Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Dorthy, your pearl necklace is too long. Most of it is hidden by the frilly collar on your dress. Take a few pearls off and try again. We want to see those shinny little bubbles of joy.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/17/2008 8:36 Comments ||
Top||
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 13:34 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Where do you get those pics? The 'bloid is one of my daily adds to my archives, very interesting. Plus, where did you get that sense of humor? I want one (as long as it doesn't requier any kind of effort).
#7
She looks depressed. I'm sure I can cheer her up...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/17/2008 15:28 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Where do you get those pics? The 'bloid is one of my daily adds to my archives, very interesting. Plus, where did you get that sense of humor? I want one (as long as it doesn't requier any kind of effort).
Hush, I sense the Mother of all RantBurg Legacees is involved.
The Color Mag Covers from the '20 and '30 are all Fred, gotta be, listen to his accent, it got screwed up when he stumbled on a motherlode of the things somoewhere, Grandfathers house barn? Near the horse?
As Canadian military officials claimed a major blow against the Taliban on Wednesday, insurgents launched two dramatic attacks in Kandahar province that had Canadian troops scrambling to respond.
No Canadians were hurt in the assaults which killed three Afghan Police officers and an undetermined number of civilians. But the Canadians rushed their Quick Reaction Force (QRF) of infantry and combat engineers to rebuild the district's main highway 40 kilometres west of Kandahar City that had been cut in half by one of the attacks involving a powerful roadside bomb.
In the other assault a few kilometres further down the highway, insurgents fired rocket propelled grenades at a convoy of Afghan civilian fuel tankers, setting five on fire and, according to local officials, killing at least one Afghan woman who happened to be nearby.
The two attacks took place within four hours of each other and straddled the timing of a victorious news conference held by Canadian military officials and the governor of Kandahar to announced a successful airstrike against the Taliban which they believe killed Mullah Mahmoud, the second-in-command of Taliban forces in Kandahar province. "Let there be no doubt, our troops have the initiative in Kandahar province," said Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, commander of Canadian soldiers in Kandahar. "Afghan troops and ISAF soldiers are routinely defeating insurgents in our area of operations and insurgents have suffered heavy losses across the region."
As Thompson spoke, the five fuel tankers were already ablaze and insurgents were just minutes from detonating the roadside bomb that could be heard by soldiers at the Canadian forward base in Masum Ghar, three kilometres away.
The force of tanks, armoured personnel carriers and combat engineering vehicles were already preparing to go out in aid of the fuel tankers when they were called to the roadside bombing.
The QRF has had a busy summer. It's being requested so often by Afghans under attack in the violence-prone Zhari and Panjwaii districts that some Canadian soldiers say they sometimes feel as busy as firefighters in a town filled with arsonists. "Yes, it is frustrating to have to redo the same 10 kilometre stretch of road almost daily now but overall we can't stop reacting to what they're doing," said Warrant Officer Patte Forest of Shilo, Man. "It's going to be a very slow process, there's no doubt in my mind. I think everyone understands that. But if you let the frustration of redoing the same things over and over again get to you, we're not going to accomplish anything."
Canadian soldiers insist conditions are improving for Afghans in Kandahar province despite grim comments from American military officials who talk of the "resilience" of the insurgency and talk of conditions getting worse, not better. When asked why the American are so pessimistic, the Canadian commander at Masum Ghar shakes his head. "I don't know," said Maj. Chris Adams of the Lord Strathcona's Horse based in Edmonton.
For Adams, life in the local districts of Panjwaii and Zhari have been steadily improving since Canadian troops fought pitched battles with the Taliban in 2006. "We have a bazaar here in Zhari-Panjwaii, a market that a year ago had two shops open, that was it, two butcher shops," said Adams. "There are now 210 shops with 160 owners and last week they actually formed a chamber of commerce."
Besides being home to the Quick Reaction Force, the Canadian forward base at Masum Ghar is a centre for Canadians who mentor the Afghan Army and police.
Part of the Canadian strategy to is gradually train local Afghan forces to take over more of the security work, allowing the NATO-led coalition to eventually leave. However, American military officials say before that can happen more foreign troops are needed to support Afghan forces and fight insurgents.
The summer fighting "season" has not gone well for U.S. troops who said on Wednesday they were abandoning a remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan where militants killed nine of their comrades earlier in the week.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
And yet the locals continue to request protection by Canadian troops. Clearly they've made an impression.
#2
How are they ever going to be able to take over without their own air force? We depend heavily on ours and use our planes, choppers and drones constantly.
#3
1. They can take over the ground fighting and continue to use coalion air
2. they can rely less on air - theres an argument that we over rely on air, which has caused excessive collateral damage (real, not only enemy propaganda) that has not been cost benefit justified.
#4
"They can take over the ground fighting and continue to use coalion air"
And to the extent that the Afghan government finds it necessary, we will have continuing influence.
Posted by: Bin thinking again ||
07/17/2008 11:01 Comments ||
Top||
#5
LH, if the cost benefit is that they die so I live the numbers are just fine with me. Afterwards we can debate whether the human shields had to die as well. But I want your butt on the line (preferably in the lead squad) before any guidance is heard from you on tactics so I know you are thinking of the welfare of the troops.
Civilians trying to control squad and company size maneuvers from 8,000 miles away are a deadly way to run things.
#6
when I said cost benefit, I meant mainly from our POV. If you use air instead of ground, your forces are safer, you have more collateral damage, and that collateral damage hurts you in fighting for hearts and minds.
Obviously there are going to be some occasions its worth it, and some where it isnt. Are we leaning to far towards air now? I dont know. Im not there, my ass isnt on the line, and more important I dont have access to the military and political info that US AND Canadian and British senior officers do. So dont ask me to decide on my own.
I am only saying that it IS an option, to go with less air, and some in afghanistan, and in Canada, advocate that. If and when this becomes an all Afghan show, it will be the Afghan NAtional Army whose asses are on the line, and they will have the right to try it with less air if they see fit.
Repeat, I am NOT some leftie screaming about the evilness of our killing the human shields. Im simply trying to respond to someone who is sceptical that the ANA could even try to win without an air force.
#7
They were the heroes of Dieppe. I salute them all.
At Dieppe on 19th August 1942, Honorary Captain Foote, Canadian Chaplain Services, was Regimental Chaplain with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry.
'Upon landing on the beach under heavy fire he attached himself to the Regimental Aid Post which had been set up in a slight depression on the beach, but which was only sufficient to give cover to men lying down. During the subsequent period of approximately eight hours, while the action continued, this officer not only assisted the Regimental Medical Officer in ministering to the wounded in the Regimental Aid Post, but time and again left this shelter to inject morphine, give first-aid and carry wounded personnel from the open beach to the Regimental Aid Post. On these occasions, with utter disregard for his personal safety, Honorary Captain Foote exposed himself to an inferno of fire and saved many lives by his gallant efforts. During the action, as the tide went out, the Regimental Aid Post was moved to the shelter of a stranded landing craft. Honorary Captain Foote continued tirelessly and courageously to carry wounded men from the exposed beach to the cover of the landing craft. He also removed wounded from inside the landing craft when ammunition had been set on fire by enemy shells. When landing craft appeared he carried wounded from the Regimental Aid Post to the landing craft through heavy fire. On several occasions this officer had the opportunity to embark but returned to the beach as his chief concern was the care and evacuation of the wounded. He refused a final opportunity to leave the shore, choosing to suffer the fate of the men he had ministered to for over three years.
Honorary Captain Foote personally saved many lives by his efforts and his example inspired all around him. Those who observed him state that the calmness of this heroic officer as he walked about, collecting the wounded on the fire-swept beach will never be forgotten.'
The London Gazette, 14th February 1946.
The Canadian military says the Taliban's self-declared 'deputy governor of Kandahar' appears to have been killed in an air strike by international forces. They say Mullah Mahmoud was second-in-command in the shadow government that the Taliban have created to lead Kandahar if they ever regain power.
The military made the announcement at a press conference with the actual government of Kandahar on Wednesday.
The coalition learned of a meeting of insurgent leaders from Afghan intelligence, and last week gunned down Mahmoud and eight of his companions during the meeting in Khakrez district. The militants were apparently meeting to discuss yet another planned attack on the Arghandab valley, the lush farming area just a stone's throw from Kandahar city.
The militants have been cleared out of the area twice before - including just last month after they declared themselves in control of a handful of riverside towns.
Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid says the planned insurgent attack was foolish from the start. "That the Taliban would try to organize to attack Arghandab again shows how unwise their leaders are," Khalid said. "Those people who have sons or brothers who have been fooled into working for the Taliban should call them to come home now and return to a peaceful life."
This article starring:
Mullah Mahmoud
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
...the shadow government that the Taliban have created to lead Kandahar if they ever regain power.
Former vice-president of Barisal BM College students union Mashiul Alam Sentu was killed in a 'gunfight' between his accomplices and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab-8) members early yesterday at Kashipur in Barisal.
Sentu, 35, also a vice president of BNP-backed Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) central committee and JCD's Barisal city unit president, was shot dead one day after his arrest.
Lt Commander AKM Mamunur Rashid of Rab-8 in Barisal said Rab-3 personnel arrested Sentu at Katabon area of Dhaka on Tuesday afternoon.
"During interrogation, Sentu confessed where his stock of arms was hidden in Barisal. He was then taken to Barisal and handed over to Rab-8 at Mawa Ghat early yesterday," Rashid said.
The Rab-8 members took Sentu to Kashipur Bilbobari in Barisal to recover the hidden arms but as they reached the area, Sentu's accomplices opened fire on them.
Rab retaliated with gunshots leading to a short gunfight at around 4:15 am.
"Sentu was shot dead as he tried to escape at the time,'" Rashid said. Two Rab members were also injured and a Rab car damaged at the time.
A Rab press release yesterday said that Rab recovered Sentu's body after the gunfight along with one AK-47 rifle, a shutter gun, a revolver and a home made gun, from the scene.
Sentu was a known criminal in Barisal city and an accused in 19 cases, including four for murder. He had been in hiding since launch of the anti-crime operations.
However, Sentu's family claims that all cases lodged against Sentu were politically motivated and that he had been acquitted of all of them.
Meanwhile JCD leaders and activists protested the incident by bringing out a procession on the DU campus that ended with a rally rear Dhaka University Central Students' Union building.
Talking to The Daily Star, DU unit General Secretary of JCD Saiful Islam Feroz alleged that Sentu has been killed following a conspiracy by a vested quarter to realise their interests in the upcoming Barisal City Corporation polls.
He demanded proper investigation into the incident.
However a section of JCD activists yesterday expressed hope that the organisation would now be spared the blame of patronising terrorism and create new leadership free from the clutches of someone like Sentu.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Good to see the shutter gun is finally out of the shop!
but a shot up Rabmobile???? Holy quarter panel Rab-Man! (apologies to Robin)
Part of a pipeline carrying natural gas from energy-rich Central Asia to Russia has been shut down after being damaged by an explosion, emergency officials in Kazakhstan said Wednesday.
A 39-kilometer section of the Central Asia-Center pipeline in western Kazakhstan was closed off following the blast late Tuesday, the Emergency Situations Ministry said. Nobody was hurt in the blast, the ministry said in a statement.
There was no word on the cause of the explosion or what effect it would have on supplies. The effect could be small because the pipeline system is extensive.
In Moscow, officials at the state-owned Russian gas monopoly OAO Gazprom declined to comment. Moscow reached a deal with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in December to build a new natural gas pipeline along the Caspian Sea coast to Russia to supplement the existing route.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
ION KOMMERSANT > STATE DUMA MEMBER:US IS THE CAUSE OF RUSSIA's, UKRAINIAN CLASHES + RUSSIA, CHINA DSPLEASE BUSH ANEW [Zimbabwe].
A showdown is looming between the Bush administration and the federal court system over the military's role in prosecuting and trying terrorism suspects detained at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A judge with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday will consider whether to delay the military tribunal of a key suspect in the war on terror - the former driver of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Attorneys for Salim Hamdan asked U.S. District Judge James Robertson last week for the delay so they may use a landmark Supreme Court decision to challenge the legality of the military tribunal system. Mr. Hamdan, whose military trial is scheduled to begin Monday, would be the first Guantanamo detainee to face a tribunal as an enemy combatant. The Justice Department said in a court filing Monday that the military tribunal should proceed and that federal courts do not have the authority to delay it.
#4
Let's all understand. Congress passed the law governing the legal prosecution of our own soldiers [UCMJ], but Congress can not pass law to prosecute unlawful combatants captured on the battlefield because Justice Kennedy has 'issues'? Are the enemy entitled to more consideration than our own? Hey, judge, what about the 14th Amendment, what does that have to say about equal treatment? Should we just do away with JAG and turn all issues of crime and discipline over to DoJ? Get the judiciary out of the conduct of war. It's an Article I power.
#5
The Judge said, "Let the Games Begin", I mean, "Let the Trial Continue". Basically he said the Defense Attorneys were premature in their appeal as the Trial had not occured. He said, "Do you want ME to determine the Rules? This is not the proper Forum. Let the Trial go on and then file your appeals".
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/17/2008 19:03 Comments ||
Top||
President Bush has the legal power to order the indefinite military detentions of civilians captured in the United States, the federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., ruled on Tuesday in a fractured 5-4 decision. But a second, overlapping 5-4 majority of the court, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Ali al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar now in military custody in Charleston, S.C., must be given an additional opportunity to challenge his detention in federal court there.
An earlier court proceeding, in which the government had presented only a sworn statement from a defense intelligence official, was inadequate, the second majority ruled.
The decision was a victory for the Bush administration, which had maintained that a 2001 congressional authorization to use military force after the Sept. 11 attacks granted the president the power to detain people living in the United States. The court effectively reversed a divided three-judge panel of its own members, which ruled last year that the government lacked the power to detain civilians legally in the United States as enemy combatants.
The first 5-4 decision mentioned, which I'm guessing the writer disagrees with, is "fractured." However, the second 5-4 decision, which I'm guessing the writer agrees with, is a "majority of the court."
Financial chief of Pakistan based militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad and a soldier were killed in 22 hour long gunfight in Kashmir.
A police officer told NewsBlaze that police on Tuesday afternoon received specific information that militants were hiding in a house in Warpora, Sopore in North Kashmir. He said, "Accordingly, police, para-military forces and army personnel laid siege around the area and zeroed-in on a residential house where the militants were hiding. The militants present inside were asked to surrender. They, however, refused the offer and fired from sophisticated weapons towards the soldiers". He said, "The fire was returned by the troops and in the ensuing gunfight, which lasted for more than 22 hours, two militants including financial chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad and a soldier were killed".
At least 13 soldiers including a Lieutenant Colonel of Indian army were injured in the gunfight and were hospitalized. The condition of three of the injured soldiers is said to be "life threatening"
The financial chief was identified as Asgar Ali alias Ali Raza of Pakistan. Another slain militant was identified as Hilal Ahmad Sofi alias Tariq alias Khalid of Kashmir. Hilal is said to be a top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen.
This article starring:
Kashmir
Warpora, Sopore in North Kashmir
ASGAR ALI ALIAS ALI RAZA
Jaish-e-Mohammad
HILAL AHMED SOFI
Hizbul Mujahideen
HILAL AHMED SOFI
Jaish-e-Mohammad
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Jaish-e-Mohammad
#1
Jaish's Financial Chief, and a soldier were Killed in a 22 hour long gunfight in Kashmir.
Name: Asgar Ali,
aka... 'Ali *Dead as a Doornail* Raza'
I wonder if he had any loose change in his pockets?
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
07/17/2008 21:44 Comments ||
Top||
Kidnappers of an Afghan citizen have demanded the release of 15 Taliban prisoners from a jail in the Kunar province of Afghanistan.
Unidentified armed men, riding in two cars, had whisked away Zahidullah Malyar on Tuesday. Hailing from Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar, 28-year-old Malyar has been living with his family in the Hazarkhwani area of Peshawar for the past 24 years, his family members told Daily Times.
His father Gul Agha is an employee with a non-governmental organisation (NGO). According to the family members of the kidnapped man, they received a telephone call on Wednesday morning asking for the release of 15 Taliban prisoners.
Release for release: Talking in Pashto, the caller asked the family of the kidnapped man to convey their demand to the Afghan government. He told Malyar's family that the Afghan government had 15 militants in custody, adding that Malyar would not be freed until those militants had been freed.
"They did not ask us for ransom. Also they did not give us any deadline or warning to kill the victim," said Shukrullah, a cousin of the kidnapped man. Police officials said that they were not aware of the latest demands. However, they said investigations were underway.
The First Information Report (FIR) against the unidentified kidnappers was registered with Yaka Toot police on the complaint of Rehmat Gul, son of Gul Agha, alias Mirza Khan.
The kidnapping and demand of prisoners' release has spread a wave of fear among people of Hazarkhwani, especially Afghans who have been living there for years. They told Daily Times that the regular kidnappings of people by armed men was alarming and pointed to the failure of the law-enforcement agencies and the government to ensure safety of life and property of the peaceful citizens.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Who do they think they're dealing with? The Israelis?
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/17/2008 5:50 Comments ||
Top||
At least 24 policemen were killed when a landmine exploded under a security vehicle in eastern India on Wednesday, in an attack police blamed on Maoist rebels. The attack, in Orissa state's remote Malkangiri district, comes a fortnight after the rebels sank a police boat and killed 38 officers of an elite anti-insurgency unit in the same area. "All 24 police personnel are dead," officer Sujeet Naik told Reuters, blaming the strike on rebels who are known to be strong in the forested region. Police said the Maoists had stepped up violence in response to a security campaign in the area. Maoist rebels regularly kill police and attack government establishments and factories across large swathes of eastern and central India, particularly in the countryside. They say they are fighting for the rights of the poor and landless, an insurgency Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as the single biggest threat to India's internal security.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Following the build up of NATO troops on the Pak-Afghan border, local Taliban have imposed a restriction on the smuggling of diesel to Afghanistan, Aaj TV reported on Wednesday. According to the channel, the Taliban has also appointed volunteers on the routes leading to Afghanistan to check the practice. It said a meeting of the Taliban Shura (council) had been summoned to decide whether or not to ban the supply of food grains to Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Is smuggling the right word to use here?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/17/2008 10:27 Comments ||
Top||
#2
One man's smuggling is another man's free trade.
Posted by: Alaska Paul in Hooper Bay, AK ||
07/17/2008 12:39 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Taliban restrict diesel smuggling to Afghanistan
Taliban Global Warming Mitigation Plan....
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
07/17/2008 14:14 Comments ||
Top||
A militant was killed and three others injured in a clash between two rival groups in the Khalodag village of Mohmand Agency over the occupation of a madrassa on Wednesday, locals and hospital sources said. The sources said that the clash started when the Shah Sahib militant group tried to take control of a madrassa in Khalodag village from the Commander Umer Khalid militant group. Mamor, a militant, was killed in the ensuing clash and Mansoor, Fayaz and Ayaz were injured.
This article starring:
Khalodag
Mohmand Agency
COMANDER UMER KHALID
Taliban
SHAH SAHIB
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
Seven people were killed and five others injured on Wednesday in fresh clashes between the Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) and the Ansarul Islam (AI) militant groups in the remote Tirah Valley.
The most recent casualties occurred when LI militants advanced on the hideouts of the AI. Sources said that both groups have occupied positions in the Tirah Valley Mountains and are firing upon each other with heavy ordnance.
They said that more than 100 people have been killed in the clashes that have been continuing for a month and several more injured. The political administration has thus far been unsuccessful in preventing the clashes, the sources added.
This article starring:
Tirah Valley
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Lashkar-e-Islami
(PTI) Pakistani security forces today attacked with artillery Taliban positions in the curfew-bound northwestern Hangu district injuring at least 12 people, days after 16 paramilitary personnel were killed by the militants in the troubled region. The army targeted militant positions in Zargari and nearby villages in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) leading to injuries to 12 people while 20 houses were damaged.
A key road linking the district to other parts of NWFP was closed to all traffic, TV channels reported.
An indefinite curfew was imposed in Hangu town due to the threat of Taliban attacks, district police chief Mohammed Idris said. People have begun leaving the region due to fears of fighting between the security forces and the Taliban.
However, elected representatives from Hangu and a tribal jirga or council appealed to the government to stop military operations so that they could hold peace talks with the Taliban. The NWFP government has assured the jirga of support for talks with the militants aimed at ending violence.
Hangu district has witnessed heightened tension since seven militants were arrested during a sweep by security forces last week. The Taliban besieged a police station in Doaba village to demand the release of the arrested militants but withdrew after the army was deployed in the area.
The Taliban took 29 government officials and security personnel hostage before leaving Doaba. On Saturday, the militants gunned down 16 Frontier Constabulary personnel after ambushing their convoy in the Zargari area.
Sporadic incidents of violence have also been reported from various parts of the NWFP.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
So the brave and noble pak army shelled a village, indiscriminately. Is that about it?
The Sindh government has banned two controversial books titled 'The Prophesied End Time' and '2008 God's Final Witness', both written by Ronald Weinland.
An official announcement said that both books contain material that may offend the sentiments of Muslims, Jews and Christians and is likely to create resentment among different religious groups. It said that this resentment could lead to a law and order problem in the country.
The government has ordered confiscation of all copies of the two books wherever they are found in the open market and has also directed authorities concerned to take necessary action against the writer, publisher, distributors, sellers and others concerned.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Heck, why not cut to the chase and ban every book except the Koran? After all, it has all needed human knowledge, science, morals, everything. There is no need for any other book.
/sarcasm
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
07/17/2008 0:34 Comments ||
Top||
#2
If you had memorized it like you are supposed to, you wouldn't even need that.
(VOI) -- A total of 109 persons were killed or wounded in a car bomb explosion that ripped though a residential area in Talafar district, Ninewa, the third blast to hit the province today, Iraqi authorities said.
On Wednesday evening, a total of 15 persons were killed and 94 others were wounded when an explosives-rigged car detonated in al-Taleea neighborhood, downtown Talafar (60 km west of Mosul city), Talafar Mayor Brigadier Najm Abdullah al-Juburi told Aswat al-Iraq- Voices of Iraq- (VOI). The brigadier noted that some of the wounded were in a critical condition, expecting the death toll to rise further.
Earlier today, two suicide car bomb explosions ripped through Ninewa's Mosul city. The first targeted a U.S. patrol vehicle in al-Maared intersection, leaving six civilians wounded; while the second occurred in Doura al-Hamam area, eastern Mosul, leaving two dead and nine others wounded.
Acts of violence have recently become a daily occurrence in the city, despite security successes claimed by Iraqi authorities since the commencement of operations Lion's Roar and Umm al-Rabiain (Mother of the Two Springs) on May 10.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
(VOI) -- Sayyid Bahaa Fadhil Jamal al-Den, member of Basra provincial council, said that his brother, a prominent figure of al-Ikhbariya Shiite sect in Basra, on Wednesday noon survived an assassination attempt, when unknown gunmen opened fire on him in old Basra city. He added that his brother and his brother's driver were wounded and admitted to the hospital.
"Unidentified armed men driving a modern car opened fire targeting Sayyid Aqeel Fadhil Jamal al-Den, at Bashar Street intersection, in the center of old Basra city," Sayyid Bahaa Jamal al-Den told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI). "My brother and his driver were wounded and admitted to hospital," he said.
"A combined Iraqi army-police checkpoint was nearby when the incident took place, but it did not interfere," he added. "There are many repeated security violations; a matter that invites us to reconsider the accomplishments of Saulat al-Forsan (Knights Assault) security operation," he noted.
Al-Ikhbariya Shiite sect that was founded around four centuries ago has around 100 thousand followers in Basra.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
As if the shipbuilding discussion wasn't already center stage within the Navy, this news is sure to cut into the dominance the DDG-1000 currently holds as water fountain conversation. It was reported that during Admiral Roughead's recent visit to Israel, the topic of the LCS came up. DSCA posted this arms sales notification the other day.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Israel of Littoral Combat Ships as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $1.9 billion.
The Government of the Israel has requested a possible sale of up to 4 Littoral Combat Ships (LCS-I variant): Hull, and all mechanical and electrical functions. Each ship will be equipped with: 2 MK-41 Vertical Launch Systems, 8 cells for each system; 1 Close-In-Weapon System, Block 1A, 1 Enhanced HARPOON Launching System with launchers; 2 MK-32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes; Communications and Sensors; Link 16; COMBATSS-21 with SPY-1F(V) and MK-99 Fire Control System; or Ship Self-Defense System. Also includes design and integration services, hardware and software, spare and repair parts, test and tool sets, personnel training and equipment, publications, U.S. Government and contractor engineering and logistics personnel services, and other related elements of logistics support. The estimated cost is $1.9 billion.
That suggests the LCS-I costs $475 million per hull, but the price is misleading. For $475 million, Israel is getting SPY-1F(V), VLS, Phalanx, Harpoon, and SSDS. Sounds incredible, but there is more to it than that, the real cost is slightly higher.
According to the LCS-I data sheet, the Israeli industry is also fitting out systems for the LCS-I, including the ADIR radar, SRLU, ESM, SATCOM, Barak missile system, Typhoon gun, etc... that will be purchased from the Israeli defense industry. Similar modifications could of coarse be done by the US defense industry, but once you factor in the "other systems purchases and integrations" the LCS-I will probably run around the same current estimated cost of the Littoral Combat Ship being produced by the United States, we estimate around $550 million.
But that is the rub. The US Navy could be producing frigates, with SPY-1F(V) and strike length VLS (The LM version of the LCS has strike length VLS, which supports quad packed ESSM meaning this ship can carry 64 ESSMs), for the same price as the current US Navy designed Littoral Combat Ship. Israel is saving money with the Lockheed Martin version by not pushing the speed threshold with some revolutionary propulsion system and keeping things very simple leveraging existing technology. Evolution, not revolution.
Israel is not the only customer either. we have previously covered how Lockheed Martin has already engaged India regarding the development of MK41 as the standard for the Indian Navy. The Barak system is also in use with the Israeli Navy, so in effect the majority of the systems the LCS-I is designed to support scale very well into the Indian Navy infrastructure. As a multi-mission combatant at 3000 tons for around $550 million US dollars, the Lockheed Martin MMC version has excellent potential as a possible export platform for Europe as well, as most European Navies already utilize the same equipment, the scalability is there. There really are not other platforms on the market at this size with anything near the flexibility of a SPY-1F multi-mission frigate.
We have a hard time believing this isn't going to be a major issue in the future, particularly if Lockheed Martin is able to hit cost marks (which we wouldn't bet on). The US shipbuilding industry will soon potentially be building affordable AEGIS frigates, and the US Navy is chasing unrated ships of the same design and displacement that are still having difficultly justifying its mission profile with such a high price tag.
It will get particularly noisy when the Navy realizes the LCS is too small for its needs with unmanned technology platforms. The LCS is a mothership not a surface combatant, we don't build small aircraft carriers, why the hell would small motherships make sense? In the end, if you want to legitimately support the unmanned technologies that represent the future of war, build big motherships or the same reason we build big carriers. Any significant investment in a surface combatant should produce a ship that can fight, not an unrated naval truck, We call it a frigate, but the role is historically known as the cruiser.
Looks like Israel gets it, the US Navy needs to seriously look into it.
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli security officials warned on Thursday that Lebanese murderer Samir Kantar, who was freed in a prisoner swap after nearly three decades behind bars, should now fear for his own life. "Every terrorist who committed an act of terror against Israel, especially someone like Kantar, who killed a little child and two other people, is a target," one of the officials told AFP."If there is a chance for Israel to close the file on Kantar, Israel won't hesitate," he added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Kantar, who turns 46 next week, was just 17 when he was sentenced to five life terms for a 1979 triple murder in one of the most notorious attacks in Israeli history.He was convicted of killing a police officer, a civilian and a four-year-old girl, whose skull he was accused of crushing with his rifle butt, in a raid in the northern Israeli town of Nahariya.
Another security official said Kantar "has become a target for killing. Now that he is out of jail, we have no obligation towards Kantar, a loathsome murderer whose accounts will be settled in the end," the unnamed official told the top-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper.
Israel's intelligence agenices Mossad and Shin Beth opposed Kantar's release but were over-ruled by political considerations, in order to end the mystery over the fate of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah two years ago in a raid that sparked the devastating 34-day war in 2006.
#3
Should've had a death penalty. If you did, all this pig would've been doing for the last forty years would be fattening up generations of worms...instead of himself.
Or they could've taken him out yesterday, along with Naz and a coupla thousand other true belivers.
#8
He was convicted of killing a police officer, a civilian and a four-year-old girl, whose skull he was accused of crushing with his rifle butt, in a raid in the northern Israeli town of Nahariya.
Obviously conviction in an Israeli court doesn't count toward actual guilt in the eyes of AFP - certainly not when it's a cold-blooded atrocity against a 4-year-old Israeli girl.
The hatred I feel toward the MSM is almost as much as I feel toward Kantar and his spawns-of-Hell ilk.
#9
This kind of rhetoric aggravates me. IMHO, keeping silent and just carrying it out is more professional and sincere. Let the Banana Republic dictators and Imams make threats. I hope Israel silences these guys in and moves forward.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
07/17/2008 21:49 Comments ||
Top||
Even after the bodies of the two Israeli soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, had been handed over to Israel and examined by Red Cross officials yesterday, their parents clung to the hope that a mistake had been made, and that their sons would yet walk back across the border. "We will continue to hope until we can hope no more," said Tzvi Regev, the father of Sergeant Regev.
The faint chance that at least one of the soldiers would be returned alive two years after they were captured by Hezbollah guerrillas pushed Israel to pay a high price for the exchange. Five Hezbollah prisoners were set free for the remains of the two soldiers, the most notorious among them Samir Qantar, who spent almost 30 years in an Israeli prison for the killing of an Israeli father and his young daughter. Israel also returned the bodies of nearly 200 Palestinian and Lebanese militants that had been killed in clashes over the past decades.
Only hours after the exchange would the Regev family acknowledge that there was no more room for hope. Israeli forensic science teams confirmed what the Red Cross had already determined - that two black coffins handed over by the militant Shia group contained the corpses of Goldwasser and Regev. The kidnaps of the two soldiers set off a 34-day war between Lebanon and Israel in 2006. "It was horrible to see it," said Mr Regev, choking back tears as he described watching one of the coffins being removed from the Red Cross vehicle that had brought the remains back across the border. "We were always hoping that [Ehud] and Eldad were alive and that they would come home and we would hug them." A Regev family member added that it was impossible to watch celebrations being prepared across Lebanon, as the family readied for a funeral.
In contrast to the festivities in Lebanon, a sombre mood enveloped much of Israel. Nowhere was the gravity of the day felt stronger than in the small coastal town of Nahariya, where the home of the Goldwasser family stands a few minutes' drive from the apartment building where Mr Qantar killed Danny Haran and his daughter, aged 4. The killing was for ever seared into the nation's consciousness as one of the most brutal acts of terrorism in Israel's history.
In Mr Qantar's trial witnesses recalled how in the dead of night on April 22, 1979, he shot Mr Haran in front of his child, then killed the girl by smashing her skull against a rock with his rifle butt. Mr Haran's wife, Smadar, accidentally smothered her two-year-old daughter with her hand while trying to stifle her cries as she hid from the killer. He has never expressed remorse over the incident.
Israel had hitherto held Mr Qantar as a bargaining chip to win new information about Ron Arad, an Israeli airman whose plane crashed in Lebanon in 1986. Under pressure from the captured soldiers' families to bring them home, Israel's Cabinet voted on Tuesday to release him in exchange for the bodies of the two captured soldiers.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
Damn it Israel, wake up! You must assume, anytime a Jew is taken into the possesion of the Muslims, that he (or she) is dead. As dead as those who were marched into the showers at Auschwitz! Avenge them - Avenge them all, show the muslim no mercy, but light a fire in their flesh. They have been calling you to war for many years now- it's high time that you grant them their most serious desire - give them death on a scale un-imaginable! Ask for forgiveness later - but act now.
#5
I hope Israel tagged them with a very slow-acting poison that will take months to begin to be effective, but once it starts, is very painful and always fatal.
I understand the Jews' beliefs in death and burial. I also know any Jew/Israeli captured by ANY Arab group will have a slow and painful death, with no chance for repatriation. That's why I hope Israel uses nukes the next time Hezbully begins to launch rockets at Tel Aviv. Make the area between the Litani and Beirut so radioactive it'll take a million years to cool down. It's the only way Israel can "secure" a northern border. Oh, and the area between current Israel and the Litani will become Israeli territory - a twofer.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/17/2008 16:58 Comments ||
Top||
#7
understand the Jews' beliefs in death and burial. ... Make the area between the Litani and Beirut so radioactive it'll take a million years to cool down.
But not the pertinent geography, OP (look at the map).
Sri Lankan troops have captured a strategically important coastal town from the Tamil Tigers, the defence ministry said on Wednesday, as government forces continue their push against the rebels' northern stronghold.
The ministry described the capture of the northwestern town of Vidattaltivu, which it said was the main base of the Tigers' sea wing and their logistics hub for the west, as a "fatal blow" for the rebels. Fighting in the 25-year civil war is now concentrated in the north after the Sri Lankan army, which has vowed to finish off the Tigers this year, drove the rebels out of their eastern enclave in 2007. "Gallant soldiers of Army 58 Division and Commando Brigade have liberated the strategically important Vidattaltivu town this morning," the defence ministry said on its website. It said it was the first time Sri Lankan troops had held the town since the departure of an Indian peacekeeping force in 1990. The Tigers were not immediately available for comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
As Israel buries her fallen sons, harsh questions and details are arising from the exchange which took place yesterday. According to Israeli officials, the bodies were received in a severely-damaged state which may have lengthened the confirmation of their identities. Former IDF Medical Corps and Chief Military Rabbinate officials have noted the tragic expertise Israel has gathered in years of conflict, but remained shocked by what they saw yesterday at the Rosh HaNikra border crossing.
Rabbi Yisrael Weiss, former Chief Rabbi of the IDF, who was present during the transfer of the fallen soldiers yesterday, said that "the verification process yesterday was very slow, because, if we thought the enemy was cruel to the living and the dead, we were surprised, when we opened the caskets, to discover just how cruel. And I'll leave it at that.
Maybe now Israel will boot that ass Olmert out for accomodating such beasts
#1
Once again I'll suggest that Israel open a special "pig graveyard" for the remains of the worst of the terrorists. Or even if they don't, they should let the rumor out that they did.
#5
I'll have to chalk this one up for the hizbollah; they got what they wanted and SHOULDN'T have gotten, and they spat and p*ssed on the israelis. Their only thought right now must be "hey, let's do it again!". Good job, boyz. But, again, while I'm in no position to criticize the IDF themselves who act and act well to do what's needed, I can't help being very interrogative about the israelis as a society (or, at least, their Enlightened Elites) since 1993 (for europeans, and americans, I'm not interrogative at all).
#8
Apparently bringing home their dead, even at great cost is an Israeli thing. We probably don't understand the full dynamics of the policy like they do. The Israelis don't seem that pissed off about it from what I read in the J-Post. Maybe there is another component to this that we don't understand here.
Having said that, I would like to see them put a rocket up each of those guy's asses.
#9
I'm sure the MSM will be in an uproar about the mutilated corpses any time now. You know kind of like the uproar when those muslim bodies were burned in Afghanistan...
#10
C'mon, CF. These were just a couple of Joooooos. Nobody cares what happens to them even before they're dead.
/sarcasm
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
07/17/2008 14:08 Comments ||
Top||
#11
I dunno, Bigjim, you're probably right, but this really p*sses me off, just out of basic humanity. So, yeah, they're f*cking animals, but they got what they wanted, they won, isreali politics or tradition or not. Damn.
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
07/17/2008 14:11 Comments ||
Top||
#13
There is no excuse for Israel having not executed the Palestinian for crushing in the skull of an Israeli baby. Instead, Israel handed him over alive and free in return for more mutilated bodies of Israelis. These actions will only encourage more of the same sordid deeds of the Mohamedans.
#14
Personally, I wouldn't care what the orcs did with my body after I was dead. It isn't me anymore. That said, I would prefer the slaughter of the criminals that kill innocents rather than get the bodies of my loved ones back. Nothing says revenge better than, "You want this? Too bad, eat hot death instead fuckface!"
#16
I read an article lately about IDF soldiers leaving written instructions not to bargain for their release alive or dead if they are captured or killed. I wonder if this was just a couple of guys or if this is going to catch on.
#17
I thought these guys were alive when they were captured? Israelis should remember this when exchanging prisoners. Israelis should also turn over "damaged" (as in dead) goods.
Posted by: James Carville ||
07/17/2008 21:29 Comments ||
Top||
#20
I posted in another but similar thread on this site that giving up 5 live assholes for 2 remains of dead soldiers was somewhat incomprehensible to me. The Israelis should've traded remains for remains if that's what the muzzy's were gonna do. Somebody else posted that I obviously don't understand Jewish traditions about the dead - clearly I don't. I think in this case you need to worry about the innocent that are living in your country and keeping them alive. This action will only embolden these vermin methinx.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in a rare public appearance, welcomed five Lebanese freed from captivity in Israel on Wednesday after his guerrilla group returned the bodies of two captured Israeli soldiers.
Nasrallah, who moves in secret for security reasons, emerged briefly to embrace the ex-prisoners at a rally in Beirut and declared the exchange a victory for Hezbollah and Lebanon.
"This people, this nation and this country, which gave a clear image today, cannot be defeated," he told the crowd before leaving to deliver a speech by video link from a safe location.
A grim mood prevailed in Israel, where the prisoner swap was widely seen as a painful necessity two years after the capture of the two Israeli army reservists sparked a 34-day war in which about 1,200 people in Lebanon and 159 Israelis were killed.
Among the released captives was Samir Qantar, who had been Israel's longest-serving Lebanese prisoner and whom Israelis revile for his part in a 1979 Palestinian guerrilla attack.
The International Committee of the Red Cross brought the men to the border town of Naqoura. Wearing military fatigues, they marched down a red carpet flanked by a Hezbollah honour guard.
Two Lebanese army helicopters then flew them to Beirut, where President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri kissed them at the airport. "Your return is a new victory," Suleiman declared.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/17/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
Samir sez he still wants to be a martyr. Israel may try to accomodate him.
Israel threatens to assassinate Quntar
Bethlehem - Ma'an - An Israeli security source said on Thursday that a day after his release from Israeli prison, Samir Quntar is a target for assassination by Israeli forces.
The Israeli Hebrew newspaper Yediot Ahronot quoted the source as saying, Israel will get him, he will be assassinated and Mosad will not take too long to kill him. When questioned on whether he saw the assassination threat as a breach of the agreement with Hezbollah he said, there are no commitments regarding Quntars life, he is a damned killer and we will make him pay back soon.
Quntar was the most controversial of the prisoners freed on Wednesday as part of the swap between Hizbollah and Israel. He was held in Israeli prison from 1979 until 2008 for the killing of three Israeli civilians. Quntar is portrayed in the Israeli media as a monster and his release caused consternation amongst some sections of Israeli society.
This assassination threat could be seen as an attempt to make up for what is seen widely as a victory for Hezbollah at the expense of Israel.
#2
What a miserable excuse for a human being. Holding up a baby killer and some kind of hero is probably the most barbaric and inhumane act he could possibly engage in. If he had any common decency, he would put the man on trial in Lebanon for murder and put him right back in jail.
War is one thing, killing a child and then killing the child's father in front of the remaining child is the act of an animal, not a human being.
Nasrallah and Hezbollah are a band of insane maniacs. May God have mercy on their souls for they will surely face harsh judgment.
His release and return to a jubilant hero's welcome in Lebanon drew condemnation in Israel, where security officials warned he was now a target for killing. "Every terrorist who committed an act of terror against Israel, especially someone like Kantar, who killed a little child and two other people, is a target," one official told AFP.
#6
It's time to start killin muslims. Period. Any sick religion that would react to that situation (prisoner swap) the way they did deserve to be eradicated. Worse than Nazis.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
As Canadian military officials claimed a major blow against the Taliban on Wednesday, insurgents launched two dramatic attacks in Kandahar province that had Canadian troops scrambling to respond.
The Canadian military says the Taliban's self-declared 'deputy governor of Kandahar' appears to have been killed in an air strike by international forces. They say 
Former vice-president of Barisal BM College students union Mashiul Alam Sentu was killed in a 'gunfight' between his accomplices and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab-8) members early yesterday at Kashipur in Barisal.
Financial chief of Pakistan based militant group, 
A militant was killed and three others injured in a clash between two rival groups in the Khalodag village of Mohmand Agency over the occupation of a madrassa on Wednesday, locals and hospital sources said. The sources said that the clash started when the 
Seven people were killed and five others injured on Wednesday in fresh clashes between the 
(PTI) Pakistani security forces today attacked with artillery Taliban positions in the curfew-bound northwestern Hangu district injuring at least 12 people, days after 16 paramilitary personnel were killed by the militants in the troubled region. The army targeted militant positions in Zargari and nearby villages in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) leading to injuries to 12 people while 20 houses were damaged.
The Sindh government has banned two controversial books titled 'The Prophesied End Time' and '2008 God's Final Witness', both written by Ronald Weinland.
