Taliban militants attacked a police checkpoint in southern Afghanistan and killed 16 officers, the Interior Ministry said Monday. Seven Afghan police and soldiers were reported dead elsewhere as the country's bloodiest year since the Taliban was deposed from power -- by United States-led forces in 2001 -- drew to a close.
More than 6,500 people -- mostly militants -- died in 2007.
More than 6,500 people -- mostly militants -- died in 2007, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Afghan and Western officials. Also in 2007, 110 U.S. soldiers were killed in the country -- the highest American death toll since the 2001 invasion.
The policemen were manning a checkpoint in the Maywand district of Kandahar province on Saturday when a large group of militants attacked them, said Zemerai Bashary, the Interior Ministry spokesman. "We still have not found the bodies, but police in Kandahar have launched a search operation," Bashary said. A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said the militant group was responsible for the killings.
Taliban fighters have shied away from attacking international military forces and the Afghan army, which is better trained and better equipped than Afghan police.
The militants have repeatedly attacked the checkpoint -- situated near Highway 1, Afghanistan's main thoroughfare -- over the last year, which is part of the reason that so many police were stationed there. The acting police chief of Kandahar province, Omar Khan, said police were investigating and he could not give any details about the attack. Taliban fighters have shied away from attacking international military forces and the Afghan army, which is better trained and better equipped than Afghan police.
This article starring:
Omar Khan
ZABIULLAH MUJAHID
Taliban
Zemerai Bashary
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2008 10:05 ||
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Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
BRITISH commandos launched a devastating blitz on the Taliban as the evil terrorists held a party to celebrate Benazir Bhuttos murder.
The dawn raid was staged after messages were intercepted about the sick knees-up in Afghanistans Helmand province. Royal Marines crept into position as the fanatics partied the night away just hours after Ms Bhutto was killed in Pakistan. The bash was being held in ruined compounds a few hundred yards from Our Boys remote base in Kajaki.
Ragtag Taliban sentries tried to hit back with machine gun fire but stood no chance against the heroes of 40 Commandos Charlie Company. The terrorists were pounded with mortars, rockets and heavy machine guns.
Two bloodthirsty revellers trying to creep towards Our Boys in a trench were spotted by thermal-imaging equipment and targeted with a Javelin heat-seeking missile. The £65,000 rocket designed to stop Soviet tanks locked on to their body heat and tore more than a kilometer across the desert in seconds. Troop Sergeant Dominic Conway, 32 who directed mortar rounds grinned: It must have had quite a detrimental effect on their morale. To say nothing of their life expectancy!
Ah, the understated British wit!
Sgt Conway, from Whitley Bay, Tyneside, said of the Taliban lair: It used to be their backyard and now weve made it ours. Lovely, lovely writing. This, my friends, is combat journalism!
Posted by: Mike ||
01/01/2008 00:44 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#6
Taliban partying? What can they do for partying?. No alcohol (unislamic). No music (unislamic). No laughing. (unislamic). No dancing (unislamic). No women (unislamic). What's left?
#11
Dang! Have you *ever* seen such a good vs evil piece in the American media? Not even a hint of the old $GOOD_NEWS but $POSSIBLE_BAD_CONSEQUENCE meme. Simply heartwarming.
#12
SteveS - remember, the U.S. papers don't care about their circulation going into the crapper as long as they hold to the "U.S. bad, enemies good" narrative. It's going to be fun watching them die off, one by one, complaining all the while of "right wing conspiracies." Same mindset as the Hollyweird types making movies for themselves, and the economics be damned.
#17
Yes Capn Lewis, knees-up very definitely is a party, as in "knees up Mother Brown, knees up Mother Brown, under the table you must go, ee-i-ee-i-ee-i-oh!"
The full lyrics are at the link (if you must ;)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
01/01/2008 13:48 Comments ||
Top||
Over the weekend, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed announced the Talibans decision to remove Shah Mansoor Dadullah as the commander for the movements southern zone. Mullah Mansoor Dadullah has been dismissed as the Taliban commander because he disobeyed the orders of the Islamic Emirate, Zabihullah said in the statement obtained by the AFP. Although no further details were provided, local sources indicate
Shah Mansoor and his men had gained a notorious reputation for extorting and robbing civilians.
Shah Mansoor and his men had gained a notorious reputation for extorting and robbing civilians.
Shah Mansoor decried the allegation during a telephone call to the Indian Times calling it a "conspiracy by my enemies."
"I got millions o' enemies! And you is six or seven of 'em!"
"If Mullah Omar wants me to disarm, there is no need to publish this in the media," Dadullah said. "In jihad there is no personal interest. In jihad you will be injured or killed only for the sake of Islam."
Shah Mansoors spokesman, Muhibullah Mahajir, also denied the allegations, saying some Taliban commanders had participated in the death of Mansoors brother, Mullah Deadullah. "That's why some of these commanders who were involved in the killing of Mullah Dadullah have made a conspiracy against us," Mahajir said.
Zabihullah Majahed repeated his statement on Sunday saying Shah Mansoor has been removed from power and that his followers should no longer obey him. He promised to release an audio message from Mullah Omar proving Dadullahs ouster.
Osmani was targeted and killed during a Coalition air strike in Helmand province. Taliban spies had tipped off Coalition forces about what vehicle Osmami would be travelling in and many suspect Mullah Dadullah had approved the intelligence leak.
Shah Mansoor was appointed head of the Talibans southern zone, which includes Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan, Nimruz, Farah, and Zabul provinces, after his brother and leader of the southern zone, Mullah Dadullah, was zappedbanged killed by Coalition forces on May 12. Mullah Dadullah is the most senior Taliban military leader killed in Afghanistan since 2002. Coalition air strikes reportedly struck Shah Mansoor's position during a high-level Taliban military meeting in early August, burning his britches narrowly missing him. The attack in Helmand's northern Baghran district left scores of other Taliban killed and wounded.
Internal rifts are common within the upper ranks of the Taliban leadership. Former Taliban military leaders Mullah Akhtar Osmani and Mullah Dadullah, who jointly ran the southern zone from 2003-05, had a bad history of not getting along. At one point in late 2006, Mullah Dadullah beat Osmani in front of a group of Taliban followers after a heated argument. Two months later Osmani was targeted and killed during a Coalition air strike in Helmand province. Taliban spies had tipped off Coalition forces about what vehicle Osmami would be travelling in and many suspect Mullah Dadullah had approved the intelligence leak.
#2
I'm curious - if the intelligence agencies knew that Mullah Dadullah was giving the info about Osmani, would they still follow through? It would be helping your enemy, eh?
#5
And who knows how much more ugliness is hidden behind the beard and under the headdress.
Notice - no 'target of Allan' on his forehead - he's certainly not religious enough for a position of leadership, and the Talibunnies should kill him for presuming such.
A mother and her five children were killed Sunday by a mortar round fired during fighting between Somali insurgents and Ethiopian troops.
Insurgents attacked bases of Ethiopian troops in the south of the capital with mortars and the Ethiopians fired back, with about 30 mortars fired in all, said Mostaf Abdi Ahmed, a neighbor of the family. "An explosion rocked our neighborhood, then we came out and saw a shack partly on fire and a mother and her five children lying dead," he said.
Madey Sufi Mohamed, the husband and father who lost his family, said he had gone to a nearby shop when he heard an explosion and returned home to find his loved ones dead. "It is really tragic, but there is nothing I can do about Allah's will," said Mohamed.
In another district in southern Mogadishu, the insurgents fought with government soldiers and also attacked an African Union peacekeeping force base. "Our base ... was attacked, but fortunately our soldiers were alert and we managed to beat the attackers off. None of our soldiers were injured. We cannot tell whether any damage was inflicted on the attackers," said Capt. Paddy Ankunda, the African Union force's spokesman.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2008 10:07 ||
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[5 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic Courts
A U.S. government aid official was critically wounded in a shooting attack on an embassy vehicle in Khartoum on Tuesday and his Sudanese driver was killed, Western diplomatic sources said. "What we have heard is that a driver and a U.S. official, sometime a little after midnight, were heading home. The driver was shot and died on the spot and the U.S. official was shot and critically injured," one of two diplomatic sources told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Both sources identified the U.S. official as an American man working for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Khartoum, but could not immediately give his full name. The driver also worked for USAID, they said. "The American man is now in hospital ... and needs blood. He lost so much blood," the second source said, adding that the man remained in Khartoum.
Al Arabiya television reported that the shooting was in a main street in the capital Khartoum, and said the U.S. official had been shot in the chest. It said there was no immediate claim of responsibility. I wasn't sure whether to put this on page 1, since Islamist connections are not clear. If this gets moved to another page, I will make note of it for future reference.
This is page 1. AoS.
Posted by: ryuge ||
01/01/2008 07:09 ||
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[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
#1
President Bush just signed some law yesterday intended to pressure Sudan about Darfur - was this shooting a 'message' or just random violence?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/01/2008 10:28 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Khartoum needs to be struck from space by a large comet - say, half-kilometer in diameter. What's left can receive aid from the citizens of Darfur and the Justice and Equality Movement in the south.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/01/2008 14:54 Comments ||
Top||
#4
0.5 km is a little large. We'd feel it here. Plus side: no global warming for a while. Minus side: all the wankers would be braying about global cooling.
50 to 100 meters would be plenty.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/01/2008 14:58 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Doesn't Halliburton have a Comet Division yet?
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/01/2008 16:47 Comments ||
Top||
#6
... - was this shooting a 'message' or just random violence?
Turkish police have foiled a plot to murder a priest, in a case that recalls other attacks this year against Christians in Muslim but secular Turkey, newspapers reported on Monday.
Police in the coastal resort of Antalya detained a young man on Sunday on suspicion of preparing to kill Orthodox priest Ramazan Arkan, who is a Turk, the Milliyet daily said. The suspect, who was due to appear in court on Monday, told police he had been influenced by a television serial "The Valley of the Wolves", popular among Turkish ultra-nationalists, the paper said. Police confirmed a young man had been taken into custody but said they could not comment on details of the case.
Two weeks ago, an Italian Catholic priest was stabbed at his church in the port city of Izmir in western Turkey by a youth. The priest, Adriano Franchini, survived the attack. In April, assailants slit the throats of three Christians -- a German national and two Turks -- at a Bible publishing house in the eastern town of Malatya. Last year, Italian Catholic priest Andrea Santoro was shot dead in his church in the Turkish Black Sea city of Trabzon.
Many Turkish nationalists see Christian missionaries operating in Turkey as a threat to national security. Some Christians say they feel less safe in Turkey than before. The European Union has long complained that Turkey, an EU applicant, fails to fully protect the religious freedoms of its tiny Christian minority, which numbers barely 100,000 in a total population of nearly 75 million.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2008 10:06 ||
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Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Takfir wal-Hijra
#1
That is, 0.13% of the population. What if it read, "Texans go on Native American killing spree after airing of Comanche Moon"?
BTW, any word on that Mediterrainian Union project? How would that work anyways, someone born in Libya is also British? What if someone attacks Egypt does that mean MU members must defend but EU only members don't and how does NATO work into that. Craziness if Sarkozy hadn't had said something about it - think, Turkey and Iraq heat up, Spain and Italy send in forces to assist Turkey but being Nato members Britain reinforces under the NATO treaty US and Iraq forces thus Britain at war with MU, thus EU only members vs. MU members? WTF, is it 1910 all over again?
ht to AOSHQ
In a dramatic U-turn, Pakistan government has "apologised" for claiming that former premier Benazir Bhutto died of a skull fracture after hitting the sunroof of her car during a suicide attack.
Caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan has asked the media and people to "forgive and ignore" comments made by his ministry's spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema which were slammed by her Pakistan People's Party as "lies" and led to an uproar at home and abroad.
The Interior Minister made the apology during a briefing for Pakistani newspaper editors on Monday. Punjab province on Tuesday issued a front-page advertisement in newspapers that offered a reward of Rs 1 crore for information about a gunman and a suspected suicide bomber seen in the photos and video footage of the assassination.
The government's apparent damage control exercise on Cheema's comments made at a news conference a day after Bhutto was assassinated at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi on December 27, came after TV channels aired privately shot photos and video footage which showed a gunman shooting at Bhutto.
The Pakistan People's Party leader is seen in the footage falling through the sun-roof before the suicide bomber detonated his explosives. The briefing by caretaker Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro was also attended by the foreign, interior and information ministers and senior officials.
"Editor after editor lambasted the government for its non-serious attitude towards the tragedy, specially the statement that Bhutto had died by hitting the lever and not (due to) a bullet or shrapnel," The News reported.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/01/2008 17:45 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
link to Ace's with comments. Creating this "story" was incredibly stupid and counterproductive....typical, I guess
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/01/2008 17:51 Comments ||
Top||
#2
It seems Javed Iqbal Cheema will now become an un-named source for future AP stories.
At least seven personnel of India's key paramilitary unit -- Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a civilian were killed in a fidayeen (suicide) attack on a CRPF camp in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) Tuesday, in a bloody beginning to the new year.
Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) has claimed responsibility for the attack on the CRPF camp located in Rampur in UP, news agencies reported. The attack was launched in the wee hours of Tuesday by LeT insurgents armed with AK-47 and grenades. In the subsequent encounter seven CRPF men and a civilian were killed. Two fidayeens had attacked the camp, India's leading English news channel 'Times Now' reported. Top UP police and CRPF officials have rushed to the spot. A combing operation has been launched by the security forces and the area has been cordoned off.
In a bloody start to the new year, at least seven CRPF personnel and a civilian were killed when heavily armed militants stormed a CRPF camp in Rampur in the wee hours on Tuesday. Armed with AK-47 rifles and grenades, the militants attacked the CRPF group centre at around 2.20 am, CRPF and police officials said.
The security personnel and police patrolling the area intercepted the attackers leading to a fierce gun battle in which seven CRPF jawans and a civilian were killed, they said. The civilian killed appeared to be a rickshaw puller, Senior Superintendent of Police Sanjiv Gupta said. The number of militants who attacked the camp was also not immediately known.
Security officials were, however, unable to confirm the casualty on the side of militants. The area has been cordoned off and the combing operation was on.
The attack comes about 40 days after a series of blasts ripped through three court premises in the state killing 13 people.
A suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint manned by a group fighting against al-Qaida in Iraq, killing 12 people in one of a series of strikes Monday against the largely Sunni movement singled out by Osama bin Laden as a "disgrace and shame."
Leaders of the rapidly expanding U.S.-backed movement, credited with helping slash violence across the country by 60 percent since June, condemned bin Laden's latest message to his followers. "We consider our fighting against al-Qaida to be a popular revolution against the devil," said Sheik Mohammed Saleh al-Dohan, head of one of the groups in southern Ramadi, a city in Anbar province where the movement was born.
Al-Dohan blamed al-Qaida, which espouses a radical version of Sunni Islam, for bringing destruction to Iraq: "They made enemies between Sunnis, Shiites and Christians who lived in peace for centuries." Bin Laden and his fighters "are the traitors who betrayed the Muslim nation and brought shame to Islam in all the world," he said.
This article starring:
Sheik Mohammed Saleh al-Dohan
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2008 10:07 ||
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Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
A suicide bomber drove a minibus and detonated it near Al-Tarmiya Awakening Council targeting its members, Iraqi security sources said on Monday. The attack took place at a check point controlled by Al-Tarmiya Awakening Council, chairman of the council Imad Saeed told Kuwait News Agency. The explosion rocked the city and killed five members of the council. Two other members are still missing. On the other hand, a police officer said the attack claim nine lives; four of who were schools students and the rest were council members. It also injured 12 other persons, he added.
Imad Saeed accused Al-Qaeda Organization in Iraq of perpetrating the attack saying "the beneficiaries of this explosion is the Al-Qaeda organization, which does not find favor in restoring stability in Tarmiya".
This article starring:
Imad Saeed
Posted by: Seafarious ||
01/01/2008 02:12 ||
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Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
Happy New year, AQI-style. But casualties quite low for the multiple attacks.
[M]ilitants belonging to Al-Qaeda Organization in Iraq killed eight persons and injured dozens of others in separate attacks across Iraq Monday. The gunmen attacked three police stations in Al-Khales town, Diala governorate, north Baghdad. Two persons including an awakening council militiaman and a policeman were killed and three others including a captain were injured in the attacks, a security source told KUNA.
Three other persons were killed and ten others were injured in a separate attack in Deli Abbas town, north Baaqoba governorate.
Suspected Al-Qaeda militants killed three persons in an attack against Tal Al-Zahab town, Salah-Eddin governorate, north Baghdad, the source added.
The attacks came 24 hours after Al-Qeada leader Osama Bin-Laden warned the Iraqi Sunnis against joining the pro-government awakening councils.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
01/01/2008 02:08 ||
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[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#6
Uncle bin promised dire consequences (tm) for the disbelievers - not sure if this tops serving roasted children though. Targeted attacks it would appear. Perhaps the lawyers could focus on kicking AQ out before working on Blackwater.
Personally, I think that the ebb will be in a couple of weeks, allowing hotheads from haj and bhutto enthusiasts to rally, buy some hashish(ari), and get some good ol gun sex before going after leaders.
Members of the paramilitary Awakening Council of Al-Azhamiya arrested three persons of Iranian nationality and handed them to the US forces, commander of the council Colonel Riyadh Al-Samerrae said Monday. The suspects were carrying rigged Iraqi identity cards, Al-Samerra'e told KUNA, noting that the Multi-National Forces in Iraq, Baghdad Command, will investigate the case. The detainees have links with Lebanese Hezbollah group and were trained militarily in Iran, he added.
The Iraqi military has launched Monday wide-scale military operations in Babylon, southern Iraq, resulting in the arrest of about 40 gunmen. A security source told KUNA that the Iraqi military has executed an operation in Muwailha area which is part of Alexandria town in Babylon. The raid operation resulted in the seizure of weapon caches, said the source.
Iraqi troops killed Sunday seven terrorists in Beiji town north of Baghdad and arrested 12 others.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
01/01/2008 02:02 ||
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Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers destroyed an abandoned house, and rescued a kidnapping victim during clearing operations in West Rashid Dec. 26. Iraqi Army and Soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment, Task Force Dragon found homemade and plastic explosives during the joint operation aimed at quelling unrest in the Saydiyah area. Explosive ordnance disposal personnel remotely detonated the cache, destroying the unoccupied house. There was no collateral damage.
IA Soldiers entered a house in search of a crane operator who had been kidnapped days before. The man was taken to a Coalition Forces facility for medical screening.
Soldiers from Company B, 4th 64th Armored Regiment also found a cache of eight 120mm rockets, a 107mm rocket, a 105mm projectile, roughly eight pounds of homemade explosives, four canisters of an unknown liquid and a car battery with wires. EOD personnel command detonated the cache. There were no casualties.
Ma'an Palestinian security forces detained 17 people they are calling "fugitives" near the West Bank city of Qalqilia. A security force says the Palestinians coordinated with the Israeli liaison in order to raid the village of Azzun Itma, located behind the Israeli separation wall. Azmi Ahmad, the head of the village Council, said rounding up fugitives was important fore restoring order in the town, but criticized the security forces for not coordinating with village officials in advance.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2008 10:09 ||
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Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
Ma'an Hamas movement said on Sunday that the Palestinian security in the West Bank arrested two Hamas loyalists in Nablus in the northern West Bank and Hebron in the south. Hamas released a statement saying that the Palestinian security arrested one Hamas member in the village of Aqraba in Nablus district after pursuing him for over two months. They also arrested another one in Su'ir in Hebron district.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2008 10:08 ||
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[5 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
Ma'an The Israeli forces arrested on Monday three Palestinian brothers from Hebron city in the southern West Bank and summoned their father to the office of Israeli intelligence in Kfar Azion, Ma'an's reporter said. Eyewitnesses stated that the Israeli forces stormed Hasaka neighborhood in Hebron and arrested Sufyan, Ali and Abdul-Hamid Dandis. They added that the Israeli soldiers handed a warrant to the father demanding him to go to the Israeli intelligence headquarters in Azion between Hebron and Bethlehem.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2008 10:08 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
....and in other troubling news, "The Russians Are Coming" to rescue the Holy Land?????
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2000/494/op1.htm
There have been significant changes to Israeli religious demographics over the last 10 years, thanks to the influx of more than 1 million Russians. One in 5 Israelis is now Russian, 20% of the population. A proportion of these
are Jews by ancestry but Russian Orthodox Christians by religion. Today new Orthodox churches are being built throughout Israel and even on the kibbutzim! The Russians and the Arabs are brother Orthodox in Israel and
together they will bring a new springtime of Christianity to the Mother Church of Jerusalem.
>"I was recently given two startling pieces of information by a visiting Palestinian friend from Jerusalem. One was that there were several Russian Orthodox Christian churches being built in the southern Israeli town of Beersheba....
"Just as remarkable is Lustick's observation that a significant number of the newcomers had registered themselves either as Christians or persons of no religion at all. As a result of this situation, the Russians, or to put it another way, non-Arab Christians are the fastest growing Israeli religious community and now constitute 8-9 per cent of the non-Arab
population of the state... " http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2000/494/op1.htm
One factor with which the Jerusalem Patriarchate will have to come to terms in the near future is the large numbers of Russian Orthodox who are now part of its flock. These are Jews enetically and Orthodox Christians religiously. Jerusalem has set up a church department for the Russians but it seems inadequate for the numbers of Russians involved. In the years ahead the character of the Patriarchate will be altered by the Russian Orthodox influx.
Last wave of immigration sharply increased
the number of secret [Orthodox] Christians in Israel
Although official statistics indicate that the number of Christians in Israel is constantly decreasing, in reality, EAI data shows that there is a large number of secret Christians among the Jews who arrived from Russia and
Ukraine between 1989-1993.
Thus, the research conducted among 86,000 new immigrants in 1999 demonstrated that approximately 53% of them cannot be considered Jews in accordance with Judaic law. Available data suggest approximately 400,000
"unregistered [Orthodox] Christians" arrived with the last wave of immigration.
#2
Not really a surprise -- I got the impression that anyone who could claim a Jewish parent or spouse was allowed in, so it makes sense that quite a few of them were actually Russian Orthodox Christians rather than Soviet Standard atheists. Still, those who are actively Christian aren't likely to submit to dhimmitude, unlike the Arab Christians -- they haven't the tradition for it. Nor do they have the tradition of submitting to a non-Russian Orthodox Patriarchy, which worships in a different language and has other different traditions, when there is a perfectly good Russian Patriarch in Moscow who'll be happy to send priests that speak the proper language.
And, like the Jews who emigrated from Europe, the Russians are accustomed to small families, so this is not like to be a multi-generational issue... nor do they have a liking for heavy taxation and a quarter century of military duty. There are lots of Jewish Israelis who've emigrated over the decades; I suspect quite a few of the Russians who have no ideological tie to Israel will choose to make that move in the years to come, after they got all they could get out of the freely given opportunities there.
#3
IIRC, the Russian Orthodox Church doesn't blow up buildings or kill people, so I wouldn't worry about it. Some of these people will revert to the Jewish faith, others will remain Orthodox. The Russian Orthodox men will join the Israeli army and fight just as well as the Jews do, and none of them will refuse service because they're "Ultra-Orthodox", as the Hassidim(sp?) do.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/01/2008 15:07 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I believe the definition of "Jewish" in the Law of Return includes anyone who would have been treated as Jewish by the Nuremberg Laws. I'm not sure whether that includes people who would have been treated as Mischling. Certainly, some people who had a Jewish grandparent but no other connection to Judaism used the Law of Return to help themselves emigrate. But, considering how unattractive life in the USSR was, can you blame them?
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
01/01/2008 19:44 Comments ||
Top||
Ma'an The Palestinian police affiliated to the Hamas' de facto government in Gaza Strip on Monday stormed the Al-Quds Open University in northern Gaza Strip, Ma'an's correspondent said.
The university's administration said: "A group of gunmen affiliated to the de facto government's police broke into the university and raised green flags of Hamas as well as plastering posters and announcements slamming the Ramallah-based caretaker government. They also damaged furniture and ransacked offices beating some of the students and employees."
The representative of Fatah-affiliated students at the university said that the attacking police removed the murals and photos of late Palestinian president and Fatah's leader Yasser Arafat before clashing with the students injuring 7 of them.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2008 10:08 ||
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Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
This region is beginning to sound more and more like Iran every day...
But only in the Gaza will displaced photos hold more outrage than senseless murders (earlier in the day.)
Palestinian security forces in the West Bank recently arrested a Hamas cell that planned a suicide attack in Israel, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said Monday. A videotape showing a suicide bomber detailing his intentions to blow up an Israeli target was also seized, Malki said at a news conference.
The announcement came a week before US President George W. Bush visits the region to promote peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The Palestinians are eager to prove that they are fulfilling their obligation to the road map plan to crack down on terrorists as a precondition for final-status negotiations with Israel. "We confiscated huge amounts of mercury in Nablus," Malki told reporters. "This mercury is used for explosives and especially in preparing detonators," he said. Malki refused to elaborate or answer reporters' questions about the incident. He did not show the videotape to reporters or release the name of the alleged bomber.
This article starring:
Riad Malki
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2008 10:08 ||
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Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
could this be a staged? Oh, wait, these are Palestinians, so it's not possible that deception is involved. My cheek is killing me, call a doctor!
Palestinian pilgrims broke windows and set mattresses ablaze at temporary camps in Egypt Monday as relatives rallied across the border in Gaza, demanding their kin be allowed to return through a crossing controlled by Hamas. The pilgrims, who are returning from the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and include some Hamas militants, have rejected Egypt's demands that they enter Gaza through the Israeli-controlled Aouja border crossing. They want to return through Rafah, a direct crossing between Gaza and Egypt where Israel has no control.
The standoff is the latest conflict over efforts by Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority to isolate the Gaza Strip, which Hamas took over in June. Israel fears that if the pilgrims return through Rafah, Hamas members and smuggled cash could slip through. Thousands of Hamas supporters and relatives of the pilgrims gathered at the Gaza-Egypt border in support of their family members. Youngsters threw stones at Egyptian soldiers on the other side, while other protesters chanted, "Open the borders, we want our families back!"
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the pilgrims' case "should be resolved immediately" and appealed to Egypt to let them through the Rafah terminal. Most of the pilgrims are believed to be ordinary citizens, but there are at least 10 well-known Hamas figures among them.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2008 10:07 ||
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[5 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
F*ck em. Bring the bags of cash in so they can be confiscated at Aouja, or sit and rot. Shut off their food, water, and power, and keep the media out.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/01/2008 10:31 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Paleos. They're never happy, no matter where they are. However I have noticed that they are EXPERT demand-makers! And if you need rock-throwing youngsters, look no further.
#4
Bring some ordinance as gifts and sneak through the tunnel. Pssssst! Mum's the word.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/01/2008 13:20 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Large crowds of Hamass supporters = target-rich zone. Why aren't Israel and Egypt taking advantage of it? If I were the Egyptians and someone began trashing my house, I'd break some kneecaps. Egypt needs to come down on these donkeys HARD.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/01/2008 15:10 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Anyone else getting the impression that the street mood during this latest 'holy journey of peace' was even more heated than usual?
COLOMBO - A prominent Sri Lankan opposition Tamil parliamentarian was shot and killed on Tuesday, the military said, as the opposition charged that a lack of security made the government responsible for the death. Main opposition United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian T. Maheshweran was shot at a Hindu temple on Tuesday morning.
The government had reduced his security after he was being critical of the government and the president, so the government should be held responsible for his killing, said UNP general Secretary Tissa Attanayake. Maheshweran was voicing (concern) over the recent abductions of Tamils.
The military said unidentified gunmen shot the parliamentarian while he was in a Hindu temple and police are investigating. Inside the (temple) unidentified gunmen had shot Mr. Maheshweran and it was reported he died after being admitted to the hospital, said Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara. The military said another civilian died after being admitted to the hospital, and seven others were injured from the firing.
Maheshweran, from Sri Lankas minority Tamil community, was a former Hindu Affairs minister and party chief district organiser of the army-held northern Jaffna peninsula. In 2005 Tamil National Alliance member of parliament, Joseph Pararajasingham, was shot and killed at a church in the eastern district of Batticaloa while attending Christmas Eve prayers, and another parliamentarian from the same party, Nadarajha Raviraj, was shot and killed in Colombo a year after.
#1
Gov't reduced his security because he was an asshole, huh? Sounds like if you want to criticize the gov't, don't expect them to protect you while you do it.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/01/2008 10:14 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Miss Lansing is fine -- it takes strong back muscles to maintain that position. But what is that machine on the table?
Wishing y'all a happy, healthy, prosperous year, and a quiet day to start it with. Our high school marching band performed in the Rose Bowl today, which is about as much excitement as we can handle here in Cincinnati. ;-) But good luck to all the Stephenville cowgirls, and may your favourite teams win today!
#14
You're very silly today, RD. But it's a good message.
Off topic: tu3031, you asked the other day what I meant about missionaries in Algeria and moderate Muslims. What I obviously didn't say very well was that perhaps large numbers of them had quietly converted to Christianity, and that's why they weren't protesting the terror done in their name. I didn't see your post until after the midnight roll-over, too late to answer.
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
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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.
Taliban militants attacked a police checkpoint in southern Afghanistan and killed 16 officers, the Interior Ministry said Monday. Seven Afghan police and soldiers were reported dead elsewhere as the country's bloodiest year since the Taliban was deposed from power -- by United States-led forces in 2001 -- drew to a close. 
BRITISH commandos launched a devastating blitz on the Taliban as the evil terrorists held a party to celebrate Benazir Bhuttos murder.
A suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint manned by a group fighting against al-Qaida in Iraq, killing 12 people in one of a series of strikes Monday against the largely Sunni movement singled out by Osama bin Laden as a "disgrace and shame."
A suicide bomber drove a minibus and detonated it near Al-Tarmiya Awakening Council targeting its members, Iraqi security sources said on Monday. The attack took place at a check point controlled by Al-Tarmiya Awakening Council, chairman of the council 
The Iraqi military has launched Monday wide-scale military operations in Babylon, southern Iraq, resulting in the arrest of about 40 gunmen. A security source told KUNA that the Iraqi military has executed an operation in Muwailha area which is part of Alexandria town in Babylon. The raid operation resulted in the seizure of weapon caches, said the source.
Palestinian security forces in the West Bank recently arrested a Hamas cell that planned a suicide attack in Israel, Palestinian Foreign Minister 
COLOMBO - A prominent Sri Lankan opposition Tamil parliamentarian was shot and killed on Tuesday, the military said, as the opposition charged that a lack of security made the government responsible for the death. Main opposition United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian T. Maheshweran was shot at a Hindu temple on Tuesday morning.
