We've discussed before, this unit of Special Forces Marines.
KABUL, Afghanistan A U.S. Marine unit broke international humanitarian law by using excessive force during a shooting spree last month that left 12 people dead, an Afghan human rights group claimed said in a report Saturday.
The troops fired indiscriminately at pedestrians, people in cars, public buses and taxis in six different locations along a 10-mile stretch of road in Nangahar province after an explosives-rigged minivan crashed into their convoy on March 4, according to the report by Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission.
Six people were killed near the blast site, while the other six died on the road as the troops sped away, said Ahmad Nader Nadery, the group's spokesman. The dead included a 1-year-old boy, a 4-year-old girl and three women, the report said. Thirty-five people were wounded in the shootings.
"In failing to distinguish between civilians and legitimate military targets the U.S. Marines Corps Special Forces employed indiscriminate force," the report said. "Their actions thus constitute a serious violation of international humanitarian law standards." The group said its report was based on interviews with victims and their families, witnesses, local community leaders, hospital officials and police.
A U.S. military commander has also determined that the Marines used excessive force and referred the case for possible criminal inquiry, a senior U.S. defense official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. U.S. military officials said after the incident that the suicide attack was part of an ambush that included militant gunmen shooting at Marines, which may have caused some of the civilian casualties.
The human rights group's report said "there is some evidence at the immediate site of the incident to support this claim, but it is far from conclusive and all witnesses and Afghan government officials interviewed uniformly denied that any attack beyond the initial (suicide car bombing) took place."
The group also alleges that U.S. troops serving with NATO's International Security Assistance Force in southern Afghanistan returned to the area after the bombing for an investigation and a cleanup operation, which involved the removal of all bullet shells and cartridges.
The group said it interviewed a member of Afghanistan's National Police criminal investigations office who said his unit had searched around the site after the incident, but that "ISAF forces had collected all shells, magazines, cartridges from the spot and we could not find any trace or sign of them." U.S. military officials were not available to comment on that allegation.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly pleaded for Western troops to show more restraint amid concern that civilian deaths shake domestic support for the foreign military involvement that he needs to prop up his government, increasingly under threat from a resurgent Taliban.
No one wants to kill civilians except the Taliban. But if the Talibunnies are going to hide amongst the civvies, we have a tough choice to make, and we can't second guess the men making those decisions.
The initial U.S. military investigation concluded that the Marines' response was "out of proportion to the threat that was immediately there," the senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday in Washington. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the probe's results have not been released. The findings have been forwarded to U.S. Central Command, which has responsibility for U.S. military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Another official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the initial military investigation concluded that there was a "reasonable suspicion" the Marines violated the rules for the use of deadly force, and that crimes, possibly including homicide, may have been committed in the aftermath of the convoy being struck. One Marine was wounded in the blast, which also killed the bomber.
Army Maj. Gen. Francis H. Kearney III, head of Special Operations Command Central, opened an investigation into the incident after taking the highly unusual step of ordering the unit of about 120 Marines out of Afghanistan. "We deeply regret the loss of life and casualties that resulted from the (suicide car bombing) and the actions that followed," Lt. Col. Lou Leto, spokesman at Kearney's command headquarters in Tampa, Fla., said in a statement. "We will work to prevent similar events from occurring in the future."
The Marines are in a special operations unit that deployed from Camp LeJeune, N.C., in January with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. After Kearney ordered them out of Afghanistan, they returned to their unit's ships in the Persian Gulf. The unit is one of four Marine Special Operations Command companies established since the command was created in February 2006. The one ordered out of Afghanistan was the first to deploy abroad.
#3
But if the Talibunnies are going to hide amongst the civvies, we have a tough choice to make, and we can't second guess the men making those decisions.
Whole article is a lie. Internaytional law 'ie Geneva Convetions) is quite clear: if you hide between civilians you arte a war criminal and enemy may execute you. Also you not ennemy are guilty of victims caused by ennemy's retaliatory fire. And it tells nothing about enemy fighting with an arm tied behind his back (self imposed retrictions becaise those populations are own or ally thta is not international law).
The people who made Geneva Conventions knew well that if violating tghem broughtt a benefit they would never be enforced and thuis would fail to reach their goal, that is why they provided for them not protecting those who cheat so if you do it you only made thibngs more unpleasant for everyone but get no benefit.
Article should be retitled: "Taliban broke international law, journalists helped them".
#10
I've read a more detailed report. I respect our armed forces but these spec ops marines shot at everything in sight. That is why the whole group is pulled out of afghansitan and only those individials involved are remaining for a hearing. They shot up everyone who was cutting grass around the river and quite a few civilians driving down the road. I have no problem if they were ambushed and returned fire, but there was small arms fire only and they destroyed everything within 10 miles. If they were innocent, you'll hear there story, otherwise this doesn't look good for these guys.
#13
but there was small arms fire only and they destroyed everything within 10 miles. If they were innocent, you'll hear there story, otherwise this doesn't look good for these guys
Guess you either have a hard time reading or you didn't get the memo.
Black letter law: The enemy chose the time and place to attack, and the Marines covered their withdrawal with small arms fire.
The enemy is responsible for the civilian deaths.
I am more concerned for our people in the field than I will ever be for our armed and hostile enemy.
#14
I'm glad they made it out of alive but good training and good intel would have avoided this.
The Marines SF are a new group and excellent in tactics where you can do this kind of stuff in enemy terrority during expeditionary mission during an ambush.
But now someone's 18 yr old bride, 1 yr old kid, and multiple over 90 yr old grandfathers are all over the highway. Of course they destroyed the journelists photographs because they would of been trouble. A face saving move.
Like I said, proper training and intel next time for ANY special forces brance will avoid this.
#15
2x4:
If the President negotiates a treaty with a foreign and 2/3 the Senate ratifies it, that's international law. Nothing else is, no matter what they claim. So yes, we could commit war crimes, but as JFM noted, it was the "brave patriots and minutemen" who were the criminals.
#16
If the President negotiates a treaty with a foreign and 2/3 the Senate ratifies it, that's international law.
unlike the "Kyoto treaty" - which doesn't comply, but the Global Warming/Climate Change advocates pretends didn't suffer a CRUSHING defeat when actually voted on...
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/15/2007 17:48 Comments ||
Top||
#17
I'm glad they made it out of alive but good training and good intel would have avoided this.
And addressing the deficits in those areas go straight to the top.
#18
I am sorry IS9349, but it is a warzone and if I was there and somebody started shooting at me, I am letting go with everything I got. I will not die because someone wants to play a pc f*cking war.
#19
Also law is what elected represntatives have voted. No represntation no law I am ready to accept.
For resolutions voted by that organism who was headed by a person complice in the Rwandan genocide and who represents pêople as despicable as mad man Kim Il Sung, Mugabe, the "King" of Arabia, tedrrorist Assad, the Mad Mllahs, Chirac, Zapatero, chief genocider of Sudan, a couple decades ago canibal Idi Amin Dada well such resolutions are not law, are not binding and I will not tell what they can do with them because there are ladies who read this blog.
#21
Think you need stricter ROE's Injun? Intel goes out the window when the lions of islam hide behind the ladies and shoot at you. But excessive force isn't excessive in a hot retreat. Badanov #13 nails it.
#22
I'm with Badanov on that - stay alive - the bad guys created the dead people by their willingness to hide/shield among them. GC's recognize that..the MSM won't
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/15/2007 19:09 Comments ||
Top||
#23
What is "international humanitarian law"? I, for one, think it would be a better world if the ones shot up were lawyers and their fellow travellers. Lawyers are only needed to protect you from other lawyers. They are a predatory, parasitic breed that needs to be treated as varmints.
Posted by: Random Thoughts ||
04/15/2007 20:10 Comments ||
Top||
#24
I respect our armed forces but these spec ops marines shot at everything in sight. ... They shot up everyone who was cutting grass around the river and quite a few civilians driving down the road.
Which was the smart thing to do. So long as the Afghani people do not begin capping Taliban fighters who roam around in civilian garb, they are going to suffer right along with them. While mainstream media cheerfully ignores how Taleban fighters endanger civilians, it is the Afghanis who must purchase a clue.
If they allow civilian garbed Taliban free passage, then the whole population becomes targets. How is it that the Coalition must do all the heavy lifting while the Afghanis shrug off any responsibility for securing their nation from its previous tyrants? If these opportunist civilian assholes refuse to accept some portion of the duties involved, then they start to become Taliban accomplices. Maybe when more of them end up dead for their inaction they will do something about it. Until then, our troops have the right to do whatever it takes to assure their safety as they go about doing Afghanistan's dirty work for them.
#26
Marines Special Forces can shoot and hit things ten miles away? I am quite impressed. As for the rest, I'm not at all qualified to have an opinion.
KHOST: A suicide bomber on Saturday blew himself up at the gate of a police headquarters in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least eight policemen and wounding 10 others, police and medics said. The attack in the eastern province of Khost is the latest in a wave of Iraq-style suicide bombings which have rocked Afghanistan in recent months. Police had initially said some civilians were also among those killed but later said there were no civilian casualties in the attack.
A police witness said he saw the suicide bomber arriving at the gate and then there was an explosion. Eight policeman were killed and 10 others were injured, said the witness, Salahuddin, who like many Afghans uses only one name. He said the man who was on foot tried to enter the police headquarters but the guards stopped him. He then blew himself up. I saw him trying to enter the base. Our policemen guarding the gate stopped him and he blew himself up right at the gate, Salahuddin said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
The police arrested Anisur Rahman, Meherpur unit chief of militant outfit Hizbut Touhid, early yesterday while the Rab picked up seven more at Gangni upazila last night. Raiding Anis' house at Harbhanga village at around 4:30am, police also recovered firearms, bomb-making materials and a sword, and seized books on Jihad.
Later at night, a team of the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested Gangni upazila Hizbut Touhid chief Shaharul Islam and six others--Abdur Rashid, Tajmur Rahman, Ariful Haque, Shah Jamal Hossain, and Harisuddin--when they were holding a meeting at a field near Gangni Bazar. Rab sources said the arrestees have admitted that they have long been involved in Islamic militancy.
Police said they had been out to nab Anis since he and some 50 other militants fled the neighbourhood on April 3. Later on April 7, the law enforcers recovered some books and leaflets from the abandoned houses of Hizbut men, police in Meherpur said. A list of 45 local militants was among the documents seized. The papers detail how the outfit operates, police sources said.
While most of the Hizbut Touhid men were still holed up, Anisur came to his village on Thursday night. According to locals, the Hizbut Touhid has been active at Debipur, Chatian, Bauot, Harbhanga, Karamdi and Katdah villages in Gangni upazila for the last eight years. Ariful Islam of Debipur village would lead the organisation. Sources said they would call on the villagers to join them to establish Islamic rule, rejecting all 'manmade' laws. Bayazid Khan Panni of Tangail is their leader.
Ramzan Ali of Chatian and Basiruddin of Bauot used to train the militants at secret places in the evening. The training would continue till the dead of night. The local people also named one Saharul Islam as the leader of the Gangni upazila unit of Hizbut Touhid.
The law enforcers who have rounded up militants from other parts of the country were largely inactive in Meherpur district. Police sources said they did not arrest the Hizbut men in the area as they were operating under cover of Tabliq Jamaat (proselytising group). Locals said at least 40 Hizbut men left the area on April 3. With their wives and children, they left the villages without any fuss and no one could say anything about their current whereabouts. Meherpur police said they have been informed of the developments and are keeping a close watch. "We will take stern measures against the militants. I've already ordered the local police to be on the alert," Superintendent of Meherpur Police Khondokar Rashidul Islam told The Daily Star.
This correspondent visited the houses of Touhid leader Ariful and Gangni upazila Amir Saharul on Wednesday. "I'm not seeing my son since March 20. I don't know where he has gone and why," said 68-years-old Halima, Ariful's mother. Besides, Saharul is now believed to have been hiding in Kushtia, a source said.
Police said they recovered a list of at least 45 active Touhid men during their raid on Saturday. Of them, 12 hail from Chatian village, nine from Debipur, six from Bouat, Four from Karamdi, eight from Harbhanga and four from Katdah village. Different sources including law enforcement agencies and newspaper reports said at least 1,200 trained cadres of Hizbut Touhid are active in greater Kushtia including Kushtia, Meherpur, Chuadanga and Jhenidah. Most of them are madrasa students or imams of mosques.
A woman follower of the outfit was killed in a clash with villagers at Jugia on the outskirts of Kushtia town in September 2003. At least 25 others were injured in the incident. Sources said the clash broke out when a group of locals, worried over the activities of Hizbut Touhid operatives, attacked their houses.
In another clash between villagers and militants at Poradah Bazar, at least 45 people were hurt on September 9 the same year. The fighting took place when some Hizbut men went there to call on the locals for Jihad. Thirty-four of their men were arrested at Kaliganj upazila of Jhenidah in July 2004 while Kushtia police arrested 13 at Courtpara of the town in August last year. According to sources, the militant group has a strong base in Kushtia, Meherpur, Chuadanga and Jhenidah.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Police arrested four activists of outlawed Sarbahara Party and a JMB militant in separate raids in Bagmara upazila early yesterday. The detained outlaws are Rashidul Islam, 30, Samjan Ali, 25, Anisur Rahman, 27, and Shahin, 31. Rashidul was arrested at Dulalipara village, while Samjan, Anis and Shahin were arrested at Konapara village.
Police said the outlaws were wanted in a number of murder and other criminal cases. The JMB activist was identified as Rahidul, 33, son of Moqbul Hossain of Bhabaniganj Bazar. Police said Rahidul was involved in criminal activities in Bagmara upazila under the leadership of JMJB kingpin Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, who was executed in Jhalakathi judges' murder case on March 29.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Crazy for Parveen!
As reported in daily Khabrain, a new song by Abrar ul Haq caused a lot of fights in different areas in Punjab. In Pattoki a group of labourers were playing Abrar ul Haqs song Parveen when another group objected that three of their young girls were named Parveen and thus it was an attack on their honour. The fight left eight people injured. In another incident a fight broke out when some young boys were singing this song loudly in a street.
Bob Woolmer was not responsible
As reported in daily Jang, the ex captain of the Pakistan cricket team, Imran Khan, said that the poor performance of the Pakistan team was responsible for the death of Bob Woolmer. He said Bob was not responsible for the defeat of Pakistan in the World Cup. The responsibility of a coach is to work on the technique of cricketers and it is the team players who are responsible for their performance in the field. Bob was the greatest coach and a great human being. He always accepted criticism with openness. He united the team into one unit but unfortunately our players spoiled all his efforts. He died because he couldnt absorb the defeat against Ireland.
Tablighi Jamaat robbed in Sara-e-Alamgir
According to daily Khabrain, four armed men snatched 22 thousand rupees, mobile phones and identity cards from eight members of the Tablighi Jamaat in a village Chak Sikander in Sara-e-Alamgir. The police arrested one dacoit and the rest are still at large.
Sami ul Haq was denied British visa
According to daily Nawa-i-Waqt, the British high commission slapped a ban on the entry of the head of the Jamiat Ulema Islam (S) Maulana Sami ul Haq and denied him a visa to participate in All Parties Conference in Britian. The British government alleged that the statements of Sami ul Haq support terrorism and are against the interest of British people.
Bob Woolmer was unlike Pakistanis
In daily Express, the famous columnist Javed Chaudhry wrote that Bob Woolmer died because of the Pakistan cricket teams defeat while the head of PCB Nasim Ashraf and Pakistan captain Inzamam ul Haq are still alive. Bob Woolmer lived in Pakistan but couldnt learn the art of self aggrandizing. There is a difference between Bob Woolmer and the Pakistani nation. He had a conscience and couldnt face the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in his heart and gave his life. In Pakistan there are 16 crore people but no one has a heart like Bob Woolmer.
Punjabi Taliban in Waziristan
Daily Pakistan wrote in an editorial that warriors from Punjab and other parts of Pakistan have started converging on Sheen Warsak, Waziristan. The other group consists of Uzbeks under the command of Tahir Yeldeshev who has the support of local tribes. After the beheading of two Arab warriors the two groups are entrenched in their positions on the hills. After the killing of Arab commander Sheikh Asad Ullah the two groups are at war with each other.
PPP is like a zoo
As reported in daily Nawa-i-Waqt, when a central leader of Pakistan Peoples Party came on stage to deliver a speech, one youth wing leader, Shabbir Babar, objected that the ISI agents wouldnt be allowed to address the Peoples Party workers. Jehangir Babar said that the Peoples Party is like a zoo where scorpions, snakes, elephants, lions and sparrows have gathered.
Conspiracy against Afghan jihad
In daily Pakistan, the ex prime minister of Afghanistan and warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar wrote that the history of Afghanistans last three decades is unforgettable resistance, freedom and Islamic jihad. Our enemies call it internal fighting and fasad. Afghans are proud that the renaissance of Islamic jihad long forgotten by Muslims started from Afghanistan. The mujahideen of Chechnya, Palestine, Kashmir, Iraq and other countries got training and learned their lessons from Afghanistan.
In a brinjal
According to daily Khabrain, a brinjal was cut and the name of Allah could be seen very clearly in the house of Zafar Iqbal Bhatti in Shahzada Shaheed Colony, Gujranwala. They were impressed with the miracle and sent the photograph to all the newspapers.
Conspiracy in Wana killings
As reported in daily Express, the leader of the clerical alliance, MMA, and Naib Amir of Jamaat Islami, Liaqat Baloch said that the killings in Wana, North Waziristan are a deep conspiracy against the unity of autonomy of Pakistan. He said America wants unstability in tribal areas to destroy the unity of Pakistan. He said the problems shall be solved according to the peace deal in Waziristan.
Hamid Gul in commando uniform
As reported in daily Khabrian, the ex head of the ISI Hamid Gul warned the government that he would bring 22 lac retired army men on the streets. He was wearing commando uniform when he addressed the mob who gathered in front of the Supreme Court.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2007 11:19 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
A reminder of what a Through the Looking Glass world Pakistan is. One group attacks another because a popular love song contains the name of their daughters, hence their daughters' honour was impuned... a cut brinjal (whatever that is) showed the name of Allah written therein -- what odds those who saw it could actually read?
#2
Bob was the greatest coach and a great human being. He always accepted criticism with openness. He united the team into one unit but unfortunately our players spoiled all his efforts. He died because he couldnt absorb the defeat against Ireland.
well, that, ...plus the poison and strangling
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/15/2007 12:50 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Praise Gawd! Nuggets for the weak!
As reported in daily Jang, the ex captain of the Pakistan cricket team
Always a fun start to a stoooooooreee. I can't go any further. I've been away from the nuggets so long Ima weak and puny like.
Students of Jamia Freedia, a sister madrassa of Jamia Hafsa, allegedly attacked a video shop at Bara Khou on Saturday and burnt CDs. The shop that was attacked is in the main market and near the area police station. Eyewitnesses told Daily Times that no one dared to stop the bearded students. Eight students broke into Al-Awan Video Shop and told owner Muhammad Arif that they were from Jamia Fareedia. They told Arif that they had received several complaints against him for keeping objectionable material. Jamia Hafsa Vice Principal Ghazi Abdul Rasheed denied the attackers were Jamia Freedia students. Police have arrested three attackers under sections of ATA and picked up Arif for questioning.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Suspected Taliban thrashed 20 alleged gamblers in the Sadiqabad area for betting on bird races. The gamblers were betting money on bird races at the Sadiqabad Patak Fair and had received warnings from alleged Taliban demanding that they stop. The gamblers changed their venue but unidentified men pursued them and beat them up at gunpoint. The gamblers were also threatened with dire consequences if they did not stop betting.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Peshawar police have asked shopkeepers to remove mannequins from boutiques on University Road. University Road Tajjir Ittehad president Amjad Ali Qadri told Daily Times, The SSP operations asked us to remove these mannequins as he claimed the chief minister said they were vulgar and obscene. We demanded the orders in written form and thus far have received no such missive. The University Town SHO then asked us to turn the faces of the mannequins inward. We complied because it doesnt affect the advertisement of clothing worn by them. Qadri said, We discussed the matter with the chief of capital city police but he told us that he had no knowledge of the matter. He said mannequins were all over the city and the government had no right to remove them from shops on only one road. The government should compensate the shopkeepers for the mannequins removal, he added. Aftab Butt of Butt Saris said, The mannequins have nothing to do with obscenity and are placed to attract customers. We have been asked to remove them in the past as well. People shouldnt make problems where there are none, there are many other wrongs in society which need government attention more than mere mannequins. According to Aftab there are over 80-90 boutiques on University Road with 700-800 employees. We are competing with Lahore and Karachi and this kind of behaviour is senseless. City police chief Abdul Majeed Marwat denied any such order.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Find who's issuing orders in the police Chief's name, get rid of that person.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/15/2007 11:27 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Find who's issuing orders in the police Chief's name, get rid of that person.
The better deal would be to break up about 40 of the "tribes" in Pakistan. Kill their leaders, break the kneecaps of all 18-45 year old men, and kill all the mosque preachers. Unfortunately, our government isn't mean enough to do what's necessary to put a stop to the entire islam nonsense once and for all. The day will come, however, when that's the last choice available to us. It's that or surrender, and I'll die first.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/15/2007 14:53 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"It's that or surrender, and I'll die kill the other bastards first."
There - fixed that for ya', #2 OP.
We're with you.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/15/2007 14:55 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Mannequins: Item # 1,347 on the list of things that offend Muslim sensitivities.
Old Patriot, whenever you leave out the nuclear first use stuff, everything you post makes absolute sense.
Were every single imam on earth killed this instant, does anyone think that more than 0.01% would have been unfairly executed? This is a serious question. Moderate Muslims aside, the clerical class of Islam is a prime mover in terrorism. Yes, money is important, but with high context cultures as in the entire MME (Muslim Middle East), oratory skill, connections and social status are critical components of political power.
The West is absolutely insane not to begin a campaign of assassinating Islam's clerical elite. They alone are responsible for programming the killers.
BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber Saturday blew up his car against a checkpoint on a Baghdad bridge killing 10 people and wounding 15, a security official said.
The blast occurred on the Jadiriyah bridge in the central Karrada district of the capital. Most of the casualties were civilians, the official added. The bridge is the second targeted by insurgents in the past three days.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/15/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
O noble Lions of Islam, killing so many of their own! To our visitors from the Muslim world, ask yourselves: with each such incident, am I more or less likely to see Islam as the religion of peace or as the religion of stupidly vicious murderers who must be erased from the sight of God and the memory of humanity? Who now remembers the names of the Hashashin?
#2
They are trying to cut off Sunni Baghdad from Shiite Baghdad. However, we know that now, so in future, expect to see a lot more failed car bombs near bridges.
British forces killed eight gunmen laying landmines in the volatile southern city of Basra, the British military said. The military said the eight had been operating in an area where four British soldiers and their civilian translator were killed in a huge roadside bomb blast that destroyed their Warrior armoured fighting vehicle earlier this month. "It is not possible to directly link those killed last night with last week's roadside bombs. However, these militiamen were intent upon launching exactly the same type of attack in the same area," British military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Kevin Stratford-Wright said.
Basra is a port city that is the hub of Iraq's biggest oil fields. Shi'ite factions are battling for control of its oil revenues and criminal gangs are also a menace.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
git sum Brits
heh I loves it when they catch 'em red handed and kill 'em on the spot.
#2
Obviously, it is a British unit to be proud of unlike those wussy idiots that the Iranis captured. Geez, one of them sold his story to a tabloid with the earth shattering news that the Quds Squad nicknamed him "Mr. Bean". I can't believe the Brits are becoming like the French and Italians.
Posted by: Jack is Back ||
04/15/2007 10:59 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Remember that Italian who defied those who were to behead him beforre you campare British and Italians.
#4
His name was Fabrizio Quattrocchi. MAy his name remembered for as long as the ones from the fifteen British marines and sailors be quickly forgotten.
#5
"This is how an Italian dies." I suppose he meant he would die on his feet while attacking his murderous tormentors, rather than beg those sick vermin to spare his life. Fabrizio has been immortalized.
#6
Paybacks are a bitch with the Brits, aren't they! :-)
I wouldn't be too surprised if a few of them were in on planting that first IED. You'll probably know it's true if incidents in the area diminish a lot.
I wonder whose side Allan is on, anyway. Not. Allahu akbar!
In a move designed likely to irritate Tehran, the United States has decided not to release five Iranians captured in Iraq, a newspaper reported on Friday. The Washington Post said that after intense internal debate, the Bush administration had decided to keep the Iranians in custody and make them go through a periodic six-month review process used for the other 250 foreign detainees held in Iraq.
Vice President Dick Cheney's foreign policy advisers won an internal administration tussle over what to do with the men, U.S. officials confirmed on condition of anonymity. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had argued for a quicker release but was overruled, partly out of concern not to make the release appear part of a deal involving the British, the sources said. The next review is not expected until July, the newspaper quoted U.S. officials as saying.
Washington says the five, seized in a January 11 raid by U.S. forces in the Kurdish city of Arbil, are linked with Iranian Revolutionary Guard networks involved in providing explosive devices used to attack U.S. troops in Iraq. Iran says they are diplomats and has demanded their release. The five are classified as detainees and will be treated like other foreign detainees picked up in Iraq, one official said. That means they will be subject to periodic review of their status, a process that means they will be held certainly a good number of weeks, and possibly for several months, the official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Possibly until the end of the war, too. The one that is supposed to last a generation.
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/15/2007 11:38 Comments ||
Top||
#5
New Commish Roger Goodell's young and competent. Condi will NEVER be NFL commish
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/15/2007 13:14 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Releasing them is tantamount to admitting that bogus diplomat ruse works, and they can move even more IIRG-Kuds force planners into Iraq. That there was discussion of releasing them makes me sick....
A car bomber killed up to 50 people at a crowded bus station in the Iraqi holy city of Kerbala on Saturday, police said. Police added that at least 70 other people were wounded in the attack near the Imam Hussein shrine, one of the most important sites for Shiites. Attacks in Kerbala are rare. Witnesses said as many as 15 ambulances rushed to the area and police were firing into the air to disperse crowds that have swarmed near the ambulances.
In Baghdad, police said a bomber detonated his vehicle before a checkpoint at the southern Jadriyah bridge, killing eight people and burning several cars in the second major attack on a bridge in the capital in the last two days. Television footage showed the twisted, blackened wreck of what was thought to have been the car used to deliver the bomb as ambulance and rescue services worked to save the wounded.
On Thursday, a truck bomb killed at least seven people on Sarafiya Bridge in northern Baghdad, destroying most of the steel structure and sending several cars plunging into the River Tigris.
Saturday's violence came a day after leaders from across Iraq's sectarian divide pleaded for unity at a special session of parliament, gathering under high security to condemn a bombing that tore through the building on Thursday.
Television footage from the bombing in Kerbala, 110 km (70 miles) southwest of Baghdad, showed wounded being carried from the scene and what appeared to be the charred body of a child. A police source put the death toll at 50 but a director of the al-Husseini hospital in Kerbala said 41 people had been killed and 60 wounded. The attack occurred near a crowded market and some 200 metres from the Imam Hussein shrine, where the grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammed (PTUI PBUH) is buried -- one of the most important sites for Shi'ites.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have launched a crackdown in Baghdad that officials hope will give the government breathing space to pull Iraq back from the brink of civil war between Shi'ites and once dominant Sunni Arabs. An al Qaeda-backed group, the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, claimed responsibility in a Web statement for the worst breach of security in Baghdad's most secure area, which killed a member of parliament and wounded two dozen other people in the building's restaurant.
Previous calls for unity by Iraq's leaders have mostly fallen on deaf ears as sectarian violence has spiralled. In the wake of recent violence, Washington and some Iraqi politicians dismissed suggestions the attack signalled a failure of the U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown in the capital Three US soldiers and two Iraqi interpreters were killed, while eight other soldiers were wounded in two separate incidents on Saturday, a US statement said.
The announcement came as the new Baghdad security plan entered its 60th day. According to a US military statement, "Two MND-B Soldiers were killed and seven others were wounded when their patrol base came under attack by anti-Iraqi forces south of Baghdad April 12. Two Iraqi interpreters were also killed in the attack." The statement added "A quick reaction force was sent to the scene along with attack aviation helicopters, which quickly repelled the attack."
The statement also noted that the concerned unit had over the past few weeks carried out several raids to clear out militant pockets and arrested 22 militants and found five weapons caches. Two US soldiers were also killed, and another was injured when their car encountered an explosive charge in southern Baghdad last Thursday, to increase the death toll among the US forces to 3,298 so far since the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Since when does "killed up to 50" equal "scores"?
Posted by: Captain America ||
04/15/2007 11:40 Comments ||
Top||
Responding to the statement, the BBC said it is "aware of these reports -- but we have no independent verification of them. We are deeply concerned about what we are hearing -- but we stress, at this stage, it is rumour with no independent verification."
In the message, the group said the British and Palestinian governments were responsible for Johnston's killing, and vowed to release a video of the execution. "The whole world knows of our just cause in demanding the release of our prisoners, who are waiting under the fire of the occupation," the statement began. "Our demand was that all of those who are responsible for the journalist... release our prisoners who are being held in the prisons of the occupation," it continued.
"The whole world made so much noise about this foreign journalist, while it took no action over our thousands of prisoners," the declaration said. "Our objective was to ...
... kill someone ...
...broadcast a clear message, and we were surprised by the position of the Palestinian Authority, which attempted to hide the case as much as it could and to present the case in an untruthful manner, leading us unfortunately to kill the journalist so that our message is understood," the declaration continued.
"We will disseminate a video in which we show his killing soon to the media outlets," the statement said. "And we lay the responsibility on the the PA presidency, Palestinian government, and the British government for the blood of the its journalist son."
Oh, can't even take responsibility, can you.
"And we confirm that our demands for the release of our prisoners in the occupation jails still stands. We will not relent until we release them all, free and dignified," the message added. "Allah is great, for it is either victory or martyrdom," it concluded.
Just another demonstration of Britain's impotency on the world stage. Their marines are kidnapped and their citizens murdered without anything more than pious complaints.
#8
This makes it hard for the BBC. They're struggling with how to spin this as another example of the oppression of the palis caused by the occupation. I have faith, though. They'll figure it out.
#10
I'm sure the BBC could say some excuse like "root cause" or the "justified revenge" or how about using the word "strong passions" of the palestinian people led them to execute a westerner?
#12
I concur with the mutitude of sentiments expressed above:
1. I call BS on this story unless the Paleos produce a cold body.
2. Even with the dead body of a BBC employee Bush and the Joooos get blamed for the murder committed by the Paleos.
3. Serves the BBC employee right if he is dead. He supported the Paleos and the BBC- that is- he supported the forces advocating genocide.. He got what he deserved.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
04/15/2007 15:59 Comments ||
Top||
#13
After long deliberation, I now conclude that the Israelis should, indeed, release all their paleostain prisoners. Their left arm should be released on May 1, their right arm on May 10, their left leg on May 20, and their right leg on May 30. The torso should be released on June 6th, and the head should be quietly buried in a secret location known only to a few Israeli special-forces types, somewhere in eastern Jordan. Then go get some more to do the same thing with. Sooner or later, there won't be any paleostain terrorists, and eastern Jordan will stink.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/15/2007 16:11 Comments ||
Top||
#17
Only because I'm slightly less bloodthirsty than OP, but I too would release all the Paleo prisoners: they all have to live in Gaza. Anyone of 'em found outside Gaza gets whacked.
Way I see it, they'd all join the various festivities in Gaza, and I could corner the Rantburg popcorn 'n' Snocaps concession ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/15/2007 17:18 Comments ||
Top||
#18
they all have to live in Gaza
except when our ally, Egypt, allows them to transit from Gaza...If Israel were truly in control of that border, and Gaza was sealed, tunnels inclusive, I'd be with ya SW
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/15/2007 17:42 Comments ||
Top||
#19
I totally subscribe to the 48 Hour Rule here.
He's not dead unless it's alcohol poisoning from sitting' around some junior PLO/Hamas member's flat, snortin' coke, sucking tequila, and watching "Baywatch" re-runs.
Shit, the smell of French male cologne there would kill most folks.
Islamic Jihad's Quds Brigades and Fatah's Aqsa Martyrs Brigades both confirmed reports of fierce confrontations with Israeli forces in Jenin Refugee Camp on Saturday. A joint statement said the confrontations took place at several locations in the city and followed an Israeli incursion.
Since the beginning of this month, Israeli forces have invaded the northern West Bank camp on a daily basis. This is the period of memorial of five years since the major attack on Jenin in April 2002. A large Israeli force entered the camp at dawn on Saturday with military bulldozers and machinery and attempted to gun down activists, the statement said.
The joint force gathering members from both brigades put on a tough fight, the statement added. According to the Palestinian groups, there were clashes on all fronts of the western neighborhood and Al-Damj and Saha areas. The fighting lasted till early morning and Palestinian resistance reported casualties on the Israeli side. Quds Brigades fighters blew up a military bulldozer in Al-Saha area while Aqsa Martyrs Brigades fighters blew up an SUV, the statement said. It was reported both vehicles were seen engulfed by flames and dragged out of the camp by the Israeli soldiers.
The Quds brigades said the attack left casualties and damages on the Israeli side. It added that this attack comes in retaliation to the continuing Israeli aggression against the Palestinians. Twenty Israeli military vehicles were involved in Saturday's invasion and siege in which no one was arrested.
A spokesman for the Israeli Army meanwhile confirmed an explosive charge was detonated in close proximity to forces that carried out the incursion into Jenin today but said there were no human losses. The Palestinian joint statement vowed more such operations to stress continued resistance in all occupied territories.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The Palestinian joint statement vowed more such operations to stress continued resistance in all occupied territories."Victory is ours!" shouted the Paleos from their stinking, smoking, shithellhole.
does anyone believe Alarabonline would tell honestly of Paleo casualties, damage, destruction?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/15/2007 9:04 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Love the picture, what was that bump?
A roadblock? Oh.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/15/2007 11:24 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Love the picture, what was that bump?
Looks like it USED TO BE a '78 Opel, RJ.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/15/2007 16:13 Comments ||
Top||
#4
'78 Opel, No loss then.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/15/2007 16:34 Comments ||
Top||
Philippine marines captured the camp of a Muslim rebel commander on Sunday after his forces attacked their base with mortar bombs killing two soldiers and one child, military officials said.
Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) commander Habier Malik and his followers fled to the jungles surrounding Panamao town on the southern island of Jolo after troops bombarded his camp. "Malik's group are on the run. There is still sporadic fighting," Major Eugene Batara, a military spokesman, said.
He could not confirm a local press report that said 15 rebels had been killed in the fighting but he said the MNLF death toll was likely to be high. "We are sure they have suffered many casualties." A MNLF spokesman said three of their followers had been wounded.
Malik embarrassed the military in February when he held a top general, a senior government official and their aides hostage for two nights. The captives were released unharmed after the government handed over money and sacks of food.
Southern insurgents fired on a train, wounding two children and another passenger in the deep South, forcing the State Railway of Thailand to suspend all service to the restive region indefinitely. Officials said they have halted services south of Yala, because the three passengers were hit and wounded by gunfire from the Islamist extremists. The temporary measure means until further notice the 14 passenger trains to Narathiwat will now stop in Yala, the adjoining province to the north.
Railway authorities stopped the services south of Yala town after gunmen attacked a train travelling from near the Malaysian border to Nakhon Si Thammarat in the central South. Yala town is in the north of Yala province, meaning all rail services in the south of Yala and neighbouring Narathiwat have been suspended.
"We stopped services in the far south for security reasons after our train was attacked by gunfire," a railway official told the French news agency AFP. He said authorities would not resume the service until the security situation had improved.
#4
Abesent sending in troop trains, cutting off service may well be the best thing. Once again, the Muslims will be responsible for increased hardship and that is something people tend to remember. Also, the south is where the greatest concentrations of Muslim populations are. Therefore, this interruption in service will have a negative economic impact on Thailand's Islamic areas.
Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels shot dead five people in eastern Sri Lanka on Saturday, the military said, as the country marked the traditional New Year and the president appealed for national unity.
Gunmen from the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fired at a residential neighbourhood in Eravur, in Batticaloa district, killing two people from a breakaway militant faction and three civilians, the defence ministry said. Among those killed was a three-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl, the military said, adding police were probing the shootings.
Elsewhere, in the northern district of Vavuniya, residents were preparing to bury seven Sinhalese villagers who were gunned down by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels on Thursday. According to defence ministry figures, an average of just under four civilians have been killed each day since April 1, as government troops remain locked in combat with the guerrillas, despite a 2002 Oslo-backed truce.
The latest killings came as both the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamil community marked their common New Year. President Mahinda Rajapakse in his New Year message appealed for unity in the ethnically divided nation of 19.5 million people. The observance of New Year traditions and rituals leads to the unity of the nation, he said. We should all come together to observe the New Year traditions, irrespective of all differences.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/15/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
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.
The police arrested Anisur Rahman, Meherpur unit chief of militant outfit Hizbut Touhid, early yesterday while the Rab picked up seven more at Gangni upazila last night. Raiding Anis' house at Harbhanga village at around 4:30am, police also recovered firearms, bomb-making materials and a sword, and seized books on Jihad. 
Police arrested four activists of outlawed Sarbahara Party and a JMB militant in separate raids in Bagmara upazila early yesterday. The detained outlaws are Rashidul Islam, 30, Samjan Ali, 25, Anisur Rahman, 27, and Shahin, 31. Rashidul was arrested at Dulalipara village, while Samjan, Anis and Shahin were arrested at Konapara village.
Crazy for Parveen!
Students of Jamia Freedia, a sister madrassa of Jamia Hafsa, allegedly attacked a video shop at Bara Khou on Saturday and burnt CDs. The shop that was attacked is in the main market and near the area police station. Eyewitnesses told Daily Times that no one dared to stop the bearded students. Eight students broke into Al-Awan Video Shop and told owner Muhammad Arif that they were from Jamia Fareedia. They told Arif that they had received several complaints against him for keeping objectionable material. Jamia Hafsa Vice Principal Ghazi Abdul Rasheed denied the attackers were Jamia Freedia students. Police have arrested three attackers under sections of ATA and picked up Arif for questioning.
Suspected Taliban thrashed 20 alleged gamblers in the Sadiqabad area for betting on bird races. The gamblers were betting money on bird races at the Sadiqabad Patak Fair and had received warnings from alleged Taliban demanding that they stop. The gamblers changed their venue but unidentified men pursued them and beat them up at gunpoint. The gamblers were also threatened with dire consequences if they did not stop betting.
Peshawar police have asked shopkeepers to remove mannequins from boutiques on University Road. University Road Tajjir Ittehad president Amjad Ali Qadri told Daily Times, The SSP operations asked us to remove these mannequins as he claimed the chief minister said they were vulgar and obscene. We demanded the orders in written form and thus far have received no such missive. The University Town SHO then asked us to turn the faces of the mannequins inward. We complied because it doesnt affect the advertisement of clothing worn by them. Qadri said, We discussed the matter with the chief of capital city police but he told us that he had no knowledge of the matter. He said mannequins were all over the city and the government had no right to remove them from shops on only one road. The government should compensate the shopkeepers for the mannequins removal, he added. Aftab Butt of Butt Saris said, The mannequins have nothing to do with obscenity and are placed to attract customers. We have been asked to remove them in the past as well. People shouldnt make problems where there are none, there are many other wrongs in society which need government attention more than mere mannequins. According to Aftab there are over 80-90 boutiques on University Road with 700-800 employees. We are competing with Lahore and Karachi and this kind of behaviour is senseless. City police chief Abdul Majeed Marwat denied any such order.
BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber Saturday blew up his car against a checkpoint on a Baghdad bridge killing 10 people and wounding 15, a security official said.
British forces killed eight gunmen laying landmines in the volatile southern city of Basra, the British military said. The military said the eight had been operating in an area where four British soldiers and their civilian translator were killed in a huge roadside bomb blast that destroyed their Warrior armoured fighting vehicle earlier this month. "It is not possible to directly link those killed last night with last week's roadside bombs. However, these militiamen were intent upon launching exactly the same type of attack in the same area," British military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Kevin Stratford-Wright said. 
In a move 
A car bomber killed up to 50 people at a crowded bus station in the Iraqi holy city of Kerbala on Saturday, police said. Police added that at least 70 other people were wounded in the attack near the Imam Hussein shrine, one of the most important sites for Shiites. Attacks in Kerbala are rare. Witnesses said as many as 15 ambulances rushed to the area and police were firing into the air to disperse crowds that have swarmed near the ambulances.
Islamic Jihad's Quds Brigades and Fatah's Aqsa Martyrs Brigades both confirmed reports of fierce confrontations with Israeli forces in Jenin Refugee Camp on Saturday. A joint statement said the confrontations took place at several locations in the city and followed an Israeli incursion.
Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels shot dead five people in eastern Sri Lanka on Saturday, the military said, as the country marked the traditional New Year and the president appealed for national unity.
