#3
she should be smacked for referencing Erin Brockovich and Starsky and Hutch
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/20/2005 12:24 Comments ||
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#4
Regardless of what you may think about her high-minded and arrogant attitude, the British authorities still deserve the contempt and derision they received.
Really, pedestrian on bike path=terrorist? Sputter!
What nonsense.
Security forces killed two prominent Islamic militants and detained two others in a special operation against rebels in Dagestan, authorities said Wednesday. One police officer was also killed. An additional four police and security service officers were wounded in the operation, the regional Interior Ministry said.
Up to five suspected militants had been surrounded in a dormitory on the outskirts of the Dagestani city of Khasavyurt, near the border with Chechnya. One of the dead rebels, Sultan Abdiyev, was the so-called emir or rebel spiritual leader of the Shelkovsky district of Chechnya, said Abdul Musayev, a spokesman for the Dagestan Interior Ministry. The other, Takhir Badayev, was considered a close aide to radical Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, he said.
Up to 30 suspected militants, meanwhile, targeted police officers in six separate attacks overnight in Ingushetia, a region east of Chechnya, Interfax reported. One officer's brother was wounded. In Chechnya, two federal servicemen were wounded in separate blasts from homemade explosives equivalent in force to 100 to 250 grams of TNT, said Ruslan Atsayev, spokesman for the Chechen Interior Ministry.
In Grozny, police found the bullet-riddled bodies of two men in the basement of a ruined building, the Interior Ministry said. The victims had been taken from their home by armed gunmen, the ministry said, citing witnesses.
The North Caucasus has seen increasing violence and a growing number of attacks against law enforcement forces. Some of the attacks are blamed on criminal gangs and others are blamed on spillover violence from Chechnya's continuing turmoil. On Tuesday, Kremlin-backed Chechen President Alu Alkhanov said 104 Chechen policemen and 113 militants had been killed this year, Interfax reported.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/20/2005 11:24 ||
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Looks like the Russkies dodged a big bullet. [EFL]
Russian military forces are continuing mop-up operations in Nalchik, a city in the Caucasus region where Islamist militants last week staged a series of coordinated attacks -- signaling attempts to widen the Chechen conflict to other parts of Russia. The incident, which burst into the international news Oct. 13, is significant on several levels -- not least of which was the much-improved counterterrorism response by Russian forces, without which the raids conceivably might have expanded into something approaching the Sept. 11 attacks in terms of geopolitical impact.
As it happens, the events that took place involved some 100 to 150 armed militants, who attempted to seize control of the airport at Nalchik while also assaulting police stations, government offices and the regional headquarters of the Russian prison system, among other targets.
[...]
The response logically stems from drastically improved intelligence-gathering and targeting priorities in Russian counterterrorism strategies, which underwent a sea change following the Beslan incident. In fact, there is reason to believe that the militants who planned the attacks in Nalchik (an operation that has been claimed by Moscow's arch-enemy, Shamil Basayev) actually were forced into carrying out their operation prematurely, after Russian intelligence got wind of a much larger and more chilling plot -- one combining all the most deadly tactics of both Sept. 11 and Beslan.
Russian military contacts and other sources have told us that the events in Nalchik apparently were supposed to be only the first phase of a plan that ultimately was to include flying explosives-laden aircraft into high-profile targets elsewhere in Russia. Though the exact targets have not been confirmed, sources say possible targets included the Kremlin, a military district headquarters and railway hub in Rostov-on-Don, a nuclear plant in the vicinity of Saratov, and a hydroelectric plant or dam on the Volga. Sources also say the militants had a back-up plan that would have involved mining important government buildings and taking hostages -- tactics the Chechens have used in other headline-grabbing attacks.
[...]
The events on the ground also seem to bear out the sourced intelligence: The militants opened their attack with attempts to seize the airport in Nalchik, where -- had they not been beaten back by Russian forces already guarding the target -- they would have been able to commandeer the aircraft needed for follow-on operations. The incidents in other parts of the city, which were closely time-coordinated but appear to have involved poorly trained recruits, are believed to have been intended as distractions -- drawing attention and Russian security forces away from the strategically crucial airport.
[...]
The entire plan apparently started to unravel nearly 10 days in advance: Acting on tips from local residents, Russian forces arrested two suspected militants -- who reportedly confessed to planning attacks -- as early as Oct. 8.
[...]
Both the Nalchik operation and the wider plot, had it been carried out, would have mirrored Sept. 11 in other ways as well: Multiple targets, representing a mix of both hard (government installations) and soft (civilian infrastructure) nodes, might have been struck -- maximizing the political, economic and sheer terror value of the strikes. The plot shows high degrees of strategic planning and, as a result, could have been designed to inspire audiences in the Muslim world -- whether that world is defined to include Russia's Muslim-majority provinces or other regions.
#4
Yet RasPutin has no compunctions about facilitating a premier terrorist state's nuclear ambitions.
If this mercenary maggot blithely refuses to connect a plethora of neon day-glo dots the size of Kansas, he deserves to see his struggling country pulled into a morass of bloodletting. The Russian people deserve somewhat better, RasPutin most definitely does not.
TWO former employees of a Qantas contractor have been charged under federal aviation security law following an alleged security incident at Sydney Airport. Qantas security head Geoff Askew said the men, currently employed with transport company Patrick Corp, were caught in the baggage-handling area on Tuesday, October 18.
He said both men were in possession of Aviation Security Identification Cards (ASIC), a pass issued by airlines and businesses to employees who work in restricted areas. The men were formerly employed with Blue Collar, a Qantas contractor.
Mr Askew would not comment on the nature of the incident.
He said Qantas immediately reported the incident to the Australian Federal Police (AFP). "As a result, the two have been charged under federal aviation security law," Mr Askew said in a statement. "Until these charges have been dealt with, it's not appropriate for me comment further."
An AFP spokeswoman confirmed the men had been issued with court attendance notices for allegedly breaching airside security regulation. She said details of the charges would only be made public at the men's court appearance. The pair are due to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday, November 15.
Posted by: God Save The World AKA Oztralian ||
10/20/2005 05:31 ||
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#1
Lack of names and specificity as to what they did makes me think they're ROPers.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/20/2005 7:53 Comments ||
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#2
That or drug dealers. Lot of flak on baggage handlers over schapelle corby case
A fifth man has been arrested during an investigation into a possible terrorism threat to a highway tunnel this week, according to court documents. Maged Hussein, who owns an east Baltimore convenience store that was raided by federal authorities on Tuesday, was taken in to custody on a handgun charge, the documents showed. Four other men were detained Tuesday on immigration charges and will be deported, according to Mark Bastan, acting special agent in charge at Immigration and Customs Enforcement here.
One of those men, 30-year-old Mohamed Ahmed Mohamady Ismail, came up in a tip about the purported tunnel plot from a source who is in custody in the Netherlands, Bastan said. The tipster said several men would drive vehicles filled with explosives through a Baltimore-area tunnel. The three other men picked up at the same time as Ismail were identified as Mohamed Mohamed-Abdelhamed, 38, Suied Mohamad-Ahamad, 25, and Ahmad Al Momani, 58. Al Momani is from Jordan, and the others are from Egypt, Bastan said. Each had failed to show up for separate deportation proceedings, Bastan said. "Technically, they were fugitives," he said. "Their deportations are just being acted on."
#3
ah fck i tried to post a link but i coulnt , anyway Saddams Laywer has been Kidnapped! please someone put a link up, thanks, oh source is sky news but only came on five mins ago
Posted by: Shep UK ||
10/20/2005 15:09 Comments ||
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#4
I thought this was a false alarm. Needless harassment of the ROP. Do I need sarc tags?
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
10/20/2005 15:18 Comments ||
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#5
I have a scrap of a note lying about that I made while listening to a National Public Radio report (U.S. version of the BBC). Sometime ago over 150,000 had been deported by the INS (so I gues it was before Homeland Security swallowed them up) specifically after being sought and caught for overstaying visas and such.
One of Saddam Hussein's lawyers has been kidnapped in Baghdad, it has been reported. The lawyer is part of the former dictator's defence team. Saadoun Janabi was abducted by armed men a day after Saddam's trial for a 1982 massacre of Shi'ites got underway in the capital, sources told AFP news agency.
#2
oh sht sorry about that i do apolagise, see someone found about a bit more on AFP, it came on sky news just before i posted it and im not to computer savvy as you may have noticed but i had to say,sorry shan't do it again. about the story, my first thought are pissed off Shias,seems a bit unlike the Kurds but its very very interesting - will the trial still go ahead, could it even be a 'fake' kidnapping to delay the trial? will he appear on t.v??
Posted by: Shep UK ||
10/20/2005 15:35 Comments ||
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#5
wow thanks mark that was an interesting read - i admit i know next to nothing about pablo escobar (is he the one found hiding in the hills having gone from worlds biggest villan to nothing kinda like saddam and his sespit hole he was found in) but its very similar it seems,intersting
Posted by: Shep UK ||
10/20/2005 15:39 Comments ||
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#6
Link goes to as much story as there IS right now.
#7
' A group calling itself Jaish al-Rashidin (Army of the Pure), claimed the abduction. This group appears for the first time ' from Debka, add salt maybe ?
Posted by: Shep UK ||
10/20/2005 15:47 Comments ||
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#8
The judge wouldn't give them the 3-month delay they demanded, so they furnished it themselves.
Even if this is a legitimate kidnapping, by sympathy meter is still busted.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/20/2005 16:41 Comments ||
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#14
Shep, I've posted just a headline and link when all the key info. is available with such minimal information -- it saves a little of Fred's bandwidth, which begins to offset all I've used commenting on other peoples' posts. ;-)
#15
Shep UK -- actually, he was holed out after Los Pepes and would have "gone all out" and retaliated even worse than before if his wife and daughter had received safe haven. However, Germany denied them entry and the plane had to return to Columbia, so he remained in hiding until finally the son of the Search Bloc commander FINALLY spotted Escobar through an apartment window; Escobar was either killed in the shootout or executed.
Gotta admit, though, the sight of his little daughter singing "Los Pepes are coming to kill my father, my mother and me" ain't a pretty sight...
I call BS and that it's faked -- the Shias at last check were too politically savvy (or at least following savvy clerics) to risk this; they already didn't trigger a sectarian civil war, why risk the 'pwning' of Saddam for one lawyer?
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
10/20/2005 22:04 Comments ||
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US forces killed 12 militants in western Iraq including an al-Qaeda leader responsible for attacks around Ramadi, a focus of the Sunni Arab insurgency, the US military said overnight. A statement said Sa'ad Ali Firas Muntar al-Dulaimi, also known as Abu Abdullah, was among 12 people killed in a series of October 15 raids on suspected insurgents in Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad. The statement said Dulaimi was "highly regarded" by top al-Qaeda leaders in Iraq including the group's chief, Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "(Dulaimi) was chiefly responsible for planning and executing all terrorist attacks on Iraqi and coalition forces in the Ramadi and Falluja areas," the statement said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/20/2005 11:17 ||
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#1
Awesome. 12 more islamo-cockroaches keep their date with Satan...I mean allan.
October 20, 2005: Without a lot of fanfare, U.S. counter-terrorism forces in Iraq have gone on the offensive over the last year. Ever since Sunni Islamic terrorists were killed in, or chased out of, Fallujah last November, there has been a campaign to keep them from establishing another large base like Fallujah. What doesnât get reported is that, for the terrorists to operate effectively, they have to control towns, villages or neighborhoods. Too many Iraqis, even Sunni Arabs, will turn terrorists in. Thus to avoid raids, or smart bombs, the terrorists need to, in effect, take over areas, and terrorize the locals into keeping quiet. Same technique Saddam used, so all Iraqis know the drill. The al Qaeda crowd plays by the same rules as Saddam, but add conservative Islamic dress & lifestyle rules, which are enforced with great brutality. Thatâs why al Qaeda got on so well with the Taliban.
For most of the past year, American, and now many Iraqi, troops have been raiding towns, villages and neighborhoods, to kill or chase out groups of terrorists who had taken up residence. The results have been impressive, if underreported. So far, 45 of the 55 Baath Party leaders shown in the 2003 âdeck of cardsâ have been killed or captured. So far this year, one hundred al Qaeda leaders have been killed or captured. Most of these are âteam leadersâ, running cells of six to a dozen men. But several members of the al Qaeda high command (in the top ten) have been caught as well.
Al Qaeda, and the Baath Party (who account for over 90 percent of the terrorist violence) cannot make a lot of attacks without leadership, and bases (for planning, making bombs and assembling personnel.) As their leadership, and bases, have been diminished this year, so has the number of attacks. Worst of all, public opinion in the Sunni Arab community (the core of al Qaeda and Baath Party support) has turned more against the terrorists. Itâs known that various terrorist factions are arguing with each other over this issue, while more and more terrorists are being killed, or caught, because of tips from Sunni Arabs. However, al Qaeda and, especially, the Baath Party, still have one potent weapon; cash. While Saddam Hussein was in charge, the Baath Party big shots grabbed billions of dollars in oil money. Several hundred million dollars of that cash was seized during the 2003 invasion, but much more was known to have gotten away. Itâs that money that has paid for a lot of the terrorist activity. The money is still in play.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/20/2005 09:05 ||
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#1
Probably stashed in Syrian and Jordanian banks, but they often seem to retire in France. Where does Suha Arafat bank?
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declined on Wednesday to rule out American forces still being needed in Iraq a decade from now. Senators warned that the Bush administration must play it straight with the public or risk losing public support for the war.
Pushed by senators from both parties to define the limits of U.S. involvement in Iraq and the Middle East, Rice also declined to rule out the use of military force in Iran or Syria, although she said the administration prefers diplomacy. "I don't think the president ever takes any of his options off the table concerning anything to do with military force," Rice said.
Rice appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations committee for only the second time since members gave her an unexpectedly tepid endorsement to replace Colin Powell in January, and she fielded pointed questions about U.S. intentions and commitment on Iraq from lawmakers who said they are hearing complaints at home. "Our country is sick at heart at the spin and false expectations," Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., told Rice. "They want the truth and they deserve it."
But enough about the Dems, Babs.
Rice said Iraq's police and Army forces are becoming better able to handle the country's security without U.S. help, and she repeated President Bush's warning that setting a timetable for withdrawal plays into terrorists' hands. "The terrorists want us to get discouraged and quit," Rice said. "They believe we do not have the will to see this through."
Rice said the United States will follow a model that was successful in Afghanistan. Starting next month, she said, joint diplomatic-military groups - called Provincial Reconstruction Teams - will work alongside Iraqis as they train police, set up courts, and help local governments establish essential services.
By State Department design, Rice testified before the committee just days after Iraq apparently approved its first constitution since a U.S.-led coalition ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003. Her appearance also coincided with the start of Saddam's trial in Baghdad for a 1982 massacre of 150 of his fellow Iraqis.
Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., agreed with the Bush administration's stay-the-course approach but said there are legitimate questions to ask about the future. "We should recognize that most Americans are focused on an exit strategy in Iraq," said Lugar, the Foreign Relations Committee chairman. "Even if withdrawal timelines are deemed unwise because they might provide a strategic advantage to the insurgency, the American people need to more fully understand the basis upon which our troops are likely to come home."
An AP-Ipsos poll this month found 61 percent of respondents disapprove of Bush's handling of Iraq while 32 percent said they approve. In August, 53 percent said the United States made a mistake by going to war while 43 percent said it was the right decision. The figures represent a sharp drop-off from strong support for the war in the early going. The war also had overwhelming support in Congress, including from most of Rice's questioners Wednesday.
"One thing the Vietnam generation learned is no foreign policy can be sustained without the informed consent of the American people. And we haven't gotten that informed consent in terms of them knowing what they're signing on to from here on out," Sen. Joseph P. Biden Jr., D-Del., told Rice. "So I'm not looking for a date to get out of Iraq. But at what point, assuming the strategy works, do you think we'll be able to see some sign of bringing some American forces home?"
Rice did not address the Vietnam comparison, and said the question of withdrawal is one for military planners. "I really don't want to hazard what I think would be a guess, even if it were an assessment, of when that might be possible," Rice said of a troop withdrawal.
Later, Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., told Rice that her response to questions about U.S. troop withdrawal leaves open the possibility that U.S. forces could be in Iraq five or even 10 years down the road. Rice did not dispute that. "I don't know how to speculate about what will happen 10 years from now, but I do believe that we are moving on a course on which Iraqi security forces are rather rapidly able to take care of their own security concerns," Rice responded.
Boxer read quotation after quotation from administration figures about Iraq, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's February 2003 prediction that the war could "last six days, six weeks, I doubt six months," to make the point that the war has not gone as the administration predicted.
Sen. George Voinovich, RINO -Ohio, read portions of a letter from a father who lost a son in Iraq. The letter called the war a "misguided effort." "We have to really level with the American people," Voinovich told Rice. "This is not going to be over in two years ... we're not going to just be able to walk out of Iraq and this is going to be over."
#6
Why don't you go fuck yourselves after serving this country for 10 years in the Rangers, seeing 13 of my closest friends killed in various operations in the 16 months I have spent in Iraq
Posted by: Alex ||
10/20/2005 8:29 Comments ||
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#7
Alex has got a fair point. We will lose friends in Iraq.
Perhaps the time has come for us to pursue options more effectively to spare the lives of our soldiers.
Perhaps we should start targetting laws at Muslims, deporting any who spout jihadi radicalism and respond to Middle Eastern troublemakers with absolute carpetbombing devastation killing thousands of civilians rather than sending in the troops.
I for one would rather 1,000 of their innocents die than even one of our soldiers.
"Our country is sick at heart at the spin and false expectations," Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., told Rice. "They want the truth and they deserve it."
And the Administration has been consistent since Day 1, Babs - "We'll leave when the job is done, or we're asked to depart."
What part of that do you find so hard to comprehend, Senator Spin?
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/20/2005 9:32 Comments ||
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#9
To revert to the earlier topic, Alex - every one of your friends was someone else's son, and many were someone's Father.
On the other hand, in ten years (if we are still there) I doubt Iraq will be any more dangerous than Germany is today.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/20/2005 9:35 Comments ||
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#10
Why don't you go fuck yourselves after serving this country for 10 years in the Rangers, seeing 13 of my closest friends killed in various operations in the 16 months I have spent in Iraq
Posted by: Alex 2005-10-20 08:29
Sorry Alex, there's no way to verify your claim. Too many anti-war types have played that game to be bought here or anywhere else outside a Cindyfest. You're going to be received with the same scorn those possers have gotten. Life's tough.
#11
Alex, if you're for-real, you have our sympathies. Not our agreement, but our sympathies and respect for your service and sacrifice.
But as Crick mentioned, there have been far too many anti-war jerks claiming to be vets -- even Rangers -- for us to trust an anonymous claim.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/20/2005 10:18 Comments ||
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#12
Why don't you go fuck yourselves after serving this country for 10 years in the Rangers, seeing 13 of my closest friends killed in various operations in the 16 months I have spent in Iraq
And I've lost 3 of mine, plus a couple others I was trying to rescue. Sucks. Sucks big time. But if you've done ten years, then you ought to know that it "comes with the fucking job", right?
I want this one done right so I don't have to see yet another repeat.
#13
I agree with what you saying I picked the job and I enjoy it, but I think you all know this we are not allowed to do our job properly, there are times when you wonder we could end this shit tommorrow, I admit I am not a Rep I am a Dem, but It seems to me and alot of the troops on the ground that we are keeping Iraq in a state of war because its the biggest money earner around. What we need is the press out along with all the other do gooders so we can go in and finish these terrorists once and for all no more pussy footing around. On another front if Binny is in N. Pakistan then lets daisy cut the whole area, its all screwed up in the area now anyway.
Posted by: Alex ||
10/20/2005 11:12 Comments ||
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#14
Alex, yes you (and I) may lose more friends before things settle down in the middle east and we can ?relax? enough to enjoy our efforts. If we leave a weak Iraq now and allow the terrorist to establish a haven we could very well lose a lot more friends and families members in the next attack. Make no mistake they want to attack us and would like nothing more than to set off car bombs here in the U.S. like they did England, Spain, or Iraq. If you truly are a Ranger then you will understand the strategic and tactical advantage of engaging the enemy at a point and time of your choosing. I think that is still taught in basic infantry. Also I think itâs also best to be on the offensive and make the bad guys play defense, I think that allows you the advantage of maneuver? But I am preaching to the choir and you already know this stuff. I know many people who are in this fight and many that will go back to Iraq in the coming years and NONE of them whine or complain about the politics or the correctness of the policy or mission. Is this just a Ranger thing or maybe just you? No nobody like to die and nobody wants to lose a buddy but do you really mope around during your tour dwelling on that or do you get the job done? People die in war, peace, in general, and you canât change that fact.
#15
Don't forget that China is waiting in the wings, gathering strength and rubbing its hands together in glee as we waste our precious strength and soldiers fighting terrorists hand-to-hand when we have the means and technology to finish it quickly.
The only thing that holds us back is public opinion and the presence of too many hostile media.
#16
Thanks Sarge but you know we all have to get it out somewhere, and please remember there is alot of bad blood in the Rangers about not being able to do the job properly, Somalia being the example, its the same thing in Iraq no matter how many you kill there is more to replace, blanket bombing the whole middle east is the answer and then we can repopulate the area
Posted by: Alex ||
10/20/2005 11:28 Comments ||
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#17
A couple different things, Alex:
First, as the wife of a retired officer and co-worker with Army officers, many of them combat veterans and some of them Rangers and SOCOM, my gratitude for your service and sacrifice and for those of your friends.
re: Iraq as money maker, as an MBA I have to say it has not yet given return on investment financially - certainly not to the country in terms of oil etc. and from what I am hearing, not all that much to the Halliburtons of the world. ;-)
But the real heart of your complaint, if I'm hearing you correctly, is the frustration you feel at being held on a leash. I can only imagine how frustrating this situation is - and have been told the same by officers coming back from the box: it's ambiguous, just enough combat / insurgency to kill some fine American heroes, not enough to unleash our real military power on ...
on who? That's the gotcha of asymmetrical warfare, and the presence of the press on the ground, but perhaps selectively seeing / reporting some aspects, only makes it worse.
We're asking more and more kinds of things than we've asked of our Army for more than a generation. I know the strains that is producing.
My own take? That these sorts of challenges will be with us for 20 years or so, on and off -- if not in Iraq than elsewhere and no matter which party is in power. I could be wrong (and I hope I am) but when I look at the underlying changes happening globally, economically, demographically etc. that's how it looks to me. The Army is retooling itself in many ways to deal with this new mission - as it has done masterfully in the past - but that takes time and is never easy.
#18
The Iraqi government forces are clearly showing steady improvement. And if there ever really was an 'insurgency', it seems to be degenerating into just another Muslim terrorist movement. Will US forces still be in Iraq in five-ten years? Yes. But 'being in Iraq' is not the same as 'being in combat'. Will someone please explain that to the idiots that we elect to political office?
Posted by: Patrick Phillips ||
10/20/2005 11:33 Comments ||
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#19
Thanks rkb, you are right about the leash, the problem is we could never unleash the full power because some idiot in europe or the UN would have us all up for war crimes
Posted by: Alex ||
10/20/2005 11:36 Comments ||
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#20
Alex, what are you talking about? In Somalia we lost 18 Soldiers but we killed over 4000 of the bad guys. I am not a military genius, but I think the U.S. Army had worse battles. Yes they did drag some of our dead guys bodies down the street but by the end of the next day many of them were dead. Who has âbad bloodâ and to which soldiers are you talking about? Sounds like you are a LLL and read too many LLL websites that pretend to spout the truth.
#21
Alex: just another fake but could be accurate. They can't pose real arguments so they revert to the fantasy world thinking it makes them sage. What a crock.
#22
Come on people give the guy a break he is having a bad time dealing with some losses it can happen to anyone. I am british and in the army and have doen three tours in Basra which thankfully isn't as bad an area as the one you americans have. But we have a saying "you fight for your friends" . In my opinion we should roll in more troops and kick em back to the stoneage. And Alex if you are really having problems dealing with you losses maybe you should go and talk to someone about it!!!!!!!!!!!!
#23
Alex, I am sorry you lost your friends and I am angry that because our Western culture is too gutless to look an enemy in the eye and do what has to be done that soldiers lives are lost.
I am trying every day to talk to people around me to make them realise that their priorities are out of whack. That offending a minority is NOT more important than saving our troops and that war means the rules are different.
If we all try we can turn our culture around. Because until we do more soldiers are gonna die needlessly. Then when we've bled ourselves on the Islamofascists the Chinese will become our overlords.
#24
hey i lost friends in car crashes, lets ban all cars!!! serious though if thats the job you sign up to do Alex - being a soldier then surly you expected to go to war????? if not then i dont know why you joined up. I never joined the British Army because its become a battle field social worker force but i know a lot of guys who did not because they wanted to serve theere country but because they wanted to go sight seeing around the world/ playing rock climbing and canoeing - basically a big adventure holiday, now when you joined up what did you join up for in the best army of em all to fight wars or go rock climbing/canoeing and all that sht? i doubt it was for that reason because i know the US military operates a far differant recruitment method as in they dont tell you its gonna be an adventure holiday doing canoeing and sht but your there to fight wars for your country. I could understand it if you were conscripted and hated the idea of being in a war but for fck sake you joined a force whose sole purpose is to fight and win wars and in war people die its as simple as that. how can i make it any clearer. It may sound im slagging you off well i'm not, I have more respect for those who have given their lives in Iraq then most could possibly imagine and yes its real sad, no thats putting it mildly its difficult to put into words how sad it is that people are dead from getting rid of an appalling dictatorship but but once again i must repeat you were not conscripted, you knew the risks, they knew the risks and you all signed up to do the job. Its that simple.Throwing blame at everyone but yourself is foolish because you were the one who Signed yourself up - nobody else but yourself
Posted by: Shep UK ||
10/20/2005 12:37 Comments ||
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#25
John, if you don't get off the internet I'm going to have to confiscate your lucky hat.
#26
You understand that well beyond 10 years after the 'cease fire' agreement, we were still fighting and dying in Korea?
Americans fought a 'low intensity' war for generations along its western frontier that took lives on a regular basis beyond the dramatic events like Fort Phil Kearny and the Little Big Horn. Custers little battle extrapolated by population would have been around 1,500 losses today. Today terrorist operate out of Syria, back then Apaches operated out of Mexico. The frustration by the soldier was the same. The problem for us is that history runs in slow motion in the present. It just appears faster in the rear view mirror.
#27
we should stay: sign long term leases for the H1 and H3 airfields in western Iraq which we already occupy - they provide excellent sources of irritation to Iran, Syria, and Saudi.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/20/2005 13:05 Comments ||
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#28
Here's my take on ol Alex. Alex is a journo who wandered in here because of the missing Guardian reporter. Now he thinks he's having a bit of fun with the knuckle draggers, saying we should just daisy cut the whole area.
More reporting going on at rantburt than in the news these days, so why not?
#29
..they provide excellent sources of irritation to Iran, Syria, and Saudi.
yep, gotta st0ck up aplenty wid kitty antihistamemes.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
10/20/2005 13:55 Comments ||
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#30
I wonder how most of the Democratic Party would react if the President were to suddenly propose to fight the war the self-described Democrat above were to suggest: Kick out all the journalists, carpet-bomb everything flat, and start a hot war with a minor nuclear power like Pakistan.
I don't see how that last part in particular is going to lead to a reduced casualty rate for the Ranger Regiment, and suspect it would lead to exactly the opposite situation.
Posted by: Phil ||
10/20/2005 14:32 Comments ||
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#31
Alex sounds frustrated. Losing friends would have that affect on me too. But Phil is absolutely correct and RKB's analysis is right on.
There will be no public acceptance of total war until/unless the US suffers another major hit, and by major I mean the loss of tens of thousands of lives. Until that time our brave soldiers must fight within the ROE set by our public officials.
Yes, this can suck. It can be frustrating to the point of mental breakdown, but that doesn't change the reality. And IMO, this reality is not a Bush-driven thing or a Demo-driven thing or even a Euro-driven thing. It refelects the positive aspects of our Judeo-Christian culture.
Before we fire-bombed Japanese cities, the USAF and the Pentagon were extremely worried about public opinion. Well after 3 years of war and thousands of deaths, they didn't have to be. A couple of years earlier and that likely would not have been the case.
Iraq seems to be making progress. The key is to set the country on the right path with an adepquate foundation for the future. It is a huge task, one fraught with screw-ups, but it appears we are making significant headway to that goal. I don't think carpet bombing is a part of that path even if it would feel good sometimes.
#32
2b, you're likely dead on. It is unlikely Alex is what he says he is. Too whiny. His first comment was aimed at being arch. Then he thought to pose as a Ranger and have a good time. Likely doesn't know a damned thing. I don't believe a word he says. Clue to Alex' who likely got his Ranger persona from the movie; Rangers are proud of the battle of Mogadishu, as is The Unit.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
10/20/2005 15:03 Comments ||
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#33
I'm not saying Alex is a faker. How could I know? But I will say that people who trump up a military background for themselves never seem to start with "You know I was a company clerk..."
Posted by: Kelly ||
10/20/2005 16:54 Comments ||
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#37
Somalia being the example, its the same thing in Iraq no matter how many you kill there is more to replace, blanket bombing the whole middle east is the answer and then we can repopulate the area
Here is all you need to know that Alex is a fake. There are many rantburgers who advocate for increased use of force and sometimes blow of steam, but this comment could only be made by a lilly handed boy whose had his freedom handed to him by real men.
#40
If it's Babs against Condi in a game of wits, Babs is vastly outnumbered. Kind of like a kite versus an F-15. If Babs didn't have her talking points in front of her all we would get is a blank 'deer in the headlights' stare. Did I mention to you all how much I really hate her? I really do.
Diplomatic efforts are continuing to try to locate an Irish newspaper journalist feared kidnapped in Iraq. Rory Carroll, a 33-year-old Iraq correspondent for the Guardian, is reported to have been taken by armed men while on assignment in Baghdad. The paper's editor, Alan Rusbridger, said the paper was "deeply concerned" at his disappearance.
I confess I'm somewhat less concerned.
Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern says his department is ready to offer any assistance required.
Mr Rusbridger appealed to those holding Mr Carroll to release him. "He is in Iraq as a professional journalist - and he's a very good, straight journalist whose only concern is to report fairly and truthfully about the country," he said. "We urge those holding him to release him swiftly - for the sake of his family and for the sake of anyone who believes the world needs to be kept fully informed about events in Iraq today."
The Irish Anti-War Movement has also called for his release and said it would be contacting anti-occupation groups in Baghdad to try to secure his freedom. Chairman Richard Boyd Barrett said the journalist was "entirely innocent of any crime against the Iraqi people", adding: "No cause will be served by keeping him in captivity or harming him in any way."
Especially if you send all the money the terrorists are demanding.
He said Mr Carroll had attempted to provide balanced coverage of the Iraqi conflict, often exposing "the bloody reality of the war and occupation launched by George Bush and Tony Blair".
Mr Carroll, from Dublin, was interviewed from Baghdad on Wednesday morning for RTE radio's Pat Kenny Show about the start of Saddam Hussein's trial. A few hours later, his family was informed by the editor of the Guardian that he had been "taken".
The paper said Mr Carroll had been in Baghdad with two drivers and an interpreter to interview a victim of the former dictator's regime. As he left the house where the interview had taken place, he was confronted by gunmen and he and one of the drivers bundled into a car. The driver was released about 20 minutes later.
His father, Joe told the BBC: "It was something we had been secretly dreading. We were hoping it would never happen." Mr Carroll said his son had received specialised training for such situations. "He knew we were worried but he used to reassure us and say it wasn't as dangerous as people outside think and if you observed basic rules of security, you'd be okay," he said. "We knew he was playing it down for our sake. It was obvious danger.
The leader of Fine Gael in the Republic of Ireland, Enda Kenny, said his disappearance was a "major cause of concern". "I assume the minister for foreign affairs will take a direct and personal interest in this.
"Obviously when anybody is kidnapped it is a cause of concern but as this is an Irish citizen it brings it in to sharper focus for us here."
The British Foreign Office said it was in touch with the Irish authorities about Mr Carroll's disappearance.
His disappearance came on the first anniversary of the abduction in Baghdad of Dublin-born aid worker Margaret Hassan, who was later apparently killed.
Apparently? As I recall, there was a body, even Inspector Legume could figure this one out.
A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, Mr Carroll started his career at the Irish News in Belfast, where he was named Northern Ireland young journalist of the year in 1997. He later joined the Guardian as a home news reporter, and was made South Europe correspondent in 1999. He was the paper's South Africa correspondent before going to Iraq.
#6
so funny this in a cruel but fun way - a paper that goes outa its way to defend the sickos everytime now gets a member of staff nabbed by em, i couldnt help it but i roared with laughter when i heard, i think i'm gonna send the AL Gaurdian an email telling them how happy i am about this. muhahahaha
Posted by: Shep UK ||
10/20/2005 12:06 Comments ||
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#7
Propagandist Filth Released. Am I getting a HEAD of myself.
#8
He said Mr Carroll had attempted to provide balanced coverage of the Iraqi conflict, often exposing "the bloody reality of the war and occupation launched by George Bush and Tony Blair".
Oh, that kind of balanced coverage. They had me worried for a minute...
#15
Professional courtesy, old chaps... professional courtesy. I assume the kidnappers apologised very nicely to Mr. Carroll for their very understandible error, before they let him go. All these Euro-leftoid journos all look alike, to them.
Insurgents killed three Iraqis and two coalition soldiers â one American and one British â in the hours before Saddam Hussein's trial began on Wednesday. A bomb also went off at a famous monument in a Baghdad square honoring the 8th-century founder of Baghdad to whom Saddam had often compared himself. The blast, which toppled the bust of Abu Jaafar Al-Mansour but caused no injuries, appeared to be a jab at the former dictator.
The bombing of the famous monument honoring Al-Mansour knocked his bust off the top of a 30-foot-tall triangular monument, said police Capt. Qassim Hussein. The attack occurred at 1:30 a.m. in a northwestern area named after Al-Mansour, a caliph, or supreme religious leader, of the Islamic empire who built Baghdad on the banks of the Tigris River in 762 A.D. During his dictatorial rule from 1979 to 2003, Saddam often tried to compare himself and his accomplishments to those of Baghdad's founder. But Hussein said it was not immediately known who had launched the attack or what motivated it.
Shortly before Saddam's trial was to begin in Baghdad's highly secured Green Zone, suspected insurgents shot and killed Hakim Mirza, one of several municipal directors of the capital, and his driver, in the southern neighborhood of Dora, said police Maj. Falah Al-Mohamadawi. Gunmen also killed a lieutenant colonel in the Iraqi army that U.S. forces disbanded after invading Iraq in 2003.
In other violence in Iraq, a roadside bomb hit a U.S. Army patrol late Tuesday night, killing one soldier and wounding two near Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad, the military said. The attack raised to at least 1,981 the number of members of the U.S. military who have died since the beginning of the Iraq war, according to an Associated Press count. A British soldier also was killed by a roadside bomb late Tuesday night in the southern region of Basra where most British forces are based, Britain's Ministry of Defense said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2005 00:00 ||
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EFL Wednesday in Baghdad: Iraqi police arrested Saddam Hussein's nephew Yasir Sabhawi Ibrahim, son of Saddam's half brother Sabhawi Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti, several days after Syrian authorities forced him to return to Iraq. Senior Iraqi security officials said that he served as the top financier of the Iraqi insurgency. The officials also said Syrian authorities "pushed" Ibrahim into Iraq but did not hand him over to authorities. The Syrians were aware of his whereabouts in Baghdad and informed U.S. authorities, who then passed the information to Iraq security forces who carried out a "fast, easy" raid on the fugitive's apartment, a Defense Ministry official said.
The Iraqi officials believe Ibrahim was operating Baath Party funds in Syria, Jordan and Yemen and had been running a vast network of insurgents inside Iraq. They also claim he was coordinating between Baathist insurgents and the terror network of Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Ibrahim was believed to be second in command of the Iraqi-led insurgency behind Younis al-Ahmad, a former member of the Baath Party leadership believed to be still in Syria.
On July 21, the U.S. Treasury Department froze the U.S. assets of the suspect as well as the five other sons of al-Tikriti, who was himself captured in Syria earlier this year and handed over to Iraq in an apparent good will gesture. On Sept. 19, Iraq's Central Criminal Court sentenced another of al-Tikriti's sons, Ayman, to life in prison on charges he helped fund the insurgency and was a bomb-maker.
#8
sounds like the Syrians pushed him across the border and said where he could be picked up. The repercussions of teh Hariri-fuckup just continue to fall, don't they? Keep the pressure on!
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/20/2005 13:48 Comments ||
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#9
What ??? Why didn't we follow this jerk for a spell and collect the whole team ?
Or did we ?
The Palestinian Authority rejected on Thursday a report from Israeli intelligence that foreign Islamists suspected of links to al-Qaeda had slipped into the Gaza Strip after Israel withdrew last month. Israel's military intelligence chief said this week that around 10 "global jihad operatives" entered Gaza during chaos at the border with Egypt following Israel's troop pullout to end 38 years of military rule. The border was later sealed. The Palestinian Interior Ministry said its investigations showed that the Israeli report was untrue.
"Certainly not!"
A spokesman accused Israel of trying to undermine President Mahmoud Abbas's White House meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush later on Thursday. "The ongoing investigations of the Palestinian security services confirm that no al-Qaeda members had entered the Gaza Strip. Al-Qaeda does not exist in Gaza," said Tawfiq Abu Khoussa. Gaza is widely seen as a testing ground for the statehood that Palestinians also seek in the occupied West Bank. A proven al-Qaeda presence could embarrass Abbas, whose forces are already struggling to cope with a plethora of local factions. While Palestinian Islamic militants share al Qaeda's hatred of the Jewish state and also use suicide tactics, experts say doctrinal differences preclude cooperation between the groups.
Yep. Doctrinal diff'rences. That'll keep 'em apart, yah sure youbetcha. Where do they get these experts?
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/20/2005 11:18 ||
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#1
Al Qaeda and the PA also share the same goals to extend the Caliphate to Israel and Jerusalem as stated in Zawhiri's letter to Zarqawi, but then the lying Jews must have forged that, too.
#4
You are supposed to differentiate between the various hues of terrorism. Like good rape and that bad kind. Problem is, it turns around and bites you in the ass. England and France, for example.
Posted by: Ol Dirty American ||
10/20/2005 17:29 Comments ||
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#6
The PA is basically old-style secular Stalinist for the Muslim Palestinians as an overclass, with the Christian Palestinians in their historic role as dhimmis. They aren't at all interested in a Caliphate, except inasmuch as they assume that should one be established, they'll be able to take over, just as Lenin and Trotsky took over from the Mensheviks, then Lenin took over from Trotsky.
BALI'S police chief has called for calm amid a phone-message campaign urging Balinese Hindus to kill all Muslims on the island in retaliation for the triple suicide bombings by suspected Islamic extremists. A mobile phone text message received by the AAP wire news service urges Balinese people to "wake up from a long sleep".
The majority-Hindu holiday island had been invaded by Muslim settlers, mostly from neighbouring Java, the message says. Calling on all recipients to gather en masse and attack Muslim street-food sellers and anyone else of Islamic faith, it reads: "Destroy the Bali destroyers from outside Bali. We'll burn a group of Muslim bakso (meatball) traders, Muslim satay sellers and anyone else with Muslim identity," the anonymous text says. Raze to the ground all these groups so they won't live in Bali. We ask for your support."
It did not give a date, but circulated a day before the main Muslim prayer day of Friday. A similar text campaign last week urging Balinese to gather together and demand the immediate executions of the original Bali bombers was answered by more than 2,000 people and turned into a violent demonstration that had to be countered by riot police.
Bali police chief General Made Mangku Pastika said the text campaign threatened Bali's bomb-battered reputation for religious tolerance, warning it could turn Bali into a new Ambon. The eastern province of Maluku based in Ambon was wracked by a five-year conflict between Muslims and Christian bloodshed in the late 1990s and 2000, attracting extremist Islamic militias into Ambon from other parts of Indonesia. Bali counts almost 3 million Hindus and only 186,000 Muslims, an anomaly in the world's most-populous Muslim nation, which counts 180 million people of Islamic faith.
"I'm worried that terrorists have successfully used the situation," Pastika told the Bali Post newspaper. "It would not only be Bali which would be destroyed, because the whole of Indonesia would be paralysed. This SMS (text) with the scent of tribal, customs, race and religious intolerance is a new model of terror to make the situation in Bali worse." Pastika said he planned to meet immediately with senior representatives from all religions in Bali to keep a lid on fresh outbreaks of violence in the emotionally charged atmosphere after the latest attacks, which killed 20 innocent people, among them four Australians.
After the 2002 bombings, Bali's Government also boosted the powers of village guards, known as pecalang, to search strangers and immigrant workers, angering many Muslim residents. "Thank God, up to now, we haven't received any reports from Balinese communities which have been provoked," Pastika said. "This is what we expect and we hope once more Balinese people will not be persuaded with this call."
#3
This in a nutshell is why it is better for muslims living in Western countries to suffer a bit now: laws targetting muslims specifically for bomb searchers, bugging mosques and deporting jihadi preachers will ultimately save mainstream muslims from the overreaction that WILL come if there are too many Westerners killed in terrorist attacks.
If you react how our government is so far reacting, taking away civil liberties for EVERYONE due to the actions of the musliim minority, it will be ineffective as police waste resources making up demographic numbers (we searched 3 muslims so we have to search 8 obvious non-Muslims to make it look like we are being fair).
Terrorists will slip through the net and bammo, a few terrorist attacks later, and you have the backlash: kill all muslims.
Spare the rod, spoil the child.
Truly it will be better to clamp down now preventing the attacks in the first place.
#5
Sounds very much like what a few Muslim islands did to their Christians in Indonesia recently. Or what they did to the Chinese minorities a couple of decades ago.
#6
Anybody with a brain can determine that the Muslims will kill us all when they can. They work toward that without interruption. In countries like Indonesia, they have reached critical mass. The time is now to fight for your lives.
The enemy are the ones with their wives faces covered. Take back your country.
#7
Seems to me that the Hindus recognize this threat far more than either western Judeo-Christian/eastern Buddhist society. If the muzzies go off in India, they get their asses whacked hard. Seems like the folks in Bali are looking to do the same thing.
#8
This is a horrible idea. Unless Uncle Sam comes up with a plan to partition Indonesia using the Pacific Fleet*. In 1965, Indonesian Communists rose in revolt. Millions were massacred. And these people actually had weapons to fight with, since many were agents embedded within the military. Balinese with machetes stand even less of a chance.
* Which brings up the question of what happens if military contingencies occur in Northeast Asia.
#9
I agree completely, Elmenter Snineque1852. But we keep hearing how terribly thinly our troops are stretched, so I can't imagine that they'll be able to add another front now. I'm sure Sec.Def. Rumsfeld will put it on the list, though.
Eight members of the "Islam Defenders Front" (FPI) have been apprehended by West Jakarta police for carrying sharp weapons during a rally in front of the West Jakarta Police precinct on Tuesday. Some 150 FPI members were protesting the slow pace of investigations into a clash between their group and residents of the Kalijodo red-light district in West Jakarta last Sunday, in which four FPI members were injured.
You mean they went to beat up a few whores and they fought back?
"I am very disappointed with the FPI protesters as we found them carrying weapons during their rally," West Jakarta Police precinct chief Sr. Comr. Saparuddin told reporters.
Right. Disappointed. My heart's broken, too...
At least 30 protesters were found carrying weapons, including spears, machetes, swords and sickles, but only eight were declared suspects and detained. The rest were released after being lectured by police officers.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2005 00:00 ||
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Police are searching along eastern Malaysia's border with Indonesia for two fugitives believed to have masterminded this month's Bali bombings, a news report said Wednesday. Malaysians Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohamad Top are wanted for a series of attacks in Indonesia, including the Oct. 1 blasts at three Bali restaurants that killed 23 people, including three bombers, and injured more than 100. "We are on the lookout for Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohamad Top ... we are coordinating with the Indonesians," Sabah police commissioner Mangsor Ismail was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper.
Authorities are focusing their hunt for Azahari and Noordin - alleged leaders of Southeast Asian terror group Jamaah Islamiyah - along the border in eastern Sabah state on Borneo island, which Malaysia shares with Indonesia and Brunei.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Malaysia cops are corrupt as a Kuala Lumpur Bible salesman.
Al-Qaeda-linked Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels are providing refuge to two top Indonesian Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) militants in the southern Philippines, a military spokesman said Wednesday. Col. Tristan Kison said security forces have monitored Dulmatin and Umar Patek "moving from one location to another" in Cotabato province, 960 kilometres south of Manila. Kison said Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadafi Janjalani has been providing assistance to Dulmatin and Patek, both wanted for the deadly October 2002 bombings in Bali which killed more than 200 people. "The mere fact that they (Abu Sayyaf) have opened their sanctuaries to them is a big factor," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Militant: someone who stridently holds a political point of view and may fight for it.
Terrorist: someone who deliberately attacks civilians to make a political point.
Since when are the bali bombers anything other than terrorists.
Please people, start demanding Newspapers use the English language not jihadi propaganda when reporting news.
Indonesian police said on Wednesday they had arrested two more men in connection with their probe into this month's suicide bombings on the resort island of Bali. The pair were arrested under anti-terrorism laws on Tuesday in the town of Tomohon in North Sulawesi province after a tip-off from local residents, said police spokesman Sunarko Danu Ardanto. He told AFP that the suspects, both in their 20s and identified only by their initials, had been taken to the provincial capital Manado for up to seven days of questioning to determine if they played a role in the bombings. "There are two men, one is CR, 27 years old, and the other is SD, 24 years old," Ardanto said. The 27-year-old man held three different identification cards when he was arrested, Ardanto added.
It was not clear whether the men were believed to have been directly involved in the Oct. 1 attacks on crowded restaurants which killed 20 people plus the three bombers. The arrests bring to five the number of people arrested over the bombings. Two men were arrested in Banten on the island of Java on Oct. 12 and remain in custody, while a first suspect was released last Wednesday after three days in custody because he had no links with the case.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2005 00:00 ||
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Lebanese troops have been deployed in the capital and other key cities a day before the release of a UN report into the killing of former PM Rafik Hariri. Armoured vehicles and soldiers have been patrolling Beirut, in what the interior minister described as an unofficial state of emergency. A UN team has been investigating the assassination of Mr Hariri in a devastating bombing in February. Many in Lebanon blamed Syria, which is something Damascus denied repeatedly.
UN chief Kofi Annan is to receive the report on Thursday. The UN Security Council will see the report on Friday and be briefed on 25 October by the team's leader, German magistrate Detlev Mehlis. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said that while he did not know what was in the report, Thursday's measures had been taken in case it revealed who was behind the murder. BBC Beirut correspondent Kim Ghattas says the army has been deployed around Beirut and its surroundings, as well as other major cities. Ambulances and fire engines are on standby on key intersections around the capital.
The UN has also taken measures to protect its personnel in Lebanon because of what it called the "highly energised" situation in Beirut.
Its offices in the capital have been fortified, and the head of the UN Information Centre, Nejib Friji, has been temporarily withdrawn from Beirut "for his own safety". Since Mr Hariri was killed a series of bomb attacks have targeted anti-Syrian journalists and politicians as well as Christian areas.
In a separate development, Mr Hariri's son, Saad, has said he wants those implicated by Mr Mehlis' report to be tried by an international court. "We could not carry out the investigation and requested the help of the UN. Of course we will demand an international trial," he said after a meeting with the Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa on Wednesday. Saad Hariri, who leads the largest bloc in the Lebanese parliament, also said that countries should not be allowed to exploit the fallout from the publication of the investigation's findings for their own interests.
Syria, the main power in Lebanon until its military withdrawal earlier this year, denies any involvement in the killing of Rafik Hariri.
"We are 100% innocent," Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told German weekly newspaper Die Zeit on Wednesday. However, Mr Mehlis has listed four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals as suspects, and questioned seven Syrian officials, including Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan, who was found dead last week after apparently committing suicide. The generals were arrested in Lebanon in August.
Our correspondent says many Lebanese are now hoping that the publication of the UN report will finally satisfy their desire to know the truth about who killed Hariri and put an end to feelings of insecurity here. But there are fears that the UN report could well add to the political turmoil, our correspondent adds.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/20/2005 09:36 ||
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#1
"We are 100% innocent"
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
#2
For another perspective check out
http://www.michaeltotten.com/
He's there right now. We can see up close what an American thinks while living through historical time.
Lebanon made public Wednesday a request for the U.N. to extend until mid-December the investigation being conducted by German judge Detlev Mehlis into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rakik Hariri. Prime Minister Fuad Siniora requested the extension in a letter sent to Secretary-General Kofi Annan last Friday. But on Monday Annan told reporters no serious discussion had taken place on the request. Mehlis is scheduled to submit a technical report on his investigation on Friday to Annan and the U.N. Security Council, which authorized his probe in Lebanon. His mandate expires next week. On Monday, Annan said he intended to keep politics out of the investigation and would decide on the extension if Mehlis would ask for it.
Meanwhile a source close to the Hariri family said Wednesday that suspects named in the United Nation probe could face an international trial, "Around 20 names will appear in the report - some are well known Lebanese and others are Syrian names..." Analysts in Beirut say the presidents of Syria and Lebanon could be fighting for political survival if, as many expect, the inquiry blames Syrian and pro-Syrian Lebanese officials for Hariri's killing.
The Melhis report is one of two reports concerning Lebanon to be delivered to the U.N. this week. U.N. Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen was due Wednesday to deliver a report on the progress of implementing U.N. Resolution 1559 which calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah and Palestinian fighters in the country.
The leader of a group of suspected Islamic militants who escaped from a US air base in Afghanistan, was identified, for the first time, on Wednesday as the Libyan Hassan Qaid, also known as Younis al Sahrawai, who had studied Islamic Shariaa in Mauritania prior to joining the ranks of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (al Jamaa al Islamiya al Libiya al Muqatila) in Afghanistan. He and three other suspected Islamic militants detained at the Bagram base, north of the capital Kabul, successfully fled from US custody on 11th July 2005. Naaman bin Othman, a Libyan expert in Islamist groups told Asharq al Awsat that Hassan Qaid, who featured in a videotape broadcast on al Arabiyyah channel earlier this week was an outstanding student. Born in the 1970s, he is renown for writing the a book entitled âIjmaa (consensus) and its significance in Islamic Shariaaâ in response to Dr. Fadil, also known as Sheikh Abdul Qadir Abdul Aziz, the Islamic Jihad leaderâs book, âAl Jaami fi Talab al Ilm al Sharifâ. Last month, the Libyan militant had written a letter broadcast on a number of extremist websites affiliated with al Qaeda discussing âthe truth on practices in US jailsâ.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/20/2005 11:20 ||
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THE US-led coalition force in Afghanistan said today it was investigating media claims that US soldiers burned the bodies of two suspected Taliban militants and used the evidence to threaten locals.
The allegations were made in a report broadcast on SBS yesterday which said the soldiers afterwards used the burning to insult villagers to try to make them co-operate with coalition troops.
Members of the US 173rd Airborne said they burned the suspected militants for health reasons after the bodies had been left out in the open for more than 24 hours, according to SBS's Dateline program. SBS loves to attack the US. Because you don't win media awards for unbiased coverage. In Australia, you win media awards for criticising the establishment, embarrassing Governments enough to force an inquiry or measurable change of policy. That is the criteria. THat impresses media judges. Walkleys, here we come! That means salary increases, job promotion, kudos. The fact that insulting a culture by burning a dead body shouldn't mean diddley squat when you are at war doesn't factor in to anything. No walkleys for that because Multiculti media award culture says that the worst crime you can commit is to offend a minority culture. Worse than killing someone or being killed in war.
The allegations were being investigated by the Army Criminal Investigation Division, a statement from the coalition force based at the Bagram Airfield north of the capital Kabul said.
"This command takes all allegations of misconduct or inappropriate behaviour seriously and has directed an investigation into circumstances surrounding this allegation," coalition commander Major General Jason Kamiya said.
If the allegations are substantiated, "corrective action will be taken," he said.
Why? Burn the bodies in pig fat and face 'em West! If it helps win the war by disrespecting the muslims, who gives a rats? Should be officially approved.
"This command does not condone the mistreatment of enemy combatants or the desecration of their religious and cultural beliefs," Maj-Gen Kamiya said.
But we don't criticise them for hacking the heads of journalists, we just have to ponder why do they hate us...
The report said the suspected Taliban deaths occurred during an ambush of a US patrol in which one American and one Afghan army soldier were killed ahead of Afghanistan's parliamentary elections last month.
US officials used the burning of the bodies, deeply offensive to Muslims who bury their dead within 24 hours, to taunt villagers suspected of harbouring insurgents, it said.
The program showed footage of the burning corpses and replayed broadcasts of inflammatory messages from US troops to villagers.
"Attention Taliban, you are all cowardly dogs," one message reportedly said.
"You allowed your fighters to be laid down facing west and burned. You are too scared to retrieve their bodies. This just proves you are the lady boys we always believed you to be."
Another stated: "You attack and run away like women. You call yourself Talibs but you are a disgrace to the Muslim religion and you bring shame upon your family. Come and fight like men instead of the cowardly dogs you are."
The Geneva Convention requires soldiers to dispose of war dead in an honourable fashion and "if possible, according to the rites of the religion to which the deceased belonged."
Geneva convention does not apply to non-uniformed combatants which the Taliban fighters were not. How convenient to leave that out.
#4
"if possible, according to the rites of the religion to which the deceased belonged."
Why should our soldiers tend to the Muslim religous rites of people who regarded them as infidels and tried to kill them? Why should anyone have to participate in religous rites outside their own religion? I'm not for abusing bodies, but dead enemies should not get special priviledges.
#5
This is disappointing. Where are the insults referring to the talib's mustaches or their monkey and pig sires? I'm sure a First Sargeant could have shamed the talibs into committing suicide on the spot with insults incorporating goats, girls, and (and nonexisting taliban) gonads. Send these soldiers to a refresher course at the Defence Insult School.
Posted by: ed ||
10/20/2005 12:25 Comments ||
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#6
An enemy combatant can hope for nothing more than swift onset lead poisoning. Many other more percussive alternatives do not even leave sufficient remains to identify.
Of course, our troops' actions can only be far more heinous than that of those who merely saw someone's head off at a languid pace.
Islamabad, Along with offering humanitarian aid to its ally in the War againt Terrorism, the United States is keen to use the opportunity to earn goodwill of Pakistanis with the objective of finding out the whereabouts of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. The US aid agency USAID is concentrating its activities in areas which happen to be the epicentres of Pakistan's extremist community.
Posted by: DanNY ||
10/20/2005 09:04 ||
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I hope there are lots of special forces types with the relief personnel.
#2
In terms of intel, there might be something of value to be had. But in terms of reciprocated goodwill, our efforts there are unlikely to bear fruit.
#3
Maybe we can get some realistic damage assessments of just how badly our enemies were hit. There's also the possibility of picking up bin Laden's trail.
October 20, 2005: The UN said that it will withdraw "non-essential staff" from Sudan's western Darfur region. Four to five months ago there were indications that the security situation in Darfur was improving and might continue to improve. African Union (AU) peacekeepers were trickling into the region. Aid convoys were arriving with greater frequency. Reports that the rebel movement was fragmenting began turning up in August-- which meant more "freelance" violence.
In September and October, raids by Islamist militias increased. Now it appears that some Arab militias have turned on their chief backer, the Sudanese government. Government control of the militias it backed has always been always iffy. That was the case in southern Sudan when the government paid Moslem militias to fight the SPLA. Often times the militias (many drawn from northern and western tribes) had their own agenda. That agenda included crime. This seems to be the path Darfur is taking.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/20/2005 09:00 ||
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#1
Now it appears that some Arab militias have turned on their chief backer, the Sudanese government
How many times do these people use someone to get what they want and then turn on them? Apparentley not enough to make people realize all they want is for Arab Islamist to be in control. Now I understand what the world went through before world war two with Hitler
Security officers in London and Washington are anxious not to discuss whether Bin Laden is dead or has escaped the devastation from the 7.6-magnitude earthquake. But days before it struck, an American satellite had spotted an Al Qaeda training camp in a remote area and obtained high-resolution close-ups. A senior intelligence officer in Washington told the Sunday Express: âOne of those photos bore a remarkable resemblance to Bin Laden. His face looked thinner, which is in keeping with our reports that his kidney condition has worsened.â In recent weeks, both MI6 and the CIA have established that Bin Laden has received a portable kidney dialysis machine from China but it requires electricity to power it. Drones, unmanned aircraft that US Special Forces launched from Afghanistan last week, have reported that the area along the border has lost all power supplies. President Bush, who has said he wants Bin Laden âdead or aliveâ, is closely monitoring the operation.
#8
#2... WOW! I didn't know there was a satellite up there powerful enough to resolve faces of the people below...
Jake, the US has spy satellites capable of one centimeter per pixel resolution! That is tantamount to a Hubble size platform turned to the Earth for observation! Such resolution can 'read' a paper's headline if laid on the ground. Ohh, can see through clouds and rain also!
#9
er... one cm per pixel couldn't read a headline, nor distiguish one face from another, it would need to be nearer 1mm. I'm sceptical, I don't think there is a satellite big enough to do this. I'd like to be proved wrong, however.
#10
I would assume that it probably isn't a sat at all, but either a drone or a spyplane flying somewhere we'd rather not admit they are flying because it gives Uncle Sam a sort of invincibility if people think we can watch them any time we want and there is nothing they can do about it.
#11
I recall one claim that, given the correct angle, a US spy sat could look into a person's breast pocket and see what brand of cigarettes you smoke. Not sure if it's true, but I would not be surprised.
Posted by: Tibor ||
10/20/2005 11:31 Comments ||
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#12
Oh muslims, FEAR the Great Satan's Synthethic Aperture Optics!
Doing a non sci-fi mode quick calculation using the Hubble (reputed to be an advanced version of the KH-12):
Hubble main mirror: 2.4 meters.
Estimated KH-12 perigee: 200 km.
Visible wavelenth: .5 um (green).
gives a diffraction limited resolution of 4.2 cm. Then there is atmospheric refraction, chromatic aberration and higher average orbits to take into account which probably limits real resolution to about 10 cm. In others words, a head shows up as a pixel or two.
Posted by: ed ||
10/20/2005 11:57 Comments ||
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#13
'Son of Darkstar' lurking over binny??
Posted by: Shep UK ||
10/20/2005 12:01 Comments ||
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#14
If they do find bin Gayden dirtnapping in the rubble then Karl Roves Earthquake-Tsunami/Hurricane machine will get more publicity from the conspiracy challenged.
#16
Indian Airforce Intellagence were the last to see him wern't they about a year or 2 ago now? correct me if im wrong - anyway maybe they have relocated him??
Posted by: Shep UK ||
10/20/2005 12:17 Comments ||
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#17
Wow!!! I suppose that is why USAID is concentrating its relief in the area of suspected Al Qaeda camps and why Pakistan wants them to concentrate on rescuing the children.
#20
If you could get a EMP in the area of the dialysis machine, you could fry its circuits, which would put a damper on Binny's blood purity. Just an off-the-wall idea in the universe of ideas.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/20/2005 21:52 Comments ||
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LAHORE: The Lahore police took unprecedented security measures on Wednesday after reports of likely suicide attacks on the Punjab Assembly, Governorâs House and the Civil Secretariat buildings.
Right. They have stacks of bodies from the earthquake. They've got villages that are now graveyards. They need a few suicide boomers...
A senior police official told Daily Times that the city police was on high alert since 1 a.m. because of intelligence reports that suicide bombers would attack important government buildings and places of worship. The official said that the police received phone calls about the likely attacks at 10 pm on Monday night. The Lahore SSP Operations called a meeting at his office at 11.15pm and thereafter all the station house officers were directed to be on high alert. Punjab IG Ziaul Hassan, in a letter to district police officers a few days ago, had issued instructions for adequate security arrangements across the province.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2005 00:00 ||
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PESHAWAR: An MI6/SAS team has joined US Special Forces in earthquake-devastated Balakot to search for Osama Bin Laden among thousands of victims still buried, British newspaper the Sunday Express reports. US President George W Bush approved a full-scale surveillance operation along the remote Afghan-Pakistan border where extremists have training camps. The team, flown in from a high-security base in Afghanistan, is equipped with imagery and eavesdropping technology, high-tech weapons systems and MI6 linguists to try to locate the most wanted âterroristâ in the world.
Security officers in London and Washington are anxious not to discuss whether Bin Laden is dead or has escaped the devastation from the 7.6-magnitude earthquake. But days before it struck, an American satellite had spotted an Al Qaeda training camp in a remote area and obtained high-resolution close-ups. A senior intelligence officer in Washington told the Sunday Express: âOne of those photos bore a remarkable resemblance to Bin Laden. His face looked thinner, which is in keeping with our reports that his kidney condition has worsened.â In recent weeks, both MI6 and the CIA have established that Bin Laden has received a portable kidney dialysis machine from China but it requires electricity to power it. Drones, unmanned aircraft that US Special Forces launched from Afghanistan last week, have reported that the area along the border has lost all power supplies. President Bush, who has said he wants Bin Laden âdead or aliveâ, is closely monitoring the operation.
Yeah, right. I don't think I'd get my hopes up. While the justice of it all would indeed be poetic, the finger of God doesn't usually seem to possess such unerring accuracy.
On the other hand, it would be highly amusing to announce that we had found the carcass, whether we found anyone resembling him or not. There are lotsa corpses that could be made up to look like him, especially in a somewhat decomposed state. At the very least, it'd tighten a few turbans and it'd be all sorts of good propaganda for the Lutherans, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, and Jains.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/20/2005 00:00 ||
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Follow the Kids and Ye shall find the Nanny PaPa Goat.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
10/20/2005 1:31 Comments ||
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#3
Article: Drones, unmanned aircraft that US Special Forces launched from Afghanistan last week, have reported that the area along the border has lost all power supplies.
That's just strange. My impression was that none of the border area has electricity, except where they have their own generators. I can't believe bin Laden lives in an area that is supplied with municipal power.
#5
Riddle me this batman, why when this hideous part of the world fortuitously was wiped out by the wrath of Allah, why do we give them millions of dollars in aid?
Let their muslim brothers take care of them, I want my money going to Hurricane Katrina victims.
#6
Riddle me this batman, why when this hideous part of the world fortuitously was wiped out by the wrath of Allah, why do we give them millions of dollars in aid?
Let their muslim brothers take care of them, I want my money going to Hurricane Katrina victims.
Maybe we should have a new grassroots movement along the lines of Porkbusters.The No More Jizyah movement, or perhaps just Jizyahbusters.
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.
Security forces killed two prominent Islamic militants and detained two others in a special operation against rebels in Dagestan, authorities said Wednesday. One police officer was also killed. An additional four police and security service officers were wounded in the operation, the regional Interior Ministry said.
A fifth man has been arrested during an investigation into a possible terrorism threat to a highway tunnel this week, according to court documents. Maged Hussein, who owns an east Baltimore convenience store that was raided by federal authorities on Tuesday, was taken in to custody on a handgun charge, the documents showed. Four other men were detained Tuesday on immigration charges and will be deported, according to Mark Bastan, acting special agent in charge at Immigration and Customs Enforcement here. 
US forces killed 12 militants in western Iraq including an al-Qaeda leader responsible for attacks around Ramadi, a focus of the Sunni Arab insurgency, the US military said overnight. A statement said 
Insurgents killed three Iraqis and two coalition soldiers â one American and one British â in the hours before Saddam Hussein's trial began on Wednesday. A bomb also went off at a famous monument in a Baghdad square honoring the 8th-century founder of Baghdad to whom Saddam had often compared himself. The blast, which toppled the bust of Abu Jaafar Al-Mansour but caused no injuries, appeared to be a jab at the former dictator.
Wednesday in Baghdad: Iraqi police arrested Saddam Hussein's nephew 
The Palestinian Authority rejected on Thursday a report from Israeli intelligence that foreign Islamists suspected of links to al-Qaeda had slipped into the Gaza Strip after Israel withdrew last month. Israel's military intelligence chief said this week that around 10 "global jihad operatives" entered Gaza during chaos at the border with Egypt following Israel's troop pullout to end 38 years of military rule. The border was later sealed. The Palestinian Interior Ministry said its investigations showed that the Israeli report was untrue. 
BALI'S police chief has called for calm amid a phone-message campaign urging Balinese Hindus to kill all Muslims on the island in retaliation for the triple suicide bombings by suspected Islamic extremists. A mobile phone text message received by the AAP wire news service urges Balinese people to "wake up from a long sleep".
Eight members of the "Islam Defenders Front" (FPI) have been apprehended by West Jakarta police for carrying sharp weapons during a rally in front of the West Jakarta Police precinct on Tuesday. Some 150 FPI members were protesting the slow pace of investigations into a clash between their group and residents of the Kalijodo red-light district in West Jakarta last Sunday, in which four FPI members were injured. 
Police are searching along eastern Malaysia's border with Indonesia for two fugitives believed to have masterminded this month's Bali bombings, a news report said Wednesday. Malaysians 
Indonesian police said on Wednesday they had arrested two more men in connection with their probe into this month's suicide bombings on the resort island of Bali. The pair were arrested under anti-terrorism laws on Tuesday in the town of Tomohon in North Sulawesi province after a tip-off from local residents, said police spokesman Sunarko Danu Ardanto. He told AFP that the suspects, both in their 20s and identified only by their initials, had been taken to the provincial capital Manado for up to seven days of questioning to determine if they played a role in the bombings. "There are two men, one is CR, 27 years old, and the other is SD, 24 years old," Ardanto said. The 27-year-old man held three different identification cards when he was arrested, Ardanto added.
Lebanon made public Wednesday a request for the U.N. to extend until mid-December the investigation being conducted by German judge Detlev Mehlis into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rakik Hariri. Prime Minister Fuad Siniora requested the extension in a letter sent to Secretary-General Kofi Annan last Friday. But on Monday Annan told reporters no serious discussion had taken place on the request. Mehlis is scheduled to submit a technical report on his investigation on Friday to Annan and the U.N. Security Council, which authorized his probe in Lebanon. His mandate expires next week. On Monday, Annan said he intended to keep politics out of the investigation and would decide on the extension if Mehlis would ask for it. 
The leader of a group of suspected Islamic militants who escaped from a US air base in Afghanistan, was identified, for the first time, on Wednesday as the Libyan 
Security officers in London and Washington are anxious not to discuss whether Bin Laden is dead or has escaped the devastation from the 7.6-magnitude earthquake. But days before it struck, an American satellite had spotted an Al Qaeda training camp in a remote area and obtained high-resolution close-ups. A senior intelligence officer in Washington told the Sunday Express: âOne of those photos bore a remarkable resemblance to Bin Laden. His face looked thinner, which is in keeping with our reports that his kidney condition has worsened.â In recent weeks, both MI6 and the CIA have established that Bin Laden has received a portable kidney dialysis machine from China but it requires electricity to power it. Drones, unmanned aircraft that US Special Forces launched from Afghanistan last week, have reported that the area along the border has lost all power supplies. President Bush, who has said he wants Bin Laden âdead or aliveâ, is closely monitoring the operation.
LAHORE: The Lahore police took unprecedented security measures on Wednesday after reports of likely suicide attacks on the Punjab Assembly, Governorâs House and the Civil Secretariat buildings. 
PESHAWAR: An MI6/SAS team has joined US Special Forces in earthquake-devastated Balakot to search for Osama Bin Laden among thousands of victims still buried, British newspaper the Sunday Express reports. US President George W Bush approved a full-scale surveillance operation along the remote Afghan-Pakistan border where extremists have training camps. The team, flown in from a high-security base in Afghanistan, is equipped with imagery and eavesdropping technology, high-tech weapons systems and MI6 linguists to try to locate the most wanted âterroristâ in the world.
