Afghanistan’s defence minister asked on Thursday for more money and equipment to fight soaring Taliban violence as America’s Pentagon chief criticized NATO allies for failing to deliver promised aid. Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said suicide bombings were up 50 percent from a year ago and that the Afghan army needed more troops and equipment. “We have achieved a great deal with limited manpower and old weapons and equipment,” Wardak said after meeting with US Defence Secretary Robert Gates at the Pentagon. “Imagine what we could do with better equipment and additional help.”
Despite six years of war in Afghanistan, the Taliban regained strength in 2006 and has ramped up attacks on US, Afghan and NATO forces this year.
The Talibs regaining strength in Afghanistan is a direct result of events in Wazoo and the FATA, across the border. They're increasingly obviously a Pak phenomenon, with nobody even bothering to pretend anymore. See, for example, this article today.
NATO forces also have begun to intercept convoys of bomb technology coming into Afghanistan from Iran, according to NATO and US military officials. Wardak called the past two years “the most difficult and challenging since 2001.” “The enemy has stepped up his activities, operating in smaller units over a wider geographic area, with heavy reliance on IED (improvised explosive devices) and suicide bombing,” he said.
That rising violence comes as NATO commanders say they still face shortages in troops, trainers, helicopters and other equipment needed to fight the war.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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An Al Qaeda-linked commander directing a brutal wave of violence in Afghanistan, Siraj Haqqani, is trying to rival Mullah Mohammad Omar for the Taliban leadership, the US-led coalition said Friday.
Haqqani represents a “younger, more aggressive generation of Taliban senior leadership” and has extended his influence from his base in the east to central provinces near Kabul and into the volatile south, it said in a statement. The coalition, leading the US “war on terror” in Afghanistan, has issued a 200,000-dollar reward for the arrest of Haqqani as part of a Most Wanted campaign, which will see posters of about 12 wanted militants put up in the east in the coming weeks.
Haqqani, son of well-known Soviet resistance commander Jalaluddin Haqqani - said to be close to Mullah Omar, is one of the most influential insurgent commanders in the east, the statement said. “His reach now certainly exceeds that of his father and Siraj is working to rival Mullah Omar for the Taliban leadership,” said Major Chris Belcher, coalition spokesman.
There was a story a few months back that Jalaluddin was dead of hepatitis. It's possible, or he may be retired.
“Siraj is part of a younger, more aggressive generation of Taliban senior leadership that is pushing aside the formerly respected elders,” added Lieutenant Colonel Dave Anders, coalition director of operations. “ Siraj is the one dictating the new parameters of brutality associated with Taliban senior leadership,” he said.
The coalition said the militantÂ’s close connections with Al Qaeda have enabled him collect financial support from Middle Eastern countries and to recruit foreign fighters, including from, Uzbekistan, Chechnya and Turkey. The US-led force said it has been carrying out operations to disrupt the Haqqani network, including patrols to clear villages that have led to the detention of more than 30 Haqqani fighters.
I've been lumping "Taliban" all together, including Hezbies unless they're so noted in the news stories, which they're not usually. But there are differences among them. I think of the differences kind of in the same sense as you'd consider different brigades within a single military structure, only with more autonomy. And poorer leadership.
This article starring:
Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak
Defence Secretary Robert Gates
JALALUDIN HAQQANI
Taliban
Lieutenant Colonel Dave Anders, coalition director of operations
Major Chris Belcher
SIRAJ HAQQANI
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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US President George W. Bush on Friday signed a memorandum labeling Saudi Arabia as an anti-terrorism ally. "I hereby certify that Saudi Arabia is cooperating with efforts to combat international terrorism and that the proposed assistance will help facilitate that effort, and hereby waive the application of such sections," A White House memorandum signed by President Bush, said.
The Memorandum was sent to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who, under the US law, would pave the way for US aid to Saudi Arabia.
!
Soon after the September 11 attacks, Saudi Arabia, a close US ally in the Middle East, came under harsh attacks from a number of Congressmen and the press over allegations that it supported terrorism. But the Administration and the Saudi government dismissed the accusations, and vowed to fight together to root out terrorism.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
Damn good man, but with regard to the Soodies, it appears he's been suffering from that sudden hearing, listening and memory loss the FDA has recently cautioned us about. I blame Pfizer.
#4
These guys are playing a doublegame. Yes, they are confronted by a more extreme islamist element, but how did that more exteme element get that way? The House of Saudi is a House of Hate. They spend hundreds-of-millions worldwide spreading Wahhabi fundamentalism from Aceh and Baluchistan to the madrassas of Pakistan and Wazooland. I will sit back and enjoy the carnage as the House of Saud imitates the House of Romanov circa 1918. I know the aftermath for us will be just as bad, but at least I'll enjoy watching more than a few princelings having their heads lopped off by a dull axe.
#5
Our enemies in the Kingdom cannot be dealt with in the same way as those in Iraq, or even Iran. The situation requires 'diplomacy', and for now diplomacy without even an available 'stick' to add persuasiveness to the words.
1) The world cannot afford to disrupt that oil supply.
2) They have enough money to buy off most enemies.
3) Bad as they seem, they are not all uniformally bad, and most of the likely alternatives would be worse.
4) Talking war when you don't have the capacity (physical or political) to wage it is probably counterproductive.
5) Overt intervention (military or economic) against the guardians of that rock thingy would be likely to unify nearly the entire Muslim world against us. Actively against us. That is not something we want to deal with, since we would not be able to get similar unity of the non Muslim world.
Bush's diplomatic BS (but I repeat myself) speaking is the appropriate path at this time, in my opinion.
#10
This is very much a one-at-a-time war. Iran and Syria are next, and only then can Saudi Arabia be dealt with. I'd bet the DoD has plans for invasion on file, though. ;-)
#11
I think Glenmore nails it. We can't move directly against the Saooodis, much as all of us would like to.
However, I keep thinking of an internal revolution in SA by the eastern Shi'a that would create the Republic of Eastern Arabia, a 50 km-wide strip of sand ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/20/2007 15:25 Comments ||
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#12
Most of the Saudi oil fields are located hundreds of miles from Riyadh and the so-called "holy" centers. They are not defendable. And given the rise of Shiite power - wonder what caused that? - they will be seized by an outside power.
Those oil fields are Anglo-American. Only League of Nations and UN folly allowed local savages to hold ersatz sovereignty over same. And given that the Sauds have shown repeatedly that they place Sharia over the international rule of law, our continued recognition of their sovereignty is perverse and suicidal to American interests. First Iran, then clean up the scum in Iraq and Afghanistan, then the Wahabis take the hit that they have deserved for 50 years.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/20/2007 18:15 Comments ||
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#14
Word, Frank. .com was well ahead of the curve on this Islamo-bullshit.
And given that the Sauds have shown repeatedly that they place Sharia over the international rule of law, our continued recognition of their sovereignty is perverse and suicidal to American interests. First Iran, then clean up the scum in Iraq and Afghanistan, then the Wahabis take the hit that they have deserved for 50 years.
McZ, you may not have been here for much of .com's participation, but he was a strong—if not the original—supporter for both targeted killings of Islam's elite and the expropriation of Arabia's eastern Ghawar oil field. Both Frank and myself are also longtime advocates of targeted killings and this policy is supported at this board's very highest levels.
My own view is that America is entitled to seize the Ghawar fields as compensation for the Saudi-led 9-11 atrocity. We took an economic hit on the order of ONE TRILLION dollars and it's well past tea to be recompensed. Quite clearly your own views fall in line with this position and I welcome you to the club. I'm also pleased to see that you understand how the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns are far from finished. So long as shari'a law remains part of their respective national constitutions, the job is nowhere near done.
#15
Another example of category error, like Religion of Peace.
At some point the failure to think and state clearly the nature of the threat will be more lethal than the threat of "being at war with a billion Muslims."
North Korea wants to resolve the international standoff over its nuclear weapons program in order to forge better ties with the United States, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said Friday.
Roh made the remark while briefing foreign media on his rare talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il earlier this month, which produced a wide-ranging agreement on bringing greater peace and expanding economic cooperation on their divided peninsula. "The reason North Korea is trying to solve the North Korean nuclear question is to improve relations with the United States," Roh told reporters from selected foreign media organizations.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe they could sell North Korea on eBay. Rush got 2 mil for that danged letter!
The Dutch government plans to outlaw undergoing terrorism training, making it punishable by a maximum of eight years imprisonment, the Justice Ministry said Friday. "Anyone who takes part in terrorism training and ... shares the knowledge or skills, is guilty of a serious indictable offense," the ministry said in a statement. The bill introduced Friday also targets extremists who travel overseas to train for terror attacks in the Netherlands. "We have to be able to take legal action against them," the ministry said. The new legislation must be approved by parliament before becoming law.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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"He said the film provided a realistic portrait of U.S. troops and how "the presentation of our troops has been whitewashed" by mainstream media."
hah-hah-hah....! (gasping for breath) Hah, hah... such a kidder that Mr. Depalma! That's the funniest thing I've read all week!
...whitewashed by mainstream media... ha, ha ha... I'm wiping tears from my face now...
#2
But De Palma says he is upset that the documentary-style drama -- its name derived from his view that news coverage of the war has been incomplete -- has been censored.
He is right about that news coverage has been woefully incomplete. But totally wrong as to what has been left out.
And yeah, the idea that his agitprop piece titled "Redacted" has been, well, redacted is just falling-on-the-floor funny.
#4
look at his film-history - the last one I liked was Untouchables, that was 1987...now he's back trying to recapture that money with a revisit, basically Untouchables 2 - Capone Rising ....LOSER
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/20/2007 18:14 Comments ||
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#5
Sad thing is for him, the movie basically sucks no matter what your politics are.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/20/2007 16:32 ||
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#1
but of course. If we closed Gitmo, this wouldn't happen
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/20/2007 17:30 Comments ||
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#2
The rule of marginality comes into play. That is, there is no effective way of stopping the use of explosive devices in the US. However, the threat they pose is insignificant.
#4
#3 the threat they pose is insignificant
?????
Posted by: gromgoru
i.e.: "actually hasn't happened (yet), so we're saying/but downplaying/ it til we can pin a single American death at home on BushCo., then we'll wail away like a Canuck on a baby seal"
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/20/2007 20:58 Comments ||
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#5
The IED McVeigh used in Oklahoma City - was that Bush's fault?
#8
g: the threat is real, I agree. However, any (right or left wing)nut with a pipebomb and clever triggering could do the same. It was apparent that:
a) they were paying valid and needed attention to the threat of importation of terror arms/people into doestic U.S.; and
b) they were prepping the ground to say "we told U so" should something happen;
c) all the while opposing any attempt at intelligence gathering via net/phones/profiling ...even while waiting to blame the Admin for failure to do so.
I call lying agenda/partisan-driven hijinx and all-aroiund ass-sucking MSM drivel
/rant
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/20/2007 21:36 Comments ||
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#9
WaPo, Frank. What didja expect?
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/20/2007 21:38 Comments ||
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#10
I'm 48 old enough to match my expectations to low performance. The WaPo never hesitates to meet my expectations
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/20/2007 21:40 Comments ||
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#11
I AM, however constantly surprised and pleased I don't own their stock by the New York Times, LOL
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/20/2007 21:46 Comments ||
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The Marine Corps commandant is worried about the service becoming "a second land army" and said al Qaeda in Iraq is crippled, but not destroyed. Marine Gen. James T. Conway told the Center for a New American Security yesterday the Marine Corps needs to get back to being the United States' expeditionary "shock troops."
"I'm concerned about keeping our expeditionary flavor," he said.
The 26,000 Marines in Iraq today are equipped much heavier than when the force first went into the country, Conway noted. For example, the Marines are shifting from up-armored Humvees to mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles. The MRAP adds a lot of weight to what is essentially a light infantry formation. "We're talking about a potential buy of 3,700 MRAPs," he said. "Those vehicles weigh 40,000 pounds each."
"We've simply gotten heavier," he said. "We've become in many ways a second land army." This is fine for now, the commandant said, but planners must look to the future. He said these heavy vehicles - which have saved many lives in Iraq - simply do not fit in to the doctrine and mission Marines foresee.
"What are we going to do with MRAPs in five to 10 years? Put them in shrink wrap and set them on asphalt, is my guess," Conway said.
The pressure of operations in Iraq has forced the Corps to change training. Units spend seven months in Iraq and seven months back at home station. During that seven-month period at home, the units rest and refit, then train to go back to Iraq and fight a counterinsurgency battle. "Our training has suffered some," Conway said.
Marine battalions used to go through training exercises at the training area at Twenty-nine Palms, Calif. Those exercises tested all aspects battle from artillerymen firing to air-ground coordination. Those iterations have dried up, he said. Marines seldom get time to do mountain warfare training or jungle training anymore. And Marines seldom serve at sea anymore.
"We now have a generation of officers who has never stepped aboard a ship, and that concerns us with our naval flavor and ability to launch amphibious support," he said.
Looking to the future, Conway said the Marine Corps must be able to handle the full spectrum of conflict from charging across a beach in a forced entry to irregular warfare. The Marines have looked at forging a professional advisor corps, but is holding off for the time being.
Conway turned his attention to the state of military operations in Iraq. Al Qaeda in Iraq has been significantly crippled, he said, but the terrorist organization has shown an amazing ability to regenerate. "Are they crippled? Yeah," he said. "Are they still dangerous? Absolutely, and certainly they are not destroyed."
#1
The "1000-flag", multinational task force = OWG Global Navy. Police Actions [mostly on land'deep inland + BIG/MEGA-CITY URBAN OPERATIONS] + International/Multi-Later Cooperation + Humanitarian Missions. * GWEN STEFANI'S BOSOM versus OLLIE STONE, AEROSMITH, and TEXAS-SIZED ASTEROIDS back in 1960's-70's Guam [Taotamonas = Ancestral Ghosts, including NOT dead then = not personally known then].
I feel for you sir. We all tend to do that as we get older, and don't watch the diet. Heh.
In all seriousness, this would explain the desire to make a'stan an all-marine show. It is a theatre that precludes heavy armor, and the locals are either unable or unwilling to consistantly use IED/SFP weapons.
Instead the talibs just make futile massed infantry assults. Let the army have fun in Iraq.
As for the future of the mraps, given that they will probably be fuel and maintence hogs, and dont fit in with the MTOE picture the clowns in DC have for the army, the DOD will prolly scramble to sell them off at the first opportunity.
which is a shame as we in the guard could use them here in the domestic security role (i.e. the mexicans get cute with their expat population here, or the code pinkos realy get out of hand).
Posted by: N guard ||
10/20/2007 1:20 Comments ||
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#5
Hey Gen, if your Marines can't hack it, the Army will take up the slack the way it always does. You pick up your packs and march away, the Army will do the heavy lifting, as it always has like at Normandy.
If he wants to pull the Marines back to being a light infantry only, limited use force, thats fine, we can cut the size of the Corps and give that money to the Army who can and will develop and deploy heavy forces that are flexible, mobile and can sustain themselves in the field. No place the Marines can get to that we couldn't use another Ranger regiment instead, with air and sealifted Stryker battalions.
That'll stir up a hornets nest. Heh.
No insult intended towar dht eMarines. I believe the General is talking out his 4th point of contact. I disagree with the General - heavy job requires heavy units, so that's what the Marines have. One thing all my service time taught me is that line Marines get the damn job done no matter how heavy or light their gear. Thats what makes them Marines - they adapt quickly and excel no matter what. That's what they have done in Iraq.
And his worry about training is hogwash. No training out there that exceeds combat experience.
I think I smell budget ploys in his talk. That and he is worried about the Navy's new "Naval Infantry" who are taking over a lot of the old Marines shipboard and in-port duties.
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
10/20/2007 3:16 Comments ||
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#7
I think the General is making the same argument I made a few days back. Remember the talk of taking the Marines out of Iraq and "giving" them Afghanistan, making Afghanistan a Marine mission?
I pointed out that the Marines are amphibious penetration shock forces, who make the breech that the Army then uses for extended inland operations, which is a very different kettle of fish.
Marines have something like a 1 to 5 ratio of combat to combat support personnel, which keeps them quick and agile. They can also be used as a "knockout punch", opening up "instant fronts" with the enemy, forcing them to divide their forces.
But once this mission is over, they need redeployment and resupply, or else they start losing their training edge, becoming less quick and agile.
The Army, however, has about a 1 to 15 ratio, making them much slower, but able to sustain operations for many months and years. They are more capable of adaptation to a particular battle space, adding whatever "weight" is needed. Slow, heavy, methodical.
Right now, the Marine mission in both countries should be limited to two types: training and elite forces operations. That is, they should both train Iraqi and Afghan army personnel, and give some selected personnel combat exposure in support of Army missions; and they should be using their elite forces, like Recon and SOCOM, for deep penetration, high degree of difficulty missions.
All other Marine personnel in theater should be aboard ship in the Persian Gulf and environs, preparing for their next contingency Marine operations.
#8
No training out there that exceeds combat experience.
Nope. In a given conflict combat tends to take determined forms exerting only some facets of combat skill, you still need to train or you will lose your other skills (eg Marines are not exerting their ability to operate against armor).
An analogy could be airline pilots. Despite flying every day they still have training sessions both on flying simulators and on real planes where they focus on how to fly and land with malfunctioning instruments and engines so the day it happens they haven't forgotten what to do.
#9
The Marines should be a heavy, rapid response force that can hit from the sea, any time anywhere. They need to be able to establish a beach head and provide an area for heavier army units to move further inland. With some heavy lifting craft, it can be done with the more armored equipment.
However, in one aspect the argument, the general is right. The Marines have been used as a second Army since the Vietnam war. While the combat experience is invaluable, I do believe that most generals and leaders see them as that and not as a quick strike force to seize launching points for further attacks. I would love to see the Marines actually do a beach landing again.
#10
United States population 1940: 132 million
United States Army: 267 thousand
United States Marine Corps: 28 thousand
Ratio USMC to USA: 10.4 percent
Ratio of both to US population: .223 percent
United States population 2000: 281 million
United States Army:471 thousand
United States Marine Corps: 172 thousand
Ratio USMC to USA: 36.5 percent
Ratio of both to US population: .228 percent
Well Commandant, when your strength authorization reached a certain ratio with the Army, you get to pick up their load as well. Particularly since both of you are authorized at an overall strength level that match those prior to WWII in comparison to the general population, even though the military responsibilities are far more than the uniform leadership could imagine back then. If you want to get back to the 'old days' then cut the force structure authorization back to the Army to get a ratio more in line with the 'old days'.
#11
"...the Marines are amphibious penetration shock forces"
Only since (and during) WWII. Prior to that, and going all the way back to 1800 and before, they were mostly "state dept troops" Think Butler, not Lejeune. Given 21st century "long war" doctrine, the Marines may want to go back to their roots.
#12
He just wants to go back to having Marines on some boat that deploy for 75 days and then get back on their boats. Those days are gone.
Marines in Afghanstan will still require a large Joint logistical footprint. Lots of Army, lots of Airforce and even some Naval aviation assets. They can have control of that AOR but they know their logistics has to be suplemented by the Army. Their CH-46 (Marine version of the Army CH-47 Chinook) is under powered for the higher elevations of Afghanistan. Alos, there is no Telling how the Osprey would work there but maybe it can.
There will still be Airforce cargo lift, Army logistics and Naval electronic warfare equipment there. Dont even get me started on the Marines inability to recover CDS (cargo delivery system) items for Parachute drops.
The Marines want Afghanistan because it requires a smaller force, which will allow them to do other things.
#13
Between other features the USMC has no medical personnel of its own: they are lent by the Navy. That is because Marines didn't develop as a full service able to operate by itself but as the land arm of the Navy. They weren't supposed to lead large scale prolonged operations on land. IMHO they still are at the core a kind of marge scale commando whose mission is to destroy or capture high value objectives and not meraely trade blows with ennemies (a single army division has more artillery and tanks than the entire Marine Corps)
#14
Old Spook: And his [Marine Gen. James T. Conway] worry about training is hogwash. No training out there that exceeds combat experience.
"Our training has suffered some," Conway said.
In the real world the Marines will probably never get another Pacific Island campaign like WWII. D-day, Beach Bombardment, assault boats circle up and head into shore, Hit the beach, tear out a toehold and then punch inland.
During War Time all the peace time training routines change.
In the South Pacific the Marines didn't face much armor like the American Army did in Europe, and consequently they didn't train like the Army did in Europe either.
Combat is by far the ultimate and most productive Experience & Test.
This is true for Leaders and Leadership [NonComs or Officers, Marine Team Work and for the individual Marine.
It's just possible that Gen. James T. Conway loves the Corps so much he hates to see it fighting in cities full of civilians.. and losing Marines because of ROE.
Marine Commandant Worries.. I wonder if Gen. James T. Conway was one of the Marine Generals that was leaking to Murtha..
IMHO
Posted by: Black Charlie Glavising2606 ||
10/20/2007 12:57 Comments ||
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#15
Marines were lucky to have Lejune before WWII. They need to recognize that there will probably not be years of WWII style amphibious operations on tropical islands again and that the Army learned to do them as well as the Marines. Finally, we are in the process of self-dismantlement of our Navy.
If the Marines were truly forward looking, some 21st century Lejune would recognize that the under-served niche of specialty operations available for domination is urban combat. Master this and they'll have work to last them for a long time.
#16
Remember that the USMC has an institutional memory of being starved for funding, Gen. Conway is reflecting this concern:
"We've simply gotten heavier," he said. "We've become in many ways a second land army." This is fine for now, the commandant said, but planners must look to the future. He said these heavy vehicles - which have saved many lives in Iraq - simply do not fit in to the doctrine and mission Marines foresee.
The USMC is looking at getting budget money for Ospreys, JSF's, and the new Amphib tractor. All of these programs have run late and over-budget. Let's try to not read more into this press release than there really is...
#18
Okay - I'm back from the day's training (unlike the 'uniforms', I get to go home at night). So I'm ready to return fire.
One: When he says 'flavor', think 'institutional memory'. He doesn't want to have the USMC have to learn all their skills over again when a war breaks out. Kinda like the Army does every war...
Two: He isn't saying 'go to a lightly armed force'. I don't know where that gem came from. He sez 'expeditionary'; quick reaction followed up by heavier forces.
Three: Expeditions do have to travel light. Figure a LAR (Light Armored Recon) unit has both LAVs and HumVees. Replace HumVees with MRAPs at 3-4 times an increase in weight. Your 'light' unit just got 1200 tons heavier. That stuff has to be moved; either by ship or aircraft. Marines don't have C-5s.
Four: Again, 'expeditionary' is a mindset. The Army finally figured out during this war that junior officers need to think for themselves, be innovative and 'beg forgiveness rather than permission'. Guess who's been doing that since they started?
And training - 29 Stumps is the Air-Ground Combat training center. It's the last Marine facility they can do an all-out exercise. Yes, we're still training - but it ain't what Marines are gonna have to face if they have to land somewhere.
Agreed - there won't be too many WWII-style amphib operations. But there will be operations. There's lots of coastline. Worst thing in the world is to go in with your metaphorical shoes untied and your zipper open. They ain't the Army - they can't afford to take heavy initial losses (like at Normandy).
Ten young suicide bombers from various cities of Punjab are ready to hit Islamabad, Rawalpindi and other cities of the country, Geo reported while quoting a letter written by the Punjab home secretary and police inspector general to district police officials. According to the channel, the confidential letter sent to police officials says that Islamabad and Rawalpindi are at terroristsÂ’ hit list. According to the letter, 10 suicide bombers from Sargodha, Faisalabad and Chakwal have been trained in Darra Adam Khel. The channel said police officials from these cities have been directed to find the whereabouts of these suicide bombers.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Benazir Bhutto survived Thursday’s suicide bombing attack because she sacrificed goats before leaving Dubai, said Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Arbab Ghulam Rahim while visiting the blast site near Karsaz Bridge on Friday. He also blamed the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of carelessness. He said the party had been informed of the precarious situation, so it should have taken adequate measures. “It is impossible to stop someone who is ready to blow themselves up,” he said, adding that a high-level investigation into the incident was underway.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Goats saved Benazir: Arbab
“It is impossible to stop someone who is ready to blow themselves up, unless you distract them with goats”
#2
And here I was, thinking that the bomber had surrounded themselves with a herd of goats as a distraction and the poor things had taken the brunt of the blast somehow.
I think I'm pretty good at figuring stuff out, but I'm stumped: exactly HOW is Benazir an intellectual improvement over who she's going to replace?
Rebel cleric Maulana Fazlullah warned the government on Friday against making the “mistake” of launching a military operation in Swat district against militants. The warning from the defiant cleric comes a day after a report that military build-up indicates a possible operation against the pro-Taliban militants in the district. “We will give a befitting answer. We are peaceful citizens. We have picked up arms for our own defence and protection and not against the law and order or the government,” Fazlullah told a news conference at his headquarters in Iman Dheri. “We will sacrifice our lives to maintain peace in the region,” he added.
Fazlullah, who is known as “Maulana FM Radio” since he operates an unlicensed radio station to spread his message, said, “[My followers and I] have only protested verbally against the Lal Masjid operation, and have not given it a practical shape.” To a question, the cleric said he was running the radio channel to broadcast Quranic teachings, and if any one tried to close it down, a jihad would be launched against them. He said he had established a volunteer force to maintain law and order in the district and gave Islamic sentences to criminals through Shariat courts. He said that he wanted to hand over murder suspects to the district administration but it refused to take them into custody.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Vice Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Friday advised troops in Quetta on Friday to take all possible measures to avoid collateral damage when tackling extremists and other anti-state elements.
During his visit to Headquarters Southern Command in Quetta, Kayani was briefed on the security situation in Balochistan, operational preparedness and development works being undertaken with the armyÂ’s assistance, according to a press release issued by Inter-Services Public Relations.
Kayani appreciated the resolve of officers and men to fight internal security challenges and said the army was also supporting many development projects. “Rs 10 to 11 billion are being spent on the development of Kohlu and Dera Bugti alone,” he said.
He said special seats had been reserved for the students of Balochistan in several military establishments. He said the government had also relaxed merit standards for BalochistanÂ’s youth to encourage them to join the army. Southern Command Commander Lt Gen Khalid Shamim Wyne accompanied Kayani during his visit.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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An all-out battle for control of North and South Waziristan is about to commence between the army, the Taliban and their Al Qaeda adherents, according to a report published in The Asia Times. The report states that a Pakistani security official, speaking to Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity, said the army aimed to completely pacify the two Waziristans “once and for all”.
Uhuh. We might think of this routine as the anti-haka. Where the haka is meant to intimidate the enemy and fire up the participants, the anti-haka is designed to give the opponent the opportunity to discretely remove himself so the dancer and strut for awhile, make a few political points, and then retire from the field, having accomplished nothing and allowing the opponent to resume his activities.
According to the report, the fighting in North Waziristan that erupted two weeks ago and turned thousands of families into refugees while killing more people than any India-Pakistan war, is merely a precursor of the battle that is coming.
Right. And having 250 troops at a pop surrender is merely a precursor.
Clear message: “The army has sent a clear message to the militants that Pakistan would deploy its forces in the towns of Mir Ali, Miranshah, Dand-i-Darpa Kheil, Shawal, Razmak, Magaroti, Kalosha and Angor Ada. It aims to establish permanent bases which would be manned by thousands of military and paramilitary troops,” the security official said.
"Really fierce ones, too! Youse guys should be really scared! You oughta go to Barmal or Jalalabad or Kandahar for awhile, don'tcha think?"
He said the army recently delivered an ultimatum to the militants that had the army set a deadline to give safe passage into Afghanistan to all Al Qaeda members and Taliban commanders who, along with wanted tribal warrior leaders, would leave Pakistan and never return. The militants rejected the ultimatum.
He said the army recently delivered an ultimatum to the militants that had the army set a deadline to give safe passage into Afghanistan to all Al Qaeda members and Taliban commanders who, along with wanted tribal warrior leaders, would leave Pakistan and never return. The militants rejected the ultimatum.
Now, that's a pretty breathtaking pair of sentences. All this while the pretence has been that Pakistain was on our side. They told us about all the troops they had deployed in those areas, and how they had taken casualties in the interest of the War on Terror. We were assured that there are no al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and that the Talibs were an Afghan phenomenon. We were assured of these things even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, in the form of corpses and passports and the JUI-Fazl flag flying over the occasional Talib-occupied town and the occasional Qaeda big being arrested in a prominent JI member's house. So that pretense is gone.
Secondly, think of the possibility of the Pak military, which by their own admission trains for conventional war with India or... ummm... India, beating up the Talibs, the Uzbeks, the Chechens, and all the other heavily armed riff-raff inhabiting the area. They haven't done it to date, they've tried avoiding the fight, and when they've been shamed or shoved into it they've had their sitters handed to them despite the judicious use of tribal lashkars to avoid the exchange of live ammunition.
The "militants" not only rejected the ultimatum, they're probably laughing themselves silly at this moment.
A qualified estimate by intelligence officials is that successful military pacification of the Waziristans would slash Afghan resistance by 85 percent, while also delivering a serious setback to the Iraqi resistance.
And there's the second jaw-dropping, stunning admission of utter duplicity. Not that it's anything we didn't know, but they never actually admit to it. I may have mentioned a time or two in these pages that the Taliban is a Pak, not an Afghan phenomenon. So now I stand corrected: it's a 15 percent Afghan, 85 percent Pak phenomenon...
The militants, meanwhile, have little option but to stand and fight. Aside from the sanctuary afforded them in the Waziristans, their presence there also has a direct bearing on their funding: money can be transferred through bank and non-bank channels, including the informal fund transfer system known as “hawala”.
Shiite soldiers are being sent to the Waziristans because the army has been plagued by desertions of Pashtun and Sunni troops who refused to fight fellow Pashtuns or Sunnis in the past.
Western intelligence that has been shared with Pakistan has determined that the two Waziristans alone provide a steady stream of fighters, supplies and funds for the resistance in all of southeast Afghanistan, including the provinces of Ghazni, Kunar, Gardez, Paktia and Paktika. In addition, the Waziristans supply trainers to guerrillas in Zabul, Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces. There is also a Kurd presence in the area, which has a direct bearing on the USÂ’s Iraqi occupation. Kurd recruits come through Iran into Waziristan, get trained and then return to infiltrate Iraq to fuel insurgency in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Likely targets: However, the report adds that the safety of Taliban and Al Qaeda assets in Waziristan is a matter of life and death and, therefore, the militants have decided to target the cities of Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, hoping to break the will of the armed forces. The military, meanwhile, is trying to break the will of the militants with ongoing bombing raids. Underscoring the seriousness with which the military is planning for the coming battle, it is reported that Shiite soldiers are being sent to the Waziristans because the army has been plagued by desertions of Pashtun and Sunni troops who refused to fight fellow Pashtuns or Sunnis in the past.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
Waziristan to be pacified 'once and for all'
If they don't we can should.
Aside from the sanctuary afforded them in the Waziristans, their presence there also has a direct bearing on their funding: money can be transferred through bank and non-bank channels, including the informal fund transfer system known as “hawala”.
It's long past tea to dismantle the hawala network. It is the equivalent of jihad's Western Union and funnels huge amounts of zakat into terrorist causes. All of this is just one more reason to strip Islam of its religious protections. Contributing to any Muslim charity needs to be outlawed right along with the charities themselves. The mere existence of taqiyya makes it impossible to be assured that donations do not reach the jihadis.
As Fred notes, this article contains several frank admissions that demand immediate redress. For all the political capital invested in it, Pakistan resembles the Palestinians more than a little. Neither side of the aisle wants to admit that Musharref's tidy little hellhole is an abject failure and a primary source of global terrorism. Each and every American politician needs to have this article branded onto their backside.
Quite a few have been doing that this year, though not so meny lately. For a while we were getting reports of 20-100 at a time being killed in Afghanistan.
#4
The Great Khan pacified the region very effectively. I suspect that is about the only way to get the very last iota of malfeasance out of the place. At the very least, ban every humanitarian and medical access to the region and let nature take its own course. Watch the bird flue take hold. Let them choose between the words of their imams and the science of the West for their children and future.
#5
A qualified estimate by intelligence officials is that successful military pacification of the Waziristans would slash Afghan resistance by 85 percent, while also delivering a serious setback to the Iraqi resistance.
Duh! Hopefully, Pakis are beginning to realize that AQ and Talibs are their enemy too. Still waiting to see the "once and for all pacification." The only way this is going to happen is that Pakis are going to have to get serious about going after AQ and Talibs and denying them sanctuaries--easier said than done. AQ and Talibs are going to have to realize the price for membership is death and that there is no percentage in continuing.
#6
that successful military pacification of the Waziristans would slash Afghan resistance by 85 percent, while also delivering a serious setback to the Iraqi resistance.
the Taliban is a Pak, not an Afghan phenomenon. So now I stand corrected: it's a 15 percent Afghan, 85 percent Pak phenomenon...
A pale and shaken Benazir Bhutto vowed Friday not to be deterred by the bomb blasts that wrecked her triumphant homecoming and killed more than a hundred of her supporters, and she blamed extremist militants, who she said wanted to take over the country. "They are saying peace-loving people are not safe to gather," she said at a conference with hundreds of foreign and local journalists in the garden of her home in Clifton, an upscale neighborhood of this southern Pakistani port city. "A minority wants to hijack the destiny of this great nation. And we will not be intimidated by this minority."
Government officials said 134 people were killed in the two blasts, which they said were caused by a single suicide bomber on foot, who first detonated a grenade and then blew himself up, scattering a lethal load of screws, pellets and shrapnel into the dense crowd around Bhutto's armored truck. About 450 people were wounded, said the home secretary, Ghulam Muhammad Mohtarem.
The target was Bhutto and one of the extremist groups in Pakistan was behind it, he said. "We have no doubt it was a suicide attack," said Mohtarem, a retired brigadier, flanked by the Karachi police chief and other high-ranking police officials. "It can't be definitively said which group was involved, but it is one of the extremist groups."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
She needs to call Nancy and explain it to the clownette. You know, woman to women. I'd think at even a Bay level of understanding something might penetrate that alternate universe of conscious.
(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - The deadly Iraq-style twin bomb attack on opposition leader and former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto's motorcade late on Thursday leave her caught on the horns of a dilemma.
Her political fiefdom depends on Western support, but this alliance can only put her on a collision course with Islamist militants, making it is unclear if Bhutto will continue with her pro-western policies after Thursday's bomb attacks. The bombings killed 133 people and injured many more as her convoy edged through hundreds of thousands of supporters in the southern city of Karachi the day she returned in apparent triumph to her homeland after eight years of self-imposed exile.
No one has yet claimed the attack, but unnamed jihadi sources told Adnkronos International (AKI) that it bears the hallmarks of al-Qaeda. Militants linked to al-Qaeda angered by Bhutto's support for the war on terrorism had this weekend threatened to assassinate her. Moreover, al-Qaeda cells have been uncovered in Karachi in the past.
An Al-Qaeda cell called Jundullah which trained in the restive Pakistani tribal area of Waziristan in 2005 attacked the former vice chief of army staff Gen. Ehsan Saleem Hayat's motorcade. A number of Jundullah members were arrested and it emerged that dozens of people from Karachi had trained in al-Qaeda camps in Waziristan to carry out attacks against prominent people and government targets.
A top official in Pakistan's ISI intelligence services told AKI on background that Bhutto was advised not to continue her procession through the city as security services could not guarantee her safety for more than six hours. Bhutto had stood for many hours in the open top of her armoured bus as it inched from the airport through the city and probably survived the assassination attempt because she was resting in a bullet proof section of the bus at the time of the blasts.
Pakistani police said they believe the bigger of the two blasts was a suicide attack. But sources told AKI it appears to have been a device detonated with a timer. Security forces activated mobile phone jammers making it impossible for the bombers to have used remote controlled devices. Those who planned the attack timed it shrewdly - at midnight , when Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) workers were tired from the rally which began many hours earlier and security had been lowered. By that time, the number of people attending the rally had dwindled to 15,000-20,000, making it easy for the bombers to get up close to Bhutto's vehicle.
Pakistan's president Gen. Pervez Musharraf has condemned the attack against Bhutto as a "conspiracy against democracy." But Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardar, has accused Pakistani intelligence agencies of involvement - a suspicion reportedly shared by many in Pakistan. Bhutto, 54, has many enemies in Pakistan with links to the country's security apparatus and jihadi groups, dating back to her two previous stints as prime minister during the 1980s and 1990s. On both occasions, her government was prematurely dismissed by the president of the day under special powers. She left Pakistan in April 1999, two years after her husband had been jailed and a series of corruption charges were brought against her. Bhutto, a billionaire, denies the charges.
Bhutto was able to return to Pakistan after Musharraf on the eve of the 6 October presidential polls announced an ordinance to drop the graft charges against her as part of a possible future power-sharing deal between the two leaders. The opposition PPP is the largest political party in Pakistan and won the largest number of seats (68) in Pakistan's last parliamentary elections in 2002.
Western-educated Bhutto is a target for militants because governments such as the Britain and the United States view her as an essential component in the US led war on terror. Her return to Pakistan was the result of western pressure on the Pakistani government to reach a settlement with her, according to observers.
Western support is not only essential for Bhutto's political career, but also for the release of her frozen international accounts. This can only occur once the government lifts the corruption charges against her and if necessary forces Pakistani courts not to pursue these. The Supreme Court is due next month to consider petitions challenging the constitutionality of an amnesty dropping graft charges against Bhutto. Her total declared assets are 1.5 billion US dollars, and include bank holdings, property and business interests in Europe and the United States.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
If benazir has to go soft and make nice with the islamowhackos to retain her political role, she will be doing no different than condi rice at state or any lefty dem pol you wish to name...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
10/20/2007 11:41 Comments ||
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#2
They won't try to kill her for being a women who gets above herself anyway?
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said on Friday that she had prior warning before returning home that suicide squads had been sent to attack her. She also named three people as the perpetrators of the attack that killed 136 people on Thursday night, and predicted that the next attempt on her life would come from rogue elements within the police, according to Sky News.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
....and predicted that the next attempt on her life would come from rogue elements within the police, and the US dollar will continue to fall on world markets in the short term, according to Sky News.
A defiant Benazir Bhutto on Friday strongly condemned the bomb attacks on her homecoming parade in Karachi that killed 139 people, saying the victims made the 'ultimate sacrifice' for democracy. Giving a clean chit to the Musharraf government for the attack, Bhutto said that she exactly knew who her enemies were. "It is not the government, but some individuals in the government who are behind this... I know in my heart exactly who my enemies are," she told a press conference in her first comments since the attack.
Bhutto said that she has written a letter to Musharraf and named three suspects who she thinks are behind the Karachi blasts. "The next attack is going to be near my house in Clifton or in Larkana. Commandos will be sent in the garb of supporters of a political party and the attack will be blamed on that party," she said adding that the real perpetrators were just using political parties as a 'red herring'
Bhutto said that the carnage was not an attack on an individual but an attempt to muffle democracy. "It was an attack on what I represent. It was an attack on democracy," Bhutto told mediamen. "The Pakistan People's Party strongly condemns the attacks on its peaceful procession last night."
"Our hopes, prayers and sympathy lie with those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the cause of democracy. Their sacrifice will not go in vain," she added, calling for an urgent official inquiry into the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I really wonder if she didn't just go back to empty the house and sell the family property.
#2
The ocean container with the armor addition during her triumphant return was just a container to bring along, pack up her sh*t in her house and leave.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/20/2007 21:49 Comments ||
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[L]inks to the recent bomb blasts at the Ajmer Dargah and the Makkah Masjid in Southern Indian city of Hyderabad, last May, have been traced to the Eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, news agencies reported today. Police have said that mobile telephones were used to trigger both the blasts and the seller of the SIM cards has been traced to the town of Mihijam in Jamtara in the district of Jaharkhand. The name and address given by the man who bought the SIM card were false, the police said.
The news agencies quoting Indian Intelligence officials also said that more than a dozen people having connections with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence were staying in Jharkhand.
ISTANBUL - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called on Baghdad on Friday to shut down camps run by separatist Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq and to hand over guerrilla leaders. “What will satisfy us is the closure of all PKK (rebel) camps, including their training facilities, and the handover of the terrorist leaders to us,” Erdogan told reporters after attending Friday prayers at an Istanbul mosque.
Some 3,000 rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), including its leaders, are believed to be hiding in mainly Kurdish northern Iraq. Erdogan is under heavy public pressure to act against the PKK after a series of deadly attacks on Turkish troops.
The pro-Kurdish Firat news agency quoted one of Turkey’s most wanted rebel commanders on Friday as saying the PKK could target oil pipelines if Turkish forces attacked them in Iraq. “Since pipelines that cross Kurdistan provide the economic resources for the Turkish army’s aggression, it is possible the guerrillas target them,” Firat quoted Murat Karayilan saying.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Kurds of Iraq, need to close down the camps or redirect purpose by negotiating some simple awareness into their political cousins.
Iraq Kurdish "stan" is young, needs far more time to mature, Kurds should all understand that time is wasted in occupation, Turkey could change all Kurd positive dynamics by invading.
Kurdish fighters who wont see the big picture should be reigned in.
#3
Erdogan doesn't know whether he wants to be the successor to the last sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hamid II, or the last Grand Vezir. But one thing is certain, this man wants to destroy the secular edifice that Kemal Ataturk painstakingly created out of the ashes of empire.
#4
SHut downh? Nope. Scale way back? Yep. HAnd over? Nope. Hed to Iran instead? Yep. Cross the border in force? Lose your oil transport in Turkey.
You had the chance for the "Easy Button" when we invaded - you could have allowed us in and done the "Security" in those border areas across Norther Iraq. You chose not to, so now you pay the price. Just like we paid a price for ignoring terrs in the 90's.
Turkey needs to realize its timeot pay the bill for theri inaction. The only thing they can choose is how much of their blood gets shed.
Egypt will take part in the coming expanded meeting of foreign ministers of Iraq's neighbors, due in Istanbul, Turkey on November 2-3. Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit will lead Egypt's delegation to the meeting also known as Iraq Neighbors' Meeting, a spokesman of the Foreign Ministry told reporters here Friday.
The meeting will be the second of a series such events that started in Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh in May. It is expected to probe all aspects of the political process in Iraq as well as the security situations there. The spokesman renewed Egypt's commitment to the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq and opposition to any attempt to partition the Arab country.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday he would tell Prime Minister Ehud Olmert next week that "now is the time" to make peace with the Palestinians.
Olmert was planning to visit Paris on Monday, and Sarkozy said he would make the same case as the one he made to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last month in New York. "My message to Mr. Olmert will simply be that ... time has come to make peace," Sarkozy told a news conference after an EU summit in Lisbon. "Now is the time to take risks and build a lasting peace."
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she was encouraged by a round of Mideast diplomacy being held in preparation for a US-hosted peace conference, planned for Annapolis, Maryland, later this year, despite divisions between Israel and the Palestinians that could derail it.
Rice said four days of intense discussions with Israeli and Palestinian officials had convinced her they were serious about forging a document that, when endorsed at the conference in late November or December, would start the negotiations.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#1
Well, Sarky, dunno, but so far the "peace" initiatives resulted in disaster. Sorta like repeating the same and expecting different results. I'd say 's time for peace through superior firepower.
#4
If the Palestinians haven't cowed a spineless jellyfish like Olmert into making "peace", it isn't to be had. All of this is totally irrelevant anyway because the Palestinians DO NOT want peace. Sarkozy can talk until he's blue in the face but it will not bring any conciliation. If Nicolas wants peace, he needs to drag his Palestinian thugs to the table and threaten a complete shutdown of France's support for their genocidal farce of a kabuki act. Israel has made enough concessions to make peace with a dozen different civilized nations.
Egyptian police arrested a group of 18 Eritreans traveling on tourist bus through the Sinai desert Friday on suspicions they were intending to illegally cross into Israel, a Sinai security official said.
The Eritreans, among them a woman, were arrested after crossing the Suez Canal by ferry into the Sinai on a tourist bus, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. During questioning, the Africans admitted that they have paid US$300 (€210) for a middle man to take them to Sinai as tourists, where they were to meet a smuggler to help them cross the borders illegally, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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The letters, according to Iranian sources, have been posted to Jewish families in Tehran (where the community numbers some 13,000), Isfahan (under 2,000) and Shiraz (some 4,000). They are captioned: Danger! Danger! Danger! and tell recipients to try and reach the West with all possible speed. Iranian Jews like the rest of the population face grave danger from impending events, the anonymous writers warn.
The Israeli prime minister Ehud OlmertÂ’s sudden trip to Moscow Thursday, Oct. 18, for one day there and back, and the two hours President Vladimir Putin has allotted for their conversation, tie in with these events.
The letters posted to Iranian Jews, our sources report, are not signed; they were postmarked from different towns in America and Europe and from private addresses so as not to raise the suspicions of Iranian security services.
All the same, some were discovered and confiscated, prompting Tehran to accuse Israel and world Zionist organizations of a campaign to scare its Jewish citizens.
In recent months, Iranian officials angrily held up a new Israeli offer of a one-time grant of $10,000 for every Iranian Jew migrating to Israel, over and above the regular grants for other immigrants. Learning of these incentives, the Iranian authorities not long ago ordered the Jewish deputy in the Majlis, Mauris MoÂ’tamed, to declare that the Jews of Iran cannot be bought for money and would never forsake their country.
Iran warned on Saturday it would fire off 11,000 rockets at enemy bases within the space of a minute if the United States launched military action against the Islamic republic.
"In the first minute of an invasion by the enemy, 11,000 rockets and cannons would be fired at enemy bases," said a brigadier general in the elite Revolutionary Guards, Mahmoud Chaharbaghi. "This volume and speed of firing would continue," added Chaharbaghi, who is commander of artillery and missiles of the Guards' ground forces, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
The United States has never ruled out attacking Iran to end its defiance over the controversial Iranian nuclear programme, which the US alleges is aimed at making nuclear weapons but Iran insists is entirely peaceful.
Iran has for its part vowed never to initiate an attack but has also warned of a crushing response to any act of aggression against its soil. "If a war breaks out in the future, it will not last long because we will rub their noses in the dirt," said Chaharbaghi. "Now the enemy should ask themselves how many of their people they are ready to have sacrificed for their stupidity in attacking Iran," he said.
Iranian officials have repeatedly warned the military would target the bases of US forces operating in neighbouring Iraq and Afghanistan in the event of any attack and already has these sites under close surveillance.
Chaharbaghi said that the Guards would soon receive "rockets with a range of 250 kilometres (155 miles)" whereas the current range of its rockets is 150 kilometres (91 miles). "We have identified our targets and with a close surveillance of targets, we can respond to the enemy's stupidity immediately," Chaharbaghi added.
He said that the Guards' weapons were spread out throughout the country and so would not be affected by any isolated US strikes against military facilities.
The Guards are Iran's elite ideological army and responsible for its most significant weapons such as the longer range Shahab-3 missile which has Israel and US bases in the Middle East within its range.
#1
Probably ture, if not quite in the manner they mean. Within a minute of a US attack 11,000 rockets will be blown up on their launchers, with another 11,000 detonating in armories every minute or so afterwards, until they are gone.
#2
The first thing the Iranians will see will be their command, control and communications sites disappearing in a series of large explosions. Unless they have some kind of negative message ("If you don't hear from me, launch the attack") in place, they won't be able to issue the orders to launch the missiles.
#4
Iran to fire '11,000 rockets in minute' if attacked
we have a couple of units too!
EMT Devices
And a s'hit load of attack missles, ARTY and bombs our selves.
IIRC we have Dial a Yield Nukes.
Click Neutrons aplenty.
& SuperSized Secrete Stuff also...
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
10/20/2007 13:08 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Meaningless Near Eastern pre-battle bravado. I'm sure it will be the Mother of All Battles and we will have finished it in 4 days, if it ever happens.
#10
"I'm sure it will be the Mother of All Battles and we will have finished it in 4 days, if it ever happens."
Four days sounds optimistic.
But seriously, I wonder: how long would it likely take us, without resorting to nuclear weapons (bunker-buster or otherwise), without diverting the attention of more than, say, 5% of our ground forces currently in Iraq and Afghanistan and without losing more than a couple dozen American casualties, to reduce Iran to essentially a pre-17th century level of existence-- no water, no sanitation, no energy production, no motorized transportation-- if we chose to do so?
Two weeks? Two months? My best guess-- and it's just a guess-- would be somewhere around a month.
Mahmoud Chaharbaghi oughtta STFU.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
10/20/2007 13:32 Comments ||
Top||
#11
For heaven's sake, what's next, "All your base are belong to us"?
#12
"Iran to fire '11,000 rockets in minute' if attacked"
Uh-huh. Suuuurrrrre they will.
Guess they'll try....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/20/2007 13:54 Comments ||
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#13
Nimble, one wonders why the Mid-Eastern types never every learn any useful lessons.
They have learned their lessons very well. America and her allies are afraid to utterly defeat them and will stop short of victory every time, allowing the match to be reset for a replay.
They have never been defeated in the way that the South was defeated in the Civil War, Germany, Poland Russia, Italy and Japan were defeated in WWII. You have to go back to the 30 years wars to find equal devastation to societies. The way we can wage war is not the normal way people wage war. And the Middle East has yet to see it.
So, it relies on the traditional way of waging war going back millenia which is to bluster like this for years on end. When blows are finally struck, an accomodation is reached quickly, before either side is thoroughly defeated and resume the trash talking.
We are the ones who haven't learned the lesson which is that if we are going to get in a war we should be in it to utterly defeat our enemy, not to play some diplomatic boxing match. Fighting by half-measures is what's stupid, not trash talking easily intimidated civilians.
#15
Two weeks? Two months? My best guess-- and it's just a guess-- would be somewhere around a month.
You're talking about the time until we stop operations, and I agree it will be longer than 4 days. I was talking about the time in which there is active resistance to the type of war we will probably fight with Iran, exclusively in the air. If we were to actually go in on the ground, it would take much longer and be pretty difficult.
#17
What, Iran to launch 11,000 bottle rockets per minute as long as matches don't run out ? Quick, somebody make an oil painting of that and call it 'Iran's Last Stand'.
#24
WE'RE DOOMED! Us rocketers have managed to launch only 200 Estes Mosquitos at once. Can Balsa Machining make up enough nose cones quick enough if the Chinese cut off Estes supply of those new fangled plastic noseones? I guess I better start hoarding 1/2A's.
Posted by: bruce ||
10/20/2007 18:24 Comments ||
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#25
72 hours with a concntrated strike woudl be enough to demolish every airfield, hit every HQ, and then drop every major bridge span, every major power transmission & switching center, every power plant, every major phone exchange, every large water processing plant and major water pumping/storage area in large urban areas, and every TV and radio station broadcast facility in Iran, assuming full use of cruise and other assets. Also included would ben most of the important road intersections as well, especially in urban centers. Oh and the refinery would be gone as well.
They'd have no power, phones, transportation or water. CHolera woudl be rampant within a month, and within 6 months without aid, you'd have 10 million refugees, and several million starving.
U.S. military forces are capable of conducting operations against Iran if called on to bomb nuclear facilities or other targets, the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday. "From a military standpoint, there is more than enough reserve to respond if that, in fact, is what the national leadership wanted to do, and so I don't think we're too stretched in that regard," Adm. Michael Mullen told reporters when asked if current operations had worn out U.S. forces.
Adm. Mullen said he has been concerned over the past year and a half with Iranian leaders' statements of intentions, Tehran's support for bombers in Iraq and Iran's covert drive for nuclear weapons. "All of which has potentially a very destabilizing impact on a part of the world, a region of the world which is struggling in many ways already," he said in his first press conference since becoming chairman Oct. 1. "So they're not being helpful."
Defense and military officials have been preparing U.S. forces within striking distance of Iran. The forces would be dominated by Navy and Air Force weapons and forces since Army and Marine Corps forces are focused on Iraq and Afghanistan.
That's about right. The goal isn't to invade, occupy and reconstruct Iran: the Iranian people are perfectly capable of running their country once the Mad Mullahs™ are out of the way. And striking the nuclear complexes helps to accomplish that by showing how toothless the Mullahs are. Just beware the Revolutionary Guard.
There are two main targets of any Iranian military action, according to the officials. First, U.S. forces are set to attack Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps facilities because of the paramilitary's support and provision of armor-piercing roadside bombs. A U.S. official said the location of a factory where Iranian bomb materials are being produced has been identified.
A second target would be Iranian nuclear facilities, which are in numerous underground facilities across the country.
Adm. Mullen said Iran's support for terrorism "adds up to a huge and growing concern about Iran and where it's headed." "There is a significant amount of activity right now to try to influence them diplomatically," he said. The use of military force would be an option "of the last resort," Adm. Mullen said.
Adm. Mullen said many are working to try and influence Iranian leaders to move in a more positive direction. "But the concern that I have is very, very real."
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, appearing with Adm. Mullen at the Pentagon, warned about the dangers a nuclear-armed Iran poses to the Middle East. "If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, it seems very probable that there will be other states in the region that decide for their own protection they will have to obtain nuclear weapons as well," Mr. Gates said, likely triggering a "nuclear arms race in the Middle East."
Mr. Gates said as nuclear weapons materials and perhaps nuclear weapons become available in states that did not have them in the past "the risk of an accident or a miscalculation or of those weapons or materials falling into the hands of terrorists seem to me to be substantially increased." Nuclear weapons escalation in the Middle East would increase the risk of "a major war" in the region, he said.
"This is not to mention the fact that you've got a leader in Iran who has already publicly said that Israel ought to be destroyed," Mr. Gates said. "So let's just say that the leadership in Iran doesn't give us confidence, even by their public statements, that they would handle this kind of a capability with any kind of responsibility. And then when you add to that the proliferation part of the equation, it seems to me it ends up being a far more dangerous world."
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
"Hey, we've got so many nukes that we're taking them out for a drive in the country. Hell, they're coming out of our ears. Just let us know when you want some of them. There's more than enough to go around."
#3
Every muslim network was going apeshit over GWB's "WW-III" comment.
Rantburgers have been talking about WWW III for some time. Good for GWB. The muslims need to realize they can't do $hit with impunity--there is a price to pay and it might be very steep. They need to go apeshit some more. Maybe they will stop their bull$hit before they get destroyed.
#5
I'm currently reading Paul Theroux's "Riding the Iron Rooster". In it there is a Chinese expression that is most appropriate to the current situation with Iran. Executing someone to make an example for others is referred to as:
"Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys."
Evidently, Iraq wasn't enough. So, it's time to make sure the monkeys get very, very scared.
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad sent a letter to the U.N. protesting a previous letter sent by Lebanon's premier, accusing Fouad Siniora's government of an alliance with Israel.
Syria says it is ready to open diplomatic ties with neighboring Lebanon once the current government of Prime Minister Siniora has been replaced by a "more friendly administration".
Syria expressed its hard line stand on Lebanon in a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the eve of a visit to Beirut by the foreign ministers of France, Spain and Italy to help guarantee the forthcoming election of a successor to Syrian-backed President Emile Lahoud.
"The question of establishing diplomatic relations and demarcating the border can be settled by mutual agreement between the Syrian government and a Lebanese government which does not act as an enemy of Syria."
Syria said it was responding to a letter sent by Siniora to Ban and Arab League chief Amr Mussa earlier this month in which he sought their help in halting what he said was the flow of illegal arms into the country from Syria.
"Lebanon requests the help of the Arab League and the United Nations to preserve its independence and stability and to protect it from domestic and foreign dangers," the Lebanese premier said.
Siniora's letter accused Syria of supporting Fatah al-Islam, based on evidence and testimonies by captured terrorists during the 106-day confrontation with the Lebanese Army.
Syria retorted that Siniora's letter was "full of lies" and accused him of "taking up accusations made by his supporter Israel".
The letter criticised those Lebanese leaders "who use visits to the United Nations to damage the reputation of Syria and inflame the Security Council against it."
That was an allusion to anti-Syrian parliamentary leader Saad Hariri and his close ally Druze leader Walid Jumblatt who have both travelled to New York in recent months.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Assad wants a friend of Syria running Lebanon.
So? At least 200 million of us do not want you running Syria.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/20/2007 8:38 Comments ||
Top||
#2
perhaps Assad needs to worry more about who's running Syria than Lebanon. We should be doing our best to disrupt Syria from within
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/20/2007 10:45 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Assad is only president for life.
Of course the peculiarly cylindrical shape of his head could mean he'd escape a noose. (Seriously, he's kind of like an evil, black-haired Beaker.)
Hezbollah on Friday denounced a senior Pentagon official's call for a U.S. "strategic partnership" with Lebanon's army, saying American attempts to boost military ties were a ploy for domination and could turn the country into another Iraq.
That's a relief. I was afraid it'd turn into another Vietnam.
Washington has dramatically increased military aid to Lebanon's pro-Western government over the past year. On Thursday, Eric Edelman, undersecretary of defense for policy, said the U.S. wants to make military ties even closer, with a "strategic partnership" to strengthen the country's forces. Edelman said in an interview with Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. television that the buildup of the military would mean the Shiite Muslim guerrilla group Hezbollah would have no excuse to bear arms.
The very thought makes Nasrallah's turban tighten like a tourniquet.
His comments came on the same day that a Lebanese newspaper reported that Washington is proposing a treaty with Lebanon that would make it a strategic partner and lead to the creation of American bases. The Lebanese government and the U.S. ambassador in Beirut denied the report in the opposition-leaning As-Safir newspaper, and Edelman made no mention of bases in his comments.
This article starring:
Hezbollah
Eric Edelman, undersecretary of defense for policy
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Syria has begun dismantling the remains of a what American and foreign officials suspect was a nuclear facility targeted by Israel in an air strike in September, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
The report is based on testimony provided by US and foreign officials who are familiar with the incident and have seen aerial photographs of the site. According to those officials, the area bore "signature" characteristics of a small but substantial nuclear reactor similar to those found in North Korea.
The dismantling of the damaged site, which appears to be still underway, could make it difficult for weapons inspectors to determine the precise nature of the facility and how Syria planned to use it, the Post reported.
Meanwhile, UN experts were reported to have received satellite imagery of the site struck and are analyzing it for signs that it might have been a secret nuclear facility, diplomats said Friday.
One of the diplomats, who is linked to the International Atomic Energy Agency - the UN nuclear watchdog looking at the images - said IAEA experts were looking at commercial images, disputing earlier suggestions that they had come from US intelligence.
Separately, two diplomats said the images, acquired Thursday, did not at first examination appear to substantiate reports that the target was a nuclear installation, but emphasized that the photos were still under examination.
All of those who spoke to The Associated Press were briefed on the agency's receipt of the images but demanded anonymity because their information was confidential. Officials of the Vienna-based nuclear watchdog and the US diplomatic mission to the IAEA had no comment.
Last Saturday, the New York Times reported that the September 6 air strike targeted what US and Israeli intelligence believed to be a partly constructed nuclear reactor.
According to the Times report, Israel carried out the strike to send a message that it would not tolerate even a nuclear program in its initial stages of construction in any neighboring state.
A senior Israeli official cited in the story said the mission was carried out "to reestablish the credibility of our deterrent power." American officials said they believed the attack was meant to send a message to Iran regarding Teheran's nuclear program and Israel's determination to block it.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
Syria accused the United States of interfering in Lebanese internal politics, saying its bias for one side against the other threatens Lebanon's security and stability.
In a letter sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and published by the state-run news agency Thursday night, Syria said it respected Lebanese sovereignty and independence and was not interfering in Lebanon's presidential elections. "The well known blatant foreign interference by a superpower, which has so far deepened divisions between the Lebanese... poses a direct threat to Lebanon's security and stability because it [the US] is clearly and openly siding with one Lebanese side after the other," the letter said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2007 00:00 ||
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French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner arrived here Friday evening for talks with Lebanese leaders. Kouchner will join his Italian and Spanish counterparts - Massimo D'Alema and Miguel Angel Moratinos respectively - in a tripartite attempt to bring leaders of Lebanese government and opposition to consensus on the coming presidential elections. D'Alema and Moratinos are due here Saturday.
The European trio are scheduled to hold talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Al-Siniora, Speaker of the House of Deputies Nabih Berri and Maronite Patriarch Nasrullah Sfeir as well as opposition leaders on the presidential vote slated for November 24. They will also inspect the enhanced United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and mull ways of implementing the United Nations Security Council resolution 1701. The UNIFIL suffered six Spanish fatalities in a terrorist attack recently. France, Italy and Spain are among the major contributors to the 13,500 strong peacekeeping force in south Lebanon.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
An Al Qaeda-linked commander directing a brutal wave of violence in Afghanistan, 
North Korea wants to resolve the international standoff over its nuclear weapons program in order to forge better ties with the United States, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said Friday. 
Uhuh. We might think of this routine as the anti-haka. Where the haka is meant to intimidate the enemy and fire up the participants, the anti-haka is designed to give the opponent the opportunity to discretely remove himself so the dancer and strut for awhile, make a few political points, and then retire from the field, having accomplished nothing and allowing the opponent to resume his activities. 
(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - The deadly Iraq-style twin bomb attack on opposition leader and former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto's motorcade late on Thursday leave her caught on the horns of a dilemma. 
A defiant Benazir Bhutto on Friday strongly condemned the bomb attacks on her homecoming parade in Karachi that killed 139 people, saying the victims made the 'ultimate sacrifice' for democracy. Giving a clean chit to the Musharraf government for the attack, Bhutto said that she exactly knew who her enemies were. "It is not the government, but some individuals in the government who are behind this... I know in my heart exactly who my enemies are," she told a press conference in her first comments since the attack. 
ISTANBUL - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called on Baghdad on Friday to shut down camps run by separatist Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq and to hand over guerrilla leaders. “What will satisfy us is the closure of all PKK (rebel) camps, including their training facilities, and the handover of the terrorist leaders to us,” Erdogan told reporters after attending Friday prayers at an Istanbul mosque.
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad sent a letter to the U.N. protesting a previous letter sent by Lebanon's premier, accusing Fouad Siniora's government of an alliance with Israel. 
Syria accused the United States of interfering in Lebanese internal politics, saying its bias for one side against the other threatens Lebanon's security and stability. 
