Soldiers from the US-led coalition killed eight "extremists" in a firefight in eastern Afghanistan, a US military statement said yesterday. The eight militants attacked coalition troops on Wednesday in the Asadabad district of restive Kunar province, the statement said. "The coalition responded to the attack with small arms, machinegun fire and grenades," it added. No coalition casualties were reported, the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2006 08:32 ||
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Soldiers from the US-led coalition killed eight "Pakistanis" in a firefight in eastern Afghanistan...
(SomaliNet) The Ethiopian troops in Balanbale district of Galgadud region in central Somalia were reported on Thursday to have moved towards near Guri-El town. An Ethiopian military official reached Balanbale today. Reports from the area say that a battalion of Ethiopian troops took the road to Guri-El town to speed up efforts to prevent the advancing Islamic courts in the region.
Guri-El is a home grown town of the Islamist supreme leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys who conducts military plans to resist against Ethiopian forces who remain in parts of Somalia.
The fear is high over possible confrontation between Ethiopian troops and fighters of Islamic Courts, local official said. The elders of Balanbale district bordering with Ethiopia asked Ethiopian forces to withdraw the area to avoid clashes.
Almost like the Ethiopians want a fight.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/18/2006 00:00 ||
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here's to good shooting, Ethiopia
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/18/2006 11:17 Comments ||
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Islamists controlling much of southern Somalia have broken up a meeting of religious leaders in the capital, further asserting their authority in the lawless nation. Officials with the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS) said the conference of scholars and peace activists from al-Islah group in a Mogadishu hotel was illegal as it had not been approved.
Speaking after heavily armed men broke up the meeting on Thursday, a SICS spokesman said the meeting was not licensed and the organisers did not have permission to hold it. Abdul Karim Ali Muddey said: "We have to be a community ruled by laws. People must seek permission to have a meeting, and we will licence it as long as the forum is not a threat to public safety or Islamic teachings."
Members of al-Islah, a charity that operates Muslim clinics and schools throughout Somalia, confirmed that the meeting had been disbanded but declined to discuss the matter further. The agenda for the conference was not clear, but the group has been pushing for a resumption of dialogue between the Islamists and Somalia's increasingly weak and marginalised transitional government.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2006 00:00 ||
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Bangladeshi police shot dead 11 militants in an exchange of fire in the country's northern Pabna district on Thursday, police said. Police intercepted about 100 militants holding a meeting at a hideout, a police official said. The police opened fire and killed 11 members of the group. Another 50 were detained, the official said. About 50 people, including policemen, were wounded in the gunfight. Police and elite force rapid action battalion seized dozens of guns and ammunition from the hideout at Barshal, a village northwest of Dhaka. "We had planned the raid on a tip off that the Marxists group will hold a meeting at this remote village," police Superintendent Mirza Abdullahil Baki told reporters at the scene.
The militants belonged to the ML Janajuddha group, which is active in northern Bangladesh and who say they seek to help the poor. Officials said they were not connected to banned Islamist groups believed to be responsible for a spate of bomb attacks last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2006 00:00 ||
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Sounds like the newest form of Crossfire(tm).
I miss the old Crossfire Gazette.
Posted by: N guard ||
08/18/2006 0:25 Comments ||
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Can't kill 'em in private, so they gotta kill 'em real public-like. I wonder if they found any shutter guns at the scene?
A BOMB threat scrawled on a sick bag caused a British passenger plane from London to Egypt to be diverted to southern Italy overnight, but police said it appeared to be a false alarm.
"The alarm has been called off," said Brindisi border police chief Salvatore de Paolis.
The charter flight from London's Gatwick airport to Hurghada in Egypt with 269 passengers on board was escorted to Brindisi by an Italian jet fighter after the pilot raised the alarm by radio to air traffic controllers in Zagreb.
The passengers were evacuated immediately after landing in Italy and anti-terrorist police inspected the aircraft, with the airport fire brigade on standby.
But budget airline Excel said it was only a precaution taken after a passenger found a threatening note written on a sick bag in a seat pocket.
"It is all over," said a spokeswoman for Excel. "The checks have gone on and once it is all cleared the passengers are going back onto the aircraft and it will resume its journey sooner rather than later, we hope."
Excel Airways Group is a subsidiary of Icelandic investment firm Avion Group.
The Chechen government said Friday that Doku Umarov, leader of Chechnya's separatist rebels, has surrendered. Umarov took over the leadership of the rebel movement in June following the killing by Russian forces of Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev. Umarov's importance to the rebel movement further increased in July after warlord Shamil Basayev, the most feared of the rebels, was killed.
Umarov turned himself in at the residence of Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov in Gudermes, Chechnya's second-largest city, said Chechen government spokesman Lyoma Gudayev. Further details, including the terms of the surrender were not immediately available. But Russia last month announced an amnesty for all fighters who turned themselves in.
...it was Umarov's younger brother who turned himself in...
The Chechen government retracted its claim Friday that separatist rebel leader Doku Umarov had surrendered, saying it was Umarov's younger brother who turned himself in. Government spokesman Lyoma Gudayev said the younger Umarov turned himself in at the residence of Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov in Gudermes, Chechnya's second-largest city. Gudayev had said earlier that Doku Umarov turned himself in at Kadyrov's residence.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2006 07:54 ||
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(Itar-Tass) -- A total of 119 militants have agreed to lay down arms and give themselves up to the authorities following a call from the chief of the national anti-terrorist center, director of the federal security service FSB Nikolai Patrushev, Chechnya's deputy prosecutor, Nikolai Kalugin, said on Thursday.
Criminal charges were dropped against 42 of the surrendered militants. One former militant who asked for amnesty continues to be investigated on the suspicion of kidnapping a local resident. The criminal case against him was opened back in 2000. The surrendered militants handed in to the authorities three machine-guns, two handguns, 14 automatic rifles and 13 grenade launchers. All firearms are undergoing forensic examination.
Here's the lesson: Had they managed to kill Shamil three or four years ago, the Russers wouldn't be at this point now; the war would probably be grinding on. Instead, they got Khattab. Then al-Walid. Then Maskhadov. Then Sadulayev. And finally Shamil. By the time they banged Shamil, there was no one left to take his place. All the dead cannon fodder didn't count for much, but all the dead commanders did. All the Chechens are left with now is Count Dooku and some Arabs nobody's ever heard of.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2006 00:00 ||
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Yup, Yup. Answer is to take them down as fast as they replace them. Answer for Death Cult is death.
CEREDO, W.Va. -- A West Virginia airport terminal was evacuated Thursday after two bottles of liquid found in a woman's carry-on luggage twice tested positive for explosives, a Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman said. "The bomb squad is on site and the woman is being interviewed by the FBI," Amy von Walter said.
...the woman was 28-year-old native of Pakistan who had moved to Huntington from Jackson, Mich.
A machine security checkpoint screeners use to test for explosives registered positive, and a canine team also got a positive hit, von Walter said. Airport manager Larry Salyers said the bottles would be moved by robot to a remote area of the airport where officials would attempt to detonate them. National Guard and State Police explosive experts will conduct chemical field tests to determine what's inside them, he said. Salyers said he was told the woman was 28-year-old native of Pakistan who had moved to Huntington from Jackson, Mich. He did not know how long she had lived in Huntington. The woman was still at the airport late Thursday afternoon, but was not under arrest, said FBI spokesman Jeff Killeen.
Commercial airline service was suspended at least until 5 p.m., and about 100 passengers and airport employees were ordered to leave the terminal, Tri-State Airport Authority President Jim Booton. A US Airways spokeswoman said one of its flights was diverted to Charleston's Yeager Airport about 60 miles away. A screener noticed a bottle in a woman's carry-on bag as she prepared to board a flight to Charlotte, N.C., Booton said. Salyers said she was eventually headed to Detroit.
#3
This is so bizarre. What kind of chemicals could possible be found as a ingredient in cosmetics that would trigger a response for explosives.
Granted they were probably manufactured in Pakistan; and that in itself raises questions as does the previous points. But I have never heard of anything like it when the products were manufactured in the U.S, Europe or other western countries. I would have expected to have seen this a lot more often.
#7
Here's a random guess. Nail polish remover is acetone, basically. The explosive used in London on 7/7/05 was (tri-)acetone (tri-)peroxide.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
08/18/2006 10:54 Comments ||
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#8
Maybe facial bleach? I think that stuff might have peroxide in it. Also, a lot of other manicure products besides nail polish remover have some pretty vile chemicals in them.
#9
Also, a lot of other manicure products besides nail polish remover have some pretty vile chemicals in them.
No doubt the unnamed Pak mule spends hours before the mirror coiffing herself before she dons the burka. And hard to believe none of the other American women who buy $29 Billion of this junk each year have ever set off the buzzer.
I think we're seeing a lot of catch, tag and release to try to find out where the mules are getting their orders from.
#11
If it's not that, and it's just a false positive, well, I'd rather have false positives than false negatives.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/18/2006 11:31 Comments ||
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#12
No doubt the unnamed Pak mule spends hours before the mirror coiffing herself before she dons the burka. And hard to believe none of the other American women who buy $29 Billion of this junk each year have ever set off the buzzer.
Look out for racially profiling - bomb sniffing German Shepherd...
RACIST DOG!
#13
lol, BigEd. Before I read the part about her being Paki, and seeing as how it was in a West VA airport, I immediately thought the moonshine runners had gotten busted again.
When in West Virginia, do as the hicks West Virginians do, lol.
Posted by: BA ||
08/18/2006 15:16 Comments ||
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Pakistan has told the U.S. military that an Arab al-Qaida operative who masterminded the London jetliner terror plot is hiding in mountainous terrain in northeastern Afghanistan, an intelligence official said Friday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the investigation, said the al-Qaida member is believed to be moving between Afghanistan's Nuristan and Kunar provinces, which border Pakistan.
The information was obtained by interrogators questioning a British suspect in the plot to blow up trans-Atlantic passenger planes, Rashid Rauf, who was arrested in eastern Pakistan and is regarded as a key figure in the foiled plot. The information has already been shared with the British and coalition forces operating in Afghanistan, the official told The Associated Press.
The official did not provide the nationality of the wanted al-Qaida operative, but said he was a close aide to Egyptian-born al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri. Detained terror suspects have told interrogators al-Zawahri likely approved the plan to blow up passenger planes leaving London for the United States, the official said. Several hundred U.S. forces from the Fort Drum, N.Y.-based 10th Mountain Division are based in Kunar and Nuristan provinces hunting al-Qaida fighters and supporters of Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Rauf was in touch with al-Zawahri through a courier from Afghanistan who would cross the porous, mountainous frontier separating Afghanistan and Pakistan to deliver messages, the official said. The official said the Arab al-Qaida mastermind has developed links with several Pakistan-based militants, including Rauf.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2006 08:20 ||
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*cough* bullshit *cough*
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/18/2006 11:51 Comments ||
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#2
That'll be downtown Karachi then.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/18/2006 13:25 Comments ||
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Pakistan has told the U.S. military that an Arab al-Qaida operative who masterminded the London jetliner terror plot is hiding in mountainous terrain in northeastern Afghanistan, an intelligence official said Friday.
PESHAWAR: Seven foreigners arrested for alleged links with Al Qaeda were handed over to the Al Khidmat Foundation through the World Prisoners Relief Commission of Pakistan (WPRCP) on Thursday. Peshawar Additional Sessions Judge Syed Ihtisham Ali ordered the foreigners be handed over to WPRCP Chairman Javed Ibrahim Paracha and Hazrat Aman of the Al Khidmat Foundation. The orders to shift the foreigners from Peshawar Central Jail were issued on humanitarian grounds, following the submission of surety bonds by both guarantors.
The prisoners are Saeed Ahmad Majbour and Sufiyan Mahzar from Algeria, Naja Bin Salik from Tunisia, Jamshed Ahmad and Zarif Lateef from Tajikistan, Qari Abdur Rehman from Uzbekistan and Burhanuddin from Bangladesh. The Pakistani Foreign Office and the NWFP government have issued no objection certificates for the men to be shifted to the foundation. The WPRCP chairman and the seven foreigners held a press conference later and denied links with Al Qaeda.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
They came to know about Al Qaeda after they were arrested and questioned by security agencies, the chairman said. Paracha said the change of custody was in accordance with a decision by the Peshawar High Court. The court had decided the prisoners, arrested under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, be handed over to Al Khidmat Foundation on medical grounds, he added. The seven prisoners would be deported after their pending cases were decided, he added.
PESHAWAR: The banned Tehrik Nifaz Shariah Muhammadi and the NWFP government have struck a 'compromise' to ease tension over the use of an illegal FM radio station, and a campaign against TVs and VCDs in Sawat. "A potential clash between the TNSM and the district government has been prevented because of the deal," NWFP Sports Minister Hussain Kanju told Daily Times after a meeting with TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah. According to the deal, the TNSM will bring its campaign against TVs and VCDs to an end, in return the government will release its activists. The government has also allowed the TNSM to use an illegal FM radio station. "If others can use illegal FM stations, why can't the TNSM?" Kanju said.
Because they're illegal?
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2006 00:00 ||
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Lashkar cadres in Kolkata - a chilling reality that the city has woken upto after two hard-core Pakistani alleged fidayeen or suicide bombers were caught at north 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on Aug 14. The arrested, both residents of Karachi, were identified as Mohammand Zuber, a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) member and Mohammad Sohail, associated with Jaish-e-Mohammad. The men were caught after they reportedly delivered a consignment of explosives for triggering blasts in Jammu and Kashmir and New Delhi. They have been handed over to the CID for further investigations.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2006 00:00 ||
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Hey, you can't start an investigation without a blowtorch! And while you're at the hardware store, could you pick up some Cinderella bandaids and a few tourniquets?
Detained terror suspects told interrogators that al-Qaeda's top leaders approved a plot to blow up planes from Britain to the United States, a senior Pakistani intelligence agent said Thursday. Some of the suspects said No. 2-ranked Ayman al-Zawahri probably authorized the plan, said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the investigation.
That would be in the job description of a No. 2.
Osama bin Laden's Egyptian-born right-hand man, believed to be hiding on the Pakistan-Afghan border, is the highest-ranked al-Qaeda leader named to date in relation to what authorities called a plot to destroy trans-Atlantic jetliners with liquid explosives. Pakistani intelligence officials have said the would-be London plane bombers wanted to carry out a large, al-Qaeda-style coordinated attack to mark the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, but were too "inexperienced" to carry it out.
Pakistani intelligence officials have said the would-be London plane bombers wanted to carry out a large, al-Qaeda-style coordinated attack to mark the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, but were too "inexperienced" to carry it out...
At least seven suspects were arrested in Pakistan, including British national Rashid Rauf, who Pakistani authorities say had been in contact with al-Qaeda figures in Pakistan and Afghanistan to prepare for the attacks. Another 23 people have been arrested in Britain, including Rauf's brother, Tayib. Initial reports from Pakistani intelligence agents indicated as many as 17 people were arrested. Pakistani authorities said Rashid Rauf, who was arrested in the eastern Punjab city of Bhawalpur, had belonged to the outlawed Pakistani militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammed, but later aligned himself with al-Qaeda.
Cuz they were only interested in killing people in Kashmir. He wanted to expand his horizons
The Taliban-linked group, which has fought Indian forces in Kashmir, denied that Rauf had ever been a member. The senior Pakistani intelligence official said there was no evidence that Jaish-e-Mohammed was linked to the foiled terror plot.
Hafiz Mohammed Sohaib, who teaches at an Islamic school in Bhawalpur, said Rashid Rauf married one of his sisters. Sohaib's other sister is married to the brother of Maulana Masood Azhar, the wanted head of Jaish-e-Mohammed.
It's that family connection thing again. I think we'll find out someday they're all related by birth, weddings or both
Pakistani officials, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the investigation, said they were searching for three more suspects believed to be at large in Pakistan a Briton of Afghan descent, an Eritrean and a Pakistani. Pakistani authorities have yet to charge any of the detainees. Anti-terror laws permit the state to hold people for up to three months before filing official complaints. Authorities in Britain said negotiations are continuing with Pakistan over Rashid Rauf's extradition and that talks are likely to last several days.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/18/2006 00:00 ||
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Looks like Paks are up to mischief with the investigation and the Brits are not buying their story
B Raman comments
* FACT 1: Four or five of those detained by the British Police had gone to Pakistan after the earthquake of October,2005, in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) and in the Balakote area of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) to do humanitarian relief work in camps run by the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD), the parent organisation of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET).
* FACT 2: The Jundullah (Army of Allah), a pro-Al Qaeda organisation, took them to its training camp in the Waziristan area, trained them in the fabrication and use of explosives and dropped them back in the JUD quake relief camps.It is not clear whether they contacted the Jundullah and sought training or whether Jundullah contacted them and motivated them to join its jihad against the West.
* FACT 3: Before returning to London, they met Omar Sheikh, who master-minded the kidnapping and beheading of Daniel Pearl, the US journalist in January-February,2002, in his jail in Sindh.Since nobody can meet him without the permission of the jail authorities, the latter must have been aware of their meeting with him and what was discussed. One does not know whether they immediately alerted the British authorities
The Pakistani authorities, in their official account, have sought to corroborate the British version of a Bojinka-type plot. At the same time, they have tried to project the whole plot, which, according to them, was to have been co-ordinated by Rashid Rauf, a British citizen of Mirpuri (Punjabi-speaking Kashmiri) origin, who has been arrested by them, as having originated in the mind of Afghanistan-based Al Qaeda elements. This claim has been rebutted by the Afghan authorities, who have rightly pointed out that the remnants of the Al Qaeda are in Pakistani territory in Waziristan and not in Afghanistan.The Pakistani authorities have denied any role of Maitur Rehman, the Amir of the Jundullah, who is a Pakistani citizen, in the plot as alleged by some British and American experts.
Whenever the Pakistani authorities had arrested any foreign terrorist suspect in the past, they had immediately handed him over to the US authorities, who flew him out of Pakistan for interrogation. The only instance in the past in which the Pakistani authorities did not do this was in respect of Omar Sheikh. For reasons which are not clear till now, they have adamantly refused to hand him over to the US for questioning in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Pearl.It may be recalled that police sources in Sindh had alleged that this was because he had told them during his interrogation that during a visit to Kandahar in the beginning of 2001 to meet Osama bin Laden, he had come to know of Al Qaeda's plans for the 9/11 terrorist strikes in the US and he had conveyed this to Lt.Gen.Ehsan-ul-Haq, the then Corps Commander at Peshawar, who subsequently became the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The ISI authorities did not want him to mention this to the Americans.
15. Surprisingly, in the case of Rashid Rauf also, the Pakistani authorities have not taken action to immediately hand him over to the British for interrogation. Instead, they have produced him before a court, which they never did in the past in the case of terrorist suspects handed over to the Americans. One would have thought the British would have been eager to question him immediately in order to find out whether there are other members of the plot, who might be still at large.Similarly, one would have thought that the Americans would have been equally eager to take him into their custody and question him regarding the whereabouts of bin Laden and his No.2 Ayman al-Zawahiri. But till now, neither the British nor the Americans have shown any alacrity in wanting to do so. Why?
Posted by: john ||
08/18/2006 8:07 Comments ||
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#2
The indications till now are that whatever be the nature of the Bojinka-2006 plot, it was jointly mounted by British citizens of Pakistani origin and Pakistani nationals belonging to the Jundullah (operational command and control) and the Lashkar-e-Toiba (funding). They are close to Al Qaeda, but not Al Qaeda.Omar Sheikh had also been in the picture. To divert attention from these inconvenient realities, the Pakistani authorities have been trying to project that the plot was conceived in Afghan territory by British nationals of Pakistani origin in which there was no involvement of any Pakistani national or Pakistani jihadi organisation. They have been claiming credit for having discovered this plot.
17. To find out the truth and to prevent a repeat of July,2005, in the UK or Denmark, it is important that the British and the Americans take Omar Sheikh, Rashid Rauf and Prof.Hafeez Mohammad Syeed of the LET into their custody, fly them out of Pakistan and question them without the presence of Pakistani officials.
Posted by: john ||
08/18/2006 8:08 Comments ||
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#3
We have been told that MI6 are present at all Pakistani interrogations of 'Brits' arrested in Pakland... I presume that this may not have been the case with Omar Sheikh? John - I am rather out of touch with this business - are your facts about Sheikh sourced? Makes you wonder what's coming...
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/18/2006 8:37 Comments ||
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#4
Omar Saeed Sheikh is one of ISI's prime resources. I don't recall ever reading that Brit or American officials were ever present at his interrogations, and I'd be surprised if they had been.
I doubt that Omar will ever be executed. I keep waiting to hear he's made a "daring escape." I think his occasional transfers between prisons are the setup for that.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2006 12:13 Comments ||
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#5
I'm clearly off form - the old east London connection, of course - in this case Wanstead. Thanks Fred.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/18/2006 13:16 Comments ||
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#6
Too bad there's not some convenient way to immediately declare Pakistan a terrorist sponsor. It is what they are and nothing less. Their nuclear proliferation and ongoing escalation of the Kashmir conflict all point to a nation set upon causing constant strife. We need to confiscate their nuclear weapons, off the entire ISI, raze all of their madrassahs and place the nation under a protective administration.
It was getting old reading about the 'large' weapons caches being seized that would fit in my little gun safe. THIS is what we like to see - a whole warehouse full of stuff.
MND-B SOLDIERS SEIZE WEAPONS, MUNITIONS
BAGHDAD Soldiers from 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Multi-National Division Baghdad, detained two suspected terrorists and seized a large weapons cache in a warehouse during a search of Nur and Ghazalyia today in support of Operation Together Forward.
The weapons and munitions seized included 272 120mm mortar rounds, 212 82mm mortar rounds, 99 60mm mortar rounds, 33,800 14.5mm rounds, 5,000 7.62 rounds, 90 5.56 rounds, 165 19mm rounds, 104 rocket-propelled grenades, 240 23mm rockets, 200 60mm primers, 22 107mm rockets, nine 069B rockets, 11 RPG rounds, two landmines, a .30caliber shape charge, a crater charge, 11 fragmentation grenades, a machine gun, two AK-47s, a PKC machine gun, an RPK machine gun, two 14mm machine guns, 20 full AK-47 magazines, ammunition drums, various loose ammunition, 5,000 feet of detonation cord, three bayonets, five 82mm tubes, four 60mm tubes, three 60mm mortar bipods, four 81mm mortar bipods, two 60mm mortar bases, an 81mm base, two land mines, an 81mm mortar base, an aiming circle, two aiming poles, 54 rocket motors and various bomb-making materials.
The suspected terrorists were detained for questioning. All munitions and weapons were confiscated for destruction. Five hundred buildings were searched during the operation.
Operations have taken place in Doura, Shula, Ghazaliyah and Ameriyah from Aug. 7-16. During this time, Iraqi army, Iraqi police and MND-B Soldiers have cleared more than 23,000 buildings, 21 mosques, detained 54 suspected terrorists, seized 326 weapons, registered 341 weapons, found 10 weapons and munitions caches and removed 900 tons of trash.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/18/2006 17:19 Comments ||
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#15
They should just stick to the big stuff. Mortar rounds, explosives, RPGs, etc. It just sounds silly to list things like "30 9mm rounds" and "wooden stick that could be used to hit things with."
#18
This is the group who were due to come home, but got extended. I was very upset at that, but I guess they have done something worthwhile by staying after all. Taking this shit away is bound to save American lives. Nice job. Stay safe.
#19
After reading the list, I don't see anything a good-ole boy Louisiana gator-hunter doesn't have, in about the same quantities... The only thing missing is the eight boxes of dynamite, a hundred yards of 1/2" steel cable, and a LARGE hook. Oh, and a couple of gallons of home-brew.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/18/2006 20:17 Comments ||
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#20
Reminds me of a song from a guy in OH, had middling success regionally and then died quite young. Blind, funny, great guitar player. Song starts off:
We was takin' a break out at Laramie Lake, just me an' Billy John Gibbons
with some 10-test line and a fifth of 'shine an a couple o' old Blue Ribbons.
We caught three bald tires, some rusty old pliers and a real bad cold a'fishin.
It was all we had but wadn't too bad for people in our condition.
And then the night turned bright and my face turned white and I thought I must be sleepin'.
It was big and round, comin' close to the gound, all buzzin' an' a-beepin'.
An then a voice in my head, well it suddenly said "Say - how'd ya' like to take a ride son?
We couldn't help seein' you're a hum-ean bein'and we'd like to take a look inside one."
I've been ridin' in a UFO. Stereo tape an' 4-on-the-floor.
I've been ridin' in a UFO with some funny lookin little green men and I'm never goin' back again!
Goes on in hilarious detail about their adventure, including the interplanetary poker game they lost their shirts in. Ends
... and somebody turned the hose on.
It was a quarter to eight and we was standin' on the State House steps without no clothes on.
Ya know you oughta go looking for them little green crooks that took us to the cleaners
'stead a talking to us Sarge 'bout a federal charge an' 14 misdimeanors.
I've been ridin' in a UFO.
Mama don't believe me but I know it's so.
I've been ridin' in a UFO with some funny looking little green men and I'm never going back again!
OK, I know none of you know the song and I can't play the music here but it's really pretty good and OP's comment set it playing in my head. LOL
#22
Seriously glad that the Brave Lions of Islam didn't decide to try and use any of this (or blow it in place) when our boys cleared the room. That coulda been nasty. And, thanks for your work Bama. Don't know ya, but I salute you with a BIG War Eagle!
Posted by: BA ||
08/18/2006 22:27 Comments ||
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#23
Will say again that iff anti-Saddamists had this kind of firepower before, SADDAM would not had stayed in power so long. Just more evidencia that the insurgency was pre-planned by Saddam and anti-US agendists.
We'll have to wait and see whether these recruits have the 'stuff' to stand up to the bad guys. Or for that matter, whether they are or are not actually part of the bad guys. But it looks good at first glance.
MOST SUCCESSFUL IRAQI POLICE RECRUTING DRIVE
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq More than 950 new Iraqi recruits will begin a 10-week Basic Police Officer training course August 21, 2006.
The new recruits are the result of one of Multi-National Forces - West most successful recruiting efforts this year.The monthly drive focuses on identifying, screening and signing up local Iraqi national men from communities in and around the Euphrates River Valley.
Many of the new recruits will receive their training at the Baghdad Police College Jordanian International Police College.
Upon completion of training, the recruits will return to their communities where they will serve as some of the more than 7,000 Iraqi police officers trained under the new Iraqi government.
According to Multi-National Forces - West Police Advisor, Maj. Robert Chiaruttini, the success of recent recruiting drives is due in part to improvements that the Iraqi Ministry of Interior and Al Anbar officials have made to the system used to pay Iraqi police.
Getting these guys paid on time had been an ongoing issue in the past, Chiaruttini said. I would not say the system is perfect now, but its definitely improving and I think you can see the results of that in our recruiting numbers.
#1
I'd say it looks good for these boys just by the fact that they showed up. Remember, kids, just visiting the recruiting office over there can get you and your family killed.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/18/2006 13:49 Comments ||
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BAGHDADI, Iraq (Aug. 17, 2006) -- After 30 recent graduates from the Iraqi police academy came to Baghdadi, Iraq, residents in this Saddam-era military housing complex are expressing interest in joining the police force because they are noticing a decrease in insurgent activity.
Marines with the Hawaii-based 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, or Americas Battalion, are combating the insurgency with local police officers who recently received much needed new gear to get the job done pistols, protective vests, rifles and batons to use while patrolling the citys streets.
Soon they will receive radios and police cars, said Maj. Eric Kelly, 36, the commanding officer of Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment the U.S. military unit which provides security here and mentors the citys local police and soldiers.
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Posted by: Bobby ||
08/18/2006 06:48 ||
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#1
Kinda off topic, but Blair is in deep do-do. The attached link manifests some Bush Derangement Syndrome nonsense, but worth a look because of what it reveals of Leftist infantilism.
Turkey and Iran have dispatched tanks, artillery and thousands of troops to their frontiers with Iraq during the past few weeks in what appears to be a coordinated effort to disrupt the activities of Kurdish rebel bases. Scores of Kurds have fled their homes in the northern frontier region after four days of shelling by the Iranian army. Local officials said Turkey had also fired a number of shells into Iraqi territory.
Some displaced families have pitched tents in the valleys behind Qandil Mountain, which straddles Iraq's rugged borders with Turkey and Iran. They told the Guardian yesterday that at least six villages had been abandoned and one person had died following a sustained artillery barrage by Iranian forces that appeared designed to flush out guerrillas linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), who have hideouts in Iraq.
Although fighting between Turkish security forces and PKK militants is nowhere near the scale of the 1980s and 90s - which accounted for the loss of more than 30,000 mostly Turkish Kurdish lives- at least 15 Turkish police officers have died in clashes. The PKK's sister party in Iran, the Kurdistan Free Life Party (Pejak), has stepped up activities against security targets in Kurdish regions. Yesterday, Kurdish media said eight Iranian troops were killed.
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#1
Wrong analysis! Turkey and Iran want Kurd oil fields.
Turks and Iranians view the Bush government as weak and irresolute, and they feel they can act with impunity. That is their perception. I believe that Condi's recent innocuous salvation-through-diplomacy statements are smoke-screens. I believe it because no American President could possibly act so recklessly with American security in the balance. If Ahmadinejad is still alive by the end of September, then American's will want an end to the current wheel-spinning.
#2
Correct, SS3550, none of this is really about PKK, but all of it is about Kurdish resources in South Kurdistan.
The Bush government is weak and irresolute, as the recent UN cave-in on Hezbollah proved.
We will continue to see weakness and irresolution, especially now that the news is coming out that the Turkish Red Crescent has been actively supplying Hezbollah with arms and munitions from Iran. No one in Western media is going to touch this information.
More news is coming out on this in Kurdish blogs and through Kurdish media sources, in addition to the fact that there has been a LOT of activity against the Turkish intel types that have infiltrated South Kurdistan. There have been some successful attacks against the JITEM vermin in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan, and the evil mullahs are losing their military officers to PJAK as well.
I'm hoping that PKK will be able to attack one of these Iranian munition convoys in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan with some remote-controlled bombs. The secondary explosions will be spectacular--a belated 15 Tebax celebration, if you will.
Posted by: Azad ||
08/18/2006 15:23 Comments ||
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#3
Azad, I hope you know what you are talking about and that it is not just a flight of fancy, on one hand. On another, hope no harm will come to Kurds in these dangerous times. Watch your backs, will ya?
As for US administration, I think you're misreading a bit. It was Israel that missed an opportunity for the first time (and hopefully for the last). There was not much US administration could do but find some way to push for the least harmful possible outcome under circumstances.
The New York Times via Iran Focus. BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 16 Iraqi security forces and British troops fought Shiite militias and tribesmen in on Wednesday in sustained battles that left two policemen and a dozen militiamen dead. The violence underscored the tenuous grip the Iraqi government maintains even in regions not under the sway of Sunni Arab insurgents.
In Basra, a gun battle erupted between Iraqi Army troops and members of the dominant local tribe, the Bani Asad, apparently angered by the killing on Tuesday of a tribal leader, Faisal Raji al-Asadi, government officials in Basra said. In a battle that lasted the better part of an hour, tribesmen clad in black clothing fired fusillades of bullets and grenades at the provincial government building, local police and government officials said, and eventually occupied the parts of the government complex.
The building was in the hands of Bani Asad tribe, an Iraqi government official in Basra said in a telephone interview, speaking over the sustained crackle of gunfire in the background. He said that the fighting, which killed six, including two policemen and two tribesmen, started because the tribe believed that the government was involved in Mr. Asadis killing.
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Posted by: Steve White ||
08/18/2006 00:00 ||
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Two car bombs exploded in Baghdad Thursday, killing 10 people and injuring 16, officials said. Iraq's prime minister insisted the country's forces were ready to take over security duties in most provinces despite rising violence. U.S. officials confirmed that the number of roadside bombs directed against U.S. and Iraqi forces had increased sharply, dramatizing the threat posed by the Sunni-led insurgency despite attention directed to sectarian violence in the capital.
A parked car exploded a little after noon near a market in Sadr City, inflicting the casualties and damaging many shops, said police Lt. Adil Salih. The Iraqi army general command said in a statement that seven people were killed and 15 injured. A second car bomb missed a police patrol in Mansour neighborhood in western Baghdad, killing three bystanders and wounding a fourth, said police Capt. Jamil Hussein.
Residents said the number of casualties was relatively low because most people had finished their shopping early to escape the 120-degree heat. Sadr City, a predominantly Shiite neighborhood, is one of the most tightly secured areas in Baghdad, patrolled by police as well as members of the Mahdi Army militia of the anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The security is to prevent attacks by Sunni insurgents, but the latest attack demonstrates the difficulties of controlling the seething sectarian violence, which has risen steadily since the Feb. 22 explosion at a Shiite shrine in Samarra. The bombing triggered a wave of reprisal killings and has raised fears of an all-out civil war.
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Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
U.S. officials confirmed that the number of roadside bombs directed against U.S. and Iraqi forces had increased sharply, dramatizing the threat posed by the Sunni-led insurgency despite attention directed to sectarian violence in the capital.
So sectarian vipolence is 'surging', but the insurgency has not abated, either? So why does Iraq consume less and less of the news? Seems to me, the roadside-bomb-directed-against-US forces articles are waaay off.
The sectarian violence has diverted attention from the threat posed by Sunni Arab insurgents. But recent figures suggest that the insurgency is gaining strength despite setbacks, including the June 7 death of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.... Oh, so your evidence suggests the insurgency is 'gaining strength'? Which recent figures are you citing? Care to share?
U.S. officials said that, in July, a total of 2,625 bombs exploded or were discovered before they could detonate. That was up sharply from the 1,454 bombs that went off or were discovered in January. Of the bombs discovered in July, 1,666 of them exploded and the rest were detected. Or, 63.47% exploded and 36.53% were discovered before they exploded, in July. How does that compare with previous months? Ya got January and ya got July. Whaddabout the rest of the months? Ya gotta graph?
About 70 percent of them were directed at U.S.-led forces. Twenty percent were directed at Iraqi security forces and 10 percent against civilians, the officials said. And how does that compare with any particular cherry-picked months for which you have data? Inquiring minds want to know.
Deputy Health Minister Adel Muhsin said Wednesday that about 3,500 Iraqis died in July in sectarian or political violence nationwide, the highest monthly death toll for civilians since the war started in March 2003. About the same number were killed in the US - on our highways - in the same period. But that's old news.
U.S. commanders are rushing nearly 12,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops to the capital to try to end the carnage. They've been 'rushing' for a month now. And from where I sit, the 'carnage' is lessening, even judging by the lower numbers reported by the MSM. BTW, any idea how many of those killed are gang or criminal related? Chicago was a dangerous place in the 20's.
Also Thursday, a senior official said Iraq has doubled the money allocated for importing oil products in August and September to tackle the country's worst fuel shortage since Saddam Hussein's 2003 ouster. Even though Iraq has the world's third-largest proven oil reserves, it is forced to depend on imports because of an acute shortage of refined products such as gasoline, kerosene and cooking gas. Sabotage of pipelines by insurgents, corruption and aging refineries have been blamed. Oh. So why does Iran have to import the majority of its gasoline? Corruption, aging refineries, and more money going to Hizbolla and nukes?
gloom
doom
quagmire
It's gonna get 'worse and worse' until you just don't see it reported anymore...
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/18/2006 7:18 Comments ||
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#2
Lovely fisk, Bobby. A nice way to start the day. :-)
THE Israeli army has denied its warplanes had launched air strikes in Lebanon after police there reported aircrafts targeted an uninhabited area near Baalbek in the east of the country.
"We have not carried out air strikes in Lebanon since the ceasefire took effect" on Monday, an army spokesman said.
Lebanese police had earlier reported that helicopters and drones flew at low altitude 22 km northeast of Baalbek and fired four missiles.
The fragile UN-brokered ceasefire ended a month-long fighting between Israel and the Shiite Hezbollah militia.
#1
Lebanese sources report IAF attack
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Sources in Lebanon reported Saturday morning an IAF attack in the eastern part of the country.
On Friday evening there were reports of IAF helicopters, drones, and jets flying over the area of Baalbek. IDF sources confirmed the flights, but denied that any attack had taken place.
The United States blocked an Iranian cargo plane's flight to Syria last month after intelligence analysts concluded it was carrying sophisticated missiles and launchers to resupply Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, two U.S. intelligence officials say.
Eight days after Hezbollah's war with Israel began, U.S. diplomats persuaded Turkey and Iraq to deny the plane permission to cross their territory to Damascus, a transfer point for arms to Hezbollah, the officials said.
The episode was detailed by one U.S. intelligence official who saw a report on the incident. It was confirmed by a U.S. official from a second intelligence agency and by a diplomat with a foreign government. They did not want their names used because they were not authorized to discuss the incident.
Which was probably classified.
The Iraq and Turkish governments would not discuss the incident. Iran's United Nations mission denied trying to send Hezbollah weapons. The intelligence officials did not provide reports, satellite photos or other evidence to corroborate the sequence of events. Their account could not be independently verified.
July 15: Three days after the war began, a source tipped off U.S. intelligence about an imminent shipment of missiles from Iran to Hezbollah.
July 19: A spy satellite photographed Iranian crews loading three missile launchers and eight crates, each normally used to carry a Chinese-designed C-802 Noor missile, aboard a transport plane at Mehrabad air base near Tehran. Israel says Hezbollah fired a C-802, a precision-guided anti-ship cruise missile, at an Israeli warship off Lebanon's coast on July 14.
July 20: The Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane left for Damascus, but Iraqi air-traffic controllers denied it permission to enter Iraq's airspace. The Iranian flight crew then requested permission to fly over Turkey. Turkish controllers granted permission but only if the plane would land for an inspection. The plane returned to Tehran, where the military cargo was unloaded.
July 22: The plane flew humanitarian aid to Damascus after stopping for inspection in Turkey.
Though the missiles were not visible in the satellite photos, the launchers and specialized crates with distinctive shapes allowed U.S. analysts to identify the missile type, the intelligence officials said.
Is there anything we do that won't be leaked? Either the press thinks this is an amusing game, or they are on the other side. Or both.
#1
"Is there anything we do that won't be leaked? Either the press thinks this is an amusing game, or they are on the other side. Or both."
The members of the MSM won't find it too assuming, especially over at the seditious Grey Lady if the day ever comes that a Pakistani cargo ship slips into New York's harbor bearing a nuke inside its cargo bay.
#2
Prefer that the US just shoots down the freakin transport carrier.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/18/2006 12:34 Comments ||
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#3
When/if the Paki container ship detonates in NY harbor, the MSM will be wetting themselves with glee blaming the evil Chimpy McHitlerBurton regime for not doing more to protect us. Leakage and blaming is all jolly fun as long as you are outside the blast radius.
#4
The members of the MSM won't find it too [amusing], especially over at the seditious Grey Lady if the day ever comes that a Pakistani cargo ship slips into New York's harbor bearing a nuke inside its cargo bay.
Nah, I think they would take great personal pride in thinking "It's Bush's fault that only x% of containers are checked! I TOLD YOU SO!" even as the flesh was burned from their bones. "Gotcha!" right to the end.
It's just their nature to treat politics as the game of the elite sophisticate. To put it another way, politics is to them what fantasy football and sports talk radio is to us lesser folk. What's scary is they seem so assured that there is nothing at stake for them personally in the broader conflict. It's all about the Republican/Democrat horserace.
#5
Israeli air strikes reported over Lebanese-Syrian border Friday night after Iran and Syria resume rocket consignments to Hizballah. This is not confirmed officially by either side
August 18, 2006, 10:54 PM (GMT+02:00)
The warplanes are said to have targeted weapons and rocket supply trucks northeast of Baalbek. Correspondents in Beirut report Lebanese forces opened anti-air fire on Israeli warplanes flying over E. Lebanon.
During the week, Israel kept Washington abreast of the Iranian-Syrian re-supply operation and was informed that if the Israeli government decides to destroy the incoming supply vehicles, the Bush administration will not interfere.
Sri Lankan troops yesterday beat back a fresh attempt by Tamil Tigers to overrun the main defences of the northern peninsula of Jaffna and killed at least 98 guerrillas, media minister Anura Yapa said. More than 100 rebels were wounded in the close-quarter fighting in the early hours of the morning, the minister told reporters here.
The attack on the northern peninsula, where hundreds have died in a week of fierce fighting, came a day after President Mahinda Rajapakse said the door was still open for peace talks with rebels fighting for autonomy for the nation's Tamil minority. Fighting also erupted in the eastern coastal town of Trincomalee, with foreign ceasefire monitors saying they were forced to retreat from heavy overnight shelling.
In Jaffna, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched a seaborne attack on army bunkers at Kilali on the peninsula's southwestern edge but troops hit back with rockets and rocket-propelled grenades, officials said. "The fight lasted until morning and Sri Lankan forces have been able to inflict heavy causalities on the Tigers," said Yapa. "We have recovered 98 Tiger bodies and destroyed three LTTE boats." Yapa gave no soldier casualty figures. But military officials who wished to remain unnamed said at least six soldiers were killed and 60 wounded in the intense battle.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2006 08:30 ||
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Protesters calling for an end to recent violence in Sri Lanka found themselves brawling with Mossad agents hardline Buddhist monks today, after a rally dubbed a 'peace protest' turned unexpectedly violent. Organisers said there were around 1000 people in a park in the capital, Colombo, listening to a range of speakers when hardline saffron-robed monks opposed to concessions to Tamil Tiger rebels mounted the stage and erected banners.
Some more moderate Buddhist monks, protesting for peace, were already on the stage when punches were thrown. Soon, monks' robes and fists were flying, although no one was badly hurt, witnesses said. They were saying we should go to war, said pro-peace monk Madampawe Assagee. We like to listen to other opinions so we let them do that, but then they started fighting and we couldn't control some of our people. They tried to make it a big fight but we settled it in a few minutes.
Hardline monks - allies of President Mahinda Rajapakse - say the government is too soft on the rebels and want military action. The island is dominated by the Buddhist Sinhalese majority, but is also home to Muslims as well as minority Tamils - some Hindu, some Christian. The hardline monks are violently opposed to Tiger demands for a separate Tamil homeland.
#7
Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Those cats were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightning
But they fought with expert timing
They were funky China men from funky Chinatown
They were chopping them up and they were chopping them down
It's an ancient Chineese art and everybody knew their part
From a feint into a slip, and kicking from the hip
Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Those cats were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightning
But they fought with expert timing
There was funky Billy Chin and little Sammy Chung
He said here comes the big boss, lets get it on
We took a bow and made a stand, started swinging with the hand
The sudden motion made me skip now we're into a brand knew trip
Everybody was kung-fu fighting
Those cats were fast as lightning
In fact it was a little bit frightning
But they did it with expert timing
(repeat)..make sure you have expert timing
Kung-fu fighting, had to be fast as lightning
#10
A curse upon you, TE5948. My daughter bought one of those "Kung Fu Hamsters" WalMart was selling about a year ago. I'd almost managed to forget that tune, but you've got the old earwig going again. Again, a curse upon you!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/18/2006 15:42 Comments ||
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#11
Lol Old Patriot!!
the tune just plays over and over!
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels launched a new attack overnight on the besieged northern Jaffna peninsula, the army said on Thursday, as a US envoy visited the island for talks. The military said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had launched a night-time offensive along the front line with assault boats and infantry but said it had largely been repulsed with some 70 rebel bodies left in no-man's-land. "Tiger boats fired at the security forces," said an army spokesman. "The security forces retaliated with air strikes. Overall, we believe over 100 LTTE were killed," he added.
There is now no access to the area and phone lines are down. Diplomats are sceptical about claims by both sides, suspecting they talk down their own casualties and exaggerate enemy deaths. "If there is no success getting the two parties back to the ceasefire, we will see a long military struggle where, as is usual in this island, no one will win," retired Swedish Major General Ulf Henricsson told Reuters in his Colombo headquarters.
Jaffna, birthplace of many of the senior rebel leadership and central to their fight for an ethnic Tamil homeland, is cut off from the rest of the island by Tiger territory and troops must be brought in by sea and air. The LTTEs objective does not seem to be to capture Jaffna, said Janes Defence Weekly analyst Iqbal Athas. They dont have the conventional forces. Their objective is to besiege Jaffna and grind down the military, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/18/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
We have cougars and occasionally coyote attacks, but ...
ANKARA, Aug 17, 2006 (AFP) - Turkey has grounded two Syria-bound Iranian planes over the past month to search for weapons following Israeli intelligence that Iran is supplying rockets to Hezbollah, officials and media reports said Thursday.
Wonder how the weapons get from Iran to the Hezbies? Here's one route.
Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Namik Tan said two Iranian cargo planes were forced to land in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir "in line with international rules" to search for rockets and other military equipment. "It was a routine procedure," Tan told a press conference.
He was commenting on a report in the mass-circulation Hurriyet daily, which said that two Iranian planes flying to Syria were forced to land in Diyarbakir on July 27 and August 8 following an Israeli tip-off that they were carrying rockets destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon. No military equipment was discovered in either of the aircraft, the newspaper said.
Ankara sought to keep the incidents secret out of concern that diplomatic relations with Iran might suffer, it added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/18/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Iranian planes grounded in Turkey for weapons search
While the Mad Mullahs threaten the world in large type, they also continue to beat their people down. Just another day in the dungeons.
Tehran, Iran, Aug. 17 Dozens of Iranian Kurds have been arrested over the past few days in the course of a new crackdown by Irans State Security Forces (SSF) on political activists in the western province of Kurdistan, according to a local rights group. Among those detained in the city of Piranshahr are two teenagers one of whom is under the age of eighteen.
Arrest warrants have been issued for at least 40 people, according to the Kurdistan Human Rights Organisation. In the city of Saqqez agents of the SSF raided the home of political activist Hossein Mohammadi. He was arrested after a brawl with the SSF agents.
Iranian Kurdistan has been a hotbed of anti-government protests and since 2005 Kurdish youths have repeatedly clashed with security forces. A number of demonstrators have been killed by agents of the SSF during such clashes. In July, five Iranian soldiers were killed in clashes with rebels near the Kurdish town of Qaleh Rash.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/18/2006 00:00 ||
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U.S. wind energy installations now exceed 10,000 megawatts (MW) in generating capacity...
[if President Bush's PR people were smart he would be making trips to wind farms and citing the fact that capacity has increased several hundred percent in his administration]
The first commercial wind farms were constructed in California in the early 1980s, and after reaching 1,000 MW in 1985, it took more than a decade for wind to reach the 2,000-MW mark, in 1999. Since then, however, installed capacity has grown fivefold (for a chart showing historical cumulative capacity, see http://www.awea.org/faq/instcap.html). Today, the industry is installing more wind power in a single year (3,000 MW expected in 2006) than the amount operating in the entire country in 2000 (2,500 MW).
As the U.S. wind energy industry sails past the 10,000-megawatt mark, AWEA released the following figures and statistics to illustrate some of the economic, environmental, and energy security benefits of wind power development.
#3
10 Gigawatts of unusable power. Wind power fluctuates from second to second, it also has no correlation to peaks of consumption and there is no way to store 10 Gigawatts of power. So there is no way you can use those 10 GWs of power (hint: you can't vary fast enough the output of other types of powser plants to compensate, or more exactly you can vary the output who goes into the grid but not the output produced and the amounts of fuel/coal/uranium who is being burned and this has to be at peek ie as if there was zero output from the wind farm).
#5
First Google hit on search for "total US electric generating capacity" - The US electric power industry's total installed generating capacity was 1051247 megawatts as of December 31, 2004, an increase of 1.9 percent over 2003...
10 GW don't seem like such a big number alla sudden...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/18/2006 12:18 Comments ||
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#6
I simply don't believe you, JFM. The power doesn't just dissipate into nothingness.
#7
10,000 MW wind is like 3000 MW conventional, or the electrical output of 3 nuclear plants. Worse, since wind is not dependable, thermal plants have to be ready (and built, staffed and maintained) to take over much of the load.
Posted by: ed ||
08/18/2006 12:28 Comments ||
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#8
Gee, only 35 Gigawatts to go before California is totally wind-powered!
Max one-day load in CA was around 45-46 GW during the last heat wave.
#9
gb506--If the power isn't getting used as it's generated, it does actually go away. Unfortunately there are no giant batteries or other repositories where it can get stored or cached for later use. Use it now or lose it.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/18/2006 12:36 Comments ||
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#10
gb, the power fluctuations from wind turbine variabililty is registered as voltage fluctuations. The power does not disappear. When the voltage rises, appliances use more power. The problem is that as wind power proportion increases, the power fluctuation increases unless it is buffered, such as with batteries like a huge UPS (which also uses part of the generated power).
Posted by: ed ||
08/18/2006 12:39 Comments ||
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#11
Should have also mentioned voltage regulators (maybe w/ capacitor banks) to filter the fluctuations. I don't know how the real world world filters wind turbine variability, but it may one of the two.
Posted by: ed ||
08/18/2006 12:48 Comments ||
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1. yes, wind power is less than 0.5% of electricity but it is increasing faster (as a percentage of installed) than any of the other sources; and the potential is that it for the next decade it could add 5 GW per year
2. the latest wind power stations are in windy locations that the design puts the blades quite high where the wind is more constant than it is at the surface; some of the stations produce peak power well over 50% of the time and much of the rest of the time they are processing at 60% or more
3. with the power sharing systems currently in place very little voltage is wasted; when the wind stations are going full out, the natural gas powered plants are tuned down
4. this has an economic component too (the windsmiths that do O&M)
#17
Reduce the wind and I will have to close all my windows and use air conditioning.On the other hand, I won't have to fight headwinds with my brick of an SUV so I will use less gas. No more flags.
Posted by: john ||
08/18/2006 14:33 Comments ||
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#18
The generating capacity quoted for wind turbines is always the theoretical maximum. Actual generating capacity is around 10% of the number quoted.
And as JFM points out electricity distribution is a demand driven system and you need just as much conventional supply to satisfy that demand with or without wind turbines because of the inherent unreliability of wind. Unused electricity supply just dissapears.
Hydrogen production and distribution is greenie fantasy and will never happen for reasons we have discussed at length.
There are only two types of applications for wind power that make sense. One is where the electricity is used in a system that can be supply driven. Desalination is the main example.
The other is where you can realistically store wind generated electricity such that it can be used in the supply driven grid. Massive systems of batteries are a hugely expensive environmental nightmare and for that reason have never been tried. Pumping water uphill in a hydroelectric system is really the only way to store unused electricity (although it wastes 75%+ of the electricity).
#23
"worry about the fledgling baby ducks being chewed up in the blades"
No joke. There's a mountain ridge top windmill farm planned for the Maine foothills. All the usual "anti" groups are lining up against it just like you would expect if it were a nuke or coal plant. geez.
It's not just the vistas of the rich and famous that should be off limits to wind power, even the Maine wilderness should be of limits (if you choose to believe these "activists") They really do want us to freeze in the dark.
#30
you do not use a straigt stream, they capture and store the energy for dispersal
Posted by: Dan ||
08/18/2006 21:11 Comments ||
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#31
Actually, wind farms make you sick (because of the sonic vibrations) and they make livestock sick, so don't live or farm anywhere near them. It also is a problem for migrating birds and a problem for wildlife in general. I'm probably more "green" than anyone here, but I think wind farms are a really bad idea that sounds like a really good idea.
#32
in the Sept 2006 special Scientific American (not on the net or in the store yet but in your mail box if you subscribe) there are some really interesting windmills that place themselves in the jet stream!
A horz. cyc. inflatable hellium ballon windmill tethered to the ground, an autogyro based oned, a parafoil ladder to the sky one and a few more.
All of these would be in rather steady high speed winds.
Same for other tech. Lots of really interesting ideas I don't see people considering...
Let's think out of the box for a change and try some really radical ideas.
#33
Its like the space elevator idea. We don't have the tech or money to do it on earth yet but FOR THE MOON ITS A GREAT IDEA doable in one or two freight flights. Much better to fly to L3 and get on an elevator with a KEVLAR line then to re-invent stuff like the LEM.
#39
Nikola was a great prototype for hollyweed b-grade flicks...
But we wouldn't have AC or lots of other goodies without him.
(mumble mumble --- broadcast power.... one world brains mumble....)
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Soldiers from the US-led coalition killed eight "extremists" in a firefight in eastern Afghanistan, a US military statement said yesterday. The eight militants attacked coalition troops on Wednesday in the Asadabad district of restive Kunar province, the statement said. "The coalition responded to the attack with small arms, machinegun fire and grenades," it added. No coalition casualties were reported, the statement said.
(SomaliNet) The Ethiopian troops in Balanbale district of Galgadud region in central Somalia were reported on Thursday to have moved towards near Guri-El town. An Ethiopian military official reached Balanbale today. Reports from the area say that a battalion of Ethiopian troops took the road to Guri-El town to speed up efforts to prevent the advancing Islamic courts in the region. 
Islamists controlling much of southern Somalia have broken up a meeting of religious leaders in the capital, further asserting their authority in the lawless nation. Officials with the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS) said the conference of scholars and peace activists from al-Islah group in a Mogadishu hotel was illegal as it had not been approved.
Bangladeshi police shot dead 11 militants in an exchange of fire in the country's northern Pabna district on Thursday, police said. Police intercepted about 100 militants holding a meeting at a hideout, a police official said. The police opened fire and killed 11 members of the group. Another 50 were detained, the official said. About 50 people, including policemen, were wounded in the gunfight. Police and elite force rapid action battalion seized dozens of guns and ammunition from the hideout at Barshal, a village northwest of Dhaka. "We had planned the raid on a tip off that the Marxists group will hold a meeting at this remote village," police Superintendent Mirza Abdullahil Baki told reporters at the scene. 
The Chechen government said Friday that 
(Itar-Tass) -- A total of 119 militants have agreed to lay down arms and give themselves up to the authorities following a call from the chief of the national anti-terrorist center, director of the federal security service FSB Nikolai Patrushev, Chechnya's deputy prosecutor, Nikolai Kalugin, said on Thursday. 
Pakistan has told the U.S. military that an Arab al-Qaida operative who masterminded the London jetliner terror plot is hiding in mountainous terrain in northeastern Afghanistan, an intelligence official said Friday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the investigation, said the al-Qaida member is believed to be moving between Afghanistan's Nuristan and Kunar provinces, which border Pakistan. 
PESHAWAR: Seven foreigners arrested for alleged links with Al Qaeda were handed over to the Al Khidmat Foundation through the World Prisoners Relief Commission of Pakistan (WPRCP) on Thursday. Peshawar Additional Sessions Judge Syed Ihtisham Ali ordered the foreigners be handed over to WPRCP Chairman 
PESHAWAR: The banned Tehrik Nifaz Shariah Muhammadi and the NWFP government have struck a 'compromise' to ease tension over the use of an illegal FM radio station, and a campaign against TVs and VCDs in Sawat. "A potential clash between the TNSM and the district government has been prevented because of the deal," NWFP Sports Minister Hussain Kanju told Daily Times after a meeting with TNSM leader Maulana Fazlullah. According to the deal, the TNSM will bring its campaign against TVs and VCDs to an end, in return the government will release its activists. The government has also allowed the TNSM to use an illegal FM radio station. "If others can use illegal FM stations, why can't the TNSM?" Kanju said.
Lashkar cadres in Kolkata - a chilling reality that the city has woken upto after two hard-core Pakistani alleged fidayeen or suicide bombers were caught at north 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on Aug 14. The arrested, both residents of Karachi, were identified as 
Detained terror suspects told interrogators that al-Qaeda's top leaders approved a plot to blow up planes from Britain to the United States, a senior Pakistani intelligence agent said Thursday. Some of the suspects said No. 2-ranked Ayman al-Zawahri probably authorized the plan, said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the investigation.
Turkey and Iran have dispatched tanks, artillery and thousands of troops to their frontiers with Iraq during the past few weeks in what appears to be a coordinated effort to disrupt the activities of Kurdish rebel bases. Scores of Kurds have fled their homes in the northern frontier region after four days of shelling by the Iranian army. Local officials said Turkey had also fired a number of shells into Iraqi territory.
Two car bombs exploded in Baghdad Thursday, killing 10 people and injuring 16, officials said. Iraq's prime minister insisted the country's forces were ready to take over security duties in most provinces despite rising violence. U.S. officials confirmed that the number of roadside bombs directed against U.S. and Iraqi forces had increased sharply, dramatizing the threat posed by the Sunni-led insurgency despite attention directed to sectarian violence in the capital. 
Protesters calling for an end to recent violence in Sri Lanka found themselves brawling with 
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels launched a new attack overnight on the besieged northern Jaffna peninsula, the army said on Thursday, as a US envoy visited the island for talks. The military said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had launched a night-time offensive along the front line with assault boats and infantry but said it had largely been repulsed with some 70 rebel bodies left in no-man's-land. "Tiger boats fired at the security forces," said an army spokesman. "The security forces retaliated with air strikes. Overall, we believe over 100 LTTE were killed," he added. 
ANKARA, Aug 17, 2006 (AFP) - Turkey has grounded two Syria-bound Iranian planes over the past month to search for weapons following Israeli intelligence that Iran is supplying rockets to Hezbollah, officials and media reports said Thursday. 
