Afghan and security forces waited, and waited, for the Taliban Spring Offensive, but it never came. Gun battles with the Taliban were down 50 percent so far, compared to last year. Roadside bomb attacks were about the same. But Taliban casualties were up, as more Afghan and NATO forces went looking for them. Last year, 8,000 people died in Taliban violence. So far this year, the death toll is 1,200, indicating casualties for the year will be about half what they were last year. This year, a higher proportion of the dead are Taliban and al Qaeda, and a lower proportion civilians. While some Taliban commanders have tried to develop new tactics to reduce casualties (smaller units of Taliban, and avoiding contact with police and troops), nothing has worked. The Afghan army is larger (76,000 troops) and better trained than last year, and there are more foreign troops. Worst of all, more tribal leaders have sided with the government this year, meaning tribal militias are also ready to fight Taliban moving through previously pro-Taliban territory. More at link
Posted by: ed ||
05/14/2008 09:19 ||
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#1
In other words, they have run out of bodies and are scraping the bottom of the man-power barrel. Now if we can keep the tribal leaders on the government side, we can chalk up a win in Afghanistan. Long road still ahead, but looking better.
#4
I guess the Brutal Afghan Winter must've been especially brutal this year.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/14/2008 10:17 Comments ||
Top||
#5
OK - global warming, brutal afghan winter, semi-quagmire - check. What are we missing - apartheid, Israel, insufficient diversity, gay rights, Gary Condit (remember him, summer of '01), drug abuse, racial profiling, the homeless?
Other than winning a war or battle, what could be causing this temporary/illusory/fragile/spurious/artificial/questionable success in Afghanistan?
#6
Last year, 8,000 people died in Taliban violence. So far this year, the death toll is 1,200, indicating casualties for the year will be about half what they were last year. This year, a higher proportion of the dead are Taliban and al Qaeda, and a lower proportion civilians.
That's funny, I thought most of the 8,000 dead last year were Talibunnies?
The Taliban Spring Offensive is not fast and it's not slow, it's half fast.
They still seem to be good at killing teachers and burning schools. Like riding a bicycle, I guess some skills just stay with you.
#7
Long ago it was time to take the battle to the Pakistani madrassas. That is, to start internecine battles between various factions. Even going so far as to manufacture massacres, to get them to start cutting each other's throats.
#9
The Taliban had a hard winter this year. In past years they could hole up in Pakistan while they accumulated their weapons and trained for the coming offensive. This winter they were kept occupied and constantly on the move. By the time Spring came, they were tired, hungry, and reduced somewhat in number. They were in no shape to launch any large "Spring offensive". In fact, their political leaders were swept out of what offices they held and there is evidence that the population is turning against them in the "sanctuary" of Pakistan.
A former warlord allied to Somalia's collapsed Islamic Courts movement has rejected peace talks that opened in Djibouti yesterday. Yusuf Indho Ade Mohamed Siad, one of the country's most notorious warlords, told a Mogadishu radio station Tuesday that delegates at the Djibouti talks "do not represent the opposition."
"The Djibouti Conference is intended to destroy the Asmara Alliance, and this is not acceptable," said Indho Ade, who now holds the post of defense secretary for the Eritrea-based Somali opposition group, the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS).
The ex-warlord said the delegates in Djibouti who are planning to meet with Somali government officials "cannot speak on behalf of the Asmara Alliance," while warning the international community to be cautious of such "self-appointed opposition members."
The United Nations is sponsoring the Djibouti-based peace talks between opposition leaders and the Somali government, with ARS Chairman Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed openly saying a delegation from the ARS is in Djibouti City to meet with UN representatives. "We [ARS] do not want to talk with Somali government officials, because they have committed many crimes," Mr. Indho Ade said.
Although the Djibouti talks have officially started, there has not been any face-to-face meeting between the two Somali sides yet.
The ARS was established in Asmara in September 2007 as a united front against Somalia's Ethiopian-backed interim government. The ARS, which is dominated by Islamists, also includes former government officials and Diaspora activists.
Mr. Indho Ade was a warlord who ruled the fertile region of Lower Shabelle using brutal clan militias, who murdered and subjugated the local population at will for five years. He played a key role in the initial military success of the Islamic Courts, who expelled warlords from Mogadishu, and he was later appointed as the movement's defense chief.
In December 2006, the ex-warlord issued a seven-day ultimatum for Ethiopian troops to leave Somali soil or face jihad, while calling on Muslim foreign fighters to join the war. When the Ethiopian army began its advance on Islamist-led Mogadishu, Mr. Indho Ade and Islamic Courts chief Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys fled Somalia, as thousands of young men fought a costly war against Ethiopia's superior armed forces.
This article starring:
Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia
Islamic Courts
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys
Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed
Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia
Yusuf Indho Ade
Islamic Courts
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2008 00:00 ||
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Malawi President Bingu Mutharika is harbouring a hired Eritrean 'deadly ex-soldier sniper assassin' masquerading as a business consultant currently dating his divorced daughter Duwa, an intelligence report made available to Nyasa Times has revealed.
Rikki Shayo real name Rashid Abdul Shariki wanted in Eritera for various crimes - came to Malawi as a refugee from travelling on a Kenyan passport. He belongs to a Mafia group called Mujiha linked to Al Qaeda operations in the horn of Africa. "The man whose real name is Rashid Abdul Shariki is now known as Rikki Shayo. If you heard the history of this person, you can not associate with him. He is on the most top wanted list in Eritrea to answer some cases of robberies, brutality and other crimes," reads the January 25, 2008 intelligence communication in part.
Shayo is currently employed by President Mutharika's Guardian Newspaper in Lilongwe as Editor-in-Chief and drives a State House four wheel-drive courtesy of Malawian tax payers. He is also behind a President Mutharika bid for the fourth mobile phone operator currently being bulldozed on MACRA by Minister of Information and Civic Education Particia Kaliati.
The 'bandit' had a brief stint at a non-governmental organisation Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation [CHRR] as a Communication Officer where his main task was production of advocacy literature. "It is indeed true that he undertook some consultancy work for CHRR but that was for a very short time since we discovered that his performance was not commensurate with his claimed qualifications," said Executive Director Undule Mwakasungura who could not clearly remember how Shayo came to their organisat
A Kenyan intelligence official only called Ngingi for this purpose said Shayo recently submitted a 49 paged report to the leader of Mujika in Kenya on his investigations on the opposition. "Shayo submitted the 49 pages report for the phase one for the time he stayed in Malawi and he is expected to be back in the country in the next two weeks. "His report was about what he finds in his research about the downfall of Mutharika, his cabinet and government; and how to 'deal away' with the opposition party leaders troubling the Head of State," Ngingi said.
Mutharika's prospective son-in-law boasts that the Malawi government is still sleeping and people are with closed eyes hence its failure to 'see-off' the opposition leaders. He is said to have used his manipulative techniques and intelligence to infiltrate the Mutharika household and sell the Mujika services to the Head of State. The Eritrean has already gained the Malawi citizenship courtesy of Duwa and he gets a guard of honour from presidential guards at the New State House gates. "He reported that he had gained favour with the President Mutharika family and now he has got citizenship of Malawi and the President's daughter had put trust in him," said the official.
The Malawi Secret Intelligence Service could not comment on how they had let a man not vetted at all, to get close to the Head of State.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2008 00:00 ||
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North Korea has agreed to cooperate fully on verifying its nuclear declaration, a U.S. official said on Tuesday as he displayed some of the 18,822 documents Pyongyang has given Washington about its plutonium program.
Obtaining the documents last week was a victory for the Bush administration, which has struggled to persuade the secretive communist nation to produce a "complete and correct" declaration of its nuclear programs that was due on Dec. 31.
The declaration is part of a broader multilateral deal under which North Korea, which detonated an atomic device in October 2006, would abandon all its nuclear programs in exchange for economic and diplomatic incentives.
Sung Kim, the U.S. State Department's top Korea expert, told reporters that U.S. and North Korean officials had productive talks about elements of the declaration, which Pyongyang is required to make under the so-called six-party agreement.
The agreement was struck by the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.
"We had very detailed, substantive discussions with DPRK (North Korea) interlocutors from the Foreign Ministry, as well as the General Department of Atomic Energy, on all aspects of their declaration," Kim said.
"The North Koreans acknowledged the requirement for verification and indeed agreed to cooperate fully with verification activities," he said as he held up a sheaf of documents about North Korea's plutonium-related activities.
He said he hoped U.S. experts would have a preliminary assessment of the documents -- which are written in Korean and filled seven boxes -- in a few weeks.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
They're very good at forging "Agreements" that they never intend to live up to.
It's all a huge stall folks, the foggy bottom crowd is either complicit, or utter idiots.
You decide, either way they should be removed.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/14/2008 12:38 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Compare wid STRATEGYPAGE > CHINA PREPARES TO INVADE NORTH KOREA. "Just-In-Case"? PLA MILEXS, BRIDGEX, redeployment of SU27 units from near TAIWAN???
A French court on Wednesday handed down jail sentences to seven men convicted of running a network that recruited poor young Muslims in Paris to fight in the Iraqi insurgency.
Tracked down and arrested after a young Frenchman was found dead in the Iraqi city of Fallujah in 2004, five French nationals, one Algerian and one Moroccan were handed jail terms of between 18 months and seven years. Aged between 24 and 40, all were convicted of travelling to Iraq to take part in combat or of recruiting young men in Paris' heavily-immigrant northeast, including at a local mosque, to send as fighters.
Ringleaders Farid Benyettou, 27, and Boubakeur El Hakim, 24 -- whose brother was killed in Fallujah and who himself fought in Iraq -- received sentences of six and seven years respectively. The court found Benyettou guilty of sending youths "to fight in Iraq, possibly by carrying out suicide attacks, after joining the troops of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi," Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq killed in a US air strike in 2006.
Benyettou admitted in court he may have influenced local youths by defending suicide attacks committed in the name of Islam, but said they were already determined to join the jihad. He insisted he had "a right to have convictions" even "extremist" ones.
Hakim was found guilty of inciting fellow Parisians to join him in Iraq, including through videos shot in the country, and of facilitating their trip to the war-torn country.
A third defendant, Moroccan national Said Abdellah, was handed seven years for his connections with a string of jihadist recruitment networks, including the Paris operation. And 37-year-old Algerian Nacer Eddine Mettai -- who is already serving out a separate six-year jail sentence -- was given four years for supplying would-be fighters with fake identity documents. All four have been in custody since the start of the investigation. Both foreigners were definitively banned from French territory once they leave jail.
A Frenchman of Tunisian descent, Mohammed El Ayouni, who lost an eye and a forearm in Fallujah in November 2004, received an 18-month sentence, as did Thamer Bouchnak and Cherif Kouachi, arrested just before they left for Syria. The three have already served out their sentences in pre-trial detention.
At least a dozen youths, either foreign or of North African descent, many of them friends since childhood, are known to have travelled to fight US-led forces in Iraq, from 2004 onwards. Three died in a suicide bombing, while several others were injured or arrested in Iraq and neighbouring Syria.
This article starring:
ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWI
al-Qaeda in Europe
BUBAKEUR EL HAKIM
al-Qaeda in Europe
CHERIF KUACHI
al-Qaeda in Europe
FARID BENYETTU
al-Qaeda in Europe
MOHAMED EL AIUNI
al-Qaeda in Europe
NACER EDINE METTAI
al-Qaeda in Europe
SAID ABDELLAH
al-Qaeda in Europe
THAMER BUCHNAK
al-Qaeda in Europe
Posted by: ed ||
05/14/2008 09:08 ||
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President Bush said Tuesday he was disappointed in "flawed intelligence" before the Iraq war and was concerned that if a Democrat wins the presidency in November and withdrew troops prematurely it could "eventually lead to another attack on the United States."
In an interview with Politico magazine and Yahoo News, Bush also said he gave up golf in 2003 out of respect for U.S. soldiers killed in the war, which has now lasted more than five years. "I didn't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf," he said. "I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."
Bush said he made his decision after the August 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad.
A question submitted from the online audience asked Bush whether he felt he had been misled about Iraq as he made the decision to go to war. "`Misled' is a strong word," he said. "Not only our intelligence community, but intelligence communities all across the world shared the same assessment. And so I was disappointed to see how flawed our intelligence was."
"Do I think somebody lied to me? No, I don't. I think it was just, you know, they analyzed the situation and came up with the wrong conclusion," he added.
He acknowledged concerns about leaving the unfinished Iraq war to a Democratic successor. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have said they will bring troops home if elected. Bush said his "doomsday scenario of course is that extremists throughout the Middle East would be emboldened, which would eventually lead to another attack on the United States."
Also in the interview to an online audience, Bush:
- Said more is known about global warming than when he first took office in 2001. Asked if it was real, Bush said, "Yes, it is real, sure is." Still, he defended his opposition to the Kyoto treaty on climate change. "I could have supported a lousy treaty and everybody would have went, `Oh, man, what a wonderful-sounding fellow he is. But it just wouldn't have worked."
- Criticized the Democratic-led Congress, claiming it had dragged its feet on trade, on renewing surveillance powers and failing to respond appropriately to the housing crisis. "And so I would call them stalled. I would call them, so far, good at verbiage and not so good at results."
- Said his Christian faith increased while in office, saying he sought to understand his weaknesses, better himself "and get closer to the Lord."
- Criticized former President Carter for advocating what he called a "blame-Israel-for-every-problem" mentality to the Middle East.
- Said he sympathized with the two candidates in the long-running Democratic primary race. "I feel like this primary has been a long, hard campaign. I remember what it was like in 2000, and I was exhausted. And my primary ended pretty quickly, compared to this one. And so I both those candidates have got to be just worn out. They haven't had time to get their feet on the ground or rest."
- Said he was not concerned about an ugly conversation about race if Obama wins the Democratic nomination. "I think most Americans are open-minded people, and they're going to pick the president who can keep America safe and keep taxes low. And so I think my own judgment is, is that race will only enter in if it's provoked by the press."
- Said he would return to using e-mail after he leaves office, saying he gave it up to avoid leaks. He said he looks forward to "e-mailing to my buddies. I can remember as governor I stayed in touch with all kinds of people around the country, firing off e-mails at all times of the day to stay in touch with my pals."
#1
The Iranians would fill any US vacuum. The US is not going anywhere. The US airbase north of Baghdad is one of the busiest in the world. Billary or Obewan couldn't close that strategic asset even if they wanted to.
#3
Darth, if I recall correctly, there's a law that stipulates that any email must be retained for x number of years for 'discovery' purposes. It's not a IT issue, it's a CYA issue given the behavior of Donks to engage in fishing expeditions [they still haven't given up on the AG] to find any little reason to drum up charges later on people.
#4
What the world needs is another Iranian revolution and a reasonable Iran. Then Iraq could stabalize, Isreal could kick the crap out of Syria and the entire region would mostly settle down.
How best to bring about that second Iranian revolution is a mystery.
#5
Finally, he speaks the truth about the failure of the Intelligence Community. Shame he didnt do this YEARS agoe, before hte "Bush Lied" mantra becaem set in concrete for so many Americans, mainly due to Bush not beinf forceful in responding ot the Lib Dominant Media smears.
As the Arctic ice cap shrinks, the Pentagon is eyeing the expanding navigable waters as possible entry points for security threats that must be monitored more closely, the chief of the U.S. Northern Command told The Associated Press.
Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart also said in an interview that defense officials are working with the Federal Aviation Administration and Canadian authorities to determine how unmanned aircraft can be used to monitor the northern border without interfering with busy commercial air traffic routes.
For much of the last 18 months, the military has been more visibly focused on the country's southern border dispatching National Guard troops to help patrol there while additional border guards were trained.
But Renuart said there will be increased military activity along the expansive northern boundary and beyond, including efforts to use more high-tech sensors and cameras like those developed for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
"The Arctic is a new area that is important to us because of the changes in ice flows," said Renuart. The shift, he said, means that Northern Command will beef up its maritime surveillance.
Renuart's comments came as Defense Secretary Robert Gates was traveling Monday to Colorado Springs, Colo., for the 50th anniversary of NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
Scientists have said the ice in the north shrank to a record low last summer, a change many attribute to global warming. And as the ice opened up, traffic in the Arctic region grew, particularly along the northwest passage.
"Last year, during the summer months, where the ice had retreated we began to see some tourist ships, cruises, in the region," Renuart said during the interview on Friday.
For ships headed from the Pacific to Europe, traveling through the northwest passage saves time and valuable energy costs. That traffic increase has coincided with greater international interest in potential energy resources in the Arctic, prompting more exploration.
"All of this has implications that there could be security concerns," Renuart said.
The U.S. and Canada have already said there are plans to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) along the more than 5,000-mile long northern border. The military has chosen a base in Grand Forks to base the Predator drones for that mission, largely due to its central location.
Renuart said the effort has been slowed a bit as officials try to resolve air traffic congestion issues, and train UAV operators on how to fly the drones in the north's more heavily wooded terrain.
#1
Ok, fine. But has anyone considered the walk south after landing anywhere up there? By the time any jihadi made it to an "urban centre" they would have become Canadian.
#2
According to Ezekiel 38 and other prophecies, a great horde of fully armed troops invades from the north on war horses and using mules for merchandise. "Babylon" invades "Israel", then God avenges his people by sending destroyers against "Babylon". Identification depends upon your interpretation of allegorical passages, but some of these are not just historical references to ancient battles, as they are apocalyptic with a future fulfillment. I guess I'd rather be safe than sorry by including the US as both representive of the people of God and Babylon, rather than just a past battle in geographic Israel. However, you don't need to fill up horses with $14 UAV fuel, especially it it is scarce!
#3
But has anyone considered the walk south after landing anywhere up there?
The situation would be more of establishing monitoring stations, outposts or supply depots in the northern areas.
A couple of years ago, a Chinese oceanographic vessel made a port visit to a village on Hudson Bay. The Chinese didn't notify the Canadian government. That's the reason for concern.
Uhm, don't look now, fellas, but the Northern ice cap has practically recovered.
Check out this image. You might need to click on it to blow it up to full size. Check out the far right of the graph. See where sea ice drops to a near record low? And see how this year it goes right back to where it was from about 1996 to 2004?
Wanna see something even neater? Check out the global sea ice chart. 2008 has shown the largest increase in sea ice recorded.
#7
What I find absolutely knee-slapping is the fact that the US has today labeled the polar bear as "threatened" ... not because it is actually threatened, but because SOME models say it COULD be threatened around the year 2050. So we have embarked on a path of protecting species that are not under threat (current polar bear populations are at record numbers, by the way) and whose populations are at all time record highs now, because of what some study says what MIGHT happen 40 years from now.
Polar bears survived the last interglacial just fine ... and that interglacial was much warmer than this one has been. The North pole would have been ice-free every summer in the last interglacial.
How do these morons get elected? Ah, right, the morons who vote for them.
#9
US CENTCOM might want to consider more all-around, as per below:
RIAN > IRAN SAYS IT INTERCEPTED A TERRORIST ATTACK AGZ THE RUSSIAN CONSULATE, in city of Rasht near Caspian Sea. IRAN IS CHARGING THAT TERRORIST GROUP HAS US LINKS???
IOW, IRAN is ACCUSING THE US OF A DIRECT PROXY ATTACK AGZ RUSS CONSULATE = SOVEREIGN RUSS [Diplomatic]TERRITORY.
#10
KOMMERSANT > TERRORISTS PLOTTED TO EXPLODE RF CONSULATE IN IRAN'S RESHT. FARS News Agency > Iran Minister argues was a wilful US intent by proxy to divide/split Iran from her neighbors???
#11
ION RUSSIA > UKRAINE has formally banned MOSCOW'S MAYOR for arguing that RUSSIA SHOULD TAKE OVER AND ANNEX UKR's SEVASTOPOL NAVAL BASE FOR RUSS BLACK SEA FLEET.
Sacked CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry, if reinstated, will re-examine the legitimacy of President Musharrafs second term, which was legalised by CJ Abdul Hameed Dogar, who is regarded by lawyers as being friendly towards PPP Co-chairman Asif Zardari, NYT reported on Tuesday. PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar told NYT that there was a perception that Zardari had assured the Bush administration that Musharraf would be granted a safe exit, and that the Americans feared that Musharraf would lose face if the judiciary is restored.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2008 00:00 ||
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A United States intelligence agency paid a bounty of $500,000 to Pakistans military for the arrest of the Canadian son of a suspected Al Qaeda financier, according to reports, quoting court documents, published in the Canadian press.
Papers filed in a Canadian court say that Abdullah Khadr was wanted by the Americans for supporting insurgent activity in Pakistan and Afghanistan, since he was deemed to be a national security threat. The Globe and Mail newspaper from Toronto, which obtained the information after fighting to be able to publish it, said Khadr is the eldest son of Egyptian-born Canadian national Ahmed Said Khadr, and the brother of Omar Khadr, the only Canadian held at Guantanamo. Abdullah was held in Pakistan for almost a year before returning in 2005 to Canada, where he was arrested and jailed, and is now fighting extradition to the US.
Justice officials inadvertently disclosed the top secret memo in court filings last year and fought the Globe and Mail not to publish it, but lost.
This article starring:
ABDULLAH KHADR
al-Qaeda
AHMED SAID KHADR
al-Qaeda
OMAR KHADR
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2008 00:00 ||
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Two former Guantanamo Bay prisoners from Sudan, who were picked up from Peshawar, are demanding an apology and planning to sue the United States after spending five years behind bars at the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
We were detained for five years in Guantanamo. So many innocent prisoners were discharged over the past two years without giving any explanation after keeping them for years behind bars. But, we will sue the US for an apology and compensation, said the two Sudanese nationals, Salim Mahmud Adam and Adel Hasan Hamad.
"And for a membership in Weight Watchers!"
Both were picked up in Peshawar on suspicion of having links with Al Qaeda. They were released from Guantanamo Bay five years later. We are planning to sue the US with the help of human rights groups, said Adam.
Yeah, thanks guys, appreciate knowing which side you're on ...
The Sudanese teacher told Daily Times that on May 27, 2002, when he opened the door of his house in the early morning hours, officials of Pakistani intelligence agencies handcuffed him immediately.
"Gitcher feet back and assume da position!"
At 1am they surrounded my house from all sides. My wife was pregnant at the time, but they showed no mercy, said Adam, who was the principal of an orphanage school and residing in Hayatabad at the time.
What'd they do, let her go back to sleep?
I was blindfolded and taken into custody, he said. He said he was interrogated before being shifted to Bagram, another notorious US detention camp and airbase in Afghanistan.
My torture ordeal began early in Bagram and interrogations would sometimes last for three to four hours, he said, adding that two months later, along with other Al Qaeda suspects, he was shifted to Guantanamo, an inhuman place.
The warm sand, the tropical breezes, real, um, torture ...
He recalled the harsh interrogations, beating and screams of fellow detainees, and the loud music played at prayer times. Some interrogators, he said, would tell him they knew he was innocent, but this was a political game. Like Adam, compatriot Adel Hasan Hamad, 50, will always remember the day he was arrested in Pakistan, on July 18, 2002. He was working in a private hospital in Peshawar as an administrator.
Just a part-time jihadi ...
Leaving his family back in his homeland, Hamad came to Pakistan on July 16, 2002. I only wanted to help refugees in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he said.
Just a humble social worker for the Widows Ammunition Fund ...
Two days after my arrival, I was arrested, he added. He said Pakistani intelligence officers accompanied by an American official woke him up, told him not to move and asked for his travel documents.
And he couldn't produce them 'cause he had been told not to move ...
Hamad said he was taken to a Pakistani prison, where he was held for over six days and questioned by intelligence officials.
This article starring:
Adel Hasan Hamad
al-Qaeda
Salim Mahmud Adam
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
He recalled the harsh interrogations, beating and screams of fellow detainees, and the loud music played at prayer times
poor baby, what horrible torture.
Crank it up! Black Sabbath Paranoid Led Zepplin Immigrant Song
Posted by: Jan ||
05/14/2008 1:43 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Never sue by trying to peddle lies. X-Ray/Delta methods at Gitmo went according to a strict plan. Any variance would have defeated the purpose. The US DoD has authenticated the attached document.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/495141/Camp-Delta-Standard-Operating-Procedures
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/14/2008 18:10 Comments ||
Top||
#7
george you must not keep up with what they are. i'm not using it a racist term for the sinktrap i consider sorry ass white folks that don't work or are meaning less too society beside being crackheads or such. and if you don't like my comment take it and shove it straight up your ass
Members of the Taliban delegation holding talks with the NWFP government on Tuesday distributed pamphlets asking the government, military and people of Pakistan to join hands with the Taliban against the United States. The pamphlets were distributed at the Shahi Mehmankhana, where the provincial government and the Taliban discussed peace in Swat valley for over seven hours.
The two-page pamphlet asks for a joint struggle for the implementation of Shariah law in the country. It says President Pervez Musharraf will be put on trial in a Shariah court by the Taliban shura for launching operations in Waziristan, and against Jamia Hafsa in Islamabad. The pamphlet warns that if any action is taken against the Taliban anywhere in the country in the future, the ANP-PPP government will be held responsible.
The pamphlet says militant warlord Baitullah Mehsud is their leader and the Taliban will continue to fight for the cause of Islam under his leadership. When Awami National Party (ANP) NWFP President Afrasiab Khattak was asked about the distribution of pamphlets by the Taliban delegation, he claimed ignorance of the development.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Don't want to earn an honest living? Become a mullah parasite.
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday condemned the seven bomb blasts that occurred in Jaipur, India, which killed and injured many people. Pakistan condemns all acts of terrorism and reaffirms its firm commitment to fight this scourge together with the international community, he said in a statement. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also condemned the bombings, and offered his condolences to bereaved families.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2008 00:00 ||
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Violence in Iraqs Kirkuk province has dropped by 70 percent, and coalition and Iraqi forces have virtually destroyed al-Qaida in Iraq in the region, the commander of the U.S. brigade combat team in the area said May 12.
Army Col. David Paschal, commander of 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, said that as security improves in the strategic northern province, changes are happening in the economy and in governance that help cement the security progress in place.
Four developments have helped the battle against insurgents in the Rhode Island-sized province of 1.5 million, Paschal told Pentagon reporters in a teleconference from his headquarters at Contingency Operating Base Speicher. The developments are:
- Precision targeting against insurgent leadership;
- The growing capabilities and capacities of the Iraqi police and army;
- Establishment of a Sons of Iraq program, in which citizens aid in the security effort; and
- Partnership with Kirkuks provincial reconstruction team, composed of State Department and military personnel working along with experts from other governmental and nongovernmental agencies to aid local development.
The brigade arrived in September 2007 and has killed or captured 20 high-value targets. U.S. soldiers also captured 63 persons of interest in the area, the colonel said. Enemy activity began trending down in August and remains low, he added.
None of this would be possible without the improvement in the Iraqi security forces, Paschal said. Iraqi police are responsible for maintaining security in Kirkuk, a city of roughly 800,000 people. The 15th Brigade of the 4th Iraqi Army Division conducts independent, intelligence-driven operations outside the city. The Iraqi army unit has also conducted joint operations with the fledgling Iraqi air force.
The Sons of Iraq program has been a cornerstone to security in the region, he said, noting that 400 men who were part of the Sons of Iraq program from the brigades Arab areas are graduating from two months of police training this week. Theyll be reassigned to the outer district on the western side of the province.
With more security, the Iraqi people are feeling more confident, Paschal said. The information and actionable intelligence that they provide has grown exponentially, he said. That actionable intelligence is in the form of the turning of caches, location of [roadside bombs] and, in many cases, instances of insurgent or terrorist leaders throughout the province, he said.
The reconstruction team helps rebuild the province and gives the Iraqis the tangible benefits of peace.
Kirkuk is the northern oil center of Iraq, and it is providing the lifeblood to the country. Since our arrival, there has not been an interdiction on the oil pipeline, Paschal said. In fact, we have exceeded all pre-war level exports. Just last month, the Northern Oil Company exported 13 and a half million barrels of oil, which has been a phenomenal increase in its capacity.
Kirkuk may turn over to provincial Iraqi control in November or December this year. That will be based on the capability of the Iraqi security forces to maintain the security gains that we've achieved and continue to defeat the insurgents, the colonel said. I think it all ties back into the economic opportunities that we are working in conjunction with the provincial reconstruction team.
The PRT is working with the Iraqi government in sponsoring a technical training school in the province, and it is working on an adult literacy course. The team also is encouraging outside investors to come to the province. With the increased security, we've had some outside investors come that are interested in conducting some projects within the Kirkuk province, Paschal said.
The Iraqi government also is hosting a small-loans program, anywhere from about $2,500 to $10,000, which opens up small businesses. With the increased security, what we're starting to see is some of these that I would refer to as smaller mom and pop businesses that are coming back into play, Paschal said.
The challenge ahead is to sustain the new security climate, Paschal told reporters. When we first arrived, the enemy was the al-Qaida in Iraq, he said. We have virtually defeated al-Qaida in Iraq within the Kirkuk province. It's important that we continue to maintain the pressure.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC ||
05/14/2008 03:02 ||
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#1
Just last month, the Northern Oil Company exported 13 and a half million barrels of oil
Hamas leader tells masses gathered in Gaza to mark 60th Nakba that Palestinian victory is near. 'We have crushed Jooooooos' assumption of supremacy,' he says
Senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Zahar spoke Wednesday at a Gaza Strip event marking the 60th anniversary of the Nakba the anniversary of the 1948 events which led to the induction of the State of Israel and promised his listeners that "the right of return is closer than ever."
The events of the Gaza pullout and the Second Lebanon War, he added, proved that the Israeli military is not beyond defeat. "The Palestinians and the Arabs have crushed the Joooooos' assumption of supremacy The Zionist legend of invincibility has been destroyed. "Now more than ever I tell you we will never recognize Israel We will form the Palestinian state on all of Palestine's territories and the sun of liberty will burn the Zionists. To them I say you will lose. You will leave and we will keep hounding you. The blood of our slain sons will haunt you forever," he said.
Prior to Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman's visit to Israel in an attempt to push a truce between Israel and the armed Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip, al-Zahar reiterated that "Hamas will not offer Gilad Shalit for nothing."
Any talks regarding a prisoner swap will be held independently from any ceasefire discussions, "and anyone who believes Shalit's case can be resolved indiscreetly in wrong."
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who all met with Suleiman, informed him that Shalit's release is a precondition to any agreement brokered by Egypt. "We're looking for actions, not statements," Livni told Suleiman. "As long as Gaza is being controlled by Hamas, we hold it responsible for Shalit's safety And no deal can be made while he is in captivity."
Shalit's father, Noam, told Ynet Monday that it was 'inconceivable' that any agreement with Hamas would exclude his son's release.
#3
I think the US and Israel should make the major Sunni powers a deal. If push comes to shove, and we clean up Hamas, Hezbollah, and Syria, we will do so, but on condition that Egypt and Saudi especially put Sunni occupation forces in Lebanon and Syria.
We will get rid of these annoying proxies of Iran, and you convert Shiite Lebanon and Syria to democratic Sunni states.
#4
We will get rid of these annoying proxies of Iran, and you convert Shiite Lebanon and Syria to democratic Sunni states.
Not a bad Idea Moose'es...
but remember the Saudi Kingdom and the Egyptian Gubmint aren't Democrats, and as to the future are not likely to become Democrats anytime soon..
Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert sets conditions for a truce with Hamas, calling for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
In his talks with Egypt's intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, Olmert linked any truce to "progress in the negotiations for the release of Gilad Shalit," captured by Palestinian fighters in a 2006 cross-border raid, an Israeli official said on Monday.
Suleiman was in occupied Palestine to hold talks on a truce agreement between the Israeli regime and Hamas.
Hamas has demanded that Israel free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit but Egyptian-brokered negotiations on the details of an exchange have made little headway.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2008 00:00 ||
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Egypt closed its border with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, said a security official, after opening it for three days to allow Palestinians to leave the Hamas-ruled territory for medical treatment. Since Saturday, 1,433 Palestinians crossed from the besieged Gaza Strip into Egypt, said the official. Since Hamas seized power in Gaza 11 months ago, Israel has sealed Gaza to all but very limited humanitarian assistance. For months, Hamas has been calling on Egypt to open the Rafah border crossing - the only gateway to Gaza not under Israeli control - but it has done so on only a few occasions since last summer. In January, Gaza militants blew open large sections of the border fence, sending hundreds of thousands of Palestinians pouring into Egypt to stock up on basic goods before it was resealed a few days later.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2008 00:00 ||
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TEHERAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that Israel would "be soon swept away" from the Palestinian Territories by the Palestinians. It is the second time within less than three years that the Iranian president predicted the eradication of the Jewish state. The first time was in 2005 when Ahmadinejad hoped that Israel would be eradicated from the Middle East map.
"This terrorist and criminal state is backed by foreign powers, but this regime would soon be swept away by the Palestinians," Ahmadinejad said in a press conference in Tehran. Referring to worldwide celebrations for the 60th anniversary of Israel's foundation, he said that "it would be futile to hold a birthday ceremony for something which is already dead."
"As far as the regional countries are concerned, this regime does not exist," Ahmadinejad added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"As far as the regional countries are concerned, this regime does not exist," Ahmadinejad added.
#8
and really we don't need ground troops for iran . hit all their important istallations and maybe the young will take over from this bullshit,from wehta i have seen they are sick of the mad mullahs themselves just too afraid too relly act on it. wipe out military installations, nuke and missile site and where we know they are hiding other sther shit whether it is baby formula or not and do it all at the same time. also power and gas lines and the center of tehran
#9
The terms of the Syrian-Iranian alliance indics one to respond to a foreign attack agz their State = State interests, which now includes so-called HEZBOLLASTAN/HIZBULLASTAN IN LEBANON [presum no Hizb Hezb Huzb defeat = disestablishement there.]. IOW, ANY ISRAELI ATTACK AGZ HIZB HEZB HUZB + ISLAMIST GROUPS IN LEBANON MAY BE MET BY A SYRIAN ANDOR IRANIAN MIL RESPONSE [Iranian Nukes c. May? 2009].
IT IS NOT NECESSARY FOR HIZB HEZB HUZB, etc. TO ATTACK ISRAEL ASMUCH AS TO CONTAIN/INHIBIT HER WHILE IRAN DEVS ITS NUKES.
Lest we fergit, JORDAN > is also facing incraesing ISLAMIST CALLS FOR ACTION AGZ ISRAEL, NOT JUST OUTBREAKS OF VIOLENCE.
ISRAEL > facing LT TOTAL NATIONAL DESTRUCTION versus inverse "JEWISH GAZA-WEST BANK" Scenario???
Saad al-Hariri pledged on Tuesday there would be no political surrender to what he called a bid by Hezbollah and its Syrian and Iranian backers to impose their will on the nation by force. "They simply are demanding that we surrender, they want Beirut to raise white flags... This is impossible," he told a news conference in his first public appearance since Hezbollah swept through Sunni-dominated areas of the capital last week. "They will not be able to obtain Saad al-Hariri's signature... on a deed to surrender to the Iranian and Syrian regimes," he said.
Hariri's Future TV, forced off the air during the battles, resumed broadcasting shortly before the news conference.
Lebanon's army earlier stepped up patrols as part of a drive to restore order after a week of fighting between Hezbollah fighters and gunmen loyal to Hariri and his allies. Hezbollah, the Shi'ite Muslim movement backed by Iran and Syria, and its opposition allies have routed supporters of the Sunni-led government in Beirut and hills to the east in fighting that has pushed Lebanon to the brink of a new civil war. Wary of fragmenting its own ranks, the army has stayed neutral in the conflict, which has killed 81 people, wounded 250 and raised Arab and international concern over Lebanon's future.
Police said 62 dead had been registered, but police sources said they believed the actual toll was higher.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Could someone explain the difference between the Lebanese Army and the Hezbollah militia?
Seems as though they are working toward the same ends and that the latter is in control.
Leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party has confirmed the government is to rescind decisions that escalated domestic tensions. Walid Jumblatt informed the Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri of the government's intention to swiftly reverse earlier decisions to ban Hezbollah telecommunications network and sack Beirut Airport's security chief. According to Press TV Beirut office, Berri said the ruling coalition known as the March 14 is to convene a session within hours to revoke the decisions and return to the negotiating table.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora insisted he would not resign, adding the cabinet ministers will convene to examine the army's request for the reversal of the anti-Hezbollah measures. Supporters of the leader of the government bloc, Saad Hariri, have also said the Lebanese government would back off from its earlier decisions and enter into negotiations.
Nabih Berri also said the closure of the Saudi Embassy in Lebanon and the Saudi Ambassador Abdul Aziz al-Khoja leaving Beirut indicate the fate of the Arab League initiative is still uncertain.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2008 00:00 ||
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Iranian students have assembled in front of the British embassy in Tehran to protest Britain's role in the occupation of Palestine.
Isn't finals this time of year?
The students, condemning the illegal Zionist regime's creation 60 years ago which is being marked with great pomp and show in the Occupied Palestine, demanded for the closure of the British embassy and for the expulsion of the UK Ambassador, Jeffery Adams, from the country.
The demonstrators also urged an end to the 'atrocities committed by Israel against the oppressed Palestinian nation,' and an urgent halt to British and US support for the illegal entity.
"The US must reveal documents which prove the connection Washington and international Zionism had with the Nazis, as well as the detailed report of the meeting between Zionist and Nazi leaders on the establishment of the Zionist regime, a student told the gathering.
"We Iranian students want the Palestinians to know that we will always stand by them, and God willing, al-Quds will return to the Muslim Ummah (community)," said another demonstrator.
The students chanted slogans such as 'Death to America', 'Death to Israel', and 'Boycott Israeli goods', while carrying placards that read: 'Victory of good against evil is near', 'No tolerance, no surrender, fight the arrogant', and 'Today, the army of arrogance stands against Islam'.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#3
The US must reveal documents which prove the connection Washington and international Zionism had with the Nazis, as well as the detailed report of the meeting between Zionist and Nazi leaders on the establishment of the Zionist regime.
The irony being, if the Nazis had managed to conquer Persia, your dumb asses would have been gassed too.
#6
note well - the UK does not give aid to Israel, does not sell any significant armaments to Israel, and tries to act as an "honest broker".
Yet they are targeted as pro-Israel simply because they recognize Israel, and treat it as nation with a right to exist and defend itself, and they trade with it.
This should be an object lesson for anyone who thinks we can get off these peoples shit list by dropping our support of Israel.
#7
#5 and in the linguistic sense (despite heavy arabic borrowing in modern Farsi) which is the only one in which the term is really meangingful. Nazis were stupid.
Iran's Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar says the US and Israel are the main reason behind regional violence and instability. "Washington is intensifying the Lebanese crisis in a bid to thicken the layers of Israel defense," said Major General Mohammad-Najjar in a Tuesday meeting with senior defense officials. "The United States paints itself as an advocate of peace and stability whilst using all political and military power to foment violence in the region," he added.
Mohammad-Najjar warned against foreign interference in Lebanon and called on the country's political parties to resolve the ongoing crisis through dialogue and negotiations. "Foreign interference would benefit the enemy at the expense of the Lebanese nation and its Resistance Movement," he explained.
The Iranian Defense Minister stressed that the key to a lasting regional stability lies within the localization of stability as well as a greater unity among Middle Eastern countries.
Tensions mounted among the feuding Lebanese parties and their supporters after the pro-US ruling coalition decided to ban Hezbollah telecommunications network and sack Beirut Airport Security Chief on Tuesday.
Hezbollah says its telecommunication network played a vital role during the 33-day war with Israel. The war inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Zionist regime.
Earlier on the day, the US president, ahead of his trip to the region, said that his country is prepared to strengthen the Lebanese army so it could disarm Hezbollah. "I don't see how you can have a society with Hezbollah armed up the way they are," George W. Bush said, adding "The first step of course is to make sure that the Siniora government has got the capacity to respond with a military that's effective," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Iran stirs things up then immediately points the finger at the US. Goebbels would be proud.
#2
read my earlier coment a few articles up old spook. i agree 29 years of their shit is enough and if you take the battle too then i bet iraq quiets down quickly real fast
The Lebanese army has escorted a team of Qatari security experts out of Beirut International Airport amid the ongoing political crisis. The 27-member security team arrived in Beirut on Tuesday and was escorted by the army, a Press TV correspondent reported.
The team is tasked to undertake security measures ahead of the arrival of an Arab League ministerial delegation scheduled to visit Beirut later in a bid to defuse tension.
All roads to Beirut International Airport have been closed after violent clashes erupted between supporters of the Western-backed government and the opposition. Tension mounted in the country after Fuad Siniora's government outlawed a telecommunication network used by Hezbollah and sacked Beirut Airport's security chief over alleged ties with the resistance movement.
Meanwhile, Saad Hariri's al-Mostaqbal TV channel was to resume broadcasting on Tuesday afternoon. The TV network stopped broadcasting after supporters of the opposition took control of its headquarters and handed over it to the army.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2008 00:00 ||
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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.
A former warlord allied to Somalia's collapsed 
A French court on Wednesday handed down jail sentences to seven men convicted of running a network that recruited poor young Muslims in Paris to fight in the Iraqi insurgency.
Sacked CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry, if reinstated, will re-examine the legitimacy of President Musharrafs second term, which was legalised by CJ Abdul Hameed Dogar, who is regarded by lawyers as being friendly towards PPP Co-chairman Asif Zardari, NYT reported on Tuesday. PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar told NYT that there was a perception that Zardari had assured the Bush administration that Musharraf would be granted a safe exit, and that the Americans feared that Musharraf would lose face if the judiciary is restored.
A United States intelligence agency paid a bounty of $500,000 to Pakistans military for the arrest of the Canadian son of a suspected Al Qaeda financier, according to reports, quoting court documents, published in the Canadian press.
Two former Guantanamo Bay prisoners from Sudan, who were picked up from Peshawar, are demanding an apology and planning to sue the United States after spending five years behind bars at the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 
Violence in Iraqs Kirkuk province has dropped by 70 percent, and coalition and Iraqi forces have virtually destroyed al-Qaida in Iraq in the region, the commander of the U.S. brigade combat team in the area said May 12.
Hamas leader tells masses gathered in Gaza to mark 60th Nakba that Palestinian victory is near. 'We have crushed Jooooooos' assumption of supremacy,' he says 
Egypt closed its border with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, said a security official, after opening it for three days to allow Palestinians to leave the Hamas-ruled territory for medical treatment. Since Saturday, 1,433 Palestinians crossed from the besieged Gaza Strip into Egypt, said the official. Since Hamas seized power in Gaza 11 months ago, Israel has sealed Gaza to all but very limited humanitarian assistance. For months, Hamas has been calling on Egypt to open the Rafah border crossing - the only gateway to Gaza not under Israeli control - but it has done so on only a few occasions since last summer. In January, Gaza militants blew open large sections of the border fence, sending hundreds of thousands of Palestinians pouring into Egypt to stock up on basic goods before it was resealed a few days later.
Saad al-Hariri pledged on Tuesday there would be no political surrender to what he called a bid by Hezbollah and its Syrian and Iranian backers to impose their will on the nation by force. "They simply are demanding that we surrender, they want Beirut to raise white flags... This is impossible," he told a news conference in his first public appearance since Hezbollah swept through Sunni-dominated areas of the capital last week. "They will not be able to obtain Saad al-Hariri's signature... on a deed to surrender to the Iranian and Syrian regimes," he said.
Iranian students have assembled in front of the British embassy in Tehran to protest Britain's role in the occupation of Palestine. 
