A local investigation has discovered that 27 civilians were killed in NATO-led air strikes in northeast Afghanistan,
“We investigated the incident and found that 27 civilians and 37 Taliban were killed,” the governor told AFP. Three of the militants killed were Arab and two were Pakistani, he added.
a provincial governor said on Wednesday, as Taliban guerrillas killed three policemen in an ambush on a convoy of US-led troops.
The villagers were killed during last week’s strikes in Kunar province that targeted suspected militants at a funeral and a house, said Governor Shalizai Didar, citing the results of his local government probe. He said 37 Taliban-led militants were also killed in strikes on Thursday and Friday in the province’s Watapour district. “We investigated the incident and found that 27 civilians and 37 Taliban were killed,” the governor told AFP. Three of the militants killed were Arab and two were Pakistani, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
I am sickened by civilian death reports that omit reference to either Taliban use of human shields or Taliban connection with opium and heroin production. Karzai doesn't help either with his attacks on use of air power.
#2
So who's funeral was it? 37 bad guy's is a pretty good score. And if the 27 "civlilians" feel the need to attend the funeral with them? Well, shit happens...
#3
Just why the hell is it that a reporter in Afghanistan will take the word and numbers of stone-age illiterate at face value, I will never understand. Unless......
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/12/2007 10:21 Comments ||
Top||
(SomaliNet) Four people died and six others, three of whom policemen were injured in two bomb explosions inside Bakara market, south of the Somalia capital Mogadishu where the security forces are conducting massive search operations aimed to restore peace and stability for the seventh day in row.
The first explosion occurred around 7:30 am local time when an unknown assailant hurled a hand grenade bomb at the government soldiers involving in the search operations. The blast left four civilians dead and wounded two soldiers as the government soldiers fired several shots in the air to find out who was behind the attack. Another bomb exploded inside the market minutes after the first one, causing the injury of one soldier and four civilians including a woman.
Elsewhere in Mogadishu, an unknown man armed with a pistol killed one soldier at KPP junction in south of Mogadishu. The security forces reached the area of the shooting but did not find the attacker who escaped unharmed. Meanwhile, another government soldier was wounded in a roadside bomb attack which took place in Suuq Bacaad market, north of the capital. It was a remote controlled roadside bomb which
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic Courts
(SomaliNet) An unknown gunman has wounded the district commissioner of Bondhere in north of Mogadishu and killed one of his bodyguards late today. Abdikarin Mohamoud Hassan known as ‘Hutti’ was hit by several bullets as he was watching a local football match in the neighborhood and was taken to the hospital. Mohammed Muhuyidiin, the spokesman of the Banadir authorities told the local media that it was an attempt on the DC’s life. He said the commissioner was safe but slightly hurt. “He has survived, his injury is only minor, he has gone under surgery in Kesaney hospital,” said Muhyidin. Around six district commissioners had been slain in the city since the federal government resettled in Mogadishu.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic Courts
(SomaliNet) Local militants linked with the defeated Islamic Courts Union have raided the government positions in the Somalia capital Mogadishu late today with mortars and rockets as the city entered its seventh day of massive security operations aimed to restore peace and stability before 15 July meeting. Five mortar rounds landed tonight at the presidential palace in Mogadishu which houses many government officials including president Abdulahi Yusuf. There is no immediate casualty reported from the palace.
According to the residents, two mortars missed the target and hit ex-fiyore compound near the state house killing two civilians and wounding three others. Also mortars hit near the venue where the coming national reconciliation conference is due to be held on July 15. Other explosions and gunfire could be heard around Mogadishu soccer stadium where stationed by the Ethiopian forces.
A local resident told Somalinet that militants attacked the Ethiopian base with mortars while the Ethiopian troops responded with heavy weaponry. The latest mortar and rocket attacks are happening as Mogadishu is under curfew for the third week.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic Courts
Controversial Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri should not be extradited from the UK to face terror charges in the US, a court has been told. Lawyers for Abu Hamza, 49, from west London, told a hearing in London that US evidence had been gained through torture and should not be used. Prosecutor Hugo Keith denied the claim, saying it would use phone records and the cleric's own admission at a trial.
Abu Hamza is serving seven years for inciting murder and race hate. The US government is seeking his extradition and trial on charges of conspiring to take Western hostages in Yemen, funding terrorism, and organising a "terrorist training camp" in Oregon between 1998 and 2000. The 11 charges carry a potential jail sentence of 100 years.
Preliminary extradition proceedings took place in May and the full hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court is expected to last several days. Abu Hamza appeared via video link from London's Belmarsh prison, where he is serving his sentence.
At an earlier hearing, Mr Keith said that a group of Westerners including 12 Britons, two Americans and two Australians were abducted in Yemen in 1998, partly in order to gain the release of Abu Hamza's stepson Mohsen Ghailan and five others. The hearing was told that Abu Hamza gave advice to the hostage-takers and provided them with a satellite phone.
Four of the captives - Britons Margaret Whitehouse, 52, a teacher from Hampshire, Ruth Williamson, 34, an NHS employee from Edinburgh, university lecturer Peter Rowe, 60, from Durham, and Australian Andrew Thirsk - were killed after Yemeni authorities tried to rescue them.
#1
This all is a drama Hamza is preaching Islam in europe, As Islam is the religion of peace and love,Terrorists are Israelies,UK is under the influence of them.
#5
The 11 charges carry a potential jail sentence of 100 years.
Even with a 100 year sentence, I'm convinced that—once they got their hooks into him—our general population inside would make his stay a lot shorter.
#8
I remember this muzzie idiot from my time in London. He was a favorite of Jon Snow on Channel 4. It was like love a first sight. I would love to see him extradited here so we can nail him to a water board and put his ass on Nancy Grace, Greta and Court TV. But it won't change one Dhimmicartic view of the world unfortunately.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/12/2007 10:24 Comments ||
Top||
Honda, Hershey's, and other multinational companies temporarily shut down their factories in western Mexico on Wednesday after rebels attacked a key natural gas pipeline. The small, left-wing guerrilla group that claimed responsibility for the explosions vowed to continue the attacks, while the Mexican government scrambled to increase security at "strategic installations" across Mexico.
Security analysts and energy experts downplayed the attacks, noting they were relatively small in nature and mostly symbolic, having little effect on the economy.
Officials from Mexico's state-owned oil and gas monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said an explosion Tuesday and two more last week affected different sections of the same pipeline extending from central Mexico City to Guadalajara, the industry-rich capital of the western state of Jalisco. The company sent 150 workers to repair the line.
At least a dozen companies including Honda Motor Co., Kellogg Co., The Hershey Co., Nissan Motor Co., and Grupo Modelo SA, Mexico's largest beer maker, were forced to suspend or scale back operations because of the lack of natural gas, the daily newspaper Excelsior reported. Excelsior, citing unidentified sources, reported that total business losses were being estimated at more than $6.4 million a day.
Pemex said the gas would probably not be restored until Friday at the earliest, but was working to provide alternative means of delivery. The explosions forced the evacuation of some communities but caused no injuries, Pemex said.
The group that claimed responsibility for the pipeline attacks is the "military zone command of the People's Revolutionary Army," or EPR, a tiny rebel group that staged several armed attacks on government and police installations in southern Mexico in the 1990s, but was later weakened by internal divisions.
The EPR said its members had planted explosives on the pipeline. Mexican security officials on Tuesday confirmed that the pipeline had been attacked, but did not identify suspects or say whether explosives were involved.
In a statement late Tuesday, the EPR said it was waging a "prolonged people's war" against "the anti-people government." It was impossible to independently verify the statement, which was posted on a Web site that serves as a clearinghouse for bulletins from Latin American armed groups.
The left-leaning Democratic Revolution Party issued a statement Wednesday casting doubt on the EPR's involvement. The party said it "wasn't ruling out" the government's own involvement, either to generate support for allowing private investment in Pemex, to use as an excuse to crack down on leftist groups or "to distract people from the grave problems that afflict the country."
President Felipe Calderon's office did not comment immediately.
Pamela K. Starr, a Latin America analyst at the Eurasia Group in Washington, called the attacks "mostly symbolic, limited by the small size and logistical capacity of the group."
George Baker, a Houston, Texas-based energy analyst who follows Pemex closely, said the attacks represent only minor headaches for the monopoly because they were limited to a pipeline that can be fixed relatively easily. The sabotage of refineries or privately owned international pipelines would have been much more serious, he said. "As long as we're talking about just some pipelines in the desert someplace, we don't have to worry about it too much," Baker said.
So here's my $.02 on the immigration issue. We desperately need to control our borders, especially with the growing Islamacist - far left alliance. OTOH, if we cut off remittances to Mexico, we'll see the state fall faster, quicker into total chaos -- and that could well mean more, not less, infiltration of drugs and terror groups into our country. No easy answers.
#2
At least a dozen companies including Honda Motor Co., Kellogg Co., The Hershey Co., Nissan Motor Co., and Grupo Modelo SA, Mexico's largest beer maker, were forced to suspend or scale back operations because of the lack of natural gas
Hold down the laughter please. Let these crapasses suffer. This is what happens when you go third world cheap. As for us here, we now have to watch every purchase coming in from ChiCom because it's fairly obvious that the cheapo cost-cutting, lack of rules is dangerous to our health and well being. As has always been said, you don't get something for nothing. Someone always gets cheated. Today it's US citizens by the multi-national corporations.
#3
Nah, this is all about collusion and useful idiots. The Left and its oil interests are manifesting thier intent........too bad that they chose this commodity, its a dinosaur.
#5
I'm all for cutting off remittances to Mexico. I'm sick of all these third world types looking to Uncle Sugar for a hand out with some sort of implied threat that things will get worse if we cut off the flow of dollars. I don't see how the drug problem can get any worse. You ask any kid in my town where you can score some pot and you'll be smoking it in less than an hour. You want a handout? Ask the Chinese. They've got all our money. Better yet, how about moving some of that offshore manufacturing from China which is hostile, aggressive and weapons proliferating to Mexico which is friendly and non-aggressive?
But Mexico's problems need to be fixed by Mexicans. No, I don't know how. What I do know is something is very rotten when a country with all the natural resources that Mexico has is still a third world basket case. Maybe a revolution is exactly what they need if their ruling class can't or won't fix it. You guys are always talking about cleaning your guns and stocking up on your ammo so how can you blame dirt poor Mexicans with nothing to lose for doing the same?
But then, it's not my problem, is it? My problem is all these squatters from Mexico living in the underbrush, pissing and pooping into waterways that empty onto the beaches where I surf and a crooked president who won't do anything about it. The remittances don't seem to help with that.
#6
Assuming that the "new rulers" would be the same as the "old rulers" (I mean, look at EVERY latin american country that has has (mulitiple) revolutions), I don't see much hope for change. What is most worrisome is the alliance with like-minded facists from the Islamic world. Ebbang--where are you located?
#7
The big problem in Mexico is that around 40 families control 95% of the wealth, land, businesses and government. Nothing can be done about the problem because the problem controls the state apparatus. We still need to control our borders, if for no other reason than to know who IS crossing them. We really need a dependable southern neighbor, but until we have one we need to consider Mexico a failed state, and watch very carefully what's going on down there.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/12/2007 13:53 Comments ||
Top||
#9
The big problem in Mexico is that around 40 families control 95% of the wealth, land, businesses and government.
Forty families, you say. What's the odds that Bush's niece's husband is from one of those families ?
Spanish police have foiled a plot by Eta terrorists to blow up a ferry carrying thousands of British tourists, officials said yesterday. They said the Pont-Aven, which sails twice a week between Plymouth and the northern Spanish port of Santander, was one of three possible targets. If the bomb had exploded at sea a major disaster could have occurred on the vessel which carries up to 2,400 passengers and 183 crew.
Since the end of an Eta ceasefire just over a month ago, Spanish officials have warned of "an imminent major attack" by the terrorist group which is demanding an independent Basque region encompassing parts of northern Spain and southern France. Two Eta vehicle bombs have recently been intercepted on their way to Spain; one from Portugal and one from France.
A spokesman for the Spanish interior ministry said that the ferry plot was foiled when police arrested a young Eta terrorist at Santander bus station on Tuesday. Aritz Arginzonic Zubiaurre, 22, was carrying a rucksack containing a Smith & Wesson pistol, a detonator usually used by Eta for car bombs and false identity documents. He had been staying at a campsite 27 miles away with his girlfriend, Saioa Sánchez Iturregi. Among their camping gear police said they found details of targets in Santander: the ferry, a law court and a popular plaza.
Police said the couple were planning an "imminent attack" and had been waiting for the delivery of a car bomb when Arginzonic was detained. Sánchez escaped. It would not be the first time that Eta has attempted an attack at sea. Several years ago the group planned to load a van bomb on to a ferry sailing from Valencia to the Balearic Islands, but the van broke down and the plot was abandoned. A spokesman for Brittany Ferries, which operates the Pont-Aven, insisted there was no threat to the ferry. However, Spanish authorities yesterday stepped up security checks including increased sniffer dog patrols at Santander port.
Eta has tried to disrupt tourism in Spain, the country's main industry, with bomb campaigns on popular resorts. Warnings were usually telephoned. It is believed to have at least five itinerant commandos with 70 young members trained in camps in South America. The Foreign Office advises British holidaymakers to be "vigilant".
Although Eta declared a ceasefire in March last year as a prelude to peace talks with the Spanish government, its members detonated a car bomb at Madrid airport last December that killed two men. Since then, 11 Eta suspects have been arrested, mainly in France and three major bomb plots have been thwarted.
#1
Which reminds me. How come we never hear of "connecting the dots" anymore. How do they know ETA wasn't acting as a proxy for AQ? Going outside Spain and attacking UK citizens is pretty reckless when politically you are even weaker now than before. But if you scratch OBL's back then maybe he scratches yours [Like in Madrid train bombings]. I mean we are talking "asymmetrical" aren't we?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/12/2007 10:28 Comments ||
Top||
Hat tip, Belmont Club
On September 3, 2004, a nine-member officer's panel at Fort Lewis, Washington, found Specialist Ryan G. Anderson guilty of five counts of seeking to aid the enemy during a time of war and attempted espionage. The court martial subsequently sentenced him to five concurrent life terms for his crimes. To date, the sentence represents the most severe penalty meted out to a U.S. citizen in President George W. Bush's global war on terror. The case also marked the triumph of the new field of cyber counterterrorism, which I helped develop. Working from my home computer, I enabled Anderson's capture. There have since been more than 200 other cases although many of these were intelligence cases that, for various reasons, did not result in criminal prosecution. Rest at the link, and its fascinating
Posted by: gromgoru ||
07/12/2007 18:07 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
Wow! That's one brave woman. My hat is off to her and I would think she's a good candidate for the Medal of Freedom Award.
Posted by: Mac ||
07/12/2007 19:06 Comments ||
Top||
A Chicago medical van driver accused by federal prosecutors of funneling money to Mideast terrorists was sentenced Wednesday to 21 months in federal prison for lying in a civil lawsuit. Muhammad Salah, 54, was also ordered to pay a $25,000 (€18,200) fine and do 100 hours of community service. "Telling the truth is the bedrock of our judicial system, and a slap on the wrist will not provide a deterrent," US District Judge Amy St. Eve said in sentencing Salah.
Salah was convicted in February of lying under oath in a civil lawsuit concerning the murder in Israel of a teenager by Hamas terrorists. The jury that convicted him also acquitted him of charges that he participated in a racketeering conspiracy involving laundering and delivering money to Hamas terrorists. St. Eve gave Salah until Oct. 11 to surrender to authorities and begin serving his prison sentence.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
I am sure that if I was a Hamas sympathizer, this little "slap on the wrist" would not deter me one iota. In fact, it may embolden me even further knowing that you can probably get away with mass murder in this country without punishment.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/12/2007 10:30 Comments ||
Top||
#2
That depends, Jack is Back. If Mr. Salah is not a citizen, he can be deported immediately following serving his jail sentence. While he is imprisoned the police/FBI can more closely examine his activities and connections... and work up a case for something really ugly. Not to mention all the people in his cell phone, his computer, his PalmPilot... Mr. Saleh was convicted only of lying under oath in a civil lawsuit; Al Capone was put away for tax evasion, once upon a time, and look what that started.
#4
Somethings missing in this story. Salah was sentenced "here" for lying under oath about a "murder" ocurring in Israel. I don't know about the law in Israel but murder in the U.S. is generally considered a criminal matter and not a civil matter--unless it's like the civil trial involving OJ arising out of murders. Why would he be testifying here in a civil matter concerning a murder in Israel?
The bomb disposal squad defused a high-intensity bomb planted under a railway track at Rehmat Shah Banda in the Thall area of Hangu District, DSP Khurshid Anwar said on Wednesday. The Hangu police had received prior information that a powerful bomb weighing approximately 10kilogrammes was planted beneath a railway track, he said. The DSP said law enforcers with the help of bomb disposal squad carried out a search of the area and recovered the explosive device along with a detonator and battery.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
Just four hours before the start of the operation to “silence” the Lal Masjid brigade, Swat Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Abdul Kalam was browsing the latest news from Islamabad on the standoff. Outside his office, and on the rooftops of police stations, policemen stood at high alert as the threat of attacks from militants remained high.
“We are still under threat [of attacks from militants],” DSP Kalam told Daily Times on Wednesday as a tense calm prevailed over Swat district following four attacks on police personnel, killing one and injuring a few others, including the district police officer.
Several attacks on security forces in general, and the police in particular, following the Lal Masjid operation have seen the arrival of military troops in the picturesque Swat Valley and Dir district.
The attacks came days after influential local cleric Maulana Fazlullah, 31, issued a call for jihad in retaliation to the operation against the Lal Masjid.
Policemen have been ordered to stay inside police stations. They remained trenched behind sandbags on rooftops, with heavy machine guns at the ready. Meanwhile, traffic police was burdened with the dual responsibility of maintaining law and order on the streets and regulating traffic.
“We have information that militants want to occupy the police stations and that is why we have reinforced security at all stations in the city,” a traffic policeman told Daily Times.
DSP Kalam said all entry points to Mingora city were heavily manned, and the decision to keep police personnel inside police stations was taken to keep militants from taking control of the city.
The arrival of the army brigade boosted the morale of law enforcement agencies and the civil administration, and also left “significant effects” on Maulana Fazlullah’s nerves. The cleric appeared “disturbed” and described the situation as “threatening”.
Across Swat River, paramilitary soldiers positioned themselves at Pizzaghat Mountain, overlooking the under-construction madrassa of the cleric at Iman Dherey.
“Look, they are positioning themselves against me and I feel threatened,” the cleric told Daily Times at his madrassa that sprawls over six kanals.
Fazlullah was incarcerated for 17 months after returning from Afghanistan where, along with jailed father-in-law Maulana Sufi Muhammad, he fought for the Taliban in late 2001.
Senior government officials said a military operation was not imminent but they did not rule out the option in the near future, sending out a stern warning to militants that they would not allow a Â’90s-like situation to develop this time.
“The army has come to stay here,” the officials told Daily Times, as the civil administration conducted talks with the cleric through “local channels” to keep him under check. “We think there has been a psychological affect on the cleric following the army’s arrival,” they added.
Local observers suggested that a carrot-and-stick policy for the militants would be preferable to going for all-out use of force in the first place. “The cleric enjoys mass public support but to deal with him we need to go by local traditions,” they added.
The army presence gave a new lease of life to moderate voices in the district. “The army’s arrival gives me a sense of security,” said lawyer Amjad Hilal, reacting to the development in a region where security agencies have not ruled out the presence of foreign militants.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: TNSM
Maulana Abdul AzizÂ’ wife Umme Hasaan on Wednesday was sent into police remand for seven days with her daughters Tayyaba Aziz and Asma Aziz. The police produced Umme and her daughters before Sakhi Muhammad Kahut, the Rawalpindi anti-terrorism special judge. They have been booked in the murder cases of a Rangers official and others during the Lal Masjid standoff.
The court directed the police to keep Umme and her daughters together in the Islamabad WomenÂ’s Police Station. Umme and Asma were taken out of the mosque during the bloody operation on Tuesday, while Tayyaba was arrested with her father on July 5. UmmeÂ’s son Hassan Aziz is still missing and it has not yet been confirmed whether he died in the operation or not.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers, with their Iraqi Security Force counterparts, killed nine insurgents and detained 13 more after coming under fire July 12 in the New Baghdad District of eastern Baghdad.
Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, and the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, both operating in eastern Baghdad under the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, along with their Iraqi counterparts from the 1st Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Division National Police, were conducting a coordinated raid as part of a planned operation when they were attacked by small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Coalition Forces returned fire and called in attack aviation reinforcement.
Nine insurgents were killed in the ensuing firefight. One insurgent was wounded and two civilians were killed during the firefight.
The two civilians were reported as employees for the Reuters news service.
“There is no question that Coalition Forces were clearly engaged in combat operations against a hostile force,” said Lt. Col Scott Bleichwehl, spokesperson and public affairs officer for MND-B.
The commandÂ’s thoughts are with the families of the civilians who were killed during the combat action.
#10
Its a shame that resources have to be wasted on investigating this. "Two journos were with the enemy when we engaged." should be all that is required in the report
Posted by: Mike N. ||
07/12/2007 23:29 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Thought I read somewhere that the civvies were possibly killed by RPG or mortar - i.e., by the bad guys, probably just wrong place/wrong time. Also, unless my memory banks are failing (possible), Baghdad Jadidah is Shi'a territory. Reuters employees there might be Shi'a, not Sunni (thus, not part of the structural Sunni stringer problem). Not sure if Sunni stringers would feel comfortable in that neighborhood, but I sort of doubt it. Just a thought.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Thieves have stolen nearly $300 million (148 million pounds) from a bank in Baghdad, police and a bank official said on Thursday, in what is probably one of the biggest thefts in Iraq since the 2003 war to topple Saddam Hussein.
Police said the thieves were three guards who worked at the private Dar Es Salaam bank in Baghdad's Karrada district.
They said that when bank employees arrived for work on Wednesday they found the front door open and the money gone. The guards, who normally slept at the bank, had also disappeared, they said.
An official at the bank said about $300 million in U.S. dollars had been stolen, as well as 220 million Iraqi dinars (87,000 pounds). He declined to give further details.
Police said the Interior Ministry and the Finance Ministry had set up a committee to investigate the theft.
It was not immediately clear why the bank had so much cash on hand, but Karrada is a key commercial district in Baghdad.
Ever since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, most transactions have been conducted in cash because of limited facilities to transfer money through banks or other financial institutions.
Huge amounts of money were looted from Iraq's banks during the invasion.
#1
Well, looks like the jihadi's just snagged a windfall for future funding. $300 million ought to keep 'em in explosives and splodeydopes for quite some time.
Now, someone ought to inquire (aggressively) why this much money was being kept in a bank guarded by only 3 (untrustworthy) guards.
#1
I don't believe it. The money may have been stolen - probably was. But NOT by the bank guards. They are just the patsies, set up to cover for the real thieves. The real thieves would be much higher in the food chain - either ex-Baath leadership, or most likely, Maliki or Hakim associates.
#2
THE SILVER LINING: The money belonged to terrorists groups (sunni, shia, take your pick)and the nasty Americans are responsible for the heist..............wow!
#4
Whatever the true value of the stolen US bank notes, it appears likely that someone will have a lot of money to spread around. If its terrorists, then they can buy a large army. Someone screwed up.
#5
That much money missing from an Iraqi bank sounds like a cover-up for a bigger boondoggle, & most likely uncovered as they try to put the squeeze on nuke/terrorist financing. Wonder if it has anything to do with this intriguing investigative report by Fox's George Russell? See the full article:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288970,00.html
Excerpt:
The United Nations Development Program, already mired in controversy for its dealings with North Korea, now faces another scandal involving the people who spend its $5.2 billion annual budget — and shut down its computerized financial management system yesterday when confronted by FOX News about their activities.
The new scandal involves UNDPÂ’s headquarters financial unit, where checks are signed and purchase orders are approved for its sprawling operations world-wide.
Since the last week of June, FOX News has learned, investigators from the United NationsÂ’ watchdog Office of Internal Oversight Services, or OIOS, have been probing the financial unit for evidence of hiring irregularities and violations of UNDP financial rules.
#6
Pure horseradish. Even a football team of guards couldn't move that much hard currency around in a short enough time to avoid someone noticing their activity. As others have noted, this is a smokescreen for something or someone larger.
#7
FYI: a US bank note weighs about 1 gram. so 282 million if it was in an even distribution of $20 and $100 notes would have wiegh in at about 40 million grams, or 40 Tonnes.
3 guys did not carry that out without a fork lift.
my bet would be massive govt corruption covered with bookkeeping showing the cash in that bank, and the 3 guards are buried in the desert somewhere to set up this cover story of the money being 'robbed'
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
07/12/2007 21:57 Comments ||
Top||
Posted by: 3dc ||
07/12/2007 02:28 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#1
Many AQI terrorists left Baghdad when the Surge began; looks like they have few places to go. What I don't understand is why Kurds aren't able to wipe out intruders. AQI is largely composed of volunteers from the southern portions of the Arabian Peninsula. Their accent is highly distinguishable from local Iraqi lingo.
There are Kurdish islamists (not that many), Kurds who take bribes and Kurds who obey AlQ dictates because they have kin who are, for practical purposes, hostages.
Still, the 3 Kurdish provinces (Sulaimaniyah, Arbil and Dohuk) are mostly quiet.
#3
The headline is misleading. The areas referred to are south of the Kurdish region, like NW Diyala, even though the area's predominantly Kurdish.
At some point the Kurds will (IMO) take security control in these Kurdish areas, but at the moment the Kurds are being careful not antagonize the Sunnis and Shiias. Things will likely change after the Kirkuk referendum and Kirkuk province gets incorporated into the Kurdish Region.
#1
It was important to keep that oil in the country to be used by the Iraqi people and out of the hands of individuals that use the profits from black market sales to fund the effort against us. By making that stop, we hope that it forces them to alter their plans and think twice about the decisions they make."
Why not kick the royal shit outta the drivers and leave them for the buzzards. That may alter their plans a tad.
Iraqi security forces have seized 200 explosive belts in a truck that crossed into Iraq from Syria on Wednesday, Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said. The incident occurred at the Waleed border crossing point, Khalaf said. "When the truck was searched, 200 explosives belts were found in it," the general said. He added that the driver was detained and is being questioned. Khalaf did not give the driver's nationality.
The Iraqi government and US authorities have accused Syria of allowing foreign fighters to cross into Iraq, a claim that Syria denies saying it is impossible to control the long desert border.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
Iraq: 200 explosive belts found in Syrian truck
Yes It's A Cultural Art Exchange From The Greater Ummah
#3
As the driver explained many times, he was merely delivering a shipment of the latest fall fashions for men. The very latest accessorized jackets, don't ya know.
#4
Easily fixed - get Israel to elect someone with a pair, and the tell them we have their back if they want to go after Syria ins a small way (take out Assad and the general staff).
#6
Easily fixed - get Israel to elect someone with a pair, and the tell them we have their back if they want to go after Syria ins a small way (take out Assad and the general staff).
Unfortunately, that assumes we have someone with a pair who will back Israel.
Sadly, we don't.
At least 11 people were killed on Wednesday when insurgents herded them into a house in the western village of Karmah and then blew it up, the US military said. “At 1315 today, insurgents conducted what may or may not have been a vendetta attack against civilians in Karmah,” said spokesman Major Jeff Pool. “According to eyewitnesses, two vehicles drove to a house in the village, locked the occupants inside and demolished the house with explosives,” he said.
Iraqi police rescued five people from the rubble but they died of their wounds. In all 11 people were killed and there were no survivors, Pool said. Captain Jamil Abdullah, of the Karmah police, said the house belonged to a judge, Ahmed Ibrahim Abdullah, who was said to be among the dead. The US military could not immediately confirm this.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
"This is what will happen to anyone who cooperates with the infidels." Or at least that is the message the story is intended to deliver. It does not even have to be true to be effective either.
#2
Karmah is full of home grown insurgents and AQ-types. Not that big of a town, but it produces a lot of trouble. The only thing is has is a ice factory (really) and a town market. I recommend blowing up the whole town.
"This is what will happen to anyone who cooperates with the infidels insurgents."
A couple was killed in a drive-by shooting in the southernmost province of Narathiwat Thursday morning, and stretch of railway tracks in Yala province was also sabotaged. Phin Hirunphun and his wife Boonthip Hirunphun were shot dead by a gunman on a motorcycle while they were travelling to the market in Rangae district. Police believed that the shooting is related to the southern ethnic cleansing unrest.
Meanwhile, paramilitary rangers on a routine inspection of railway track found that 12 bolts had been removed from part of the rail line in Yala's provincial seat. Railway workers quickly fixed the sabotaged railway tracks and train service was restored to normal operations without any problem.
Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has reiterated his support for a peaceful solution to an ongoing jihad insurgency in the country's southern provinces as he visits the region. In an interview with Thai television on Wednesday, General Surayud said his government will continue its efforts to end a three-year jihad insurgency that has left more than 2,000 people dead. The prime minister also met with at least 26 terrorists former insurgent leaders during his two-day visit.
Violence continued Wednesday in Narathiwat province, where a Muslim rubber tapper and a Buddhist man were shot to death in separate incidents. In Pattani, a village chief was shot to death in his backyard.
Sri Lankan troops have driven Tamil Tiger fighters from their last stronghold in the islandÂ’s east, the military said on Wednesday, but the rebels vowed to carry on with a guerrilla-style war.
The capture of a jungle area called Thoppigala in the eastern district of Batticaloa comes after the military captured vast swathes of terrain from the Tigers in the east this year. But while the military has had the upper hand in recent months, the TigersÂ’ military machine is still intact in the north where they run a de facto state, and analysts see no clear winner on the horizon.
“We have reached Thoppigala and captured Thoppigala and now there are no LTTE (Tiger) holdings,” said military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe. “In and around Thoppigala there are small pockets and camps which we are clearing. West of Thoppiala we have to clear but the Thoppigala is captured.” Thoppigala has been in Tiger hands since the mid-1990s.
The military says it has killed nearly 450 rebel fighters in the Thoppigala area since February and that around 20 of its men have been killed. The Tigers say 60 of their guerrillas have been killed and believe they have killed three or four times that number of troops. Analysts say both sides tend to exaggerate enemy losses and play down their own.
“Yeah, the government controls a very large part of the east at the moment. We still operate there, as we have operated for the past 25 years,” Tiger military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan told reporters in the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi.
“We will adopt every possible mode, tactic and tool to engage the enemy,” he added. “If they want to come to the north, let them come and see what happens.” The Tigers control a large section of the island’s far north and are fighting for an independent state in the north and east. The government has vowed to continue with its drive to destroy all Tiger military assets, and analysts say the focus of fighting is now shifting to the far north.
Ilanthiraiyan said the Tigers would use all of their arsenal - which includes suicide bombers and light aircraft that they smuggled into the country in pieces and reassembled - to battle on. “If they come into our territory (in the north), they will find stiff resistance from our people who are prepared to face any kind of threat. And we will take all measures to prevent those forces destroying our homeland and killing our people.”
Nordic monitors question role: Nordic peace monitors in Sri Lanka are wondering whether to stay put even though there is no real truce to oversee, or abandon ship with the risk that violence could worsen. For the time being, the Norwegian-led Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) has decided to remain - and even double its foreign staff to 60 - despite the fact that its job currently consists of counting bodies, bombs and bullets.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/12/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Hizb-ut-Tahrir is holding a huge rally today in Indonesia. Jihadism is in the air.
I have always believed that al-Qaeda doesn't widely recruit; their purpose was to inspire disconnected terror cells. I believe that most terror is mosque based, even if terror talk originates in parking lots.
#2
London attackers' use of the Internet left important clues that are being used to decode other e-mails that had initially been deemed unimportant
Good heavens! Does this mean that Chimpy Bushitler McHalliburton is illegally monitoring the internet? I'm not worried about my your safety, I'm worried about the fascist bible-thumpers taking over and making me say the Pledge of Allegience - even with the unconstititional "under You-Know-Who" part!
Light the torches! Get the pitchforks! Heat up the tar!
Posted by: Bobby McMoonbat ||
07/12/2007 7:29 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I wonder if closing and controlling those border thingies would help matters?
/sarc
Posted by: Natural Law ||
07/12/2007 8:27 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I wonder what sort of savagery will have to be directed against the West before it finally puts Muslim majority nations on notice that terrorist atrocities committed by their native citizens will incur massive airstrikes upon population centers or vital infrastructure. We could play it humanely and simply bomb out some major freeway interchanges or bridges in order to impose hardship upon vast numbers of Muslims.
Collective punishment? Yew betcha. After all, isn't that what Islam is all about? Whatever it takes, we need to begin attaching a palpable price tag to countenancing terrorism. Muslims must be made to feel the West's pain. Nothing else will yield any substantial results. We simply do not have any luxury of planting democractic seeds around the MME (Muslim Middle East) with a vague hope that they will somehow sprout in time to dissuade further terrorist attacks. Iraq should have served us final notice that such a process is far too glacial.
Way too many of these Islamic countries either physically abet terrorism or turn a blind eye to its machinations within their borders. After a few disproportionate retaliations I can assure you that these rogue nations would be scrambling to contain their terrorist populations.
I continue to wonder why the West's political leadership blindly refuses to properly anticipate this eventuality and act pre-emptively. Islam's core doctrine demands that Muslims escalate to even the most hideous levels of barbarity in their pursuit of a global caliphate. Willfully ignoring this basic incontrovertible fact is tantamount to self-imposed collective suicide. The West's sole obligation to itself is penalizing Islam's continued pusuit of violent global domination with a death sentence.
First, the probability that any portable nuclear devices were lost prior to or after the breakup of the Soviet Union appears low; the scenarios of loss offered by the special commission in 1996 are actually the least plausible among other possible scenarios. This does not mean that the threat does not exist, but rather that at this moment, it is probably not the most immediate threat to the home security of the United States or to U.S. armed forces abroad.
Second, even if any devices were lost, their effectiveness should be very low or maybe even non-existent, especially if the loss occurred during the period of the greatest risk, in the early 1990s. Without scheduled maintenance, these devices apparently can produce only minimal yield and eventually possibly no yield at all, and can only serve as a source of small amounts of weapons-grade fissile materials.
[emphasis added]
They are probably no longer a threat. Unemployed Russian nuclear scientists helping a rogue Islamic nation are a more likely problem. All of this points towards why stopping Iran remains our top priority.
#11
You don't need a myth (suitcase nukes) only the real thing - fissile material (ie. spent fuel,) Plenty of that in Pakistan. All you need there is a willing ISI type, some radical military types and a friend of AQK. Or you could go to any pipeline company and borrow their welding inspector. It ain't hard when you think about it.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/12/2007 10:37 Comments ||
Top||
#12
I have this mental image of everyone putting on their suit jackets like firemen's turnout coats and sliding down the brass pole into their seats... and manning their deadly control-alt-delete weapons!
You notice how militaristic and aggressive the Germans and Japanese have been since we bombed the crap out of their former cities the non-PC application of warfare in the "fire and iron rain" '43-'45 period? Notice how much their general population really wants to get back into that frame of mind?
#16
Without scheduled maintenance, these devices apparently can produce only minimal yield and eventually possibly no yield at all, and can only serve as a source of small amounts of weapons-grade fissile materials
I'm not particularly impressed by the technical content of that article. Check the Wikipedia article on suitcase bombs and the other links it contains. In any case, there would be at least a critical mass of weapons grade fissile material, which is not a "small amount", and it would not degrade in time.
If polonium initiator or tritium booster technologies were used, then I agree that the weapons would be useless without regular maintenance. However, since these weapons were in the hands of the KGB, it's likely that the claims of a six month maintenance cycle are bogus since regular maintenance of polonium initiators in the field is quite problematic. The maintenance cycle of tritium is much longer, it's got a twelve year half-life.
I'd guess that a relatively modern, sophisticated suitcase nuke intended for covert operations would contain neither polonium nor tritium. It would have modestly more than critical mass, say 25%, and an electronic neutron generator.
#18
The maintenance cycle of tritium is much longer, it's got a twelve year half-life.
Which means it's probably "use it or lose it" time.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/12/2007 12:22 Comments ||
Top||
#19
Zen -- I love where you've taken this thread with comment #4. I'm a big believer in Disproportionate (and predictable) Response as the only way. Then, the enemy can "do the math" and know that, "OK, if I blow up 10 westerners I'm going to lose, instantly 10 blocks of down-town Medina. Is it worth it?". (This is made somewhat tricky because they don't value life -- the equations will never work out to our advantage. So I think retribution HAS to be destroying their land/property. I suggest that even better would be to TAKE land in response -- but I don't expect support in that idea.)
Additionally -- I screamed when we had that debate in the 90's about whether it is appropriate for the US to always be prepared for a Two-Front War. That preparedness is an important deterrant at the higher state-level. We said no at the time, "One front readiness should be enough". That sent a clear signal and makes it easier for nations -- from Venezula to China -- to make bad decisions because they feel they might be able to take advantage with no consequences.
Posted by: Captain Lewis ||
07/12/2007 13:05 Comments ||
Top||
#20
I wonder what sort of savagery will have to be directed against the West before it finally puts Muslim majority nations on notice that terrorist atrocities committed by their native citizens will incur massive airstrikes upon population centers or vital infrastructure.
So far I haven't seen anything that Western elites aren't willing to overlook.
#21
Suitcase nukes are as Z. described them, I believe... My concern about those would be the fissile material used strategically for a "dirty bomb" in a confined space's air system... e.g. subway or mall....
#22
I suggest that even better would be to TAKE land in response -- but I don't expect support in that idea.
Captain Lewis, you most definitely have support from some of us here at Rantburg. You certainly have mine to begin with. A well-known participant here named .com advocated appropriating a certain narrow strip of Eastern Saudi Arabia. Namely, as I recall, the Ghawar Field, representing some 30% of Saudi reserves.
Saudi Arabia's dissemination of radical Wahabbist Islam has cost this world untold billions, if not trillions, of dollars. America has taken the biggest economic hit in all of this and would be more than justified in compensating itself by securing its own piece of the Middle East's oil patch.
I would just as soon see a coalition of democratic nations depose the House of Saud and take possession of all Saudi Arabia. The shrines at Mecca and Medina could be held as physical hostages against further terrorist attacks. Any Muslim atrocities would cause cancellation of that year's haj and thereby punish the entire Islamic world for its continued support for terrorism. Additionally, should a dirty bomb or biochemical attack upon the West take place, the shrines would be similarly contaminated as retaliation. Any nuclear terrorist attack would result in, first Medina, and then Mecca being obliterated as a stark object lesson in how unwise such barbarism is.
If anything, the hostage shrines would also represent the ultimate jihadi flypaper. I would like to see large perimeter kill zones covered by unmanned automatic weapons and land mines surrounding them, but that's just me.
OFF TOPIC: I wanted to thank you for expressing your personal concern that Bush's own religious feelings may be preventing him from properly discerning Islam as a political ideology. I've maintained this for some time and been belabored here for it thoroughly. It remains one of the few explanations for why Bush continues to insist that Islam has been "hijacked" when, in reality, terrorists are merely following fundamental Koranic doctrine.
#23
So far I haven't seen anything that Western elites aren't willing to overlook.
I agree, gg, and it disturbs the living hell out of me. It is why I believe America and Europe's political elite have become a traitor class. The 9-11 atrocity should have been all that was required to initiate total war.
#24
Elites value their treasure more than they value the lives of the volkes. Always has it been thus.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/12/2007 14:34 Comments ||
Top||
#25
First, any nuke requires periodic maintenance (three or four times a year), and major overhaul every two to five years. If the fissionable material isn't sealed in an airtight case filled with some noble gas, there will be considerable corrosion on the surfaces. These surfaces are usually kept in mirror-bright condition to facilitate neutron exchange, thus keeping the reaction going. Even a LITTLE corrosion can reduce the neutron exchange level to below critical. I doubt the islamists, with their in'sallah ideas about maintenance, could keep any weapons in the top-notch condition they need. One of the reasons the AK-47 is so prized in the islamic world is because it requires minimum maintenance.
Second, if the West wants to target areas for retaliation, I would recommend mosques. After all, these are the center of the enemy's intelligence, supply, recruitment, and probably training. With each terrorist attack, whether successful or not, the West should destroy 25 mosques - one each in the 25 most disruptive islamist nations. Do it on Friday, to get the best return on the investment. That should start a chain reaction that will lead to the utter destruction of islam.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/12/2007 14:38 Comments ||
Top||
#26
With each terrorist attack, whether successful or not, the West should destroy 25 mosques - one each in the 25 most disruptive islamist nations. Do it on Friday, to get the best return on the investment. That should start a chain reaction that will lead to the utter destruction of islam.
Works for me, OP. It would be a fine starting point. I especially concur with you on punishing failed attacks just the same as successful ones. All of Islam's crapulence needs to carry a price tag.
#27
The situation room....to monitor and deal with crises at home and abroad and to conduct secure communications with outside (often overseas) persons....Looks like the crisis is abroad.....Mexico/Pemex gas infrastructure blown up??..Pakistan??....Turkey/Iraq invasion????....Lebanon becoming hizbollah state soon?
#29
Interesting...no sad to read the comments of the barking moonbats on the Blotter. The bushitler-hating moonbats are convinced this is a ploy to: raise presidential approval ratings, or divert attention from the sex scandal, or divert attention from the Iraq Report, etc..
The barking moonbats are so hate filled they are truly irrational.
#30
Natural Law - "I wonder if closing and controlling those border thingies would help matters?"
Wouldn't be prudent as we must keep the southern border open so that our good amigos from the south can come here to pick our sacred lettuce heads for us.
#9
I like the Good Morning section of Rantburg and I enjoy feminine beauty. However, if I stop for a moment, it occurs to me that most of these ladies are either dead or rapidly approaching this state. My er ah er "enthusiasm" wanes somewhat.
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 bomb disposal squad defused a high-intensity bomb planted under a railway track at Rehmat Shah Banda in the Thall area of Hangu District, DSP Khurshid Anwar said on Wednesday. The Hangu police had received prior information that a powerful bomb weighing approximately 10kilogrammes was planted beneath a railway track, he said. The DSP said law enforcers with the help of bomb disposal squad carried out a search of the area and recovered the explosive device along with a detonator and battery.
Just four hours before the start of the operation to “silence” the Lal Masjid brigade, Swat Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Abdul Kalam was browsing the latest news from Islamabad on the standoff. Outside his office, and on the rooftops of police stations, policemen stood at high alert as the threat of attacks from militants remained high.
Maulana Abdul AzizÂ’ wife Umme Hasaan on Wednesday was sent into police remand for seven days with her daughters Tayyaba Aziz and Asma Aziz. The police produced Umme and her daughters before Sakhi Muhammad Kahut, the Rawalpindi anti-terrorism special judge. They have been booked in the murder cases of a Rangers official and others during the Lal Masjid standoff. 
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Thieves have stolen nearly $300 million (148 million pounds) from a bank in Baghdad, police and a bank official said on Thursday, in what is probably one of the biggest thefts in Iraq since the 2003 war to topple Saddam Hussein.
At least 11 people were killed on Wednesday when insurgents herded them into a house in the western village of Karmah and then blew it up, the US military said. “At 1315 today, insurgents conducted what may or may not have been a vendetta attack against civilians in Karmah,” said spokesman Major Jeff Pool. “According to eyewitnesses, two vehicles drove to a house in the village, locked the occupants inside and demolished the house with explosives,” he said.
Sri Lankan troops have driven Tamil Tiger fighters from their last stronghold in the islandÂ’s east, the military said on Wednesday, but the rebels vowed to carry on with a guerrilla-style war. 
