Politician apologizes after personally cutting down dozens of trees without permission on the historic site of the Sharon Temple
EAST GWILLIMBURY, Ont. As views go, Mayor James R. Young enjoys an enviable one from his office in the East Gwillimbury Civic Centre, which sits next to one of Ontario's most prized architectural sites: the Sharon Temple, an architecturally rare frame structure erected more than 175 years ago, and now a museum.
The view became all the more clear on Oct. 24, when a town works crew - aided by a chainsaw-wielding Mr. Young and a council colleague - cut dozens of trees from the national historic site north of Newmarket without clear permission.
At a council meeting yesterday afternoon, a contrite Mr. Young apologized to outraged members of the museum's board, including former Toronto mayor John Sewell, before they had a chance to unleash their ire.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/08/2007 17:20 ||
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#1
Following the apology, there was dead silence in the room. You might say it was 'Stihl.'
PUL-I-KHUMRI, Afghanistan - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday declared three days of national mourning after 52 people were killed, six of them lawmakers, in the countrys deadliest suicide bombing.
Hundreds of people attended funerals for the dead in the rural town of Pul-i-Khumri, 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of Kabul, where the attacker targeted a crowd gathered Tuesday to welcome visiting parliamentarians.
A military plane flew the bodies of the six MPs, including prominent opposition figure Mustafa Kazimi, back to the capital, where several government officials attended a ceremony. The parliamentarians, elected in 2005, four years after the removal of the Taliban government -- were to be given a state funeral on Thursday. Two other lawmakers were wounded, a grave-looking Karzai told a press conference, announcing the mourning period and ordering that all national flags be dropped to half-mast.
Television stations abandoned normal programming to broadcast recitations from the Koran, religious music and analysis of the incident.
The governor of northern Baghlan province, Alam Ishaqzy, said late Wednesday that the number of casualties had increased to 52 dead and 106 wounded from the previous toll of 41 dead and 80 wounded. Many of the casualties were children but the number was not yet clear.
The national assembly accused the local government of not providing sufficient security for the visiting parliamentary delegation, who had been about to inspect a sugar factory on the outskirts of Pul-i-Khumri, the Baghlan capital. The small town, which has seen almost none of the Taliban-linked violence plaguing southern and eastern Afghanistan, was reeling after the attack.
I only had one brother, said a weeping young man named Qais who was mourning the loss of his sibling. Taliban are not Muslims. If they were Muslims, they would not attack Muslims.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/08/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Perhaps Karzai could summon up 10x the indignity he comes up with when the coalition ends up killing five "innocents" despite doing their best to minimze civilian casualties?
Snark contest! Translate the following statement into English:
Taliban are not Muslims. If they were Muslims, they would not attack Muslims.
#6
actually Qais statement is one of utter rejection of AQ and its ideology
Ummm ... no. Please feel free to drop the roseate spectacles, Liberalhawk. Qais' statement is the usual self-pitying Muslim lamentation that, once again, their favorite brand of murderous violence has slipped its leash and turned upon them as well. Note the total lack of any protestation about terrorism in general? Note the specific condemnation of Muslim on Muslim violence only? It is this sort of moral and intellectual hypocrisy that condemns Islam to history's scrap heap.
#7
Liberalhawk: Im not sure what it means for Kharzai to be indignant with the Taliban
Well if he couldn't actually condemn them in stronger term and ask them to stop intentionally doing things that get civilians killed, then he could be a teeny bit more sympathetic with coalition forces when they accidentally kill some. His statements just embolden the Taliban and get more killed. He's still hedging his bet.
(AKI) - A former leader of an armed Islamic group in Libya, Numan Bin Uthman, has written a letter to al-Qaeda second in command Ayman al-Zawahiri telling him that Jihadi groups in Arab countries have failed.
"Dear Doctor Ayman, as I told you during a meeting in Kandahar [in Afghanistan] in 2000, the experience of the Jihadi groups in Arab countries is failed and despite our appeals, the armed groups are divided and will not unite," he said in the letter, a copy of which was published in the London based pan-Arab daily al-Hayat.
The letter by Uthman, who is based in London, comes after an audio message by al-Zawahiri - an Egyptian medic - was released on Saturday. In it, al-Zawahiri announced that the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, had joined al-Qaeda. He also called for the ousting of regimes in North Africa.
The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group first announced itself in 1995, vowing to topple the Libyan regime. It is the second organisation to allegedly join al-Qaeda after Algeria's Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which changed its name to the al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb last January.
"I ask you and whoever is behind you to review the way you behave because the Jihadi groups are acting very badly towards those who think differently from the way they do," said Uthman in the letter. "I aks you to stop the armed operations in the Arab countries, to guarantee the security of Muslims and to retract your threats toward the West, to take away from them the terrorism card used by some Western governments to hate Islam and Muslims," he said.
The former Libyan mujahadeen, who assisted the birth of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, also asked that the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq' insurgent group be dissolved and return to being simply an armed group. The Islamic State of Iraq is an organisation set up by al-Qaeda in a bid to unite the Iraqi is insurgency. "Only in this way, will it be possible to rebuild ties with other Sunni guerilla groups," he said.
Uthman also said that he had taken part in an important al-Qaeda summit in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2000, in which al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had defined search for and use of weapons of mass destruction as a "Sharia obligation".
"During this occasion, I had a strong dispute with the martyr Abu Hafs al-Kumandan, because he was heavily involved in acquiring weapons of mass destruction," he said in the letter. "He wanted to use these weapons to dissuade the United State from attacking Afghanistan. And yet I knew that al-Qaeda did not have any strategic vision and would have used the weapons to kill indistriminately and not to dissuade".
According to the former jihadi, if al-Qaeda had chemical or nuclear weapons, they would only increase their destructive power to the detriment of Arab countries in particular. "After seven years since that meeting, my convictions on these issues have only grown stronger," he said. "At that time I said that provoking the United States would turn them against the Taliban and by striking the country in an unconventional way would bring occupation to the entire Middle East and not only Afghanistan and that's what's happened," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Interesting - END THE JIHAD, KEEP THE GUERILLAS/TERRORISTS, ERGO AMER WILL LEAVE THE ME???
#2
Wow, this guy has got some really spot-on points. Go back and read the last couple of paragraphs again. Good thing that AQ will never listen to him. I used to wonder why the Japanese stubbornly stuck with their losing philosophy...
#4
Interesting theory, Snakes. Like if Hitler had been able to get along with Stalin then all of Western and Central Europe would now be speaking German. But they could never trust each other because they both knew they were both evil and not worthy of trust. Kinda makes me wonder if somewhere along the line Zawahiri might have stuck a knife in Binny's back.
Or like when Karzai says muzzies don't kill muzzies. But there are many different types of muzzies and each different type thinks all the rest are apostates. They have no more tolerance for each other than they do for infidels.
Or maybe it's the destructive nature of these creeps that ultimately makes them self destructive.
#5
They are basically ignorant, and possibly unable to determine who is enemy and who is ally. We tend to give human traits to them, yet they are dogs running in packs, loyal only to the alpha dog.
Posted by: online poker ||
11/08/2007 22:32 Comments ||
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#14
FREEREPUBLIC > TIDAL WAVE HEADING FOR ENGLISH CHANNEL POSES EXTREME DANGER TO LIFE, PROPERTY.
Silly Libyan Uthman, in case NOSTRADAMUS = MADONNA = PENN STATE = INTEL-PYWAR, etc. didn't tell you or Osama, you need to stop the birth mother + family of your world Hahdi/Imam from sinking/swimming into the Atlantic. D *** NG IT, WHITNEY + COMET HOLMES, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL OSAMA? And now you know. Moriarity, why the fav Celeb personas of Radical Terrorists shouldn't take drugs or get drugged out - the idea is to save BEFORE the woman floats away, before the floods come, NOT DURING OR AFTER! LETS GET A GRIP, LIBYANS! NO PSU SUBS HOAGIES-BEER FOR LIBYA.
A Yemeni court sentenced 32 suspected Islamist militants to terms of between two and 15 years over Al Qaeda attacks on oil and gas facilities last year. The prosecution said it planned an appeal to seek harsher punishment. "The penalties do not correspond to the crimes the convicts have committed," said prosecutor Khaled al-Maouri.
The court, which tries state security cases, also acquitted four of the 36 suspects who were charged in March with "forming an armed gang aimed at carrying out sabotage attacks" and involvement in the attacks on the installations in the Marib and Hadaramout provinces. Six suspected militants were charged in absentia, including three Al Qaeda members who had fled from a Sanaa prison in February 2006. At the courtroom, some of the convicts described the ruling as "unfair" while others prostrated themselves - a sign of gratitude to God - after the sentences were read.
In a March hearing, the detained suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges. Six of them had said that they were tortured in custody and forced to sign confessions.
Yemen foiled two attempted suicide attacks on September 15, days after Al Qaeda urged Muslims to target Western interests, especially oil installations. Al Qaeda's wing in Yemen later claimed responsibility for the attacks and vowed more strikes in the Arab state. Four bombers were killed when security forces blew up four rigged cars before they reached their targets. A guard working for an oil firm was killed. There was no damage to the state-owned facilities.
Pro-Al Qaeda Web sites carried a video yesterday of a militant who had recorded a statement before the attack, in which he was killed.
"We are God's bombs at your disposal," said Shafiq Ahmad Omar Zaid, addressing Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in the video. "Kill the infidels and do not be intimidated by their numbers or equipment. They might have aircraft but God is mightier," the bearded man said.
The video also showed attackers performing a traditional Yemeni dance before bidding each other farewell.
This article starring:
Khaled al-Maouri
Shafiq Ahmad Omar Zaid
al-Qaeda in Yemen
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Cue the revolving door graphic for the next chapter of this inspiring story.
A Turkish soldier and three Kurdish rebels, one of them a woman, were killed in deadly fighting late on Tuesday in Tunceli province, security sources said.
An army sergeant was killed when rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) opened fire on a military outpost near a village in the eastern province of Tunceli, the provincial governors office said in a statement. Three terrorists were killed and their weapons seized in the fighting that ensued, said the statement carried by the Anatolia news agency. A military sweep of the region is continuing, it said.
Tunceli, a PKK stronghold, is about 600 kilometres north of the Iraqi border, where clashes between the army and the separatists have recently intensified. Ankara has threatened to stage a military incursion into northern Iraq, where the PKK takes refuge.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
[online poker has been pooplisted.]
Posted by: online poker ||
11/08/2007 22:12 Comments ||
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A New York jazz musician was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday for agreeing to help train al Qaeda fighters in hand-to-hand combat in a case that centered on an oath he took before an undercover FBI agent.
Tarik Shah, 44, a martial arts instructor raised in New York, received the maximum sentence in Manhattan federal court under a plea agreement with U.S. prosecutors. Shah pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiring to support al Qaeda. In exchange, prosecutors dropped one of the terrorism charges against him.
Two other men pleaded guilty and a third was convicted by a federal jury, but Shah was the central figure based on an oath he and a friend took in Arabic in May 2005 before an undercover FBI agent who posed as an al Qaeda recruiter. Shah, a Muslim, pleaded for leniency to U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska, saying "certain" New York and world events "had a heavy effect on my heart" and caused him anger. "I made some bad decisions, some decisions that took me away from my family and my music," he said. "I am regretful for what I have done."
Afterward, Shah spoke quietly to his mother and tapped his hand to his heart in front of crying friends and relatives. Earlier, his lawyer asked the judge to consider there was no evidence against Shah involving any real al Qaeda operatives, plot or weapons. But Preska said after listening to several FBI audiotapes she believed Shah "enthusiastically embraced" agreeing to train al Qaeda fighters for combat against U.S. forces and allies. Prosecutors said Shah wanted to attend militant training camps in Afghanistan before pledging support to "Sheikh Osama" and al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri during one of many taped meetings with the undercover agent.
Three other men were charged in the case, including Shah's friend, Rafiq Sabir, a Florida-based doctor who also attended the May 2005 meeting. Sabir was convicted in May of two terrorism charges for agreeing to give medical treatment to al Qaeda fighters. He faces up to 30 years in prison when sentenced Nov. 14.
Mahmud Faruq Brent, a former paramedic and cab driver in Maryland, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in July for attending a training camp in Pakistan operated by Lashkar-e-Taiba, which the U.S. State Department has designated as a terrorist organization.
A fourth man, Brooklyn bookstore owner Abdulrahman Farhane, was sentenced in April to 13 years for conspiring to transfer funds to militant groups in Afghanistan and Chechnya.
This article starring:
Abdulrahman Farhane
al-Qaeda
Loretta Preska
Mahmud Faruq Brent
Mahmud Faruq Brent
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Rafiq Sabir
Tarik Shah
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
a martial arts instructor
Wonder if he rehearsed the appropriate moves for prison shower?
#4
"I made some bad decisions, some decisions that took me away from my family and my music,"
That's not the kind of regret that makes me feel warm inside. I hope he will serve the maximum sentence in addition to having received it.
#2
Nope. Just like in Iraq, let the locals get their craw filled with "rule by whim" for a while. See how much they appreciate being randomly murdered and brutalized by foreign fanatics, and having their wives and daughters raped and married (without dowry) in the name of Islam.
#6
Leave it and the surrounding area open for being "taken over" by the zealots. When it looks like they have a good number all in that one place and are getting a bit big for their britches, 02:30 is a good time to drop a MOAB. Or if that is too indiscriminate, use the smaller precision-aimed 2000# JDAMs.
I wonder if Perv isn't allowing this to happen to make the emergency end-date more indefinite.
Don't Pakistan and the US have some kind of agreement where we can go after bad guys? Does that include bombing groups of them at Perv's request?
Srinagar: Three Army personnel and two suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba militants were killed in a gunbattle in Baramulla district on Wednesday. The firefight broke out on Tuesday evening when militants hiding at Sadpora Mohalla near Jamia Masjid, 30 km from here, hurled a grenade and fired at an Army vehicle, triggering heavy exchange of fire. Two militants were killed but their bodies were yet to be recovered as the gunbattle was still continuing.
This article starring:
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2007 00:00 ||
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Pro-Taliban militants loyal to rebel cleric Maulana Fazlullah took control of a police station, paramilitary force camp and other government buildings in Kalam on Wednesday, extending their hold over the Swat Valley, officials and witnesses said.
Out of the eight tehsils in Swat district, the militants are now in control of six Kabal, Matta, Khawazakhela, Charbagh, Maydan and Kalam. According to Online, the militants have appointed officials in the towns they control and seized government and NGO vehicles.
Dozens of paramilitary troops and police surrendered their weapons to the militants and retreated from Kalam early on Wednesday, a police official told AFP. Before taking Kalam, the militants captured the town of Bahrain, having seized Madyan later Tuesday, officials and residents said. Local residents said a jirga of elders later pledged to support the militants if they agreed to leave the town. We did this because we feared gunship helicopters will also pound our areas if the militants stayed in control, said local elder Hameed Kalami. We asked the Taliban to leave Kalam and they granted our request.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2007 00:00 ||
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Pakistan has withdrawn tens of thousands of troops from the border with India in a bid to quell rising violence by pro-Taliban militants in the northwest, officials in New Delhi said on Wednesday.
A top defence ministry official said Pakistani militarys strength along the frontier had hit an all-time low as troops were poured into NWFP bordering Afghanistan. Our estimates are based on tested intelligence inputs from within Pakistan and feedback from our watch on their frontier assets, added a member of Indias military intelligence.
India said the shift has left gaping holes in Pakistans eastern flank facing India. The Indian Express newspaper, quoting independent sources on Tuesday, put the number of combat troops withdrawn at 38,000.
Pakistan denial: Denying these reports from India, Inter Service Public Relations Director General Major General Waheed Arshad said Pakistan did not station troops along the recognised international border with India during peacetime. But he said Pakistan did have troops deployed on the Line of Control, the de facto border with India in disputed Kashmir, as well as on the Siachen glacier in the Himalayas. Not a single soldier has been pulled back from these two deployments, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Not a single soldier has been pulled back from these two deployments
"...but several thousand guys pretending to be soldiers have been..."
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/08/2007 12:24 Comments ||
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#7
I think it speaks volumes that India is not making some real hay out of Pakistan's dilemma. Admittedly, the nuclear card tends to keep things a bit quiet. Yet, after the endless provocation and assaults India has endured at Pakistan's hands she is more than entitled to give this teetering scheisswagen a gentle nudge towards the brink. One can only assume it better serves India's interests to stand back and quietly gloat observe from afar. If anything, so as to not get spattered.
One thing is certain, partitioning has been an utter disaster. Pakistan is a failed experiment in Islamic "purity". India is now bracketed by two of the most glaring economic, political and humanitarian disasters in recent human history. Political Islam has shown itself for what it truly is: A continuous and ongoing crime against humanity.
#8
The first territory carved out of the British Raj was Burma.
Then Pakistan, later split into Bangladesh.
I wonder if Pakistan's pieces will be any less dysfunctional?
Posted by: john frum ||
11/08/2007 15:10 Comments ||
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#9
I think it speaks volumes that India is not making some real hay out of Pakistan's dilemma.
Perv can thank Allah that Manmohan Singh is the Indian PM.
A PM like Indira Gandhi and a RAW chief like Kao would have him hopping
Posted by: john frum ||
11/08/2007 15:17 Comments ||
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#10
The first territory carved out of the British Raj was Burma.
It's more than a little clear that Burma pretty much set the pace for what to expect from partitioning. It's sad to think just how far along all three different regionsBurma, Bangladesh and Pakistanmight now be had they remained a part of India proper.
#11
Or to think how much more screwed up India might be if all three had been retained.
Hard to know which way history would have turned had it been different. That's one of my problems with counterfactual history; it assumes only one event is contingent.
#13
The Indian Federal structure has prevented regions from descending into the chaos you see in parts of Africa and Asia.
No Mugabe type figure can survive for long. There is a strong federal government that will dismiss him, an independent judiciary that will jail him and 1.5 million armed men (army, paramilitary and police forces) that will enforce the law.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/08/2007 16:16 Comments ||
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#14
Yup, john frum, that old "Rule of Law" thingy sure has a lot going for it.
#16
OTOH, RIAN > RUSSIA - threatens to [consider?]deploy forces along its western borders wid Europe due to US-West's failure to ratify or resolve CFE Treaty issue.
Bodies of three paramilitary soldiers out of four kidnapped by suspected pro-Taliban militants were found in Razmak subdivision of North Waziristan headquarters Miranshah, on Wednesday, officials said. Officials said they had found the bullet-riddled bodies of three soldiers near the Army Camp in Razmak at around 4 pm. Officials, however, added that they did not know about the fourth soldier whether he was also killed by militants or made hostage.
Unidentified militants on Tuesday kidnapped four security forces near the Razmak town, where the army has been battling militants for the last five years. According to reports, the four soldiers were going to home on holidays and were abducted from a hired car near Noor Alam checkpost.
Meanwhile, unknown militants kidnapped private assistant to assistant political agent Tehmar Shah and naib tehsildar Shamas Gul near Dosali in Razmak subdivision when they were going to Mir Ali.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2007 00:00 ||
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Iraqi Army prevents suicide attack near Ghalibiyah Attmpted homicide attack ends up as suicide attack. Buy those boys a cup of chai, on me.
BAQOUBA, Iraq Soldiers assigned to the 5th Iraqi Army Division, manning a traffic control point north of Ghalibiyah, Iraq, prevented a suicide attack by killing a suspected al-Qaeda terrorist driving a vehicle packed with explosives Nov. 6.
The vehicle, a green Kia Brejo, was speeding toward the traffic control point and after failing to slow down as directed by the Iraqi Soldiers, was engaged and destroyed. A large secondary explosion was observed after the vehicle was engaged.
I commend the Iraqi Soldiers for stopping the suicide bomber, said Col. David W. Sutherland, commander of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Task Force Iron and senior Coalition Forces commander in Diyala province. Their quick action prevented an attack that could have cost them their lives and the lives of their fellow Soldiers and citizens.
The Iraqi Security Forces and our Coalition Forces will continue to deny the terrorists ability to disrupt the lives of Diyalas citizens, concluded Sutherland.
#2
Don't I remember some technology where a car's electrical system was blown out with a high voltage shock? Couldn't that be used in conjunction with machine guns in the road leading up to the checkpoints? Have it set up so that if the machine guns start firing, these high-voltage feelers pop up out of the road? Of course, you couldn't have anyone getting out of their car along that stretch . . . . And it might just teach the bombers to be more patient about rushing the checkpoint, too, which could be bad, I don't know.
#3
That's fine if, and ONLY "IF" they attack just along the route you've set up.
Bad idea, bad bad idea, go to your room and think a few hours, Write on the blackboard 100 times, "I will not post before thinking".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/08/2007 18:56 Comments ||
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#4
Redneck Jim dear, if we couldn't post before thinking, entirely too many of my posts would never happen -- not even counting the ones that set off Fred's hair-trigger bad word blocker.
BAGHDAD, Nov. 7 American forces have routed Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the Iraqi militant network, from every neighborhood of Baghdad, a top American general said today, allowing American troops involved in the surge to depart as planned.
Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr., commander of United States forces in Baghdad, also said that American troops had yet to clear some 13 percent of the city, including Sadr City and several other areas controlled by Shiite militias. But, he said, theres just no question that violence had declined since a spike in June.
Murder victims are down 80 percent from where they were at the peak, and attacks involving improvised bombs are down 70 percent, he said.
General Fil attributed the decline to improvements in the Iraqi security forces, a cease-fire ordered by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, the disruption of financing for insurgents, and, most significant, Iraqis rejection of the rule of the gun.
His comments, in a broad interview over egg rolls and lo mein in a Green Zone conference room, were the latest in a series of upbeat assessments he and other commanders have offered in recent months. But his descriptions revealed a city still in transition: tormented by its past, struggling to find a better future.
The Iraqi people have just decided that theyve had it up to here with violence, he said, while noting that their demands for electricity, water and jobs have intensified.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of displaced families are returning to their homes, but a majority of them are still afraid to go back to neighborhoods now segregated by sect. Clearly, General Fil said, it will take some time for Baghdad to restore itself to what it was.
He and other military commanders have maintained for months that the conditions for national reconciliation have been met. They argue that Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the homegrown Sunni extremist group that American intelligence agencies say is foreign-led, has been weakened. They cite in particular the rise of the American-supported citizen volunteers 67,000 nationwide, according to military figures.
And though Sunni extremist groups could revive and reinfest very quickly, General Fil said, Iraqs leaders should now have the peace they need to build a trusted, cross-sectarian government. But progress toward that, he said, has been disappointing.
Soon, General Fil said, there will be fewer troops for the Iraqis to rely on. Already we are at a point where well see that as the surge forces depart the city, well see a natural decline in numbers, and Im very comfortable where that comes to, he said.
With less than two months to go before his division heads home, General Fil offered a mixed vision of the militarys role for the coming year. He said that if 2007 was the year of security, 2008 would probably be a year of reconstruction, a year of infrastructure repair, and a year of, if theres going to be a surge, a year of the surge of the economy.
He acknowledged that dislodging Shiite militias from control of gasoline, government ministries and other sources of power would be difficult.
The biggest threat to Baghdads security is now Shiite militias, he said. Infrastructure weaknesses and unemployment are also serious obstacles, which American efforts at the local level cannot fully address because these become national-level problems, he said. Violence, meanwhile, despite recent declines in some areas, has moved to some degree to rural villages and towns from major cities, American and Iraqi commanders said.
On Wednesday, two children were killed when a roadside bomb exploded on a farm road in Wasit Province. South of Baquba, Iraqi army patrols found 17 bodies, blindfolded, handcuffed and decayed. Four were found headless about 200 yards away. It was the second mass grave discovered in a rural area this week.
American troops have recently focused more operations on the farm towns and dusty villages of the country, with the latest coming this week outside Kirkuk in the north.
The operations are aimed at maintaining what General Fil described as vital momentum. The greatest challenge of the coming months, he said, will be satisfying the delicate hopes and expectations of Iraqis, who see security not as an end, but just as a beginning.
Stability, General Fil said, is within sight but not yet within touch.
If there were a defining the-war-is-so-definitely won story, they'd have printed it in the classifieds. So since it made it into section A, it is good, not the best news possible about the war.
But they DID print it, so no one is allowed to question their agenda.
#4
Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the homegrown Sunni extremist group that American intelligence agencies say is foreign-led
That's the full formulation. Toddlers covering their eyes and thinking it makes them invisible. James Taranto, editor of the Wall Street Journal OpinionJournal.com, has been greatly amused by the New York Time's contortions for ages.
#5
Oh come on. I really expected something more creative from the NYT than this. How about:
"In Blow to Bush, US Achieves Victory in Iraq"
"Victory in Iraq Frustrates American Foreign Policy Aims"
"Clinton Vote in Favor of War Resolution Proves Prescient"
"Bin Laden Achieves Goal of Losing War"
"Marines Frustrated by Increasing Lack of Targets"
"Iraqi Children Traumatized by Peaceful Environment"
"Times Names Yon Editor In Chief"
Posted by: Matt ||
11/08/2007 18:13 Comments ||
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#6
The Marines *are* moving on to Afghanistan in search of targets, the poor, frustrated things. Hopefully the current excitements in the tribal provinces won't use them all up before they get there.
I think this means a terrorist was trying to infiltrate the police during a recruitment drive (a very successful drive) and was fingered by the locals, and ID confirmed by biometrics. Very encouraging.
BAGHDAD Multi-National Division Baghdad Soldiers captured a suspected al-Qaeda leader during an Iraqi Police recruitment drive in Baghdads Doura neighborhood Nov. 6.
Citizens pointed out the suspected extremist, who was detained by scouts of Troop C, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division.
The man allegedly was using a false name at the time.
During the recruitment, which took place in a neighborhood once feared as the most dangerous in Baghdad, more than 500 Iraqis lined up to join the police force. The citizens went through a biometric check to ensure no suspected criminals were allowed to join.
The suspect is being held for further questioning.
BAGHDAD, Iraq Coalition forces captured a wanted criminal and detained five others during operations in the village of Sindiyah, northwest of Khalis early Monday.
The operation was targeting a Special Groups leader reported to be involved in the procurement of weapons and the manufacturing of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, used in attacks against Coalition forces.
Intelligence led the assault force to the target building. Upon entry, one suspected criminal was detained. Additional intelligence led Coalition forces to a follow-on location, where they captured the wanted individual and detained four other suspects without incident.
There has been much progress in the fight for a secure and stable Iraq, but there is still work to accomplish, said Maj. Winfield Danielson, MNF-I spokesman. We commend all those who honor Muqtada al-Sadrs pledge for peace, and well work with them to provide security in their neighborhoods, but we will also continue to pursue those criminal elements that do not honor al-Sadrs pledge.
I photographed men and women, both Christians and Muslims, placing a cross atop the St. John's Church in Baghdad. They had taken the cross from storage and a man washed it before carrying it up to the dome. A Muslim man had invited the American soldiers from 'Chosen' Company 2-12 Cavalry to the church, where I videotaped as Muslims and Christians worked and rejoiced at the reopening of St John's, an occasion all viewed as a sign of hope. The Iraqis asked me to convey a message of thanks to the American people. 'Thank you, thank you,' the people were saying. One man said, 'Thank you for peace.' Another man, a Muslim, said 'All the people, all the people in Iraq, Muslim and Christian, is brother.' The men and women were holding bells, and for the first time in memory freedom rang over the ravaged land between two rivers. (Videotape to follow.)
Photo and reactions at the link. Chris Muir used the photo as the third panel of today's Day by Day.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/08/2007 06:41 ||
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#1
How long before that church gets targetted by a truck bomb? It now has to be one of the #1 'opportunities' for AQI to prove it is not impotent. AND, they could do it while only killing infidels. Sure hope we're providing good overwatch.
#4
Glemnore - I had the same thought. I love Michael Yon, but I think he often puts people that he talks to in danger. I wrote him once and told him that and got a testy response. However, in the end, I think he is right to get the good news out there. Sunlight is always the best disinfectant. If everyone did it, it would be like the Mohammed cartoons here in the US. Too many targets to make it worth their while.
#5
In tracking back through all the links and links from a link, I found this, and sorry, I forget which link led to it, so sorry for not giving credit.
Islamic group in Baghdad: Get rid of the cross or we will burn your Churches.
In the Dora quarter threats continue to be made against Christians. In the last two months Christian parishes have been forced to give in to extremist pressure, only the Church of Sts Peter and Paul has withstood so far. A fatwa forbids the practice of Christian ritual gestures. The US army occupies Babel College, property of the Chaldean Patriarchate.
Baghdad (AsiaNews) Get rid of the cross or we will burn your Churches. This is the threat aimed at the Chaldean Church of Sts Peter and Paul, located in the ancient Christian quarter of Baghdad, Dora. Local sources say an unknown armed Islamic group is behind the threats which are inseminating terror in the capital. The Arab website Ankawa.com and Aina news agency speak of a campaign of persecution in act in the area. Even Mosul, a Sunni stronghold, the Christian presence is being gravely threatened.
Msgr. Shlemon Warduni, Chaldean auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, tells AsiaNews in the last 2 months many Churches have been forced to remove their crosses from their domes. In the case of the Church of St. George, assira, Muslim extremists took the situation into their own hands: they climbed onto the roof and ripped out the cross. In the Chaldean Church of St John, in Dora, which has been without a pastor for months now, the parishioners themselves decided to move the cross to a safer place following repeated threats.
The terrorists forced it down, the Iraqis placed it back up.
#1
"He declined to comment on how the government determined those statistics."
If you can't get a good handle on how many are leaving, how do you get a good handle on how many are coming back?
(KUNA) -- The US Army in Iraq announced it would release about 500 detainees on Thursday in a gesture aimed at fostering goodwill and reconciliation in the violence-striven country. The discharge will take place in an official ceremony in the Iraqi capital, where an Iraqi military leader will supervise the process, an Army statement said today without giving details about the identity of those to be freed.
At least 683 detainees held in US-run prisons across Iraq have been released since the middle of last month, a statement from the Iraqi Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi's office said last Monday. Of those released, 283 were freed last week, it added. The release was part of a program undertaken by Hashemi's office in collaboration with the US Army for the speedy release of those held for a long time without formal charges being pressed.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2007 00:00 ||
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Two brothers who were members of an anti-al-Qaida organization in western Iraq have been killed, the leader of the local organization said late Wednesday. A roadside bomb killed Col. Sabah Najim, a leader in the awakening council of Karmah, killing him and five of his guards on Wednesday. Najim's brother, Abdul Qadir Najim, died in a hail of gunfire Tuesday as he was going to the local mosque to pray. Karmah is 80 kilometers west of Baghdad.
Both deaths were reported by Sheikh Mishan Abbas, head of the Karmah Awaking Council, the name taken by Sunnis in Anbar province who have risen up against al-Qaida.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
its still dangerous to oppose AQ in Anbar. Lets bear this in mind in discussing the result of the surge, things are far from hunky dory even in a prov where much genuine progress has been made.
BAGHDAD The U.S. military reports it has succeeded in destroying much of Al Qaida's media network. Officials said Al Qaida has lost most of its ability to generate propaganda, recruit and receive financing for its operations. They said many of these activities were conducted on the Internet. "We've taken out a significant part of their leadership," U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, said. "We also have gone after, very heavily, their propaganda network."
In a Nov. 4 briefing, Smith said 80 percent of Al Qaida's media structure was destroyed. He said this has hampered the recruitment and operational ability of the Iraqi insurgency network. "We've gone after their foreign fighter facilitation network," Smith said. "We've gone after their financial networks."
Still, Smith warned that Al Qaida remains capable of mass-casualty attacks in Iraq. He cited an Al Qaida suicide strike by a motorcyclist on Oct. 29, in which 27 Iraqi police officers were killed. "Al Qaida still has a capacity to kill civilians and certainly go after infrastructure," Smith said.
On Tuesday, the U.S. military in Iraq announced the imminent release of nine Iranian detainees, most of them officers of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Two of the detainees were accused of providing support to Shi'ite militias in Iraq. "It is our intent to release nine Iranians currently in custody in the near future," Smith said. "They will be released in the coming days. These individuals have been assessed to be of no continuing value, nor do they pose a further threat to Iraqi security." "I'd like to thank them publically for their help and hope they enjoy the lovely parting gifts."
Posted by: Steve ||
11/08/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I'll bet that if we paid them more than they were making there they could show us how to start a good western propaganda network.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
11/08/2007 8:05 Comments ||
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#6
You know when we're having success when MSM bitches about Americans intentionally targeting 'journalists'. It's about professional courtesy, unless its Iraqi journalists, reporters, etc butchered by AQ. Then, it's just silence.
#4
Looks like a "Matchbox Toy", like
http://ube-164.pop.com.br/repositorio/21875/meusite/2000-USA/53.jpg
or http://www.bensware.com/diecast/mbHumvee.jpg
#5
Fake. Looks like stop-motion video - the wheels don't even turn. The tires have a plastic shine. there's no suspension action, the soil is out of scale, the vehicle has no weathering - dirt, dust, etc., and there's little fire in the 'explosion'. Not even good enough for Holyweird.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/08/2007 6:55 Comments ||
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#6
That's soo bad the producers can't be serious. Can they? Anyone translate some of that arabic?
Posted by: Captain Lewis ||
11/08/2007 8:39 Comments ||
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#7
Better watch out, They will come out as part of the forces of Cobra Commander next!
Still, one has to wonder how seriously this will be taken by the core audience target?
They want to believe, to borrow a quote, and sophistication and understanding of visual language sometimes seems "problematic" in certain populations (cf. the obviously FAKE - as in with ridiculous movie props equipement and typical pr0n poses and imagery - "iraqui rape scenes" from an eastern european adult website that were taken as truth by muslim newspapers, turkish bombers, and a couple US race baiters & antiwar activists).
#11
Looks like it took the hit pretty good. Maybe Mattel ought to build Humvees?
Coming up next: Brave Jihadis melt sink plastic aircraft carrier with cherry bombs and celebrate with migraine causing chickenscratch music...
#18
When it blows up, you can see the stick they used to push it fly up and land in the foreground. And then they're nice enough to reverse it and do it in slow motion so you can see it even better.
I think some bored GI did this and some retarded Jihadi found it on the web, added the chickenscratch sound track, mailed it to Al Jizz, and chalked up another victory against the infidel Crusader army...
#19
It would be fun to hack their web site and upload some real videos of rag heads getting put down for dirt naps.
Yeah, we can see that it's fake but you gotta consider the target audience. If you grow up playing with goat dung you won't know what a plastic action figure is. It's like Pravda. You can't believe any of that crap either. You can't even believe that anybody expects you to believe it. But 250 million Russians don't know any better. But then, you don't know any better when CBS is pulling your leg because they are more sophisticated and technologically advanced.
#20
"Hah! The Onion, what a great web site. Oh, that was a real attempt..well I guess trying to outdo Team America and Baron Munchausen its going to look like crap. Hey sonny, pour me another one and I'll tell you about the time when I was a kid your age and made movies using Lego Mech Warriors..."
#21
Bah, Joe was just trying to get the attention of 101st AIRBORNE Army Medic Barbie. I smell an Article 32 investigation coming or a book deal with TNR.
A man was gunned down by presumed terrorists insurgents in a market in the violence-ridden province of Narathiwat. The authorities are considering that it may have been a case of mistaken identity, as the victim borrowed a vehicle belonging to a friend who is a police officer in order to go shopping.
Dee Sawaengchertphong was shot to death by unidentified assailants in front of a fresh market in Ruso municipality, which was crowded with shoppers on Thursday morning. Two gunmen, both passengers on motorcycles driven by others, opened fire on the victim as he was approaching the vehicle with his purchases.
Meanwhile, the body of a soldier killed by a bomb explosion in Pattani's Panare district was retrieved from a canal on Thursday morning. Three soldiers were killed in the bombing of a bridge, but the body of Police Captain Chana Patrat fell into the canal and could not be recovered until later.
Heavy fighting between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger rebels Wednesday left a large number killed or wounded, both sides said.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they had resisted a Sri Lankan military advance backed by helicopter gunships into their territory on Wednesday, losing one of their cadres in the attack. But Sri Lankas defence ministry said that 52 Tigers were killed together with 11 government soldiers. The ministry said another 40 government soldiers were wounded.
The losses came as the LTTE defended its forward positions in the Muhamalai area of the peninsula, the northern part of which is held by government troops. Scores of Tigers were also wounded, the ministry said. However, the LTTE in a statement said they killed 20 government soldiers and wounded another 100 in around two hours of fighting. The two sides claims could not be independently verified.
Residents near an air base here said they saw ambulances rushing out, indicating that military casualties were being flown to the capital. In other fighting, the defence ministry said two Tiger rebels were killed in two separate battles in Muhamalai in the Jaffna peninsula on Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2007 00:00 ||
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A bomb exploded inside the car belonging to mainstream Fatah commander at the Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon on Wednesday but no one was hurt, security sources said.
Tension has risen at refugee camps in south Lebanon largely controlled by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's mainstream Fatah group since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in fighting with Fatah in June. The security sources said Ali Shabaytah's car was parked in a square outside Fatah's offices in the Ein el-Hilweh camp in south Lebanon near the port city of Sidon. They said the bomb contained about 200 grams (0.44 pounds) of TNT explosives. There were no casualties in the blast. There are 12 refugee camps in Lebanon, home to half of about 400,000 Palestinians.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2007 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Don't move or pull on those tassles, Dorothy, or you might have one of them serious "wardrobe malfunctions". I'll check back every now to see how things are going.
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.
(AKI) - A former leader of an armed Islamic group in Libya, Numan Bin Uthman, has written a letter to al-Qaeda second in command Ayman al-Zawahiri telling him that Jihadi groups in Arab countries have failed. 
A Yemeni court sentenced 32 suspected Islamist militants to terms of between two and 15 years over Al Qaeda attacks on oil and gas facilities last year. The prosecution said it planned an appeal to seek harsher punishment. "The penalties do not correspond to the crimes the convicts have committed," said prosecutor 
A Turkish soldier and three Kurdish rebels, one of them a woman, were killed in deadly fighting late on Tuesday in Tunceli province, security sources said.
A New York jazz musician was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday for agreeing to help train al Qaeda fighters in hand-to-hand combat in a case that centered on an oath he took before an undercover FBI agent. 
Srinagar: Three Army personnel and two suspected 
Pro-Taliban militants loyal to rebel cleric Maulana Fazlullah took control of a police station, paramilitary force camp and other government buildings in Kalam on Wednesday, extending their hold over the Swat Valley, officials and witnesses said.
Bodies of three paramilitary soldiers out of four kidnapped by suspected pro-Taliban militants were found in Razmak subdivision of North Waziristan headquarters Miranshah, on Wednesday, officials said. Officials said they had found the bullet-riddled bodies of three soldiers near the Army Camp in Razmak at around 4 pm. Officials, however, added that they did not know about the fourth soldier whether he was also killed by militants or made hostage. 
Two brothers who were members of an anti-al-Qaida organization in western Iraq have been killed, the leader of the local organization said late Wednesday. A roadside bomb killed Col. Sabah Najim, a leader in the awakening council of Karmah, killing him and five of his guards on Wednesday. Najim's brother, Abdul Qadir Najim, died in a hail of gunfire Tuesday as he was going to the local mosque to pray. Karmah is 80 kilometers west of Baghdad. 
Heavy fighting between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger rebels Wednesday left a large number killed or wounded, both sides said.
