COLORING D.C. RED [KJL ]
Some of you e-mailed me last week bummed that you didn't have the cash to spare for our intimate night with the Buckleys & co. in February, but would love to meet up with NR types.
You can.
If you're in DC next Friday, come by Fado's Irish Pub in Chinatown and hang and drink with the NRO gang for our inaugural celebration. That's where we'll be hanging out from 5-8.
RSVP to thecorner@nationalreview.com to help us get a headcount for the good folks at the bar. Thanks much and see you there.
Your taste is clearly impeccable, Emily. Perhaps I should just spend the weekend at this place.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/16/2005 1:48:51 PM ||
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#1
:: Jaw drops ::
Oh my freaking gawd. Speechless.
But of course, Karl Rove and our Bushitler digital brownshirt Zionist puppetmasters sent out the decree weeks ago. We march in lockstep to their orders, and their orders alone.
A Saudi gunman was killed and two Kuwaiti policemen wounded when security forces clashed with militants in southern Kuwait on Saturday, security sources said. One gunman was captured during the firefight in Umm al-Haiman as security forces surrounded suspected Islamist militants, the Interior Ministry said. Security sources said two others were arrested later. "A big cache of weapons, explosives and munitions was also seized with the gunmen," a ministry statement said.
They sound very devout...
Up to six militants got away and police were searching for them, they said. One source told Reuters the dead gunman was identified as Saudi national Hamada al-Enezi. The ministry statement did not give his nationality.
Don't want to dwell on the fact that he's a Soddy...
The U.S. embassy urged Americans to take precautions. "We advise American citizens to avoid the areas around Arifjan and Umm al-Haiman," it said on its Web site. "Report any suspicious activity to police 
and continue to maintain a high level of security awareness. U.S. citizens are reminded of the potential for further terrorist actions against U.S. citizens abroad, including in the Persian Gulf region."
An Internet statement from a previously unknown group — Kuwait Mujahideen — said the firefight broke out after its men attacked a base in Umm al-Haiman. It said militants killed several Kuwaiti soldiers, three U.S. troops and a Korean. The statement's authenticity could not be verified and officials were not available to comment. A Kuwaiti security source said police had seized maps and sketches of what seemed to be buildings in Kuwait, but there was no official confirmation of this. Authorities launched a crackdown on suspected militants this week after two members of the security forces and one gunman were killed in a firefight on Monday in a Kuwait city suburb. Around 40 suspects have been detained. Umm al-Haiman is close to Kuwait's largest refinery, but security sources said there was no indication the attack was aimed at any oil facilities. The sources said Kuwaiti forces raided desert camps in the area on Friday night, and information from arrested militants had led them to the group involved in Saturday's firefight. The prime minister and other officials visited the scene.
Energy Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah said the security forces must sort out the problem of Islamist militants. "Extremist militant groups have started appearing in Kuwait. This is natural when we see that these sorts of groups are active in more than one neighboring state," he told reporters. "The security apparatus must finish this issue at this stage 
and we must not shy from coordinating with our neighbors in exchanging information so that we can surround this (militant) group and control it," the minister said. Sheikh Ahmad also urged Muslim clerics "to take control of them (militants) ideologically."
They already have. That's why you have this problem.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/16/2005 12:16:29 AM ||
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Two Russian secret agents convicted of assassinating a former Chechen president living in the Gulf state of Qatar could walk free less than a year after being sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder. The men stood trial in June last year, four months after Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev was killed by a car bomb in the capital, Doha. Ibrahim al-Nisf, the presiding judge, concluded that the assassination was "ordered by the Russian leadership" and ordered the agents to serve 25 years in jail. Yet the Gulf state handed over the agents to Moscow last month, and suggested that they complete their sentences in a Russian prison. Their lawyer, however, said that the handover agreement allowed their fate to be determined by Russian law. Last night, Dmitry Peskov, an aide to President Vladimir Putin, said: "In Russia's eyes they are innocent. There is no need for any further court procedure."
I think we all saw this coming.
Yeah, but it's going to have an impact on the next bunch they have to spring. They should have put them up in a "prison" dacha, complete with hot and cold running hookers, and then quietly "commuted" the sentence sometime next year. What the hell is Putin thinking?
It has emerged that the agents received a hero's welcome in Moscow after Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, approved their release on December 23. During their flight home on a Russian government aircraft, the agents were served celebratory drinks and later greeted by dignitaries and a red carpet at Vnukovo airport, on the southern fringe of Moscow. Television journalists were asked to switch off their cameras as the agents left the aircraft and were whisked away to an unknown location.
Implying the same agents may be needed again...
Yandarbiyev, who had lived in Doha for three years, died on February 13 last year when his car exploded soon after he left a mosque where he had been praying. His 13-year-old son was injured. To Moscow's fury, the Russians were arrested six days later at a diplomatic villa and charged with murder. Moscow admitted that the men were intelligence agents but denied any link with the death of Yandarbiyev, whom Russia accused of raising funds for Chechen separatists. Dmitry Afanasiev, a lawyer for the agents, said that they were in Qatar to "monitor al-Qaeda links and sources of financing in the region as part of the war on terror". Mr Peskov confirmed that Mr Putin had a constitutional right to pardon the men, although he said it was "too soon" to say whether he would exercise it. He suggested, however, that the agents' release could be imminent — in defiance of Doha's wishes. "Their return was a gesture of goodwill by the emir, and their future is already the business of the Russian side,'' he said. "The Russian defence team always insisted that these men were innocent and that they were not involved in any way in the killing of Yandarbiyev."
"No, no! Certainly not!"
It is believed that the men, who were referred to in court documents as Anatoly Belashkov and Vassily Bokchov, will be kept in a "soft" prison and released quietly after a short interval.
Oh. So that is what's gonna happen...
The prosecutor general's office did not respond to requests for information concerning their whereabouts. During the agents' incarceration in Qatar, Moscow sent Igor Ivanov, the former foreign minister, to negotiate a deal for their handover. The men complained of being un-able to conduct Orthodox Christian religious rites in the prison, which may have been a factor in their transfer. President Putin phoned the Qatari emir on the agents' release to thank him for the handover, according to the Kremlin.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/16/2005 12:12:25 AM ||
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An expelled military college student who converted to Islam is suspected of organizing several terrorist attacks claimed by Chechen rebels, including the Moscow metro blast in February that killed at least 42 people, Vremya Novostei reported Thursday. Pavel Kosolapov, an ethnic Russian from the Volgograd region, was expelled from a Rostov military college in the late 1990s for breaking rules and later recruited by Chechens living in Volgograd to fight against federal troops in Chechnya, the newspaper said, citing Federal Security Service investigators. In Chechnya he converted to Islam, received training from Arab instructors, and was picked by rebel warlord Shamil Basayev in late 2003 to head a group to carry out terrorist attacks in Russia.
The first attack arranged by Kosolapov was the Feb. 6 suicide bombing on a train traveling between the Paveletskaya and Avtozavodskaya metro stations, unidentified FSB investigators were quoted as saying. Several weeks later, Kosolapov and two Kazakh citizens blew up four gas pipelines and set mines under three electric gridline poles outside Moscow, they said. Basayev has claimed responsibility for all of those attacks in statements posted on the rebel Kavkaz Center web site. The FSB also believes that Kosolapov organized a bombing at a Samara outdoor market in July, which killed 11, and two bus stop bombings in Voronezh in June. One man died in those attacks. The two Kazakh suspects were detained in Kazakhstan last fall. Kosolapov's whereabouts are unknown.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/16/2005 12:54:21 AM ||
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Four police and security officers were killed Saturday in clashes with armed militants in southern Russia, officials said. Gunmen shot and killed three police officers as authorities stormed a house in Kaspiisk, a port on the Caspian Sea in the Russian province of Dagestan, which borders Chechnya, said Abdul Musayev, a regional police spokesman. Among the dead was the chief of a local riot police unit. Musayev said one suspect was killed and another captured. A third suspect escaped. The gunmen belonged to illegal armed groups and were suspected in terror attacks, he said.
Also, riot police and other security forces besieged a house in the provincial capital, Makhachkala, where gunmen were hiding. In the ensuing gun battle, two officers of an elite anti-terror commando unit were wounded and one later died, Musayev said. Police and security forces, backed by armored vehicles, burned the house, but the gunmen remained in the concrete basement Saturday night, still firing at officers. The gunmen were suspected in attacks against police in Dagestan.
An ethnically diverse region, Dagestan has seen a steady stream of shootings, bombings and other violence, some spilling over from neighboring Chechnya and some committed by local criminal gangs. Kaspiisk was the site of a bomb explosion that killed 43 people including 12 children during a Victory Day military parade in May 2002. Authorities blamed adherents of the conservative Wahhabi strain of Islam, accusing them of trying to instill fear in the regional police and political leadership and fuel instability in the region.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/16/2005 12:51:47 AM ||
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An Arab mercenary fighter has been killed in Chechnya, Bekmerd Ibragimov, a company commander from the Chechen presidential security service, told Interfax by telephone on Saturday. "A guerilla was killed in an operation in the Vedeno district after putting up armed resistance. He has been identified. This is an Arab mercenary, who had fought together with illegal armed groups in Chechnya for a long time," Ibragimov said. Three brothers of this man, who were also members of illegal armed units in Chechnya, had been killed at different times earlier, he said. Three guerillas were also detained in the operation, he said. "They are all local residents. We had pursued them for a long time, as they are responsible for grave crimes," Ibragimov said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/16/2005 12:50:50 AM ||
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#1
the Arab and 3 of his brothers snuffed? Al-Ghamdis?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/16/2005 11:45 Comments ||
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Authorities are exploring whether a religious argument in an Internet chat room led to the slaughter of a Coptic Christian couple and their two daughters in their Jersey City home, relatives of the slain family said yesterday. One of the victims, 47-year-old Hossam Armanious, spent some of his spare time in chat rooms devoted to the Egyptian religious sect, at times proselytizing and at times writing about persecution of Coptic Christians by Muslims, family friends said. Armanious' hobby took a dark turn about two months ago, friends said, when he was threatened after writing comments deemed an insult to Islam by another person logged in to a chat site. "Some Muslim guys said if you don't stop this, we're going to come out and kill you," said a family friend, who requested anonymity, citing fears for his safety.
Posted by: John Q. Citizen ||
01/16/2005 11:26:52 AM ||
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#1
This will go far in allowing the average American to get a clue. Expect more of this coming to you soon. It's ok though, we must respect their diversity and culture.
#3
Throats cut after speaking out against Islam?Check.(c.f.;van gogh murder last month).Meanwhile,elsewhere in the US,Fox agreed to run 2 PSAs depicting Muslims in a positive light after the Fox show "24"depicted Muslims as terrorists.
Posted by: Me ||
01/16/2005 12:25 Comments ||
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#4
Can't wait for the MSM outrage about this.
Just imagine - Saying bad things against islam!
/SARCASM OFF
Does anyone have a link the the guys writing? I think perhaps we should publisize it far and wide. this guys is a true Martyr - the 'islamic' ones are just murderers.
The MSM will ignore this while soddomizing that Prison abuse dead horse. Truely disgusting!
FYI - this happened in Jersey City - Inside the United States. The FBI is investigating....
#5
I live in New Jersey, and this murder was the main headline in the local newspapers. My first thought was that the family was murdered by Islamicists.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
01/16/2005 12:46 Comments ||
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#6
Shipman, we really don't know at this time whether the story has legs as far as a jihadist link. I can see where someone might be active in an internet chatroom and someone might over time piece together the identity of the individual from various comments even though a peudoname is used. I can see a jihadist nutcase motive. There is no reason not to believe there is an enemy amonst us hatching up evil. You are correct, we don't really know at this time what the story is.
#12
Oh dear, I've used an archicism and given way my age. I should remember never to use typing and always use keyboarding. It's what the kids do now when it's too dark to skateboard.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/16/2005 14:14 Comments ||
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#13
Here's the home site for IESpell. A very cool freebie spell-checker for IE. Custom dictionary, too. Works great.
#14
Maybe the cops are looking at people who have slit throats in the recent past.This list would include Muslims and...uhh...
Posted by: Me ||
01/16/2005 15:07 Comments ||
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#15
"I can say whatever I want," the friend said Armanious responded to those threatening to kill him for insulting Islam, "I live in America." And Armanious his wife, son and daughter were killed in America. Their throats were cut. The unfortunates never knew: Americans are already fearful and in control of Islamic terrorists.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/16/2005 17:50 Comments ||
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#22
the day we become that fearful is the day Moskkks become no-man's land
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/16/2005 17:51 Comments ||
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#23
"Americans are already fearful and in control of Islamic terrorists"
Is there supposed to be a "the" after "of?" If this is the intent, I don't know anyone like this. Most Americans I know exercise a lot of self-restraint. And yes Frank G., I also believe "All patriotic Americans should be armed and dangerous."
#28
The institutional media (so-called MSM) have been soft-peddling the Mohammedan terrorist connection. We can bet that hey will continue to sow confusion about the case whenever possible, or even to use their usual techniques to invite wholly false conclusions among the viewing audience. Fox TV (yes, Fox) initially reported that the victims were a MUSLIM family and repeated this three times before they corrected it without comment.
Other MSM can be expected to refer to them as Egyptian or Arab immigrants, with no reference to their Christian religion, thereby inviting conformist consumer-units that they were Muslim.
lately...
"Let's quit pissin' the Arabs off and just buy their oil. Why should we worry about Israel? We live on the other side of the world."
later....
"Why should we worry about New Jersey? We live in Texas."
later still...
"Why should we worry about Dallas? We live in Lubbock."
Even later yet...
"Why should we worry about Guadalupe [the local ghetto]? We live in Lakeridge [upscale suburb]."
too late...
"OH MY GOD, THEY'RE HERE! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?"
#29
The institutional media (so-called MSM) have been soft-peddling the Mohammedan terrorist connection. We can bet that they will continue to sow confusion about the case whenever possible, or even to use their usual techniques to invite wholly false conclusions among the viewing audience. Fox TV (yes, Fox) initially reported that the victims were a MUSLIM family and repeated this three times before they corrected it without comment.
Other MSM can be expected to refer to them as Egyptian or Arab immigrants, with no reference to their Christian religion, thereby inviting conformist consumer-units to conclude that they were Muslim.
lately...
"Let's quit pissin' the Arabs off and just buy their oil. Why should we worry about Israel? We live on the other side of the world."
later....
"Why should we worry about New Jersey? We live in Texas."
later still...
"Why should we worry about Dallas? We live in Lubbock."
Even later yet...
"Why should we worry about Guadalupe [the local ghetto]? We live in Lakeridge [upscale suburb]."
too late...
"OH MY GOD, THEY'RE HERE! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?"
#31
Wow..amazing that all of those broadcasts failed to cover it. Well...good....CNN/BBC/WAPO/CBS/NBC/NYT... keep dancing little puppets...dance for your puppet masters, while the rest of us have a good laugh watching you pretend.
#33
For some reason the story is not being picked up. The New York Post Online reported the story; however, there is no mention of a Muslim terrorist possibilities as was mentioned in this post. http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/38587.htm
#37
At some point, I'd like to see an indepth story as to money trails of these news sources. It would be almost impossible for someone to follow, because even if these papers are receiving funds from nefarious sources, it would be laundered in advertising fees, false circulation numbers and newstand sales.
I keep wishing that they'd cross some line so that the FBI or CIA could do the work. I used to think it was just bias - but it's getting harder and harder not to think it's not just outright subversive, paid propaganda.
#39
I am not shocked at all. Remember that the MSM refuses to mention that the 'hostage takers' in that Russian school were, to a person, Islamic. Nor will they ever mention that they would haul children off to rooms to be gang raped by the 'hostage takers' or that they bayonetted babies....
The MSM has been covering for the Islamist for a long, long, time but now, thanks to the internet and blogs, (and Drudge) they cant for very much longer.
BTW: I am Glereger Chavimble7727 above. Damn lost cookies.....
#40
.....haul children off to rooms to be gang raped.." Good God! Where do you hear that?
About the murders in New Jersey... we left SA for fear that what happened to that poor family could happen to us. That something like that has happened here is beyond my comprehension.
#41
Anonymous4724: It never happened here for the sole reason we'd do something about it. Apparently someone decided to role the dice against us catching them. BIG MISTAKE. SA might not do anything, but I assure you people here in the US will.
Posted by: Charles ||
01/16/2005 21:45 Comments ||
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#43
Aren't we missing the most important point about all of this? The Islamist terrorists who commited this outrage are here because of our BULLSHIT immigration/visa policies! We have let these creatures in our country out of some misbegotten sense that only a small minority of people of that pursuasion are actually radical and dangerous. Most people of that persuasion are either passive supporters, active supporters, utter cowards unwilling to be involved, or active terrorists.
Draconian restrictions on future entry and prioritized sweeps to deport those already here for even the most minor violations need to be the order of the day! Am I missing something here?
#44
This is a must read eyewitness account of the Beslan massacre. They knifed babies, they raped girls. Other survivors told how screaming teenage girls were dragged into rooms adjoining the gymnasium where they were being held and raped by their Chechen captors who chillingly made a video film of their appalling exploits
Also: The Rape Jihad Meanwhile, Indira Dzetskelova, the mother of one of the child hostages in Beslan, Russia, reports that "several 15-year-old girls were raped by terrorists." Her daughter "heard their terrible cries and screams when those monsters took them away."
Posted by: ed ||
01/16/2005 22:18 Comments ||
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#45
ed has the right links. And that is why I feel that the MSM is, with full knowledge, deliberately providing cover for the Islamic Jihadists and their acts.
In fact the MSM went out of their way to protry the islamists as 'freedom fighters'. Didn't Mike Al-Moore refer the them as the equivalent of 'minutemen'?
The reputed MS-13 gang member arrested for sneaking into Texas illegally alongside a Bangladeshi Muslim last month is an accused cop killer suspected of killing two police officers in Honduras, the Herald has learned. Last week, the Herald reported that the Islamic man, Fakrhul Islam, and alleged MS-13 member Frankie Sanchez-Solorzano, 21, were arrested along with 11 others on Dec. 4 for entering the country illegally by wading across the Rio Grande. The arrests of the two men increased concerns that the brutal gang, Mara Salvatruca - considered terrorists in Central America - will take money from the highest bidder, including Islamic fundamentalists. Attorney General John Ashcroft has publicly said a high-ranking al-Qaeda leader, Adnan El-Shukrijumah, has offered top dollar to infiltrate the United States.
FBI agents and investigators assigned to the Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency interviewed Islam, whose age was unknown, but he was released after the investigation determined he was ``not a terrorist,'' Manny Van Pelt, spokesman for ICE, said yesterday. Islam's whereabouts are now unknown after he was given a ``notice to appear'' warrant that requires him to face an immigration judge within six months. Van Pelt did not know what Islam's purpose in the United States was, or where he was going.
But they knew he wasn't a terrorist. For sure.
Law enforcement sources said Sanchez-Solorzano, who was identified as an MS-13 member via the gang's tattoos on his body, is wanted for killing two cops in his native Honduras. He is being detained by ICE, Van Pelt said. Locally, Boston police are not taking any chances with the gang, whose members have been charged with a slew of machete attacks, rapes and armed robberies across the North Shore. In East Boston, police have stepped up efforts to sweep MS-13 out of Maverick Square, where gang members congregate.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/16/2005 5:37:49 PM ||
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A Marine who was declared a deserter days before military court proceedings stemming from an earlier disappearance from Iraq has been placed on a list of "most wanted" fugitives. A mug shot of Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun appeared this week on a Navy criminal justice Web site, which claims the missing corporal now uses the alias "Jafar." His placement on the Navy list puts him among a select group of fugitives, some of whom are being hunted on allegations of terrorism, murder, conspiracy to commit murder, indecent assault and rape.
I'm starting to get pretty tired of "Jafar." And I don't think there are many Marines who like the idea of him soiling their uniform.
Military officials say they have no information about the 24-year-old man's whereabouts, and have been unable to confirm news reports that Hassoun was in Canada or Lebanon. Officials at his base at Camp Lejeune, N.C., did not immediately return a message left after hours seeking comment. Military officials say that Hassoun has no passport.
That doesn't really matter, as long as he knows a few Paks or Yemenis...
And Mohamad Hassoun, a brother, confirmed reports from Lebanese government officials that the Marine is not allowed back in that country. Hassoun's family has said they last heard from him Dec. 29. When he failed to arrive at his base in Camp Lejeune, N.C., by Jan. 5, Hassoun was declared a deserter for a second time. Hassoun was an Arabic translator for the military when he first disappeared from his post in Iraq last summer. He later surfacing in Lebanon where he claimed he had been kidnapped. Al-Jazeera Television showed video of Hassoun blindfolded. A five-month investigation by the Navy found that Hassoun had stolen a Humvee and fled his camp near Fallujah. On Thursday, a pre-trial hearing on charges of desertion and theft was postponed because Hassoun remains missing. Hassoun is a Muslim with citizenship in both the United States and Lebanon. Family members in both Utah and Lebanon have called on the corporal to surrender.
There was a story a few days ago that he was in Lebanon. Maybe they should look in Ein el-Hellhole.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/16/2005 7:04:04 PM ||
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Federal officials are investigating a violent Central America-based street gang for ties to Middle Eastern terrorism, an alliance that seems unlikely but poses a frightening threat to the United States. MS-13, also known as La Mara Salvatrucha, has about 15,000 members in the United States in cities from Los Angeles to Boston. Some members have been charged with crimes that include rape, carjacking and drug smuggling. Officials suspect MS-13 makes money by shuttling illegal aliens across the Mexican border into the United States. According to local police, several Middle Eastern men have been arrested at the border with MS-13 members during the past year, leading some to believe that terrorists are piggybacking on South American illegals to enter the United States. "We've had recent information that they have been involved with not only narco-terrorists but Al Qaeda and that type of thing," said Hunter Glass of the Fayetteville, N.C., police force.
The evidence so far is mostly circumstantial, but there are indications Al Qaeda has approached MS-13 for help crossing the border. "They were trying to make a deal with people like us, gang members, from La Mara Salvatrucha, 'cause they know we transport people," said one MS-13 member. "They asked me if Muslim people were to pay me this ransom money, would I transport them over here?" But federal law enforcement agents say they don't believe there is a link between MS-13 and Al Qaeda. The Department of Homeland Security said it cannot find any evidence of a connection. "We've heard many of those reports over the summer and through the autumn, and we have not been able to corroborate that, in fact, MS-13, to be specific, has been meeting with Al Qaeda," Homeland Security official John Torres told FOX News. The FBI said it's implausible that radical Muslims would align with a predominantly Catholic criminal gang. But two Texas congressmen have written a letter to President Bush warning that 15,000 non-Mexican illegal aliens have crossed the border in recent months, many of them of Middle Eastern origin. The Department of Homeland Security said it is looking into the matter.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/16/2005 5:39:34 PM ||
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#1
I wonder if there is a connection between this and that "death penalty protest" massacre in Honduras right before Christmas. One of the suspects they arrested was MS-13.
Posted by: Pete Stanley ||
01/16/2005 1:22 Comments ||
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via Michelle Malkin which has a few more notes. I had a most interesting and troubling conversation with a patient of mine yesterday. The patient, a Federal Air Marshall, related an incident in which he was involved this past year. He and his partner were assigned to a flight (the airline, airport, and destination were not disclosed) in their customary undercover security role. They boarded the airplane early in order to meet the flight attendants, at which time the cleaning crew was still on the airplane -- somewhat longer than expected. My patient and his partner sat together in seats near the middle of coach class.
The passengers began to board, and he and his partner noticed a single Middle Eastern man sitting near the front of first class. After a number of passengers had boarded, two Middle Eastern men walked by this man and made eye contact, but said nothing. They sat down together in the front of coach class. Shortly thereafter, two other Middle Eastern men also walked by the man in first class and made eye contact without speaking. They sat near the back of coach class. Shortly after the flight attendants completed their post-boarding check of the overhead bins, an announcement came from the cockpit: the pilot stated that there had been a security breach, and everyone needed to deboard the plane for a second, more thorough, security screening. The Air Marshall and his partner were confused, as they had not triggered the security alert nor been notified of it prior to the announcement.
After all the passengers had deplaned, the Federal Air Marshalls checked with the flight attendants for more information. During a final check of the overhead bins, a flight attendant had noticed that one of the blankets was slightly unfolded, and he repositioned it in the bin. At this time, a razor blade fell out of the blanket. Concerned, but still believing this might be a straightforward mistake, the flight attendant began to check other overhead bins. Several additional incompletely folded blankets were noted, and hidden in each one was a box cutter: a total of five. It appeared that these had been placed there by the cleaning crew prior to the boarding of the airplane. After the repeat security screening, the passengers reboarded -- all except the five Middle Eastern men, who were nowhere to be found. The flight proceeded to its destination uneventfully.
The man who relayed this story to me is a reliable and sober individual, and I have no reason to question his integrity or its veracity. Anyone who believes the War on Terror is a fabrication trumped up for political gain needs to take a strong dose of reality medication and lie down until this hallucination passes. Were the five missing Arabs tracked down? Who were the cleaning crew and what were the results of their interrogation?
Posted by: ed ||
01/16/2005 9:41:42 PM ||
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#1
Sadly, I'm afraid it will take another US soil attack to arouse people, again. Humans can become accustomed to anything, and with long enough exposure, it becomes the norm. And a laxity creeps in and they are, once again, shocked outta their shorts when an event occurs - with the usual cacaphony of surprise and indignant blather about who should be blamed - for interrupting their pleasant isolation.
#2
Left unsaid is whether Dr. Bob referred the patiant to a psychiatrist.
The story sounds kind of fishy. Not fishy that terrorists might try again, nor that they might have inside help pre-positioning weapons. But why only razor blades? And why ALL blankets so carelessly refolded that they could be spotted? And why the FA would not have immediately suspected terrorism with the first razor blade.
On the other hand, it would be reasonable that no public noise would be made about such an event if it did happen - the airlines are having enough troubles as it is.
And the Arab men did not reboard - likely detained, but if not, why not? Screw-up? That would provide another reason not to publicise the event.
The experience of my Arab-looking (male) friends is they get special scrutiny EVERY time they fly - the 'random' searches are for everybody else.
#3
Has this been through Snopes? I smell an urban legend of tomorrow.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/16/2005 8:24 Comments ||
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#4
Glen if your"Arab-looking (male) friends"Want to avoid"special scrutiny"then they and thier cronies need to roll-over on thier mad-dog buddies.Untill then,they can just suck it up.
#5
.com Sadly I dont think that just one more attck will do it. Perhaps two or three before people get the hint that there are organizations out there who want to kill us.
Arab looking males do not get checked EVERY time. "Every", is a strong word. I wonder if you are just taking their word, heresay. Have you flown with your Arab looking friends, everytime, they fly? Have you put up your own dime and done your own scientific research on FAA/TSA profiling? Your friends are blathering with no proof. Your friends remind me of the Paleo outcries.
My dad who does airport screening, tells me otherwise. (May I add, he is one of the best, the FAA agents can't past him with their fake bomb/weapon tricks). The people that are getting checked, also, are Anglo old ladies with hip replacements.
#9
I have a friend of [India]Indian descent who has for years (well before 9/11) gotten heavier scrutiny than us lighter skinned folk when travelling internationally . He just makes a point of dressing neatly in his normal, preppy style, and behaving circumspectly. No problem -- he says its good to know the authorities are keeping an eye out for the real bad guys.
Separately, I checked Snopes.com and urbanlegends@about.com. I didn't see anything that looked like this story, which doesn't prove anything either way.
#10
At the Michelle Malkin link http://michellemalkin.com/archives/001240.htm: Update III: Several air marshals write to say that the story told by Dr. Bob's patient sounds true. Here's an excerpt from one e-mail I received:
I am a FAM (Federal Air Marshal) and wanted to respond to your Jan. 14th article about a foiled hijacking.... Except for a few minor details the Jan. 14th article you wrote is mostly correct. We have seen this scenario happen a few times and have also found razor blades on the plane before passengers have boarded.
Make of it what you will.
Posted by: ed ||
01/16/2005 15:34 Comments ||
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#11
Arab-looking in this case does not imply Arab - try Congolese-Texan mix. And not interested in NOT being scrutinized - hell, they're on the plane too, why wouldn't they want people who look like them scrutinized?
#12
so...the pilot stated that there had been a security breach, and everyone needed to deboard the plane for a second, more thorough, security screening. The Air Marshall and his partner were confused, as they had not triggered the security alert nor been notified of it prior to the announcement.
AND WHY NOT???? Is it not the AIR MARSHALL's job to report suspicious activity??????? Thank god for an alert flight attendant who didn't just hope for the best.
#13
That razor blade hijacking trick won't work again. Think Flight 93. Who would not risk getting cut rather than flying into a building? They're also not getting into the cockpit that way again. It doesn't mean they won't try it, but it won't go well for them.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
01/16/2005 18:48 Comments ||
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#14
I'm thinking BS - do Pilots generally let everyone, bad guyz included, know there's been a security breach? makes no sense
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/16/2005 19:43 Comments ||
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Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels have rejected a government demand that they surrender 60 rebel commanders and their men who attacked two Army outposts in Maguindanao on Jan. 10. "The MILF will definitely punish those responsible for the attacks, but turning them over to the government is out of the question," said Jun Mantawil, MILF peace panel chairman.
The government has given the MILF 72 hours to surrender renegade commanders Ustadz Wahid and Abdul Rahman Binago and their men, who allegedly executed six soldiers during the attack on the military outposts. At least 13 MILF rebels were killed in the ensuing firefight and military mopping-up operations.
Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Alexander Yano said Wahid, Binago and their men will now be considered common criminals, and troops have orders to hunt them down. At Malacañang, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said yesterday the Muslim raiders who attacked the Army posts last weekend in Mamasapano were nothing but "terrorists" and "rogues" outside the mainstream MILF which continues its peace talks with the government. "The terrorists are being isolated by the peace process and they are constricted by coordinated regional action in Asia," Bunye said, citing that neighboring countries support the Philippines in the regional anti-terror campaign.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Mantawil said the MILF will invoke the government-MILF ceasefire agreement in the handling of the MILF guerrillas who attacked the two military detachments. Mantawil said the attack was not sanctioned by the MILF central committee but was an apparent retaliation for the killing of kidnap gang leader Bides Binago in an encounter with government troops last week. "The media only quoted from Secretary Silvestre Afable Jr., chairman of the government peace panel, there was no formal demand made by the government," he said. "This is an unfortunate turn of events, particularly after the peace talks have regained some ground with the resumption in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia recently."
The government and MILF peace panels met yesterday at Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City to discuss the attack. President Arroyo herself clarified that her administration's peace policy does not conflict with the government's all-out war policy against terrorism.
Bunye said that no less than the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team that supervises the ceasefire in Mindanao and the Joint Ceasefire Committees have stepped up their efforts to prevent such renegade elements of the MILF to get away with their crimes. In Maguindanao, more soldiers have been deployed in remote detachments in Kabuntalan town in anticipation of an attack by MILF renegades. "The instruction is for us to maintain our defensive posture and stay put in our detachments," said Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, Army 6th Infantry Battalion commander. "We will only return fire if fired upon."
Policemen and soldiers belonging to "Task Force Tugis," a quick reaction, anti-crime brigade of the 6th Infantry Division, killed Usi Abo, a leader of MILF renegades, and his 19-year-old son, Bandar, after Abo's band attacked an isolated military detachment in Kabuntalan the other day. Reports said Abo and his men opened fire first at soldiers sent to verify their reported presence in Kapilpilan here, triggering a running gunbattle.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu was quoted by radio station dxMS in Kabuntalan yesterday as saying that the slain gunmen were not MILF members, but a "lawless group" preying on poor Muslim residents of Kabuntalan and surrounding towns. Abo and his followers were first spotted in Kapilpilan by Muslim villagers, who reported their presence to the Army's 6th Infantry Battalion.
Local sources have linked Abo and his son to Ustadz Wahid, the leader of the MILF renegades that attacked an Army detachment in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Monday. Seven soldiers were killed in the attack. Wahid and his men also set fire to 36 bunkers inside the detachment and robbed the slain soldiers of their belongings, combat boots and service firearms before escaping to a nearby marshland.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/16/2005 12:56:23 AM ||
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The United States has been conducting secret reconnaissance missions inside Iran to help identify potential nuclear, chemical and missile targets, The New Yorker magazine reported Sunday.
The article, by award-winning reporter Seymour Hersh, said the secret missions have been going on at least since last summer with the goal of identifying target information for three dozen or more suspected sites.
Hersh quotes one government consultant with close ties to the Pentagon as saying, "The civilians in the Pentagon want to go into Iran and destroy as much of the military infrastructure as possible."
One former high-level intelligence official told The New Yorker, "This is a war against terrorism, and Iraq is just one campaign. The Bush administration is looking at this as a huge war zone. Next, we're going to have the Iranian campaign..."
The former intelligence official told Hersh that an American commando task force in South Asia is working closely with a group of Pakistani scientists who had dealt with their Iranian counterparts.
The New Yorker reports that this task force, aided by information from Pakistan, has been penetrating into eastern Iran in a hunt for underground nuclear-weapons installations.
In exchange for this cooperation, the official told Hersh, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has received assurances that his government will not have to turn over Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, to face questioning about his role in selling nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
Hersh reported that Bush has already "signed a series of top-secret findings and executive orders authorizing secret commando groups and other Special Forces units to conduct covert operations against suspected terrorist targets in as many as 10 nations in the Middle East and South Asia."
Defining these as military rather than intelligence operations, Hersh reported, will enable the Bush administration to evade legal restrictions imposed on the CIA's covert activities overseas.
#2
good - but Hersh's motives in publishing this are no doubt geared to stopping the ops and thereby endangering Americans. F*&ker
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/16/2005 16:53 Comments ||
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#3
I doubt this particular report is going to endanger any operatives; but if Hersh crosses that line, lock him up and lose the key.
This is encouraging news, confirmation of what I've suspected for a while.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
01/16/2005 16:56 Comments ||
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#4
Hersh is so full of shit his blue eyes are now brown. If there is (and I presume ther is) activiy inside Iran, Hersh and his never identifiable sources would be the last to know.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/16/2005 17:05 Comments ||
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#5
You beat me to it, Frank. Of course we are doing what we can, and I don't doubt that there are some agents in Iran, primarily Iranians, but Hersh is waay over the line, unless he's being led there intentionally. I wish this was a bona-fide State of War, sadly HR-388 doesn't go that far... then Hersh and his "sources" could be summarily shot in the fucking head for treason. The ultimate press whore today.
There are (at least) two possibilities here:
1) He is not being misled in some devious Rovian Plot™. I do not know, of course, how much he fabricates out of whole cloth, but I'd filter this with a fine mesh to see if he does have a source - and then introduce that fine American to every legal punishment available.
2) This is a Rovian Plot™ - a disinformation campaign designed to screw with the Mad Mullahs and put Hersh and his ilk off the scent of what we're really doing. That is possibly the case with the heavy references to Pakiwakis.
Hersh really is a seditious piece of shit, regardless. Since we can't shoot him, we might as well use him to further US interests, which would chap his ass, of course, since he's on the other side.
#6
Hersch is a self-serving idiot, so my money is on some carrots for Hersch to follow and report on. The US needs to put some paranoia into the Mad Mullahs™, since we do not have the Big Bunch of Troops Invasion Option™.
President Bush has said that Iran must not acquire nuclear weapons. The US damn well better be doing clando ops, or we are being negligent in our obligations to the safety of our citizens.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/16/2005 17:22 Comments ||
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#12
Well, not legally. Remember, you cannot advocate such a thing in a public forum. That he is a seditionist and traitor does not empower anyone to act outside of the law. Were we in a declared State of War, he would get his without us having to lift a finger - he'd have already gotten the attention he deserves. We're not. And you must not call for violence outside of the law or you are breaking the law.
We're cool. He'll run afoul someday - his ego will see to that. Meanwhile, I hope our Gov't, in the name of National Security, is playing his ass like a violin.
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/16/2005 21:53 Comments ||
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#14
This is a rather convenient way to get the IRG tearing everyone new assholes in Iran in a frenzy to find those US operatives. This will result in Stalin-like purges of the officer corps of the regular army, and perhaps get some of their scientists fired as well. On top of that, the tighter they crack down, the harder it gets for them to really control the country - they are just adding more pressure for the nation to blow its gaskets.
Add to that, as they go nutso trying to find the "spies", we get to observe and see where they think their weknesses are, and how they go about hunting them down (thus revealing their true weak spots).
A little bit of clandestine work in the right spots with this kind of thing making them look all over the place will be highly effective.
Now all we need is Dan Rather saying he has found secret documents revealing the "Extensive clandestine operations network the US has in Iran"...
#15
This is a rather convenient way to get the IRG tearing everyone new assholes in Iran in a frenzy to find those US operatives. This will result in Stalin-like purges of the officer corps of the regular army, and perhaps get some of their scientists fired as well. On top of that, the tighter they crack down, the harder it gets for them to really control the country - they are just adding more pressure for the nation to blow its gaskets.
Add to that, as they go nutso trying to find the "spies", we get to observe and see where they think their weknesses are, and how they go about hunting them down (thus revealing their true weak spots).
A little bit of clandestine work in the right spots with this kind of thing making them look all over the place will be highly effective.
Now all we need is Dan Rather saying he has found secret documents revealing the "Extensive clandestine operations network the US has in Iran"...
#16
This is a rather convenient way to get the IRG tearing everyone new assholes in Iran in a frenzy to find those US operatives. This will result in Stalin-like purges of the officer corps of the regular army, and perhaps get some of their scientists fired as well. On top of that, the tighter they crack down, the harder it gets for them to really control the country - they are just adding more pressure for the nation to blow its gaskets.
Add to that, as they go nutso trying to find the "spies", we get to observe and see where they think their weknesses are, and how they go about hunting them down (thus revealing their true weak spots).
A little bit of clandestine work in the right spots with this kind of thing making them look all over the place will be highly effective.
Now all we need is Dan Rather saying he has found secret documents revealing the "Extensive clandestine operations network the US has in Iran"...
Iraqi police discovered the corpse of an Egyptian man who worked as a driver for a Kuwaiti company in the restive city of Ramadi on Sunday. The body of the man, who police identified as Ibrahim Mohammed Ismail, was found dumped in a street, they said. They gave no more details.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2005 9:56:21 PM ||
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From PakTribune
US forces in Afghanistan freed 81 suspected Taliban fighters from military jails across the country Sunday and some of the released men said they had been mistreated and tortured in custody. Aged between 19 and 64, looking pale and exhausted, the bearded men smiled and waved as they left the Afghan Supreme Court to begin their journeys home.
"They have been released from Bagram," Chief Justice Fazl Hadi Shinwari told reporters, referring to the main American base in Afghanistan, north of the capital Kabul. .... At a brief hearing before their release, Shinwari warned the men not to talk about their imprisonment, saying it could harm the prospects of those still held, but some still spoke out.
"I was picked up on the basis of wrong information," Shah Alim, a 19-year-old from the eastern province of Kunar, told Reuters. "They poured water on me, deprived me of sleep and beat me during detention as part of their torture." ....
"I have very bad memories of the interrogation because they were torturing us," said Abdul Manan, 35, also from Kunar. "But after the interrogation period was over, everything was all right," he told reporters outside the Supreme Court. ....
Shinwari said U.S. authorities had also pledged to free all their remaining Afghan prisoners. "There are another 400 Taliban in Bagram and they (the U.S. military) have promised to release all Taliban from Bagram and Guantanamo Bay," he said. The release of the Afghan prisoners and pledge to free more comes amid reports that U.S.-backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government is in peace talks with mid-level Taliban commanders to persuade them and their foot-soldiers to give up their fight and return to normal life. .....
Shinwari warned the released prisoners not to take up arms against the Afghan government. Local media reports say some previously freed Guantanamo prisoners have rejoined the Taliban and some of those have since been killed in clashes or recaptured by U.S. forces. .....
American officials in Afghanistan say they don't have any information about a prisoner release. But Afghan officials say about 80 people detained by the U-S military in Afghanistan will be released today. ....The court spokesman said that the about 80 prisoners would be brought from Bagram Air Base, the main U-S base in Afghanistan, to Kabul and then allowed to return to their homes. .....
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
01/16/2005 3:12:49 PM ||
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#1
Hope we embedded the microchips for tracking purposes.
#2
shhh...it's just a Rovian trick to get the WAPO/NYT/CNN/BBC/NPR/ABC/CBS/NBC puppets to report on the "torture" and futher tick off all but their blessedly brainwashed base
#3
sh&t. In my college days I became briefly acquainted with San Felipe's jail (Baja, Mex for non-revelers). I considered it torture too, knowing my buds were out partying and all I got was warm beer and fish tacos...mmmmmmm fish tacos.....
these pukes should be kept on a short leash
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/16/2005 18:46 Comments ||
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Old but interesting if true ...
About 300 Chechen gunmen have penetrated into Iraqi territory to fight against the Western coalition forces, a source in the Italian intelligence services was quoted by news site ANSA.it as saying. The Italian military contingent deployed in the area of Al-Nasiriyah may be one of the main targets of the Chechen gunmen, Itar-Tass, citing the Italian news agency, reported. According to the Italian intelligence source, the Chechens have been in touch with the local extremists fighting near the residential area of Suk al-Shuyuk. The head of the Italian Army's General Staff, General Giulio Fraticelli, who heads the Italian Army's General Staff in Al-Nasiriyah, was quoted as saying Sunday that the information on the Chechen gunmen had been confirmed. An inquiry into the possible dispersal of the enemy in the territory is underway, the general said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/16/2005 1:02:07 AM ||
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#1
Al-Nasiriyah, the 24th holiest site to Chechens....
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/16/2005 11:46 Comments ||
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#2
D'you suppose the Russians are making Chechnya too uncomfortable for the idjits?
#4
If there are 300 Chechens in Nasiriyah, they must all be absorbed in full time man-love. Nasiriyah is a very quiet sector. You would think they could towel off and take 10 minutes to fire a mortar or rpg.
Posted by: ed ||
01/16/2005 21:10 Comments ||
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An Afghan official says Arabs associated with the al-Qaida terrorist network will not be handed over to the United States if they surrender. But they have to surrender voluntarily, Ali Ahmad Jalali told reporters in Kabul Saturday. The offer does not apply to those who are captured by Afghan forces. He urged Arab nationals hiding in Afghanistan to take advantage of the offer and lay down their arms.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/16/2005 12:44:06 AM ||
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Coalition forces continue to discover and confiscate or destroy a significant number of weapons caches - 10 more since Jan. 8, a military spokeswoman said today at a news conference in the Afghan capital of Kabul. Army Lt. Col. Pam Keeton, deputy public affairs officer For Combined Forces Command Afghanistan, said six of those 10 caches were turned in to coalition forces either by local police or by local citizens. Two caches each were discovered in Hilmand and Nangarhar provinces, and one cache each was discovered in Ghazni, Warkak, Zabul, Kandahar, Paktika and Kunar provinces, Keeton said.
Two caches of note, she explained, were the ones in Wardak and Zabul provinces. The cache in Wardak had an anti-aircraft gun, a machine gun, a 82 mm mortar system, 100 cases of 12.7 mm rounds, 100 cases of 14.5 mm rounds, 100 rocket-propelled grenade rounds, 50 82 mm mortar rounds, 100 107 mm rockets, 16 122 mm rockets and 100 anti-personnel mines. The Zabul cache contained 500 62 mm mortar rounds, 120 cases of 14.5 mm rounds, 66 cases of 12.7 mm rounds, 22 82 mm mortars and other munitions of different caliber and size.
Near Shindand in Herat province, a civilian truck hit and detonated a mine emplaced in the road Jan. 10, Keeton said, killing the driver and seriously wounding the two passengers injured. "This incident, and others like this, underscores the importance of the discovery and destruction of weapons caches -- getting these dangerous munitions out of the hands of those who use them indiscriminately to harm civilians and soldiers."
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
01/16/2005 11:02:41 AM ||
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For the second straight day, insurgents firing from a mosque in eastern Mosul targeted multinational forces in Iraq, military officials in Baghdad reported today.
Task Force Olympia soldiers with the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Combat Team), were patrolling when their convoy came under attack by insurgents firing rocket-propelled grenades and small arms from the Rashan Mosque.
Insurgents had attacked multinational forces and Iraqi security forces from the same mosque Jan. 14. No injuries were reported from the either attack.
Iraqi security forces have increased the number of troops in northern Iraq in an effort to provide "enhanced security and stability for the Jan. 30 elections," officials said. About 4,000 Iraqi security forces, including Iraqi National Guard soldiers, are in the Mosul area. The ING has been folded into the regular Iraqi army.
In Mosul today, soldiers of the 106th Iraqi National Guard detained six people suspected on insurgent activity and confiscated weapons and ammunition.
On Jan. 14, Iraqi forces and soldiers from 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Striker Combat Team), detained 16 individuals and confiscated weapons, ammunition, and bomb equipment during operations in northern Iraq.
Military officials in Baghdad said in a written statement that "with each seizure and removal of dangerous weapons and detention of anti-Iraqi insurgents, the situation is becoming safer."
In news elsewhere, three suspected insurgents were detained in a raid on a house in Abayach, near the site where an improvised explosive device was found Jan. 14. A search of the house uncovered insurgent propaganda and a possible IED detonator. The suspects were taken to Multinational Force Iraq detention facilities.
The 2nd Iraqi Ministry of the Interior Commando Battalion detained another suspect in a raid near Samarra. The commandos confiscated two AK-47 assault rifles, a submachine gun and five AK-47 magazines in the raid. The detainee was taken in for questioning.
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, coalition forces recovered two weapons caches Jan. 14. The first contained three RPG launchers, three RPGs, an RPK machine gun and an AK-47. The second cache contained four 25 mm anti-aircraft gun barrels, four 25 mm receivers and 130 cans of ammunition with 32 rounds per can. Both caches were turned over to Afghan police.
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
01/16/2005 10:57:22 AM ||
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#1
Why is the Imam still running free,and why has the Mosque not been raided?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/16/2005 20:58 Comments ||
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#4
There shouldn't even be any discussion about this. When it has been determined that enemy fire is coming from a minaret, it should be toppled immediately and the adjoining mosque searched thoroughly.
Nearly 1,100 Iraqis converged on a police recruiting center south of Baghdad Jan. 13 to compete for 100 jobs at police stations throughout northern Babil Province, according to 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit officials.
The large turnout came as a pleasant surprise to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which has teamed with local police chiefs to steadily build their forces. A recruiting call is conducted about once a month, and the number of applicants is usually just enough to cover the number needed.
Marines attribute the surge to the intervention of prominent sheiks in the area, who have recently begun signaling to the Marines their interest in assuming a greater role in fostering security and stability in the province.
Maj. Matt Sasse, operations officer for Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment - the expeditionary unit's ground combat element - said he believes the Marines' aggressive efforts to defeat an insurgent-driven campaign of intimidation and terror are paying off.
"These individuals felt safe enough to come here and obviously safe enough to become Iraqi policemen," he said. "1,100 is a huge number for 100 slots."
Insurgents have in recent months targeted the fledgling Iraqi security forces, including police officers and stations. In northern Babil, insurgents scored a string of successes last summer before the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which arrived in July, helped Iraqi forces turn things around...
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
01/16/2005 10:54:52 AM ||
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On Jan. 9, the soldiers of Blue Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 5th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, embarked on a raid that proved to be their most successful in 10 months here.
The target was a residential home in the Al Doura neighborhood. An informant told of the exact layout of the home, and he was right on the money. After thorough searching, the site yielded 23 artillery shells, wire and electrical triggers and other supplies that could be assembled into more than 50 improvised explosive devices, said 1st Lt. Matthew Sullivan, Blue Platoon leader.
Thanks to the intelligence source, Sullivan's platoon knew exactly what to expect when entering the house. A warm welcome wasn't included.
"We busted in the house and there were two guys who were in there. One just took off running right as we kicked down the door," said Sullivan, a Chattanooga, Tenn., native. "He managed to escape through the back door and scaled a wall then ran through another house. His brother was in the house also, but we got him."
After all suspects were detained, the search of the home began. Nothing could prepare these troops for what they would find.
"I checked all but one room and didn't see anything, and then I had some of my guys go upstairs to do some searching," Sullivan explained. "Right when they opened up they said, 'Oh, sir, you have to check this sh*t out.' The room was just an IED workshop. All over the floor were wires, batteries and containers full of plastic explosives. There was even an IED already to go."
Spc. Jason Nelson, a humvee gunner in Blue Platoon was among the first to enter the room with the IED workshop.
"I went into room, and I was just shocked by how much electrical stuff was in there laying on tables. I had never seen that much stuff (sh*t)," commented Nelson, a Saukcentre, Minn., native. "By then, I already knew we made a big impact. I know having that out of those guys hands, it's safer for us and for the Iraqis."
At that point, Sullivan saw he had an operation too big for his platoon of 16 troopers to handle alone. Soon after his men discovered this workshop, the lieutenant called in for the explosives ordnance disposal team to deal with the bombs, and the battalion's quick reaction force to apply more manpower.
When the rest of the backup arrived, more security could be applied, allowing for a more thorough search. Metal detector assistance found the artillery shells buried in the back yard. A taxi cab parked at the home had a wire-rigged assembly in the trunk that could perfectly fit six artillery shells, Sullivan added.
Over the seven hours of searching, the list of suspicious items kept adding up: several handfuls of C4 explosives, bags of nails and marbles for shrapnel, tear gas grenades and gas masks, dozens of disassembled remote control cars, 30 cell phones, 50 Sony Playstations. A beret and armband from the former regime's Special Forces provided a clue as to who these terrorists' former employer was, Sullivan said.
In all, the target was the most fruitful cache of weapons for a home this size in the battalion's history here. It was also a great victory in cracking down on the source of anti-Iraqi attacks in Company B's sector, he said.
"We have been tracking these guys for a month and a half so far. They are linked to some IEDs that have hit our company," Sullivan continued. "I think this will make the number of IED attacks in our sector fall drastically."
Sullivan said that this operation not only helped keep his troops safe, but put an end to what the terrorists had planned on doing for the elections.
"We heard they were planning to hit a Christian church with their car bomb and just disrupt things before the elections, but we put a kink in that," he said. "Now we just need to find the rest of members of the cell one by one, and who's financing them."
The platoon leader said it's missions like this one that remind him of why he enjoys leading troops in combat.
"It's been a great experience doing this job. I can't ask for anything more than to lead a platoon in combat," Sullivan concluded. "It's kind of a rush sometimes. It's been something I'll remember for the rest of my life."
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
01/16/2005 10:49:27 AM ||
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#1
Eeeexxxcellent! just seems a shame the suspects didn't try to escape a bit harder. Scum.
#2
Well, you sure as hell better treat the one you caught with kid gloves, Mister Tough Military Guy! Mikey and The Heiress have their panties in a wad about torture, which is defined any way they decide, depending upon their mood, y'know. So ya better watchout - The Morality Sqaud is on the job! They'll post a lot of shit if you cross 'em! Very skeery stuff, lemmee tell ya.
Iraqi militant group Ansar al-Islam denied on it was behind the killing of an aide to top Shiite Muslim cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in an Internet message.
An earlier web posting from a little-known group with a similar name, Ansar al-Islam Group - Saad bin Abi Waqqas Brigade, claimed the killing last week of Mahmoud Madaen, an aide to Sistani who is a main driving force behind Iraq's January 30 elections.
Some media reports at the time said Ansar al-Islam had claimed responsibility.
The website message signed by Ansar al-Islam said: "In order to protect our credibility ... we announce that we were not behind that operation."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/16/2005 12:13:14 AM ||
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SUKKUR: In a massive crackdown by the Rangers and the police following the recovery of two of the four kidnapped judges, about 120 suspects, including 20 women, were arrested from different villages on Saturday. The Rangers and police conducted house-to-house searches after cordoning off the villages, reports from the area said. Initially 300 persons had been detained. The 120 suspects have been locked up in different police stations. Police also recovered 15 unlicensed weapons and three stolen tractors from the raided villages.
"Mahmoud, you got a license for those Katyushas?"
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2005 12:13:08 AM ||
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#1
And I thought the Texas Rangers were headed for spring training.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/16/2005 8:00 Comments ||
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37 days left till the second most important day of the year CA.
The curfew imposed in Gilgit city last Saturday (January 8) and in Skardu on Thursday has not yet been lifted, as no violent incident was reported throughout the region after Shia leader Agha Ziauddin was buried in Gilgit on Friday night. Northern Areas Police said one of the assailants who shot at Agha Ziauddin's car and was killed in the ensuing gunfight was identified as Mukhtar Ahmed (son of Naqeeb Ahmed and resident of Peshawar). Mr Naqeeb was reportedly a prayer leader at a mosque in Peshawar.
Boy. Doesn't that come as a surprise: A prayer leader at a mosque in Peshawar. What an unlikely suspect!
Police also said a team headed by Muhammad Dilpazeer, the Northern Areas assistant inspector general of police, was investigating Agha Ziauddin's assassination and the culprits would be caught soon.
Just pop on over to Peshawar and pick 'em up...
Northern Areas administration sources said a six-member team set up by the federal government to investigate the attack and also the ensuing violence that claimed 16 lives had reached Gilgit.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2005 12:06:33 AM ||
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Mahmud Abbas was formally sworn in as Yasser Arafat's successor as president of the Palestinian Authority on Saturday at a ceremony in parliament in Ramallah. Abbas swore to "safeguard the interests of the Palestinian people" as he placed his hand on a copy of the holy Qoran. Parliament speaker Rawhi Fattuh, who has been caretaker head of the Palestinian Authority since Arafat's death on November 11, then resumed his post. Abbas indicated on Saturday that he would ask the current prime minister Ahmed Qorei to stay on to form a new government. "I repeat my confidence in Abu Alaa (Qorei) and I want to consult him on forming the government according to the law," Abbas said in his inauguration speech at the Palestinian parliament.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Army Spc. Charles Graner Jr., convicted of physically and sexually mistreating Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison, was sentenced Saturday to 10 years behind bars in the first trial arising from the scandal fueled by graphic photographs.
Sounds good to me. I hope there's no time off for good behavior...
Graner, labeled the leader of a band of rogue guards at the Baghdad prison in late 2003, also was demoted to private and ordered to forfeit all pay and benefits. When his prison sentence is completed, he will be dishonorably discharged. The jury of four Army officers and six senior enlisted men deliberated about two hours to determine Graner's sentence. He could have received 15 years.
He's certainly no great loss to the Army. He seems to have spent what time he wasn't abusing prisoners sharing bodily fluids with the girlies.
#1
Is anyone else wondering what sort of treatment he will receive from his warders? With just a little imagination, I can conjure up all sorts of images. Lol... Indeed, there may be more pictures to come, heh. I'll bet he won't be grinning and joking in those. This asshole did a monumental and irreparable disservice to the approx 500,000 honorable and good myn and wymyn wearing the uniform. He does not represent them, nor is he worthy to be among them.
#2
That's quite a few ribbons pinned on his chest though...
Posted by: Rafael ||
01/16/2005 7:30 Comments ||
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#3
Don't think the ribbons will appear on his brig jumpsuit. Perhaps some soiled panties as headgear will do.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/16/2005 7:47 Comments ||
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#4
yep, .com. The USDB at Ft. Leavenworth is better than the usual prison for protecting inmate, far more than E1 Graner did for his charges. He'll be segregate for an initial period of interview, classification, and training [he's going to get to know what he's going to do for the next 10 years]. The personnel at the USDB do not, repeat do not, want anymore attention for their operation than Graner got for his. He's not going to be someone's bitch. Sorry to disappoint you. The question is after the entry process whether he'll be placed in the general population or isolated for his own protection. Strangely enough there is a degree of honor among theives, so to speak. Somewhere later in the sentence, he may qualify for work release, which permits work outside the walls depending upon the inmate's reliability. One of the great aspects for good enlisted personnel at Ft Leavenworth is the old s**t details are performed by inmates.
And Rafael, the Army does not[or did not] have a regulatory process for removing ribbons earned from prior assignment unless it is later discovered that a violation of the UCMJ occured during that assignment. However, yes CA, there is no place on the jumpsuits for those.
Posted by: Don ||
01/16/2005 11:59 Comments ||
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In an apparent bid to head off car bombings on election day, Iraqi authorities will restrict the use of automobiles throughout the country and will place security cordons around polling stations, a Cabinet minister said Saturday.
Good idea. They do have a tendency to explode...
Provincial Affairs minister Waeil Abdel-Latif also pledged that the government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi would provide adequate security for voters on Jan. 30, but he acknowledged that the security situation in four of the country's 18 provinces was unstable. Iraqi security forces, he said, will shoulder the prime responsibility for security on election day. But the U.S.-led multinational force will provide support if asked, Abdel-Latif said. "The government is determined to make available facilities and security guarantees to ensure the success of the election," he said at a joint news conference with the head of Iraq's electoral commission, Abdul-Hussein Hendawi. Abdel-Latif gave no details on how cars would be restricted, but security sources have said authorities are considering banning the use of private vehicles Jan. 29-31. Vehicles used by security forces would carry special identity markings.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/16/2005 5:04:35 PM ||
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#1
Good idea. "They do have a tendency to explode..."
It's a Muslim Motors problem. Since there is no Consumer Protection Agency in Islam and Shari'a "Law" seems ambivalent on the issue, the recall effort has been voluntary - and most would agree - a failure. Is it due to Fuel leaks? The Electrical system? Or these in combination with Extremely Unsafe Cargo? One can only guess. CSI Islam has yet to be created, as well.
#2
This war has made it pretty clear that one of the first tasks after invasion needs to be the controlling of vehicles. Essentially we should bring the DMV with us and eliminate all vehicle traffic until all vehicles are re-registered. The enemy has used vehicles as mines (roadside bombs), smart bombs (suicide car attacks), transport (attacking from falluja into Baghdad), and recon. The wide availability of automobiles appears to me to be the new element compared to past wars and controlling this element I believe is key (does anybody believe that saddam allowed all these unregistered vehicles??)
I would essentially #1: Eliminate all vehicle traffic up front. #2: Capture and/or bring in civilian buses and setup public transport were needed. #3: establish DMV style org, Impound lot, and recovery companies. Use Iraq's and put them back to work doing this. #4: Start re-registering vehicles, allowing only registered vehicles back on the road. #5: impound all un-registered vehicles found on the road, including destroying vehicles if need be to make a point. #6: No vehicles to be left on the side of Military Routes unattended. If they are they will be destroyed. If you must leave the vehicle you had better move it way off the road. #7: if costs allow perhaps add low-jack to all vehicles as they are re-registered. This could be done in the beginning and would assist in tracking of vehicles at checkpoints. #8: All auto-theft needs to be immediatly reported in light of #9: Very heavy punishment if your vehicle is used in attack.
Just a few ideas
Posted by: Patrick ||
01/16/2005 11:51 Comments ||
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#3
No more drive-ins.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/16/2005 17:23 Comments ||
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Iraqi officials searched Saturday for a political leader's teenage daughter, abducted as she walked home from a math tutoring session in Baghdad, CNN said. The abductors used the 16-year-old's cell phone Friday night to send a text message to Khadim Yousef Hulfi, saying, "We have fulfilled our promise to you. We have your daughter." Hulfi is the assistant to the secretary-general of the Iraqi Council of Ministers. Police said the kidnappers have not made any demands and were being sought.
Hope the Iraqis realize this is the kind of state these guys want to establish. They should, since it's just like the kind they used to have.
Meanwhile, a Muslim group linked to the al-Qaida terror network claimed responsibility for killing a top aide to Iraq's leading Shiite cleric. Ansar al-Islam took responsibility Friday for killing Mahmoud Madaeni, who was shot to death with his son and four bodyguards as he walked home from prayers Wednesday night near his house southeast of Baghdad, the Washington Post reported Saturday. Madaeni was a local clerical representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, whose support for the Jan. 30 election has mobilized much of Iraq's Shiite majority. Ansar al-Islam called Madaeni "one of the main supporters of the election" and reiterated its threats to target voters and candidates and to attack polling stations."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/16/2005 4:50:33 PM ||
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#1
Well, thanks to A-al-I for clearing things up. Good thing I only penciled in the other guys in the scorebook.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/16/2005 7:31 Comments ||
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#2
I don't get it: why the Prince Harry graphic? [scratches head]
#4
I don't get it: why the Prince Harry graphic? [scratches head]
Bwahahahahahahahahaha!!! Bravo, Bulldog, remind me to lob you a steak.
As to the article; Iraqi Sunnis had best realize that, soon enough, all involved will have gotten a belly-full of such mayhem and begin to unleash the (rightly infuriated) Shiites for their own private little pogroms.
QUETTA: Unidentified men fired six rockets at a checkpoint of paramilitary forces in Kohlo district on Saturday, but no one was hurt. Frontier Corps (FC) personnel retaliated when their position came under attack from rockets fired from the hills of Jandran, but the assailants managed to escape. No property damage was reported either. Kohlo district is located some160 kilometres north of Sui, site of Pakistan's largest natural gas field, which has been the scene of rocket attacks by Baloch tribesmen over the last week in which at least eight people have died. It was not clear if the attack on the Frontier Corps checkpoint was linked to the violence at the Sui gas fields.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Stateside, boys being boys toilet paper trees on Halloween. Over there they fire rockets at the army, but miss, then no doubt run away, giggling madly.
My guess is that the crisis crested yesterday and can now recede, the Baluchs having been hollered at and the gummint having been warned to back off. Both sides have asserted their masculinity, and neither side's had its beard tugged. A wonderful time was had by all, except for a few dead guys and the lady doctor who got raped...
QUETTA: No one has been arrested and no weapons have been seized in an operation that began on Friday against suspected tribesmen who fired rockets and mortars at the main gas plant at Sui, officials said on Saturday. Paramilitary troops are searching homes in villages around the gas field, local government administrator Abdul Sattar Lasi said. Thousands of army and paramilitary troops have been deployed to guard the facility. Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said additional security forces would be deployed there. "Our basic objective is to secure the Sui plant so that such incidents don't happen in the future," Mr Sherpao told a private television channel. Authorities shut supply from the gas field after a pipeline and a compressor plant there were damaged by a fire that was triggered by a rocket attack. Meanwhile, Mr Sherpao said the Balochistan government's request to deploy law enforcement agencies at Sui was being reviewed and the personnel would be sent as demanded by the province. He said the personnel would be deployed specifically to protect the Sui gas plant for which the army could also be deployed. He said arrangements would also be made to prevent such an incident from happening again.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2005 00:00:00 ||
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SRINAGAR: Militants stormed a sports complex on Saturday and engaged in a fierce gun battle with paramilitary troops living inside the grounds, police said. There was no immediate word on any casualties in the sports stadium complex which had been requisitioned as a temporary barracks by India's central reserve police force, a police spokesman said. At least two heavily armed militants hurling grenades forced their way into the complex and a firefight was under way between the rebels and the paramilitary soldiers. "The battle is still going on," the police spokesman said. Aside from soldiers' barracks, the stadium houses a passport and other federal government offices in Srinagar.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2005 00:00:00 ||
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MIR ALI: Security forces arrested 17 suspected militants crossing over into Pakistani tribal territory at Lawara Mandi on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in North Waziristan Agency on Saturday. Sources told Daily Times that militants attacked a camp of the coalition forces in Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan with rockets and fled from the area. The coalition forces informed Islamabad of the attack and asked for a search on the Pakistan side of the border.
A Inter Services Public Relations press release said the search operation was launched by security forces early on Saturday morning in a madrassah compound about a kilometre north of Alwara Mandi. The sources said regular troops and Tochi Scouts, aided by 10 helicopters, arrested the 17 suspects at Lawara Mandi, 18 kilometres west of Miran Shah, the headquarters of North Waziristan. They were shifted in helicopters to Bannu for interrogation. The sources said all of the arrested men appeared to be Pakistanis. Two people, one of them an Afghan, were wounded in a shootout during the raid, an intelligence official who asked not to be named told Reuters. The sources added that soon after the attack, coalition forces arrested three Pakistani suspects and shifted them to an undisclosed location in Afghanistan. The North Waziristan political administration told Daily Times that they were not informed about the operation.
As has become increasingly obvious, all the arrested "Taliban" were Paks.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2005 00:00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Two Russian secret agents convicted of assassinating a former Chechen president living in the Gulf state of Qatar could walk free less than a year after being sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder. The men stood trial in June last year, four months after 
An expelled military college student who converted to Islam is suspected of organizing several terrorist attacks claimed by Chechen rebels, including the Moscow metro blast in February that killed at least 42 people, Vremya Novostei reported Thursday. 
Four police and security officers were killed Saturday in clashes with armed militants in southern Russia, officials said. Gunmen shot and killed three police officers as authorities stormed a house in Kaspiisk, a port on the Caspian Sea in the Russian province of Dagestan, which borders Chechnya, said Abdul Musayev, a regional police spokesman. Among the dead was the chief of a local riot police unit. Musayev said one suspect was killed and another captured. A third suspect escaped. The gunmen belonged to illegal armed groups and were suspected in terror attacks, he said.
An Arab mercenary fighter has been killed in Chechnya, Bekmerd Ibragimov, a company commander from the Chechen presidential security service, told Interfax by telephone on Saturday. "A guerilla was killed in an operation in the Vedeno district after putting up armed resistance. He has been identified. This is an Arab mercenary, who had fought together with illegal armed groups in Chechnya for a long time," Ibragimov said. Three brothers of this man, who were also members of illegal armed units in Chechnya, had been killed at different times earlier, he said. Three guerillas were also detained in the operation, he said. "They are all local residents. We had pursued them for a long time, as they are responsible for grave crimes," Ibragimov said.
The reputed 
A Marine who was declared a deserter days before military court proceedings stemming from an earlier disappearance from Iraq has been placed on a list of "most wanted" fugitives. A mug shot of Marine Cpl. 
Federal officials are investigating a violent Central America-based street gang for ties to Middle Eastern terrorism, an alliance that seems unlikely but poses a frightening threat to the United States. 
I had a most interesting and troubling conversation with a patient of mine yesterday. The patient, a Federal Air Marshall, related an incident in which he was involved this past year. He and his partner were assigned to a flight (the airline, airport, and destination were not disclosed) in their customary undercover security role. They boarded the airplane early in order to meet the flight attendants, at which time the cleaning crew was still on the airplane -- somewhat longer than expected. My patient and his partner sat together in seats near the middle of coach class.
Coalition forces continue to discover and confiscate or destroy a significant number of weapons caches - 10 more since Jan. 8, a military spokeswoman said today at a news conference in the Afghan capital of Kabul. Army Lt. Col. Pam Keeton, deputy public affairs officer For Combined Forces Command Afghanistan, said six of those 10 caches were turned in to coalition forces either by local police or by local citizens. Two caches each were discovered in Hilmand and Nangarhar provinces, and one cache each was discovered in Ghazni, Warkak, Zabul, Kandahar, Paktika and Kunar provinces, Keeton said. 
SUKKUR: In a massive crackdown by the Rangers and the police following the recovery of two of the four kidnapped judges, about 120 suspects, including 20 women, were arrested from different villages on Saturday. The Rangers and police conducted house-to-house searches after cordoning off the villages, reports from the area said. Initially 300 persons had been detained. The 120 suspects have been locked up in different police stations. Police also recovered 15 unlicensed weapons and three stolen tractors from the raided villages.
The curfew imposed in 
Army Spc. 
In an apparent bid to head off car bombings on election day, Iraqi authorities will restrict the use of automobiles throughout the country and will place security cordons around polling stations, a Cabinet minister said Saturday. 
Iraqi officials searched Saturday for a political leader's teenage daughter, abducted as she walked home from a math tutoring session in Baghdad, CNN said. The abductors used the 16-year-old's cell phone Friday night to send a text message to Khadim Yousef Hulfi, saying, "We have fulfilled our promise to you. We have your daughter." Hulfi is the assistant to the secretary-general of the Iraqi Council of Ministers. Police said the kidnappers have not made any demands and were being sought.
QUETTA: Unidentified men fired six rockets at a checkpoint of paramilitary forces in Kohlo district on Saturday, but no one was hurt. Frontier Corps (FC) personnel retaliated when their position came under attack from rockets fired from the hills of Jandran, but the assailants managed to escape. No property damage was reported either. Kohlo district is located some160 kilometres north of Sui, site of Pakistan's largest natural gas field, which has been the scene of rocket attacks by Baloch tribesmen over the last week in which at least eight people have died. It was not clear if the attack on the Frontier Corps checkpoint was linked to the violence at the Sui gas fields.
SRINAGAR: Militants stormed a sports complex on Saturday and engaged in a fierce gun battle with paramilitary troops living inside the grounds, police said. There was no immediate word on any casualties in the sports stadium complex which had been requisitioned as a temporary barracks by India's central reserve police force, a police spokesman said. At least two heavily armed militants hurling grenades forced their way into the complex and a firefight was under way between the rebels and the paramilitary soldiers. "The battle is still going on," the police spokesman said. Aside from soldiers' barracks, the stadium houses a passport and other federal government offices in Srinagar.
MIR ALI: Security forces arrested 17 suspected militants crossing over into Pakistani tribal territory at Lawara Mandi on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in 
