I posted about this yesterday, but it was late in the day, so with the mods' indulgence, I'd like to put it up again. The Marine 6th Regimental Combat team is looking for e-mails to the 6,000 Marines engaged in and near Baquaba, and their goal is at least one e-mail to each. You can send your mail to this address: mRCT-6lettersfromh@gcemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil
#1
I sent mine today. Then I forward the Move America Forward and Blackfive request to all the guys in my post and those in my clubs and lodges. I understand it started off great but started to whimper out. Hopefully, this new "surge" will impress the jarheads but that is doubtful since the only thing that probably impresses them is expotentially more dead bad boyz than marines.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/21/2007 12:55 Comments ||
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#2
Unfortunately, DoD would like to bury his story, especially the lawyers at Dod. What we need to do is bury them. Or at least get them the hell out of the way. This whole ROE issue is so lawyered up I am surprised the SEALS were not supposed to surrender to the goat herders.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/21/2007 13:11 Comments ||
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#3
Sherry, one of the SEALs who died trying to reach Luttrell and his team was a fellow New Orleanian and, I am proud to say, someone I knew. The guide at his memorial service had the SEAL philosophy printed on the back, which in part is:
I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My Nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish our mission I am never out of the fight.
It's hard to believe that men like him were born in the same country as Harry Reid and Michael Moore.
Posted by: Matt ||
06/21/2007 16:00 Comments ||
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#4
Thanks Matt -- it's good to "get" personnel with this story. Even if it is knowing someone, who knows someone, who....
Like I told my neighbor last night, father of a 20 year old Marine, currently with 13th MEU somewhere around Fallujah -- now, it's personnel for me.
The book is a great read... Marcus tells of his Induc and BUD/S training and does an excellent job of putting you into the SEAL's heads, so we can better understand the fight and the loss.
The Canadians continue their truly spectacular success against AQ and the Taliban.
Quick estimated that about 15 insurgents were killed in Wednesday's battle. Other reports suggested as many as 21 insurgents died in the fighting. Operation Wabbit Season was launched with the Afghan army after the Canadian command expressed a desire to uproot the Taliban threat along Highway 1 in an area of Zhari district called Sangsar, west of Kandahar city. The Taliban have been trying to consolidate their forces in Zhari over recent weeks.
Afghan and Canadian troops hunkered down together several times during the mission to plot out their next steps. They relied on an interpreter to communicate and stay on the same page.
Quick said that while he commands his own soldiers, his job is also to support the Afghan commander as Afghan troops manoeuvred. "If he wants to push west or push south, I support him and I position my men to do what we need to do," he said.
Quick said Wednesday's battle was the longest his company has fought, even though it was their 12th combat mission in the last month. Troops were getting contact almost every time they go out, said Sheppard, who added that the heat of the Afghan sun was also dictating the battle. "There's no recipe for (dealing with the heat), that's why we go out early" he said. "The Taliban like to fight in the morning after their morning prayer and it works for us because it's cooler too. So it's win-win."
"They like to die in the morning. We like killing them in the morning. Win-win. Insh'allan, baby."
Quick called it a success for the Afghan army, which led the operation with tank support from the Canadians and air support from two fixed-wing aircraft - an F15 and an A10 - as well as an attack helicopter.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2007 08:54 ||
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Link ||
[11137 views]
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#1
This one was mine. Got errors when I posted.
Read the entire article. Without all our high-tech resources and heavy armor, the Canadians continue to kill Taliban by the case lot.
(SomaliNet) Nine civilians have been killed in gun shooting by the Ethiopian forces in the Somalia capital Mogadishu after the Ethiopians got under attack on Tuesday, according the medical sources on Wednesday.
Translation: The local turban and automatic weapons set opened fire on the Aethiops while positioned in the middle of a crowd of innocent bystanders. The Aethiops could either be fired on and do nothing to retaliate or shoot back. They shot back.
Shortly after yesterdays roadside bomb blast, the Ethiopian soldiers near the former defense ministry compound in southwest Mogadishu opened indiscriminate fire on all directions killing nine civilians in the area. I saw several bodies after the shooting by the Ethiopians when the bomb exploded on their truck, said one eyewitness who declined to be named.
Ethiopian's have got the "Death Blossom" technique down pat
The blast hit the first military pick-up truck of the Ethiopian convoy receiving but not yet clear the exact casualty on the soldiers. The area of the blast was cordoned by the Ethiopian forces and began arresting many people.
The Ethiopian forces in Mogadishu are always target for the attacks by the insurgents. Since the local insurgents were defeated in the capital by the allied forces of Somalia and Ethiopia last month, they began hit and run attacks including suicide bombing.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11131 views]
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#1
I think the definition of a civilian in Mogadishu is a person not manning a crew served weapon.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/21/2007 22:20 Comments ||
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Turkish security forces detained 23 people in an operation Wednesday against suspected al-Qaida militants, a news agency reported. The operation took place in the northwestern province of Bursa, 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of Istanbul, the Anatolia agency reported. Anatolia did not cite a source, nor did it provide further detail on the operation. The governor's office in Bursa had no immediate comment.
Suicide bombers linked to al-Qaida hit Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, in 2003. The attacks targeted two synagogues, the British Consulate and a British bank, killing 58 people. In February, a court sentenced seven people to life in prison for the bombings.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11135 views]
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Switzerlands first Internet terrorism trial opened on Wednesday with the prosecution accusing two Muslims of running web sites that supported Al Qaeda linked groups and showed terror executions.
The two suspects - Moez Garsallaoui, a Tunisian based in Switzerland, and Malika El Aroud, the Belgian-born widow of an Al Qaeda suicide bomber - appeared in the high security courtroom.
They were accused of running web sites showing the slaying of hostages and giving details of bomb making and carrying out attacks. The suspects had been detained in February 2005 during anti-terror raids in two Swiss states, the federal criminal court said. The presentation of arguments in trial in Switzerlands federal criminal court is scheduled to last up to two days.
According to the indictment, Garsallaoui, the 39-year-old main defendant, is accused of running different web based discussion forums that were used by terrorists for information sharing.
The sites also were used to publicise claims of responsibility for attacks and threats against western countries.
The Federal Prosecutors Office said a forum on one of the sites, called Islamic-minibar, had been used to publish letters claiming responsibility for a July 2004 suicide bomb attack in Pakistan. Swiss media reported two years ago that the beheading of American engineer Paul M Johnson, Jr in Saudi Arabia was one of a number of executions aired on the sites.
El Aroud, a Belgian citizen of Moroccan descent, has been charged as a co-defendant for operating a jihadi web site. The 48-year old woman is the widow of one of the suicide attackers who killed anti-Taliban warlord Ahmed Shah Massoud two days before the 9/11, according to Swiss Federal Police. Swiss authorities shut down all the web sites in 2005.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11129 views]
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#1
Guilty. Since they're so fond of terrorist activities, I suggest strapping explosive belts on them and taping it so slow motion shows clearly how decapitation occurs in the first 10 milliseconds. Or drop them from a long rope and demonstrate how the head is forcefully separated. Again, slomo playback for the benefit of the would-be, foaming-at-the-mouth jihadis.
The caretaker of a madrassa near a site which was the target of an apparent airstrike on Tuesday has said that a total of 34 people were killed, and all of them were locals.
"A-yup! Thet thar earlobe over thar, that usedta be part o' old Mahmoud. Thet thar elbow, that belonged to li'l Fatimah, bless her no-longer-existant heart!"
Security officials said the airstrike was carried out by a US drone that fired two missiles at a suspected hideout for militants. Maulana Muhammad Amir, caretaker of Ziul Aloom madrassa in the Dattakhel area, said all those killed were local tribesmen, and the target was not a madrassa, as reported in the press, but a tent on a hilltop. He said 11 of the 34 bodies recovered were charred beyond recognition.
"Yup. We'uns sometimes sets up a tent for our quaint local tribal activities."
"You mean...?"
"A-yup. It wuz the local titty bar."
However, the political administration of North Waziristan said that 30 terrorists were killed and 18 of them were foreigners, including Chechens, Uzbeks and Arabs, APP reported. An army spokesman has also denied that it was an airstrike, saying that the explosions were caused when militants preparing bombs accidentally set off some explosives.
"Hey, there, Maulana Ahmed! Y'got a light fer this here stogey?"
Maulana Muhammad Alam, member of a peace committee monitoring implementation of the September 5 peace deal in North Wazrisitan, said the political administration knows little about the airstrike and the military says nothing. We dont know what happened.
"Yeah. We looked around and suddenly it was 'kaboom' all over the place! It wuz just such a surprise!"
Meanwhile, Taliban militants stopped journalists from visiting the site of the attack, warning that harm may come to you if you go there.
"Aaaaar! I can say no more!"
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11136 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/21/2007 9:35 Comments ||
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#5
How is the caretaker able to identify the remains of locals that are burned beyond recognition? I am glad he is only the janitor and not teaching logic.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/21/2007 22:17 Comments ||
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Are U.S. forces employing a new weapon in the war against terrorism? And if so, why are they keeping it a secret?
Because people like you are so willing to expose our secrets
A huge explosion yesterday in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan reportedly killed numerous foreign fighters and camp-followers civilians. On Sunday, seven children were reported killed in an attack in eastern Afghanistan in an unsuccessful attack on an Al Qaeda commander. In both attacks, U.S. military spokesmen have either denied U.S. involvement or demurred in providing details. I think I know why.
NBC News reported Sunday that U.S. special operations forces attacked a compound in eastern Afghanistan, an attack intended to kill the Al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan. Seven children were reportedly killed in the attack, and NBC reported that the decision was made to attack the compound despite the presence of children because of the value of the target.
Then, on Tuesday morning, a massive blast at a compound in North Waziristan, in Pakistan near the Afghanistan border, killed as many as 30 alleged Al Qaeda fighters. Pakistani officials say the compound, which included a madrassa, was being used as a training camp and bomb factory. Press reports say civilians were also killed in the attack.
Officially, the Pakistani government says that the blast was the result of explosives at the site, not from "outside" forces. A U.S. military spokesmen told The Post that "We were not involved with any strike into Pakistan... U.S. forces did not fire into Pakistan with missiles or airstrikes or anything else." On the ground, though, eyewitnesses says that up to three "missiles" came from Afghanistan. The link between these two strikes may be the deployment of a new weapon, one that gives the United States much more flexibility in going after distant compounds.
What makes these attacks different from the usual attacks in the perpetual head-hunting effort against Al Qaeda is this: Consistent reports from intelligence and military sources that special operations forces employed a new ground rocket system. The system, called High Mobility Artillery Rockets, or HIMARS is reportedly a complement to Predator drones, particularly when weather prevents the high-altitude strikes, and are the new favorite when significant firepower is desired. The truck-mounted artillery rocket system (hence the "high mobility" moniker) first entered service in June 2005 at Fort Bragg, N.C., to complement the venerable MLRS rocket, which is heavier and more constrained in its movements and flexibility.
HIMARS carries a single six-pack of rockets on a standard Army 6x6 all-wheel drive (MLRS carries 18 rockets). The six-pack can be configured to shoot a wide array of rockets and missiles, from cluster bombs to a single missile system with a range up to 300 kilometers. HIMARS can fire a variety of non-cluster bomb rockets from the standard MLRS range of 32 kilometers to 300 kilometers. The HIMARS launcher can also aim at a target in just 16 seconds. A crew of three operates the launcher, and it is possible for the crew to select preprogrammed targets stored in a fire control computer to increase flexibility.
With HIMARS, the United States certainly has the ability to fire deep into Pakistan from Afghanistan, and with GPS-aided precision, the missiles have a greater ability to hit the target (with the MLRS, accuracy is to within about 1,000 feet). There have also been reports of laser-guided rockets and missiles available on HIMARS, further improving accuracy.
It has become routine for the Pakistani government to lie about U.S. strikes taking place on their soil, and for U.S. spokesmen to follow suit to protect operations that are only allowed on the basis of strictest secrecy. And in Afghanistan, head-hunting operations by U.S. special operations forces are inherently secret, regardless of allegations of civilian casualties -- hence the secrecy surrounding the Sunday strike.
Now comes the prospect that a new weapon, possibly with some new missile capabilities and employed by special operations forces, has been added to the terror-fighting arsenal, useful when air or drone strikes aren't possible or desirable. So why is the Bush administration, and the U.S. military, keeping quiet about its development? I don't know for sure. But if I had to guess, I'd say the administration's reasons have to do with protecting the U.S. relationship with Pakistan, and the military's stem from the habitual secrecy on the part of special operations forces.
Thanks for the revelation. I expect a demarche from the Dhimmicrats, and quicker than they condemned Ahmadineijad.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
There is nothing secret or magical involved. These are wishes of Allan, that stupid asses like these no longer consume precious oxygen on the earth. Nuff said.
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/21/2007 1:45 Comments ||
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#4
The existence of a more portable version of the MLRS system, including the guided version, is scarcely a secret. The 6 round pallet is the same as the one carried in pairs on the standard (and rather bulky) tracked launcher. There may also be a single round launcher for the guided version. With the warhead separated to reduce length, this could be carried on mules or bicycles or man-packed over short distances.
Btw, guided MLRS is not to be confused with ATACMS, a considerably larger SRBM that is fired from the MLRS tracked launcher.
#5
After all the attempts on his life you have to wonder if Musharraf hasn't gotten a serious case of the heebie jeebies. Maybe this has served as an incentive for him to begin green-lighting our festivities in Pakistan.
#6
Jeez, a simple Google search on GMLRS brings up page after page on the improved unitary warhead version of the standard MLRS rocket, along with all sorts of info on the HIMARS transporter. Such a secret!!!
#8
If you're a donk who spends the day looking at the grains of sand surrounding your head, HIMARS, GMLRS, heck, the M-16 are all secret weapons systems that can achieve all kinds of nefarious results of which indigenous peoples are incapable.
#13
We've got coyotes launching ACME missles all over Pakiland. Road Runners call in the coords and ba da bing, ouch. But don't go there, harm could be upon you.
#18
There is a significant reason for the secrecy: The radical opposition to Musharraf is, for obvious reasons, rabidly against the US violating the sovereignty of Pakistan's borders & airspace. They use said 'violations' to bolster the anti-Musharraf movement.
It has long been rumored that UBL is in Pakistan. 'Why?', one might ask? Musharraf is only tenuously holding onto his power, which is why he has had his forces embark on hi-stakes/hi-risk (and hugely unpopular) ops in these regions (at US prompting, I'm sure).
Jihadists with nukes---that's what's coming down the pike if 'leaks' of ops continue which, in turn, empower Musharraf's enemies. Don't forget where AQ Khan opened shop...
Is Arkin speculating? Maybe.
Who do his comments, conjecture and speculation assist? I think that's obvious.
Look who he's writing for...
#19
I think you're on the right track logi_cal. That is why I mentioned Musharraf's sub rosa permission for us to begin kicking the ass of his enemies. To paraphrase an old Arab saying:
"The kicked ass of my enemy's enemy is my next hot date friend."
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoðan called on the United States and Iraq to deal with Kurdistan Workers' Party terrorists based in northern Iraq, but said Ankara will take military action itself if necessary.
Turkey's government is under mounting pressure from the public and army to tackle terrorists based in mountainous northern Iraq who seek to establish a Kurdish state that includes parts of southeastern Turkey. Dozens of civilians and soldiers have been killed in recent weeks in PKK attacks across Turkey.
Fourteen U.S. troops have been killed in attacks over the past two days in Iraq -- 12 soldiers and two Marines -- according to the U.S. military.
In the deadliest attack, a roadside bomb struck a military vehicle on Thursday in northeastern Baghdad, killing five U.S. soldiers, three Iraqi civilians and an Iraqi interpreter. A U.S. soldier and two civilians were wounded.
Also Thursday, a rocket-propelled grenade struck a U.S. military vehicle in northern Baghdad, killing a soldier and wounding three others.
On Wednesday, a roadside bomb killed two U.S. Task Force Marne soldiers and wounded four others southwest of Baghdad. A similar attack in western Baghdad on Wednesday killed four U.S. soldiers and wounded a fifth.
In addition, two Marines were killed in combat operations in Iraq's Anbar province on Wednesday.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/21/2007 13:11 Comments ||
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#4
IEDs = Iranian Explosive Device.
When are we going to get serious here? We have linked the mullahs to Hizbollah, Hamas, Taliban, AQ and Iraq insurgents. What is it going to take? This just can't keep going on or can it? SNAFU.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/21/2007 13:16 Comments ||
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#5
last week David Ignatius wrote in the Wash Post that the CIA had come up with a great way to cut down or eliminate IED use, but the legal staff at the CIA had vetoed the use of the technique.Now we have ,as a result more deaths of US troops from IED s.Whose side is the CIAs lawyer on? Why is he not up before a Congresional Committee, along with the Heads of the CIA? Why is there no idignation at this.
Posted by: john e morrissey ||
06/21/2007 13:52 Comments ||
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#6
John, I share your frustration. I have to assume that there is a bureaucratic holdup of some kind (shocker, I know) preventing the tactic that the CIA was attempting to deploy in an effort to thwart IED attacks. What that could possibly be, I have no idea. But suffice to say it must be considerable otherwise it makes no sense whatsoever to prevent this tactic from being deployed.
From what I understand, it involved the planting of delibrately malfunctioning IED triggers within the IED-production community. These "false triggers" would work by both setting of the IED during the assembly process (my personal preference) or by not setting off the IED altogether despite the operator's intentions.
Sounds like a no-brainer to me. Then again, we're talking about the Cover an Infinite Asses... oops, I mean the CIA.
#7
I believe the opinion was that this constituted creation of a booby trap, and that would be a violation of international law. I know, never mind no one else pays any attention.
I will say this. The 11 bombmakers discussed at that time are almost certainly enjoying paradise with Allah or in prison. There's been a great deal of turnover in that profession with heavy non-visa imported labor from Iran and Syria.
#8
thanks for the comments. I appreciate knowing i am not the only one angry about this.Now, can anyone suggest a way that this issue can be brought to some congressmans attn? I have written mine and got back form letters but no possibility of action
Posted by: john e morrissey ||
06/21/2007 15:37 Comments ||
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#9
John - you can send the same message to the President, both of your Senators and your representative here. Enter your zip code and click 'Federal', select a topic and away you go. That part is free. They offer to 'boost' the message or turn it into a letter, or hand deliver for a fee, but I have not tried that. Sometimes I get a reply...
It does make me feel like I've done something.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2007 16:09 Comments ||
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#10
bobby thanks for the tip. when i hit the link i got a message that " unknow host" if you could give me the URL i will try it.
Posted by: john e morrissey ||
06/21/2007 16:12 Comments ||
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#11
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
And I uncheck the boxes where they offer me stuff. It is OK to have them remember you; saves repeating your address every time!
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2007 16:17 Comments ||
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#12
Lawyers, the media, and Congress should not run a war. War is a unique and special time whereby the Commander in Chief should be the one who makes decisions about the war. Usurping the power of the President has been going on too long. This war might have been over long ago if it were not for those aiding and abetting the enemy.
#13
Given an hour by hour Union bodycount - Bobby Lee would have triumphed over a decadent north...
_____________________________
Borgboy sez the Army of Northern Virginia rules!
In Iraq's Anbar province, west of Baghdad, thousands of men have signed up to become police. But there aren't enough academies to train them. So instead, the national government has sanctioned the creation of extra neighborhood security teams made up largely by former Sunni tribal militias who now support U.S. forces.
On an open dirt field just a few miles outside the U.S. base in Fallujah, about 50 Iraqi men dressed in dusty green uniforms march in formation while their Iraqi drill leader shouts instructions.
They're part of the new provincial security force in Anbar province, trained by U.S. forces. The men line up and listen to an explanation of the day's drill an obstacle course and firing exercise. Nearly all the men in this class are from the same tribe the Jumali and these teambuilding exercises are meant to leverage that bond.
One of the trainers, Marine Sgt. Tony Storey, addresses the troops.
"What I require from you as a platoon is that you get out and you support these men because they are a member of this team, of this family," he tells them. "You understand?"
They form two lines and with a shot in the air, the race is on.
The six competitors run down the field, pick up a sandbag and sprint back, while their platoon mates and trainers cheer them on. Their faces are caked with a mixture of sweat and dust kicked up by the sweltering summer wind.
A lot of these trainees were in the police or the army under Saddam Hussein. Some were part of Sunni tribal militias that until recently were linked to insurgent groups fighting U.S. forces. Most were recruited by local Sunni sheikhs who now have agreed to help American troops fight al-Qaida.
Qosai Abid is a 30-year-old father of two from Fallujah. For years, he and his family lived in fear of the killing and banditry that insurgents waged on his community. Abid says the sheikhs made the right move.
"The tribes have joined hands to fight terrorism against the injustice that was rife in this area," he says. "And now with God's will, we will join them and we will be the front armor to help secure this entire region."
U.S. officers in Anbar say these provincial teams are becoming the eyes and ears of U.S.-led counterinsurgency efforts, helping identify militants in their local communities.
"They know exactly what these guys look like, where they're from," Chief Warrant Officer Thomas Vasquez, who helps oversee the training program. "They know who belongs and who doesn't."
He compares the teams to the police reservists back home in the United States.
"They'd fill out the shifts as an auxiliary," Vasquez says. "So that as missions come up they are also tapped into that, so these guys do get a good bit of action, actually."
For now, these men get only eight days of training and at the end of it, they get to keep their gun and their uniform. The idea is that eventually this second-string police force will go through the full training at the Anbar police academy, which opened a few weeks ago.
Developing the Iraqi police has been a top priority for U.S. forces.
Col. Richard Simcock, who commands a combat regiment based in Fallujah, says the police are "my exit strategy."
"It's just like home," he says. "If you woke up in your hometown and saw the National Guard walking up and down your street, you'd know that things aren't good. Same here. They don't want to see Iraqi army in downtown Fallujah. They don't want to see coalition forces in downtown Fallujah. But if you see a police officer on the corner, that's a good thing."
But getting a professional police force up and running has been difficult. There is a lot of talk in Anbar about corruption within the police force. The governor of the province says the police are unreliable and operate with their own agendas. As of now, there are 21,000 police for all of Anbar province, which is roughly the size of the state of Utah.
Simcock says that until more police academies are built, the alternative is to use these provincial security teams made up of untrained Iraqis with a history of shady alliances.
"I think it's a short-term fix," he says. "But I think it is a fix in a time of crisis to get more people involved, legally, through a justified system in lieu of making them police because we don't have enough academies to pump them through that way."
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has criticized American efforts to augment the police force. He says the U.S. is arming Sunni militias that could easily turn against the coalition and Shiites, and stir up sectarian violence. U.S. commanders here insist that's not the case and that these troops are committed to fighting al-Qaida.
Abid says his wife questioned his decision to join the U.S. effort out of fear for his safety.
"I told her that terrorism is over and, with God's help, we will finally be happy," Abid says. "Injustice cannot last forever. What lasts is justice and commitment."
U.S. forces are hoping that commitment lasts long enough for Iraqi security forces like these to stand on their own so that, eventually, coalition forces can stand down.
A suicide truck bomber struck the city hall in a predominantly Sunni area in northern Iraq on Thursday, killing at least 13 people and wounding 70, an Iraqi commander said.
The explosion occurred about 10:30 a.m. in the town of Sulaiman Bek, located 100 miles north of the capital and just outside the border with Diyala province, where thousands of U.S. troops are engaged in an offensive against al-Qaida in Iraq.
Maj. Gen. Anwar Hama Amin, the commander of the Iraqi army's 2nd Brigade who gave the casualty toll, said the target apparently was the mayor, who has lost five relatives in previous assassination attempts. The blast heavily damaged the city hall, along with several nearby houses and stores.
A U.S. airstrike aimed at a booby-trapped house in one of the centers of those offensives, the Diyala provincial capital of Baqouba, missed its target and "accidentally hit" another structure, wounding 11 civilians, the military said, adding the incident was under investigation.
U.S. troops had cleared the area to destroy a house containing explosives believed placed by al-Qaida, but "the bomb missed its intended target and struck another structure," the military said. "Reports indicate that 11 civilians were injured." The initial target was later destroyed by a Hellfire missile, producing a large secondary explosion, according to the statement.
A spokesman for the 1920s Revolution Brigades, a nationalist Sunni insurgent group that has begun cooperating with U.S. and Iraqi forces in the fight against al-Qaida in Diyala, said the airstrike mistakenly We swear! struck a building being used as a headquarters by the group. The spokesman, who declined to be identified due to security concerns, said two members were killed and four were wounded. If the Sunnis buy this story, Karl Rove really is good!
Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim al-Rubaie of the Iraqi army in Diyala, said that overall the offensive that began Monday in Diyala was going well and operations were focused on Thursday on the areas of Jurf al-Milih and the northern part of the Baqouba market, which has been the site of several execution-style killings by al-Qaida in recent weeks.
Hospital officials said ambulances were bringing dozens of bodies of militants who have been killed from the western half of the city, which was under a strict curfew. The latest military report on the Diyala offensive said U.S.-led forces had killed 41 insurgents, discovered five weapons caches and destroyed 25 bombs and five booby-trapped houses.
And in other good news...
The director of a branch office of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr near the southern city of Hillah also was killed in a drive-by shooting, police said, declining to be identified due to security concerns.
The first day of operation Arrowhead Ripper was intense. The Army is giving full access to the battlefield, and while on base full access to the TOC (HQ) which means I see the raw truth on the ground, and as it feeds through the TOC. They are hiding nothing. Or if they are, its in plain view. (Special operations notwithstanding.) A reporter can see as much as he or she can stand.
Civilian casualties are occurring, despite much discretion being used on the firing. I saw three MLRS rockets hit targets downtown today (June 20) and more were fired. Watched the video feed from the TOC as some of them hit. The targeting was perfect. Our guys had cleared out the civilians, but the enemy starts shootouts using civilians as cover. American officers are trying to account for civilian casualties; media is asking and command is still unable to answer, which of course looks like a cover-up. From what I see on the ground, there is no cover-up. The number is unknown but certainly there must be some. GPS Guided MRLS Rockets-Cool!
Michael Gordon is a NYT reporter who is in the battle. Gordon will be an important resource. The commanders take a break from fighting each day to have meetings with each other, and Iraqi officers, and he comes off the battlefield with one of the commanders to the briefings. I saw Gordon today, his shirt stained white from sweat. Gordon and I were at a commander briefing when one of the battalion commanders, LTC Smiley, talked about how his soldiers shot some terrorists today (June 20); on different occasions today, women and children came out and gave aid to the wounded terrorists. My guess is that the number of civilian casualties is not high. Gordon has been running with other soldiers, so it will be important to hear his accounts. From what Ive read so far, Gordon has been very accurate and on target.
By the end of the first day (June 19), about 30 enemy had been killed, 1 U.S. killed and 5 WIA. At least two soldiers were heat casualties, including one who was with my group.
The combat has only just begun, and media has now figured out this is serious business. During the morning brief (June 20th), Major Robbie Parke mentioned that CNN, TIME, Reuters and some others, are trying to get out here now. Problem is space. Looks like Gordon and I are mostly alone for now. Others are said to be in Baqubah, but if they are here, they are missing some of the most important parts, and if they were at the important commanders meetings, I would have seen them.
The heat is intense for the enemy and for us. Soldiers, during any chance, would lay-down during the heat of day, and in complete body armor and helmets, fall asleep in the dirt. I took photos of course. Our guys are tough. The enemy in Baqubah is as good as any in Iraq, and better than most. Thats saying a lot. But our guys have been systematically trapping them, and have foiled some big traps set for our guys. I dont want to say much more about that, but our guys are seriously outsmarting them. Big fights are ahead and we will take serious losses probably, but al Qaeda, unless they find a way to escape, are about to be slaughtered. Nobody is dropping leaflets asking them to surrender. Our guys want to kill them, and thats the plan.
A positive indicator on the 19th and the 20th is that most local people apparently are happy that al Qaeda is being trapped and killed. Civilians are pointing out IEDs and enemy fighters, so thats not working so well for al Qaeda. Clearly, I cannot do a census, but that says something about the locals.
Much going on here in Baqubah. Unfortunately I have no assistant with me, and so no time for photos or video.
#5
Michael Gordon is a NYT reporter who is in the battle. Gordon has been running with other soldiers, so it will be important to hear his accounts. From what Ive read so far, Gordon has been very accurate and on target.
The New York Times senior editors must be sweating bullets. It's going to be awfully hard to twist the words of one of the only two reporters on the scene; Messers. Gordon and Yon are going to be quoted and giving interviews to all the news outlets world wide.
#6
Hopefully Yon can make some good money from the photos and interviews! He deserves it.
...but our guys are seriously outsmarting them.
That is why our military is so damn deadly. It isn't only the technology, it is the fact that individual initiative and non-orthodox thinking is still encouraged. Our guys play to win.
#8
TW: Don't bet on it. The NYTs will find a way to make all this negative as possible. Remember the chattering classes on the west side need more pessimism to go with their champagne.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/21/2007 9:54 Comments ||
Top||
#9
the MSM has already found a way to spin it.
A/P, CBS, et al are simply attributing American casualties to "Continuing Iraqi violence"
"... I were at a commander briefing when one of the battalion commanders, LTC Smiley, talked about how his soldiers shot some terrorists today (June 20); on different occasions today, women and children came out and gave aid to the wounded terrorists..."
were the words "give aid" supposed to mean 'beat up' or something similar?
#12
Now the Rooters Reporter has got something that he can get his negative left wing teeth into:
BAQUBA - A U.S. air strike on a booby-trapped house in Baquba north of Baghdad on Wednesday missed its target and hit a nearby structure, wounding 11 people, the U.S. military said, adding that the incident was under investigation
#15
"Nobody is dropping leaflets asking them to surrender. Our guys want to kill them, and thats the plan."
*Totally* works for me.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
06/21/2007 14:19 Comments ||
Top||
#16
Actually, the idea that the women and children slaughter enemy wounded is quite common among tribal societies : reference Apache women and Rudyard Kipling's warnings about Afghanistan. And if the US and Iraqi armies are sweeping an area with the support of certain Sunni tribal militias, it would be a very bad thing to be a wounded Al-Q left behind for the women to police up - a very slow and painful death would await. Arab women have been noted before for their knife skills on wounded enemies.
#17
Actually, the idea that the women and children slaughter enemy wounded is quite common among tribal societies.
A popular revenue-producing activity enjoyed by camp followers after a Napoleonic-era engagement. The Portuguese and Spanish gals were quite efficient.
#18
Shield,
This kind of 'aid-giving' means we need to be kind of careful about letting loose on those who move into the battle space after the shooting dies down. They might be coming to salvage weapons or retrieve their down fighters, or they might be 'on our side',
A Jordanian citizen who was enlisted by Hamas operatives in Syria to carry out a terror attack in Israel is under arrest for allegedly planning to kidnap an Israeli in Jerusalem, police said Wednesday. The suspect, Ala Hamad, 29, was apprehended in November 2006 in a joint Shin Bet security service-police sting operation.
A court gag order which was imposed on the case was lifted Wednesday afternoon. According to police, Hamad, whose mother is Israeli and whose father is Jordanian, was recruited by Hamas operatives in Syria during a visit to Damascus in 2004 to carry out a terror attack in Jerusalem. Last year, Hamad settled down in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Tsur Bahir after undergoing training by his Hamas operatives, the police said. While in Jerusalem, he gathered intelligence information and potential targets for his planned attack, and contacted his Hamas operatives several times, police said. A search of his east Jerusalem home following his arrest uncovered materials used to make explosives.
Hamad told interrogators that he planned to carry out the kidnapping attack just two weeks after his arrest, the police said. His arrest also thwarted a second planned kidnapping attack in Jerusalem that was planned by Hamas, police said. He is expected to be tried in a military court.
News of the arrest came just one day after Israeli security officials announced that they had apprehended 12 members of a Palestinian terror cell which planned to kidnap American citizens in the West Bank and attack a Modi'in synagogue.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11135 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
Seven gunmen were killed during clashes with the IDF in Gaza and the West Bank on Wednesday, as Israel continued providing humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip while evacuating wounded Palestinians and foreign nationals from the Erez Crossing.
A Givati Brigade soldier was moderately wounded in a gun battle early Wednesday morning with a group of gunmen affiliated with the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) near the Kissufim Crossing, once the main road into the Gush Katif settlement bloc evacuated in 2005.
A large infantry force, backed by tanks, entered Gaza late Tuesday night and took up positions near Kissufim, where Islamic Jihad terrorists infiltrated Israel and tried kidnapping a soldier last week. The Air Force bombed two Kassam launchers in the northern Gaza Strip after they were used to fire rockets into the western Negev.
Meanwhile in the West Bank, undercover troops shot and killed two Palestinian gunmen after an hour-long shootout in Kafr Dan, a village near Jenin. One of the dead was a local Islamic Jihad commander and the other a commander from a violent offshoot of Fatah.
Under orders from Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the IDF also continued Wednesday to evacuate wounded Palestinians from the Erez Crossing. Other sick Palestinians, including a teenager with leukemia, were also allowed to travel to Israeli hospitals. The IDF also facilitated the transfer of medical supplies - including 98,000 vaccines - as well truckloads of milk, meat and other foods to the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom Crossing.
Despite the IDF efforts to alleviate the shortage in food in Gaza, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian territories Kevin Kennedy issued a report Wednesday claiming that a humanitarian crisis would break out in Gaza within 2-4 weeks if Karni - the main cargo crossing with Israel - was not reopened.
Israeli defense officials rejected the criticism raised in the report and claimed that Karni was closed after forces loyal to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas fled their positions at the crossing. The officials also noted that Kennedy's workers in Gaza all ran away from Gaza late last week and that there was currently no one from his office inside the PA territory and capable of coordinating with the IDF.
Also Wednesday, over 150 foreign nationals - mostly from Ukraine and Russia - were allowed to leave Gaza through the Erez Crossing. Israeli Defense officials said that the situation in Gaza was "calming down" and that Hamas was no longer targeting Fatah officials like they had violently done last week.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic Jihad
#1
israel, showing that its possible (for now) to thread the needle, killing terrs, while not starving the civvies.
#3
The Arabs send a lot of their kids to former Soviet and Warsaw Pact colleges. They get a decent education for a cheap price. While there, the boys tend to sexually nuts and at least 150 of the local girls made the poor choice of actually marrying Paleo schmucks.
Posted by: ed ||
06/21/2007 11:43 Comments ||
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The captors of BBC journalist Alan Johnston balked on Wednesday at demands by Hamas to release him and repeated their threats to kill him if Britain failed to free an Islamist prisoner, the SITE Intelligence Group reported. "Unless they (Britain) respond to these demands, there will be no way out for this captive. If the circumstances worsen, we will approach Allah to see what can be done with this reporter, even if we have to slaughter him," SITE reported a spokesman for the Army of Islam as saying in a video.
The video showed four masked men, one reading from a piece of paper, in which he addressed himself to the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. He spoke of Hamas's ousting the forces of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement from Gaza and of former Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya's call for Johnston to be released. He said to them: "Do not be the cause for igniting the fitna (religious conflict) between us, which results will only be known by Allah. Our weapons are aimed only at the chests of the Jews and the Crusaders and their helpers."
The Army of Islam is demanding the release of a Palestinian-born cleric, once labelled Al-Qaeda's spiritual leader in Europe, Abu Qatada, who is being held in Britain. "If we do not reach an agreement and the situation worsens for us, we will have to turn to God and have no choice but to slit the throat of the journalist," a masked spokesman for the group told reporters in Gaza on Sunday.
The warning came as Johnston was spending his 100th day in captivity in the Gaza Strip and as the Islamist group Hamas, which took over the Palestinian territory last week, said it was still working to secure his release.
#2
I get the distinct impression that his Qatada fella is very important to AQ/Global Jihad inc. And we're absolutely kooky enough to let him go... I really do wonder if the Beeb has a hand in this.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/21/2007 5:43 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Off with his head. Let the Orcs do it or send him to the Tower. It makes no never mind to me.
#5
Perfect. In Islamic thinking, turning to God means slitting the hostage's throat. And they'll have no choice about it. Nope, just doing what needs to be done. Can't blame them.
This masked spokesman for the Army of Islam is, of course, a misinformed Islamophobic bigot who does not understand that Islam is a peaceful religion. Must be a neo-con.
Besides, all religions are the same, or so I've heard from my left leaning friends. Doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you're not a Christian, because they're dangerous and ridiculous, or a Jew because, well, y'know, Israel and all that. But all religions must be respected equally.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
06/21/2007 11:11 Comments ||
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#6
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this want is meant by the term..."red on red"?
Posted by: Mark Z ||
06/21/2007 14:12 Comments ||
Top||
Roll out the ululator! And the inspector's lucky truncheon!
Jakarta, 21 June (AKI) - Indonesian police have arrested key Bali bombing suspect, Malaysian national Noordin Mohammed Top, the well respected Detikcom news agency reports. He is considered the mastermind behind a series of bombings in Indonesia, including the 2002 and 2005 Bali nightclub attacks which killed over 250 people. Police arrested Top on 14 June, in Brebes Central Java and intend to announce this on 1 July - national police day in Indonesia, Detikcom said, quoting an unnamed source.
The report of Top's arrest follows that of the arrest of Abu Dujana, the alleged military commander of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist network and Zarkasih, believed to be JI's supreme leader. Zarkasih (also known by the aliases Nuaim, Abu Irsyad and Mbah). Both men were seized on 9 June in an anti terrorist police raid in Banyumas, central Java, the chief of indonesia's anti-terrorist unit announced last Friday.
Indonesia's most wanted fugitive, Top was once one of the leaders of JI. According to experts, the Malaysian is believed to have created his own splinter group, after JI expressed a preference for preaching instead of armed struggle. JI is responsible for a string of deadly terror attacks in Indonesia in recent years including the 2002 and 2005 Bali attacks and bombings of the Marriott Hotel and the Australian embassy in Jakarta.
Noordin is now believed to be the head of the group known as Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad - which is said to be the original name of al-Qaeda. Sidney Jones the Southeast Asia director of the International Crisis Group recently told Adnkronos International she believes there is still a link between Noordin and the radical elements within JI - represented by Abu Dujana - but the level of collaboration is still unclear. Her view is shared by other experts.
JI is believed to recruit both through a select number of Islamic colleges and also through family ties. The terrorist group was created towards the end of the 1980s by a group of Indonesian exiles in Malaysia.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/21/2007 11:01 Comments ||
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#3
I give 50:50 odds that he'll either be executed or have his sentence commuted for being a national hero. They'd better stretch this bastard's neck like a rubber band.
Sri Lankan troops killed around 30 Tamil Tigers in a clash overnight in jungle in the islands restive east, the military said on Wednesday, hours after the navy said it had killed around 40 insurgents in a sea battle.
The military said soldiers had captured a rebel bunker line during the fight in a swathe of landlocked eastern jungle called Thoppigala, where Tiger fighters are still entrenched after the fall of their eastern stronghold. The clash came hours after the navy said late on Tuesday it had destroyed five Tiger vessels after being attacked by two dozen rebel boats off Sri Lankas far northern tip.
We have destroyed three satellite camps (in Thoppigala) and are clearing the area. There are a lot of minefields, said military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe. One Tamil civilian in the area said there are 73 prisoners being held by the Tigers there, including one army corporal, he added. They cannot hold on to that area now because they dont have any food.
Samarasinghe estimated that around 150 Tiger fighters remained in the Thoppigala area. Tigers accused the navy of starting the sea battle. They said just two of their own fighters died in the confrontation. According to our people, they managed to damage one of the Sri Lankan Navy Dvora (attack boats), a Tiger source said. The Sea Tigers lost two of their men and there is no damage to any of their boats reported. There is no information from the east yet. There was no independent confirmation of what happened or of casualty tolls.
Meanwhile the government said that the military now has the capacity to shoot down Tamil Tiger light airplanes, which have bombed four targets on the island this year. The enhanced capability means the islands only international airport will soon reopen for night flights after its closure earlier this year as a precaution over the attacks, a government spokesman said. The night time curfew at the airport will end from July 1, Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters.
The air force has assured us that they received material to detect and identify Tiger planes, he said. Military officials said the decision came after better radar was installed to track low-flying aircraft belonging to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The airport shut for night flights in May. The air force has also received unspecified material to detect and eliminate the threat of the rebel planes, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under:
Headed for Syria or Somalia, your guess is as good as mine.
More than 150 people have died at the camp, including at least 20 civilians, in Lebanon's worst internal violence since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.
Only 20 civilian deaths sounds pretty good to me. The Lebs seem to have been really careful.
"I can notify the Lebanese that the military operation is over," Mr Murr told Lebanese TV, saying the army had "crushed those terrorists".
"Crushed" has a nice sound to it.
"What is happening now is some clean-up that the army's heroes are carrying out, and dismantling some mines."
Trying to catch the rodents as they run, before they start skulking and booming, which is really what they do best.
Troops would continue to pursue the leaders and remaining fighter of Fatah al-Islam, Mr Murr said, suggesting that some clashes could still flare up inside the refugee camp.
If Murr has any sense, which I think he has, he'll have the military hunt down and kill each and every one of them. Otherwise they'll be killing innocents to extract their Dire Revenge™.
Nahr al-Bared, near the northern city of Tripoli, was home to 30,000 people before the fighting broke out. Large parts of the camp have been left in ruins after a bitter struggle that began in late May.
My heart [Urp!] bleeds. Those 30,000 civilians didn't bother throwing the 300 or so hard boyz out of their neighborhoods when they set up. Cause, meet effect.
According to DEBKAfiles military sources, the US naval build-up off the shores of Iran marks rising military tensions in the region, accentuated by last weeks Hamas victory which has endowed Iran with a military foothold on Israels southwestern border.
The USS Enterprise CVN 65-Big E Strike Group, the US Navys largest air carrier, will join the USS Stennis and the USS Nimitz carriers, building up the largest sea, air, marine concentration the United States has ever deployed opposite Iran. This goes towards making good on the assurances of four carriers US Vice President Dick Cheney offered the Gulf and Middle East nations during his May tour of the region.
The Big E leads a strike group consisting of the guided-missile destroyers USS Arleigh Burke DDG 51, USS Stout DDG 55, Forrest Sherman DDG 98 and USS James E. Williams DDG 95, as well as the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg CG 64, the SS Philadelphia SSN 690 nuclear submarine and the USNS Supply T-AOE 6>
On its decks are the Carrier Air Wing CVW 1, whose pilots fought combat missions in the Gulf and Arabian Sea during 2006. The Air Wing is made up of F/Q-18 Super Hornet strike craft, the Sidewinders Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-86, the 251st Marine Fighter Attack Squadron MFA, and the Electronic Attack Squadron VAQ 137.
The 32nd Sea Control Squadron VS consists of S-3B Vikings. The Airborne Early Warning Squadron VAQ 3 flies E-2C Hawkeye craft. The Fleet Logistics Support Squadron VRC is based on C-2A Greyhounds.
DEBKAfiles military sources report Washington is considering deploying the fourth US carrier for the region in the Red Sea opposite Saudi Arabian western coast to secure the three US carriers in the Gulf from the rear as well as the Gulf of Aqaba and Suez Canal.
Posted by: ||
06/21/2007 09:45 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11135 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Pull the trigger. Preferably full auto...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/21/2007 15:58 Comments ||
Top||
#2
That apparently originates from Russia. The same source that said when the Stennis arrived that we would be attacking Iran.
#4
Actually, if any of the Wasp class LHAs are present, they would count as another carrier - at least in any other navy than the US Navy. Marine LHAs now are heavier and carry more aircraft than almost any other country's carrier(s). It is becoming a standing joke that the 2 largest carrier fleets in the world are the US Navy and US Marine Corps.
#7
Marine LHAs now are heavier and carry more aircraft than almost any other country's carrier(s).
Why does that perform such a distinct cockle-warming function for me? Properly equipped, I'd like to think that one of our LHAs could take down an escorted Russian carrier.
A Lebanese army officer said Wednesday the military was now in full control of the new part of Nahr al-Bared where the terrorists were dug in. "All of the buildings in the new part of Nahr al-Bared where the terrorists were dug in have been taken, and one could say fighting has stopped in this area," an army officer told reporters.
Lebanese troops earlier on Wednesday were clearing out the remaining pockets of resistance in Nahr al-Bared, Future TV said. It said the armys artillery continued shelling the southern front, cornering diehard militants in what has been known as the "old camp," a small segment on the southern tip of Nahr al-Bared. The army has reported that many criminals on Lebanon's most wanted lists are helping the terrorists.
The Lebanese army has been making steady gains on the ground, further squeezing Fatah al-Islam militants in a small portion of the battered Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared as mediators on Wednesday reportedly hinted at a possible cease-fire deal with the militants. But the army is insisting that regardless of any cease fire agreement the Fatah al-Islam terrorists have to surrender to the army. This decision according to army is "final and irreversible". Prime Minister Fouad Siniora promised the militants a fair trial.
Two Lebanese soldiers became the latest victims of the battle around Nahr el-Bared near the northern city of Tripoli that began on May 20. As the fighting with Fatah al-Islam continued on Wednesday, mediators hinted at a possible cease-fire deal with the militants that included the disarmament of the al-Qaida-inspired militants. According to a Palestinian Muslim cleric who has been acting as mediator, the deal would include a cease-fire, to be followed by the militants' disarmament. The cleric, Sheik Mohammed Haj, told The Associated Press news agency he had a "very positive" meeting with Fatah al-Islam leaders inside the camp but would not give details before a scheduled meeting with the army command on Wednesday. He earlier told the official National News Agency (NNA) that the militants agreed to conditions of his Palestinian Scholars Association. The cleric did not offer more details, but the private New TV station said the conditions also include return of refugees, takeover of the camp by other Palestinian factions and Fatah al-Islam's dissolution.
Meanwhile, Abu Imad Rifai, a representative of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, told Al-Manar television that the progress was made after Fatah al-Islam "opened the doors for a solution" and accepted to "dissolve."
National News Agency said three Lebanese helicopters fired 12 rockets at suspected Fatah al-Islam positions in the camp late Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Lebanon's top military magistrate Rashid Mezher issued formal arrest warrants for nine suspected militants who were detained earlier this month in east Lebanon's Bekaa Valley town of Bar Elias, NNA reported. The agency did not say to which group the nine belonged but said they comprise six Lebanese, two Syrians and a Saudi.
The battle to drive the terrorists out has led to significant damage to parts of the camp, once home to some 31,000 Palestinian refugees. Only about 5,000 remain inside, after most residents fled to the nearby Beddawi refugee camp. An amateur video obtained by Associated Press Television News on Tuesday showed major destruction in largely deserted residential neighborhoods. Debris from collapsed walls and balconies littered the narrow alleys, covered with ripped electricity wires. Shells and shrapnel holes peppered some buildings. A burnt car and a parked pickup truck with a collapsed wall resting on it lay on one deserted street.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11137 views]
Top|| File under: Fatah al-Islam
Woohoo! after forty days of wandering the Interwebs deserts, Rantburg finally seems to have found the Promised Land of lightning speed and 100% uptime. For which we owe Fred and Badanov our most gracious thanks and a whole lotta beer and/or PayPal.
BUT...
Some of the functions seem to need a little tinkering. There's some cookie issues, some moditating tools that are not working quite right. Please post any problems you've noticed here.
Thanks as always for helping make the 'Burg such a great community.
#3
GB-USMC, we'd prefer that people not link to images outside the Burg unless it's really newsbreaking (or wonderously snarky). Use the image list we have. If there's a pic you think is really appropriate, e-mail to one of the mods and we'll put it into the list.
We'll look into the Links issue, and thanks,
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2007 11:31 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I totally understand. I'll send you some snarky pics for you review.
Another issue I'm having is when I submit article Iget the below Warning: This is new in the last week.
Warning: Page has Expired The page you requested was created using information you submitted in a form. This page is no longer available. As a security precaution, Internet Explorer does not automatically resubmit your information for you.
To resubmit your information and view this Web page, click the Refresh button.
#5
I will donate if I can do it by snail mail. Got mauled by Pay Pal and won't do that again.
Also, where in the world did Sherebmanper Scourge come from?
Posted by: Sherebmanper Scourge of the Platypi1150 ||
06/21/2007 11:56 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Some of the names of posters seem to have vanished. Or were they never there?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2007 12:43 Comments ||
Top||
#9
And while we're at pics, you should rename the "p*orn" and "po*rno-jeremy" pics, they get the article killed by the words filter, and are unusable in their present form, which is a shame.
#5
Zenster, I think that was because most of the men at the time looked like either; a) Laurel, or b) Hardy.
Posted by: Scott R. ||
06/21/2007 7:33 Comments ||
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#6
"He held me and he was so fair,
In his arms I did linger.
I ran my fingers through his hair, then a cootie bit my finger." Lily Thomlin
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/21/2007 7:35 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Bit of a girly-boy for my taste, actually. (deep sigh) Now, if it's the ladies' turn for a ration of vintage beefcake, I can cope with... ummm... maybe Douglas Fairbanks?... hubba-hubba!
#8
All two of us, Helmuth, Speaking for Crumble1004? I do hope your awareness of the distaff sex is somewhat better in the real world... or that you're safely married, my dear.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2007 11:41 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Helmuth, take care: the members of the Rantburg "estrogen brigade" are lovely, charming, smart, clever, and, above all else, Not To Be Messed With.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/21/2007 12:05 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Hey boys... (you too Sgt. Mom & TW) you all remember the lady "Grace" from the Ranger Up.com blogads?
Well, lady Grace got a "cover girl" gig for "Social" magazine as a consequence of her Ranger Up.com work. I never heard of "Social" magazine, but that's beside the point.
As I write this, there is an on-going contest to select the best looking "Social" cover girl. Grace needs your vote.
I'm supplying the link to where you go to cast your vote. For Grace. Please: only for Grace.
Cheers.
http://www.rangerup.com/voteforgrace.html
Posted by: Mark Z ||
06/21/2007 14:04 Comments ||
Top||
#12
Done. Then I read all the RangerUp stories. Dear Frank G. will no doubt be shocked again. ;-)
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.
(SomaliNet) Nine civilians have been killed in gun shooting by the Ethiopian forces in the Somalia capital Mogadishu after the Ethiopians got under attack on Tuesday, according the medical sources on Wednesday. 
Turkish security forces detained 23 people in an operation Wednesday against suspected al-Qaida militants, a news agency reported. The operation took place in the northwestern province of Bursa, 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of Istanbul, the Anatolia agency reported. Anatolia did not cite a source, nor did it provide further detail on the operation. The governor's office in Bursa had no immediate comment. 
Switzerlands first Internet terrorism trial opened on Wednesday with the prosecution accusing two Muslims of running web sites that supported Al Qaeda linked groups and showed terror executions. 
The caretaker of a madrassa near a site which was the target of an apparent airstrike on Tuesday has said that a total of 34 people were killed, and all of them were locals. 
Are U.S. forces employing a new weapon in the war against terrorism? And if so, why are they keeping it a secret? 
Then, on Tuesday morning, a massive blast at a compound in North Waziristan, in Pakistan near the Afghanistan border, killed as many as 30 alleged Al Qaeda fighters. Pakistani officials say the compound, which included a madrassa, was being used as a training camp and bomb factory. Press reports say civilians were also killed in the attack.
What makes these attacks different from the usual attacks in the perpetual head-hunting effort against Al Qaeda is this: Consistent reports from intelligence and military sources that special operations forces employed a new ground rocket system. The system, called High Mobility Artillery Rockets, or HIMARS is reportedly a complement to Predator drones, particularly when weather prevents the high-altitude strikes, and are the new favorite when significant firepower is desired. The truck-mounted artillery rocket system (hence the "high mobility" moniker) first entered service in June 2005 at Fort Bragg, N.C., to complement the venerable MLRS rocket, which is heavier and more constrained in its movements and flexibility.
HIMARS carries a single six-pack of rockets on a standard Army 6x6 all-wheel drive (MLRS carries 18 rockets). The six-pack can be configured to shoot a wide array of rockets and missiles, from cluster bombs to a single missile system with a range up to 300 kilometers. HIMARS can fire a variety of non-cluster bomb rockets from the standard MLRS range of 32 kilometers to 300 kilometers. The HIMARS launcher can also aim at a target in just 16 seconds. A crew of three operates the launcher, and it is possible for the crew to select preprogrammed targets stored in a fire control computer to increase flexibility.
In Iraq's Anbar province, west of Baghdad, thousands of men have signed up to become police. But there aren't enough academies to train them. So instead, the national government has sanctioned the creation of extra neighborhood security teams made up largely by former Sunni tribal militias who now support U.S. forces. 
He compares the teams to the police reservists back home in the United States. 
A Jordanian citizen who was enlisted by Hamas operatives in Syria to carry out a terror attack in Israel is under arrest for allegedly planning to kidnap an Israeli in Jerusalem, police said Wednesday. The suspect, Ala Hamad, 29, was apprehended in November 2006 in a joint Shin Bet security service-police sting operation. 
Seven gunmen were killed during clashes with the IDF in Gaza and the West Bank on Wednesday, as Israel continued providing humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip while evacuating wounded Palestinians and foreign nationals from the Erez Crossing. 
The captors of BBC journalist Alan Johnston balked on Wednesday at demands by Hamas to release him and repeated their threats to kill him if Britain failed to free an Islamist prisoner, the SITE Intelligence Group reported. "Unless they (Britain) respond to these demands, there will be no way out for this captive. If the circumstances worsen, we will approach Allah to see what can be done with this reporter, even if we have to slaughter him," SITE reported a spokesman for the Army of Islam as saying in a video. 
Jakarta, 21 June (AKI) - Indonesian police have arrested key Bali bombing suspect, Malaysian national Noordin Mohammed Top, the well respected Detikcom news agency reports. He is considered the mastermind behind a series of bombings in Indonesia, including the 2002 and 2005 Bali nightclub attacks which killed over 250 people. Police arrested Top on 14 June, in Brebes Central Java and intend to announce this on 1 July - national police day in Indonesia, Detikcom said, quoting an unnamed source.
Sri Lankan troops killed around 30 Tamil Tigers in a clash overnight in jungle in the islands restive east, the military said on Wednesday, hours after the navy said it had killed around 40 insurgents in a sea battle. 
Lebanon says a military operation against Islamist fighters based in a Palestinian refugee camp has ended after a month-long battle.
A Lebanese army officer said Wednesday the military was now in full control of the new part of Nahr al-Bared where the terrorists were dug in. "All of the buildings in the new part of Nahr al-Bared where the terrorists were dug in have been taken, and one could say fighting has stopped in this area," an army officer told reporters.
