American forces in Afghanistan are poised to attempt to recapture the town of Musa Qala, which was abandoned by British forces in November after more than two months of heavy fighting against the Taleban General Dan McNeill, who is about to take over as commander of Natos International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, is believed to be ready to order US troops into the town a key spot in the opium smuggling route in northern Helmand amid fears that it is now back under Taleban control.
About 30 paratroops from 16 Air Assault Brigade Regiment were ordered to withdraw from Musa Qala in November as part of a deal with tribal elders and the governor of Helmand. The American military were said to be absolutely furious at what they saw as a pullout by their principal partners, complaining that it left Musa Qala under Taleban control.
Brigadier Jerry Thomas, who took over as commander of the British Task Force in the province after the withdrawal deal was agreed, denied that the Taleban had been involved in the consultations over the future of Musa Qala. The British insist that the deal could point the way for future security arrangements, giving tribal elders a greater role in keeping the Taleban in check.
But the withdrawal caused a rift between the American and British military. The American view is that northern Helmand has become a no-go zone and needs to be dealt with aggressively. There is now every expectation that General McNeill may try to reverse the deal and put even more troops back into the town to expel the Taleban. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
02/01/2007 07:05 ||
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This is a disgrace - I really begin to wonder about the Senior Officers in Afghanistan. You CANNOT do deals with these f*ckers - British lives were lost at Musa Qala and now American lives will be put at risk. The Paras should be recalled and led in by the dipstick who thought this could all be solved over tea and biscuits...
Posted by: Howard UK ||
02/01/2007 7:34 Comments ||
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#2
Howard: It's like a bloody game farm I visited once near George. You've got to take a break from the bush now and then and let the game re-populate. Once the numbers are sufficient, then on with the hunt!
Another in the unbroken string of Taliban successes. I'm so discouraged. (KUNA) -- Afghan officials said that the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) killed 30 suspected Taliban militants in an operation in southern Afghanistan. All is lost!
The Taliban militants were killed in Kajaki district of Helmand province in air and ground operations by the NATO forces last night, Helmand police chief Nabi Jan Mulakhail told KUNA over the telephone on Wednesday. NATO forces so for did not release the casualty figure. At the same time, Taliban also neither accepted, nor rejected the government's claim. Killing them in large numbers just makes them more determined, y'know. Best to do nothing.
Earlier in the day, NATO spokesman Brigadier Richard Nugee, during a press conference in Kabul, expressed the confidence that they would not allow the Taliban to re-emerge during the coming spring. But he's walking into a carefully laid, deadly trap, of course.
Meanwhile, a suicide blast close to the Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan injured an interpreter with the NATO forces. The blast took place in the afternoon on Wednesday. It did not hurt the NATO forces, said commander of the border corps in Torkham Qahar Pacha.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Yes, we're just driving the moderate muslims into the arms of the Taliban.
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Three battalions of peacekeepers from Uganda and Nigeria will be airlifted as soon as possible into Somalia amid rising violence that threatens the government's grip on power, an African Union official said Wednesday.
Somalia's Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi began imposing martial law in areas his government controls, beginning with a curfew Tuesday night in the southern town of Baidoa. Gedi warned remnants of an ousted Islamic movement have returned to towns and cities and were planning to try to further destabilize the lawless country. "From now on martial law would be implemented across government-controlled areas, starting with Baidoa," Gedi said late Tuesday. The measure was taken under a three-month emergency law passed by parliament on Jan. 13.
A senior African Union official said Wednesday that three battalions of peacekeepers from Uganda and Nigeria were ready to be deployed in Somalia and will be airlifted in as soon as possible. The African Union was pressing ahead with its peacekeeping mission to Somalia despite securing only half the 8,000 troops needed at a key summit of African leaders that ended Tuesday. So far five nations - Uganda, Nigeria, Malawi, Burundi and Ghana - have pledged around 4,000 troops.
Better hide the silver and the women.
The African Union official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said securing the 8,000 troops would not be difficult. The main challenge, he said, was raising the estimated $34 million a month to pay for the mission.
The EU has pledged $20 million for a peacekeeping force and $40 million in overall support has been offered by the U.S. The U.S. also has pledged to offer airlift support.
An important consideration for the African Union peacekeeping mission is ensuring the majority of troops are Muslim, given that most Somalis are Muslim. The troops will have a narrow mandate: protecting the transitional government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Well armed "Peacekeepers", I hope.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/01/2007 8:49 Comments ||
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my impression is the Ugandan troops are the most solid of that bunch. anyone know otherwise?
#3
The Ugandans are good, the Malawians are okay, the Ghanans used to be good {unsure now}, and the Burundians are there to get a check. As for the Nigerians : lock up the women, the children, and the livestock.
SUSPECTED Islamic extremists alleged to have been plotting an Iraq-style plot to kidnap and behead a British Muslim soldier had the names and addresses of serving troops, The Times reported today.
Britain's defence ministry is urgently investigating how they got the information.
"Such sensitive information about our personnel is kept under conditions of strict confidentiality, so we obviously want to discover how a list of names and home addresses was reportedly compiled," an unidentified defence official was quoted as saying.
According to the newspaper, a priority in the inquiry will be to ensure that the information was not provided by anyone within the defence ministry.
A spokeswoman for the ministry could not comment on the report because of the ongoing police investigation.
She also declined to comment on reports that defence ministry officials had met on yesterday to consider whether revised security provisions were needed for Muslims serving in the British armed forces.
Nine men were arrested on Wednesday in dawn raids by British police for allegedly plotting to kidnap and behead a young Muslim soldier, and post a video on the internet.
Police were granted an extra week to question all of them by a magistrate - under British anti-terror laws, they can be held for up to 28 days without charge.
#1
a priority in the inquiry will be to ensure that the information was not provided by anyone within the defence ministry.
Hmmm. To insure it was not provided...
Rather than to insure if it was provided within DM, that whoever did it would be standing against the wall for a brief period of time, and that there would be no repeat.
Sometimes, I'm a starting to entertain an idea that I am in some form of asylum, involuntarily.
Not long back from his six-month tour in Iraq, the young Muslim soldier was puzzled when police called at his family home in Birmingham. What they had to say left him speechless with disbelief.
Officers described how a gang from his home town was allegedly plotting to abduct the soldier, aged in his 20s, and then force him on film to apologise for what he had done in Iraq. After this propaganda coup, the gang intended to video themselves executing their hostage. His murder would be seen worldwide on the internet as a warning to other British Muslims regarded by the kidnappers as traitors.
According to security sources, he was not the only soldier being targeted. At least one other Iraq veteran was given the same warning that he was to be the first hostage in the West to be kidnapped and killed by Islamic extremists.
#3
I'll say it again -it's time to go through the entire Pakistani community with a tooth-comb and repatriate a whole load of people.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
02/01/2007 6:54 Comments ||
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Mr Mahmoods brother, Ziah Khan, protested his brothers innocence, describing him as a hard-working small businessman whose life revolved around the shop. He has two young sons, aged 3 and 7. Mr Khan said: He is a very decent man. His whole life is taken up with working in his shop. He gets up at 6am every day and goes to the market and is often working in his shop until 8pm. He does not have much time for anything else. He never leaves the city.
I guess that's the long-winded, Paki version of "He was such a quiet neighbor. Kept to himself", eh?
Posted by: BA ||
02/01/2007 10:06 Comments ||
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Whoops....meant to add that when I first saw the headline, I thought of Birmingham, Alabama. I almost got excited that we might win this thing, if'n they're stupid enough to try a stunt like that in Alabama, lol!
"A country boy will survive."
Posted by: BA ||
02/01/2007 10:07 Comments ||
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#6
but hey! It's not like it's more than a police action, right, Liberalhawk? He's just one guy, and his death, meant to terrify troops and be a PR coup worldwide on the internet is just a murder, right? I lost any respect for you after your drivel yesterday
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/01/2007 10:14 Comments ||
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Dear Birmingham, when there's not another muzzie left breathing, then your veterans are safe.
It's a simple mathematical equation.
As a bonus, your women and children are safe, your goats and sheep are safe, your buses and subways are safe, your buildings and airplanes are also safe.
#9
"but hey! It's not like it's more than a police action, right, Liberalhawk? He's just one guy, and his death, meant to terrify troops and be a PR coup worldwide on the internet is just a murder, right? I lost any respect for you after your drivel yesterday"
I didnt say its "just a murder" (my quote was that any murder is unacceptable) obviously its an act designed to create terror. Its a terrorist act, like so many over the last few years. I simply questioned the assertion that this act might be expected to radically change peoples perceptions of the WOT, and create a demand for stronger actions on our side. My opinion continues to be that it wont. A fortiori because the police foiled it.
#12
Guess what - back in June some muslim guy forced his way into the Seattle Jewish Community Center and killed a woman there. A tragedy yes. A terrorist act - I think so, though the usual gang said it was "just" a hate crime. But ive gone into Jewish Community Centers since then, and I dont quake in fear, terrified. My God, wasnt it Churchill who said "we didnt cross a continent because we were made of sugar candy"? Im not sure how "OMG, they had a failed plot to kill one soldier and put the video on the internet, wed better expel all Pakis" is any different at a deep level from "OMG! Soldiers are getting killed by IEDs, lets get them out of Iraq NOW!"
Neither attitude is compatible with winning the Long War.
#13
Why exactly does the UK have so many asstard Pakistani scum?
Could it be because they were let in when Idi Amin had a crack-down way over Uganda, and they fled, carrying as much loot as they possibly could, before the days the Empire totally crumbled, and they were given safe haven, whilst, a few years later, descendants of British in the ex-Colonies were given temporary visas.
Don't think there's a word for gratitude in the Pakistani language, probably translates as "Suckers".
BBC Radio 5 had them calling in Taqiya-style big time this a.m.
Question asked was: Do we trust the Security Services to tell us the truth? (Not: WTF are these sh&theads doing here still)??
#14
I got home last night in time to watch ABC news and they interviewed some of the young muslim home boys after the raid. They said the charges against the plotters were trumped up and that they are all "victims". Victims of what? Their own stupidity? Their own failure to assimilate into a country that is bending over backward to accomodate them? Pissed me off but good. In a sense, though, I believe they may have succeeded somewhat with the aim of the plot which was obviously to frighten young British Muslims out of volunteering for service in the British Army. I think that after this incident any young British Muslim who ever though about it will think twice even though the actual kidnapping and beheading were prevented ...this time. Next time they might not be so lucky and from the looks of the home/hard boyz on ABC last night there will certainly be a next time. Hats off to the cops. They have their work cut out for them.
I seriously think you are misinterpreting things here with selective quotes. You have obviously not encountered the sheer arrogance of these foks in the UK, have you? And Taqiya for you means, what?
These people(?) have had about one chance too many, but folk like you give them the grease for more spin.
#16
Lhawk is correct in that I overlooked the fact that the veteran in question is a muzzie.
However, I strongly recommend that he and any muzzies who consider themselves 'moderate' convert to another belief system, even if it's Flat Earth Davidians. Islam is holding many prisoners in their own religion. When they no longer kill ex-muzzies, we will see numerous defects among the educated, at least. It's what Islam is teaching, the anti-civilization that must be feared, and must be terminated. Here, Britian, Thailand, Iraq, all over, doesn't matter how, but now is better than tomorrow.
#17
Liberal hawk means he'a an American-style liberal (kinda like Brit Labour party third way-er) on social issues and a war hawk on War on Terror issues, rhodesiafever. liberalhawk has been hanging around Rantburg from practically the beginning, I think -- certainly he was well known here when I first found this place.
1) It was a Muslim vet who helped foil the plot. Kudos to him. We need to preserve and protect every honorable, moderate Muslim we find. If Islam respects the strong horse, let's make the moderates stronger.
2) One incident like this will not, sadly, change the attitudes of people who are set in their ways. It is most unfortunate but some countries will need their own 9/11 -- and look at Spain after it's 3/11.
3) LH is correct: people and countries need to grow a spine. One terrorist incident does not leave me weak-kneed and brain turned to mush. (to be fair, I was real uncertain about 9/11 the first couple of hours, then I was mad as all hell). We at Rantburg should understand this better than most of our citizens.
4) LH is also correct in that 'evict all the Pakis' is as much an over-reaction as 'troops out of Iraq NOW'. Find the terrorist scum and whack them. Find the decent moderates and promote them.
We're supposed to be the smart ones; we should act like it.
/rant
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/01/2007 13:37 Comments ||
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OK, TW, point taken, Labour, (spit), 3rd way, etc. It just started sounding like dhimmi-shite, clouded by a double-taqiya for a bit there.
For the record, I agree with some that mass deportations should happen as soon as.
#20
Yes the soldier was a Muzzy. What most of us are forgetting is that Islamic laws consider this man a traitor and hence his targeting. That's my theory.
Something else to consider. During WWII would we have not deported even the "moderate" Nazis? Hell yes. So what is the problem with deporting every single Mooslem out of every single western nation? This is a no brainer. No other group, cult, religion is such a threat to our safety and way of life. Period.
But for some reason liberals and some brain dead conservatives think while our culture is sending men into outer space, Islamics still living in the stone age are a protected class. Did another Muzzy turn these guys in? Who cares. There are traitors on both sides of the line. Now if he had denounce Islam I'd be impressed, not hold my breath.
What is really said is how little people will think about the Birmingham arrests. The terrorist act didn't happen so everyone seems to think things are OK. I'm afraid it's going to take a nuke on a western nation before people wake up. And we know that's going to happen.
#21
TW charecterizes me basically correctly. Actually the word liberal isnt precise for my domestic position, which cause in the US it implies someone at least as left on on social-cultural-legal issues as on economic issues, and is associated with upper class politics, than with working class politics. Right wing Social democrat would be better, except Im a free trader. Blairist is really closer, but I dont follow UK domestic issues that closely, and there are probably Blair positions I dont agree with. Right wing Soc Dem leaning to Clintonian New Dem would be best, but its way to complicated. Liberal will have to do as shorthand - and there are folks called Liberalhawks.
Liberal also refers to my view of the WOT. Now some folks call themselves Liberalhawks, meaning they supported the war in afghanistan, but not in Iraq. Thats NOT me. I supported the invasion of Iraq, and while it hasnt gone the way I wanted, I dont particularly share the views of the guys making loud mea culpas for supporting it. I do support (With considerable anxiety, and not much hope) the current surge strategy.
My liberalism on the WOT consists in a belief that we need muslim allies in this war, that not every hardline tactic is justified or prudent, that we need to be rational in our views of our western allies, that Israel should under the right circumstances, negotiate intelligently with Abbas, etc, etc. I realize full well that those views are shared by several folks here, and by most folks in the Bush admin, including many "neocons". So its really only liberal vis a vis some of the more extreme positions here, though I think I emphasize those points somewhat more than most people here.
#22
"What most of us are forgetting is that Islamic laws consider this man a traitor and hence his targeting. That's my theory."
Hes not an apostate. The only ones who would consider him to be a tafkir, based on his support for the UK, are, well the Salafist-Jihadists who are the enemy.
#24
It appears to me that the average male Iraqi without a really good job is a potential walking bomb. If he gets his hands on some C-4, and has a bad day or has a hard time waking up early enough to hold a job, he can and will take the splodydope path to paradise. They just don't have the moral clarity from childhood to see the bloodletting for what it is. To them, it's an opportunity, a chance to 'make it' with Allan.
So, because of liberal, warm & fuzzy war making, we are responsible to ferret out those lunatics and stop them before they stop us.
It's a no winner. We have to shed the liberal war making. We have to kill in excess to establish the necessary fear level in the conquered masses.
We have to sin like the rotten bastards we never were to save tomorrow for our grandchildren. And then, we have to force upon the vanquished rules of behavior that border on shock treatments to recover their souls from their marriage to the devil. I can recommend lie detectors for all to determine whether one can walk freely on the streets, or must be chained to a tree to await their turn in the shock room.
#25
That plan can be practiced on the Pakis in Britian, especially the Imams, but the Brits have to realize there is a problem afoot, not a political opportunity.
While I can understand peoples fury at events ,
having people come on these boards and tell long standing members to 'take their shit elsewhere ' hurts . This website is about exactly what it says at the top 'civil well reasoned discourse'
Who are you again , rhodesiafever ,in all my years on these boards I have never seen you once , apart from today . LH has in the past provided very useful angles and insights on world events et al and has always been a regular contributor .
#27
More or less civil, anyway. ;-) rhodesiafever has been around here long enough to earn my respect, MacNails. You two just haven't intersected before, apparently. He's living in your part of the world these days, but comes from -- wait for it! -- Rhodesia.
#28
2) One incident like this will not, sadly, change the attitudes of people who are set in their ways. It is most unfortunate but some countries will need their own 9/11 -- and look at Spain after it's 3/11.
Australia had its Bali, and responded with sympathy for the victims and the Balinese who rely on tourism. Islam continues to push for special treatment; prayer rooms, halal food, hijab, sharia. Politicians continue to flog the canard that Islam is a religion of peace & love hijacked by a tiny minority - mozzies continue to hone their victim skills, retreat when caught out, then advance when the attention is off. Two steps forward, one step back, if necessary, then repeat, with some other demand.
If they dont blow us up, they'll whine us to death.
Posted by: Fishing Rod ||
02/01/2007 20:24 Comments ||
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Unidentified gunmen opened fire Wednesday on a car carrying the chief Muslim leader in Ingushetia, seriously wounding the mufti and his son, according to police in the violence-plagued southern Russian region adjacent to Chechnya. The mufti of Ingushetia, Isa Khamkhoyev, was riding in a car driven by his son when it came under fire from automatic weapons, Ingush Interior Ministry spokesman Nazir Yevloyev said.
Yevloyev said Khamkhoyev's son was in critical condition. He said Khamkhoyev was seriously wounded, but the RIA-Novosti news agency, citing doctors, said the injuries were not life-threatening. There were no other witnesses to the attack, and the assailants fled, Yevloyev said.
Ingushetia has been plagued by attacks by militants, often targeting officers and facilities of law enforcement or the government. As a mainstream Muslim leader, the mufti could possibly have been perceived as a target by Islamic extremists. "There are those who oppose the traditional spiritual leadership's calls for stability and peace in the region," RIA-Novosti quoted Khamkhoyev's predecessor, Magomed Albogachiyev, as saying.
Suspected al-Qaeda militants arrested in Turkey this week were planning to stage bombings in major cities around the country, Turkish media reported on Tuesday (January 30th), citing preliminary investigation results.
In a series of simultaneous raids Monday, Turkish Special Police arrested up to 50 individuals for suspected links to the al-Qaeda network. Among those currently in custody is the suspected leader of the terrorist group's operations in Turkey and the man responsible for its communications with cells located abroad. This person, identified only as Ekrem K., reportedly had contact with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Iraq, who was killed in an air raid by US-led Coalition forces last June.
Definitely will need the spare #7 truncheon and the extra barrel of mustache wax ...
Citing the semi-official Anatolia news agency, the English-language Turkish Daily News (TDN) said on Wednesday that police are looking for another person, Haydar K, who is believed to have been in charge of contacts with al-Qaeda leaders in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2007 00:00 ||
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I'm glad I'm not one of those guys right about now. And for the next few days until they expire. And I'm not going to miss them, either! Go Turkey! Gettin' 'er dun!
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Police are on the lookout for a man described as being of Middle Eastern descent who tried to gain access to a firearms plant. Rutherford County sheriff's deputies were called to the Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc. plant Thursday, a day after a plant employee reported that a Middle Eastern-looking man had tried get inside the building.
Barrett Firearms makes .50-caliber rifles for the U.S. military, which has used them in combat since the 1991 Gulf war. The powerful gun is also sold to the general public. Critics have warned that the rifle could be used by terrorists to bring down commercial airliners or penetrate rail cars and storage plants holding hazardous materials.
The plant worker said the man had asked questions about the plant and began demanding access when the employee did not respond, sheriff's spokesman Dan Goodwin said in a news release issued Friday. The man was asked to leave after he became upset when the employee began to examine his pickup truck.
Any chance the employee got a name, license plate and photo with his cellphone camera?
The white truck was described as having dual rear tires and towing a white utility trailer. Two other men were in the truck, and there was luggage in the bed of the vehicle.
The sheriff's office was working with officials at Barrett Firearms and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to pursue any leads.
#4
The powerful gun is also sold to the general public. Critics have warned that the rifle could be used by terrorists to bring down commercial airliners or penetrate rail cars and storage plants holding hazardous materials.
The media never misses an opportunity to promote the gun-control agenda do they? What those two sentences have to do with the rest of the story is beyond my simple, un-nuanced reasoning.
#5
Ronnie is also a very well dressed outstanding American. He has done an outstanding job with his company. I would guess these fellows will be found rather quickly given the fuss they were making. Lucky they didn't get a .50 round in the engine block.
#8
"Suspects In Suspicious Incident Identified, Pose No Threat"
Police have identified the men who alarmed employees Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Company in Rutherford County last week.
The men showed up at the plant, located just south of Murfreesboro, wanting a tour. When an employee refused, they inquired about wanting to buy some metal.
From a gun plant? Right, sounds like FBI filtering to me.
Their presence sparked an investigation prompting the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to send out emails to gun shops around the state to be on the lookout for them.
According to police, the men are Armenian nationals in the United States legally. Officials said they don't pose any kind of security threat and have no previous criminal records.
Armenians? That might fool the locals but something smells like over done catfish but who knows.
#9
In Tennessee a trailer doesn't have to have a tag. I've run into that a couple of times while going into Virginia with my horse trailer. The guard might not have been able to see the truck tag. And I don't believe you could take down a commercial airliner with a single-shot rifle.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/01/2007 18:30 Comments ||
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And I don't believe you could take down a commercial airliner with a single-shot rifle.
Not unless you were astronomically lucky and hit something vital. That's assuming what you hit has no backup.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/01/2007 20:38 Comments ||
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A Pakistani student that United States authorities said had ties to a terrorist plot to aid the Taliban was convicted on Tuesday on a gun charge. Shiraz Syed Qazi, 26, was found guilty of one count of possession of a firearm by an alien during a brief trial conducted by US District Judge Lee Rosenthal. Qazi waived his right to a jury trial. "You an alien?"
"Ummm... Yes, yer honor, but..."
"Is that a gun?"
"Ummm... Yes, yer honor, but..."
"Guilty. Next case."
Under federal law, a non-immigrant with a student visa, such as Qazi, is not permitted to hold firearms or ammunition. The charge stemmed from a 2005 camping trip outside Houston that Qazi made with three other men. In Texas? These dipshits were gonna wave guns at Texans?
Authorities said that the trip was part of paramilitary training for the four men, all of whom are Muslim. Informants working for law enforcement authorities photographed the group firing and holding guns. Betcha they were firing from the hip and posing with their AKs while rolling their eyes and grimacing.
Two of the men, Adnan Babar Mirza and Kobie Diallo Williams, were charged with conspiracy to join the Taliban and fight US forces. Mirza, a 29-year-old Pakistani who overstayed a student visa, is also charged with three counts of violating federal firearms laws. He is set to go to trial in June and faces from five to 10 years imprisonment for each charge.
Williams, 33, a US citizen, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 18. He faces up to five years in prison and a US $250,000 fine. The fourth man, Syed Maaz Shah, a 19-year-old Pakistani student at the University of Texas at Dallas, was also charged with possession of a firearm by an alien and is scheduled for trial in March. He faces up to 10 years in prison. More than 30 of Qazis family members and friends attended the trial, stressing that neither he nor the three others were aspiring Taliban fighters. Izzat Qazi, his older brother, said that the law enforcement informants had set up the four men.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Those Mullah bad boy wannabes need to rethink their strategy. Shooting a gun in Texas will not intimidate the locals; the locals are better armed and take pride in being good shots. And don't embarrass yourself by bringing a box cutter to a gun fight in Texas. Its a good thing they got arrested before they really got hurt.
#2
Actually, I hope they don't rethink their strategy. An attempt "terrorization" of a San Antone school or something foiled by citizens who then blow away the terrorists would get the "a pack, not a herd" philosophy out there.
#3
Fred Houston has a growing white Mooslem population. It's an't good.
This no gun for student law, bloody darn good. With any luck this will rope in a lot of these Jihady wankers. But for crying out loud let's make this a capital offense.
Thousands of protesters in Indian-administered Kashmir have snatched the body of a civilian as it was being exhumed by police.
The body of Abdul Rehman Paddar was being exhumed in Sumbal area after being identified by his family so that medics could take DNA samples.
Two policemen have been arrested for killing Mr Paddar in a so-called "false encounter" - or staged gun battle.
But around 3,000 people stormed the site grave and snatched the body.
They did so while chanting slogans against the police and state authorities.
The incident happened as funeral prayers were being offered for Mr Paddar, whose body was being handed over to the family for burial in their ancestral graveyard.
Mr Paddar was killed by the anti-militancy Task Force in Sumbal area in December.
Police said that he was a top militant.
The authorities now believe that Mr Paddar paid 80,000 rupees (nearly $2,000) to a policeman in order to get a government job.
But it is suspected that the policeman arranged for him killed.
The state government has ordered a judicial probe into the incident.
On Monday, the state Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad announced the arrests of sub-inspector Farooq Ahmad Gudoo and driver Farooq Ahmad Paddar.
The BBC's Binoo Joshi in Jammu says that security forces and police in Indian-administered Kashmir have long been accused by human rights activists of killing civilians in staged clashes.
In a separate development, police said that they have detained a soldier in mountainous Poonch district for suspected involvement with militants.
The Inspector General of Police of Jammu, SP Vaid, said the soldier, Shamim, had been taken into police custody for interrogation.
Posted by: john ||
02/01/2007 15:56 ||
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New Delhi: Militants on Wednesday night hurled a grenade inside the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) office in the Rajbagh area in Srinagar.
This is the second attack by militants targetting the moderate faction of separatist outfit Hurriyat Conference in the past three weeks.
Sources said there was no causality or much damage to property and none of the top Hurriyat leaders was present in the office when the blast occurred.
The grenade attack comes in the wake of threats from militant outfits for the statement that Hurriyat Conference chief Mirwaiz Umer Farooq made during his recent visit to Pakistan, saying that separatist violence in Jammu and Kashmir had failed to achieve anything.
Mirwaiz and his senior party colleagues Abdul Ghani Bhatta and Bilal Lone, who had accompanied him Pakistan, are expected to return to Srinagar on Thursday.
In the second week of January, militants had hurled a grenade near the Mirwaiz's residence in Nijeen Chowk, though it did not cause any damage.
Posted by: john ||
02/01/2007 05:54 ||
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A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up close to coalition forces in Afghanistan near the Torkham border crossing late on Wednesday afternoon, sources said. The attack took place around 300 metres off the Torkham gate on the Pakistan side and a foreign soldier and his Afghan interpreter were killed, said Pakistani security and border guards.
The suicide attack took place near the Afghan Gumrak customs house and coalition forces have cordoned off the area, the sources wishing not to be named told Daily Times. Three persons were reported seriously wounded in the attack, which no group claimed responsibility for. Shinwari and Afridi tribes from Pakistan flock to the Afghan side every day for businesses and it was not known whether Pakistanis were also among the injured.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Pakistani investigators said on Wednesday that they had found leads linking a string of suicide bombings to Taliban militants, AFP reported.
They said six men arrested in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan at the weekend told interrogators about a web of militants, connected to a senior Taliban commander, who were plotting suicide and car bomb attacks across the country. The attacks have highlighted Pakistans difficulties as it battles insurgents based in its northwestern tribal regions. During the investigations we have got good clues suggesting the bombings were by militants based in the Waziristan tribal region, a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The bombings include one in Peshawar on Sunday in which 15 people were killed and 30 injured. A suicide attacker also blew himself up outside a hotel in Islamabad on Friday, killing a guard, while another bomber killed two people at a police checkpost in Dera Ismail Khan on Monday. Security sources said the six men who were arrested in raids from Dera Ismail Khan on Sunday had given details about a network of insurgents in Waziristan planning bombings in major Pakistani cities.
The men were linked to Baitullah Mahsud, a wanted Taliban commander allegedly in charge of thousands of fighters operating in the the South and North Waziristan regions, the officials said. They told interrogators that Baitullah was unhappy with armys killing of tribesmen in the name of action against the Taliban and Al Qaeda and he planned revenge attacks in other Pakistani cities, an official familiar with the interrogation told AFP.
He said police in Dera Ismail Khan believed the 17-year-old who blew himself up on Monday was from South Waziristan and had contact with the six arrested men.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Feed the monster too much and they will eventually bite the owner!!!!
Federal Political Affairs Minister Amir Muqam said on Wednesday he escaped a suicide attack, while a suspected bomber made good his escape. I heard the police fire as soon as I finished my speech which I was delivering at a reception in Hazaar Khwani, a few kilometres from Peshawar, the federal minister told Daily Times.
Muqam said police officials told him an unidentified person wearing a chadar was attempting to proceed towards the stage. He said the police officials stopped him from going ahead and asked him for a search, which he refused and started moving back. The police fired at him as they suspected he was a suicide bomber, Muqam said. However, the suspected person remained unhurt and made good his escape.
He said if the MMA leadership was sincere in halting suicide attacks, they should convince madrassas students that one did not go to heaven by suicide attacks. When contacted, Religious Affairs Minister Maulana Amanullah Haqqani said he was not aware of such a suicide attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
All terrorist attacks worldwide lead back to one country-Pakistan!!!!
Bush needs to look at our relationship with them!!!
#2
All of this will be a thing of the past when the RATs take the keys to the White Housein 2009. It's all George W. Bush's fault for being too tough on the jihadis and not reaching out.
Two people were killed in a shooting at an unauthorised Ashura procession in the under-curfew town of Hangu on Wednesday, adding to two deaths in a mortar attack on a Shia procession the day before, officials said.
A curfew was imposed in Hangu on Tuesday after a mortar was fired at a Shia procession and shooting broke out. The two people killed on Tuesday were said to be Afghan refugees who were not taking part in the procession. Reports said around 15 people were also injured. Defying the curfew, Shias staged a procession on Wednesday, which was attacked by two gunmen, an official said. Allama Khurshid Anwar told Daily Times that two people were killed and as many injured in the attack near Shahu Chowk. That worked well, didn't it?
Hangu district was handed over to the army on January 20 to keep the city under control. A suicide attack on a Shia procession in the town killed more than 40 mourners last year. The official said the situation in Hangu now is under control but tense.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Two suspected members of a banned, Pakistan-based Islamist militant group were arrested in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, police said. The two men, both in their twenties, were arrested in Sangareddy town, about 65 km northwest of Hyderabad, they said. "Both were small-time traders who travelled to villages on motorbikes selling their wares, and also worked as operatives of Lashkar-e-Taiba under orders from their superiors in Hyderabad," said R.B. Naik, a local police chief. Security forces say Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, has become a recruitment hub for Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is based in Pakistan and is fighting to end Indian rule in the disputed region of Kashmir.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2007 00:00 ||
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A prominent member of the Hezbollah party in Iraq was among the many persons killed in the series of attacks on Tuesday during the holy Ashura day, a party source said Wednesday. A Hezbollah source said that Hezbollah leader al-Mula al-Nouri al-Ghariri was killed while he was part of a security team guarding a Shiite procession in the northern Baghdad district of Kazimiyah when it came under a mortar shell attack.
Reports on Tuesday said that 17 persons were killed and 72 wounded when more than 25 mortar shells struck the procession. That attack was one of many across Iraq on Tuesday aimed at Shiites as they marked the Ashura day, with dozens of persons killed. Meanwhile in a further attack n Wednesday, two Iraqis were killed and 10 others wounded in a car bomb blast in the Amin district of eastern Baghdad, state-run al-Iraqiya TV reported.
#1
The odds of a mortar round hitting that one critical troublemaker must be astronomical. That is, unless the mortar team both had a good spotter, and knew what they were aiming for. Ahem.
Two senior Iraqi generals are being questioned in connection with last week's attack in Karbala that left five U.S. soldiers dead, military officials told FOX News Thursday.
Military officials also said the level of sophistication of the attack where militants posed as U.S. soldiers to pass a number of security checkpoints suggested possible Iranian involvement. The assault was carried out by nine to 12 militants wearing new U.S. military fatigues and traveling in black GMC Suburban vehicles the type used by U.S. government convoys. U.S. officials said the imposters had American weapons and spoke English.
The raid, as explained by Iraqi and American officials, began after nightfall at about 6 p.m. on Jan. 20, while American military officers were meeting with their Iraqi counterparts on the main floor of the Provisional Joint Coordination Center (PJCC) in Karbala. The Pentagon said the investigation into the attack is ongoing and several Iraqis have been detained for questioning. Because high-level generals were possibly involved, the Pentagon said, it raises questions about the loyalty and trustworthiness of Iraqi military officers at the highest levels.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2007 13:26 ||
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#1
OK, so can we PLEASE smackdown Iran and hard, now? Jeebus, how much more we gotta take? We still owe them for 1979.
Posted by: BA ||
02/01/2007 13:39 Comments ||
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#2
Is the "surprise meter" tied up on assignment elsewhere?
#5
If not a smackdown how about at least a naval blockade - nothing in, nothing out. Plus their East&West flanks are already secured from real trade. Leaves only Ivan to the north and some rough terrain. However I am sure we can inspire anti-mullah iranian groups to take care of the northern land lines.
I really wonder what we are saying to them using back channels (if anything). I'd imagine GWB through them for a loop when he surged troops vice letting the jackasses dictate a retreat.
#7
Once again proving that the Muslims never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Just as I was starting to wane in my shift closer to the "kill 'em all" attitude, and start seeing some MMMs (mythical moderate muslims) in the press, these turds show up. Jeebus, just yesterday, I found myself agreeing with LH on the British (Muslim) soldier issue. But, then this happens, and it leads me to believe that we can't trust 'em. Not ONE single d@mn one of 'em. When a military man (I know, it's Iraqi military, but even there, I'd imagine they'd be the most chivalrous, or at least follow orders the best out of the general population) does something like this, it doesn't give me much hope for the greater population.
Listen, I realize that the "grunts" of Iraq who are fighting alongside our boys are probably the closest we're gonna find to a MMM in the Middle East right now. I salute them, their bravery and their willingness to fight for their country. BUT, the skeptic in me wonders...What'll happen when we do pull out, they're left to their own devices, and the media is not there to "document" what happens? Will they resort to the triablism they've always known? Or get behind some "strong horse" and whip the public into servitude? Who knows? But, the brainwashing and "no questions asked" mindset of Islam bothers me. And, I'm a more moderate Conservative in many respects, at least in the WoT.
Posted by: BA ||
02/01/2007 15:02 Comments ||
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BTW, the MMMs I've seen in the press (Hirsin Ali, the British soldier yesterday, etc) may not be Muslim at all.
Posted by: BA ||
02/01/2007 15:06 Comments ||
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#9
F**k. Something worse. Let's subsidize a colony. 1900 acres and an oil well for every man and woman-jack what can carry a SAW and hold out for a year. Time to be hung for a wolf instead of a sheep. In 10 years it'll be peaceful, in 30 years we'll all be playing cricket and thanking Dad and Mum for offing the idiots.
/yeah, tiny sark tag to keep it outa the bad place
#10
BTW, the MMMs I've seen in the press (Hirsin Ali, the British soldier yesterday, etc) may not be Muslim at all.
That is, I think, the view of the Seething Muslim Community. The person you mention are somehow no longer Muslims but 'apostates', and as such worthy of beheading.
#13
Hell yes the traitors in the MSM are doing to have a field day with this. Somehow they will find a way to spin this as America's fault. Willing to bet a beer on that one. Cause heaven knows the MSM would never blame a, get ready, never blame a Mooslem. Spit.
Send em to cuba, I'm thinking water boarding, maybe just for the sport of it.
#14
You know they actually have evidence on thousands of Iraqi troops and police working with the 'insurgency'.
I think that each new Iraqi recruit should be required to shoot one of the traitors in the heart as a graduation ceremony. Maybe they'll figure out that a measure of loyalty is required to become a soldier.
#16
I am not astonished in the least. If we can get things wrong somehow we will usually before we get them right. Look at WW2.
If it meant a decent, local, living wage job I could do I would kill every last muslim on the planet at this point, I would do the same for most of the lawyers on the planet as well. Hell at this point I would do it out of spite.
BAGHDADCoalition Forces killed one foreign terrorist facilitator and detained 29 suspected terrorists while conducting operations Thursday throughout Iraq. This ratio should be reversed for future operations, since 'Catch and Release' appears to be the 'standard practice.'
In Tarmiyah, Coalition Forces detained 18 suspected terrorists who are reportedly involved in al-Qaida kidnapping operations, improvised explosives devices emplacement and terrorist safe house activities.
In other operations, intelligence reports indicated that a foreign fighter network involved in vehicle hijackings, kidnappings, and insurgency funding was operating in Muhammadi. As Coalition Forces approached the targeted area, one armed man chambered a round and attempted to fire at ground forces. Coalition Forces shot and killed the armed terrorist and detained one suspected terrorist.
Coalition Forces also detained five suspected terrorists northwest of Rutbah tied to foreign fighter activities in Syria and Iraq. Four suspected terrorists were captured by Coalition Forces in the Baghdad area with ties to vehicle-borne IED manufacturing and emplacement and foreign terrorist facilitation. One suspect with ties to al-Qaida in Iraq was detained in Tikrit.
BALAD RUZ, Iraq, Jan. 31, 2007 The U.S. Army concluded a massive, nine-day assault Jan. 13, centered on a series of small villages in the Diyala province that for the past 18 months had been used as a safe haven for insurgents. During the operation, soldiers from the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment Reconnaissance, 82nd Airborne Division, killed more than 100 insurgents and detained 54 suspected of involvement with terrorism activities in the area, which is located just south of Balad Ruz.
The unit, located at Forward Operating Base Caldwell, also reported capturing six unnamed leaders of an underground organization thought to have ties to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups hiding in the villages of Turki, Hamoud, and 30 Tamuz. In outlying palm groves and canals, soldiers found weapons caches containing more than 1,100 Katushya rockets, 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades, 500 mortars and a variety of bomb-making materials. Sunni insurgents defended the area with small arms fire, anti-tank mines and improvised explosive devices.
The effects will be felt just outside this area in places like Baghdad, Baqubah and further out to the west, said Capt. Stephen Dobbins, the commander of Troop B. Leaders of the 5-73rd Cav. suspected that insurgents were using the area as a training ground for conducting terrorist activities elsewhere. The villages are an hours drive from Baghdad.
Last month, the unit raided the area after finding a large weapons cache there. More than 100 insurgents and two U.S. soldiers were killed in the fighting. This last assault was bolstered by the Iraqi Army and U.S. Army units from forward operating bases in Muqdadiyah and Baqubah. Air Force B-1 bombers and F-16 fighter-bombers dropped bombs on nearby canals and tunnel systems to destroy insurgent defenses before soldiers moved in to secure the area. Soldiers battled ankle-deep mud as they cleared canals and villages.
The 5-73rd Cav., along with the Iraqi army, is now in the process of setting up a combat outpost in Turki from which to control the area. It will be a place where Coalition Forces and the Iraqi army can work jointly to develop intelligence, plan rehearsals, and execute missions out here, said Dobbins.
The outpost will also be used to facilitate infrastructure improvement projects and strengthen the areas education system. With the outpost, the Iraqi security forces can provide a safe and secure environment for those in the area who want a better opportunity for their families, said Lt. Col. Andrew Poppas, the commander of the 5-73rd Cav.
Poppas said that his unit has already begun to assist with the repatriation of village residents driven out by a mostly Sunni insurgency. The end state is to create a safe and secure region with a continuous Iraqi Security Forces presence, said Poppas. That way, we deny the enemy a safe haven in which they can conduct illegal acts with impunity, he said. You cant let an environment of extremism remain in a free and safe society.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/01/2007 06:22 ||
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#1
OK. Now hold it. Kill any jihadi that tries to reestablish himself there, as well as the family that gives him cover, down to the last child.
#2
As I recall, you occasionally want to give guerilla forces a "safe" area. It encourages them to concentrate their resources in that area, making it valuable enough for them to stand and fight. Of course, once you know they're willing to fight for a "safe haven", you wipe it out.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/01/2007 7:42 Comments ||
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Anyone else noticed how many major battles we have had in the past two weeks? Generally, we are fighting a few hundred terrorists and killing a hundred to two hundred, and capturing 50 or so besides. The pool of trained terrorists is not that deep and it is having an effect on them. Besides which, there are now Iraqi Army and Police units that can be counted on to stand their ground and fight hard.
With Saddam dead and the defections of Baathists in the past few weeks, the terrorists are running out of trained people in Iraq, especially in light of all of the intel driven battle of late. Of course, that does not mean that they cannot get some local gangbangers together, wearing masks and waving AKs for the media. What it does mean is that they are losing large areas for operations and training facilities in Iraq. With all of the border forts going up right now, it will become progressively more difficult to sneak men and material across the borders into the fight in Iraq.
"At approximately 10 p.m., we came up on an (improvised explosive device) in the middle of the road," said Staff Sgt. Steven Davis, convoy commander. "(Then), we had an Iraqi Army convoy come up that had stopped about 50 meters behind us, roughly," said Davis, a native of Owatonna, Minn. "Our rear gunner could see people running around their vehicles, and he called me up to let me know what was going on."
The gunner, Spc. Alexander Jimenez of Tacoma, Wash., said the Iraqi soldiers were telling him they had at least two of their own soldiers who were dead and an unknown amount of wounded after being hit by an IED and coming under rifle fire. Davis sent his No. 3 vehicle to the rear to assess the scene.
"They had a lot of guys with gunshot and shrapnel wounds," said Sgt. Josh Day, noncommissioned officer in charge of the convoy. "I told them to bring their wounded up to us because we weren't going to run around to the back of their convoy; we needed to secure our own."
Day instructed an Iraqi Army captain to split the injured soldiers into two groups, "which ones were worse or better." He then told his medic, Pfc. Joshua Livingston, they were going to have to call in a few helicopters and execute a small-scale medical evacuation for what they thought was only a few people.
"From there, it just escalated into a mass casualty evacuation - like that," said Day, with a quick snap of his fingers. "They just kept coming. They had wounded that were being carried by other Iraqi army. They were bringing trucks up that had even more wounded in them and a lot more who were dead."
With the increasingly complex situation, the rear Humvee in the convoy was immediately called to provide assistance. The driver, Spc. Steven Rockwell, a second medic in the Earthpig 66 patrol and a native of Cookville, Tenn. began administering medical care and helping with the evacuation.
Less than an hour after the convoy stopped, an EOD team destroyed both the improvised explosive device and an additional explosive device. Establishing a landing zone for the incoming aircraft and continuing the medical evacuation were the next priorities, Day said.
"We had already triaged all the patients who were getting ready to be medically evacuated," said Livingston. "The first two helicopters were on the ground, so we immediately started loading the injured. At that time, I think one of the Iraqi soldiers was yelling that a truck pulled up. He yelled, 'Enemy!' and he notified us that we had an unidentified vehicle in the area."
The vehicle had been creeping up from the side of the road. Shortly after being spotted, someone exited the truck and began running toward the convoy and firing, said Cpl. Aaron Glasscock, a gunner from Opelousas, La.
"I started popping flares in the vicinity of where they had seen the truck," said Glasscock. "We started taking fire, and bullets were impacting all around the truck. I saw one guy, an insurgent, moving about 75 meters in front of me. He was firing and moving up closer to our position. That's when I opened up with my M-240 machine gun. I fired maybe a 40-round burst. As soon as I did that, I noticed a building about 25 meters in front of where I engaged the first enemy," continued Glasscock. "Small-arms fire and muzzle flashes were coming out of the windows, so I immediately turned my weapon and started engaging the building. At about the same time, the Iraqi army guys on the ground saw where our tracer rounds were flying and about 30 or 40 of them started opening fire on the same building."
Glasscock fired a single shot from his M203 grenade launcher, which ended the enemy's engagement after about half a minute, and a cease-fire was called. One Iraqi soldier was slightly wounded during the fire fight.
"In a matter of seconds, the threat was completely neutralized," said Day. "At that point, we started right back up with our medical evacuation sequence. We advised the medevac team that we were not receiving any more fire. The landing zone was clear for them to return."
A total of 12 Iraqi casualties were evacuated to a nearby medical treatment facility, Livingston said. Communication with the Iraqi Army went really smooth throughout the ordeal. Everyone involved was organized and coordinated, he said.
Many of the 2-136th soldiers also lauded their Iraqi counterparts for the quick and decisive way they reacted during the fire fight, despite the fact that several of them were already injured from the previous attack.
The Iraqi soldiers were tough said Glasscock. "They had one truck that rolled up with bullet holes in the doors. The guy who was sitting on that side, he got out and he had matching bullet holes all up and down his body. He got out of the truck and stood up. He lifted his shirt to show us he had been hit, but he said he was OK."
Asked how his soldiers handled the attack, 1st Sgt. Joseph Persing, the TC in the scout truck, said it "was kind of a remarkable deal." "It was a basic situation when it first started and it turned into a complex situation, which they handled very well," said Persing, a native of Heron Lake, Minn. "It was something that you only train on a little bit, but when we were put in the actual situation it appeared to me that it was like second nature." Day echoed the remark, saying he was "highly impressed" with the way the other soldiers in his company reacted.
"It was instinct over feelings," said Day. "We had a situation, we had a lot of wounded, we needed security, but we still had our primary mission to complete."
Close to 11:30 p.m., the convoy was back on the road. The remainder of the trip was without incident. Day said the attack hasn't done anything to set his team back or slow them down. He said they are being totally proactive and taking the event as a learning experience.
"We had a traumatic event, but it goes on all over theater," said Day. "Everybody who runs missions outside the wire will eventually have to deal with something similar to what we experienced. We're part of the big plan in this country, so we can't just say, 'Hey, we did our good deed.' We've still got an important piece of the puzzle to finish. We have just got to keep going."
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/01/2007 06:14 ||
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#1
Damn. I can't find words to express how much I admire these men.
I do have to notice, however, that the link doesn't go to an MSM source, but directly to a DoD site. WTF can't the press get these stories out? It's not like they aren't being told about them?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/01/2007 7:40 Comments ||
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#2
The MSM does not consider these events newsworthy.
#3
The MSM might find these items 'newsworthy', but they just don't fit the "what we want to say" template.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
02/01/2007 9:03 Comments ||
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No, no, no. The Military has an agenda, doncha know. We of the press can't just take their word for it, and besides, their writings are leaden with spin.
Our news is independently verifiable, from the comfort of the hotel bar in the Green Zone, or from the stringers who work for us, or Police Captain Jabar.
Posted by: Dan Rather ||
02/01/2007 12:28 Comments ||
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#5
It doesn't advance the left's agenda, therefore by MSM standards - it's not news.
(KUNA) -- The US army in Iraq has said that its warplanes bombed an insurgent cell whose members were pounding northern Baghdad with mortar shells. "Ha! How ya like them apples, infidels?"
"Mahmoud...?"
"What, Ahmed? Can't y'see I'm busy?"
"Do you hear something?"
A US Army press release Wednesday said warplanes and helicopters from the Task Force Baghdad bombed the group of insurgents in a northern Baghdad district. According to the release, the planes detected the insurgent group while it was getting ready to bomb a religious shrine in Al-Kathmiya, north of the Iraqi capital. No details were available about the group's losses but the release said the planes had hit the house they used to launch their mortar attacks. "Okay, Riley! Drop the house!"
"House dropped!"
"Say! Those aren't munchkins, are they?"
Ten people had been injured yesterday when mortars hit Al-Kathmiya during Iraqi Shiites' commemoration of Ashoura. Of course, given the celebratory traditions of Ashoura, maybe getting mortared gave them a little break...
The US troops said, in another press release, they had captured the leader of an insurgent group in charge of planting explosive devices west of Baghdad, noting that the captive is suspected of leading a cell of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Is it my imagination, or is the U.S. and Iraqi army kicking butt now? The news is more positive now.
#2
The days of the light footprint are over. (Fare thee well, General Abazaid!). Now, we're going to break things.
I would like to believe this is Rove at his Machiavellian best; years of civil violence takes the steam out of the US wounds fluffy bunny stories, and he has everyone so fixated on the 20,000 extra troops that no one notices the shiny new can of whupa$s being deployed. And now the Dems are out on a creaky limb if the situation does improve. If the jihad is defeated in Iraq, it will be decades before anyone trusts them on national security again. This must have been his plan all along, the crafty beggar!
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
02/01/2007 3:14 Comments ||
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#3
Never underestimate the ability of our State Department to snatch defeat from the very jaws of victory.
#4
And very quietly the ROE changes back smoking them after they fire to being more proactive. Hay Allah, you out of virgins yet?
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/01/2007 9:30 Comments ||
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#5
WaD, when you focus on AP and their mystery informants, suddenly their story credibility tanks: No details were available about the group's losses .
Posted by: john ||
02/01/2007 11:22 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- Several mortar shells crashed into the predominantly-Sunni district of Al-A'thamiah in the Iraqi capital on Wednesday killing four people and wounding at least 20 others, a security source said. Several shells crashed near burial site of the great Islamic scholar, Abi Hanifa Al-Nu'man, and a number of houses and stores were damaged. Security authorities urged civilians to refrain from gathering, fearing further attacks. On Tuesday, the same district was targetted with an identical attack that took lives of 20 people.
In Mosul, a policeman died and four others were wounded when a car bomb blew up, ripping through a patrol of the police in the northern city. A police source said the explosion occurred in the district of Wadi Ogab in the south of the city. Separately, police found a headless dead body of an unidentified person.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2007 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- An improvised bomb exploded near an Iraqi patrol Wednesday killing one soldier and injuring two others in the city of Kirkuk northern Iraq. Iraqi military source said the improvised bomb exploded close to an Iraqi police academy in Al-Waseti district resulted in the killing of one Iraqi soldier injuring two others. Among the injured was one high ranking officer, the source added. At a different front, Iraqi police sources said that a suicide car bomb exploded near a police vehicle resulted injuring 10 civilians in Tel afar, Mosul.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2007 00:00 ||
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Palestinian gunmen opened fire at Hamas officials early Thursday in separate attacks, marring efforts to shore up a truce that brought relative quiet to Gaza after days of deadly factional violence. However, the three-day old cease-fire appeared to hold in the face of the shootings. Cept for da usual threats and sporadic gunfire weez been keepin a lid on things.
In Gaza, unknown gunmen opened fire early Thursday at Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum as he drove with three bodyguards in his white sedan toward an impromptu checkpoint near Gaza City, Hamas said. There were no casualties. A Hamas announcement blamed "coup-seekers," meaning militants from the rival Fatah party. "This is a violation of the (truce) agreement," Barhoum said. He reported the incident to Egyptian mediators and the gunmen removed their checkpoint, he said. Hey dats not fair! Weez been tryin to get our hands on more ammo and dey keeps shootin. Abu quick get the Egyptians on da blower.
Later Thursday, gunmen in a car shot at Islam Shahwan, a spokesman for a Hamas militia, Shahwan said, blaming the shooting on Fatah-affiliated security officers. One Hamas member was wounded, he said. Other sporadic shooting attacks were reported Thursday, including one that wounded a Hamas militant. Say Mahmood is dis what dey mean by relative quiet? I dunno Hamid da kin folk of Shahwans muscle been purdy quiet.
The incidents didn't unravel the cease-fire, declared early Tuesday by leaders of Fatah and Hamas. The truce is meant to bring an end to internal fighting that has left more than 60 Palestinians dead since early December, though it did not resolve the underlying animosity between the groups. On Wednesday, armed militias returned to their bases and police took their places, though some streets were still off limits to civilians. Keep yer powder dry boys we best lay low dem coppers been givin us da stinky eye.
Many thought both Fatah and Hamas were harmed by the fighting. "Blood had to be shed for one to be on top," said Khaled Zeidan, a 40-year old engineer, who lives in an area hard hit by fighting, "but they are both losing." Both sides said that all the fighters kidnapped during the clashes had been freed. Previous truce deals between Hamas and Fatah militants in Gaza have quickly collapsed into new waves of fighting. Hamas-Fatah coalition talks have broken down and appear unlikely to resume soon, though both Saudi Arabia and Egypt have offered to mediate.
When will it be time for the next one?
GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas gunmen ambushed what the Islamic group alleged was a convoy carrying weapons to Mahmoud Abbas's presidential guard in the Gaza Strip on Thursday and at least one person was killed and 17 were wounded, residents said. The four-truck convoy, which set off from the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, was stopped by gunfire in the central Gaza Strip. Must've skipped the weigh station... The violence tested a 3-day-old ceasefire that had largely stopped a surge in internal fighting in the territory in which at least 30 Palestinians had been killed. Oh, it was just a test. I guess the dead guy flunked.
A battle raged between Hamas gunmen and presidential guards accompanying the convoy, according to residents in the area who said a civilian was killed. Hospital officials said 17 people, including two children, were wounded in the clash. "A real war is taking place, gunmen are using the heaviest arms they have," a witness said. Hope this doesn't "derail talks on the unity government"...
Sources in the governing Hamas movement said the trucks were carrying weapons for the 4,000-man presidential guard, a force loyal to Abbas and his Fatah faction. Oh, boy! New guns!
"Hamas's heroes have commandeered arms shipments that came through Kerem Shalom as part of the fight against the Palestinian people," a presenter on a Hamas radio station said. Ha! Now they're our guns! NYAH NYAH, NYAH NYAH...
Asked about the convoy's cargo, a Palestinian security official declined to comment. A senior Israeli official said she knew trucks had entered the Gaza Strip but did not know their contents. Ummmmmmmmm...trucks? What trucks? Oh, those trucks.
President Bush has committed $86 million to provide training and non-lethal equipment to forces loyal to Abbas. Guns and ammunition are being supplied by key U.S. allies Jordan and Egypt, with Israeli approval, Israeli officials say. Thanks, George. Let me know how much of it was mine, and I'll just flush it down the toilet.
Diplomats say Abbas's military build-up was meant to counter strides by Hamas in smuggling in more powerful weapons into Gaza for its fast-growing "Executive Force" and armed wing, known as the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades. Mahmoud, is that an AK-47?
No, it's an AK...48. Next week, we get AK...49s.
#3
President Bush has committed $86 million to provide training and non-lethal equipment to forces loyal to Abbas.
Damn, I just give all the bullets, and purdy OD suits they wanted. No training tho. Nothing more than pull this, then this until it goes bang. And we got all the bullets you need, hell, I'd air drop 'em if necessary. And pistols, they need more pistols.
#5
latest is 4 dead. But the ceasefire is "holding" whatever that means.
Fatah now says the trucks had tents and hospital equipment. Not clear if Hamas actually ended up in control of the convoy - article here is the first ive heard saying that.
If so, Fatah is going to have to focus on securing an area around one of the crossings from Israel. Its beginning to sound like a real war, with geography and strategy and all, not just shootings and kidnappings.
#7
Oh, well. Maybe next time.
AFP's still hopeful though...
GAZA CITY (AFP) - Four Palestinians have been killed and 43 wounded in clashes between factional rivals Fatah and Hamas, jeopardising a three-day truce in the Gaza Strip, medical and security sources said.
#11
Can we supply some ammo to both sides? Just a couple hundred rounds, while I pop some corn and get the comfy chair.
Posted by: steven ||
02/01/2007 12:46 Comments ||
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#12
steven
I think they have plenty of ammo. Some of the factors limiting the toll are:
- ammo doesn't work well in poorly maintained weapons
- projectiles don't hit target if they are simply fired in the vicinity as opposed to being aimed
#13
Thanks, George. Let me know how much of it was mine, and I'll just flush it down the toilet.
I don't know about that. I think this is absolutely hilarious. Keep 'em focused on each other, instead of the Jooooos. Of course, I'd prefer my tax $ to stay here (hit Fred's tip jar?) and at least pay for the popcorn. This maybe heading into "spontaneous party" era, so TW, you may wanna fire up the scone-makers!
Posted by: BA ||
02/01/2007 13:32 Comments ||
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#14
Fatah now says the trucks had tents and hospital equipment including desperately needed incubators for hundreds of wounded previously viable fluffy baby ducks.
Israel Defense Forces soldiers killed three Palestinians on Thursday morning in two separate incidents in the West Bank.
Troops killed two Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades militants early Thursday morning in a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus, local residents and Palestinian medical officials said.
Later Thursday morning, troops shot dead a Palestinian near the Qalandiyah refugee camp north of Jerusalem. According to an IDF spokesperson, troops fired on the man after he tried to cut the West Bank separation fence and infiltrate Israeli territory.
The two militants were shot dead during a clash in the city's old city that erupted when IDF forces accompanied by jeeps and bulldozers opened fire on a group of gunmen. Hospital officials identified the two as Amer Kalboni and Wael Awad, both 21. An IDF source confirmed that "a force identified two gunmen and fired at them during an operation in Nablus." Troops discovered a Fatah weapons factory in the area, along with a 5-kilogram explosive device, and detonated it in a controlled manner. Troops also found additional materials used for the construction of bombs.
IDF troops also shot a 35-year-old Palestinians near the Gaza security fence, who according to Palestinian sources was moderately wounded. According to the army, troops identified a man sabotaging the fence in the northern Gaza Strip, and shot him in the legs after he ignored calls to leave the area.
On Wednesday, IDF troops seriously wounded a Palestinian woman during the arrest of her husband, a wanted Islamic Jihad militant, in a refugee camp in Nablus. Undercover IDF soldiers from an elite unit arrived at the family's home with the objective of arresting Nasser Juwabra, an activist in the Islamic Jihad movement, suspected of involvement in the planning of several foiled suicide bombings. According to an initial investigation, the 27-year-old woman was wounded when special forces used a small explosive device to break down the militant's door. The door apparently struck the woman after it was flung by the force of the blast. IDF medics treated the woman at the scene and she was then evacuated by helicopter to an Israeli hospital for treatment. Her husband was taken into custody.
On Tuesday, security forces detained 22 Palestinians in the West Bank, 18 of whom were arrested in the Nablus area. The IDF has mounted several raids in the West Bank since a Palestinian suicide bomber killed three people in the resort city of Eilat on Monday. The bombing was claimed by both Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
(KUNA) -- Four Palestinians, including an activist from Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of Islamic Jihad (PIJ), were wounded by Israeli fire in Jenin. Palestinian forces said the four were wounded when special Israeli forces opened fire at their car at the entrance of West Bank city. Arresting the four, Israeli forces took them to an Israeli hospital; no details were released about their condition.
Meanwhile, Israeli sources claimed the operation had targeted Nour Al-Jabari, 28, an Islamic Jihad Quds Brigades activist in the village of El-Yamoun who was responsible for attacks against Israelis.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces bombed a house in the old town in Nablus after they had entered the city from various directions. Before they left the city, the forces arrested four Palestinians they claimed were wanted by security.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
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#1
clearly, another act of unprovoked, unwarranted zionist genocide.
Philippine security forces killed a suspected Muslim militant and arrested two others in a dawn raid east of Manila on Thursday, police said.
The head of the navy told Reuters the operation might have thwarted possible attacks in Manila after marines and police found plastic explosives, bomb parts and grenades in a house in Rizal province about 30 km east of the capital. "Our informants tipped us off about the presence of suspected bombers in the area," Vice-Admiral Rogelio Calunsag said. "We may have foiled attacks in the capital."
Five militants, believed to belong to a renegade faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), escaped from the house in Rizal. Police had earlier raided a house in the eastern part of Manila, where they arrested another suspected rebel.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told a local radio station that the man killed in the raid was not a member of their organisation. "We are focused on the peace talks. We are about to resume negotiations so why would we create trouble."
Indonesian policemen arrested on Thursday two men wanted as top members of a local Islamic militant group that has terrorized the country's Central Sulawesi province and had links to an Asian terror network, police said. Officers wounded one of them who had fired at the security forces, said a senior police official in Central Sulawesi's Poso regency, where raids on hideouts of suspected militants have intensified recently.
Police consider Basri and Adrin the leader and number two in a gang behind 14 cases of violence in Central Sulawesi, including the beheadings of three Christian girls in 2005 and assassinations of Protestant ministers.
Poso police spokesman Muhammad Tahir said the group had links to Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asian militant network responsible for several attacks in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people. "They have the mission to make all of Poso Islam," he said, adding that the region currently has equal numbers of Muslims and Christians.
A roadside bomb exploded in Pattani's Maikaen district when two Humvees carrying 10 soldiers were passed a hidden explosive device. No one was wounded in the incident.
In Yala, suspected insurgents ambushed a pick-up truck carrying six border patrol police officers. The police exchanged gunfire with the attackers, who then withdrew into the jungle. Pol. Lt-Col. Wanna Boonchai, wounded in the incident, was taken to hospital.
Meanwhile, in Narathiwat, suspected insurgents downed about 60 rubber trees and five rambutan trees belonging to a villager in Ruso district. Police said that at least eight people were involved in felling the trees "to cause trouble".
This article mentions some incidents not in the article posted below.
An ice cream vendor was killed and his headless body left sitting on the bicycle seat of his cart in Thailand's rebellious Muslim south on Thursday, police said. The vendor, a 45-year-old Buddhist originally from the country's north east, was shot three times in the back of his head while riding his cart into a Muslim village in Pattani, one of the three provinces hit by the violence, police said.
"They chopped his head off and walked away with it, leaving his body sitting on the ice cream bike's seat," a Pattani policeman told Reuters by telephone. "Under current circumstances, he shouldn't have ventured into such a village," the policeman said.
The man was killed just hours before Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont flew to the region where 2,000 people have been killed in a three-year insurgency.
A police colonel was also shot in the head by a sniper while a security team was visiting a village Surayud and Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn were to visit, police said. He was seriously wounded and rushed to hospital.
#1
"Under current circumstances, he shouldn't have ventured into such a village," the policeman said.
Al least we have established who is to blame. Notice how little the insurgency in south Thailand is reported by the American press. Isn't there anyway to blame Bush and/or western civilization?
Posted by: Dan Canaveral ||
02/01/2007 6:45 Comments ||
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#2
When civil policing is ineffective, military suppression is legitimate.
#5
The Mullah bad boys are soooo brave when it comes to shooting ice cream vendors. Is that the meaning of their religion, killing a working man trying to feed his family by selling ice cream cones?
#7
The man was killed just hours before Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont flew to the region where 2,000 people have been killed in a three-year insurgency.
Insurgency ? T E R R O R I S M !
Insurgent....a person who rises in forcible opposition to lawful authority.
Terrorist....a person who terrorizes others.
#11
Well, sometimes in the summer when our Ice Cream truck comes around with its bells tinkling and some non stop "pavlovian dog" tune playing again and again at gangsta rap level, as it circles around and around the block... I am tempted to look for that heat seeking missle I have stashed around here somewhere. I'm just sayin'
#12
What kind of pussies attack an ice cream man? Oh wait, Mooslems.
Frank has the best idea. Taking is one step further. They kill one of us, we close-destroy 100 mosques and outlaw ownership of qurans for a year. Let the meteor worshippers chew on that.
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.
American forces in Afghanistan are poised to attempt to recapture the town of Musa Qala, which was abandoned by British forces in November after more than two months of heavy fighting against the Taleban General Dan McNeill, who is about to take over as commander of Natos International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, is believed to be ready to order US troops into the town a key spot in the opium smuggling route in northern Helmand amid fears that it is now back under Taleban control.
(KUNA) -- Afghan officials said that the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) killed 30 suspected Taliban militants in an operation in southern Afghanistan. 
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Three battalions of peacekeepers from Uganda and Nigeria will be airlifted as soon as possible into Somalia amid rising violence that threatens the government's grip on power, an African Union official said Wednesday.
Not long back from his six-month tour in Iraq, the young Muslim soldier was puzzled when police called at his family home in Birmingham. What they had to say left him speechless with disbelief. 
Suspected al-Qaeda militants arrested in Turkey this week were planning to stage bombings in major cities around the country, Turkish media reported on Tuesday (January 30th), citing preliminary investigation results. 
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Police are on the lookout for a man described as being of Middle Eastern descent who tried to gain access to a firearms plant. Rutherford County sheriff's deputies were called to the Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc. plant Thursday, a day after a plant employee reported that a Middle Eastern-looking man had tried get inside the building.
A Pakistani student that United States authorities said had ties to a terrorist plot to aid the Taliban was convicted on Tuesday on a gun charge. Shiraz Syed Qazi, 26, was found guilty of one count of possession of a firearm by an alien during a brief trial conducted by US District Judge Lee Rosenthal. Qazi waived his right to a jury trial.
Pakistani investigators said on Wednesday that they had found leads linking a string of suicide bombings to Taliban militants, AFP reported.
Two suspected members of a banned, Pakistan-based Islamist militant group were arrested in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, police said. The two men, both in their twenties, were arrested in Sangareddy town, about 65 km northwest of Hyderabad, they said. "Both were small-time traders who travelled to villages on motorbikes selling their wares, and also worked as operatives of Lashkar-e-Taiba under orders from their superiors in Hyderabad," said R.B. Naik, a local police chief. Security forces say Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, has become a recruitment hub for Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is based in Pakistan and is fighting to end Indian rule in the disputed region of Kashmir.
A prominent member of the Hezbollah party in Iraq was among the many persons killed in the series of attacks on Tuesday during the holy Ashura day, a party source said Wednesday. A Hezbollah source said that Hezbollah leader 
(KUNA) -- The US army in Iraq has said that its warplanes bombed an insurgent cell whose members were pounding northern Baghdad with mortar shells.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Palestinian gunmen opened fire at Hamas officials early Thursday in separate attacks, marring efforts to shore up a truce that brought relative quiet to Gaza after days of deadly factional violence. However, the three-day old cease-fire appeared to hold in the face of the shootings. 
The violence tested a 3-day-old ceasefire that had largely stopped a surge in internal fighting in the territory in which at least 30 Palestinians had been killed.
Israel Defense Forces soldiers killed three Palestinians on Thursday morning in two separate incidents in the West Bank.
