Hi there, !
Today Sat 07/29/2006 Fri 07/28/2006 Thu 07/27/2006 Wed 07/26/2006 Tue 07/25/2006 Mon 07/24/2006 Sun 07/23/2006 Archives
Rantburg
531698 articles and 1855972 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 125 articles and 559 comments as of 13:38.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion    Local News       
Leb Paleos to join Hizbullah
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
2 00:00 WITT [] 
4 00:00 Sherry [1] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 Glenmore [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
3 00:00 twobyfour [] 
4 00:00 john [] 
9 00:00 SOP35/Rat [1] 
4 00:00 john [] 
9 00:00 Broadhead6 [] 
13 00:00 mac [1] 
2 00:00 Inspector Clueso [] 
8 00:00 Crairt Phomotle9768 [] 
42 00:00 Broadhead6 [] 
3 00:00 Fordesque [] 
4 00:00 phil_b [] 
0 [] 
5 00:00 buwaya [] 
5 00:00 Bright Pebbles [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 SOP35/Rat [] 
8 00:00 DarthVader [] 
2 00:00 6 [] 
7 00:00 Fordesque [] 
2 00:00 john [] 
19 00:00 Old Patriot [] 
2 00:00 Sgt. Mom [] 
3 00:00 2b [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 gorb [] 
0 [] 
2 00:00 6 [] 
10 00:00 Old Patriot [1] 
0 [] 
13 00:00 button [] 
0 [] 
3 00:00 gorb [] 
1 00:00 6 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 Crairt Phomotle9768 [] 
1 00:00 trailing wife [] 
1 00:00 2b [] 
4 00:00 yo momma [] 
Page 2: WoT Background
0 []
2 00:00 Celsius []
3 00:00 john []
1 00:00 Besoeker []
1 00:00 Xbalanke []
3 00:00 Besoeker []
6 00:00 Thoth []
0 []
7 00:00 wxjames []
11 00:00 Champ Angeger5024 []
1 00:00 Sock Puppet of Doom []
23 00:00 Broadhead6 [1]
6 00:00 Bright Pebbles []
30 00:00 11A5S []
6 00:00 Barbara Skolaut []
2 00:00 Captain America []
1 00:00 gorb []
10 00:00 mhw []
1 00:00 Remoteman []
0 []
1 00:00 cruiser []
0 []
3 00:00 tu3031 []
3 00:00 BigEd []
3 00:00 JFM []
22 00:00 Fordesque []
3 00:00 Glotle Angong2235 []
0 []
10 00:00 Ptah []
0 []
0 []
5 00:00 wxjames []
2 00:00 Fordesque []
9 00:00 CrazyFool []
Page 3: Non-WoT
4 00:00 whitecollar redneck []
4 00:00 Broadhead6 []
2 00:00 eLarson []
4 00:00 Fordesque []
4 00:00 Nimble Spemble []
8 00:00 john []
9 00:00 ryuge []
14 00:00 Parabellum []
10 00:00 Old Patriot []
5 00:00 Baba Tutu []
7 00:00 Fred []
4 00:00 WhiteCollarRedneck []
Page 4: Opinion
0 []
0 []
1 00:00 john []
5 00:00 Alaska Paul []
2 00:00 Griper Whegum8464 []
2 00:00 Mike []
0 []
3 00:00 3dc []
4 00:00 49 Pan []
3 00:00 Swamp Blondie []
2 00:00 mac []
1 00:00 Bobby []
1 00:00 Joluns Threrenter2844 []
9 00:00 Griper Whegum8464 []
5 00:00 Secret Master []
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
0 []
5 00:00 Alaska Paul []
4 00:00 CrazyFool []
16 00:00 WITT [1]
12 00:00 Inspector Clueso []
3 00:00 CrazyFool []
6 00:00 xbalanke []
1 00:00 RWV []
3 00:00 6 []
1 00:00 tu3031 []
4 00:00 tu3031 [1]
0 []
1 00:00 wxjames []
4 00:00 Barbara Skolaut []
1 00:00 Jese Gleresh1086 []
6 00:00 john []
5 00:00 Broadhead6 []
-Short Attention Span Theater-
UN bombing not deliberate, Harper says
CANADA'S Prime Minister Stephen Harper said today an Israeli attack on a UN outpost that killed four, including a Canadian, was a "terrible tragedy" but not likely deliberate.

At the same time, he questioned why the UN had manned the outpost in Lebanon near the Israeli border as bombs exploded all around.
"We want to find out why this United Nations post was attacked and also why it remained manned during what is now, more or less, a war during obvious danger to these individuals," he said.

Asked about UN head Kofi Annan's statement suggesting Israel had targeted the outpost, Mr Harper said: "I certainly doubt that to be the case".

"The government of Israel has been cooperating with us in our evacuation efforts, in our efforts to move Canadian citizens out of Lebanon and also trying to keep our own troops that are on the ground, involved in the evacuation, out of harm's way," he said.

Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said earlier that Israel had offered its regrets and condolences for the deaths of four UN observers, including a Canadian soldier assigned to the mission.

While in Rome for emergency talks on the Lebanon crisis, Mr MacKay told broadcaster CTV the incident was a "tragic loss of life of four peacekeepers, including a Canadian".

"I spoke this morning with the Israeli foreign minister (Tzipi Livni). She expressed her sincere condolences and regret for this incident. We are still awaiting further details as to what took place," he said.

"There's conflicting reports."

Israel and the UN have committed to investigate the incident, he said.

The UN yesterday confirmed that the four soldiers killed were from Austria, Canada, China and Finland.

In a statement Mr Harper identified the Canadian soldier as Major Paeta Derek Hess-von Kruedener.

Mr Harper said he was "missing and presumed dead as a result of an incident yesterday" as UN workers continued to dig through the rubble of its United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation outpost for his body.

"Our government fully intends to investigate the circumstances that led to this tragic incident. I have asked our military to investigate and work in conjunction with the government of Israel and the United Nations to determine what occurred."
Posted by: Oztralian || 07/26/2006 21:01 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There are now reports that the four UN peacekeepers contacted Israeli forces 10 times to check their fire, hours before they were killed.

If true, someone, somewhere, fucked up.
Posted by: Celsius || 07/26/2006 23:36 Comments || Top||

#2  I think the UN has an entire division solely devoted to fucking things up. This includes screwing their own troops...I don't think they will ever have a real fighting force for this very reason. How could anyone pledge allegiance to this ?I think the families of the deceased would probably concur. They need a change at the top.
Posted by: WITT || 07/26/2006 23:53 Comments || Top||


Hezbully kills 100+ baby ducks!
Over 100 fowl killed when rockets hit farm near Maalot

A rocket barrage which hit the Maalot area in the north damaged a number of homes. In addition, over 100 fowl were killed when rockets directly hit two chicken duck coops.
Posted by: twobyfour || 07/26/2006 11:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  PETA protest in 5, 4, 3...
Posted by: Raj || 07/26/2006 12:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Oh, the avianity.
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/26/2006 12:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Ducks - Why do they hate us?
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 07/26/2006 12:40 Comments || Top||

#4  "Mangled Baby Ducks. That’s right, Mangled Baby Ducks!"
Posted by: Mike || 07/26/2006 12:46 Comments || Top||

#5  More on ducks at war here.
Posted by: Mike || 07/26/2006 12:49 Comments || Top||

#6  Oh, the avianity.
Stop that right now.
Posted by: 6 || 07/26/2006 13:09 Comments || Top||

#7  "Mangled Baby Ducks. That's right, Mangled Baby Ducks!"

LOL, Mike.
Posted by: Champ Angeger5024 || 07/26/2006 13:16 Comments || Top||

#8  "Duck season"
Posted by: Steve || 07/26/2006 13:35 Comments || Top||

#9  That is just fowl.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/26/2006 13:44 Comments || Top||

#10  Now, now. Don't get your feathers ruffled.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 07/26/2006 13:58 Comments || Top||

#11  Nice effort trying to distract the losses of your "bagel making" puppets. First lets talk about their lies (deja vu-Adolf Hitler trying to rally support in the early stages of his Nazi war campaign!):
1/2 of Hezbullah military destroyed-lie; 100 Hizbollah killed-lie;15 Hebollah captured-lie;2 Hezbollah captured-lie; Bint Jubail captured-lie; Sheikh Nasrullah killed-lie; Hizbollah Rocket inventory depleting-lie; Blawk Hawk down by friendly fire-lie...on and on we can go. As for Israeli losses-news should be reaching you shortly- 8 "Israeli" sissy pants slaughtered and sent to the Hellfire-(according to Israeli sources). More accurately, 13 sissy pants slaughtered at Bint Jubail and 10's sent to the vegetable ward. Total sissy pant casualties-Very conservative estimate-50+13=63 "soldiers" Ha! Ha!. Vegatable ward causualties well over a hundred. Main Mirkaava battle tanks destroyed 9 to date-very conservative estimate. Oh-don't forget the "accidental" U.N bombing by Israel-and just when Kofi had started to eat his shark fin soup with Condi!
It's over already-the whole world is beginning to realize who is the better man! Our nations are now realizing our fighting superiority over the Western nations. I would rate "Israeli" (and by analogy "American") fighting abilities equal to that of the Khatmandu military. Or maybe we're just making them look bad! It's just a matter of time before the Muslim world joins in and Israel is eliminated. Here we come Scotlaaaaand!!!!!!!
Posted by: the Levant || 07/26/2006 14:03 Comments || Top||

#12  Enjoying all your new refugee neighbors, Levant? You should get to know them, as they tend to hang around for awhile.
Got wireless access in your bomb shelter yet? Might be worth looking into...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/26/2006 14:09 Comments || Top||

#13  I'm curious, why is it that some trolls are incapable of posting their foolscap on a relevant thread?

A bridge too far, perhaps - judging from the content?
Posted by: Champ Angeger5024 || 07/26/2006 14:22 Comments || Top||

#14  Tu 3031, "Refugee" is NOT the appropriate word at all-brother and sister is a better choice. (Unlike the way you treat your Hispanic and Mexican neighbours)
Wireless-Naaaaaw. I prefer to be more positive in my approach to life. The new Russian SAM's would be worth investing by the community-dirt cheap too!
Posted by: the Levant || 07/26/2006 14:24 Comments || Top||

#15  It's all in the ROE, Levant. One day, the world would realize that Vlad Tepes had some good ideas and then your ass would be on the line. Or is it on the stake?
Posted by: twobyfour || 07/26/2006 14:27 Comments || Top||

#16  Levant the Great Satan coming to getcha better run better hide. oh Levant if US ever decided to go all out war you would sh*t yourself.
Posted by: djohn66 || 07/26/2006 14:28 Comments || Top||

#17  Well then enjoy your new "brothers and sisters". They spread joy wherever they go... and stay for 50 or 60 years. You remember I said that some day in the not too distant future.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/26/2006 14:29 Comments || Top||

#18  Fighting parity? That's some good hash-hish you are smoking. Put down the nargilla and smell the coffee. Western armies vs. Arab armies have favored the west by at least 100:1 kill rate for a long time (>200:1 in Desert Storm, 150:1 in the 2003 Race to Baghdad). Syrians have done much to contribute to those so ridiculously high exchange ratios. Unlike Arabs, we in the west do not hide our casualties, but make public their names and photos and honor each one, unlike Arabs who hide their dead in shame in mass graves in the desert. The only thing Arab armies are good at, besides getting killed wholesale in Russian gear, is killing and raping their own citizens, like in Hama.

Putting faith in Russian equipment? You too funny sand bunny. 1982, 1973, 1967, should I go on? Crazy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Glad you feel those "refugees" are your brothers. Because when this is over, all the "brotherly Palestinians" are going to be deported from Israel and Lebanon to Syria where they will do for Syria what they did for Jordan and Lebanon. Enjoy their company.
Posted by: ed || 07/26/2006 14:47 Comments || Top||

#19  Gosh if the Hizbullah “wins” any more battles the Israelis will take Beirut and Damascus. Does Levant remind anyone of Bagdad Bob?
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 07/26/2006 14:54 Comments || Top||

#20  Ed,

Please. Build up the Arabs and the Brave Lions of I-slam.

When the time comes, It will be even easier than normal to scythe them down.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/26/2006 14:55 Comments || Top||

#21  I suspect Levant is just agitating for effect, but on the odd chance that he's sincere, I profer the following: "You and your fellow ragheads eat some pig and die, Levant."
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 07/26/2006 15:03 Comments || Top||

#22  I would rate "Israeli" (and by analogy "American") fighting abilities equal to that of the Khatmandu military.

Levant, there's some Gurkhas in Kathmandu, and I wouldn't mess with those guys. Big knives, know how to use 'em, dedicated to making the other guy die for his country instead of martyring themselves for their own. They'd kick your sorry little weasel ass before lunch and make your girlfriend hold their coats while they did it (and get her phone number while they're at it, too.)

If you meant to compare the US forces and the Israeli ones to them, thanks for the compliment, Levant!

And yeah....BTW, there's a Jewish soldier gonna kick yo' ass the minute you step out that madrassah door, Levant. (He's already got your sister's phone number....and your mother just gave it up fifteen minutes ago! Best she ever had, too! Oh, the humiliation!!)
Posted by: Swamp Blondie || 07/26/2006 15:12 Comments || Top||

#23  This is a map of Ancient Levant. Your dream of acquiring all this land for yourself, is exactly that, a dream. Obviously, you have no concept of historical background, otherwise you wouldn't be saying "Here we come Scotlaaaaand!" Scotland is no where near acient Levant. Here is a rule of thumb. Before conquering lands, decide on what the hell you want to conquer and why.

Posted by: Poison Reverse || 07/26/2006 15:19 Comments || Top||

#24  ed, that has to be an RB classic
'you too funny sand bunny'
LMAO
Posted by: wxjames || 07/26/2006 15:22 Comments || Top||

#25  Here we come Scotlaaaaand!!!!!!!

Um, Levant, Scotland is cold and rainy. REALLY cold and rainy. If I were a member of the umma, I'd be looking into Bora Bora or Tahiti rather than fantasizing about conquering the Shetland Islands.
Posted by: Secret Master || 07/26/2006 17:12 Comments || Top||

#26  Quick! Pass another UN resolution banning the killing of innocent baby ducks.
Posted by: Captain America || 07/26/2006 17:17 Comments || Top||

#27  Levant? You are no more Lebanonese than Osamma and Zawahiri are real Muslims. They are fakes and so are you. Although no one corners the market on rant, on your market corner stands only a crack dealer. You are a crackhead that has on cognate abilities. It sucks to be you. Maybe a McShwarma and fries will cheer you up.
Posted by: Dung Fun Poo || 07/26/2006 17:19 Comments || Top||

#28  Shetland Islands? Its not the Shetland Islands he fantasizes about!
Posted by: Crusader || 07/26/2006 17:20 Comments || Top||

#29  LOL!
Posted by: Secret Master || 07/26/2006 17:31 Comments || Top||

#30  Does this mean that the ducks get 72 virgins since they were martyered?
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/26/2006 17:34 Comments || Top||

#31  Posters like Levant....sheesh, YJCMTSU!
Posted by: mac || 07/26/2006 18:06 Comments || Top||

#32  From here forward, all RB'ers can feel free to refer to Hezbaduckies and Hezbabunnies slaughtered. Ah! the irony (not forgetting Ah! the humanity, of course).
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 || 07/26/2006 18:43 Comments || Top||

#33  Its not the Shetland Islands he fantasizes about!

Now we know what will satisfy.
LEvant wants a PONY !
Posted by: J. D. Lux || 07/26/2006 18:57 Comments || Top||

#34 
Unleash the ducks of war!
Posted by: Master of Obvious || 07/26/2006 19:08 Comments || Top||

#35  Hey LEVANT, listen to this
Here is a real rant... from a real woman. I would like to see this babe turn you over her knee and
give you the spanking you need.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/26/2006 19:15 Comments || Top||

#36  EU,

I believe this woman just beheaded all Muslims with her surgical tongue. Excellent v-pic.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 07/26/2006 19:56 Comments || Top||

#37  Kofi move over, we have a new UN head.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/26/2006 20:08 Comments || Top||

#38  I should refrain, but I just can't...

Hey, Levant! Got your "Seig Heil!" and your goosestep down there little Nazi? Got your AK-47 handy and lots of ammo?

'Cause if you were really over there where the she-ites are hitting the fan you'd be needing 'em all I'll bet.

But I tend to agree with DFP - you're no more Lebanese than I am. So why don't ya' 'fess up there ya' friggin' wannabe and tell us where you're really at - not of course that I really expect a cowardly little rat bastard like you, you pissant, to do such a brave thing.

Or better yet, c'mon over here and start sh*t with people on the street. Like on my street. We got guns too, boy. Lots of 'em. Or, say, over in Richmond or the South of Market area in San Francisco. There's some boys over there that'll be more than happy to take good care of you and your stiff-armed saluting, goose stepping moronic slimemolds on the backside of life's pustules.

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 07/26/2006 20:33 Comments || Top||

#39  Levant posts via a server / ISP in Syria.
Posted by: lotp || 07/26/2006 20:46 Comments || Top||

#40  Oh, and BTW, little Nazi-wannabe - don't mess with the Scots. They've kicked more collective ass than every sandpounding arab put together ever dreamed of.

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 07/26/2006 20:51 Comments || Top||

#41  And if you think thats bad....
just wait till you see the other 71 Virgins !!!!!
Posted by: junkirony || 07/26/2006 21:13 Comments || Top||

#42  I wonder if Levant is some super double secret probation poster using much hyperbole and facetious rants in order to display the average mid-east muzzy dilusions of grandeur (aka "doing the baghdad bobby"). If not, then there is some serious kool-aid being shelled out in syria.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 07/26/2006 23:08 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Bombing raids and clashes kill 25 Afghan militants
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Twenty-five militants were killed by U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, officials said on Wednesday, as the U.S. military prepares to hand over security responsibilities in the violent south. Fifteen Taliban insurgents were killed during heavy bombing in three villages in Musa Qala of southern Helmand province on Tuesday night, Helmand's police chief Nabi Mullahkhail told Reuters. "The bombing lasted for several hours," he said. "As a result 15 Taliban were killed and 20 others wounded."

Several people who said they were from Musa Qala phoned journalists to say that most of those killed in the attack were civilians. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, said only one militant was killed in the raid and the rest were civilians. Coalition officials could not be reached for comment.

Earlier, the coalition said in a statement it had killed seven militants on Tuesday in two separate incidents in the drug-producing region, where thousands of British soldiers are based as part of a NATO-led mission. Afghanistan's defense ministry said another two militants had been killed in combat in the south on Tuesday, and a third insurgent was killed in the southeast.

NATO will take over command from the coalition in the south on Monday, extending its control over security to all of the country except the east. It will be its biggest ground operation since its formation over 50 years ago.
Posted by: Steve || 07/26/2006 12:29 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Why do they call them Afghan militants? Why don't they call them Pakhestani militants (which would be more accurate)?
Posted by: Frozen Al || 07/26/2006 13:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Militants/insurgents = miscreants/cohorts
Posted by: Inspector Clueso || 07/26/2006 13:34 Comments || Top||


Soldier among 10 killed in Afghanistan
A roadside bomb along a busy Kabul road killed two Afghans on Tuesday as fighting in the eastern provinces left a US-led coalition soldier and seven suspected Taliban dead, officials said. The bomb in Kabul killed a man and a woman riding in taxi, and wounded four others, said Faiz Ahmad Hotaq, a police official.

In the eastern Kunar province, a coalition soldier, whose nationality was not disclosed, was killed on Monday in firefight with militants, a coalition statement said. Seven militants were also killed in Paktika province in clashes with coalition soldiers, it said. One coalition soldier was slightly wounded.

The US military said on Tuesday that two American engineer soldiers were seriously wounded in a roadside bomb attack in eastern Khost province. The two were on their way to a road project Sunday between the towns of Khost and Gardez when they were attacked, the military said. Their injuries were serious but not life threatening.

President Hamid Karzai, meanwhile, condemned the fatal shooting of an Afghan doctor and a driver for the international Christian relief and development organisation World Vision on Sunday after they delivered medicines to the town of Charsada in Ghor province. Karzai said in a statement that the two were killed “at the instructions of foreigners,” but did not elaborate.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Horn
Somalia: Plane Brings Arms to Militants
Somalia's virtually powerless government said a cargo plane that landed at the capital's airport Wednesday morning was carrying weapons for Islamic militants who have seized control of much of southern Somalia. The Ilyushin-76 was only the second aircraft to land at Mogadishu International Airport in more than a decade of anarchy here, demonstrating the Islamic militia's total control of the capital.

A spokesman for the country's official government, based 150 miles northwest of Mogadishu, said the plane was carrying land mines, bombs and long-range guns from Eritrea for a militia loyal to the Supreme Islamic Courts Council, the group that controls Mogadishu. 'I call for the Islamic courts and the Eritrean government to stop igniting a war in Somalia,' Salad Ali Jeeley told The Associated Press. He said the Somali government knows what was on the plane through intelligence agents it has in Mogadishu. A senior Islamic official, Sheik Yusuf Indohaadde, declined to comment.
Like I thought the other day, Eritrea and Ethiopia are going to use Somalia as a proxy battleground.

An AP reporter watched the plane land Wednesday, but Islamic officials quickly ordered journalists to leave. The plane's tail carried a flag from Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic that often makes its planes available for charter.
"Cash up front, please"

The relationship between the powerful Islamic militants and the weak government, which has international support but no military, has been deteriorating in recent weeks despite U.N. efforts to arrange peace talks. The Islamic militia's rise has prompted particular concern in the United States, which accuses the group of harboring al-Qaida leaders responsible for deadly 1998 bombings at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

A U.N. envoy was in Somalia on Tuesday to try to arrange peace talks aimed at avoiding more fighting in Somalia. The Islamic militia's leader, Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, rebuffed the plan, saying he won't negotiate until the government expels all foreign troops. Neighboring Ethiopia has sent troops here to protect the government, according to widespread witness accounts.

Somali government leaders have denied Ethiopian soldiers were in Somalia, perhaps because they don't want to appear beholden to the country's traditional rival. Ethiopia, a largely Christian country, is the longtime enemy of Somalia, which is mostly Muslim. But Somalia's president has ties to Ethiopia and has asked for its help in the past.

While Aweys ruled out any talks, a more moderate Islamic leader left open the possibility after meeting with Francois Lonseny Fall, the U.N. special representative to Somalia. Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed said the group's 'peace committee' still had to consider the United Nations' call for negotiations, which would be held next week in Khartoum, Sudan. In an apparent acknowledgement that Ethiopian troops were complicating peace efforts, Fall told reporters: 'The U.N. is always calling on maximum restraint from neighboring countries and for them not to interfere at this particular moment in Somalia.'

He also praised the Islamic union. After seeing the streets of Mogadishu without roadblocks or gunmen, he said it had 'achieved great things in Mogadishu.'
"I'm sure if they had trains, they'd run on time."
Fall also went to Baidoa - the only town controlled by the government - where Abdirizak Adam, President Abdullahi Yusuf's chief of staff, said the government was ready for talks.

'Aweys is a terrorist, so it not surprising that he is refusing talks,' Salad Ali Jeeley, a government spokesman, said. 'We hope the moderate Islamists will attend the meeting.'
Posted by: Steve || 07/26/2006 09:16 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Could be OBL and the boys, too.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 07/26/2006 9:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Hey! You're violating a UN arms embargo there, MISTER!!
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/26/2006 10:25 Comments || Top||

#3  "We hope the moderate Islamists will attend the meeting."

So, was Herman Goering a moderate Nazi? I can see the headlines now: "We understand that Himmler won't be making our meeting, but we hope that the more moderate Nazis - you know, Goering and Von Ribbentrop - will come to the meeting."
Posted by: Secret Master || 07/26/2006 11:10 Comments || Top||

#4  they don't want to appear beholden to the country's traditional rival. Ethiopia, a largely Christian country, is the longtime enemy of Somalia,

Inventing history. Somalia never existed as a country before the UN created it circa 1960. At one time large parts of present day Somalia were part of Ethiopa (before the Ottomans and the Europeans arrived).
Posted by: phil_b || 07/26/2006 19:02 Comments || Top||


Africa North
300 Islamists Freed
Cairo, 26 July (AKI) - The Egyptian interior minister has ordered the release of some 300 detainees belonging to Islamist group Gamaa al-Islamiya, the independent daily al-Masri al-Yom reports. "A state security court has ruled not to validate the detention order for those involved, because there are not the grounds required for imprisonment," the paper explained, adding that "the court has decided to suspend their detention." According to local dailies, most detainees freed "had already served terms of between three and five years."

Another 14 detainees affiliated to the organisation have started a hunger strike in the jail of Damanhur, to protest against sanitary and health conditions in the penitentiary and asking to be released. The detainees are complaining about the decision of the court which haxs renewed their detention orders and denounced "the complete lack of hygiene which has caused illnesses and the deterioration of the health conditions of countless detainees."

Gaama al-Islamiya, a radical Islamist movement which was responsible for bloody attacks in Egypt in the 1970s but which in 1997 publicly renounced violence, has of late been seeking to project a new image. The leaders of Gamaa al-Islamiyah last month set up an Internet site to allow a wider public to understand the beliefs and ideology on which the group is based. "We felt the need to explain to young people the true Islam - the site proclaims - and to distance them from the violence endorsed by numerous Islamist groups in recent years."
Posted by: Steve || 07/26/2006 08:29 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Uganda: Terror Suspect Owns Ugandan Passport
ONE of India's most wanted terror suspects arrested in Kenya last week was found in possession of a fake Ugandan passport among several others of different African countries. Abdul Karim Tunda, an alleged leader of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, was picked on Thursday in the coastal city of Mombasa by Kenyan police, following a tip off by Indian authorities that he was in East Africa. Kenya police said they had detained Tunda, after trailing him from a small trading post on the Kenyan-Tanzanian border.

At the time of his arrest, Tunda was found with eight passports, each with a different name derived from different countries including Kenya and Tanzania. But Ugandan police said they were not aware of the development. CID chief Elizabeth Kuteesa could not be reached for comment but her deputy Okoth Ochola, on Saturday said he was not aware of the matter.

Immediately after his arrest, Tunda was flown to Nairobi. Kenyan police said he was confrontational and had declined to cooperate with the authorities. Recently, the Police launched a probe into the immigration depa-rtment over passport forgeries. According to Indian press reports, Tunda's branch of the group allegedly masterminded 33 bomb blasts in New Delhi and neighbouring areas between December 1996 and January 1998.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fake passports -- made in Pakistan, perhaps?
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2006 5:55 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Schools shut after border build-up
The Border Security Force today reported a “massive” military build-up by Bangladesh on a stretch of the international border in south Assam and ordered the closure of schools all along that frontier.

Commandant Biplab Sengupta, whose battalion patrols the 32-km danger stretch, told the media that Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) troops had built bunkers just across the Kathigorah sector, in Cachar district, and were trying to “provoke” his men. Describing the situation as “war-like”, he said bunkers were visible all along the stretch from Amulshid to Beyabail villages, just across the border.

Sengupta said two armoured vehicles had been requisitioned for patrolling.

Last month, BSF and BDR troops exchanged mortar and machine-gun fire along the same stretch and some defence “fortifications” on the other side were destroyed. The skirmish was restricted to a site between Harinagar and Chandinagar villages, both on this side of the border.

A flag meeting between senior officials of the border forces was held a few days later and both sides ostensibly agreed not to provoke each other, Sengupta said.

The security set-up along the entire eastern frontier was recently rejigged with a record number of BSF battalions being deployed. Sources said battalion commanders had been authorised to open fire in retaliatory action without waiting for orders from New Delhi.

The decision to give battalion commanders the authority to take retaliatory action flows from the army’s experience along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir before the ceasefire with Pakistan began in 2003.

However, Sengupta said the BSF would try its best to “keep peace and observe restraint” along the Kathigorah sector.

The BSF commandant claimed that a BDR unit had been specifically assigned to provide cover to Bangladeshi farmers cultivating paddy on a 200-bigha plot belonging to India, but under “adverse possession” of that country.

Indications of the military build-up across the border and the BSF’s directive to temporarily shut down schools have already triggered an exodus from some border villages. Police confirmed that many families from Kathigorah block had shifted women and children to other places, apprehending a full-blown clash between the border forces.

BSF sources said two more battalions would be moved to the south Assam sectors soon. There are three battalions at present in the south Assam districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi. The additional battalions will be under the command of an inspector-general. Overall, the deployment of the BSF along the 4,095-km border has been doubled from 39 to 79 battalions.

Each BSF battalion has roughly 800 soldiers.
Posted by: john || 07/26/2006 20:25 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Breakaway Abkhaz authorities vow to shoot anyone nearing border
SUKHUMI, July 26 (RIA Novosti) - The president of Georgia's self-proclaimed republic of Abkhazia said Wednesday anyone approaching the republic's border would be shot.
Now that's border control!
Units from Georgia's Interior Ministry have established control over most of a remote gorge on the border with Abkhazia, local television reported Wednesday. The ministry said earlier in the day that a column of vehicles with some 100 troops had been dispatched to the Kodori Gorge to continue an operation launched Tuesday night to detain Emzar Kvitsiani, a former presidential envoy to the gorge, and his supporters after they refused to recognize the Tbilisi authorities.

"We will shoot to kill [anyone] crossing even one meter into Abhazia's border," Sergei Bagapsh said. He spoke at the end of a meeting with an OSCE delegation on a one-day visit to Abkhazia. He said that by conducting the operation in the Kodori Gorge, Georgia had violated standing agreements. "Georgian troops have defied the 1994 Moscow [ceasefire and disengagement] agreement, and they are flouting Russian peacekeeping forces and ignoring UN military observers," he said.
Doesn't everybody?

"All of this time Abkhazia has stood by these agreements. Now Abkhazia will take commensurate action," he said.

Georgia's Rustavi-2 television channel said the police had surrounded Kvitsiani and up to 150 members of his militia near a village and nearby forests. About 80 former members of the Hunter battalion, which was officially disbanded in 2005, laid down their arms after receiving security guarantees from the authorities, the channel said.

Additional: ROME, July 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is closely monitoring the situation in the Kodori Gorge and has cautioned Georgia against violating agreements covering the area, the foreign minister said Wednesday. Georgian authorities said earlier they had launched a police operation in the Kodori Gorge, its de facto border with the breakaway region of Abkhazia, to disarm a militia led by Emzar Kvitsiani, a former presidential envoy to the area.

"We are closely watching the development of the situation and we have warned our Georgian colleagues that [any] violation of agreements is unacceptable," Sergei Lavrov said. "I hope that they will heed our call." He was speaking to journalists after a conference on the Middle East conflict in Rome.
Posted by: Steve || 07/26/2006 14:07 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  As usual, score cards and maps will be arriving soon, so please have patience. If you require such documentation, please sign up at the information tent.
Posted by: wxjames || 07/26/2006 15:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Emzar Kvitsiani, the Col. Kurtz of Kodori Gorge...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/26/2006 15:14 Comments || Top||

#3  We will shoot to kill [anyone] crossing even one meter into Abhazia's border," Sergei Bagapsh

Sergei my boy, have you considered a job with the American INS? I believe you have a future here.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/26/2006 15:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Give the man an H1 Visa..

Posted by: john || 07/26/2006 19:25 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
N. Korea Says It Will Bolster Nuke Program
North Korea's defense minister said his country will strengthen its nuclear weapons program in response to U.N. sanctions and American hostility, the North's official news agency reported Wednesday. North Korea will upgrade its arsenal "in every way by employing all possible means and methods" and will greet any aggressors with "all-out do-or-die resistance and unprecedented devastating strikes," Kim Il Chol said, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

Kim said such a move is necessary to counter the United States'"extremely hostile act and the irresponsibility of the U.N. Security Council." Kim spoke at a gathering to mark the 53rd anniversary of the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War. The defense minister warned that the U.N. resolution will not force Pyongyang to give up its nuclear program. North Korea "can survive without sweets, but not without bullets," he said.

Separately, a South Korean civic group said the North is readying its forces for conflict. Artillery units have been armed and civilian forces, composed of laborers and farmers, have been outfitted with uniforms, the Seoul-based Good Friends group said in a statement Wednesday. Drills are being held for both active duty and civilian forces, and civilians have been issued vehicles covered with camouflage netting, Good Friends said without citing sources for its information.

Previous reports by the South Korean group of activities in the isolated North later were confirmed. But a spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry dismissed the report.
Posted by: Steve || 07/26/2006 14:33 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...United States'"extremely hostile act and the irresponsibility of the U.N. Security Council."

Does this remind anyone of a child's temper tantrum? So ronery and sadry arone...
Posted by: BigEd || 07/26/2006 14:48 Comments || Top||

#2  So how many more N Koreans will starve so Kimmy can have his glow in the dark toy. We talk about the world standing by during Hitler, Cambodia and Bosnia, we are silently watching it happen again with Kim. I'm not an advocate of attacking N Korea but something has to be done about him.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 07/26/2006 14:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Surprise meter available ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/26/2006 15:06 Comments || Top||

#4  He is just mad his toy blew up and people are ignoring him and watching the Middle East.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/26/2006 15:41 Comments || Top||

#5  Surprise meter available ?

More appropriately, the apathy meter. I doubt Kim's toys will really work. People who are systematically starved significantly drop in IQ the longer they're starved. Some of it's recoverable, some of it's not. It would be just reward if the first time Kim tried to launch one of his little 'glow in the dark' toys, it exploded on the launch pad.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/26/2006 16:29 Comments || Top||

#6  Ya know he's right about "the irresponsibilty of the U.N. Security Council" -- don't think he realizing why however.
Posted by: Captain America || 07/26/2006 17:19 Comments || Top||

#7  North Korea's defense minister said his country will strengthen its nuclear weapons program in response to U.N. sanctions and American hostility

With what? Tree-bark and rocks?
Posted by: eLarson || 07/26/2006 17:24 Comments || Top||

#8  just rocks, they ate all the tree bark
Posted by: spiffo || 07/26/2006 18:21 Comments || Top||

#9  Kimmie, please keep baring teeth and foaming at the mouth. I'm just wondering how far along your Japanese neighbors are on their thermonuclear development projects.
Posted by: SOP35/Rat || 07/26/2006 19:14 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Australian terror suspects had almost 40,000 rounds of military-style ammunition
ONE of the men accused of plotting a terrorist attack in Australia had enough military-style ammunition to launch a continuous 35-hour barrage of gunfire.

The evidence, from a ballistics expert, was quoted in court documents revealed yesterday as part of the case against nine Sydney men accused of planning an attack last year.
The prosecution case against the group is so large it has been broken into 93 parts.

Court documents allege that as well as planning to construct improvised explosive devices, a massive arsenal was part of the group's plans for an attack.

They show that a search in June last year of the home of one of the accused, Mohamed Ali Elomar, unearthed a cache of 12 rifles and pistols and 28,198 rounds of ammunition including 11,765 rounds of 7.62-calibre ammunition.

"A ballistics expert has stated it would take approximately 34 hours and 48 minutes to fire all the 7.6239mm rounds in the possession of Elomar with the 7.62 rifle owned by Elomar which was seized by police," the court documents said. When he was arrested in November, two pistols were found under his pillow.

Two more of the accused, Bradley Umar Baladjam and Mazen Touma were observed in June last year loading 7500 rounds of the same 7.62-calibre ammuni tion into a truck, which police later seized. "This type of ammunition is used in SKS or AK-47 type semi-automatic weapons," the documents say.

Baladjam also tried to purchase a further 20,000 rounds of the 7.62 ammunition between July and August last year.

The evidence includes dozens of statements from gun dealers about visits to gun shops and shooting ranges.

Police and intelligence agencies watched the nine men's every move for more than a year before arresting them, even allowing them to take a "controlled delivery" of some chemicals that could be used in a bomb.

An index of evidence tabled in court includes 205 statements that have not been made available to the defence because they were awaiting an "undertaking".

The top-secret evidence raised concerns yesterday that some defence lawyers were deliberately being excluded from the case.

Among the statements not served were details of Moustafa Cheikho's alleged training with Lashkar-e-Toiba in 2001.

Speaking on behalf of the eight defence lawyers representing the nine accused, Greg Walsh, who is representing Baladjam, said he was concerned security clearances were being required for legal aid payments to exclude certain lawyers from the case.

"I think it's a genuine agenda and I think it's a hidden agenda here and I think lawyers like me have a duty to speak out," he said. The eight lawyers have agreed not to submit themselves to security clearances.

Prosecutor Wendy Abraham said two of the defence lawyers had been given the material after the prosecution had accepted assurances about its contents.
Posted by: Oztralian || 07/26/2006 19:58 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I sorta think every good citizen should have about that much ammunition. Of course I'm not in gun-restricted Australia. And it's not clear this Mohamed fellow was a citizen at all, let alone a good one.
Posted by: Glenmore || 07/26/2006 20:24 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Inmate signs real name to bomb hoaxes
A prison inmate pleaded guilty on Tuesday to sending letters to the FBI and secret service that included bomb and anthrax threats -- as well as his full name and inmate number.

Donald Ray Bilby, 30, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Trenton to one count of false information and hoaxes after he sent five letters demanding authorities deposit $20,000 in his county jail inmate account because he needed money for bail, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

"I think it's fair to say we were not dealing with a great criminal mind here," U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said in a statement.

Bilby signed all the letters using his full name and inserted his inmate number beneath his signature. One letter to the FBI included demands for money, a piece of paper labeled "anthrax" and a white powdery substance that turned out to be harmless.

He faces a maximum of five years in prison after first serving a sentence for automobile theft.
Posted by: Oztralian || 07/26/2006 20:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Pak's 1,000 MW reactor report may be bogus
Didn't the report's author David Albright spend a lot of time running around Iraq for the IAEA, not finding WMDs?

A US think tank report about Pakistan taking a giant nuclear leap with a 1000 MW reactor appears to be bogus going by opinion in the scientific and diplomatic community and Pakistan's own track record in the field.

Far from having the capability to erect a 1000 MW reactor, Islamabad does not even have the ability to independently set up a 250 MW reactor, and its two operating reactors were also set up with Chinese help, according to experts.

"Clearly the report was politically inspired and its timing is suspect.

(The non-proliferation) lobby wants to convey a vague and exaggerated threat of nuclear dangers taking advantage of the comprehension gap on the subject," says Anupam Srivastava, a South Asia scholar at the University of Georgia who has studied nuclear programmes in the region.

According to Srivastava, only three countries in the world US, France and Russia have total expertise to build such mega reactors. Even China invites bids from western firms for its large reactors.

Therefore the idea that Pakistan has managed to build a 1000 MW reactor indigenously, he says, is quite ludicrous. According to the World Nuclear Association, Pakistan, as of July 2006, has two operable reactors of 425 MW and two proposed reactors of 600 MW each.

Not being a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Pakistan cannot overtly get help from China, which in any case, is itself dependent on western firms for large reactors.

Analysts say it is possible that Pakistan may have embarked on a project to build a 1000 MW reactor which has stalled due to lack of domain knowledge, technology and materials, which explains the ISIS suggestion that work at the site is at a virtual standstill.

That may also explain why Pakistan's foreign minister Kasuri sought US help for the reactor during a visit to Washington as recently as July 12.

"They have poured money down the drain for the Chinese, who don't have the expertise, refuse to bail them out," an Indian official said.
Posted by: john || 07/26/2006 15:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That 1000 MWt was thermal NOT electric but even a 300 MWe heavy water reactor is probably beyond Pak capability.

China itself bought their 700 MW heavy water CANDU units from AECL Canada. They don't seem too happy with them, choosing not to buy any more. Future reactors will be light water.
Posted by: john || 07/26/2006 15:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Their reactors just don't seem too bright.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/26/2006 15:46 Comments || Top||

#3  I think they meant to say 1000mW. May be just a English-Metric conversion issue, like the Hubble Tele.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 07/26/2006 20:00 Comments || Top||

#4  No, 1000 MWe is a pretty big reactor
Posted by: john || 07/26/2006 20:08 Comments || Top||


Terror in the ranks: 2 soldiers taken in for LeT links
Within days of an ominous warning by the country's top security adviser about terrorists infiltrating the armed forces, two soldiers have been picked up in Kashmir for possible links with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). In the first such case in 17 years of terrorism in the Kashmir Valley, two policemen were also taken in by intelligence officials, besides the two J&K Light Infantry men. Last week, TOI made public a letter by national security adviser M K Narayanan warning the states that terrorists could have found a way into the Air Force.

Military Intelligence officers picked up the soldiers - identified as Lance Naik Mohammad Shakeel and Sepoy Abdul Haq - to interrogate them about alleged links with a LeT field commander responsible for organising attacks in the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri. The arrested policemen - Sikander and Kabir - were picked up after a LeT module was busted at Mendhar in Poonch district. Police sources said they had been working for LeT for the past three years. The depth of their involvement is being probed. Military sources said jawans Shakeel and Haq, who are from Gursai village in Mendhar tehsil in Poonch district, were taken into custody on Saturday following a tip-off that they had been contacted by Pakistani national Abu Osama, who is LeT's divisional commander for the Jammu region.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Recruitment of mainly muslim soldiers to the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Regiment has increased in recent years, part of a deliberate campaign.

Posted by: john || 07/26/2006 6:51 Comments || Top||

#2  JAMMU/NEW DELHI: Three Indian Army soldiers have admitted to providing logistics support to terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), but the authorities stressed they were too junior to have any access to vital information.

The trio - a sepoy, a lance naik and a naik, the three lowest ranks of the Indian Army - have been in custody since July 8 and have admitted to providing three SIM cards (meant for mobile phone connection), batteries, boots and food to LeT cadres after the terror group threatened their families, highly placed army sources said Wednesday.

"It does not appear that anything sensitive has been passed on," a source said, adding that the issue would figure Thursday in form of a starred question that Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee would answer in the Lok Sabha.

The trio, sepoy Abdul Haq, lance naik Mohammad Shakeel and naik Mohammad Sharief, belong to the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) and were posted in a border area of the Jammu region.

All of them belong to Gursai area of Mendhar in Poonch district bordering Pakistan-administered Kashmir where incursions are said to be very common.

They were on leave when sleuths of the police, army and intelligence agencies picked them up for interrogation.

These soldiers had come under the scanner on the basis of the information put together by investigating agencies following the interrogation of one Tipu, an LeT operator.

ipu was arrested June 15, three days after the grenade explosions at the Jammu bus stand in which one civilian was killed and 30 were injured.

The LeT operator had revealed the names of two policemen, constables Sikander and Kabir, who had assisted him in staging the grenade explosions as also his future plans, which included assassinating former chief minister Farooq Abdullah at his Bhatindi residence, according to the sources.

On sustained interrogation the three pointed to the soldiers, who were subsequently picked up.

While Sikandar was found to be deeply involved with militancy, Kabir was let off as his involvement was said to be marginal.

The JAKLI, one of the Indian Army's youngest regiments, comprises of around 11 battalions with strength of 10,000 men that are deployed in various parts of the country.

A Territorial Army battalion comprising surrendered militants is also attached to the JAKLI.
Posted by: john || 07/26/2006 14:56 Comments || Top||


Four injured in Kohlu bomb blast
At least four people were injured, two of them critically, when a bomb exploded in a sweetshop in Kohlu, about 450 kilometres east of Quetta, a TV channel reported on Tuesday. The blast in a main bazaar also destroyed three other shops.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Man supplying vehicles to terrorists arrested
LAHORE: Law enforcement personnel on Monday arrested Shahbaz alias Abu Shoaib, a former activist of a religious organisation who was allegedly indirectly involved in supplying vehicles to terrorists, sources told Daily Times on Tuesday. Sources said Abu Shoaib was a car thief and had been expelled from the religious organisation after cases were registered against him with Civil Lines police for stealing vehicles.

Sources said a law enforcement team surrounded Kahna village on Ferozepur Road on Sunday night and sealed all entry and exit points to the village. Sources said law enforcement personnel had been tailing Abu Shoaib after he smuggled hundreds of weapons from Afghanistan into Pakistan on a truck eight years ago. Sources said the personnel had followed the weapons consignment till Attock, but lost trace of the truck once it entered Punjab. Sources also said Abu Shoaib opened a car showroom on Queens Road with Faisal, who is reportedly the son-in-law of a renowned religious leader.

Pakistan arrests Lashkar-e-Taiba suspect
A little more detail from Rooters, of all people...
Pakistan has arrested a suspected member of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba, officials said on Tuesday, but they made no reference to suspicions in India that the group was involved in bomb blasts in Mumbai earlier this month. Mohammad Shahzad was brought to the capital Islamabad on Tuesday, a day after his arrest in Lahore on charges of theft and gun running, the Pakistani officials said. "He was involved in stealing cars and smuggling weapons from Afghanistan, which were used for terrorism," an intelligence official said.

Shahzad was said to have been close to Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the former chief of Lashkar-e-Taiba who took over as chief of the Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa just before Lashkar was banned in 2002. Shahzad, according to intelligence officials, also quit Lashkar-e-Taiba in 2003 and formed his own charity after falling out with Saeed.

After the Mumbai train attacks that killed over 180 people and wounded hundreds more on July 11, Indian security forces arrested a number of local suspects believed to be connected to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba. Both Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa are on a U.S. list of terrorist organisations, although Pakistan has taken no action against the charity.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wow! A used car salesman with some ethics!

For you used car salesmen out there who can't figure it out, I'm just kidding! This guy doesn't have any ethics, either. >:-}
Posted by: gorb || 07/26/2006 3:33 Comments || Top||


Attack on Ahmadis: Arrested men linked to LJ?
Two men recently arrested in connection with an attack on an Ahmadi place of worship in Mandi Bahauddin last year are probably linked to banned militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ), government officials told Daily Times on Tuesday. "The two men were arrested a few days ago, and clues that have turned up in our investigation so far suggest that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi may be involved," a senior Punjab police official said.

The Saddar police in Mandi Bahauddin district had arrested the two men —Sikandar Gondal and Mukhtar —on July 18 and they would soon be lined up before witnesses for identification, official sources said. Police had previously arrested another man, Amer, in connection with the attack but released him later. "This time round, we have sufficient proof of the involvement of these two men in the incident," the Mandi Bahauddin superintendent of police (Investigation) said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Security at Taj Mahal beefed up following bomb threat
(KUNA) -- Security at the historical Taj Mahal in Northern Indian city of Delhi was Tuesday beefed up and every visitor is being scanned through electronic surveillance systems after officials received a letter threatening to bomb the monument. The letter contained a specific threat to blow off the Taj Mahal and the sender said he was linked to the Al Qaida, news agency Indo-Asian News Service reported.

Security forces are guarding the outer circle of the monument and also keeping an eye on every visitor through close circuit cameras and other electronic surveillance systems. Due to the large numbers of foreign tourists, the security agencies are keeping high alert and are extra cautious at the Taj Mahal, the news agency reported.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Beefed" up, huh?
Posted by: Omater Slise9194 || 07/26/2006 0:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Um,the Taj Mahal is an Islamic shrine. It includes a mosque. The four towers are minarets. I could understand Hindus wanting to blow it up, or Baptists, or some other religion. But Muslims? Isn't it a sin to attack a mosque?

Also,the Taj Mahal is in Agra, not Delhi.
Posted by: Rambler || 07/26/2006 0:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, to a Sunni, a Shia mosque is practically a synsgogue, and vice-versa.
Posted by: Jackal || 07/26/2006 0:47 Comments || Top||

#4  If the Taj is destroyed. India is once again going into nuclear rhetoric mode. All carbs, no protein.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 07/26/2006 0:55 Comments || Top||

#5  The question is did Al Qaida really make phone threat?

Does Al-Qaida usual warn before a bombing? They call and the Indian forces are allocated there. Is this a sinsister distraction for some other target(s)?
Posted by: Jesing Ebbease3087 || 07/26/2006 1:16 Comments || Top||

#6  A bomb is unlikely to destroy the Taj, it would kill a lot of kaffir tourists defiling the sacred sites of islam though.

The hardline Wahabis and Deobandis are not fond of extravagent tombs and shrines. They consider them offensive to islam.
Posted by: john || 07/26/2006 6:59 Comments || Top||

#7  The hardline Wahabis and Deobandis are not fond of extravagent tombs and shrines. They consider them offensive to islam.

The real reason they find them offensive to Islam is because tombs and shrines are lessons of history. Those who never know history cannot understand the nihilism and anti-humanity of Islam. Tombs, graves and shrines encourage people to learn and remember.
Posted by: Quana || 07/26/2006 9:27 Comments || Top||

#8  john,

I have been to Taj Mahal. It would take some type of an explosion to destroy the Taj Mahal. Only a direct a missile strike or dropped bomb can do it, which in case will be very easy to track the origin. Suicide bombers will not be able to accomplish that.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 07/26/2006 9:45 Comments || Top||

#9  I thought Hinduism didn't allow to BEEFup anything.
Posted by: JFM || 07/26/2006 10:14 Comments || Top||

#10  Beef is sold "underground" in northern India. Be careful, some of the beef is from already dead or diseased cows. Also, sometimes mixed with other mystery meat. Deep friendship with the butcher is a plus. You want beef, travel to South India, no restrictions there.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 07/26/2006 10:37 Comments || Top||

#11  Taj Mahal, ya say? Well, here's an Ernie Gann story. In his book Fate is the Hunter, Ernie described his adventures flying the Hump to China. On one of his flights out of India, he and his crewmembers were flying a C-87, which is the cargo version of a B-24D Liberator. They had a bunch of machinery to transport somewhere from an airport near the Taj Mahal. It was hot, about 110F. He got gassed up, and then took off. Well, the C-87 was real sluggish, but it eventually got off the runway, mushing in ground effect right towards the Taj Mahal. His copilot said, "What will we do? We are not climbing and we are headed straight for the Taj Mahal!!!" Ernie said, "Full flaps!!!" That got them climbing and they made a little jump that had them barely clear the Taj Mahal. Then they slowly climbed and were on their way. At their destination, they dipped the tanks and found that the line guy had put 2000 extra pounds of av-gas on.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/26/2006 11:44 Comments || Top||

#12  That's a brilliant insight into their motivations. Kudos to you!
Posted by: button || 07/26/2006 14:09 Comments || Top||

#13  I was commenting on #7. Sorry about that.
Posted by: button || 07/26/2006 14:12 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Helmet saves local Marine
After coming under sniper fire twice last weekend and engaging in a 25-minute firefight with Iraqi insurgents, U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Brian M. Henner walked away with just a dent in his helmet. Henner, son of Mike and Betsy Henner of Newco Drive, told his parents about the experience in an e-mail and phone call on Sunday.

Mike Henner said his son came under fire while working a vehicle inspection checkpoint outside of Haqlaniyah, in Anbar province northwest of Baghdad. "There was a set of woods about 150 yards away from where he was, and a sniper nailed him in the head," said Henner. "It took him right off his feet. The only thing he had to hide behind was about 10 inches of grass in the median."

Henner said his son and fellow Marines engaged in a 25-minute firefight, killing at least three insurgents and capturing six more. "They found all these AK-47s, but didn't find the weapon used to shoot Brian, or the sniper," said Henner. "Then the next day, he was out in the same area doing the same thing — with one hell of a headache — and he took sniper fire from a building 500 yards away."

Henner, a combat photographer, sent his parents a photo of his dented helmet with his e-mail. "Oh, I got shot in the head by an enemy sniper. Thank God for Kevlar," he wrote, referring to the bullet-proof synthetic fiber used to make helmets.

Betsy Henner said she was glad her son called to explain the e-mail and reassure her that he was OK."He put it in such a funny way, like 'Oh, by the way, I got shot,'" she said. "I think his sense of humor gets him through."

Mike Henner said his son's photographs show the real story in Iraq: that the soldiers are there doing important work and the people of Iraq are grateful. "He says we need to be there, and we're making great strides there," he said.

Brian Henner, 22, is a 2002 graduate of Brockport High School. He joined the Marines three years ago and has served 14 months in Iraq, said his father. "We expect him home in January," he said.
Posted by: Phomoque Crease7267 || 07/26/2006 08:14 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I always wore the steel pot and had a lot of doubt about the new helmets, but I guess this proves they are up to the task. Thank God for Henner's sake. Most of these guys have been taking shots in the neck which is still unprotected, therefore glad this sniper didn't catch on.
Posted by: SOP35/Rat || 07/26/2006 11:36 Comments || Top||


Three Iraqi soldiers injured in road-side blast in Mosul
(KUNA) -- Three Iraqi soldiers were injured Tuesday when a road-side bomb exploded near their vehicle in Mosul city in northern Iraq. A police source told KUNA that the three injured Iraqi soldiers were in a joint Iraqi-US military convoy which was patrolling the area.

Elsewhere, fire at a public food storage company broke out today in south west of Mosul. Fire engines rushed to the scene and controlled the fire. The police suspected that masked gunmen started the fire.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Four injured in separate explosions in Mousl, Kirkuk
(KUNA) -- Four people were injured Tuesday in two separate explosions in Mosul and Kirkuk in northern Iraq, said a security source. The source told KUNA that suicidal bomber crashed his car into a military convoy of the Multi-National Force (MNF) east Mosul which caused the injury of three people and damage to the military vehicle.

In downtown Kirkuk, a road-side bomb blew up near an Iraqi army military patrol in the city which caused the injury of an Iraqi soldier and damage to the vehicle.

In Baghdad, three Iraqis were killed and four others were injured in several violent incidents in the Dayahli province, according to a security source.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Gunmen kill five policemen, five construction workers in Iraq
(KUNA) -- At least five Iraqi policemen were killed and another two injured Tuesday in a clash with gunmen in Salah Eddin Governorate, while in Mosul five construction workers were killed and another seven injured when gunmen opened fire on them.

Iraqi police source told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the construction workers were leaving the site of a project to build the Iraqi military headquarters when anonymous gunmen opened fire at them. Gunmen also attacked an Iraqi police check point north of Dujail, killing five Iraqi policemen and injuring another two.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Unknown gunmen kill Iraqi police officer in Mosul
(KUNA) -- Unknown gunmen killed an Iraqi police officer in front of his house in eastern Mosul Tuesday, police said. A police source told KUNA the gunmen shot dead Leiut. Col. Marwan Abdussalam in front of his house. Police officers and policemen are subjected to frequent attacks by insurgents nationwide.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Saddam Tribe Head Killed
The head of Saddam Hussein's tribe has been assassinated at a meeting in the former dictator's home town. Gunmen stormed a meeting at the home of a prominent sheikh in Tikrit and killed Ali Hussein al Nida, the head of the Baijat tribe.

The assassins also murdered a lawyer who was in the room and wounded the sheikh, Mizahim al Mustafa, according to police lieutenant Ahmed Asaad. Two other civilians caught in the crossfire also were killed, he said.

The Baijat tribe includes several clans, including Saddam's Albu-Nassir clan. Mr Nida was not directly related to former Iraqi dictator Saddam.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: RD || 07/26/2006 1:12 Comments || Top||

#2  The above photo needs a caption.

"Hey, where'd everybody go?"
Posted by: Steve || 07/26/2006 17:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Once you kill the "head" the rest of the body jus doesn't function well.
Posted by: Captain America || 07/26/2006 17:23 Comments || Top||

#4  a warning to others to pay the kharaj tax
Posted by: yo momma || 07/26/2006 21:49 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Olmert: Hizbullah to learn the hard way
In a visit of support to the north on Wednesday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that "the IDF operation won't last for months and, even if it lasts for longer than we planned, we'll know how to match the solution to the citizens."

"I don't intend on announcing an end to the operation. They (Hizbullah) will figure it out on their own, the hard way,"
Posted by: Captain America || 07/26/2006 20:25 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think it's Olmert, that's learning the hard way, not to appease terrorists, ever again. In the middle of this war, Olmert still wants to go forward with his idiotic "disengagement" plan in Judea and Samaria. Unbelievable!!!

I once read an article about a pit bull that was shot four times with a shotgun and still would not let go of his grip. Hey Olmert, your disengagement roadkill has failed, get over it.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 07/26/2006 21:12 Comments || Top||

#2  That's a bad case of priapism you've got there.
Posted by: Graling Hupese6315 || 07/26/2006 21:40 Comments || Top||

#3  It's more painful than you could ever imagine.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 07/26/2006 22:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Just heard on Fox, cabinet is being called in. Spectulation, is to ramp up everything. Full force ahead.
Posted by: Sherry || 07/26/2006 23:05 Comments || Top||


Abbas seeks Arab state support


PALESTINIAN president Mahmoud Abbas said today the Israeli military assault on Lebanon and the Palestinian territories was an "unsustainable catastrophe" as he began an official visit in the Algeria capital Algiers.

"The raids on Lebanon and Palestine go hand in hand," he said, adding that the Gaza Strip has been "shaken every day for nearly a month" by Israeli strikes.
"We will accept nothing short of an independent Palestinian state with the 1967 borders and Al Qods Al Esharif (Jerusalem) as its capital, a fair and consensual settlement of the refugee question and of the question of the settlements we consider illegal," Mr Abbas said.

The Palestinian president is on a tour of several Arab states during which he will meet King Abdullah of Jordan, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said today.

Twenty-four Palestinians, many of them civilians, were killed in the Gaza strip today, one of the bloodiest days since Israeli launched its offensive almost a month ago following the kidnap of an Israeli soldier.

Meanwhile, some 400 people turned out in Algiers to protest against Israel's offensive in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. The meeting in a sports hall was called by several political parties.
Posted by: Oztralian || 07/26/2006 19:55 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel pounds South Lebanon
ISRAELI forces pounded south Lebanon early today, hours after suffering their heaviest losses of the 16-day-old assault on Hezbollah guerrillas that shows no signs of abating.

Israeli jets knocked down communications masts in the Amsheet area north of Beirut after attacking three trucks carrying medical and food supplies to the east, killing two drivers, security sources said.

Israel accuses Lebanon's eastern neighbour Syria of supplying Hezbollah with weapons.

Other aircraft blasted targets in and around several villages and towns in the mainly Shiite Muslim south as artillery batteries opened up at Lebanon's side of the border.

Shiite Hezbollah guerrillas killed nine Israeli soldiers in house-to-house fighting in a frontier town and a nearby village overnight, the same day diplomats in Rome failed to agree on calling for an immediate ceasefire.

An Israeli general said the onslaught, which has killed 433 Lebanese, mostly civilians, would continue "for several more weeks". The fighting began on July 12 when Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid.

A total of 51 Israelis have been killed by Hezbollah attacks in the border area and rockets in northern Israel.

Foreign ministers at the crisis conference pledged to work urgently for a "lasting, permanent and sustainable" ceasefire, but did not call for the fighting to stop now, as Lebanon and its Arab allies had demanded.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cautioned Syria and Iran that they faced further isolation if they tried to scupper the US-led attempts to get a ceasefire.

"This needs to be between Lebanon and Israel," Ms Rice told reporters en route from Rome to Malaysia to meet Asian ministers.

The United States has backed Israeli demands for Hezbollah to pull back from the border and ultimately disarm.

Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and chief nuclear negotiator, flew to Damascus yesterday for crisis talks with senior Syrian officials about the situation in the Middle East, diplomats said.

In stark contrast to Ms Rice, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Iran and Syria should be included in efforts to halt the war. The US blames Tehran and Damascus for stoking the conflict.

Israel, Iran and Syria were not invited to the Rome talks.

In the Gaza Strip, scene of another Israeli offensive, Israeli forces killed 24 Palestinians, including at least 12 militants during fighting.

Israel has killed 141 Palestinians in a month-long campaign to recover a captured soldier and stop rocket fire from Gaza.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Lebanon and the Palestinian territories face complete destruction in the latest Middle East violence.

"What is happening in Palestine is a complete destruction and it is happening in both Palestine and Lebanon," he told reporters on a visit to Algeria.

"And at the same time, there is a refusal to reach a ceasefire that has been supported by European countries as well as Arab countries."

In the latest fighting in Lebanon, Lebanese security sources said guerrillas ambushed an Israeli force advancing on the town of Bint Jbeil, four kilometres from the frontier.

The Israeli army said eight of its soldiers were killed at Bint Jbeil and 22 wounded. An Israeli army officer was killed and three soldiers were wounded in a Hezbollah attack on the nearby village of Maroun al-Ras.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert strove to limit diplomatic damage from the killing of four UN observers in an air strike on their post in south Lebanon yesterday, telling Mr Annan he was sorry at the deaths, but expressing shock at the UN chief's suggestion the attack was deliberate.

An Irish army officer in south Lebanon had warned Israel six times that air strikes threatened the lives of UN observers before Tuesday's deaths, Ireland's Foreign Ministry said.

Israeli bombing has forced an estimated 750,000 people to flee their homes. Many are still trapped in war zones.

A large UN aid convoy reached the southern port of Tyre to distribute deliveries to an area devastated by Israeli bombing.
Posted by: Oztralian || 07/26/2006 19:53 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Condi Speaks -- AP reports
Of course -- they are not the same! Important paragraph left out of the AP report concerning Syria and Iran.

From transcript (I heard this)at the end of her speech:


In that regard, I am glad that the secretary-general is going to use his good offices in whatever way that he can to try and gain an understanding from other states that they have responsibilities too.
Syria has responsibilities under 1559, which it, in fact, has not exercised, and we ask that they do. And we are also deeply concerned, as we have said, about the role of Iran. So it is indeed high time that everyone make a choice.

Here's AP's
By KATHERINE SHRADER
Associated Press Writer

ROME

Talks involving Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and counterparts from other countries bogged down Wednesday in apparent disagreement over what kind of cease-fire would be urged to end the Israeli- Hezbollah fighting.

Rice, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema joined Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora gave statements at a news conference. D'Alema said the participants agreed to work "immediately" for a cease-fire and Annan said any solution to the Mideast crisis should involve Iran and Syria.

Rice said the United States favors urgently ending the Israeli- Hezbollah fighting but that there cannot be a return to a status quo of political uncertainty and instability in Lebanon.

A diplomat involved with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity about the ongoing negotiations, said international leaders were struggling to reach agreement on a statement about the violence between Israel and the Hezbollah militia.

Saniora gave an impassioned speech before the news conference that prodded the international leaders to continue working, the source said. The diplomat said the sticking point is language about the terms under which fighting would end.

The source insisted on anonymity because discussions on a conference resolution were still ongoing.

Almost every nation attending the conference in Rome has pressed Rice to call for an immediate end to the fighting on the Israeli-Lebanese border.

But Rice stood her ground in two days of diplomacy in Lebanon and Israel and the West Bank. Rather than a quick fix, she has repeatedly said the region needs enduring solutions, and other U.S. officials have raised doubts about an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah fighters in the south of Lebanon.

The Rome meeting of European and moderate Arab officials was to discuss the fighting sparked by the July 12 Hezbollah abduction of two Israeli soldiers. Rice attended a morning meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema before the international conference was set to begin.

When asked if she planned to announce an international force for Lebanon, Rice smiled and wouldn't comment.

In a statement at the start of the conference, Annan called for an immediate cessation of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, calling for Hezbollah to stop its "deliberate targeting of Israeli population centers" and for Israel to end all bombing, blockades and ground operations.

He said "a key stipulation for such a halt in fighting would be that the parties must not, I repeat, must not take advantage of such a pause to conduct offense operations, redeploy or resupply."

And he said an international force will be vital to keeping peace.
Posted by: Sherry || 07/26/2006 12:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He said "a key stipulation for such a halt in fighting would be that the parties must not, I repeat, must not take advantage of such a pause to conduct offense operations, redeploy or resupply."
Unless you give me or my son money.
Posted by: plainslow || 07/26/2006 12:45 Comments || Top||

#2 
Redacted by moderator. Comments may be redacted for trolling, violation of standards of good manners, or plain stupidity. Please correct the condition that applies and try again. Contents may be viewed in the
sinktrap. Further violations may result in
banning.
Posted by: Crairt Phomotle9768 || 07/26/2006 13:06 Comments || Top||

#3  I can't figure out who Kofi is shilling for Hizb'allah. It is a given that any 'ceasefire' would be used by Hizb'allah to resupply and re-enforce it's fighting force. His statements don't comport with reality.

Rice's statements and position does. We are not going to fund peacekeeping in Lebanon I hope.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 07/26/2006 16:24 Comments || Top||

#4  I think it's time the US went in, helped out Israel to kick the he$$ out of everybody, then stay there to do the rebuilding. At the same time, keep advancing beyond Lebanon through Syria, joining up with the troops advancing from Iraq, then moving north to the Turkish border. While we're involved there, bomb Iran until the only things the bombing is doing is bouncing rubble. THEN we MIGHT be able to get a handhold on the Middle East and make some progress. Oh, and expell the UN and all its minions from the entire area, so they can't mess it up. Authorize Darth Bolton to begin offensive operations inside Turtle Bay, and give him lots of help. Dump every bit of trash we've ever collected on everyone involved, and collect some more.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/26/2006 16:55 Comments || Top||

#5  There's this old negotiating tactic called the 'slow roll'....
Posted by: Nero || 07/26/2006 17:28 Comments || Top||

#6  The White House plan won't work as it is, BUT...during the Central American conflict, US diplomats - Reaganite in philosophy - operated on a "two-track" posture, wherein military aid continued unabated thereby imposing unilaterally beneficial pre-conditions on the other side. It worked.

However, the fact that the Iraq Parliament is backing Hizbollah is scary. If Condi is passing a message that Iraq Shiites will be squeezed by the developing (maybe) "Sunni Umbrella" then they will be crushed. The possibility of Syria changing sides is not unthinkable. The Baath government once massacred 20,000 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hizbollah's fast-breeding colony of primitives pose an even greater threat. Does anyone else believe, as I do, that Syria has already been somewhat brought on line? If that's true then Condi is icing the cake.
Posted by: Griper Whegum8464 || 07/26/2006 20:32 Comments || Top||

#7  We have to remember that these guyz are tribal. E.G., GW1, Sammy (a sunni) went into Kuwait. Saudi sunni princes, though their a$$es were in a sling, did nothing until Powell et al came in and laid the reality on. Once Sammy was pushed out of Kuwait, then the sunnis wanted to stop the fighting. They let Sammy get off. These guys are tribal, blood is thicker than water. They have no basic principles, its kinship, horsetrading, etc. Anthro 101.

Same with Iraq. The majority ruling dudes are Shiites. Hizb is Shia. Blood is thicker than water. Same shiite, different venue. This is no surprise.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/26/2006 22:12 Comments || Top||

#8  Hoorah, look mum, I'm on rantburg and I'm celebrating the deaths of more UN peace keepers. That'll teach em. Its a topsy turvy world and America now supports the killing of these communist christian beatniks!!!
Posted by: Crairt Phomotle9768 || 07/26/2006 13:06 Comments || Top||


Arutz Sheva News Briefs
Canadian-Israeli Professor Charged With Spying for Hizbullah
(IsraelNN.com) Released for publication: A Canadian-Israel professor was arrested on charges of espionage for Hizbullah after being caught photographing military installations in the northern area of the country, according to the Ynet news agency. Professor Razi Pelach was arrested 18 days ago and charged with spying for terror organization Hizbullah, the group which kidnapped two IDF soldiers at the northern border two weeks ago while carrying out simultaneous terror attacks, touching off the current Re-engagement War. The 48 year old resident of Natzeret is a professor of geography and holds dual citizenship, Canadian and Israeli. His custody has been extended by four days in the Akko District Court in order to enable the General Security Service (Shin Bet) and Galilee police to investigate further.

Additional Rocket Barrage on N. Israel
(IsraelNN.com) Hizbullah terrorists fired another barrage of rockets at Israeli territory a short time ago. Sirens were heard in Haifa and the Krayot area, and three rockets landed in the vicinity of Kiryat Shemona, on the northern border.
There were no injuries or damage reported in the attack.

Kassam Attack Launched from Northern Gaza
(IsraelNN.com) Palestinian Authority terrorists launched a Kassam rocket attack from northern Gaza on Wednesday afternoon, with two of the missiles crashing in Netiv Ha’asara. No one was injured and no damage was reported.

Rocket Attack in Nahariya Area, Sirens in Western Galilee
(IsraelNN.com) Five rockets were fired at the Nahariya area at mid-afternoon on Wednesday. No injuries or damage reported in the attack. Air raid sirens were heard in the western Galilee a short time ago as well.

12 IDF Soldiers at Trauma Unit in Haifa’s Rambam Hospital
(IsraelNN.com) Medics are continuing to evacuate wounded IDF soldiers from the battlefield at Bint Jbeil, the Hizbullah stronghold in south Lebanon where some of the fiercest fighting of the war so far is still taking place. Five soldiers were transferred to Rambam Hospital earlier in the afternoon. Another seven have just been brought in to the hospital’s Trauma Unit. At least 20 IDF troops have been wounded so far in the battle which began three days ago. Bint Jbeil is known as the Hizbullah capital of Lebanon.

Rocket Barrage Hit Northern Communities, No Injuries
(IsraelNN.com) A rocket barrage hit several communities in the north early Wednesday afternoon. Katyushas fired from south Lebanon at Israeli communities struck the Ma’alot area as well as Kiryat Shemona, Rosh Pina and Tiberias.
A rocket hit an empty house near Rosh Pina and a storage structure in another home’s yard. No injuries were reported. Rockets also peppered an open area near Ma’alot. No one was hurt and no damage was reported. Another missile crashed in an open area in the Kiryat Shemona area. No injuries or damage reported. Two rockets fell in Tiberias, also with no injuries or damage.
Posted by: Steve || 07/26/2006 09:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Dupe entry: 'IDF kills 30 Palestinian gunmen in Gaza
Sounds like Hamas is trying Taliban tactics. Over 30 Palestinian gunmen were killed by IDF troops in the Gaza Strip by Wednesday morning, military sources revealed.

The IDF's Givati brigade launched an operation in Sag'iya in the northern Gaza Strip late Tuesday night to root out terrorists.

IAF aircraft fired missiles at Palestinian operatives on Wednesday, killing a number of Palestinians. The IDF said the troops fired at a group of gunmen who were spotted firing an RPG.

A number of the dead Palestinians were Hamas members, spokesmen of the groups said. A girl believed to be younger than 10 was also among the dead, but doctors said they had not yet been able to identify her or give her exact age.

At least 37 people were hurt, including 16 in critical condition, said Dr. Joma Saka, a spokesman for Gaza City's Shifa Hospital.

About 50 IDF tanks moved back into northern Gaza overnight in a new operation titled "Samson's Pillars" - still part of Operation Summer Rains that was launched after the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit on June 25.

Hamas said it destroyed three army vehicles. IAF aircraft carried out a total of eight air strikes in the area overnight, security and medics said.

The army said forces were operating in northern Gaza as part of a campaign to stop terrorism and rocket barrages at Israel. The military said aircraft targeted three groups of gunmen who were approaching the troops.

Early Wednesday, troops took over rooftops of several houses in northern Gaza, residents said, and Israeli aircraft blasted several houses of Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives after warning the people to leave.

In another tactic, the Palestinian phone company said more than 1,000 residents of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis received recorded messages from Israel, warning them not to hide weapons or shield terrorists. The residents were apparently picked at random, phone company officials said.

The latest incursion came in response to the continued rocket fire from Gaza. Earlier on Tuesday, Palestinian terrorists fired a Kassam rocket at Israel from southern Gaza, moderately wounding a Thai worker in a western Negev community.

The attack took place one month to the day of a daring Hamas cross-border attack on an Israeli military outpost near the border, in which two Israeli soldiers were killed and a third, 19-year-old Cpl. Gilad Shalit was abducted, an incident which set off the latest round of violence in the region.

The morning rocket attack was unusual since most of the hundreds of Kassams lobbed at Israel over the last year following Israel's pullout from the densely populated coastal strip have been launched from southern Gaza.

The rocket struck the residence of foreign workers in a border area moshav, which had not been previously hit by Palestinian rocket fire, but which had been in the news recently due to the outbreak of bird flu there. The name of the community was not released for security reasons.

The Thai worker, who was apparently sleeping at the time of the attack, sustained shrapnel wounds to his upper body, police said.
Posted by: phil_b || 07/26/2006 04:52 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So, how's that cease-fire going?
Posted by: xbalanke || 07/26/2006 8:58 Comments || Top||

#2  "Samson's Pillars"
Attention getter.
Posted by: 6 || 07/26/2006 15:21 Comments || Top||


Israeli air strike kills militant, Hamas says
An Israeli air strike in northern Gaza City killed one Hamas militant and wounded a second on Wednesday, the Islamic militant group said. Militants who tried to get to the scene in a car were hit by a second missile, the group said. Two militants in the car were wounded, one seriously. Another Israeli air strike hit a building used by a Hamas-led force in eastern Gaza City, witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How very odd -- the Hamas spokesman didn't claim they were innocent civilians.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2006 5:59 Comments || Top||

#2  An oversight, an understandible bit of forgetfulness on their part, I am sure... and it will be corrected in the next press statement.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 07/26/2006 7:30 Comments || Top||


About 50 tanks re-enter northern Gaza
50 IDF tanks moved back into northern Gaza early Wednesday, residents and Palestinian security said, as Israel pressed ahead with its Gaza offensive alongside fighting in Lebanon. Aircraft carried out at least three airstrikes as the troops moved in, killing a Hamas operative and wounding five others. Hamas said the men were about to fire a rocket at Israel. The army said forces were operating in northern Gaza as part of a campaign to stop terrorism and rocket barrages at Israel. The military said aircraft targeted three groups of militants who were approaching the troops.

Early Wednesday, troops took over rooftops of several houses in northern Gaza, residents said, and Israeli aircraft blasted several houses of Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives after warning the people to leave. In another tactic, the Palestinian phone company said more than 1,000 residents of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis received recorded messages from Israel, warning them not to hide weapons or shield terrorists. The residents were apparently picked at random, phone company officials said. The latest incursion came in response to the continued rocket fire from Gaza. Earlier on Tuesday, Palestinian terrorists fired a Kassam rocket at Israel from southern Gaza, moderately wounding a Thai worker in a western Negev community.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The residents were apparently picked at random, phone company officials said.

I'm sure.
Posted by: gorb || 07/26/2006 3:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Damn, the Joooooooooos are freaking the Fone company! There's no hope.
Posted by: 6 || 07/26/2006 15:28 Comments || Top||


Israeli soldier, Arab girl killed by Hezbollah rockets
(KUNA) -- An Israeli soldier and an Arab girl were killed on Tuesday by two of Hezbollah's Katyusha rockets, according to the Israeli radio. It added the girl was killed when a rocket hit her family's house, which also led to severely injuring two of her relatives.

Hezbollah continues launching missiles on Israel's northern parts in retaliation of the Israeli army assault against Lebanon. Earlier, Israeli media said 20 Israelis were injured by rocket attacks on southern Israel.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Of course you'll barely hear about the dead Israeli citizen (Arab or Jew) on the mainstream media. I swear the bastards have all been to the mosque and are whackin their foreheads 5 times a day. Frickin traitors.

May God be with all of the innocents killed on both sides. May God, and the Israelis punish those who would intentionally hide behind innocent civilians (knowing that not all civilians are innocent, by a long shot).
Posted by: Remoteman || 07/26/2006 0:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Looks like someone at KUNA needs to works on chains of causes and effects, in addition to cause vs effect: "Hezbollah continues launching missiles on Israel's northern parts in retaliation of the Israeli army assault against Lebanon."

"Assault" implies an unprovoked, unjustified attack on the part of Israel. "Retaliation" means Hizb'Allah's attack was an effect. Incorrect use in both cases, within one sentence.

Is there a grammatical impossibility to grasp and express cause+effect in Arabic? is it impossible to say "Hizb'Allah attacked Israel, therefore Israel is providing Hizb'Allah with its just desert. The State of Lebanon has knowingly sheltered Hizb'Allah's terrorist activities, therefore it is responsible for its actions." in Arabic ??? is their conceptual faculty terribly stunted?
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 07/26/2006 2:05 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder how long it will be before Nasrallah proclaims this girl to be a Martyr, too.
Posted by: gorb || 07/26/2006 3:41 Comments || Top||


Al-Quds Brigades fire missiles on Israeli settlements
(KUNA) -- Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine, claimed responsibility for firing three missiles on two Jewish settlements on Tuesday. The brigades said in a press release that they fired three "Quds 2" type missiles towards the settlements of Kibbutz and Alonim eat of Gaza Strip. It added that the missile strike comes in response for the Israeli crimes against the Palestinians, asserting that resistance is the only option for liberating Palestine.

Meanwhile, witnesses said that two Palestinians were wounded when Israeli warplanes raided a house in Rafah city in southern Gaza Strip. The witnesses said that Israeli reconnaissance warplanes fired missiles on the residence of Naji Qashtah in Barazil neighborhood in Rafah, noting that the attack was the second of its type on the same house after F-16 warplanes raided the residence earlier Tuesday morning. The Israeli army announced on Monday that it would begin bombing houses in Gaza Strip based on claims that they are being used as weapon hideouts by Palestinian factions.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Quds 2c Block Monday
Posted by: 6 || 07/26/2006 15:30 Comments || Top||


A gentle soul, or agent of Hamas?
ACCORDING to those who knew him, Muhammad Harara, 27, was a gentle soul with a slow waddling gait because of congenitally dislocated hips. Unable to find work, he lived with his brother's family and was a favourite uncle. But according to the Israeli military, he was a "Hamas military wing operative", who was preparing to fire an anti-tank missile at Israeli tanks from the roof of his relatives' home. What is certain is that an Israeli tank fired on Harara about 6am on Friday, blowing him apart and killing his sister-in-law and two of her children.

The shell left a gaping hole where there had been two narrow windows in the stairwell. By the end of the day, the only evidence of Harara's presence was a slash of darkening blood and human remains on the wall. Harara's brother, Jaber, looking dazed as neighbours gathered to mourn in the alley beside his home, insisted that there were no weapons in the house and that no one in the family belonged to any armed group. "I used to work in Israel," he said. "The Israelis would never have given me permission to work there if anyone in the family had such links."

He said his brother had gone to the roof with one of his nephews to see if they could spot Israeli tanks, which were rumoured to be on the move. But like most accounts from this part of the world, it was not that simple. Another relative, who asked not to be named, said later that while Muhammad Harara was not a Hamas member, his nephew, also on the roof that morning and also named Muhammad Harara, was a member of Hamas' military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It was a dark and stormy night....

Muhammad Harara said he had been studying to be a social worker at the Islamic University in Gaza and had hoped to help people like his disabled uncle. "No spirit for that now," he said.
Posted by: 2b || 07/26/2006 10:27 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Bali bombers execution date set
Three men convicted over the 2002 Bali bombings are set be executed next month, Indonesian officials said. Letters have been sent to the men's families informing them of plans to carry out the executions at the end of August, Bali prosecutors said. The three men - Amrozi, Ali Gufron and Imam Samudra - were sentenced to death in autumn 2003. But prosecutors said the execution could be delayed if the men appealed for a judicial review of their case.

Made Suratmaja, the head of Denpasar's district attorney office, told Reuters news agency that the date of the execution could not be published until it had been carried out. But he said the men, their lawyers and their families had been sent letters notifying them of preparations for the execution. He said the sentences would be carried out on the prison island of Nusakambangan, where the men are being held.

On Wednesday, prosecutors in East Java said they had handed letters to relatives of the two convicted men that fell within their jurisdiction. Other officials were quoted as saying the execution would be carried out on 22 August.

Two of the three men - Amrozi and Imam Samudra - said in October 2005 that they would not seek presidential clemency and were reported to have told prosecutors they were "ready to be executed anytime soon". But a lawyer for Amrozi, Wiranan Adnan, told the Associated Press news agency that he planned to file a demand for a judicial review. He did not reveal grounds for the appeal, but other lawyers said a challenge could be filed because the men were convicted of breaking a law passed after the attacks, AP said.
Posted by: Steve || 07/26/2006 08:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What's the Indonesian method of execution? Hope it's something painful.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 07/26/2006 8:48 Comments || Top||

#2  They use a firing squad. Let's hope they shoot low.
Posted by: Steve || 07/26/2006 9:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Will Miss Indonesia be inclused in the lineup? Or will she have a separate stoning?
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/26/2006 10:20 Comments || Top||

#4  What's the Indonesian method of execution? Hope it's something painful.

Are there any shark-infested areas in Indonesia's territorial waters?

Munch-munch-munch...
Posted by: BigEd || 07/26/2006 14:46 Comments || Top||

#5  Can I suggest drowning them in pigs blood?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/26/2006 15:03 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Leb Doctors accuse Israel of using Chemical Weapons
LEBANON is investigating reports from doctors that Israel has used weapons in its 15-day-old bombardment of southern Lebanon that have caused wounds they have never seen before.

"We are sending off samples tomorrow, but we have no confirmation yet that illegal weapons have been used," Health Minister Mohammed Khalife said.
The Israeli army said it had used only conventional weapons and ammunition in attacks aimed at Hezbollah guerrillas and nothing contravening international law.

Blackened bodies have been showing up at hospitals in southern Lebanon two weeks into the war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas that has seen at least 418 people, mostly civilians, killed in Lebanon and at least 42 Israelis.

Killed by Israeli air raids, the Lebanese dead are charred in a way local doctors, who have lived through years of civil war and Israeli occupation, say they have not seen before.

Bachir Cham, a Belgian-Lebanese doctor at the Southern Medical Centre in Sidon, received eight bodies after an Israeli air raid on nearby Rmeili which he said exhibited such wounds.

He has taken 24 samples from the bodies to test what killed them. He believes it is a chemical.

Dr Cham said the bodies of some victims were "black as shoes, so they are definitely using chemical weapons. They are all black but their hair and skin is intact so they are not really burnt. It is something else".

"If you burnt someone with petrol their hair would burn and their skin would burn down to the bone. The Israelis are 100 per cent using chemical weapons."

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud has repeatedly accused Israel of using phosphorus bombs in its offensive.

Human Rights Watch, which has accused the Israeli army of using cluster bombs in populated areas of southern Lebanon, said it had not verified claims that Israel had used phosphorus.

"We are investigating but we haven't confirmed anything yet. We have seen phosphorus used before and we have seen it in the artillery stocks of the Israeli army in the north," said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch.

"Phosphorus shells do have a legitimate use in illuminating the battlefield at night. The offensive use of phosphorus would be a violation of international conventions."

Television footage shows some bodies, such as those of 20 civilians killed when an Israeli missile hit the van in which they were fleeing the border village of Marwaheen, blackened in the way Dr Cham describes. No one knows what killed them.

"We are seeing abnormal burns, different from wars we've seen in the past. The corpses of these victims are shrinking to half their normal size. You think it is the corpse of a child at first but it turns out to be a grown man," said Raed Salman Zeinedine, director of Tyre Government Hospital.

"We've never seen anything like it but what the causes are I don't want to speculate. We have no scientific answer."

The Israel Army said it did not target civilians at all.

"We use only weapons and ammunition which will best hit our targets and cause least collateral damage," said army spokesman Captain Jacob Dallal.

"It could be that a body is burned from fire or the force of an explosion, but between that and suggesting we do something illegal under international law are two different things."
Posted by: Oztralian || 07/26/2006 19:51 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is Israel taking out some of hezbollah's chemical stockpiles, and the local natives are getting the dirty end of the stick? Entirely possible. I'm sure that is something on every Israeli soldier's mind - hez using chemicals from Syria, or some of Saddam's leftover stash.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/26/2006 20:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Good point, Old Patriot. Let's hope the CDC gets samples also.
Posted by: newc || 07/26/2006 20:48 Comments || Top||

#3  I've seen similar "reports" before, especially about the "incredible shrinking bodies". Afghanistan, Iraq... Seems that someone is recycling the same script with details changing as appropriate for the theatre. They all turned out bogus.

Good point about Syrian CW stockpiles, but I would expect them stockpiled in Bekaa. This may be an attempt to manufacture a precedent for use of CW/BW by the H/S/I axis.

Posted by: twobyfour || 07/26/2006 22:17 Comments || Top||


Belmont Club: IDF is "a knife-thrower at the carnival" in Lebanon
Kofi Annan has accused Israel of deliberately targeting UN position in southern Lebanon. . . . In order to have some sense of how plausible this accusation is, it would be useful to examine the statements of the UNIFIL itself prior to this incident. Ever since hostilities started UNIFIL has been documenting its activity through a series of press releases. These provide a snapshot into what the UN troops were doing and how they have been faring during the period of combat.
Wretchard gives a nice long item-by-item summary at the link.
UNIFIL's official mandate is to a) Confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon; b) Restore international peace and security; c) Assist the Government of Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area. If each of the press releases is read in their entirety is manifestly clear that UNIFIL is performing none of these authorized missions. Instead it has become a kind of ambulance and relief service for the killed and injured on the Lebanese side of the border. The releases are peppered with accounts of UNIFIL personnel escorting what are described as civilians and villagers to places of safety. This is not really part of its mandate, which is not to say that it is immoral or wrong.

Given how some UN peacekeepers have treated civillians in the recent past, UNIFIL should probably be commended for acting with basic decency.

All the incidents of IDF fire reported in the press releases are clearly related to some kind of nearby combat with the Hezbollah. In one case the IDF fired on a village into which the UNIFIL had gone, but rockets had originated from the vicinity of the village prior. In another case, an Israeli aerial bombardment detonated mines all around a UNIFIL position. Those mines were presumably not planted by UNIFIL, but they were so close to it that the UN position caught fire. The UN observation post in Maroun al-Ras was hit by artillery, but we know from press reports that Maroun al-Ras was the epicenter of heavy fighting and the location of a Hezbollah bunker complex. The UN even ran a convoy from the Hezbollah "capital" of Bint Jubayl to another area. Bint Jubayl is well known to be the target of an IDF attack. Yet the UN felt that it was possible to move convoys through such areas, albeit at considerable danger.

One reason that they could was that UNIFIL was evidently in contact with the IDF. In a sentence which speaks volumes we learn that "One unarmed UN military observer, a member of the Observer Group Lebanon (OGL), was seriously wounded by small arms fire in the patrol base in the Marun Al Ras area yesterday afternoon. According to preliminary reports, the fire originated from the Hezbollah side during an exchange with the IDF. He was evacuated by the UN to the Israeli side, from where he was taken by an IDF ambulance helicopter to a hospital in Haifa." This strongly implies that UNFIL was able to coordinate their movements with the IDF and that the IDF was willing to risk men and aircraft to help UNFIL.

Now a lot will be made of UN positions being "clearly marked". However nearly all of the fire reported on UN positions with the exception of the July 23 indicident in Kiyam, where the 4 UN observers were killed today, were from artillery, which is an area weapon. Artillery, depending on the angle and range from which it is fired, has a certain dispersion even allowing for crew perfection. (In contrast UNIFIL took small arms fire from the Hezbollah between Kunin and Bint Jubayl and small arms can only be used when visual contact is made). Imperfections in shell manufacture, operator error, barrel wear etc can cause an artillery round to fall off target. It is not called an area weapon for nothing. The one exception was a tank round that landed in a Ghanain position. But the firing was evidently not repeated which it would have had the tank gunner intended to destroy the Ghanaians.

The July 23 incident in Kiyam in "seven incidents of firing close to UN positions" involving aerial bombardment strongly suggests that Hezbollah positions were fairly close to the position of Observer Group Lebanon. It should be clear by now that the IDF had certainly not been deliberately targeting UNIFIL from July 17 to 25. How likely is it that the IDF after not aiming at UNIFIL should suddenly change their policy and aim to kill the observers at Kiyam, as categorically stated by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan?

One argument that will be heard is that since Israel has "precision weapons" the hit on the UN positions must have been deliberate. Yet it's far more likely that the UNIFIL position was hit by mistake. Even with "precision weapons" the IDF has lost 2 men and 5 wounded to friendly fire so far. . . .

Commentary

To recapitulate, the UNIFIL is running a kind of ambulance service on the Lebanese side of the border. That is not its official mission; it has failed in its official mission but its men are obviously performing with considerable perseverance and bravery. UNIFIL are able to run convoys in an area where the Hezbollah are shifting squads around while the IDF doing its best to kill the Hezbollah. Yet until July 26 the UNIFIL had not suffered any fatalities from IDF fire. Their sole serious injury to that date had actually been caused by the Hezbollah, and the injured UN trooper was evacuated by the IDF to an Israeli hospital.

The IDF has for its part avoided hitting UNIFIL or their civilian convoys despite its widely publicized use of artillery and air. Far from being random, the IDF is apparently able to create safe corridors in active battle zones through which UNIFIL can pass until the recent incident in Kiyam. There are probably very few military organizations in the world which can accomplish this. Nevertheless, the danger of friendly fire naturally remains. The two IDF personnel probably killed and five wounded from friendly fire is proof of that.

. . . Considering the fact that UNIFIL peacekeeping mission was a dead-letter it should naturally be asked why Kofi Annan, as their ultimate commander has seen fit to keep them in a position of danger where their only chance of safety actually depends on accurate targeting by the IDF. Their positions are manifestly so close to the Hezbollah; their convoys so at risk at being confused with mobile Hezbollah forces that only by the grace of God and the accuracy of the IDF have fatalities been avoided until now. They were willing to take the risk. Annan was willing to make the hay. You be the judge of Kofi Annan's competence both in the care of his men and with respect to the accusation he has made against the IDF.
Posted by: Mike || 07/26/2006 13:58 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Of course, no accusation whatsoever that UNIFIL personnel are actively helping Hezbollah by transporting weapons and combatants aboard UNIFIL vehicles, providing intelligence as to Israeli positions and intentions, or even assisting in targetting Israeli positions.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/26/2006 14:19 Comments || Top||

#2  UNIFIL's official mandate is to a) Confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon; b) Restore international peace and security; c) Assist the Government of Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area.

Well, one out three ain't bad. Hell, for the UN, it's friggin outstanding...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/26/2006 14:23 Comments || Top||

#3  'Moose, I suspect that if UNIFIL were actively aiding Hezbollah, the IDF wouldn't be being so careful.

(Mods: just noticed I categorized this one wrong -- please fix.)
Posted by: Mike || 07/26/2006 14:31 Comments || Top||

#4  Mike, go to Belmont Club and read the whole thing. I don't know that I'd say they're transporting weapons, but they're clearly on Hezb'Allah's side and assisting them any way they can. Otherwise, why would they still be there?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/26/2006 14:34 Comments || Top||

#5  Looks like Hez will have to go back to churches and schools for their human shields. Guess UN human shields don't work!
Posted by: 49 Pan || 07/26/2006 14:42 Comments || Top||

#6  Kofi the clown, oil for food $$$$$...all the bunkers and Hizbollah infrastructure was build under the "watchfull eye"of the UNIFIL....
Posted by: Slith Ometch7619 || 07/26/2006 15:05 Comments || Top||

#7  Nimble: I did read the whole thing, including the account of the UNIFIL guys being engaged by Hezbollah with small arms.
Posted by: Mike || 07/26/2006 15:08 Comments || Top||

#8  Hizbollah has evidently discovered a loophole in internatonalm law (whatever that is) and the UN charter that preempts even mentioning the hostile actions of private religious militias with apopcalyptic visions of grandeur. monumental loophole.
Now , we cannot possibnly match the apocalyptic viions of grandeur but surely we should be able to muster up a Knights of Columbus or Rotarian Brigade, to root out terror fiends worldwide.
Maybe a Moose battalion and a division of Elks.
Then we could fight the WOT without all this pesky interference
Like Hizbollah does.
Posted by: J. D. Lux || 07/26/2006 16:44 Comments || Top||

#9  Per John Toranto's web site....

..."The Sun offers some context for Annan's baseless and almost certainly false charge:

Mr. Annan, who according to diplomats was accompanied by the U.N. peacekeeping chief, Undersecretary-General Jean Marie Guehenno, as he released the statement, believes he could not promote placing an international force in southern Lebanon if he does not appear to support his troops, according to a source familiar with yesterday's statement.

But is he really supporting his troops? IMRA quotes Lewis MacKenzie, a retired Canadian general, who in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. today lamented "the tragic loss of a soldier yesterday who I happen to know and I think probably is from my Regiment." Gen. MacKenzie contineud:

We've received e-mails from him a few days ago and he described the fact that he was taking within--in one case--three meters of his position "for tactical necessity--not being targeted." Now that's veiled speech in the military and what he was telling us was Hizbullah fighters were all over his position and the IDF were (sic) targeting them and that's a favorite trick by people who don't have representation in the UN. They use the UN as shields knowing that they can't be punished for it.
Posted by: Captain America || 07/26/2006 17:33 Comments || Top||

#10  The Israelis should simply tell UNIFIL that they are in danger in S. Lebanon and they must leave immediately to avoid that danger. Any further UNIFIL presence in the war zone could, and probably will, result in UN casualties. The UN will leave if they're told; they left Sinai when the Egyptians told them to get out and they never even bothered to mention it to Israel. We need out of the UN and to have it thrown out of our country. I'd like to see Kofi and his coterie of criminals locked up in Attica state pen too, for the oil-for-food scandal among many other things. They really deserve to be shot.
Posted by: mac || 07/26/2006 18:02 Comments || Top||

#11  mac:
I'd like to see Kofi and his coterie of criminals locked up in Attica state pen too, for the oil-for-food scandal among many other things. They really deserve to be shot.

Mac...please try to be more specific in your posts...I hate vaugeness!! :)
Posted by: Justrand || 07/26/2006 18:55 Comments || Top||

#12  Kofi needs to be caught between a very large rock and a very hard place, physically as well as officially. What a waste of human protoplasm. The best thing that could happen is for Kofi to continue spouting off, making irrational claims against Israel and the US, and finally drive the US to reduce its funding to the UN to $.01 per year. Listen to the pigs squeal after that! Maybe Japan will join us.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/26/2006 19:00 Comments || Top||

#13  Justrand,

It doesn't surprise me you hate vaugeness. You probably hate vagueness, too. ;-)
Posted by: mac || 07/26/2006 23:26 Comments || Top||


Hez's Iranian Cache Stash at Bint Jbail
July 26, 2006 -- JERUSALEM - Israel claimed victory in Hezbollah's southern "capital" yesterday after a battle in Lebanon that uncovered Iranian-made weapons and electronic equipment and left 150 guerrillas dead. Israeli forces found "war rooms" equipped with Iranian surveillance and eavesdropping gear in Bint Jbail, the main Hezbollah stronghold just inside the border. "The town is completely controlled by us," an Israeli colonel said.

Caches of weapons were also found in Bint Jbail, Israeli officials said.

Mahmoud Komati, deputy chief of Hezbollah's political arm, refused to acknowledge the group was firing Iranian-made missiles into Israel. "We don't deny nor confirm. We believe where the weapons come from is irrelevant," he said, adding that Hezbollah has weapons made in France, Russia, China and the United States. "Some of our fighters carry M16s. So you think we buy them from America?" he asked.
Other reports at site
Posted by: Sherry || 07/26/2006 10:26 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They are talking about a 2 - 6 mile strip that will be controlled by the IDF until they can be relieved by an international force. What good does this do when the Hezbollah has missiles with a 120 mile range? There is a disconnect here.
Posted by: RWV || 07/26/2006 11:20 Comments || Top||

#2  RVW: That is one reason no one is volunteering to provide the force. The U.N. may condemn Israel, but privately everyone knows who the problem is.
Posted by: DoDo || 07/26/2006 12:33 Comments || Top||

#3  "Some of our fighters carry M16s. So you think we buy them from America?"

They get them from the Lebanese.
Posted by: Fordesque || 07/26/2006 22:16 Comments || Top||


"They dun blowed up real good"
DEBKAfile’s military sources: The series of huge explosions that struck South Beirut Tuesday evening were caused by 20 Israeli airborne missiles dropped on large, newly-discovered subterranean arms caches. The power of the secondary blasts which blew up their contents attested to the accuracy of the Israeli intelligence pinpoint of Hizballah weapons bunkers in S. Beirut.
Posted by: Steve || 07/26/2006 08:40 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Secondary explosions. I like the sound of that.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 07/26/2006 8:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Hezb storing heavy weapons in S Beirut is a surprize to me. I thought they would have almost everything in the Bekka valley or in S Leb and keep only enough in Beirut to intimidate the locals.
Posted by: mhw || 07/26/2006 9:04 Comments || Top||

#3  Breaking: That was the 4th holiest "arms cache" in Lebanon.
The "Arab Street" will be seetheing, followed by pockets of "stop and go" anger.
Posted by: Capsu 78 || 07/26/2006 9:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Think the Lebs understand the more weapons Israel destroys, the harder it is for Hiz to terrorize at least in the short term?

Is there a window of opportunity?
Posted by: anonymous2u || 07/26/2006 10:40 Comments || Top||

#5  Their logic is that the best place to store weapons is in the most densely populated areas, because attacking them is going to create PR problems.
Posted by: buwaya || 07/26/2006 12:58 Comments || Top||


Heroism in the battle of Bint Jbail
Under the cover of darkness, troops from the Golani Brigade's elite Egoz unit converged on the village of Bint Jbail early Monday morning. The soldiers took up positions on the outskirts of the town, once home to 20,000 Shi'ite Lebanese and a stronghold for some 200 Hizbullah guerrillas.

Described by one senior officer as "swarms of locusts," the troops split up into several smaller teams and converged on the village in tight packs. But the fighting was fierce. Senior officers who participated in the battle recalled Tuesday how the soldiers, moving from one house to the next, held gunfights with the enemy at point-blank range within homes and backyards.

Two soldiers have so far lost their lives in what is now being called by the IDF the "Battle of Bint Jbail." One soldier was killed when his tank flipped over after driving over a massive explosive device. Another soldier was killed after his tank was hit by an enemy rocket. More than 50 Hizbullah operatives are also believed to have been killed during the fighting.

But despite the losses, officers who participated in the fighting described for The Jerusalem Post stories of bravery and valor - tales, they said, that would go down in Israeli military history.

One of those tales is of Lt.-Col. Guy Kabili, commander of Battalion 52 of the Tank Corps. Hearing reports of Golani infantrymen who were wounded in clashes with Hizbullah fighters in one of Bint Jbail's alleyways, Kabili ordered two of his tanks to follow him down the road to help evacuate the wounded.

Peppered by heavy gunfire and risking his own life, Kabili ran out of his tank and carried the wounded back in, together with his crew of soldiers. On the way back out of the alley, however, the tank drove over an explosive device and flipped over. St.-Sgt. Kobi Smileg was killed, and the six others in the tank were wounded, including Kabili who sustained serious wounds to one of his hands.

Another story involved a soldier from Egoz who sustained a serious gunshot wound to the jaw. Without thinking twice, officers said, his comrades threw him on a stretcher and carried him three kilometers out of the battle zone to safety.

Col. Amnon Eshel Assulin, commander of Armored Brigade 7, described the Hizbullah enemy as a "tough group of guerrilla fighters." But, he said, the determination of the troops would in the end prevail.
Posted by: phil_b || 07/26/2006 06:57 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No prisoners please.
Posted by: Howard UK || 07/26/2006 7:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Another story involved a soldier from Egoz who sustained a serious gunshot wound to the jaw. Without thinking twice, officers said, his comrades threw him on a stretcher and carried him three kilometers out of the battle zone to safety.

Three kilometers?! That deserves a medal, both for the fallen soldier and the people who carried him that far.
Posted by: Charles || 07/26/2006 7:54 Comments || Top||

#3  2:50+ Well done, Golanis! Tov me'od!
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2006 9:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Those young heroes are fighting for us in America just as much as the troops in Iraq; they're just attacking a different head on the hydra. I am more grateful than I can say for their efforts and I hope the powers that be in Washington give them the full support that is their due.
Posted by: mac || 07/26/2006 10:27 Comments || Top||

#5  This house to house battle is the worst and negates most advantages we train for. Let's stop these tactics and use heavy application of napalm and burn them out. Once the fire has burnt thru, go in with the dozers and roll up what's left. This will flush the survivors or bury them. We need to change tactics and get tough with these dogs.
Posted by: SOP35/Rat || 07/26/2006 11:45 Comments || Top||

#6  This can only be from someone that has been there and understands that every house is a seperate battle fought on a very personal level. Large bombs and armored bulldozers shoud be the rule. House to house fighing saved for the roll up of HVT's.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 07/26/2006 12:34 Comments || Top||

#7  Three kilometers?! That deserves a medal, both for the fallen soldier and the people who carried him that far.
I'll bet the people that carried him that far were glad to do it.
Posted by: 6 || 07/26/2006 15:38 Comments || Top||

#8  MRLS the village, napalm the ruins and bulldoze the rest.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/26/2006 17:33 Comments || Top||


Will Longer Range Missiles 'Backfire' on Nasrallah?
Hizbullah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said his group's missiles would start hitting targets deeper into Israel, and warned he would not accept a "humiliating" ceasefire.

Deeper targets mean bigger missiles. Bigger missiles mean longer set-up/break-down times. Longer cycle times means better chance counter-battery arrives before launchers leave. Odds are this HezbAllah strategy will work better for Israel than HA (unless they launch the missiles from a hospital or UN post or such.)
Posted by: Glenmore || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Iran warns the west: "ignore us at your peril"

we've ignored you assotollahs for far far far too long, YOU OWE US BIG TIME

Remarkable vid, Haifa

Israel, incoming, katyushas in flight


GODS SPEED ISRAEL
Posted by: RD || 07/26/2006 0:57 Comments || Top||


#3  sorry ' bout that,

mods could you plz reformat.. thanks
Posted by: RD || 07/26/2006 1:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Nazi's determined to escalate this to the point where Syria and Iran are equal partners - obvious even to the clueless.

Works for me. Iran. Everything in the current threat environment pivots on Iran. Let's call it what it is loud and clear and often. And take them down at a time of our choosing, not theirs. Like August 21st, LOL.
Posted by: Champ Angeger5024 || 07/26/2006 2:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Bigger missles = WMD-capable = Nuke-capable = No longer "local etrror" but de facto "foreign armed intervention". Lebanon/ME-based, Iran-supported radical terror groups can be interpreted as paramilitary extens of the IRGC = Tehran = MadMoud + Mullahs. Watch your sixes, Dubya-GOP, becuz Hillary and her pro-OWG, anti-USA, anti-sovereign Co-POTUSes are a'coming, courtesy of Amer Hiroshima(s). CLINTONISM > America is a [Left]Socialist country being led by the wrong kind of national Socialism-Absolutism. Motherly Perfectionism = Gulags-happy Communism and Totalitarianism is the DemoLeft's PC response to the catastrophes wrought on America = Amerikkka by arrogant Male Brute, imcompetent error-prone, mere simple GOP authoritarian Fascist Rightist Socialism. Free America is allowed to war for Empire = Global Socialism as long as a weak, anti-sovereign, Commie Amerikkka SSR = CPUSA + USSA, the United SOcialist Republic vv OIL STORM, as under OWG and Commie-SOcie WOrld Order is the outcome.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/26/2006 3:08 Comments || Top||

#6  Deeper targets mean bigger missiles. Bigger missiles mean longer set-up/break-down times. Longer cycle times means better chance counter-battery arrives before launchers leave. Odds are this HezbAllah strategy will work better for Israel than HA (unless they launch the missiles from a hospital or UN post or such.)

If they launch from a UN post, the counterbattery shoot is a twofer.
Posted by: Mike || 07/26/2006 8:04 Comments || Top||

#7  Every rocket/missile the Hezzies shoot just gives Isreal more liberty to pursue without mercy. I hope they keep firing them until their entire arsenal is depleted. By that time, hopefully, Hezzies will be an endangered species.

Of course, I also hope that none of the rockets hits anything substantial and Israel is spared loss of life.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 07/26/2006 8:17 Comments || Top||

#8  Does this sound as if the Lebanese Government is asserting its soverienty? No, its as if hez, has no intention of being anything other than what it is within lebanon, a force for sustaining a war on Israel and the sensibilities of the Free world.

There is apparently, no methodology for the duly elected government to contradict and thus intradict the momentum of this force.
Posted by: Theting Crenter7761 || 07/26/2006 9:27 Comments || Top||

#9  There is a lot of sympathy shown for Lebanon, but it's obviously absurd, IMHO, to include the Leb Government and politicians. Syrian tools and Hezb collaborators. Much like the Paleos electing Hamas, they are getting what they asked for.
Posted by: Champ Angeger5024 || 07/26/2006 9:42 Comments || Top||

#10  link change

http://www.current.tv/pods/news/PD03937
or
Remarkable vid, Haifa, here
Posted by: RD || 07/26/2006 10:05 Comments || Top||

#11  Napalm the hill the rockets were fired from. Rinse, repeat.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/26/2006 10:11 Comments || Top||

#12  Hassan Nasrallah ... warned he would not accept a "humiliating" ceasefire

I always get a kick out of the Islamists v/s the PC weenies. The weenies try so hard to help them win, by putting their murderous actions into the "proper context" so as to be palatable to westerners, and then the Islamists just shove them to the ground, kick them once or twice and say, beat it, ya dirtly little infidel. God's on our side, and when I have time, I'll chop off your head and sell your women and children into slavery.

rinse and repeat.
Posted by: 2b || 07/26/2006 10:13 Comments || Top||

#13  God help me, I'm starting to understand Joe.
Posted by: Glotle Angong2235 || 07/26/2006 10:17 Comments || Top||

#14  Longer range missiles become engageable targets for theater ABMs.
Posted by: Jese Gleresh1086 || 07/26/2006 10:25 Comments || Top||

#15  The most striking feature of recent events is that the Lebanese government hasn't acted against Hizb'Allah. At all.

Accessory to acts of war. Same goes for UN troops in Lebanon.
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 07/26/2006 10:50 Comments || Top||

#16  God help me, I'm starting to understand Joe.
You are now a 'Burgher and must choose your name.
Posted by: 6 || 07/26/2006 15:41 Comments || Top||

#17  Big deal; I understand Joe, but I still don't understand wimmen. Except my mother. And I hate my mother!
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/26/2006 15:44 Comments || Top||

#18  it's been changed, link re-do,

Hizbullah, where there is a corpse you will always find a maggot

or cut and paste

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg6qWVGqEJ4&search=george%20galloway

Posted by: RD || 07/26/2006 17:35 Comments || Top||

#19  Nice photo, #1. There's an explosion, presumably from another Khatusha, below the lower red circle on the right hand side. As you can see, it's not a HUGE explosion. There's also another rocket(?) above and to the left of the upper red circle on the left. From the looks of them, it's hard to guess what they're aimed at.

I agree with #11 - time to hit Hezbollah with napalm - lots of it.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/26/2006 19:12 Comments || Top||


Enemy pounds Beirut suburbs, claims capture of Bint Jbeil
Israel pounded 10 buildings in the southern suburbs of Beirut following a Hizbullah salvo of rockets on Haifa Tuesday, as an Israeli Army statement claimed the fall of the largest border town, Bint Jbeil. After two days of relative calm, Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hizbullah stronghold, were once again targeted by Israel in an attack which destroyed 10 buildings. Further south, heavy clashes between Israel and Hizbullah fighters continued in the village of Maroun al-Ras and the outskirts of Bint Jbeil.

Claiming that Bint Jbeil is a major Hizbullah center, Israel's army said tanks and troops had sealed off the town and were engaged in sporadic firefights with its defenders. "The intention is not to occupy Bint Jbeil, it's a limited operation," Brigadier-General Ido Nehushtan told Reuters. "In the last 24 hours we killed roughly 20 to 30 terrorists."

Hizbullah said five of its fighters had been killed over the past day, but did not say where. The group said in a statement that fighting with Israeli forces continued on Bint Jbeil's outskirts and in the surrounding area.

The Israelis said they secured the town by nightfall. "Beit Jbeil is in our hands," General Alon Friedman, one of Israel's top commanders for its northern region, told Army Radio. The claim could not be independently confirmed.

Sources in the foreign observer force UNIFIL said it was difficult to know which side controlled which parts of the town and that some civilians were feared trapped by the crossfire. An Israeli Army spokesperson said Tuesday that an Israeli soldier died in clashes in Maroun al-Ras. Hizbullah had issued a statement late Monday saying that its fighters managed to stand in the face of more than 350 Israeli soldiers from an elite unit, warplanes and tanks for the past five days. The statement added that the Israeli Army lost a helicopter, five Merkava tanks; four soldiers and nine others were wounded, it said.

The Israelis said they believe that up to 200 Hizbullah fighters were believed to be defending Bint Jbeil, which lies about 4 kilometers north of the border. Maj. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, Israeli military chief of operations, said between 100 and 200 Hizbullah fighters were fortified inside the town, while much of the civilian population had fled. Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV reported Monday that the fighters were mounting a strong defense against elite Israeli troops who were trying to advance under "heavy bombardment."
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Israel: "In the last 24 hours we killed roughly 20 to 30 terrorists."

Hezbollah: ”Hezbollah said five of its fighters had been killed over the past day, but did not say where.”

I think I’ll get the Hezbollah spokesman some Factor gear for Ramadamadingdong. The spin is outrageous. The word “Underverse” comes to mind.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 07/26/2006 0:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Hezbollah spokesmen are clearly not up to Baghdad Bob's standard. (I kinda miss him.)
Posted by: Clinelet Chutch8972 || 07/26/2006 5:41 Comments || Top||

#3  perhaps we could get Noam Chomsky to take the job.
Posted by: 2b || 07/26/2006 10:30 Comments || Top||


Leb Paleos to join Hizbullah
Palestinian gunmen in Lebanon are set to join the fighting against the IDF, the leader of the Fatah faction in Lebanon, Sultan Abu al-Aynain, announced on Tuesday. He said Fatah, which is headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, has thousands of fighters in Lebanon who are prepared to participate in the fighting and warned Israel against targeting Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

It is unclear whether the announcement was made in coordination with Abbas. Sources close to Abbas refused to comment on Abu al-Aynain's threats, but acknowledged that he was Fatah's "military commander" in Lebanon. The sources pointed out that in the past, Abu al-Aynain had dispatched Palestinians to Iraq to fight against US troops. "We are interested in defending our camps and we will fight with honor to preserve our dignity™," Abu al-Aynain told the Al-Arabiya TV News Channel. "We will resist any attempt to approach our camps."

The Fatah leader was speaking shortly after Israeli missiles fell near the Rashidiyeh refugee camp near the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon. "We can't stay out of the battle if Israel invades south Lebanon," he said. "Once the Israeli enemy comes near our refugee camps, the Palestinians will have the courage to fight against this ugly aggression."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fresh cannon fodder for Nasrallah?
Posted by: Monsieur Moonbat || 07/26/2006 1:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Think of them as a bonus round.
Posted by: Champ Angeger5024 || 07/26/2006 1:29 Comments || Top||

#3  In the Middle East, Muslims would kill a non-muslims before they would kill the other sect.

Nasrallah announced he was going to head south, this is Sunni's joining up with Shittes in an "epic" battle. All the arabs are glued to their TV, even way back in Iran and Iraq, so I see this also having repercussions, like all things.
Posted by: Jesing Ebbease3087 || 07/26/2006 1:40 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm sure they will be very useful to Hez soldiers. Fatah and Hamas bodies make excellent sandbags.
Posted by: gorb || 07/26/2006 3:39 Comments || Top||

#5  "We are interested in defending our camps and we will fight with honor to preserve our dignity™

.... from Mosques, elementry schools, hospitals, civilian areas. All the usual places.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/26/2006 8:04 Comments || Top||

#6  I can't help but wonder what kind of conversations take place within the Iraqi Defence Forces about slipping out to join Hizballs.
Posted by: wxjames || 07/26/2006 10:11 Comments || Top||

#7  That would be the un run (sic) Paleo Camps that aren't supposed to contain weapons.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 07/26/2006 10:15 Comments || Top||

#8  "had succeeded in creating a new balance of terror with Israel"

Interesting choice of words comming from a "Resistance Movement".
Posted by: DepotGuy || 07/26/2006 11:03 Comments || Top||

#9  This could solve a number of problems for Lebanon. Lebanese President Lahoud said in an interview with Der Spiegel that We have today around half a million Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, their birth rate is three times higher than the Lebanese. That is a time bomb. It is the basic problem of our country, it led to the outbreak of civil war in 1975 and still remains unsolved today.... Lebanon is small and can't integrate the Palestinians.

Letting the Paleos soak up the Israeli bullets for Hezbollah reduces the Paleo problem and will make reconstruction easier.
Posted by: RWV || 07/26/2006 16:28 Comments || Top||

#10  Maybe we can get a two-fer: destroy hezbollah and wipe out a few of the palestinian terrorist training"refugee" camps at the same time. Bring on that napalm, Israel - you'll need it.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/26/2006 19:19 Comments || Top||


Hezbollah says attack, hit Israeli vehicles, forces in southern Lebanon
(KUNA) -- Hezbollah's military wing, the Islamic resistance, said Tuesday it attacked and destroyed two Israeli armored vehilces in southern Lebanon and hit those inside them. Hezbollah said in a statement the Islamic resistance attacked the Israeli army forces at Maroun Al-Ras and Bint Jubail towns killing and injuring the personnel. The fighting was still taking place, said the statement. The Israeli army did not confirm the attack yet.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Why are Hezbollah wasting time attacking Israelis? Why not attack the UN, like the Israelis do. That'll teach 'em to read my mind and fly black helicopters over my house!!!
Posted by: Crairt Phomotle9768 || 07/26/2006 8:52 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
liberal radio's Randi Rhodes reportly accuses Israel of Genocide on Lebanon
Hat tip= Instapundit
------------------------

My [Ed Cone]rush-hour drive back to New York yesterday was not bad at all, but I did have the misfortune of hearing the Randi Rhodes show on Air America...She was ranting about Israel's "genocide" in Lebanon..................

It was pretty damn bad.

[the RandiRhodes website today doesn't mention it; however, Air America frequently airbrushes]
Posted by: mhw || 07/26/2006 14:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Somebody actually listens to Air America? How fascinating.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 07/26/2006 14:26 Comments || Top||

#2  The Black Sabbath guy? I thought he was dead?
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/26/2006 14:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Randi's off her meds again, eh?

Which judicial authority issued the order... They need to be contacted...
Posted by: BigEd || 07/26/2006 14:51 Comments || Top||

#4  tu - that was Tommy Iommi; you're thinking about Ozzy's solo career:



Thank you; rock on...
Posted by: Raj || 07/26/2006 15:03 Comments || Top||

#5  Typical moonbat liberal.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/26/2006 15:31 Comments || Top||

#6  I don't think these idiots will ever "get it", but having access to a dictionary and a decent history book would be a good start. Randi apparently has neither.
Posted by: Kirk || 07/26/2006 16:40 Comments || Top||

#7  Lets see here...shave my head with a cheese-grater...check! Chew on tin-foil...check! Now what would complete my day? Maybe a little mental stimulation with the Randi Rhodes show...yeah that's the ticket.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 07/26/2006 16:49 Comments || Top||

#8  Randi Rhodes is another one those anti-Zionist self hating Jews. They seem to piling up, here in the U.S.
Posted by: Poison Reverse || 07/26/2006 20:04 Comments || Top||

#9  Randi Rhodes - liberal tool. Not to be confused with Randy Rhoads - guitar virtuoso (and all around good guy) for Ozzy Osbourne, (d1982 in a plane crash in Fla.) - one of my all time favorite guitar players. Rest In Peace Randy brother, it's too bad some jerk off has such a similar name.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 07/26/2006 23:02 Comments || Top||


Good morning....
Convict freed after murder victim found aliveLeb Paleos to join HizbullahSaddam Tribe Head KilledMan supplying vehicles to terrorists arrestedSecurity at Taj Mahal beefed up following bomb threatNasrallah vows to begin firing missiles deeper into IsraelGeorge's 'wedding is off'
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Now I know how Trigger got his name. :)
Posted by: Champ Angeger5024 || 07/26/2006 1:04 Comments || Top||

#2  No wonder Roy Rogers always had a smile on his face!
Posted by: mac || 07/26/2006 4:08 Comments || Top||

#3  WOAH THERE! Who'da thunk it???
Posted by: Ptah || 07/26/2006 7:18 Comments || Top||

#4  More fish nets?
Posted by: Flaigum Whelet4630 || 07/26/2006 7:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Wishing Roy and Dale "Happy Trails."
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/26/2006 7:59 Comments || Top||

#6  This could get you BANNED in the Magic Kingdom!

What will the Saudis do for their Military Intelligence if you get blocked???
Posted by: button || 07/26/2006 13:55 Comments || Top||

#7  They always have the U.S. State Department.
Posted by: Fordesque || 07/26/2006 21:59 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
125[untagged]

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

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

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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

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

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

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

Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2006-07-26
  Leb Paleos to join Hizbullah
Tue 2006-07-25
  Egypt: US Mideast plan 'preposterous'
Mon 2006-07-24
  Hamas, I-J rocket Sderot. Surprise.
Sun 2006-07-23
  Israel seizes Maroun al-Ras
Sat 2006-07-22
  Gaza groups agree to stop firing at Israel
Fri 2006-07-21
  Ethiopia enters Somalia to back government
Thu 2006-07-20
  Siniora pleads for world's help
Wed 2006-07-19
  IAF foils rocket transports from Syria
Tue 2006-07-18
  Israel flattens Paleo foreign ministry, Hamas offices
Mon 2006-07-17
  Israel attacks Beirut airport with four missiles
Sun 2006-07-16
  Chechens Ready to Hang it Up
Sat 2006-07-15
  IDF targets Beirut, Tripoli ports & Hizbollah leadership
Fri 2006-07-14
  IAF Booms Hezbollah HQ, Misses Nasrallah
Thu 2006-07-13
  Israel bombs Beirut airport, embargos coast
Wed 2006-07-12
  IDF Re-Engages Lebanon, Reserves Called Up

Better than the average link...



Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
18.208.197.243
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (34)    Non-WoT (12)    Opinion (15)    Local News (17)    (0)