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Lahore suicide kaboom kills at least 20, injures 80
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Afghanistan
Bungled suicide blast injures civilian in Afghanistan
(KUNA) -- Only a civilian was injured in a botched up suicide attack in southern Afghanistan while six members of a family were killed as roof of their house collapsed due to heavy rains and snowfall in the eastern zone of the country on Thursday.

In the first incident, a suicide bomber blew up the explosives fastened to his body in Qalat, capital of the country's Zabul province, police officials and local said.

There was no military or police vehicle in the nearby area, where the explosion took place, said a spokesman for Zabul governor. Taliban militants, who usually claim responsibility for such blasts, so far did not issue any comment.

Earlier, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had informed about the killing of one of soldiers and injuries to another in a landmine blast in the same southern zone.

In eastern Afghanistan, six members of a family were killed as the roof of their house collapsed due to heavy snowfall and rains.

The roof collapse occurred in Nangarhar province, where the rains are lashing several areas over the previous few days.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Update R-Burgers, Currently enroute to A-Stan, as of this writing I'm holed up in Shannon, Ireland because of weather. Fred, I still owe you that piece of marble from Saddams' bedroom, (I haven't forgot) and I'll get you one of those Ha Ka hats while I'm there.

/r Bodyguard
Posted by: Bodyguard || 01/11/2008 3:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Good hunting, Bodyguard, and stay safe. We'll keep you and yours in our prayers until your safe return.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/11/2008 4:34 Comments || Top||

#3  amen and good hunting, Bodyguard. Stay safe!
Posted by: Frank G || 01/11/2008 5:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Go safely and well, Bodyguard!
Posted by: lotp || 01/11/2008 5:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Watch your 0600. Tschüs! Bodyguard
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/11/2008 6:55 Comments || Top||

#6  Two years ago, I run into a number of you folks on a return trip to the States from Shannon. It gave me a great feeling to see you folks in fatigues keeping the peace in the world. God bless, good luck and keep safe.
Posted by: Delphi || 01/11/2008 8:43 Comments || Top||

#7  Take care, buddy. I'll be worrying for you.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 8:44 Comments || Top||

#8  Fred, can you set up a category for "Bodyguard's travel diary" so he can post first person reports as articles instead of comments?

BG, good luck, good hunting, and stay safe.
Posted by: Mike || 01/11/2008 10:24 Comments || Top||

#9  Only a civilian was injured in a botched up suicide attack in southern Afghanistan while six members of a family were killed as roof of their house collapsed due to heavy rains and snowfall in the eastern zone of the country on Thursday.


This is strange: why, exactly, put the news about the 6 people whose house collapsed in with a report about a suicide attack? Are those 6 now counted as casualties in the War on the Taliban, and the "fault" of NATO, a-la the Lancet casualty count?

God bless ya, Bodyguard. You'll be on my prayer list.
Posted by: Ptah || 01/11/2008 10:51 Comments || Top||

#10  Be safe, Bodyguard. Send us some tales when you have a chance.
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/11/2008 10:56 Comments || Top||

#11  Bodyguard, keep safe and keep in touch! If you ever need anything while you're there, drop us a note. You'll have a care package in the return mail!

If the "Brutal Afghan Winter &tm is anything like this year's Colorado winter in the mountains, we may see more deaths from the weather than from the war. Dad used to tell tales of guys freezing to death on both sides during Bastogne, and we know the Germans lost thousands in the Russian winter. Let's hope the talibunnies are the worst affected.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/11/2008 12:42 Comments || Top||

#12  This is strange: why, exactly, put the news about the 6 people whose house collapsed in with a report about a suicide attack?

A news service will typically bundle 2-3 brief stories together, leaving it either to the local editors to sort out or to publish entire.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/11/2008 12:44 Comments || Top||


US to send 3,000 marines to Afghanistan to cover NATO shortfall
Posted by: lotp || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  But total European defence spending at €201bn (£151bn, $297bn) is just 40 per cent of US levels.

Meanwhile, as US taxpayers once again cover their sorry European arsses from oppressive regimes, the dollar plummets againts the €. I think it's high time the policeman be paid, or move him along to more productive, less costly endeavors back home. Let them all eat goat and kneel on rugs the spineless phuechs.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/11/2008 0:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes, even in the 80s when European NATO had a greater population and greater combined GDP than the US, guess who paid the real bill. Yet, they want to be treated as an 'equal' power. Welfare, no matter what form, isn't pretty particularly when the recipients believe it is an entitlement. They can brag about their social welfare net and 'universal' healthcare, but its paid for by both the American taxpayer and the needy in our own country who do without.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/11/2008 10:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Good points, Procopius2k. Cost cutting by ending subsidies to Europe via NATO so we can balance our own budget and help our own needy sounds good to me. Another article at the link also got my attention that it seems we have overlooked. I see the pictures of a stark and barren land, devoid of even roots as the poor Afghans subsisted on them, and had no idea they were rich in mineral resources. If they have one of the world's richest deposits of copper, American companies should be investing in extracting it. We have such a copper shortage, thieves steal the wiring off electrical substations and rob plumbing fixtures from rest areas to sell as scrap. Both Afghanistan and the US need to build up infrastructure and letting the Chinese via the World Bank rape the landscape sounds crazy after the blood investment we have made there.
Posted by: Danielle || 01/11/2008 12:46 Comments || Top||

#4  very much with you danielle, the chinese should not get to reap the rewards of the expenditure of the Us blood and treasure. unfortunately to the lefties and dimwits in this country us companies investing in a-gan copper would be 'colonialism'

we need to put a season on leftards so we can thin the herd.
Posted by: Abu do you love || 01/11/2008 14:03 Comments || Top||


Arabia
30 Killed in Renewed Fighting in Yemen
Government soldiers and Shiite rebels are fighting again in northern Yemen, breaking a 6-month-old cease-fire with clashes that have killed more than 30 people, government officials and rebels said Thursday.

The new bloodshed broke out last week, with Yemeni troops shelling villages in Saada province, a Shiite rebel stronghold, a local government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to journalists.

He said fighting had escalated in the preceding 24 hours, with guerrillas staging dawn attacks on army camps nestled in the nearby Marran mountains. Soldiers responded with artillery, helicopter and tank cannon, he said.

More than 30 people were killed, the official said. An aide to rebel leader Abdel Malak al-Hawthi said at least 12 Shiites — a mix of rebels and civilians — had been killed. He also insisted on speaking anonymously.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Start with a religion that demands the death the those who do not believe the right things in the right way, add an honor/shame culture which sees compromise as surrender, mix it together in a paranoid tribal society armed to the teeth and watch the fun begin.
Posted by: Baba Tutu || 01/11/2008 2:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Baba Tutu - you just described some 60 nations from North Africa, through the Muddled East and South Asia to Indonesia, plus pockets of stupidity in other places all over Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas. Problem is, they wish to impose this "fun" upon the rest of the world, which cannot be tolerated. The more that kill themselves without harming the rest of us, the better. Maybe we need to give all sides more ammo...
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/11/2008 12:55 Comments || Top||


Saudi Arabia detains activist ahead of Bush visit
Saudi Arabia has detained another reform activist, a colleague said on Thursday, in the latest of a series of measures against government critics ahead of a visit by US President George W Bush. Muhammad al-Bijadi was detained by state security police in the northern town of Buraida on Wednesday, Matruk al-Faleh told Reuters. Bijadi was previously held for three months over his role in two protests by women over the indefinite detention of their husbands, Faleh said.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
Rab man injured in gunfight with drug dealers
A member of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and a drug peddler were injured during a gunfight between the law enforcers and a gang of drug dealers in the city's Badda area last night. The Rab arrested the wounded criminal with 200 Yaba tablets and a revolver with four bullets.

Major Haider of Rab-1 was bullet-hit during the gunfight and was rushed to Combined Medical Hospital while drug peddler Shah Alam was admitted to Orthopaedic Hospital at Sher-e-Banglanagar in the city.

Rab-1 officials said Rab personnel and police went to raid a drug den on the Badda Link Road at about 8:30pm. Sensing the presence of the law enforcers, the armed drug dealers opened fire on them. The law enforcers also retaliated.

During the gunfight, both Maj Haider and Shah Alam received bullets in their legs. At one stage, the criminals fled leaving the injured Shah Alam.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'll do it. What's Yaba?
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/11/2008 8:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Yaba = meth
Posted by: Glolurong Jones1696 || 01/11/2008 9:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Yaba a dabable do ya.
Posted by: Thomas Woof || 01/11/2008 12:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Rab man injured in gunfight with drug dealers

Any Speed 'ill Kil-Ya, Yes-It-Do

But Ifn-iT Be a-Yaba An-a Daba-Doo-Ya Speed

It'll Daba-Daba-Yaba Doo-Ya, EVin-Faster

Like Kill-Ya YaBa-DaBa Double-Doo Ya Fast

Then They'LL NeVer Even Find Ya Bubba

BeCause Yaba-Daba-Will Double-Doo-Ya Yaba-Daba-Doo!
Posted by: RD || 01/11/2008 21:03 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Colombia rebels free two hostages from jungle
With tears, smiles and long hugs, two women hostages were freed by Colombia's Marxist rebels on Thursday after years in the jungle, raising hopes for dozens more languishing in secret camps. In a Venezuela-brokered deal, a helicopter flew deep into Colombia to pick up former vice-presidential candidate Clara Rojas and ex-congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez, and ferried them back across the border where a plane took them to Caracas.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I like Russell Crowe's "Proof of Life" method better.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/11/2008 3:22 Comments || Top||

#2  I think it was these women who've been held captive for six years. Does anyone here confirm/deny? Thanks!
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/11/2008 8:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Transferred from one criminal den if iniquity to another. Don't rightly call that "free". We'll see what Oogo does.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/11/2008 12:55 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia forces kill 6 rebels in Dagestan
Russian troops have killed six rebels during a special forces operation in Dagestan, an interior ministry spokesman said on Thursday. "It was part of a major operation against the militants," the spokesman said. The operation took place in the Tabasaransky region of southern Dagestan, a mainly Muslim area on the border with Chechnya.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Chechen Republic of Ichkeria


Europe
Security alert as Islamists theaten Paris mayor
Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe has been given extra security protection after an Islamist website used by Al-Qaeda members listed him as a target, police said on Wednesday. A police source said Delanoe's protection had been "slightly reinforced", although he said the "threats are not specific and do not come from a site linked directly to Al-Qaeda."

The Socialist mayor, who is strongly tipped for reelection in March, said he was informed on Saturday of the threat, picked up by a US agency that monitors Al-Qaeda messages on the Internet. It lists Paris and its mayor as targets for attacks, with the aim of provoking the downfall of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Posted by: Seafarious || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The crocodile wants to eat a leftie first, whenever expedient!
Posted by: twobyfour || 01/11/2008 0:13 Comments || Top||

#2  ....."threats are not specific and do not come from a site linked directly to Al-Qaeda."

Angry Huguenots most likely. One can never be entirely sure.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/11/2008 1:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Burning cars is no longer enough?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/11/2008 5:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Red Ken must be next on their list.
Posted by: Black Bart Clomock6784 || 01/11/2008 7:06 Comments || Top||

#5  He's already been attacked once:

(In 2002) Delanoe was stabbed by a deranged homophobe as he presided over an all-night cultural party at city hall. He was rushed to hospital suffering a single stab wound to his abdomen. Doctors at Pitie-Salpetriere hospital operated on Delanoe for more than three hours. He would spend nearly a month in hospital.
Posted by: ryuge || 01/11/2008 7:15 Comments || Top||

#6  Is this really news?

News would be: "Islamists Say Nothing Threatening to Paris Mayor"
Posted by: Captain Lewis || 01/11/2008 8:09 Comments || Top||

#7  Remember that the French, unlike some others, have no sense of humor about terrorists or "Asians", and will imprison the former for many years and kick out the latter in large numbers if provoked.

The one exception is that if they are destroying their own ghettos, the French will let them.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 01/11/2008 9:27 Comments || Top||

#8  Ryge, the perp was an out-of-job arab muslim programmer, creepy-looking enough that I once found his pic in an ugly people website.

By the way, one rightwing nickname for the homosexual delanoë (one really despisable french pol from the worst socialist tripe) is "la trouée de l'islam", or "la percée de l'islam", that is "the breakthrough of islam/the (woman) stabbed by islam". Hé hé.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 01/11/2008 11:27 Comments || Top||

#9  Dog bites man.
Posted by: Excalibur || 01/11/2008 14:28 Comments || Top||


Belgian court jails Iraq suicide bomb recruiters
A Belgian court convicted five Islamist militants on Thursday of belonging to a group that recruited suicide bombers in Belgium to go abroad, including a female convert who blew herself up in Iraq.

Belgian Bilal Soughir, the only accused currently in detention, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for being the ringleader of a terrorist organization. "Bilal deliberately assisted terrorist circles in Iraq," presiding judge Pierre Hendrickx told the court. He said the network aimed to help impose a radical vision of Islam rather than simply freeing Iraq from U.S. occupation. "This whole case is steeped in a climate of religious intolerance," he said.

Muriel Degauque, a 38-year-old Muslim convert dubbed the "Belgian kamikaze" by the media, blew herself up near a U.S. patrol in November 2005 in what was believed to be the first suicide attack by a European woman in Iraq.

Soughir denied being aware of her plans despite tapped phones conversations in which he welcomed news of her death. Degauque came from a working-class family in the economically depressed region around Charleroi. Her partner, Issam Goris, was killed by U.S. forces in Iraq a day after her suicide attack. Of the four men tried in absentia, Pascal Cruypenninck, another Belgian convert to Islam, was sentenced to five years. He was accused of trying to enlist his girlfriend, a 17-year-old Rwandan, to carry out a suicide attack in Iraq with him.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Europe

#1  Belgian Court sentences Bilal Soughir to 10 years in prison for being the ringleader of a terrorist organization.

Both Cultures are Doomed...

One is Rabid and Savage,

The other has inexplicably failed to recognize the extent of mortal danger all around it, and thus has failed to confront its enemies fully, even capitulating so not to meet the god damn bastards.

At this rate, they have but to exercise apathy then atrophy till the end.

:)
Posted by: RD || 01/11/2008 1:45 Comments || Top||


"Suitcase bombers" wanted to blow up World Cup stadium
Two Lebanese involved in a foiled attempt to blow up German trains in July 2006 originally planned to target a football stadium used for the World Cup shortly beforehand, a court heard Thursday.

But the pair gave up their plan because of the tight security in operation for the mammoth event, a senior police officer said at the trial of one of the men in Dusseldorf.

Youssef al-Hajj Dib is charged with attempted multiple murder for his role in the failed attack. In December, he was convicted by a court in Lebanon, which sentenced him to death in absentia, commuted to an effective 21 years. His co-conspirator, Jihad Hammad, 22, was given 12 years.

The suitcase bombs, had they detonated, could have caused carnage on the scale seen in Madrid in March 2004 and in London in July 2005.

The police officer told the court he had been told of the original plan by Hammad when he interviewed him in Lebanon.

Hammad left him in no doubt that they wanted to kill "as many people as possible."
The witness also contradicted claims by al-Hajj Dib's defence that the young men deliberately designed the bombs not to detonate, intending only to scare the German public.

He said Hammad left him in no doubt that they wanted to kill "as many people as possible."

During the Beirut trial, Hammad admitted in court that their action had been a protest against the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed originally published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten in September 2005.

The two men built the bombs using designs they found on the Internet, placed them in the suitcases and went together to Cologne station on July 31, 2006.

They took trains in opposite directions, left the bombs on board and set about leaving the country. Neither bomb exploded.

Al-Hajj Dib, who was arrested at Kiel railway station in northern Germany in August 2006, is reported to have shared an apartment in Cologne with Hammad just weeks before the attempted bombings.

German police said the two Lebanese men, dubbed the "suitcase bombers" by the German press, had assembled the devices wrongly. Had there not been errors in the bombs' construction, the explosions near the cities of Hamm and Koblenz would have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people.


Posted by: lotp || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Attempted mass murder=12 years.

Words fail.
Posted by: Baba Tutu || 01/11/2008 3:06 Comments || Top||

#2  Act of war = two bullets = more than these two deserve.
Posted by: Excalibur || 01/11/2008 14:23 Comments || Top||

#3  They took trains in opposite directions, left theThe two men built the bombs using designs they found on the Internet, placed them in the suitcases and went together to Cologne station on July 31, 2006. bombs on board and set about leaving the country. Neither bomb exploded.

Ahhh, two more Muslim "scholars"...
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/11/2008 15:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Kinda makes me wonder if the "Internet Designs" are deliberately faulty?

I used to be a Macgyver fan until he wired a bomb in a way i knew would NOT work, after that I watched more closely and discovered that ALL his makeshift devices had a flaw that anyone copying them would fail.

Very disappointing, lost interest in his show shortly after that discovery.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/11/2008 19:35 Comments || Top||

#5  No, I ain't telling what made that bomb trigger NOT work. Either you are a good enough tinkerer/electrician to see it yourself or not, and if not, happy hands off to you.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/11/2008 19:38 Comments || Top||

#6  I used to be a Macgyver fan until he wired a bomb in a way i knew would NOT work, after that I watched more closely and discovered that ALL his makeshift devices had a flaw that anyone copying them would fail.

Ever think that the flaw might be on purpose?
Posted by: Pappy || 01/11/2008 21:36 Comments || Top||

#7  YNETNEWS > THAI COMPABY [ThaiCom]TO BEGIN BROADCASTING HIZBULLAH PROGRAMS.

Clearly its the German sauerkraut thats going such frivolous sectarian behavior/probs for the Thai Govt.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/11/2008 22:45 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Suicide kaboom kills at least 20 and injures dozens of others
(AKI) - A suicide bomber has killed at least 20 people and injured more than 50 others in the Pakistani city of Lahore. Police said the bomber targeted a group of police officers outside the High Court before a protest rally by local lawyers opposed to President Pervez Musharraf. Television footage at the scene showed wounded policemen and civilians lying on the street, while others were taken to local hospitals by ambulance.

City police chief Malik Mohammad told local Pakistani network, Geo TV, that most of the victims were police. Early reports said the bomber was riding a motorcycle and blew himself when police asked him to stop, but other sources said the bomb was placed in the area. Media reports said Lahore hospitals had declared a public emergency and appealed for urgent blood donations. There were fears that the death toll would rise.

The attack is the latest example of the current political upheaval in Pakistan following the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on December 27. Police have not yet established who was responsible for the attack but there was speculation that the Taliban from the tribal areas of Waziristan could be behind the bombing.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Firing, blast in Pakistani city wound nine
(KUNA) -- At least nine people were wounded, four of them critically, in a firing and blast incident Thursday evening in Pakistani Southwestern city of Baluchistan province, said police.

Unknown gunmen opened fire at a gathering of few persons in Esa Nagri town of Quetta city, a local senior police officer, Rehmat ullah Niazi, told media. When other people came to their rescue, he said, gunmen hurled a hand-grenade at them. He said at least six persons were wounded in the incident. However, police sources confirmed to KUNA that nine persons were wounded and four of them were in critical condition.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


600-strong tribal Lashkar to 'protect peace'
Members of the Pashtun Ahmedzai Wazir tribe on Thursday raised a 600- strong Lashkar (tribal militia) to “protect peace in the area”, elders and eyewitnesses said. “It is in our common interest to work for peace,” Amir of local Taliban Maulvi Nazir told an Ahmedzai Wazir jirga in Wana, three days after two simultaneous attacks on his offices left 10 of his men dead.

The jirga would mandate the Lashkar in a meeting on Friday, tribal elders told Daily Times. According to tribal traditions, Lashkars are raised to take a unified position against a common threat.

Threat to peace: Taliban commander Matta Khan said the threat was from “the commanders who fought for Uzbek militants when Maulvi Nazir led a popular uprising against them in April last year”. He blamed “people like Ghulam Jan” of “plotting against peace in our area” and for the attacks on two offices of Maulvi Nazir in Wana and Shakai Valley last week.

“Wazir tribesmen sheltering the foreigners must now give them up,” Reuters quoted tribal elder Meetha Khan as saying. “The lashkar will give two options to those sheltering the foreigners, either to stop sheltering them and return to their tribe, or face the eviction of their families from the area,” Khan said.

The Zalikhel tribe that makes up half of Ahmedzai Wazirs was under fire from the jirga participants being asked to clarify its position on militant commanders who oppose Maulvi Nazir, a witness said. Witnesses told Daily Times no speaker at the jirga named Baitullah Mehsud as the prime suspect. Pakistan has blamed the leader from the Mehsud tribe, based in South Waziristan, for a recent wave of suicide attacks, many on security forces. The government has said Baitullah Mehsud was also responsible for assassinating Pakistan People’s Party chairwoman Benazir Bhutto on December 27.

The Wazir militia, Reuters said, is expected to operate only in the Wazir tribal area, and would thus have little or no impact on Mehsud and the Al Qaeda allies in his area. Thousands of foreign militants, including Arabs, Chechens and Uzbeks, fled to Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal lands after US-led forces ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, a Reuters report said. It says the militants were given refuge by the Pashtun tribes who live on both sides of the porous border. “But relations between some of the tribesmen and their foreign guests began to break down last year when tribesmen, with the backing of the Pakistani military, turned against foreign militants after they had tried to kill a tribal elder,” it said. “About 300 foreign militants and up to 40 Pakistani tribal fighters were killed in days of clashes that followed.”
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Forces detain 7 TNSM activists in Swat
Security forces on Thursday raided the house of a Tehreek Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) activist and arrested him along with his six companions, sources said. Muhammad Iqbal, nazim-e-aala of the defunct TNSM, was sitting in his hujra along with his companions when security forces stormed his house at Fateh Pur and arrested him and his friends. Security forces also seized arms from their possession. Iqbal is considered to be an important aide of TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: TNSM


Iraq
Coalition forces capture Special Groups facilitator
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces captured a suspected Special Groups facilitator early Thursday during operations to disrupt criminal element networks in the Baghdad area.

The targeted individual reportedly facilitated the training of numerous criminals in the use and construction of explosively formed penetrators in the Khan Bani Said area and in Baghdad. He was reportedly a weapons facilitator and arranged for the transportation and storage of EFPs and rocket propelled grenades. The wanted individual was also reported to be an associate of several other senior-level criminal element leaders who were involved in attacks on Coalition forces.

Intelligence led ground forces to the target location where they captured the wanted individual without incident.

“Coalition forces welcome al-Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr’s cease-fire, but we will continue to target any criminal group not honoring this pledge,” said Maj. Winfield Danielson, MNF-I spokesman. “Each successful operation brings us one step closer to a secure future for Iraq.”
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/11/2008 15:26 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Isn't that "special"?...
Posted by: mojo || 01/11/2008 15:56 Comments || Top||


Hogan, I see nothing, nooothing
ASSOUAD BARZANI, Iraq (AFP) - Four men are lined up along an earthen wall in a Sunni village north of Baghdad as US soldiers quiz them about Al-Qaeda.

"There is no Al-Qaeda here," says one suspect. "But I can give you the names of Shiite militias" in a neighbouring village.

Around 40 US soldiers arrived by helicopter early in the morning in the poor village of Assouad Barzani, around 80 kilometres (50 miles) northeast of Baghdad.

The hamlet is in the heart of territory infiltrated by fighters of the Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and has been caught up for more than a year in sectarian violence pitting Sunnis and Shiites against each other.

Another 100 or so troops have taken up positions around the village of mud houses, which lack running water or electricity, close to where a large cache of weapons had been discovered a few days earlier.

Captain Mike Stinchfield of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment leads a suspect in his 20s through the courtyard of a house where hens roam freely into a room with bare and dirty walls.

Questioned about Al-Qaeda, the suspect, Salah Mahdi, swears he knows nothing. There is "nobody" from the extremist network in the village, he says gesticulating with his arms.

"The problem is the Mahdi Army," he says, referring to the militia of radical anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Assouad Barzani, according to its inhabitants, is regularly the target of rocket attacks and automatic gunfire from a nearby village dominated by the Mahdi Army. And people can't leave the village without fear of being attacked.

But a vantage point on an embankment overlooking the neighbouring Shiite village shows that the residents of Assouad Barzani "can also fire," says Stinchfield.

Just then, small arms fire targets the US troops. In angry reply, they send some mortar rounds into the field from where the firing came.

"Do you know why we are here? To ensure your safety," Stinchfield, 37, tells the four suspects.

"We are happy with the presence of the Americans. It is when you leave that the Mahdi Army attacks us," says Salah Mahdi, his head lowered. Like most men in the village, he is illiterate and without work.

Stinchfield sighs. "It is really very complicated. We are in the middle of a sectarian conflict here benefiting Al-Qaeda, which poses as a defender of the Sunnis."

As for the Iraqi police force and the army, Sabah Kifah, another of the suspects, asserts they are "controlled by Mahdi Army."

He asks the captain to create a village anti-Qaeda "Awakening" group similar to those being formed by the US military across the country, comprising locals on the American payroll who patrol the streets and control checkpoints.

The deserted village of Assouad Sadrani, a few hundred metres (yards) away, testifies to the combat which rocked the area. Scores of houses have been gutted by shells or by fire. None is left intact.

Stinchfield says the village was destroyed after its occupants fled.

"According to the report that I have, the Iraqi army last summer fought Al-Qaeda here. The civilians had already left the village. There was some air support from our forces," the captain says.

Graffiti on a wall, signed by "the Islamic State of Iraq", accuses Moqtada al-Sadr, whose militia has been observing a ceasefire since the end of August, and Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of having "destroyed" Iraq.

The four suspects are released and now it is the turn of the mayor of the nearby Sunni village of Kadir, suspected of supporting Al-Qaeda, to be questioned by the US soldiers.

They march into the bedroom of 58-year-old Dakhil Mansour with their muddy boots.

"There is no Al-Qaeda here. If there are caches of weapons, I don't know about them. I may be the mayor but I am not responsible for what happens outside my home," Mansour says pleadingly, closing his eyes.

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  If you are "Mayor" Mansour, then you are responsible for the entire township.
Posted by: newc || 01/11/2008 0:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Oh, so we ARE caught in the middle of a 'civil war' or 'sectairan strife'. No need for troops here; we can redeploy to Germany, Japan, and South Korea. Or maybe Kosovo.
Posted by: Bobby || 01/11/2008 6:11 Comments || Top||

#3  i'm not against the war but redeploy home since we are not wanted in the rest of those countries. I kosovo had been left alon by the US then our now enemy the muslims would have been wiped out their and been far less extremist
Posted by: sinse || 01/11/2008 6:49 Comments || Top||

#4  I am reminded of a book I read about cannibalism. When anthropologists went to one village and asked if they were cannibals, they said "no, but that other tribe next door is". So they went to that village and asked if they were cannibals. They replied "no, but that first tribe is."

But having looked around, the anthropologists duly noted that both tribes practiced cannibalism.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 01/11/2008 9:11 Comments || Top||

#5  "There is no Al-Qaeda here. If there are caches of weapons, I don't know about them. I may be the mayor but I am not responsible for what happens outside my home," Mansour says pleadingly, closing his eyes.

When metaphor and reality meet.
Posted by: charger || 01/11/2008 11:02 Comments || Top||

#6  It's not me, it's not thee, it's the man behind the tree!
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/11/2008 14:51 Comments || Top||


General: Anbar ready for handover
WASHINGTON - Iraq's western province of Anbar, origin of the Sunni Arab insurgency that arose in the early months of U.S. occupation, will be returned to Iraqi control in March, a senior U.S. general said Thursday.

Thus far, nine of 18 Iraqi provinces have reverted to Iraqi control, most recently the southern province of Basra in December. The process has gone substantially slower than the Bush administration once hoped, mainly because of obstacles to developing sufficient Iraqi police and army forces. But Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that he expects the process to continue.

Marine Maj. Gen. Walter E. Gaskin, commander of the roughly 35,000 Marine and Army forces in Anbar, said levels of violence have dropped so significantly — coupled with the growth and development of Iraqi security forces in the province — that Anbar is ready to be handed back to the Iraqis.

He said in a telephone interview that a provincial security committee under Anbar's governor has been established and has rehearsed procedures for handling any security crisis that might develop.

Under a plan accepted by the Iraqi government as well as the top two American authorities in Iraq — Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus — the U.S. military will transfer control of Anbar to provincial authorities in March, followed by a ceremony in April, Gaskin said.

"We all agree that, based on the requirements, Anbar will be ready by that time," Gaskin said, speaking from his Multi-National Force West headquarters in Fallujah, about 25 west of Baghdad.

At a Pentagon news conference, Gates ticked of a list of statistical indicators of security improvements in many parts of Iraq. He did not mention the plan to return Anbar to Iraqi control in March, but did say the province has seen a remarkable turnaround on the security front over the past year.

"Anbar province, once considered a stronghold of al-Qaida, has been reclaimed for the Iraqi people," Gates said.

Visiting Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi, appearing with Gates, also mentioned the turnaround in Anbar. He asserted that the situation has improved to the point where Iraqi forces are able to fight on their own, although that is a view not shared by U.S. commanders.

"I can say that Anbar province, which was the hottest area of Iraq, does not now need any (U.S.) forces," the Iraqi minister said, speaking through an interpreter.

As recently as 18 months ago Anbar was the central stronghold of al-Qaida in Iraq, the shadowy insurgent group that U.S. officials say is largely led by foreign terrorists but populated mainly by Iraqis.

What recently has developed into a broadbased backlash against al-Qaida among Iraq's Sunni Arab community began in Anbar in late 2006. Americans recruited Sunni sheiks to help oust al-Qaida from their home turf, and the movement spread to former militants who once fought U.S. and Iraqi soldiers.

Gaskin, who is scheduled to return to his home base at Camp Lejeune, N.C., in February when he is replaced by Marine Maj. Gen. John Kelly from Camp Pendleton, Calif., arrived in Anbar in February 2007. That was a turning point in the security situation in the provincial capital of Ramadi. The city is now largely pacified — a state of affairs that few would have predicted a year ago.

Referring to the decision to return all of Anbar to Iraqi provincial control in March, Gaskin, recalling the unsettled situation he faced when first arriving, said, "I didn't expect it to happen so fast."

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Just needs a final rinse and a little light starching.
Posted by: Seafarious || 01/11/2008 0:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Just you wait! The ineffective, vicious US troops will depart and the clever, adaptable, heroic insurgents will ... well, resurge. Then we'll be able to return to 'the war is lost' theme.

Posted by: Bobby speaking for the MSM || 01/11/2008 6:41 Comments || Top||


Abu Ghraib officer cleared
The Army has thrown out the conviction of the only officer court-martialed in the Abu Ghraib scandal, bringing an end to the four-year investigation and drawing complaints from human rights activists of a Pentagon whitewash.

Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan was cleared this week of any criminal wrongdoing by Maj. Gen. Richard J. Rowe, commander of the Military District of Washington. Jordan was instead given an administrative reprimand, a blot on his record.

Barring any startling new information, the decision means no officers or civilian leaders will be held criminally responsible for the prisoner abuse that embarrassed the U.S. military and inflamed the Muslim world.

Jordan, 51, of Fredericksburg, Va., was acquitted at his court-martial in August of charges he failed to supervise the 11 lower-ranking soldiers convicted for their roles in the abuse, which included the photographing of Iraqi prisoners in painful and sexually humiliating positions.

But he was found guilty of disobeying an order not to talk about the investigation, and the jury recommended a criminal reprimand, the lightest possible punishment.

Maj. Kris Poppe, Jordan's attorney, said he argued that Jordan "faced these very serious charges for a long period of time, that he had been found not guilty of any offense related to the abuse of detainees, and that he had a stellar record."

Rowe agreed.

"In light of the nature of the offense that Jordan had been found guilty of committing and the substantial evidence in mitigation at trial and in post-trial matters submitted by defense counsel, Rowe determined that an administrative reprimand was a fair and appropriate disposition of the matter," Joanna P. Hawkins, a military spokeswoman, said in a statement.

Eugene R. Fidell, a Washington lawyer who specializes in military law, said the decision was not at all surprising. If disobeying an order had been the only charge against Jordan, the matter almost certainly would not have gone to a court-martial, Fidell said.
Posted by: lotp || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  yeah just ruined his career over bullshit
Posted by: sinse || 01/11/2008 6:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Barring any startling new information, the decision means no officers or civilian leaders will be held criminally responsible for the prisoner abuse

Gee, down in Albuquerque, six months later, the guards at the city/county lockup didn't haze the prisoners, but beat the hell out of them, sending several to the hospital. The guards were fired and faced criminal charges. The supervisors and the management above the shift paid no price for the acts of these people. And American public wasn't drowned in 24/7 news coverage of the affair. Could have it been because all the people above were Donks? No, that would be too cynical.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/11/2008 8:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Jordan was instead given an administrative reprimand, a blot on his record.

Kiss them eagles goodbye, Mr. RIF...
Posted by: mojo || 01/11/2008 10:38 Comments || Top||

#4  So as long as you don't try to stall the investigation, it is OK to put panties on muzzies' heads.........
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 01/11/2008 14:03 Comments || Top||


Bomb kills two Iraqi soldiers, injures one
(KUNA) -- Two Iraqi soldiers were killed while another was injured when an IED exploded near their military convey patrolling areas in southern Kirkuk, a city in northern Iraq, said a security source Thursday.

A source at Kirkuk's police told KUNA that the bombing occurred in Al-Rashad area south of Kirkuk. Meanwhile, the source revealed that security measures were tightened around the city's churches after Wednesday's bombings which targeted several Christian worship areas in the city. On other developments, the Multi-National Force (MNF) has released Amir Abdullah who is a former Huwaija city official after he was apprehended by coalition and Iraqi forces.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


Three policemen killed, 12 wounded in Baghdad twin blasts
(KUNA) -- Three policemen were killed and 12 wounded in twin coordinated blasts that struck Al-Saadoun street at the centre of the Iraqi capital on Thursday, police sources said. "An IED (improvised explosive device) in an abandoned car on Al-Saadoun street went off at 8 a.m. local time claiming no casualties," a police officer told KUNA at the scene.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the officer added that after police and military forces from a nearby checkpoint arrived at the scene, another IED placed just 15 metres away, exploded claiming the lives of three policemen and injuring 12 police and military personnel. Al-Saadoun is one of central Baghdad's busiest streets where fixed and mobile checkpoints are placed around the clock.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades attack Israeli position with mortar fire
(KUNA) -- Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah movement said on Thursday it bombed an Israeli military site with mortar fire. The Brigades said in a statement that its fighters fired three mortar shells towards the zionist military Migen near Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza Strip.

According to the statement, the attack was carried out despite the presence of intense enemy planes in the Gaza Strip's skies. The zionist artillery fired back at the location, adding that the fighters have returned to their bases unharmed.

The Brigades said that the bombing came in retaliation for the blood of martyrs and the wounded, and in response for to the repeated incursions against "our people and an affirmation of the approach of jihad and resistance until the occupiers are defeated."
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Aqsa Martyrs


Gunmen attack school with guns to vent anger at Bush's tour
(KUNA) -- Gunmen burst into building of the American School in the north of Gaza early on Thursday and opened fire in it before disappearing, according to local radio stations. The gunmen, upon arrival at the school, compelled the porter to stay in his room, before storming the main building and opening fire in the rooms with automatic guns and rocket-propelled grenades, causing extensive damage.

The radio stations did not reveal identity of the attackers whose assault coincided with a regional tour by US President George W Bush. Yesterday, Islamic factions declared firing rockets in the direction of Israel in retaliation for Bush's mission.

Management of the school declared that classes would not be open for the day as a result of the attack. Most foreign teachers at the school, including a number of American nationals, left Gaza early this year after some of them were kidnapped and faced threats. The school, in May last year, was damaged in bomb blasts that set fires and inflicted heavy damage. The school, located on the beach near the town of Beit Lahia, was opened in 1999. It is now run by Palestinian staff.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Hopefully the injuries to the American school were fatal and no further attempt at western sponsored education is attempted in this century.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/11/2008 0:32 Comments || Top||

#2  What else would you expect from the Palestinian Terror-tories?
Posted by: Bobby || 01/11/2008 6:48 Comments || Top||

#3  never heard of an armed school before? something unique to that part of the world, or perhaps (another) a case of sloppy editing?????
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 01/11/2008 14:05 Comments || Top||

#4  "Gunmen Attack School With Guns"??!

REWRITE!...
Posted by: mojo || 01/11/2008 17:13 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
VIDEO Animation of F-15 Crash in Missouri
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 01/11/2008 11:54 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Four Thai soldiers injured in two bombings
Terrorists Insurgents detonated a bomb inside a school, injuring two soldiers and terrifying about 140 students there. Police said the terrorists insurgents hid a homemade bomb at a tree near a school building and detonated it while two soldiers were near the spot.

Fortunately, all students were studying in classes so none of them were injured. But the young students screamed and cried because they were terrified by the sound of explosion. Following the explosion, the school management decided to close the school indefinitely because teachers feared for their safety.

Plus:

Two soldiers were severely wounded in a roadside bombing in Pattani Thursday. Privates Witthaya Saisaengkaew and Phatthanachai Patduang were rushed to hospital after the remote controlled bomb blew up in Yarang district. Two other soldiers were unscathed. The four soldiers were patrolling a road and stopped at a rest area where the bomb was hidden and detonated.
Posted by: ryuge || 01/11/2008 06:33 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US Navy says it fired warning shots
Looks like this game of chicken's been going on for awhile...
CAIRO, Egypt - The U.S. Navy said Friday that one of its ships fired warning shots at a small Iranian boat in the Strait of Hormuz in December during one of two serious encounters that month.

The USS Whidbey Island fired the warning shots on Dec. 19 in response to a small Iranian boat that was rapidly approaching it, said a U.S. Navy official. "One small (Iranian) craft was coming toward it, and it stopped after the Whidbey Island fired warning shots," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. It was the first official confirmation that the United States had fired warning shots in any recent confrontation with Iran in the Gulf.

In the second incident that month, the USS Carr encountered three small Iranian craft on Dec. 22, two of which were armed, said the official. The USS Carr did not fire warning shots, but sent warning blasts on the ships whistle, which caused the boats to turn around.

The reports come a day after the United States lodged a formal diplomatic protest with Iran over an incident Sunday in which Iranian speedboats harassed U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf.

Adm. William J. Fallon, the top U.S. military commander in the Mideast, said Friday that Iran runs the risk of triggering an unintended conflict if its boats continue to harass U.S. warships in the strait.
I would take it that that's their warning?
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/11/2008 16:32 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Translation - 'There will be no more warning shots...'
Posted by: Raj || 01/11/2008 17:05 Comments || Top||

#2  The next warning shot will be through the bow of the Iranian ship.

"You have been shot and are starting to sink. Please abandon ship or you will be shot again."
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/11/2008 17:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Talk, talk.

Recent "incident" wasn't. Didn't happen guys. Fairy tale you're all too happy to propagate.

Read all the news not just that that fits your bombing fetish.
Posted by: didnthappenfools || 01/11/2008 17:22 Comments || Top||

#4  didnthappenfools - why do you say it didn't happen?
Posted by: Glomogum Sproing2991 || 01/11/2008 17:26 Comments || Top||

#5  I would not recommend that Iran pursue this direction…

In light of the horrors of International Terror; unnecessary maneuvers during war and Nuclear Treaty resistance... are their two WORST cards!
And with memories of USS Cole (met with a small boat) they could likely be
Some of their last pursuits.


Posted by: MB || 01/11/2008 17:32 Comments || Top||

#6  Ah. So we're fools.

I, for one, am swayed by the gentleman's elegant phraseology, politeness and command of the facts.

As if on cue, just read this on The Professor's blog.

Posted by: Gabby Cussworth || 01/11/2008 17:32 Comments || Top||

#7  Let me try to follow the logic of the Iranians/skeptics here. The event didn't happen as the USN described, or didn't happen at all - allegedly akin to the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Or the USN doctored the video or recordings or intentions of the small boats. Thus, the warnings or defensive actions are unnecessary or actually provocative in reverse. And the continuing discussion only fans the flames and is a set up for future stronger actions.

OK - if that's close to what the current speculation is, what happens if the USN simply destroys the next such small boat visitors, and does so without comment, without announcement, without publicity, and perhaps even rescues the survivors, if any, and drops them off at the nearest dry land.

What then, international outrage? At what, a non-existing reply to a non-existing threat? Maybe the USN can play this game as well, which seems to be what Adm. Fallon didn't say, since of course the Iranians wouldn't want to trigger an unintended conflict over the loss of the next small boat approaching within five nm of transiting USN vessels.


Just sayin . . .
Posted by: Halliburton - Non-Existing Small Boat Division || 01/11/2008 18:13 Comments || Top||

#8  From Youtube - claims to be an Iranian UAV video of US carrier
Posted by: 3dc || 01/11/2008 18:14 Comments || Top||

#9  Give RuPaul and Alex Jones my regards.
Posted by: doc || 01/11/2008 18:33 Comments || Top||

#10  Ok didnthappenfools, Kevin Sullivan is far more civil than I.

Such a case of BDS takes exceptional levels of gall and gullibility. Not only does it require you to ignore the Shi’a tradition of Taqiyya, but essentially requires you to believe in a massive top-to-bottom conspiracy that runs from the White House all the way down to the sailors themselves. Evasive measures were taken in order to account for these little “cigarette” boats. Such activity must be recorded, documented and approved for transparency. This would require the kind of coordinated conspiracy that would make a Truther proud. But I suppose reason is the first casualty to such a blurring hatred. Your president is a liar, your government is comprised of liars and the men and women serving for your protection are a bunch of liars, too. Who do we believe? Well, Ahmadinejad and his advisors, of course.

The incident in the Hormuz may well have been minor, a prank even. But the sailors reacted appropriately in our defense and theirs.
Posted by: doc || 01/11/2008 18:40 Comments || Top||

#11  BBC > US-IRAN STANDOFF NOT MERE PROPAGANDA. Fear of USS VICENNES = Iran Airliner Shootdown incidennt redux? Plus, TOPIX > US ADMIRAL SAYS IRAN GUNBOATS INCIDENT SHOWS SHIFT IN IRAN TACTICS/STRATEGY.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/11/2008 19:55 Comments || Top||

#12  ION, WAFF > DEFENSE NEWS - RUSSIA'S WARSHISP RE-ESTABLIS A GLOBAL PRESENCE; + RIAN > RUSSIA'S ARM BIZ WOES IN 2008 PART I. Higher production rates, more and varied TOPOL-M strategic missle units, but still low on cash.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/11/2008 20:44 Comments || Top||

#13  What didn't happen was what was reported to have happened. So, something happened but it actually was nothing ... . I believe they call it yellow journalism or gullible journalists or just plain old sensationalism. Gotta pull in the slobs right? Give them something sexy even if utterly false.

Google this (you can find the interviewee so that you have to work for your ad hominem slur):

"Well, this alleged crisis or confrontation on the high seas is really much less than what met the eyes of the American public as it was reported by news media. And the story really began from leaks from the Pentagon. I mean, there were Pentagon officials apparently calling reporters and telling them that something had happened in the Strait of Hormuz, which represented a threat to American ships and that there was a near battle on the high seas. The way it was described to reporters, it was made to appear to be a major threat to the ships and a major threat of war. And that’s the way it was covered by CNN, by CBS and other networks, as well as by print media.


Then I think the next major thing that happened was a briefing by the commander of the 5th fleet in Bahrain, the Vice Admiral Kevin Cosgriff, which is very interesting. If you look carefully at the transcript, which was not reported accurately by the media, or not reported at all practically, the commander—or rather, Vice Admiral Cosgriff actually makes it clear that the ships were never in danger, that they never believed they were in danger, and that they were never close to firing on the Iranian boats. And this is the heart of what actually happened, which was never reported by the US media.


So I think that the major thing to really keep in mind about this is that it was blown up into a semi-crisis by the Pentagon and that the media followed along very supinely. And I must say this is perhaps the worst—the most egregious case of sensationalist journalism in the service of the interests of the Pentagon, the Bush administration, that I have seen so far."
Posted by: wakeupdorks || 01/11/2008 20:47 Comments || Top||

#14  DEBKA > claims the USS Harry Truman carrier has been placed on high alert in case of a repeat of the Iranian gunboat incident during dubya's visit. Also, THAT MOUD ENCOURAGED THE INCIDENT AND THAT THE USN BELIEVES IRAN MAY SEEK TO INITIATE FURTHER ACTS OF PROVOCATION [AFTER JAN 6th]???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/11/2008 20:51 Comments || Top||

#15  "wakeup" = dorks on parade.
Posted by: Frank G || 01/11/2008 20:58 Comments || Top||

#16  Hey Frank, we still need a back up door stop for the O club,

What doya Think, maybe DORKUMS could help out and volunteer for a few months... ??
Posted by: RD || 01/11/2008 21:20 Comments || Top||

#17  I'll have what wakey's drinking.
Posted by: doc || 01/11/2008 21:32 Comments || Top||

#18 
Posted by: doc || 01/11/2008 21:33 Comments || Top||

#19  Dork and Fool are just like Rosie, mentally ill, paranoid schizophrenics crying out for help.
Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 || 01/11/2008 22:35 Comments || Top||

#20  TOPIX > MICHEL CHUSSODOKSKY [GlobalResearch]- US WAR PLANS AND THE STRAITS OF HORMUZ INCIDENT - JUST WHOM IS THREATENING WHOM?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/11/2008 22:57 Comments || Top||

#21  I think mebbe not smart enough for a doorstop
Posted by: Frank G || 01/11/2008 23:23 Comments || Top||


Lebanon arrests top member of Qaeda-inspired group
A top member of an extremist Islamist group that waged a 15-week battle against the Lebanese army last year was arrested on Thursday in the northern city of Tripoli, a military official said. "Security forces raided a home in the Abi Samra neighbourhood and arrested Nabil Rahim, a high-ranking member of Fatah al-Islam in Tripoli," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

He said Rahim's wife was also arrested in the dawn raid and that a close aide, Zakharia Trabulsi, was seized later in the day after trying to flee police. The Abi Samra district of Tripoli is known as a hotbed of extremism.

The arrests come days after a man purporting to be the leader of Fatah al-Islam, an Al-Qaeda-inspired militant group, threatened renewed attacks against the Lebanese army. "Our message to the crusaders is to expect the worst. This battle was only the beginning and we will prevail," said a message posted on an Islamist website attributed to Fatah al-Islam's Palestinian chief Shaker al-Abssi.

Almost 400 people were killed, including an estimated 222 militants and 168 soldiers, in the fighting at the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon which ended in September after a final assault by the army.

Abssi's fate was unknown after the fighting ended although the Lebanese judiciary issued a warrant for his arrest and that of several dozen other fugitive militants in October last year. The militia leader's wife had at one stage identified his body in a morgue, although DNA tests subsequently determined it was not Abssi.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Fatah al-Islam


Good morning.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A lot to see at that Ohmart.
Posted by: WTF || 01/11/2008 8:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Oh my.
Posted by: Excalibur || 01/11/2008 8:56 Comments || Top||

#3  hmm. sort of a Streep precursor
Posted by: Unusort B. Hayes5183 || 01/11/2008 13:50 Comments || Top||

#4  We ran a pic of her a year or so ago where she looked more like Liz Taylor in her prime.

Versatile babe, she wuz.
Posted by: Fred || 01/11/2008 15:49 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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1al-Qaeda in Europe
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1Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2008-01-11
  Lahore suicide kaboom kills at least 20, injures 80
Thu 2008-01-10
  40,000 pounds of US bombs hit 38 Qaeda 'safe havens'
Wed 2008-01-09
  Mullah Fazlullah deadullah?
Tue 2008-01-08
  Chadian planes bomb rebels in Sudan
Mon 2008-01-07
  Arab FMs urge immediate Leb presidential election
Sun 2008-01-06
  Morocco jails 50 Islamists for terror plots
Sat 2008-01-05
  Fatah al-Islam sez they're infesting Ein el-Hellhole
Fri 2008-01-04
  Coalition forces kill AQI big turban in Baghdad
Thu 2008-01-03
  Baquba Awakening Council leader killed by cross-dressing suicide squeegeeman
Wed 2008-01-02
  Army intervenes to end fist fights between Hezbollah, Hariri party
Tue 2008-01-01
  Iraq December death toll lowest in 22 months
Mon 2007-12-31
  Little Pugsley appointed PPP chairman, Gomez regent
Sun 2007-12-30
  Bin Laden vows jihad to liberate Palestinian land
Sat 2007-12-29
  Sindh Rangers given shoot-at-sight orders
Fri 2007-12-28
  Bhutto's assassination triggers riots

Better than the average link...



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