Hi there, !
Today Sun 08/10/2008 Sat 08/09/2008 Fri 08/08/2008 Thu 08/07/2008 Wed 08/06/2008 Tue 08/05/2008 Mon 08/04/2008 Archives
Rantburg
531702 articles and 1855987 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 84 articles and 297 comments as of 14:31.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    Non-WoT    Opinion    Local News       
Paleo hard boy Jihad Jaraa survives ''assassination attempt'' in Ireland
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 2: WoT Background
7 00:00 Hellfish [1] 
3 00:00 Besoeker [] 
10 00:00 Hupiling the Galactic Hero1106 [] 
0 [] 
2 00:00 DLR [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 Danielle [] 
6 00:00 trailing wife [] 
8 00:00 Redneck Jim [] 
5 00:00 Pappy [2] 
4 00:00 Old Patriot [] 
4 00:00 Baba Tutu [] 
1 00:00 McZoid [] 
1 00:00 McZoid [] 
13 00:00 Plastic Snoopy [] 
1 00:00 tu3031 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
3 00:00 wxjames [] 
1 00:00 Redneck Jim [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
8 00:00 Rambler in California [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
2 00:00 superstitiousGalitizianer [] 
6 00:00 Danielle [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 bigjim-ky [] 
2 00:00 Richard of Oregon [] 
2 00:00 Anonymoose [] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
0 []
4 00:00 Red Dawg []
8 00:00 SteveS []
4 00:00 N guard []
3 00:00 Barbara Skolaut []
8 00:00 James Carville []
9 00:00 Frank G []
5 00:00 trailing wife [1]
0 []
7 00:00 trailing wife []
0 []
2 00:00 M. Murcek []
2 00:00 john frum []
11 00:00 trailing wife []
3 00:00 Steve []
0 []
2 00:00 trailing wife []
0 []
1 00:00 superstitiousGalitizianer [2]
Page 3: Non-WoT
2 00:00 Besoeker []
1 00:00 DoDo []
3 00:00 lotp []
17 00:00 trailing wife []
3 00:00 AzCat []
6 00:00 rjschwarz []
14 00:00 Pholurong the Really Smart3447 [2]
0 []
1 00:00 Jack is Back! []
1 00:00 tipover []
2 00:00 Danielle []
2 00:00 .5MT []
8 00:00 DarthVader []
7 00:00 Haliburton Volcanic Eruption Division []
3 00:00 Old Patriot []
10 00:00 JohnQC []
4 00:00 Alaska Paul []
Page 4: Opinion
1 00:00 Bobby []
4 00:00 Barbara Skolaut []
4 00:00 Rambler in California []
3 00:00 rjschwarz []
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
2 00:00 Procopius2k [1]
6 00:00 Victory Osteen []
0 []
1 00:00 Frozen Al []
2 00:00 tu3031 []
0 []
5 00:00 Barbara Skolaut []
3 00:00 3dc []
7 00:00 Besoeker []
8 00:00 lotp []
3 00:00 Mike []
4 00:00 bigjim-ky []
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Iran Radio: falling oil prices must not be tolerated
From the Khaleej Times, an Iranian radio broadcast reminds that falling oil prices must not be tolerated (lest the regime go completely broke and be faced with fending off popular internal revolt.)

Iran would easily be able to close the key oil shipping route of Strait of Hormuz if the country were attacked over its nuclear programme, the head of the Revolutionary Guards was quoted as saying on Monday. Iran has 'the possibility of closing the Strait of Hormuz easily and on an unlimited basis,' state radio quoted Revolutionary Guards commander-in-chief Mohammad Ali Jafari as telling a news conference.

'In view of the proximity of the Strait of Hormuz to our shores, this distance is within the range of an assortment of weapons and its closure for us is very feasible and we face no limitations from the point of view of time,' Jafari said.

Just in the event you had not been presented with the proper context of Iran's conventional weapons saber rattling. Their conventional weapons (both real and imagined) are primarily for prosecuting economic warfare. It's defensive deterrent weapons are its global terrorism capability and, soon, a nuclear deterrent.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/07/2008 14:45 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Better crank up the 1st Photoshop Missile Brigade...
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/07/2008 14:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Rage, rage at the dying of the light, Mahmoud.
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/07/2008 15:43 Comments || Top||

#3  How much money will come in to Iran if all of their seaboard shipping terminals suffer a major, um, work accident? How long will they last?
Posted by: Rambler in California || 08/07/2008 15:53 Comments || Top||

#4  These dumbasses in Tehran better wake up and smell the espresso. in the last 40 years the score is USA 2, dictators 0. Kadaffi is offering Iran good advice. But they are determined that they alone can bring in the 12th Imam. And they are going to find out just how wrong they are.
Posted by: DLR || 08/07/2008 16:47 Comments || Top||

#5  "1st Photoshop Missile Brigade"
lmao .. had to do this ...sorry it's small

Revolutionary Guards Brigadier General - 1st Photoshop Missile Brigade

http://naometria.com/1st%20Photoshop%20Missile%20Brigade%20copy.jpg
Posted by: Linker || 08/07/2008 19:09 Comments || Top||

#6  :-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/07/2008 23:42 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Harsh justice under resurgent Taliban
Meet the new Taliban, same as the old Taliban.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Before the executions, two callers contacted AP contributor Rahmatullah Naikzad on his cell phone to say the Taliban were inviting him and other journalists to see them dispense Shariah law. They refused to elaborate. The Taliban frequently contact foreign and local journalists, and even at times local government officials. Naikzad leads a five-person news department for a local radio operation.

See. They do know who their friends are.
Probably got em on speed dial...
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/07/2008 13:46 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan accusing Pakistan of aiding insurgents
Afghanistan's spy agency alleged Wednesday that a Pakistani consulate official directed and funded terrorist activities carried out by a Taliban commander.

The allegation will likely further strain the acrimonious relations between the region's two key U.S. allies.

Also Wednesday, the U.S. coalition said a U.S. Marine died of wounds sustained when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in in the southwestern Farah province while on patrol on Monday.

Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security said in a statement that a diplomat at the consulate in the southern Kandahar province gave "orders and money" to Mullah Rahmatullah, a Taliban militant in the region.

Rahmatullah was captured by Afghan intelligence agents on Tuesday in Kandahar city, and the information linking the official with the militants was gleaned during the questioning, the NDS said in a statement, which did not name the diplomat.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq declined to comment, saying he had not seen the report.

Rahmatullah was responsible for kidnappings of influential elders in the province, extortion, "guerrilla attacks and some other terror activities," the statement said.

"After the arrest, Mullah Rahmatullah confessed to his crimes and said he received orders and money for all terror activities and for the kidnappings from one of the members of Pakistan's consulate in Kandahar," the statement said.

Afghanistan has long accused the Pakistan spy agency of backing the Taliban-led insurgency. It also has complained repeatedly that Pakistan-based militants are crossing the border to launch terrorist attacks in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan -- and, reportedly, the United States -- believe Pakistan's powerful spy service, the Inter-Services Intelligence, orchestrated the July 7 bombing outside India's Embassy in Kabul that killed over 60 people, in an effort to undermine growing ties between the two countries.

Pakistan, which is suspicious of India's growing role in Afghanistan, denied the accusations.

Separately, a coalition unit killed "several militants" and detained two others while searching the compound of a militant commander in the northern Kapisa province on Tuesday. "Several armed militants engaged the force who responded with small-arms fire, killing the militants," another coalition statement said.

The troops discovered bomb making materials and "barricade-type prepared fighting positions inside the compound," it said.

More than 2,700 people have died in insurgency-related violence so far this year, according to an Associated Press tally of figures provided by Afghan and Western officials.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa North
Al Qaeda says it was behind Algeria bombing
Al Qaeda's North Africa wing said it was behind a deadly suicide bombing in Algeria on Sunday, according to a statement posted on the Internet on Wednesday.

A car bomb exploded near a police station in the town of Tizi Ouzou, east of Algiers, on Sunday, wounding 25 people including four policemen. The group, al Qaeda organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, identified the bomber as Makhlouf Abou-Mariam and said his truck was laden with 600 kg (1,320 pounds) of an unspecified explosive material.

The explosion destroyed a dozen cars, ripped the facade off a small block of apartments, gouged chunks of masonry from the walls of other nearby buildings and shattered windows in the town centre. "We tell the sons of France and the slaves of America, and (we tell) their masters too, that our finger is on the trigger and the convoys of martyrs are longing to rampage your bastions in defence of our Islamic nation," the group said in the statement posted on an Islamist website.

The group also posted a picture of Abu-Mariam, who appeared to be a dipshit in his 20s, wearing a green turban and holding a pistol in one hand and a grenade in the other with three assault rifles nearby.
"They calls me Three-gun Abu Mariam, podner!"
This article starring:
Tizi Ouzou
MAKHLUF ABU MARIAMal-Qaeda in North Africa
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  Anybody who even thinks of close fighting with a grenade is a moron.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/07/2008 17:13 Comments || Top||


Britain
'Fakeproof' e-passport is cloned in minutes
New microchipped passports, designed to be foolproof against identity theft, can be cloned and manipulated in minutes and accepted as genuine by the computer software recommended for use at international airports, The Times reported on Wednesday.

Tests exposed security flaws in the microchips introduced to protect against terrorism and organised crime. The flaws also undermine claims that 3,000 blank passports stolen in Britain last week were worthless because they could not be forged.

Home office: The Home Office has always argued that faked chips would be spotted at border checkpoints because they would not match key codes when checked against an international database. But only 10 of the 45 countries with e-passports have signed up to the Public Key Directory (PKD) code system, and only five are using it. Britain is a member but will not use the directory before next year.

The tests were conducted by Jeroen van Beek, a security researcher at the University of Amsterdam. Van Beek developed a method of reading, cloning and altering microchips so that they are accepted as genuine by Golden Reader, the standard software used by the International Civil Aviation Organisation to test them. It is also the software recommended for use at airports.

Using his own software, a publicly available programming code, a £40 card reader and two £10 RFID chips, van Beek took less than an hour to clone and manipulate two passport chips to a level at which they were ready to be planted inside fake or stolen paper passports.

A baby boy's passport chip was altered to contain an image of Osama bin Laden, and the passport of a 36-year-old woman was changed to feature a picture of Hiba Darghmeh, a Palestinian suicide bomber who killed three people in 2003. The unlikely identities were chosen so that there could be no suggestion that either van Beek or The Times were faking viable travel documents.

Questions: The tests raise serious questions about the government's £4 billion identity card scheme, which relies on the same biometric technology. Last night Dominic Grieve, the Shadow Home Secretary, called on ministers to take urgent action to remedy the security flaws discovered by The Times. "It is of deep concern that the technology underpinning a key part of the UK's security can be compromised so easily," he said.

The ability to clone chips leaves travellers vulnerable to identity theft when they surrender their passports at hotels or car rental companies. Criminals in the back office could read the chips and clone them

The Home Office said last night that it had yet to see evidence of someone being able to manipulate data in an e-passport. A spokesman said: "No one has yet been able to demonstrate that they are able to modify, change or alter data within the chip. If any data were to be changed, modified or altered it would be immediately obvious to the electronic reader."

The International Civil Aviation Organisation said: "The PKD ensures that e-passports used at border control points . . . are genuine and unaltered. In effect it renders the passport foolproof. However, all states issuing e-passports must join the PKD, otherwise that assurance cannot be given."
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Someone is in denial.
Posted by: tipover || 08/07/2008 0:28 Comments || Top||

#2  The usual - government hands out fat contract to company, company pockets cash and provides substandard solution, everyone loses except the executives.
Posted by: gromky || 08/07/2008 6:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Gromky:

Or, government hands over fat contract, company provides conceptual design, government says it discriminates against people of color and religion and is not as politically correct as the specs call for and issues orders to make it more fool proof (so that a government fool can read it) and accepts the inferior product as representing the best of a public-private partnership.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 08/07/2008 7:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Only 3,000 missing, thats not so bad.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/07/2008 9:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Or...

A company wins a contract by the government and the planned and very good methods are killed one by one by government bureaucracies because they don't fit into their plan or forces them to change their ways (i.e. loose power in their eyes) and the whole thing is watered down until it is worse than the previous system. This seems to be the case with the contracts my company does for the Department of Homeland defense.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/07/2008 10:04 Comments || Top||

#6  The terrorists caught on the Somalian/Kenyan border had British passports, enabling them to go to most any former British colony, which are many, with ease. We have to worry not just over 3,000 missing passports, but that all e-passports could be forged! The more secure we are made to feel, the less I really do.
Posted by: Danielle || 08/07/2008 11:07 Comments || Top||


Secret deal with al-Mahdi militia kept Brits out of Basra battle
A secret deal between Britain and the notorious al-Mahdi militia prevented British Forces from coming to the aid of their US and Iraqi allies for nearly a week during the battle for Basra this year, The Times has learnt.

The deal, which aimed to encourage the Shia movement back into the political process and marginalise extremist factions, has dealt a huge blow to Britain's reputation in Iraq. Under its terms, no British soldier could enter Basra without the permission of Des Browne, the Defence Secretary. By the time he gave his approval, most of the fighting was over and the damage to Britain's reputation had already been done.

The Ministry of Defence has never confirmed that there was a deal with al-Mahdi Army, but one official denied that the delay in sending in troops was because of the arrangement agreed with the Shia militia. A spokesman for the MoD said that the reason why troops were not sent immediately into Basra was because there was "no structure in place" in the city for units to go back in to start mentoring the Iraqi troops.

Colonel Imad, who heads the 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, the most experienced division, commanded one of the quick-reaction battalions summoned to assist British-trained local forces, who faltered from the outset because of inexperience and lack of support. He said: "Without the support of the Americans we would not have accomplished the mission because the British Forces had done nothing there. I do not trust the British Forces. They did not want to lose any soldiers for the mission."

Lieutenant-Colonel Chuck Western, a senior US Marine advising the Iraqi Army, told The Times: "I was not happy. Everybody just assumed that because this deal was cut nobody was going in. Cutting a deal with the bad guys is generally not a good idea." He emphasised, however, that he was not being critical of the British military, which he described as first-rate.

Captain Eric Whyne, another US Marine officer who took part in the battle, said that he was astounded that "a coalition force would make a pact with essentially their enemy and promise not to go into their area so as not to get attacked". He alleged that "some horrific atrocities" were committed by the militia in Basra during the British watch.

A senior British defence source agreed that the battle for Basra had been damaging to Britain's reputation in Iraq. "You can accuse the Americans of many things, such as hamfistedness, but you can't accuse them of not addressing a situation when it arises. While we had a strategy of evasion, the Americans just went in and addressed the problem."

Another British official said that the deal was intended as an IRA-style reconciliation. "That is what we were trying to do but it did not work." The official added that "accommodation" had become a dirty word.

US officials knew of the discussions, which continued until March this year. They facilitated the peaceful exit of British troops from a palace compound in Basra last September in return for the release of a number of prisoners. The arrangement fell apart on March 25 when Mr al-Maliki ordered his surprise assault on Basra, catching both the Americans and British off-guard.

The Americans responded by flying in reinforcements, providing air cover and offering the logistical and other support needed for the Iraqis to win.

The British were partly handicapped because their commander, Major-General Barney White-Spunner, was away on a skiing holiday when the attack began. When Brigadier Julian Free, his deputy, arrived to discuss the situation with Mr al-Maliki at the presidential palace in Basra, he was made to wait outside.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The British were partly handicapped because their commander, Major-General Barney White-Spunner, was away on a skiing holiday when the attack began. When Brigadier Julian Free, his deputy, arrived to discuss the situation with Mr al-Maliki at the presidential palace in Basra, he was made to wait outside.

Something Peter Sellers or Terry Thomas about the above scene.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 08/07/2008 7:39 Comments || Top||

#2  The British are coming doesn't mean what it used to. Sad for them.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 08/07/2008 8:55 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Bin Laden's Former Driver Sentenced to 5 1/2 Years in Prison - 5 months left to serve
A military jury has reached a verdict on the sentence for Usama bin Laden's driver at the first Guantanamo Bay war crimes trial.
66 months in jail with credit for time already served - five months left to serve but liable to be detained as a POW

Salim Hamdan faces up to life in prison, and prosecutors are seeking a sentence of at least 30 years.

The verdict is to be announced by the same panel of six U.S. military officers that convicted Hamdan of supporting terrorism. He was acquitted of charges that he conspired in terrorist attacks.

Hamdan pleaded for leniency earlier Thursday, saying he regretted the loss of "innocent lives" in bin Laden's attacks.
Posted by: Sherry || 08/07/2008 16:03 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Prosecuters gotta be wondering why he wasted the friggin time.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/07/2008 16:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Did he have a jury of his peers?
Posted by: Iblis || 08/07/2008 17:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Jury of his peers?
I have a quick mental image of a solid steel box with the jurors (and their weaponry) locked safely inside.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/07/2008 17:17 Comments || Top||

#4  If we had followed the Geneva Conventions as they apply to illegal combatants, this POS would have faced a firing squad 5 years ago.
Posted by: Rambler in California || 08/07/2008 17:32 Comments || Top||

#5  So in 5 months he'll go back to Afghanistan and, in a few months, the locals will kill him in a clan-feud.
Posted by: mhw || 08/07/2008 18:03 Comments || Top||

#6  I am actually satisfied with this sentence. The left and their "moral" squad have been harping on how this is a show trial and military tribunals are not fair. However, this is close to a sentence he would have gotten in civilian court and the other charges were dismissed.
I think he was just a low level thug that was trusted enough to drive the head cheese. While I doubt he has had a change of heart and "regrets" the lives lost, I think his career as a terrorist is over. He is just gonna hide in a hole somewhere and be totted out by the press every decade anniversary of 9/11 and will die in his 50s a lonely and broken man.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/07/2008 19:21 Comments || Top||

#7  Hey how about I cut my own throat. Save some time.

Traitors.
Posted by: Hellfish || 08/07/2008 20:28 Comments || Top||


Bin Laden driver to seek leniency from Gitmo jury
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - Osama bin Laden's former driver is expected to ask the Pentagon jury that convicted him of a war crime to spare him from life in prison Thursday, his defense lawyers said.
I notice he doesn't protest his innocence...
Salim Hamdan wiped tears from his face on Wednesday as the panel of six military officers delivered a split verdict at the first U.S. war crimes trial since World War II, declaring him guilty of aiding terrorism but acquitting him of conspiracy.
Awww, c'mon Brave Jihadi. Turn that frown upside down...
The tribunals' chief prosecutor, Army Col. Lawrence Morris, said the failure to convict Hamdan of both charges will factor into the sentence his team recommends Thursday inside the hilltop courthouse on this U.S. Navy base. Hamdan is eligible for a maximum life sentence. "We of course have to prepare our sentence recommendation consistent with what the jury found," Morris said. The verdict will be appealed automatically to a special military appeals court in Washington. Hamdan can then appeal to U.S. civilian courts as well.
I'm sure Ruth Bader Ginsberg is putting out his milk and cookies right now.
Can't wait to read Justice Kennedy's opinion ...
Deputy White House spokesman Tony Fratto applauded what he called "a fair trial" and said prosecutors will now proceed with other war crimes trials at the isolated U.S. military base in southeast Cuba. Prosecutors intend to try about 80 Guantanamo detainees for war crimes, including 19 already charged. But defense lawyers said Hamdan's rights were denied by an unfair process, hastily patched together after Supreme Court rulings that previous tribunal systems violated U.S. and international law. "History and world opinion will judge whether the government proved the system to be fair," Hamdan's lawyers said in a statement.
Counselor, in two weeks nobody will remember the guy's name...
Hamdan, a Yemeni, did not testify before the jury during his trial, but defense attorney Harry Schneider said the prisoner planned to ask for leniency at the sentencing hearing in either live testimony or a written statement to the jurors.

Hamdan has been held at Guantanamo since May 2002. The military has not said where he would serve a sentence, but the commander of the detention center, Navy Rear Adm. David Thomas, said last week that convicted prisoners will be held apart from the general detainee population.
And now...the inimitable AP spin.
Under the military commission, Hamdan did not have all the rights normally accorded either by U.S. civilian or military courts.
That's because he's not a U.S. citizen, not a member of the U.S. military, and doesn't have any rights under the Geneva Protocols.
The judge allowed secret testimony and hearsay evidence. Hamdan was not judged by a jury of his peers and he received no Miranda warning about his rights.
Sounds like they think he was driving without insurance.
When was the last time anyone read a captured person his 'rights' on a military battlefield? And when was the last time anyone on a battlefield as unclear on the concept of surrender? You stick your mitts in the air and hope like hell the guys on the other side don't shoot you for sport.
Hamdan's attorneys said interrogations at the center of the government's case were tainted by coercive tactics, including sleep deprivation and solitary confinement.
However, his head is still attached to his body...
We frequently confine people to solitary in American county jails. And you try sleeping in a county jail. Are we depriving everyone in a county jail their rights?
They didn't put panties on his head, did they? I don't think I could live with that...
All that is in contrast to the courts-martial used to prosecute American troops in Iraq and Vietnam, which accorded defendants more rights.
Because they were Americans, dummy ...
The five-man, one-woman jury convicted Hamdan on five counts of supporting terrorism, accepting the prosecution argument that Hamdan aided terrorism by becoming a member of al-Qaida in Afghanistan
That's kinda aiding terrorism by definition, even if you're a cook. Or a driver.
and serving as bin Laden's armed bodyguard and driver while knowing that the al-Qaida leader was plotting attacks against the U.S. But he was found not guilty on three other counts alleging he knew that his work would be used for terrorism and that he provided surface-to-air missiles to al-Qaida.
Pay no attention to those missiles in the back seat.
He also was cleared of two charges of conspiracy alleging he was part of the al-Qaida effort to attack the United States -- the most serious charges, according to deputy chief defense counsel Michael Berrigan. Berrigan noted the conspiracy charges were the only ones Hamdan originally faced when his case prompted the Supreme Court to halt the tribunals. Prosecutors added the new charges after the Bush administration rewrote the rules. "The problem is the law was specifically written after the fact to target Mr. Hamdan," said Charles Swift, one of Hamdan's civilian lawyers.
Christ, this guy's got more lawyers then OJ had...
The military judge, Navy Capt. Keith Allred, gave Hamdan five years of credit toward his sentence for the time he has served at Guantanamo Bay since the Pentagon decided to charge him.
This article starring:
Capt. Keith Allred
Charles Swift
Col. Lawrence Morris
defense attorney Harry Schneider
Deputy White House spokesman Tony Fratto
Michael Berrigan
Rear Adm. David Thomas
SALIM HAMDANal-Qaeda
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/07/2008 09:18 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - Salim Hamdan pleaded with a military jury to spare him from a life in prison, apologizing Thursday for the "innocent people" who died in the Sept. 11 attacks and saying he worked as Osama bin Laden's driver only because he needed a job.

Military prosecutors asked for a sentence of no less than 30 years, asking the Pentagon-appointed jury to make an example of him. The five men and one woman began their deliberations Thursday afternoon in the yellow courthouse overlooking an abandoned airport runway.

"It's true there are work opportunities in Yemen, but not at the level I needed after I got married and not to the level of ambitions that I had in my future," he said, reading in Arabic from a prepared statement. Hamdan expressed regret over the "innocent people" who died, according to a Pentagon transcript. His apology couldn't be heard by reporters because the sound was turned off during part of the proceedings to protect classified information. "I personally present my apologies to them if anything that I did has caused them pain," Hamdan said.

He also said he didn't know bin Laden was a terrorist when he took the job, saying it came as "a big shock" when he learned the al-Qaida leader was responsible for the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen.


Shocked! Shocked, I tells ya!!
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/07/2008 15:24 Comments || Top||

#2  On accounta Yemen's such a big place nobody knew the prominent bin Laden clan that made their money in the Saudi kingdom. Or the son who was so vocal in his Yemeni dislike of the desert princes ...
Posted by: lotp || 08/07/2008 15:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Gitmo jury gives bin Laden driver 5 1/2 years

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - A military jury has sentenced Osama bin Laden's former driver to 5 1/2 years in prison for aiding terrorism, making him eligible for release in just six months. Salim Hamdan was acquitted of conspiracy in the first Guantanamo war crimes trial.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/07/2008 16:08 Comments || Top||

#4  6 months means that the big O can't release him and grandstand to great international applause.
Posted by: lotp || 08/07/2008 17:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Hamdan was not judged by a jury of his peers and he received no Miranda warning about his rights.

"Damn, I got jury duty!" - Osama
Posted by: Pappy || 08/07/2008 22:06 Comments || Top||


Feds: Anthrax Suspect Had Mental Health Issues
No! Reeeeeally? Who'da guessed?
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If he was trying to sell his blood for its anti-bodies qualities, that would suggest a well thought out plan. Who knows?
Posted by: McZoid || 08/07/2008 0:52 Comments || Top||

#2  ....adequate explanation for his late-night laboratory work" around the time the anthrax letters were sent.

Government employee working voluntary overtime? No FBI alarm bells went off on this one? Now that IS the definition of DENIAL!
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/07/2008 8:30 Comments || Top||

#3  How on earth this guy retained his clearances given his mental health issues is way beyond my comprehension.

Sheesh!
Posted by: lotp || 08/07/2008 8:53 Comments || Top||

#4  You'd think the guy who had access to the genetically identical Anthrax would have been suspected earlier.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/07/2008 9:26 Comments || Top||

#5  I gather they did suspect him, but he'd bleached his lab and equipment clean and they couldn't find grounds to nail him. Then when more sophisticated means of dna analysis were available they could show it was his lab's very specific mix of strains that was mailed.
Posted by: lotp || 08/07/2008 9:31 Comments || Top||

#6  U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor said that a scientific breakthrough in 2005 allowed investigators to trace the anthrax used in the attacks to a single flask of anthrax that was under Ivins' custody at an Army lab in Fort Detrick, Md.

Investigators focused on Ivins as the main suspect in 2007, after eliminating dozens of others who had access to the flask as possible suspects, he said.


Two years! How would we feel about that if the perp's name had been Mohammed Ibrahim?

The FBI and DoJ have not covered themselves in glory on this one, yet again, and the damage to their credibility will have serious consequences for our ability to conduct the WOT as a police action and to conduct lawfare. The DoJ is starting to look more screwed up than the USAF.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/07/2008 9:31 Comments || Top||

#7  Stiff competition there NS but I suspect you're right.
Posted by: lotp || 08/07/2008 9:40 Comments || Top||

#8  I wonder what his rationale was in choosing victims? Seem to be vocal Democrats, NBC, and tabloid editors.
Posted by: Danielle || 08/07/2008 10:50 Comments || Top||

#9  No, that would follow a logical pattern. This guy was crazy, remember?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/07/2008 11:21 Comments || Top||

#10  The appearance of failure is often cover for a successful intelligence operation. In the Hatfill "investigation," it was revealed that some of the agents involved were actually in Division Five, which is responsible for foreign counterintelligence. I would not take any report on the AMERITHRAX at face value. But that's just me.
Posted by: Plastic Snoopy || 08/07/2008 12:58 Comments || Top||

#11  I see a big flaw in the "Geneticaly identical" anthrax claim.

He was working with small samples, that alone means that there's a large supply somewhere that that "Small sample" came from?

That entire supplt would be "Geneticaly identical"

So where is it?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/07/2008 17:25 Comments || Top||

#12  Before he was dubbed "a person of interest" in the case, Hatfill had been part of a tight circle of U.S. government officials and consultants working to counter the global bioterror threat. Accurate or not, Dr. Steve Hatfill's bravado about his USG activities and his African exploits very nearly did him in. Bragging about being an "ex-Green Beret" and working the bush with the Selous Scouts and SAS in Rhodesia and South Africa...NOT smart.

Posted by: Besoeker || 08/07/2008 20:13 Comments || Top||

#13  Besoeker: Hatfill was instructing USA Special Forces on mobile Iraqi BW labs well after he was named a "person of interest." Check the dates.

The Hatfill investigation was not a real investigation. I don't believe the Ivins investigation was real, either. I suspect Redneck Jim is completely correct about the DNA matching.
Posted by: Plastic Snoopy || 08/07/2008 22:26 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Musharraf to be impeached on Aug 11: Reports
ISLAMABAD: In an apparent breakthrough, Pakistan's two main ruling coalition allies on Thursday said they have reached an "understanding" on impeaching President Pervez Musharraf and reinstating judges sacked by him last year. Media reports however said the impeachment motion is likely to be placed on August 11.
Those dumbasses keep sowing the seeds for the next military takeover, then determinedly looking stoopid when it happens.
After three days of marathon talks, PML-N leaders said the two parties had reached broad agreement on the two issues.
"Hokay, Nawaz. Here's what we'll do. I'll pin the 'Kick Me' sign to your back and you can pin one to mine!"
"Brilliant plan, Mr. Ten Percent! Brilliant!"
PPP sources said that the two parties had been able to resolve differences that had arisen following Musharraf suddenly approving a proposal to reinstate eight judges of the Sindh High Court whom he had sacked during last year's emergency rule. PML-N spokesman Siddique-ul-Farooq said the impeachment of Musharraf would be followed by the restoration of the deposed judges "within 24 hours". He told reporters, "I think it may take days, not weeks. Both the (impeachment and reinstatement of deposed judges) will be completed within days."
"Then I'm renting an apartment in Luxembourg, so I have someplace to go when the tanks roll in a year or two."
Farooq also said both parties cannot "afford further delays" on the impeachment and restoration of the deposed judges two thorny issues they have grappled with since they came together in March to form a coalition.
Much more important issues than controlling al-Qaeda in Pakistain.
Senior PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal, a confidant of Sharif, said, "I can say that an understanding has been reached on all important issues and we will present the outcome of our consultations before the nation. I am very hopeful that it will be a positive outcome."
This article starring:
PML-N spokesman Siddique-ul-Farooq
Senior PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal
Posted by: john frum || 08/07/2008 07:12 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bold talk. They'd best check their body armor.
Posted by: RWV || 08/07/2008 8:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Isn't that when he is at the Olympics?
Maybe never to return?
Posted by: 3dc || 08/07/2008 10:37 Comments || Top||

#3  That Dennis Kucinich is one persistent loser.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/07/2008 13:15 Comments || Top||

#4  ...and the Army will stage a coup on August 10th.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/07/2008 19:02 Comments || Top||


JI raps govt for Swat operation
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) NWFP chief Sirajul Haq has asked the government to stop military operation in Swat and Dir. Speaking at a news conference here on Wednesday, Siraj lamented that the government was ready to hold talks with India, Afghanistan and America, but did not do so with its own people.
Because the Indians, Afghanis and Americans are rational ...
Nor are any of us controlling any part of Pakistain, unlike the TTP, aka al-Qaeda in Pakistain.
He said the army men involved in fighting in tribal areas and Swat must be called back and assigned to work for the rehabilitation of flood affectees in Peshawar. The JI leader criticised the government for, what he described, a failure to reach to the calamity-hit people. He said the floods affected nearly 30,000 families. The villages of Regi, Hasan Garhi, Shahi Bala, Budhni, Babu Garhi, Patwar Bala, Patwar Payan, Sardar Garhi, Larama, Qazi Kalay, Alaf Khan Kalay and Khurasan were the worst-affected areas where people were in dire need of assistance, said the JI leader.
I've got an idea: Why not turn out the JI brownturbans to help them?

This article starring:
SIRAJUL HAQJamaat-e-Islami
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami

#1  As if the JI doesn't have an ulterior motive.
Posted by: McZoid || 08/07/2008 0:45 Comments || Top||


Senate condemns attacks on Muslims in Jammu
The Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed three resolutions, including one expressing concerns over attacks on Muslims and their properties by Hindu extremists in Jammu and Kashmir.

The resolution, moved by Leader of Opposition in Senate Kamil Ali Agha, regretted the recent reports of an economic blockade imposed by Hindu extremists against the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Senate expressed concern over the tension and fear that has gripped the Muslim population of Jammu and Kashmir as a result of the attacks on Muslims and their properties in Jammu city, Rajouri, Poonch, Udhampur, Riasi, Samba, Doda and Kathua, damage to mosques, blockade of the Srinagar-Jammu Highway to stop trucks from transporting essential commodities including life-saving drugs to the Kashmir valley.

The house expressed deep concern over the continuing economic blockade of the valley by Hindu extremists and called for immediate steps to address the situation and to stop the gross human rights' violations being committed against the Kashmiri people.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  At last count, 500,000 Hindus had been exiled from the area. Their roots go back to before recorded history. Very few Muslims have suffered the same fate. Their roots go only as far as the post Mongol war lordism, with top-down forced conversions to islam. Credit India for attempting to create a secular state. A pure democracy in JK would result in an ethnically cleansed Muslim state.
Posted by: McZoid || 08/07/2008 1:05 Comments || Top||


Pakistan's Senate expresses regrets over Afghan president's accusations
(Xinhua) -- Pakistan's Senate Wednesday adopted an unanimous resolution, regretting the accusations against the country by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, according to local media. "The Senate of Pakistan expresses deep regret over recent threatening statements by the Afghan president," said the resolution.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai alleged that Pakistan's intelligence agency was involved in the car bomb blast outside the Indian embassy in Kabul last month, which killed over 50 people.

The resolution condemned the cowardly attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul and rejects the baseless allegations leveled against Pakistan in that regard, the News Network International news agency reported.

The resolution also condemned the bomb blast outside the Pakistan Consulate General in Heart on July 31 and urged the Afghan government to take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the personnel and premises of Pakistan's diplomatic and consular missions in Afghanistan.

The resolution stressed the need for the two governments to cooperate closely to overcome the challenges posed to the security and stability of both countries by terrorism and extremism.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Terror email signed on Wed, sent on Sat
'Indian Mujahideen' claimed responsibility for the serial blasts in UP, Jaipur and Ahmedabad on July 26. But then who was responsible for the blasts in Bangalore the previous day?

Security analyst and former additional cabinet secretary B Raman has analyzed the emails claiming responsibility for the serial blasts in three towns of UP on November 23 last year, Jaipur on May 13 and in Ahmedabad last week.

The UP email was drafted as if the message was from the leader of 'Indian Mujahideen' to explain why they had launched 'jihad' and the originator of this message identified himself as 'Guru al-Hindi' . "This gave rise to an interpretation that the leader of the group had assumed a 'kuniyat' or pseudonym after Mohammad Afzal Guru," says Raman.

According to Raman, organizations like the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Al-Qaida take their 'kuniyats' from the holy Quran and not from living persons.

The Jaipur and Ahmedabad emails too have 'Guru al-Hindi ' as the originator. There are more quotations from the holy Quran in the Ahmedabad email, similar to the ones seen in the messages of Osama Bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The Jaipur blast email did not carry the signature of 'Guru al-Hindi' . In the 26/7 email, the word 'Alarbi' is written in capital letters on the left of the signature.

According to Raman, 'Al Arbi' or 'Al Arabia' means Arab but it has not been used in that sense. Rather, in Arabic language, Wednesday is known as 'Al Arbi' or 'Al Arbia' , meaning the fourth day of the week. 'Guru al-Hindi ' seems to have been hand-written , indicating that the message was signed on Wednesday, July 23. "The message itself was sent by email shortly before the 26/7 blasts. But if the message was drafted on July 23, why did it not give any advance warning of the Bangalore blasts which happened on July 25. Were the Bangalore blasts carried out by a different group?" questions Raman.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Ban on Simi stays, SC admits Centre's plea
A day after a special tribunal lifted restrictions on the Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi), the Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the order on a petition from the central government.

Additional solicitor general Gopal Subramanium submitted to a bench headed by chief justice KG Balakrishnan that "Irrecoverable damage will be done to the country's steps against terrorist activities if the [tribunal]'s ruling is not suspended."

The apex court issued a notice to Simi and stayed the tribunal judge, justice Geeta Mittal's 267-page order on Tuesday lifting the ban on Simi. The SC will hear the appeal after three weeks.

Though justice Mittal had revoked the ban, saying the home ministry had not furnished any new proof to justify the curbs, the ASG maintained Simi was a terror group responsible for several blasts, including the recent terror attacks in Gujarat and Bangalore.

The ban on Simi was first imposed in 2001 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act following intelligence reports that its cadres were joining Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and were providing support in setting up of 'sleeper cells' in India. The ban has since been extended every two years, the last one being on February 8, 2006.
Seeking a further extension of the ban, the government had placed before the tribunal evidence of the Malegaon blast in 2006 to show complicity of the organisation in unlawful activities.

The ASG contended that the tribunal lifted the ban without properly evaluating the government's evidence. He said the tribunal ignored the depositions made by 77 senior government officials, including those from the home minister, the Intelligence Bureau and intelligence chiefs of various states.

The law officer told the SC bench that the government had shown the tribunal even the top-secret cabinet note put forward by the home ministry detailing various evidence and intelligence inputs about Simi's illegal activities, besides senior ministry officials' assessments and reasons for the ban on the Simi.

It was on the basis of this note that the government had decided to extend the ban on Simi for the fourth time in February.


Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: SIMI


Musharraf consults allies, legal aides over options
President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday discussed with his political allies and legal aides his options to counter a possible move by the ruling coalition to oust him from office.

Sources privy to the developments told Daily Times that Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussian and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi called on the president and assured him of support in case he was impeached, the sources said. They said the president appeared confident and said he would defend himself. Musharraf urged the PML leaders to solicit support for him in parliament. The Chaudhrys assured the president that the coalition would fail to muster the required strength of legislators in the Senate and National Assembly for the impeachment. The sources said that they also advised the president to go on with his planned visit to China to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

Sources said the president also met Attorney General Malik Qayyum and Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad, and talked to PML-Q leader Hamid Nasir Chattha on the phone. Chattha and president had met on Tuesday.

The sources said Musharraf also met Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani, but the ISPR director general did not confirm the meeting. Asked if the meeting took place, he said: "not to my knowledge".
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Hurriyat faction okay with separate Hindu Jammu state
The ongoing agitation in Jammu and Kashmir over the Amarnath land row acquired a new dimension on Wednesday, with the moderate faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference and a score of Muslim social outfits saying they had no objection to some Hindu organisations being granted their demand of a separate Jammu state.

In a meeting in Srinagar, the Hurriyat conglomerate said it was acceptable if a separate state was carved out of the two and a half Hindu majority districts, while another meeting in Poonch called for the merger of Muslim majority areas of Poonch, Rajouri and Doda districts.

Among the 22 districts of Jammu and Kashmir, Hindus constitute a majority in Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Udhampur and half of Reasi, while Buddhists constitute a majority in Ladakh's Leh district. The Hurriyat meeting also planned to hold an all-party meeting in Kashmir soon to build up momentum against the Hindu agitation in Jammu, and warned the government against any attempt to restore land to the Amarnath Shrine Board.

The land allocation was revoked due to violence in the Kashmir valley that saw regional political parties joining hands with separatists.

The meeting, chaired by Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, also endorsed the demand of Kashmiri fruit growers and traders to let them take their produce to Muzaffarabad across the Line of Control if the government was unable to lift the Jammu-Srinagar highway blockade.

In Poonch, a Muslim United Welfare Forum organised a meeting of Jammu division social organisations to call for the merger of Poonch, Rajouri and Doda districts in Kashmir. The meeting was attended by prominent Muslims concerned over the "atrocities being committed on Muslims in various parts of Jammu", and asked the government to ensure safety for Muslims and shopkeepers.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad


There is no Taliban in Karachi: Mirza
There is no Talibanisation in Karachi or the province of Sindh, and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) should speak to its coalition partner, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), before making such public statements, Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza said on Wednesday.

He was addressing a press conference at the police headquarters. Mirza stressed that the government did not have any evidence of Talibanisation anywhere in Sindh. Religious education was being provided at mosques and seminaries but this could not be called illegal. "There is a difference between Islamisation and Talibanisation," he said. "There is no evidence of Talibanisation in the city as these types of people impose the veil and destroy video shops."

The PPP was giving Karachi priority but investors had started leaving the country because of such statements, he said. Mirza rejected the political statements made recently by the MQM, adding that they would harm all the efforts made by the government.

The minister said that on Tuesday the MQM gave the impression that the Sindh government "was sleeping". The government had been keeping an eye on everything, even on Umme Hassan's visit to Karachi. But, there was no restriction on her movement, he clarified.

Pashtun: Mirza said that operations had been launched against the Pashtuns in North and South Waziristan during the previous government of President Musharraf and the Pashtuns fed up with that had come to Karachi for protection and the government would not take any action against them without evidence.

"The Pashtuns are our brothers and can live in Karachi as they wish. They are not involved in any terrorist activity in the city and the government would not act without any evidence," he said.

Mirza said culprits would be dealt with regardless of affiliations of party, sect or caste.

He said no religious group was behind the seven serial blasts in Karachi. He said it was a conspiracy to ignite a fight between the Pashtuns and Mohajirs and destroy the coalition of the MQM, PPP and ANP. It was clear where this conspiracy originated from but he would not tolerate that, the minister said. "I warn them to stop these activities and I will expose the people who were behind this within a few days." Talking about the claims made by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Mirza replied that they wanted to influence the government. "The government knows very well how to control such claims," he said. "The country is facing an economic crisis because of such statements and press conferences."
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  Taliban is an ethnic grouping for the most part. When the Talibs were in power in Afghanistan, they promoted Pashto supremacy and ordered general acceptance of the Pushturon Code of laws. Howver, they also ordered instruction in Arabic, so that the Koran could be read in its original language.

So why are there Balochis, Waziris and Punjabis in the Taliban movement? They are not aware of the ethnic supremacy doctrine. They are working for their own subordination to a Pashto master race. Musharaf could exploit that.
Posted by: McZoid || 08/07/2008 1:14 Comments || Top||

#2  uh, Waziris ARE Pashtuns, Mc.

And Baluchistan province while mainly ethnically Baluchi, has a big Pashtun minority in Quetta. Which is the center of the taliban in Baluchistan.

As for the Punjabis, well some of them are religious fanatics/jihadis who will accept Pashtun dominance.
Posted by: superstitiousGalitizianer || 08/07/2008 9:19 Comments || Top||


Perv flies to Olympics despite coup talks
Honestly, Perv, Mauritania isn't so bad. Once you get used to it. And you would.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will travel to the Beijing Olympics after all, officials said late yesterday, hours after he cancelled his scheduled departure amid fears that he could be impeached.

"The president is going to China," a presidential aide told AFP. A senior foreign ministry official also confirmed that Musharraf had changed his plans and said he would fly out on Thursday.

Foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq had earlier said that Musharraf "will not be able to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing," adding that he could not give the reasons. The News, an English language daily, had reported that Sharif and Zardari called the talks amid fears that Musharraf himself might strike the first blow by dissolving parliament.

The pair had agreed formally to ask Musharraf to quit and then impeach him through parliament if he refused, said Dawn, another leading newspaper.

Sharif and Zardari met for a second time on Wednesday, and Sharif's Pakistan Asif Zardari conceded his conditional agreement to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif during a "make-or-break" meeting that was meant to resolve contentious issues between the two coalition partners, including the sacked judges' reinstatement and the impeachment of the president.

Sources privy to the meeting told Daily Times that the agreement came about after senior PML-N leader Khawaja Asif assured Zardari that the coalition partners had sufficient strength to impeach President Musharraf if the PPP took the initiative. "Both parties agreed that the issue of reinstating the sacked judges could easily be resolved once they succeeded in getting rid of President Musharraf," the sources added.

Khawaja Asif told Geo News that all parties in the ruling alliance would prepare a charge sheet against Musharraf and have an open debate on it. He said the president would be allowed to defend himself, adding that evidence was being gathered for the charge sheet.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Jammu Muslims back stir, but fear clashes
The narrow lanes in the Muslim-dominated Talab Khatikan locality are dotted with groups of people. The shops are closed, in support of the bandh called by the Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti.

“We are Jammuites. We have lived together for centuries, bowing our heads in the same Peerbaba dargahs as our Hindu brethren. I will live here and die here. This is my birthplace and I will go to any length to support the aspirations of my people,” says Bashir Ahmed, a resident of Gujjar Nagar.

While there is a semblance of outward calm, fear is writ large on their faces. “We have inputs that many right wing activists have sneaked into the state to instigate communal violence here,” says Jameel Banihali, a resident of Khatikan Talab.

And unlike elsewhere in the city, nobody is defying curfew here. “Though we feel assured that there will be no communal violence here, we generally do not move out because of the high passions and violent protests,” says Ghulam Rasool of Dalpatiyan Mohalla.

Some Muslims who originally hail from Bhaderwah, Kishtwar, Doda, Poonch, Rajouri and other parts of Jammu, have sent their families back to their ancestral houses. The community leaders too fear that some elements are trying to give a communal tinge to the agitation.

“We want to make it clear that Hindus in Jammu have not targeted Muslims, but there have been some stray incidents in Khour, Jourian and other areas in which Gujjars have been thrashed and their kullas burnt. These stray incidents are the work of some miscreants who have come from outside and want to communalise the agitation,” says Abdul Majid, leader of the All Jammu Muslim Federation (AJMF).

Choudhary Baharuddin Bhatti, the district vice-president of the All Muslim Federation, Jammu, says there are no reports of any Muslims being killed in the ongoing agitation.

The Imam of Jama Masjid at Khatikan Talab, Tahir Nadir, adds: “I got calls from various places, including Kashmir, asking about attacks on Muslims. I told them that all these are rumours and we are safe here.”

Jammu Shia Federation leader Aashiq Hussain says he wants to congratulate the Hindus for maintaining communal harmony in such a charged atmosphere. “But I must caution the Government that there are some elements who want to incite communal passions in Jammu by their provocative speeches. They need to be checked,” he says.
Posted by: john frum || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Gujjars have been thrashed and their kullas burnt
I hate it when that happens.

And what the hell are Peerbaba dargahs?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/07/2008 9:49 Comments || Top||


Iraq
McCain says Obama wants to forfeit the war in Iraq
LIMA, Ohio - Republican presidential candidate John McCain is accusing his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, of wanting to forfeit the war in Iraq in spite of gains there.

McCain told people gathered Thursday for a town-hall meeting in Lima, Ohio, that the U.S. is finally winning in Iraq but that the Illinois senator wants to forfeit. McCain says Obama's agenda can be boiled down to growing a government that's already too big and raising taxes that are already too high.

As part of his campaign swing in Ohio, McCain was meeting with people who would be affected by the loss of a shipping site, a possible outcome of a deal his campaign merger helped to facilitate. Shutting down the site could cost 8,000 jobs.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 08/07/2008 15:06 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, duh. The Democrats did the same thing to South Vietnam after Nixon...it was more important that Nixon have nothing positive associated with him than the entire nation of South Vietnam not fall to communism.
Posted by: gromky || 08/07/2008 15:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Surrender, appease, retreat.

The dhimocrat motto...
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/07/2008 15:45 Comments || Top||

#3  That sounds better in the original French Darth, but alas as Obama is ashamed to say, too few Americans can speak French fluently.
Posted by: lotp || 08/07/2008 15:47 Comments || Top||

#4  No hablo Frencho.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/07/2008 16:20 Comments || Top||

#5  I didn't know surrender was a french trait - yet an another cliché from the WWII mindtrap.
Like tonton adolf said in 1942, two years after the supposedly inbred-surrendering of the CESM, "You have heard, gentlemen, what Koch recounts. It is a new proof of the thesis I've always supported; namely, that French are still, after us, the best soldiers in Europe. France will always have the possibility, even with its current birthrate, to raise a hundred divisions. We will definitely, after this war, have to set up a coalition able to military control a country capable of such impressive military feats."
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/07/2008 16:26 Comments || Top||

#6  anon5089, I apologize. You're right to call me on that one.

I can only plead simmering anger from an experience a few days ago in Provence in which a tour guide made condescending mockery of Americans to a bus load of ... mainly Americans.

And insisted that this wasn't anti-Americanism, oh no, it was just that we are so funny in what she was sure was our ignorance and in our annoying way of pronouncing our own language -- which she illustrated by holding her nose and making offensive sounds.

You do not deserve to be lumped in with her or with the continentals in the group who shared her puzzlement that I would be offended -- not to mention that I had the audacity/bad manners to protest her mockery, loudly.

It poisoned a long-postponed and much needed vacation. I hadn't wanted to be on the tour but we joined at the last moment after private arrangements for the day fell through.

And yes, I've met some fine French soldiers. No comment on your political leadership and the poisonous antiAmericanism of the Enarchists tho.
Posted by: lotp || 08/07/2008 16:58 Comments || Top||

#7  And no - I don't hang around Provence or the rest of Europe very often. Mr. Lotp and I desperately needed a chance to rest after the last several years during which we buried 3 parents, brought home an adult child who has developed a disabling medical condition and were saddened by the recent vehicular homicide of an about-to-be inlaw and the suicide of a friend and colleague.

An cruise opportunity became available and we took it. Could've been to the middle of the Atlantic and back and it would have served the purpose but it happened to be in the western Mediterranean.

We did in fact relax a bit and enjoy our time together until the 2nd last day when we made the mistake of going ashore and ended up on that bus. I hate it when stereotypes get confirmed that way. But then I encountered the same attitude back in the 90s when I dealt with French and German companies my employer had bought.
Posted by: lotp || 08/07/2008 18:06 Comments || Top||

#8  Anon5089,
Also includes the retreat from Algeria where you guys had essentially won. The FLN celebrated by killing anyone who had co-operated with the French and many settlers who had lived there for generations.

In fact the FLN even killed Algerians who wanted independence but weren't members of the FLN.

This is what I believe Obama wants to bring about in Iraq: A massive bloodbath where anyone who isn't an Islamist is targeted. This is worse than a defeat. It is betrayal of America and a betrayal of all the Iraqis (and others) who have risked their lives to fight Islamic gangsterism.

Posted by: Frozen Al || 08/07/2008 18:11 Comments || Top||

#9  Or better yet: To snatch Defeat from the jaws of Victory.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/07/2008 18:29 Comments || Top||

#10  Exactly right, Frozen Al.
Posted by: Hupiling the Galactic Hero1106 || 08/07/2008 19:00 Comments || Top||


Iraqi Officials Say Deal Close on Plan for U.S. Troops to Leave by October 2010
BAGHDAD — Two Iraqi officials say the U.S. and Iraq are close to a deal under which all American combat troops would leave by October 2010 with remaining U.S. forces gone about three years later.

A U.S. official in Washington acknowledges progress has been made on the timelines for a U.S. departure but offered no firm date. Another U.S. official strongly suggested the 2010 date may be too ambitious.

A timetable is part of a security agreement being negotiated by U.S. and Iraqi officials. Both sides stress the deal is not final and could fall apart over the issue of legal immunity for American troops.

One of the U.S. officials said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had a long and "very difficult" telephone conversation Wednesday in which she pressed the Iraqi leader for more flexibility, particularly on immunity.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 08/07/2008 15:02 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Tater to put his Tots back into the fryer in no timetable released by Friday
Since the chances are that an agreement is near he can take credit for it and so can the Obamessiah.

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will call on his fighters to maintain a cease-fire against American troops but may lift the order if a planned Iraq-U.S. security agreement lacks a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces, a spokesman said Thursday.

The statement by Sheik Salah al-Obeidi comes as al-Sadr plans to reveal details of a formula to reorganize his Mahdi Army militia by separating it into an unarmed cultural organization and elite fighting cells.

The announcement is expected during weekly Islamic prayer services on Friday.

Several cease-fires by al-Sadr have been key to a sharp decline in violence over the past year, but American officials still consider his militiamen a threat and have backed the Iraqi military in operations to try to oust them from their power bases in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq.

Al-Sadr's move appears to be an extension of plans he announced in June aimed at asserting more control over the militia by dividing it into a group of experienced members who would be exclusively authorized to fight and others who would focus on social, religious and community work.

But the cleric also apparently has decided to link the reorganization to ongoing U.S.-Iraqi negotiations over a long-term agreement that would extend the American presence in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year. The White House's original goal was to have it completed by the end of July.

"This move is meant to offer an incentive for the foreign forces to withdraw," al-Obeidi said. "The special cells of fighters will not strike against foreign forces until the situation becomes clear vis-a-vis the Iraq-U.S. agreement on the presence of American forces here."

The new cultural group will be called Momahidoun, or "those who pave the way" in Arabic, in reference to the Mahdi, or so-called Hidden Imam, who disappeared as a child in the ninth century. Shiites believe he will return one day to bring justice to Earth.

It will replace the Mahdi Army, but elite cells of fighters will be created that could resume targeting U.S.-led foreign forces under strict guidelines, such as not harming Iraqis or infrastructure, said al-Obeidi, the al-Sadr spokesman.

The U.S. military cautiously welcomed the reorganization plan, saying it appeared to be an effort to help the Iraqi people. Residents in some Baghdad neighborhoods, however, said American troops were removing neighborhood fliers from al-Sadr's offices saying "a new organization will be established soon."

"The proof is always in the actions and not just the words," military spokesman Col. Jerry O'Hara said in an e-mailed statement.

Sporadic attacks have continued despite the cease-fires by al-Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran, raising questions about how much control he maintains over his militiamen. American commanders have consistently said they aren't targeting al-Sadr's followers but rather Iranian-backed breakaway factions.

Two U.S. soldiers were killed Monday by an armor-piercing roadside bomb known as an explosively formed penetrator, which the military believes is supplied by Iran to Shiite militia fighters. Iran denies it is supporting violence in Iraq.

On Thursday, a roadside bomb killed eight Bedouins, including three women and two children, on a remote desert highway west of Nasiriyah frequently used by U.S. and Iraqi troops, a police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Nasiriyah, about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, is in a Shiite area that has been the site of fierce infighting between rival Shiite factions but has been relatively peaceful since a cease-fire declaration by al-Sadr.

Gunmen also killed a senior member of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, Mahmoud Younis Fathi, and a colleague as they were driving to work in the northern city of Mosul, according to the group.

Elsewhere in Mosul, three Iraqi policemen were killed when a booby-trapped wooden cart exploded after they arrived to collect a body that had been left on the street beside it, police said.

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 08/07/2008 14:56 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  al-Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran... American commanders have consistently said they aren't targeting al-Sadr's followers but rather Iranian-backed breakaway factions.
Posted by: DLR || 08/07/2008 15:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Damn it, meant to hit "Preview", not "Submit".

Well anyway, the quote pretty well speaks for itself. al-Sadr is interested in being on the winning team (Shiite) and not in a united Iraq.
Posted by: DLR || 08/07/2008 16:48 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Gypos in shootout with Gaza Tunnel Authority workers
EL-ARISH, Egypt (AFP) - Two Egyptian teenagers suspected of trafficking fuel and food through tunnels into the impoverished Gaza Strip were wounded in a shootout with police on Thursday, a security official said.

The two youths were spotted by a police patrol near one of 20 tunnels between Egypt and Hamas-ruled Gaza that a security official said had been discovered this week and were now being destroyed or blocked. A gunfight broke out in which Hatem Mohammed Ahmed, 18, and Ahmed Naim Awad, 15, were seriously wounded, while a third suspect was arrested.

Jerry cans of fuel were discovered in the tunnel, as well as packages of food apparently destined for Gaza, which has been under a punishing Israeli blockade since the Islamist movement Hamas seized power there in June 2007.

Egyptian security forces on Wednesday began destroying or blocking 20 tunnels where they seized large amounts of fuel, food and cigarettes, the security official said. One smuggler was discovered inside one of the tunnels and arrested.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/07/2008 09:36 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm confused, is Israel also blockading the Egypt/Gaza border as well? All I ever hear about is the "punishing Israeli blockade."
Posted by: Scott R || 08/07/2008 10:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Uh, tu3031, not to be overly PC, but "Gypos" is a rather bigoted term to use. Let's try a different word, instead.
Posted by: gromky || 08/07/2008 10:52 Comments || Top||

#3  Not to appear totally stupid, but what does "Gypos" mean?
Posted by: Sam3 || 08/07/2008 11:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Egyptians. And duly noted, gromky.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/07/2008 12:01 Comments || Top||

#5  Hows about Pharoites?
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/07/2008 12:38 Comments || Top||

#6  The Aegyptos are also closing pipelines that were laid in the tunnels according to Haaretz

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1009476.html
Posted by: mhw || 08/07/2008 13:55 Comments || Top||

#7  I thought tu was talking about gypsies for a minute.
Posted by: tipover || 08/07/2008 14:11 Comments || Top||

#8  I had "Gypsies" in mind too.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/07/2008 17:52 Comments || Top||


PLC launches Hamas-Fatah reconciliation initiative
(Xinhua) -- Hamas-controlled parliament on Wednesday released an initiative for reconciliation between the Islamic movement and president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement.

Ahmed Bahar, deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), said the initiative was sponsored by the speaker Aziz al-Dwaik who is hold by Israel along with a number of lawmakers.

"In the name of the PLC presidency and the kidnapped legislators, we call on the (Abbas') presidency, the (Hamas) government, Hamas and Fatah to immediately resume the national dialogue to resolve the internal crisis," Bahar said in a news conference in Gaza.

According to the initiative, Hamas and Fatah have to stop politically-motivated arrests in the Hamas-controlled Gaza and the Fatah-dominated West Bank. They also have to stop incitement against each other on the media.

After that, the two sides are asked to sit together under the umbrella of the PLC where the two big factions occupy most of the seats with Hamas enjoying the majority of the seats.

During the discussions, Hamas and Fatah will "recall the common factors between them" in a bid to reach a deal, Bahar said.

Tensions between the two movements started in 2006 when Hamas won the elections and defeated the long-dominant Fatah. Hamas accused Fatah of blocking the way of the government that formed after the elections by preventing the pro-Fatah security services from dealing with the Hamas interior minister.

The tension escalated until Hamas routed pro-Fatah forces and ousted the movement in June 2007, taking over the Gaza Strip and separating it politically from West Bank where Abbas boosted his power.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Erekat: Olmert agrees to release 150 Palestinian prisoners
(Xinhua) -- Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Wednesday Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised in the face of President Mahmoud Abbas to free 150 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

Olmert told Abbas that Israel would free 150 prisoners behind bars in Israeli jails as a "good-will gesture to President Abbas," Erekat told reporters following a meeting between Abbas and Olmertin Jerusalem.

Erekat said the two leaders have made the decision to release Palestinians prisoners during their meeting, noting that the release of the Palestinian prisoners would take place by the end of August.

Erekat also disclosed that the two leaders had discussed the ongoing peace negotiations between the two sides as well as the permanent status issues, namely the status of Jerusalem, the expansion of settlements and the refugees.

Meanwhile, a senior Palestinian official in Ramallah, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israel is interested in bolstering President Abbas by releasing Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

Abbas criticized Israel for only releasing prisoners under the pressure of militant groups who kidnap Israeli soldiers and exchange them for prisoners and for ignoring negotiations with the Palestinian authorities on the prisoners release, said the official.

Abbas earlier presented a list of prisoners imprisoned in Israeli jails and asked Israel to free them, including senior Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti.

Earlier in the day, Abbas talked with Olmert at the latter's official residence in Jerusalem, which was also attended by the negotiation teams.

Their meeting was the first since Olmert announced on July 30 that he has decided not to contend in the primary election of his ruling Kadima party and would resign as soon as a new party leader is chosen.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1  I don't recall a single Olmert initiative that has succeeded. He should stop trying.
Posted by: McZoid || 08/07/2008 0:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Olmert is what happens when you try to make political over-correction. The next PM will be handcuffed by the non-decisions and non-negotiations this guy has made. Really, an unlikely leader for the Israeli's who must be shaking their heads at his total incompetence.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 08/07/2008 7:45 Comments || Top||

#3  He is actually causing the next round of attacks and kidnappings against Israelis.
Posted by: wxjames || 08/07/2008 11:50 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Pentagon mounts 2.2 billion-dollar push for war zone surveillance
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Pentagon is mounting a 2.2 billion dollar effort to dramatically expand surveillance of Iraq and Afghanistan by manned and unmanned spy planes, Pentagon officials said Thursday.

Congress has approved reprogramming 1.2 billion dollars in defense funds to rapidly enhance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance collection in the war zones, said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

"This funding is required and been requested to increase and enhance the ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) capabilities in Centcom," he said referring to the US Central Command, which is responsible for Iraq and Afghanistan.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates also has signed off on a follow-on package worth another billion dollars that will add analysts and infrastructure to sustain the expansion, as well as additional ISR assets, Whitman and other officials said.

Gates created a special task force in April to come up with ways to meet an exploding demand from commanders for drones and aircraft capable of providing real time, full motion video coverage of the battlefield.

He complained at the time that he had been wrestling for months to get more assets to the theater, but "because people were stuck in old ways of doing business, it's been like pulling teeth."

The aim is reported to be to increase the number of 24-hour-a-day surveillance patrols from about a dozen a day to 44.

It turns out that the quickest way to increase coverage has been to outfit manned C-12 aircraft, a twin engine turbo prop built by Beechcraft, with advanced surveillance sensors.

The Pentagon will acquire 21 of the aircraft in fiscal 2008, and plans to acquire 30 more in 2009, Pentagon officials said.

The reprogrammed monies also "will assist our efforts to grow the UAV capability in such platforms as Shadow, Predator, Reaper, Raven and Hunter," Whitman said, referring to drones operated by the army, air force and marines.

"It will allow us to buy additional ScanEagle detachments, funding contractors to be able to have additional orbits of various platforms, infrastructure improvements to be able to operate some of these things," he said.

The ScanEagle is the name of another small surveillance drone operated by the marines.

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 08/07/2008 15:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Interesting that the quickest choice the the C-12 variant. Off the shelf vs. long time R & D. Developed several years ago by the Army after becoming frustrated with the level of non-support from the USAF. Also intersting in that there is no loud whining from the AF; perhaps they got the message after Gates 'designated for assignement' the top 2 guys a while back (love the way baseball says 'you're fired')
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 08/07/2008 15:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Aren't the Iraqi's getting the same or similar aircraft. Strap on a couple of Hellfires and you're good to go.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 08/07/2008 16:02 Comments || Top||

#3  It's called 'persistent surveillance' and is paying huge dividends. This is very good news.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/07/2008 19:36 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Death-row Bali bombers challenge legality of firing squads
The three convicted Bali bombers filed a petition against firing squads in Indonesia's constitutional court Wednesday in a last-ditch bid to stave off their executions, lawyers said.

The members of the Islamist Jemaah Islamiyah network -- Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron -- are awaiting execution over the 2002 bombings on the resort island that killed more than 200 people, most of them foreign tourists.

After exhausting their last appeals, they have now asked the constitutional court to rule on whether firing squads were a form of torture, their lawyers said. Lawyer Wirawan Adnan said the men wanted to be decapitated instead. "Execution by shooting won't kill the convicts instantly. The law states that if the first shot on the heart doesn't work, they must be shot again to the head," he said. "The three have requested execution by decapitation."

Executions in Indonesia are by firing squad, usually carried out at night in isolated and undisclosed locations. The prisoner is notified at least 72 hours in advance.

The bombers have shown no regret for the attacks and say they are looking forward to dying as "martyrs".

Indonesian officials have already said the constitutional court's deliberations will not delay the executions, unless it rules quickly in favour of the bombers. "The executions are one problem and the decision of the constitutional court is another problem -- there is no relationship," Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalatta told journalists.

Attorney general's office spokesman Bonaventura Nainggolan confirmed that planning for the executions was proceeding. "It has nothing to do with the execution process. The constitutional challenge they filed won't have any effect on the planned execution," he said.

"It will only have an effect if the constitutional court issues a decision quickly in their favour."

But defence lawyer Adnan said the executions must be put on hold until the court rules on the petition. "Otherwise the execution will be illegitimate," he said.

Officials have said they hope to execute the bombers before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in September, and have already chosen men to form the firing squads.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jemaah Islamiyah

#1  Hokay, death by pirhanas then.
Posted by: gorb || 08/07/2008 1:17 Comments || Top||

#2  for guys who "welcome martyrdom" they sure are fighting it, aren't they? Pussies
Posted by: Frank G || 08/07/2008 6:13 Comments || Top||

#3  "The three have requested execution by decapitation."

How Islamic...
Posted by: Raj || 08/07/2008 8:22 Comments || Top||

#4  Good point, guys! We'll look into that, right after we clear the execution docket out. Next...
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 08/07/2008 8:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Execution by firing squad is usually considered a soldiers right. These guys deserve way less, I'm thinking something involving fire ants and a melting popsicle in their pants.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/07/2008 9:33 Comments || Top||

#6  These guys deserve way less, I'm thinking something involving fire ants and a melting popsicle in their pants.

I personally prefer execution by live burial for these guys. No fuss, no muss. Live cremation would work, too.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/07/2008 16:02 Comments || Top||

#7  After exhausting their last appeals, they have now asked the constitutional court to rule on whether firing squads were a form of torture, their lawyers said.

I suggest they use hollow points, then.
Posted by: Snosing and Tenille9185 || 08/07/2008 17:29 Comments || Top||

#8  How about stoning, or collapsing a wall on them, or throwing them off a cliff? All Islamic forms of execution, too.
Posted by: Rambler in California || 08/07/2008 17:37 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US army's Petraeus visits Beirut
BEIRUT - The US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, held talks with President Michel Sleiman during a surprise visit to Beirut on Wednesday, offering further military support to Lebanon. Petraeus also met acting army chief Shawki al-Masri and discussed how to "strengthen the army's defensive capabilities, training and logistics," an army statement said.

He held talks with Sleiman on providing US equipment to Lebanon and on key developments in the region, the president's office said. Petraeus also met Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and Defence Minister Elias Murr. The trip follows a visit on May 31 when US Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Eric Edelman "stressed the United States' commitment to enhancing the LAF's (Lebanese armed forces) capabilities."

Since 2006, Washington has committed more than 371 million dollars (240 million euros) in security assistance to Lebanon.
Now that the Hezbies are in charge that should come to a complete halt ...
Posted by: Steve White || 08/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Petraeus also met acting army chief Shawki al-Masri and discussed how to "strengthen the army's defensive capabilities, training and logistics,"

How about with a couple battle harden house-to-house trained Iraqi divisions, via Damascus? With Americans still in force in Iraq for the next couple months between Syria and Iran, a little 'central position' maneuver with a Iraqi division or two could do wonders in attitude adjustments.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/07/2008 9:27 Comments || Top||

#2  I agree that a couple of experienced Iraqi divisions would be the cat's pajamas in Lebanon. And when Hezbollah tried to mess with them, they would so thoroughly clean their clock, that most of them would have to flee to Syria.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/07/2008 13:36 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
PDF: Islam, Islamism and Jihadism in Italy
Posted by: 3dc || 08/07/2008 14:57 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad


Washington TImes: Threat of seaborne Scuds.
The threat is that of old, short-range Scud ballistic missiles being launched with nuclear or biological warheads from large container cargo ships from outside U.S. territorial waters, some of the nation's leading experts in ballistic-missile defense (BMD) warn.

The entire populations of the U.S. Eastern seaboard and the West Coast, some 70 percent of Americans totaling more than 210 million people, are at risk from such attacks, experts have warned.

Tens of thousands of container cargo ships are at sea every day going to and from the United States. More than 1 million cargo containers a day are unloaded at Long Beach, Calif., alone.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/07/2008 14:50 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Maybe the young UAV sensor operators should be training over the ships crossing the oceans before turning them loose on the battlefield? All branches have some version of remote-controlled vehicles and are adapting other existing planes. They could add sensors to detect on-board threats long before coming into port as well as missiles to pre-empt any attack.
Posted by: Danielle || 08/07/2008 17:45 Comments || Top||


BBC: Al-Qaeda faces Islamist backlash
Posted by: ryuge || 08/07/2008 03:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  That's what they get for killing too many Muslims. If it had been Infidels, they would be heroes.
Posted by: tipper || 08/07/2008 7:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Typical amazing BBC bullshit. One person says something and for that BBC "journalist" turns automatically true?!
Posted by: Thor Glineger4862 || 08/07/2008 9:32 Comments || Top||

#3  They love AQ, they're all guilty, unless they are ratting them out.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/07/2008 11:23 Comments || Top||

#4  The debate is over methods, not goals. Islamic supremacy remains the ideological touchstone even if they prefer to use violence somewhat more selectively.
Posted by: Baba Tutu || 08/07/2008 11:27 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
59[untagged]
5TTP
3Govt of Pakistan
2Global Jihad
2Lashkar-e-Islami
2Hezbollah
2Taliban
2al-Qaeda
1SIMI
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Govt of Iran
1Hamas
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1Jemaah Islamiyah
1Palestinian Authority

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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

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

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

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2008-08-07
  Paleo hard boy Jihad Jaraa survives ''assassination attempt'' in Ireland
Wed 2008-08-06
  Bin Laden's Driver Guilty
Tue 2008-08-05
  Philippine Supremes halt MILF autonomy deal
Mon 2008-08-04
  16 officers killed,16 wounded in an attack in Xinjiang
Sun 2008-08-03
  ''Assad's right hand man'' assassinated in Syria
Sat 2008-08-02
  Taliban deny al-Qaida No. 2 hit by missile
Fri 2008-08-01
  189 arrested, curfew lifted in Diyala
Thu 2008-07-31
  Qaeda big turban in Afghanistan killed in US airstrike
Wed 2008-07-30
  Gilani in Washington; Paks raid Haqqani's empty madrassa in N Wazoo
Tue 2008-07-29
  Military offensive under way in Diyala
Mon 2008-07-28
  Mudhat Mursi: Dead Again?
Sun 2008-07-27
  3 people killed in second day of Tripoli festivities
Sat 2008-07-26
  India: Serial kabooms in Ahmadabad
Fri 2008-07-25
  Serial booms in Bangalore
Thu 2008-07-24
  'Mohmand Agency now under Taliban control'

Better than the average link...



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.
3.215.77.96
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (19)    Non-WoT (17)    Opinion (4)    Local News (12)    (0)