || 10/21/2004 9:23 Comments || Top||

#2  'Bout damn time.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 10/21/2004 10:58 Comments || Top||

#3  So....what's happening to Ms Hawley? I know the current law is 10 yrs or 100k. I think it might even be both. Don't have my paperwork with me right now to check, but it's nothing I would want to risk.
Posted by: Desert Blondie || 10/21/2004 13:26 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Philippine bomb suspects 'confess'
Three people have allegedly confessed to taking part in bomb attacks in the southern Philippines last year. The three suspects are said to have helped bomb an airport and ferry port in Davao, killing 38 people and wounding 100 others. Security officials said the suspects admitted to being members of the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). At least one of them is also accused of having links with the regional militant group Jemaah Islamiah. The three suspects - Abdul Menap Mentang, Monawara Usop and Mursid Mubpon - were paraded before the media by security officials on Thursday, though they have not yet been charged. The two men wore orange prison-issue shirts, while their alleged female accomplice Monawara Usop wore a black dress. The three were arrested in Manila earlier this month and confessed to involvement in the bombings while under interrogation, military spokesman Lieutenant General Edilberto Adan told the French news agency AFP.
"Ouch! OK, we dun it!"
Abdul Menap Mentang reportedly told investigators he had assembled the bombs used in the Davao attacks, and was a member of the MILF, a local Muslim separatist group which has fought a 35-year rebellion in the region. Mentang also said he was trained by a senior Jemaah Islamiah (JI) leader, an Indonesian named as Zulkifli, who ordered and financed the Davao attacks. Zulkifli was arrested in Malaysia last year. The alleged link between the MILF and JI comes despite the MILF's promise to cut all ties with terrorist organisations as part of peace talks with the Philippine government.
Tap, tap, nope
Posted by: Steve || 10/21/2004 9:25:57 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine
Fat Lady sings for al-Ghoul
An Israeli aircraft fired two missiles at a vehicle traveling in the Gaza Strip late Thursday, killing two people including a senior Hamas member at the top of Israel's most-wanted list, a spokesman for the militant group said. Adnan al-Ghoul, the No. 2 figure in the group's military wing, died in the attack, said Hamas spokesman Musher al-Masri. "It's a new crime committed by the Zionist occupation government against one of the leaders of the Palestinian resistance," al-Masri predictably said. The army had no immediate comment. The Hamas military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, plans and carries out attacks on Israelis. Al-Ghoul's killing leaves the Hamas military leadership exclusively in the hands of Mohammed Deif, its longtime chief.
Time to start looking nervously over your shoulder, Mo.
Both men topped Israel's wanted list and operated from hiding for years. Each escaped a September 2003 airstrike aimed at a gathering of the Hamas leadership in Gaza City. The attack took place north of Gaza City as dozens of people were leaving a nearby mosque after evening prayers. Following the airstrike, hundreds of people, including firefighters and security forces, gathered around the white Mitsubishi for a good ol' fashioned car swarm. Fun for the whole family! as ambulances rushed to the scene. The crowd chanted anti-Israel slogans and screamed for revenge. Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat condemned the killing, which he said "reflects the determination of the Israeli government to continue the path of military solutions rather than negotiations."
UPDATE:
The army had no immediate comment on the attack, which also killed Ghoul's aide, Hamas gunman Imad Abbas. Ghoul was Hamas's top engineer who manufactured explosive devices and weapons that were used in dozens of attacks against Israelis, Palestinian sources said. Palestinians called Ghoul "the father of the Qassam rocket".
Fred? This guy maybe rates the Fat Lady...
Posted by: Seafarious || 10/21/2004 4:40:47 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Al-Ghoul's killing leaves the Hamas military leadership exclusively in the hands of Mohammed Deif, its longtime chief.

Oh, boy. I know who I'm putting in my Dead Pool for 2005.
Posted by: Dreadnought || 10/21/2004 16:57 Comments || Top||

#2  What a shame.

Meanwhile, Hamas holds competition to select movement's anthem

What about this?
Posted by: Lux || 10/21/2004 17:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Adnan al-Ghoul, it is all in the name......a halloween pretreat (or trick).
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 10/21/2004 17:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Lux---we RBers need to get right on the task of possible Hamas anthems.

Michael Morley! Calling Michael Morley! You services are needed in the songwriting department immediately! That is all.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 10/21/2004 17:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Adnan al-Ghoul?!? More fodder for Taranto's "It's the eponymy, stupid" feature.
Posted by: BH || 10/21/2004 17:33 Comments || Top||

#6  Nice shot.
Posted by: Mark Z. || 10/21/2004 17:42 Comments || Top||

#7  Both men topped Israel's wanted list and operated from hiding for years.

Not any more. Are there any volunteers that would like to step up to the plate and assume the duties of the deceased?
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 10/21/2004 17:42 Comments || Top||

#8  The appropriately named al-Ghoul....may he rot.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 10/21/2004 17:48 Comments || Top||

#9  Gone and quickly forgotten...
Posted by: Fred || 10/21/2004 17:54 Comments || Top||

#10  To who ever is coming up with the pictures in the posts. You keep me laughing.

This one took me a second, but when it hit I had people looking over in the walls.

Great job!
Posted by: Michael || 10/21/2004 17:56 Comments || Top||

#11  Alas, poor Adnan...
Posted by: Seafarious || 10/21/2004 17:58 Comments || Top||

#12  I was gonna take a shot, but, really Al-Ghoul? That's like the puffballs Kerry got in the "debates"
Posted by: Frank G || 10/21/2004 18:13 Comments || Top||

#13  Wasn't he a villian in the Batman cartoons?
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 10/21/2004 18:45 Comments || Top||

#14  Excellent car swarm on Fox News video - I give it a 8.0
Posted by: Frank G || 10/21/2004 19:10 Comments || Top||

#15  Right-o Frank. Saw two pics on LGF. They are sure tempting targets.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 10/21/2004 19:43 Comments || Top||

#16  They're all ghouls...it's like Night of the Living Dead.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 10/21/2004 19:52 Comments || Top||

#17  I am not gambling man but I think we have two qualified applicants to fill the open slots at, Hellfire Elementary School.

Posted by: Poison Reverse || 10/21/2004 20:06 Comments || Top||

#18  You young folks got yer cartoon characters and your popcorn not to mention them cheap pliers and stuff out of the ladies sections of Sears & Roebuck (PBUT), but I've spent 2 long winters in RantBurg within nothing but the rare fat lady and one rasher of bacon.
Posted by: Grand Pappy Amos || 10/21/2004 20:07 Comments || Top||

#19  Ra's al-Ghoul was the Batman nemesis.
http://tinyurl.com/4rstq

But I still wonder which Hamas chief is tipping off the Israelis?
Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/21/2004 20:20 Comments || Top||

#20  Golly, When I read the title I thought this was something regarding Al-Gore. Maybe he had finally gone nuts??

However, I am pleasantly surprised to find that another Hamas leader met Mr. Hellfire!! Good Shootin' Boys!!
Posted by: TomAnon || 10/21/2004 22:03 Comments || Top||

#21  Yeah, that's what gets me. Isreal has been after these characters for decades. Why are they nailing all of them, all of the sudden? Obviously they're being turned in by someone. But who?
Posted by: gromky || 10/21/2004 22:52 Comments || Top||

#22  Who is ratting out the other vermin?
We'll just to wait and see who the last one left alive is.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 10/22/2004 0:02 Comments || Top||

#23  Gawd, I'm gettin' ta love the fat lady!

Good shootin' boys!

AC, I very much doubt anyone will admit anything: Palestinians are on the fast track to outclassing the Hatfields and McCoys when it comes to holding a grudge. The mother of Poison Reverse's kiddies (#17) will be urging her little darlings to take revenge on anyone who admits to helping the IDF take out terrorists, even when they're 50. Your implication that the ratter will be the last man standing is probably all the clue we'll get.

Posted by: Ptah || 10/22/2004 12:17 Comments || Top||


Africa: Horn
Sudan Jails Janjaweed Leader for Three Years
Under international pressure to crack down on Arab militiamen blamed for attacking African villagers in Darfur, a Sudanese official said yesterday that authorities here have handed down their first known conviction against a Janjaweed leader, jailing him for three years. Mohammed Barbary Ahab El-Nabi, an Awalad Zeid tribal leader in the western town of El-Geneina, was sentenced last week after being found guilty of "looting cows and burning properties" in the village of Dory Monkish, said Abdel Moniem Taha, the director of human rights at the Sudanese Justice Ministry. Taha said that police arrested El-Nabi on Oct. 4 and that an El-Geneina judge sentenced him on Oct. 14 to three years jail and fined him 10 million Sudanese pounds ($39,000). El-Nabi has been given 15 days to appeal, but it was not immediately clear if he had lodged an appeal yet.

Taha said El-Nabi was the first known Janjaweed leader to be arrested and brought to justice. Sudanese authorities, under pressure to end 18 months of violence in Darfur that has killed tens of thousands and created what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, have said previously that they have jailed Janjaweed members responsible for attacks on African villagers. But human rights groups have argued that those sentenced were only petty criminals, not militiamen. Sudanese officials have complained that police could not track down alleged Janjaweed elements for several reasons, including the lack of security in Darfur and their restricted ability to move freely in the area, which is the size of France, because of a rarely adhered to April cease-fire agreement. A UN Security Council resolution on Sudan passed Sept. 18 called on the Sudanese government to bring to justice "Janjaweed leaders responsible for human rights and international humanitarian law violations in Darfur."
Posted by: Fred || 10/21/2004 3:15:59 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In other words, he was holding the gov't up for more guns & cash....
Posted by: Ulique Glavirong4987 || 10/21/2004 16:25 Comments || Top||


Africa: North
Islamic Leader Calls for Iraq Resistance
In his most public support of militant Islamists, the leader of Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood on Wednesday called on Iraqis and Palestinians to step up their resistance against the United States and Israel. In a speech to hundreds of the movement's members and supporters, Mohammed Mahdi Akef urged the Muslim world to "provide all the necessary material and moral support" to the Iraqi insurgents. "We are with the Iraqi resistance as a righteous duty imposed by Sharia (Islamic law) and sanctioned by international laws," Akef said during an annual banquet his group hosts for supporters and the news media during the holy month of Ramadan. "The Iraqi resistance is the protective wall which defends us all," he said. Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1928 and has spawned branches throughout the Muslim world. It was banned in 1954 for advocating violence to turn Egypt into an Islamist state. Today, still banned, the group says it supports peaceful means toward change and is generally tolerated by the state, with occasional crackdowns. Brotherhood members hold seats in Parliament, though they run as independents, not under the group's name.
Posted by: Fred || 10/21/2004 2:58:35 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We are fighting a war with terrorists, who have no compunction with killing us or their own children. Why are we allowing fanatics a free pass? We need to broaden the war, add a new deminsion if you will, by selectively targeting good gentlemen such as Akef and Prince Nayef the younger. I am sure it goes against
"International Law", but I am really tired of us fighting these skunks with one hand tied behind us.
Posted by: Old Fogey || 10/21/2004 16:05 Comments || Top||

#2  We are fighting a war with terrorists, who have no compunction with killing us or their own children. Why are we allowing fanatics a free pass? We need to broaden the war, add a new deminsion if you will, by selectively targeting good gentlemen such as Akef and Prince Nayef the younger. I am sure it goes against
"International Law", but I am really tired of us fighting these skunks with one hand tied behind us.
Posted by: Old Fogey || 10/21/2004 16:06 Comments || Top||

#3  A bullet in the head would solve Akef's problems pretty damn quick.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 10/21/2004 16:20 Comments || Top||

#4  Eh, at least it isn't a Mufti. The Muslim Brotherhood is an apostrophe away from a terrorist group on most days, anyways. Someone ought to point out to Mubarak that with al Queda terrorizing the "near enemy" (see "Taba"), maybe he might want to be looking into kicking a little Brotherly ass.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 10/21/2004 16:20 Comments || Top||

#5  The Muslim Brotherhood *spawned* about two dozen officially "terrorist" organizations. It is the queen bee to a lot of this crap and hides under the Egyptian umbrella like al-Qaeda did under the Taliban and the Saudi terrorists do under the Saudi regime. Unfortunately, unlike the Saudis, the Egyptians haven't woken up to the fact that they cannot be controlled, and must be eradicated.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/21/2004 17:31 Comments || Top||

#6  Bomb-a-rama is spot on. THIS is a perfect example of what I specifically mean when I call for targeted assasination. Mr. Mahdi Akef should catch an ounce of lead in the skull delivered compliments of US Special Forces working undercover. What I'm about to say may not sit well with some (perhaps most) readers of Rantburg: Those IN the USA who hold with the likes of Mr. Madhi Akef, who find him to be a kindered spirit, should meet a fate similar to the one outlined above.
Posted by: Mark Z. || 10/21/2004 17:57 Comments || Top||

#7  Mark Z - I have absolutely no problem with that
Posted by: Frank G || 10/21/2004 18:20 Comments || Top||

#8  "What I'm about to say may not sit well with some (perhaps most) readers of Rantburg: Those IN the USA who hold with the likes of Mr. Madhi Akef, who find him to be a kindered spirit, should meet a fate similar to the one outlined above."

I have no quarrel with that, AT ALL.
Posted by: Dave D. || 10/21/2004 18:36 Comments || Top||

#9  Mark Z. What part of what Akef has to say would find agreement with any Rantburger?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 10/21/2004 18:42 Comments || Top||

#10  next thing LH and Aris, et al, will accuse us of being bloodthirsty
Posted by: Frank G || 10/21/2004 18:53 Comments || Top||

#11  Mrs. Davis: I think you may have misunderstood my point. To be blunt, I'm suggesting that Mr. Madhi Akef and ALL those who hold with his views should be assassinated, WHEREVER they're located. Prior to 9-11 I did not hold the view that someone, however misguided, should be killed for what they believed or espoused. I no longer hold that opinion.
Posted by: Mark Z. || 10/21/2004 18:58 Comments || Top||

#12  Its a lovely idea, Mark Z., but I don't think its very practical at the moment. Our Special forces guys seem to be stretched pretty thin already, and the next batch is likely to be a few more years in the training pipeline. Better, short term, to make it very, very clear to Mubarek et al exactly why its a good idea for them to clean up their own backyard. Now. So that we don't have to do it for them.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/21/2004 19:22 Comments || Top||

#13  Are there any ex-KGB operatives in Egypt who might be up for a little mokriye dela moonlighting? The older ones have a fair amount of experience in those parts.
Posted by: lex || 10/21/2004 19:26 Comments || Top||

#14  he's talking about a John Clark Jr.
Posted by: Frank G || 10/21/2004 19:58 Comments || Top||

#15  sayid qutb's grave should be robbed and its contents fed to a pig farm--zawahiri's brother should be garroted in heliopolis at high noon--AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI || 10/22/2004 0:00 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Lions of Desert attack busload of stews
Gunmen opened fire Thursday on a bus carrying female employees of Iraqi Airways to the Baghdad airport, killing one woman and wounding 14 others, an airline official said.
Posted by: Fred || 10/21/2004 2:55:01 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan/South Asia
Afghan Prisoners Released From U.S. Base
Seventeen Afghans were released Thursday from a U.S. base at the center of an investigation into the deaths of two prisoners in custody, the international Red Cross said. The men were freed from Bagram Air Base, north of the capital, and brought to Kabul, where Red Cross officials gave them enough money to cover their trip home to Pakistan. An estimated 300 prisoners remain in the base. Several of the men said they had been picked up some four months ago and interrogated repeatedly about the activities of Taliban rebels. But they spoke of no mistreatment in the time before they were released without charge.
Posted by: Fred || 10/21/2004 2:53:41 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Somebody should tell the Red Crescent Cross to shove it. They don't protect our soldiers when captured and they seem to do everything they can to put bad guys back on the street.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 10/21/2004 15:59 Comments || Top||


Taliban Commander's Aide Accused of Attack
Security forces arrested a deputy of a top Taliban commander Thursday for a bomb attack that wounded three U.S. soldiers, and an American soldier died when an Air Force helicopter crashed on a nighttime mission to rescue an election worker. A homemade bomb destroyed two American Humvees in southeastern Paktika province near the Pakistan border, wounding three U.S. soldiers, one critically, and their Afghan interpreter, a U.S. military statement said. Paktika Gov. Gulab Mungal said Afghan forces later arrested a suspect in the attack, whom he identified only as a deputy of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a front-line Taliban commander who served briefly as tribal affairs minister before the fall of the hard-line Islamic regime in late 2001. He remains at large. Mungal said several land mines, explosives and bomb-making instructions written in Arabic were seized from the suspect's house. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on the Americans, but Abdul Hakim Latifi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, vowed Thursday the rebels would continue their "holy war" against the U.S.-led coalition forces and the Afghan government. "If the government holds elections 100 times this will not change the Taliban's commitment to jihad. The Taliban will pursue jihad until death," he told The Associated Press by satellite phone from an undisclosed location.
... well inside Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred || 10/21/2004 2:48:00 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
U.N. to Increase Unarmed Staff in Sudan
Posted by: Fred || 10/21/2004 2:38:17 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Mortar Rounds Explode in Mosul Near Allawi
Posted by: Fred || 10/21/2004 2:35:39 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Still wanna negotiate?
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 10/21/2004 15:09 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine
Anti-Tank Missile Missed School Bus
Arab terrorists fired an anti-tank missile this afternoon at a school bus traveling in the vicinity of the Jewish town of Morag, in the Gaza region. In what was described as a "miracle", the missile totally missed the bus. Simultaneous with the missile strike, the terrorists opened fire with automatic weapons. There were no injuries to Israelis in the attack. Terrorists have carried out similar combined ambushes in the past, which have proved quite fatal. Most notably, two combination attacks on a passenger bus near Emanuel (in 2002 and 2001) in the Shomron, and another on a school bus from Kfar Darom (in 2001) killed 19 people, many of them children.

IDF forces prevented an apparent enemy infiltration into a Jewish community last night. Two armed terrorists were detected near the security fence in proximity to Kibbutz Nahal Oz, located on the Green Line side of the Gaza fence. Soldiers fired at the would-be infiltrators, killing them.

In another success against Arab terrorism in Israel today, IDF soldiers at the Kalandia checkpoint, north of Jerusalem, stopped a Palestinian Authority resident armed with a knife and acid. He admitted that he intended to stab a soldier and spill the corrosive agent on his victim. The would-be attacker was transferred to security services interrogators for further questioning.

Two other Arabs were arrested today by Israeli security forces for attempting to take two Jews captive near the community of Adei-Ad, in the Binyamin region. One of the intended victims managed to place an emergency call when a group of Arabs tried to kidnap them. The accomplices of the arrested kidnappers apparently fled the scene.

IDF forces arrested six other PA residents suspected of terrorist activities. Arrests were made in the Shechem, Ramallah, and Bethlehem districts. Suspects in custody include PFLP and Islamic Jihad terrorists.
Posted by: Fred || 10/21/2004 12:33:47 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  hmmmmm - missile at a school bus. Consequences should be sufficiently harsh to enrage the EU.

"Paleos - going backwards on the civilization scale...cuz of the Joooos"
Posted by: Frank G || 10/21/2004 12:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Bigger than a barn door and they missed. Whew! Not only are they sub-barbarians, they are terminal in every other respect, as well. Fry 'em up.
Posted by: .com || 10/21/2004 12:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Firing missles at a fucking school bus!

What brave warriors!

Worse yet is the EU, UN, John Kerry, and MSM will give these bloodthirsty children murders a pass on it - or blame it on Israel. (And I know that nobody was killed -- but not due to lack of trying but by a miracle...).
Posted by: CrazyFool || 10/21/2004 12:56 Comments || Top||

#4  IDF soldiers . . . stopped a Palestinian Authority resident armed with a knife and acid. He admitted that he intended to stab a soldier and spill the corrosive agent on his victim.

Antiwar's boyfriend, no doubt. Sick, sick people.
Posted by: ex-lib || 10/21/2004 12:57 Comments || Top||

#5  Do they sell acid by the six-pack over there?
Posted by: tu3031 || 10/21/2004 13:28 Comments || Top||

#6  Mecca Cola, Rumallah Acid - what's the big deal, tu?
;-)
Posted by: .com || 10/21/2004 13:29 Comments || Top||

#7  Hey, I've got a great idea! Let's reward these people by giving them their own state!
Posted by: Dar || 10/21/2004 14:34 Comments || Top||

#8  #1 They fell off the wrong end of the scale of civilization long ago.
Posted by: Bryan || 10/21/2004 15:55 Comments || Top||

#9  Luckily the baby Jews weren't armed.

Speaking of....
Lucky you out there buddy?
USC looking good this time! (Maybe :))
Posted by: Shipman || 10/21/2004 16:36 Comments || Top||


Personal Request for help for a Veteran needing VA compensation.
My apologies if this meets the requirements of an off-topic post. I won't complain if Fred or the other moderators decide to delete it.

My Father-in-law is having hearing problems and wants compensation from the VA for a hearing aid. He believes it is due to his service in the Fourth Marine Division in an artillery unit during WW-II (Among other islands in the Pacific campaign, he was on Iwo-Jima, participated in the bombardment of Mount Surabachi, and was on the island when the flag went up.) He's having difficulty proving his case, and asked me to do some research. I'd appreciate it if any one can give me any pointers to research, papers, or regulations regarding hearing loss in artillery units and VA compensation in the form of hearing aids.

My apologies again for bothering the Rantburg community. My excuse is that I practically idolize this man and regard him as one of those who saved the world before I was born.
Posted by: Ptah || 10/21/2004 11:37:09 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ptah, where is your father-in-law? Maybe someone out there knows someone local who can help him.
Posted by: Desert Blondie || 10/21/2004 12:20 Comments || Top||

#2  I know at least 15 arty guys - ALL of them required hearing aids. I don't think he should be having trouble getting the VA to take care of this - is he following the normal paperwork route for assistance?
Posted by: .com || 10/21/2004 12:23 Comments || Top||

#3  ...Ptah, my supervisor at work was an arty FO in Vietnam, and he's in the process of getting his disability app done up - let me ask him tonight if there's anything he can suggest.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 10/21/2004 12:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Get in touch with the local VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars). They may have some good advice for him if they are an organized unit. I take it medicare want get him one?

Posted by: Johnnie Bartlette || 10/21/2004 12:28 Comments || Top||

#5  Ptah, There should be a Veterans Representative in your county that will walk you through the paperwork and bureaucracy. Usually they are located in the county administrative office. If you can’t locate or contact the one in your county, contact me via my email and I will track one down for you. I will need to know the city/county/state where you live, but I can find one very quickly.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 10/21/2004 12:43 Comments || Top||

#6  I assume your Father-In-Law has a congressional representative looking for election or re-election Nov. 2nd? Now is your time of maximum leverage
Posted by: Frank G || 10/21/2004 12:47 Comments || Top||

#7  Wow! Killer suggestions and info, guys - cool. Ptah, you've got the masters of veteran's affairs on the case, bro. Good luck and offer our best wishes to your father-in-law - he deserves the best of care and unending thanks - from every American.
Posted by: .com || 10/21/2004 12:51 Comments || Top||

#8  Prosthetic and Sensory Aid Services
VA will furnish needed prosthetic appliances,...

VA will provide hearing aids and eyeglasses to veterans who receive increased pension based on the need for regular aid and attendance or being permanently housebound, receive compensation for a service-connected disability or are former prisoners of war. Otherwise, hearing aids and eyeglasses will be provided only in special circumstances, and not for normally occurring hearing or vision loss. For additional information, contact the prosthetic representative at your local VA health care facility.

Documentation is the key to benefits.

Call 1-877-222-VETS (8387)
Posted by: RN || 10/21/2004 12:54 Comments || Top||

#9  A bit more comprehensive...I apologize for its length, but the info appears useful.

Are all veterans eligible for hearing aid benefits?Not all veterans are eligible for hearing aids. Veterans who enroll for VA medical benefits are placed in one of seven eligibility categories based on service-related disabilities, income level, and other factors. All veterans with a service-connected disability for hearing loss or ear-related diseases (including tinnitus) are eligible for hearing aid services. The following veterans are also eligible: all veterans who are 10% or more disabled for any conditon or combination of conditions, former prisoners of war, veterans of World War I and the Mexican Border Period, veterans receiving special pension benefits, and veterans in several other special categories. Veterans who are not otherwise eligible in the above categories are entitled to a hearing aid only if (1) their hearing loss results from another medical condition for which the veteran is being treated at a VA facility or results from the treatment of such condition (e.g. ear surgery) or (2) their hearing loss is sufficiently severe that a hearing aid is necessary to permit active participation in their own medical care.


How do I know who is eligible?
Veterans with service-connected disabilities receive an award letter. Veterans who are 10% or more disabled recieve monthly monetary benefits. Non service-connected veterans are eligible based on medical necessity. These veterans must be enrolled for VA health care and must be receiving their medical care from the VA to be eligible for special services such as hearing aids. Veterans should contact their local VA facility for assistance in enrollment. Each VA facility has an eligibility office to assist veterans. Veterans can also contact their local service organization for assistance. Veterans may obtain literature on benefits from the local VA Regional Office or from the VA Homepage at www.va.gov.


What is the protocol for a veteran to enter the VA hearing aid system?
If a veteran has never used the VA before, he/she should take a copy of copy of his/her discharge papers (DD214) and a picture ID to the nearest VA facility. The enrollment process is similar to any hospital enrollment. If the patient is service-connected, he/she should bring the disability award letter. If you believe on the basis of the history that the hearing loss may be service-related (e.g. noise exposure in service), you should encourage the veteran to file a claim for disability through the nearest VA Regional Office. Establishing service-connected disbaility is a legal process requiring proof that the condition was caused or aggrevated by military service. Veterans are usually assigned to a Primary Care physician who oversees the patient's general health care needs. Most veterans are referred to Audiology, but some veterans (e.g. service-connected veterans) may obtain services directly from Audiology Clinics without medical referrals at some VA facilities. In those cases where eligibility is based on medical necessity, the audiologist determines if the patient will receive a hearing aid based on a needs assessment and local eligibility rules.


What types of instruments does the VA provide?
The VA issues over 160,000 hearing aids each year at cost of over $50 million. The VA purchases hearing aids on the commercial market according to negotiated contracts with hearing aid manufacturers. All types of hearing aids are available through contract or non-contract sources. ITE and BTE non-programmable and programmable analog hearing aids, special purpose hearing aids (CROS, BICROS), bone conduction, body, and eyeglass hearing aids are currently on contract. Digital hearing aids are not currently on contract but may be purchased for veterans when justified. Veterans are also entitled to spare hearing aids, a wide variety of assisitve listening devices, battery and repair services. Hearing aids and related services are free to veterans. For some veterans who have insurance, other than Medicare, the VA may bill the insurance carrier for some medical and audiological services. Some veterans may also be responsible for paying certain co-payments for pharmacy and medical services.


Dr. Dennis is Deputy Director of the National Audiology and Speech Pathology Service, Department of Veterans Affairs. The opinions stated herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policies of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The information contained herein is not intended to be a complete or official statement of VA eligibility rules. Veterans seeking VA benefits are encouraged to contact the nearest VA facility for assistance.


Posted by: RN || 10/21/2004 13:05 Comments || Top||

#10  Wow! I kept checking "Short Term Attention Span" on Page 2, feeling that maybe it didn't make the cut, and here it is on page 1, with all the advice, knowledge, and wisdom that I knew stopped by Rantburg. God bless y'all, with special thanks to Steve and RN.

I have not gotten all the details from him on his attempts to get compensation for a hearing aid, but will be seeing him soon. After going through the conversation, it now seems that he just wrote a VA office and the person didn't really answer the question that really needed answering. He hasn't applied for financial compensation because he thought his condition, after he got out of the Marines, would improve, and he didn't want to take money that he thought should go to Vets more disabled and deserving than he. He's an active participant in the Atlanta VA chapter (Heck, he was the president during a recent financial crisis, and saved the chapter), but the chapter's priorities were focussed on mutual support and encouraging patriotism, but not much of a database for anything else.

The key, of course, as RN said, is documentation and following procedures. I'll grab what you posted, RN, and forward to him: its the most comprehensive thing on this issue that I've found, and I've been doing a lot of googling and coming up nearly dry. Also, it looks as if y'all have concluded that he needs to meet with a face rather than send letters. As luck would have it, the VA hosptial in Atlanta is a mile down the street, AND my Mother in Law works there as a volunteer. Thanks to y'all, I've got the title to give to him.

Again, God bless y'all. Now, if you'll excuse me, my contacts washed out of my eyes and I need to put them back in again...
Posted by: Ptah || 10/21/2004 13:36 Comments || Top||

#11  Semper Fi!
Posted by: RN || 10/21/2004 13:40 Comments || Top||

#12  My elderly father (WW2) has zero problem getting hearing aids from the VA. I've taken him to the VA medical facility for examinations etc. You might have to wait a few months for appointment but the VA medical system is good on this

I don't know why you use the word "compensation"? The VA dispenses hearing aids. They don't pay for you to visit a private hearing aid doctor.



Posted by: dennisw || 10/21/2004 13:59 Comments || Top||

#13  A couple of my old Vietnam buddies were at artillery firebases and now have VA supplied hearing aids. I'll ask them how to go about it.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 10/21/2004 14:33 Comments || Top||

#14  If all else fails have him apply for the the Vocational Rehabilition Program this is for education but under this program you get 100% VA medical treatment. This program is for veterans with 20% or more rating. Also, if he has never had a VA evaluation have him get one done, any Veteran is entitled to an evaluation, if one has not been done. I'm putting this out so all Veterans no this. Last, the VA cannot by federal law deny medical treatment to any U.S. Veteran.
Posted by: SGT. Rock || 10/21/2004 14:50 Comments || Top||

#15  Ptah my Dad was in the 4th, Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo. Matter of fact he's just back from a small (and getting smaller) reunion in Baltimore. Has you Dad visited Lake City (FL)? Let me ask around.
Posted by: Shipman || 10/21/2004 15:57 Comments || Top||

#16  Check the American Legion reps as well as the VFW - I'm in both and they have peopel whose sole job is to cut thru the crap and get the vet his due.

Also talk to your local congressional representative (constituent service is a real political bonus for them), and both your Senators. May even talk to a local TV station troubleshooter type, or the local newspaper.
Posted by: OIdSpook || 10/21/2004 18:52 Comments || Top||

#17  Ptah - looks like the hearing aid issue is being taken care of so please extend my very best wishes and thanks to your FIL.

Semper Fi - Doc
Posted by: Doc8404 || 10/21/2004 20:40 Comments || Top||

#18  The VA website: http://www.va.gov/ There is alot of info there.

The toll free number to contact VA is 1-800-827-1000. That # will put you in contact with a Veterans Service Representative at a regional office. You can make an appointment or just walk in and talk to a Rep. They will answer questions, explain the application process, and help fill out forms.

The hospital should also have people who can answer questions and help you apply. A county veterans service officer or any of the larger veterans organizations like VFW, American Legion, DAV, AmVets, VVA, PVA will also help.

Your father should definitely apply for compensation. He earned it. (He would have to anyway to get a service-connected disability rating.) Being service-connected would move him up the priority list at the VA hospital.
Posted by: VA clerk || 10/21/2004 21:23 Comments || Top||

#19  I saw my Father in law last night when my wife's parents came over to watch #2 son play football (we won, impressively). I've given him a printout of everyone's comments, and he sends back heartfelt thanks and a big "Semper Fi!".

Also, it seems that, since he had talked to me, he had sent a second, follow up letter, with some documentation, and got a phone call from the San Antonio office to look for a package of application forms. We shall see what happens, but he now has a definite person in mind to see. Sometimes, ya gotta be face to face to close a deal...

Shipman: If your father was at the Baltimore meeting, my FIL definitely met him because he was there too. We can exchange details by e-mail.

Again, a big thanks to everyone.
Posted by: Ptah || 10/22/2004 12:00 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Charges dismissed against ex-boss of Camp Whitehorse
Posted by: Frank G || 10/21/2004 10:59 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Commander asks to be relieved of command
BAGHDAD, Iraq — The company commander of a U.S. Army Reserve unit whose soldiers refused to deliver fuel along a dangerous route in Iraq has been relieved of her duties, the U.S. military said Thursday. The decision to relieve the commander of the 343rd Quartermaster Company came at her request and is effective immediately, according to a statement from the 13th Corps Support Command. It was authorized by Brig. Gen. James E. Chambers. "The outgoing commander is not suspected of misconduct and this move has nothing to do with the guilt or innocence of anyone involved," the statement said.
Right or wrong, if your soldiers screw up, it's your fault. If she did request to be relieved on her own, good for her.
The commander, whose name is being withheld by the military to protect her privacy, will be reassigned to another position commensurate with her rank and experience, the U.S. military said.
Like checking to see that all the rocks lining the parade grounds are correctly painted.
Eighteen soldiers from the 343rd Quartermaster Company, based in Rock Hill, S.C., are under investigation for refusing to drive a fuel convoy from Tallil air base near Nasiriyah to Taji north of Baghdad. The mission was later carried out by other soldiers from the unit, which has at least 120 soldiers, the military said.
Posted by: Don || 10/21/2004 09:02 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Karpinski could learn a thing or two here
Posted by: Frank G || 10/21/2004 9:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Many CO's could learn a thing or two from the integrity displayed by this officer. Whether or not she could have prevented it, she ahs accepted full responsibility the only way that she really can.

Good officer, but not perfect.
Posted by: Jame Retief || 10/21/2004 9:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Having dealt with this type of unit before, I strongly suggest that the Captain was not at fault, and that instead, some staff officer at her HQ, I would guess a Major, is behind this nonsense. A SUPCOM or COSCOM task org is bizarre, mostly detachment, company and individual battalions operating directly under the command. A conglomeration of odd-man-out combat support and combat service support units cobbled together as a pseudo-division. This results in mid-level staff managers acting as battallion or brigade commanders--with results that you can easily imagine. On top of it, the rule still applies that the worst junior staff officers gravitate to divisional HQ.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/21/2004 10:06 Comments || Top||

#4  I have seen Captains who are forced to relay orders that they know don't pass the common sense test. This may be one of those cases or she might have lost control of her command (not unheard of). She is doing the right thing in either case. I won't even mention that LLL former 'Intel' Officer. Did I mention that 99% of all Military Intelligence is processed by ENLISTED people and NOT officers? Let that sway your opinion when someone claims to be an 'Intel' Officer.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 10/21/2004 10:41 Comments || Top||

#5  They'll give her another command, but it's very unlikely she'll ever be promoted again. Permanant Captain.
Posted by: mojo || 10/21/2004 17:48 Comments || Top||


Resentful guerillas informing on Zarqawi: official
Posted by: Karma || 10/21/2004 09:27 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Divide. Conquer. Repeat.
Posted by: Jonathan || 10/21/2004 9:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Rinse. You Forgot Rinse. Cleans the scum out
Posted by: Frank G || 10/21/2004 10:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Time for a small conference between Zarqawi and Sheikh Yassin.
Posted by: Steve from Relto || 10/21/2004 10:58 Comments || Top||

#4  I'd rather see Zarqawi brought in before ben Laden. Perhaps they can serve him up for W before the election.
Posted by: Mac Suirtain || 10/21/2004 13:41 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine
Fatah leader: PA forces are private fiefdoms
The power struggle between rival Palestinian security services is the main reason behind the state of anarchy and lawlessness in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a senior Fatah official said Wednesday. Sakher Habash, a veteran member of the Fatah Central Committee and close aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, accused the commanders of the Palestinian security forces of running the services as if they were private fiefdoms.
"And not giving me my cut," he added. "We're going to have to fix that."
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 10/21/2004 3:02:50 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Payback is a bitch, Sakher Habash. You've created thugocracy and now you complain that thugs find it a marvelous environment to realize their inner potential?

The more fiefdoms, the merrier.
Posted by: Memesis || 10/21/2004 4:12 Comments || Top||

#2  I continue to be amused that they are referred to as "security" forces -- which is exactly what they are not.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/21/2004 7:48 Comments || Top||

#3 
commanders of the Palestinian security forces of running the services as if they were private fiefdoms
Ya' think?

How clueless do these clowns have to be to not realize this from the start?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 10/21/2004 10:59 Comments || Top||

#4  When the corruption starts at the top, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise if the bottom is infected as well.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 10/21/2004 13:39 Comments || Top||

#5  Better they should off each other so they don't have time to try and kill Jews.
Posted by: dennisw || 10/21/2004 13:52 Comments || Top||

#6  Fish rot from the head down...
Posted by: Ptah || 10/21/2004 15:03 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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On Sale now!


A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
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Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2004-10-21
  Anti-Tank Missile Miss Israeli School Bus
Wed 2004-10-20
  Another Cross-Dressing Saudi Busted
Tue 2004-10-19
  Cap'n Hook accused of soliciting to murder
Mon 2004-10-18
  Iraqi cops take down Kirkuk "hostage house"
Sun 2004-10-17
  Soddies wax AQ shura member
Sat 2004-10-16
  Fallujah Seeks Peace Talks if Attacks End
Fri 2004-10-15
  Alamoudi gets 23 years
Thu 2004-10-14
  Caliph of Cologne Charged With Treason
Wed 2004-10-13
  Soddies bang three Bad Guyz
Tue 2004-10-12
  Caliph of Cologne extradited to Turkey
Mon 2004-10-11
  Security HQ and militiamen attacked in NW Iran
Sun 2004-10-10
  Libya Arrests 17 Alleged al-Qaida Members
Sat 2004-10-09
  Afghanistan: Boom-free election
Fri 2004-10-08
  al-Qaeda behind Taba booms
Thu 2004-10-07
  39 Sunnis toes up in Multan festivities

Better than the average link...



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