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Kimmie recovering from brain surgery
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 09/12/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fred,
Please concider loading yesterdays "seven years of WOT" to the classics. Lot of heart felt comments there to look back at next year.
Thanks
Don
Posted by: 49 Pan || 09/12/2008 1:30 Comments || Top||

#2  That is one lucky stiff in the middle. Thanks, Fred for bringing us a bevey of top-of-the-line beauties. He is dead by now, isn't he?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 09/12/2008 9:38 Comments || Top||

#3  First glance at all these top hats made me think of the synchronized swimming scene in "Blazing Saddles;" these ladies would have been much more appealing than the guys. Maybe not as funny, but easier on the eyes......
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 09/12/2008 9:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Oakies, oil AND wimin. They got it all!
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/12/2008 9:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Jack and his team have all sent me e-mails to tell me they are voting for Sarah and me.
Posted by: John McCain || 09/12/2008 13:32 Comments || Top||


-Obits-
9/11 passes with no new English propaganda, Adam Gadahn presumed dead
Adam Gadahn, a Winchester native who became a top al-Qaida operative and the first American to be indicted for treason since 1952, may have been killed in an airstrike, according to intelligence experts cited by a British newspaper.

Gadahn is thought to have been killed in an attack launched from a remotely piloted aircraft in January, according to London's Daily Telegraph newspaper, which cited unnamed Western intelligence sources in Pakistan.
It's September, if no rumbles from him since then, then he's dead.
Internet rumors have circulated about Gadahn's death since February, pointing to a well-trusted Pakistani news report that Gadahn was killed in the same attack that killed high-profile al-Qaida commander Abu Laith al-Libi in Waziristanin January.
That's so awesome that he was in the little group. What a lovely little surprise to get in your strike assessment!
The Telegraph article, published Sunday, also cites that late-January attack as the probable demise of Gadahn, who grew up in a reclusive family on a goat farm in the hills of Winchester. At age 17, he converted to Islam and subsequently joined al-Qaida, becoming its top propagandist.

Another telltale sign that Gadahn could be dead is that he has not produced a new video message this week to mark the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, departing from an annual tradition he launched in 2003.
Yeah, that's pretty conclusive.
"If there is no message, it will be taken as near-certain confirmation that he is dead ---- killed either in a strike by Hellfire missiles, or perhaps by jihadi colleagues who have grown jealous of his success," the Telegraph reported.
Islamo-terr office politics.
In May, several months after initial reports circulated that Gadahn might be dead, the FBI and State Department launched a publicity campaign to spread the word in Afghanistan about a $1 million reward for information on Gadahn's whereabouts. "We produced posters and matchbooks, radio ads, requesting information from anyone who might have it," Eimiller said. "There's been some information that has come in, but clearly he's not been located at this point. We are continuing to take calls and check out every lead."
They're looking for him. Can't find him. Matchbooks? I'd like to get my hands on a few of those.
This article starring:
ABU LAITH AL LIBIal-Qaeda
ADAM GADAHNal-Qaeda
Posted by: gromky || 09/12/2008 11:11 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ah, there's probably 72 happy goats in Hell...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/12/2008 11:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Burn in hell, Tubby.
Posted by: mojo || 09/12/2008 12:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Well I got to celebrate this one with a feast. I'll serve roasted pork, all the beer a man could want, and the ladies around the pool will all be wearin' bikini swim suits. Not a burka in sight. Damn I love the West.
Posted by: Tiny Phaper7687 || 09/12/2008 13:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Had the roast pork special at "Ted's" in his honor just last evening. It was delicious.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/12/2008 13:22 Comments || Top||

#5  Keep launching them Hellfire missiles. If they got this goat lover you never know who they might get next.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 09/12/2008 13:42 Comments || Top||

#6  prepare to receive gate crashers for Rantburger pot-luck picnic, Tiny -- such a special occasion simply requires, nay, demands that i bake a cake...

and if Barbara brings the popcorn wagon, i'll bring the ice cream maker...
Posted by: Querent || 09/12/2008 14:40 Comments || Top||

#7  Had the roast pork special at "Ted's" in his honor just last evening. It was delicious.

I wuz gonna point out that bison's is Halal too, but I'm wrong.
Posted by: .5MT || 09/12/2008 16:25 Comments || Top||

#8  I'll bring the Satan's Toe-Jam.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 09/12/2008 17:15 Comments || Top||

#9  Party Pooper Alert:

Perhaps al-Qs higher eschelon patched up Adam the-Brown-mouth Gadan and has sent him back to his former home [USA], where he now awaits further instruction for a WMD attack?
/booo dooom... come on he's dead!
Posted by: Red Dawg || 09/12/2008 17:51 Comments || Top||

#10  "Them that dance with the devil are bound to get scorched."
Posted by: JohnQC || 09/12/2008 20:24 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
20 militants, 5 guards die in Afghanistan clashes
KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban militants attacked a logistics convoy in western Afghanistan on Friday, sparking a clash that killed 10 insurgents and five Afghan guards, an official said. Another 10 militants were killed by U.S.-led coalition troops north of Kabul.

The militants attacked the convoy in the western Farah province, said Farah's Gov. Roohulla Amin. In the ensuing gunfight with the guards protecting the trucks, 10 militants and five Afghan private security guards were killed, Amin said. Three other guards were missing following the clash, believed captured by the Taliban, he said.

Separately, U.S.-led coalition troops killed more than 10 militants and detained two others during two separate raids, the coalition said in a statement. The militants were killed in Tagab district of northern Kapisa province during a Thursday raid on an insurgent commander involved in roadside bomb attacks, according to the statement. "Coalition forces were engaged with small-arms fire from multiple groups of armed militants as they entered a compound. The force returned fire, killing the militants," it said.

Separately, coalition troops detained two militants in the eastern Khost province during a raid on the network of Siraj Haqqani, the son of longtime warlord Jalalludin Haqqani. The U.S. has called Siraq Haqqani a ruthless new brand of militant leader and last year announced a $200,000 reward for his capture. Haqqani, a Taliban-associated militant with close ties to al-Qaida, is accused of masterminding beheadings and massive bombings. He is believed to be in Pakistan.
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/12/2008 14:12 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  "coalition troops killed more than 10 militants and detained two others"
10 points, 2 errors.
Posted by: Darrell || 09/12/2008 14:34 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Six Ethiopians killed in Somalia
At least six Ethiopians have been killed and 23 others injured in a new series of clashes in the southern part Mogadishu.

One Ethiopian officer was killed in front of the Ethiopian base of Ifka Halane in the capital, a Press TV correspondent reported on Thursday. More than eight guards of the dead officer were also injured in the fighting.

In another incident, five Ethiopian soldiers were killed in the town of Baletweyn and 15 others injured on Thursday.
Posted by: Fred || 09/12/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts


Somalia: 8 killed in capital Mogadishu clashes
(SomaliNet) In fighting that erupted after Ethiopia-backed government troops raided a suspected rebel hideout at least eight people were killed in the Somali capital on Wednesday, residents said. Somali government troops and Islamist insurgents clashed using machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades in northern Mogadishu near a military camp, they said.

"I saw four civilians and two Somali soldiers who were killed by mortar shells," said Hassan Abdullahi Abdulle, a resident.

The Somali army said it killed two Islamist insurgents while three of its men were wounded in the clashes. "Two insurgents who were killed in the fighting were carried by their colleagues for burial after fighting stopped," Somali army spokesman Dahir Mohamed Hirsi told AFP.

Residents said stray shells wounded at least 13 civilians -- many of them children -- in Huriwa, one of the most volatile districts in the seaside capital.

Several residents confirmed the clashes that came after days of calm in a city that is contested between the UN-backed government and Islamists accused of links to Al-Qaeda.

In Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian defence ministry said at least 15 insurgents died. "Fifteen Shebab (Islamist) insurgents were killed by the transitional government troops this afternoon in defensive measures taken after an attack on their military barracks in Mogadishu," it said in a statement. "Scores of others were injured while a number of weapons were captured during the attack," it added, but the veracity of the statement could not be confirmed.

In Nairobi, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki pleaded with the world to help Somalia end nearly two decades of suffering that has been worsened by chronic food shortage. "Indeed, the recent developments in that country will require a new impetus in bringing all the parties in the conflict to a process of dialogue that will guarantee the people of Somalia peace and security that they so much desire," Kibaki said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred || 09/12/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts


Gunman bangs Somali MP in Baidoa
(SomaliNet) A gunman has shot and killed a Member of Parliament (MP) in the southwestern Somali city of Baidoa, witnesses said. Legislator Mohammed Osman Maye was killed late Tuesday as he was leaving a mosque in Baidoa, where the Somali parliament meets, the witnesses said.

In a statement posted Wednesday on its Web site, the Islamist militant group El-Kabong al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the killing. It said Maye was one of the staunchest supporters of Ethiopian troops in Somalia. The group says the killing should be a warning to other members of parliament.

Heavy fighting broke out today between Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian-backed government troops in parts of the capital, Mogadishu. Deaths and injuries were reported, although casualty figures are not available.
Posted by: Fred || 09/12/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts

#1  [online poker has been pooplisted.]
Posted by: online poker || 09/12/2008 14:21 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Report: NKorea's Kim recovering from brain surgery
North Korea's Kim Jong Il had brain surgery after a stroke last month and could have partial paralysis on one side, media reports said Thursday, after the South Korean government said the communist leader remained in control of his country.

Foreign doctors, possibly from China and France, performed the operation after Kim, 66, collapsed about Aug. 15, the newspapers Dong-a Ilbo and JoongAng Ilbo reported, citing unidentified government officials.

Kim's condition has improved and he is not suffering from slurred speech, a disability often associated with a stroke, the reports said.

If Kim were incapacitated, it could have serious implications for international negotiations on North Korea's nuclear disarmament. The talks recently hit a snag because of a dispute between North Korea and the U.S. over how to verify the North's nuclear programs, and a delay by Washington in its promised removal of North Korea from a list of nations that sponsor terrorism.

"I only hope that any situation happening in DPRK should not affect negatively what has been going on in terms of denuclearization process" U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a news conference on Thursday at the United Nations, using the initials of North Korea's official name.

"I'm also concerned deeply by DPRK's decision to go back to reassembling the nuclear facilities. They must commit to their agreement among the six-party talks for the early realization of the denuclearization process," said Ban, who was South Korea's foreign minister before taking the helm of the U.N. in January 2007.

Lee Cheol-woo, a South Korean ruling party lawmaker, said in a radio interview Thursday that Kim is "recovering fast," has "no problem speaking and communicating," and is "able to stand if assisted."

The lawmaker, a leader of the parliamentary intelligence committee briefed by the country's spy agency Wednesday, did not give further details.

However, South Korea's largest newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, said the stroke had left Kim with "partial paralysis." It quoted an unidentified senior government official as saying, "I understand that he is suffering inconvenience on the left part of his body."

Posted by: Fred || 09/12/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Lets hope it was a transplant.
Posted by: Goober Phitch2747 || 09/12/2008 0:16 Comments || Top||

#2  #1 Lets hope it was a transplant.

LOL with a piss-ant for an upgrade in Kimmie's Brain Power, no less!
Posted by: Red Dawg || 09/12/2008 2:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Cockroach.
Posted by: Woozle Wholutch4001 || 09/12/2008 2:30 Comments || Top||

#4  but the burning question is:

Did his surgery have JUCHE!!! ?
Posted by: OldSpook || 09/12/2008 4:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Juche is for the little people. For Kimmie it's Hennessy and foreign specialists.
Posted by: ed || 09/12/2008 6:30 Comments || Top||

#6  Seriously, doesn't sound like a stroke, sounds like an anureism(sp).You don't operate for strokes.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 09/12/2008 8:36 Comments || Top||

#7  Ya' mean he has one?

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 09/12/2008 11:11 Comments || Top||

#8  so ... many ... jokes ...
Posted by: Iblis || 09/12/2008 11:25 Comments || Top||

#9  The North Korean Brain Surgeon Show:

NORK! NORK! NORK!
Posted by: Chris W. || 09/12/2008 12:07 Comments || Top||

#10  Johnson! Stop the presses!!!

Report: Kim well enough to brush his teeth
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/12/2008 12:08 Comments || Top||

#11  This one;s for you Jongy



Hopefully he's not too rone-ry there.
Posted by: OldSpook || 09/12/2008 12:41 Comments || Top||

#12  OldSpook

/ScaredyCrow way too kool to be compared to the likes of Kimmie 'the green baby eater!'
~:(
*/LOL*
Posted by: Red Dawg || 09/12/2008 17:21 Comments || Top||

#13  "Kim recovering from brain surgery"

It had to be micro-surgery....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 09/12/2008 18:12 Comments || Top||

#14  I wonder if the doctors played Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

Come inside, the show's about to start. Guaranteed, to blow your head apart...
Posted by: Mike N. || 09/12/2008 20:08 Comments || Top||

#15  NKorea's Kim recovering from brain surgery

ummm - is this an oxymoron?

doesn't one have to have a brain to recover from brain surgery?
Posted by: anonymous2u || 09/12/2008 20:35 Comments || Top||

#16  Maybe they operated to search for one, anon 2u?

Do the NKorks have magnifying glasses that powerful?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 09/12/2008 20:54 Comments || Top||

#17  lol
Posted by: anonymous2u || 09/12/2008 22:35 Comments || Top||

#18  TOPIX > KIM'S CONCUBINE EMERGING AS A FORCE IN THE NORTH'S LEADERSHIP. D *** NG IT, does this mean KIM has discovered GIRLS = WUHMIN, + NOKOR THE NEW GIRL ORDER???

Also from TOPIX > ANALYSTS: A MILITARY-LED COLLECTIVE [DPRK Generals-Admirals] IS MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED KIM; + NORTH KOREA MAY USE ITS SECRET BASE TO LAUNCH ICBMS + DELAYED SEOUL-INCHON CANAL PROJECT FINDS NEW LIFE.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/12/2008 23:41 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Suspected US missile kills 12 in Pakistan
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) - A missile from a suspected US drone killed 12 people Friday in a Pakistani tribal area where US forces have been aggressively targeting Al-Qaeda militants -- fuelling anger from Washington's key "war on terror" ally.
Yet another smoking hole in the ground? Do tell? Y'don't think G.W.'s tired of the duplicity ooooooozing from Islamabad, do ya?
The missile hit a house on the outskirts of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, a local official said, in the fourth such strike in a week aimed at Taliban or Al-Qaeda fighters hiding out in the rugged tribal area."The pre-dawn strike destroyed the house and 12 people were killed," the official told AFP, adding that another 14 people were wounded.
Ah, carnage. I like it.
The 12 were believed to be rebel fighters, locals said, adding that the house hit in the Tol Khel area had been rented by an Afghan militant organisation, Al Badar, and was being used as an office. Al Badar, backed by former guerrilla leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, has previously conducted operations against Afghan and international forces based across the border in Afghanistan, residents and a security official said.
Hek is formerly the Most Evil Man in the World. I haven't heard of al-Badar, at least not in an Afghan context. Golly, gosh and shucks. I wonder where Hek gets all that money to run all those terror orgs?
Hekmatyar was briefly prime minister of Afghanistan in the 1990s after the end of its Soviet occupation.
He was the brown mastiff in the Dog Eat Dog episode.
He has backed the Taliban since the regime was removed from power following the US-led invasion of the country in 2001, after the September 11 attacks in the United States, and has demanded the withdrawal of foreign forces.
... in the hope of resuming his former brief but vaunted position.
Missile strikes targeting militants in Pakistan in recent weeks have been blamed on US-led coalition forces or CIA drones based in Afghanistan. Pakistan does not have missile-equipped drones.
I don't believe it, myself. It think it might be a resurgence of Dahomey and Upper Volta. The U.S. is just good-naturedly taking the blame for what they're doing, and I think it should stop. From now on, I think we should unequivocally blame Dahomey for every outrage like this one.
Are you sure it wasn't the Ruritanians?
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani hit out at the strike, saying that only Pakistani forces have the right to act on its territory.
"And they ain't gonna do it unless the bad guyz try to gnaw off too much of the pie."
"We strongly condemn this attack and the government will raise this issue at diplomatic level," he told reporters.
I agree. It's terrible. Just terrible. Damn that Dahomey!
Thirty-eight people, including women and children, have been killed in the past week's missile attacks.
Along with uncounted puppies, kittens, baby ducks and fluffy bunnies! Oh, the human toll! Really, the Paks should send a strongly worded letter to the Upper Voltan ambassador. I'm sure he'd know what to do with it.
Pakistan and the United States have been drawn into a row over the strikes, with Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Kayani this week strongly criticising them and insisting no deal existed to allow foreign troops to conduct them.
"Yeah. No way are we lettin' them in to throw missiles around! I'd hate to think of how many of our people they've killed!"
As well as missile strikes, Pakistan last week for the first time accused Afghanistan-based troops of carrying out a direct attack on its territory, a raid in the South Waziristan tribal zone that left 15 people dead. The Pakistani army reiterated its position Friday, with an official statement, quoting Kayani, pledging to safeguard the country's "territorial integrity."
Well, I'm sure it wasn't us. I don't even think we were in town that day, and if we were, we were washing our hair.
US and Afghan officials say Pakistan's tribal areas are a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who sneaked into the rugged region after the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001. Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are widely believed to be hiding in the mountainous region.
We don't know where within targeting accuracy requirements.
A separate strike in North Waziristan on Monday targeted but failed to hit top Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, but did kill four mid-level Al-Qaeda operatives, a security official and a militant source said.
"That dudn't mean nuttin'. Around here, y'can't throw a rock without hittin' at least four al-Qaeda operatives."
With tens of thousands of US and other international troops locked down in Afghanistan, US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Michael Mullen said Wednesday he had ordered a new strategy covering both sides of the border with Pakistan. The New York Times also reported that US President George W. Bush in July secretly approved orders enabling Special Operations forces to conduct ground operations in Pakistan without Islamabad's prior approval.
This article starring:
Miranshah
North Waziristan
GULBUDIN HEKMATYARAl Badar
JALALUDIN HAQQANITaliban
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/12/2008 14:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  T'weren't us. Musta been Shangri La.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 09/12/2008 14:11 Comments || Top||

#2  "The 12 were believed to be rebel fighters, locals said, adding that the house hit in the Tol Khel area had been rented by an Afghan militant organisation"
Good job! More missiles, please.

"aggressively targeting Al-Qaeda militants -- fuelling anger from Washington's key 'war on terror' ally"
Anger? Some key ally. More missiles, please.

The Prime Minister needs to review tapes of carpet bombing in Afghanistan in late 2001. A little perspective would do him good.
Posted by: Darrell || 09/12/2008 14:23 Comments || Top||

#3  only Pakistani forces have the right to act on its territory

By that logic the we could not have gone into A'stan to attack AQ there, but would have to let their then-government, the Taliban take care of the problem. We actually gave the 'bunnies that chance but they declined. Pakistan might want to check out that precedent.
Posted by: Glenmore || 09/12/2008 14:24 Comments || Top||

#4  "carpet bombing"
I should have said cluster bombing, but he'd get the point either way.
Posted by: Darrell || 09/12/2008 14:30 Comments || Top||

#5  You should have tight overlap if your cluster bombs are guided munitions. :-)
Posted by: tipover || 09/12/2008 14:49 Comments || Top||

#6  " Tens of thousands of U.S. and other international troops locked down in Afghanistan..."
Nope, no agenda here.
Posted by: Grunter || 09/12/2008 16:02 Comments || Top||


Pak army chief knew of Kabul embassy bombing
Highest levels of Pakistan's security apparatus, including the army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, might have been aware of the plot to bomb the Indian embassy in Kabul in July this year, US intelligence and security officials believe, a media report has said.

They also believe that the attack was aided by Pakistan's infamous intelligence agency, ISI.
That's at least a semi-finalist for "Understated comment of 2008" ...
"It's very difficult to imagine he (Gen Kayani) was not aware," a senior American official told the New York Times.

American intelligence agencies were quoted as saying that senior Pakistani national security officials favour the use of militant groups to preserve Pakistan's influence in the region, as a hedge against India and Afghanistan. In fact, some analysts believe that ISI operatives did not mind when their role in the July bombing in Kabul became known, the paper added.

"They didn't cover their tracks very well," a senior Defense Department official told the paper, "and I think the embassy bombing was the ISI drawing a line in the sand."
Posted by: john frum || 09/12/2008 12:16 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: ISI

#1  "A senior official said..." in other words, this guy is just making up stuff. While it is probably true, my guess is that the rapporteur spoke to no one except perhaps the barrista at the local coffee house.
Posted by: remoteman || 09/12/2008 13:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Pak army chief knew of Kabul embassy bombing ¿BEFOREHAND?.....
anything is possible in the Shithole-0 called Pakistan BUT..... is it likely?

Rapporteurs™ spend so much time alone in A-Stan that they wind up hanging out with Mary 5 fingers way too long.

I'd shed a Crocodile Tear but they lie so much that I lost any compassion I ever had for the Bastards!
Posted by: Red Dawg || 09/12/2008 22:36 Comments || Top||


Yasin Malik conked in baton charge
Tens of thousands of Muslim protesters gathered in Kashmir's biggest city Friday for a pro-independence rally calling for Indian authorities to leave the troubled region. "Oppressors, get out of Kashmir," shouted protesters in the heart of Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital.

A prominent leader, Mohammed Yasin Malik, was injured in the protest after police swung batons and fired tear gas at the crowd, said Altaf Khan, a spokesman for Malik's group, the Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front. It was not immediately clear how Malik was injured or how badly, but he was rushed to a hospital, Khan said. Dozens of others also sustained injuries, he added.
This article starring:
MOHAMED YASIN MALIKJammu-Kashmir Liberation Front
Posted by: ryuge || 09/12/2008 07:59 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  I wonder how many close-cousin marriages that man resulted from? His face is disturbingly asymmetrical, which generally indicates some other developmental problem, I believe.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/12/2008 14:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Stroke or Bell's palsy.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 09/12/2008 14:17 Comments || Top||

#3  My father had Bell's palsy. That would make sense.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/12/2008 14:46 Comments || Top||

#4  I think he just looks goofy.
Posted by: Fred || 09/12/2008 16:07 Comments || Top||

#5  Yep Goofybelle Palsy
Posted by: .5MT || 09/12/2008 16:29 Comments || Top||

#6  Maybe he got hit really hard by that baton?
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/12/2008 16:32 Comments || Top||

#7  Reminds me of Clem Cadiddlehopper, IMHO. I think that, in his rage, MYM ran into that baton.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 09/12/2008 19:48 Comments || Top||

#8  perhaps Mom and Dad were a little too close on the family tree
Posted by: Frank G || 09/12/2008 20:10 Comments || Top||

#9  In order to be a tree, doesn't it have to fork at some point, Frank?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 09/12/2008 20:50 Comments || Top||

#10  heh...good point
Posted by: Frank G || 09/12/2008 21:08 Comments || Top||


3 killed as Taliban clash with locals
At least three tribesmen were killed and one injured when the local Taliban clashed with residents in Mohmand Agency late on Wednesday. The political administration said the clash took place in the Mian Mandi area when the local shopkeepers resisted the Taliban from searching shops in the area for illegal drugs, resulted in an exchange of fire. The deceased were identified as Qadeem, Nasaro Ali and Nadeem. Quwat Khan was injured.
Posted by: Fred || 09/12/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


LI 'arrests' drug smugglers
The Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) on Thursday claimed it had foiled a bid to smuggle 23 kilogrammes of heroin from Afghanistan, and had taken two people into custody. The LI sources said that the organisation's activists stopped a car coming from Afghanistan in the Tirah area in Khyber Agency and found 23 kilogrammes of heroin in a search. They arrested the car's driver and the man who had hired him.

The LI personnel brought the contraband to the LI Spin Qabr Markaz where they set it on fire. LI Ameer Mangal Bagh told reporters that the Afghan and Pakistan border guards were involved in smuggling and received bribes from the smugglers. He said that the LI had destroyed all heroin factories in Khyber Agency and had banned its transportation. He added that the LI would take action against those involved in the business.
Posted by: Fred || 09/12/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


5 killed in fresh Kurram festivities
Five people, including four militants, were killed and seven others injured in clashes between rival tribes in Kurram Agency on Thursday. The political administration said the clashes continued in the Pewar, Teri Mengal, Baghzai, Jalamai, Char Dewal, Inzari, Bilyamin, Bagizai and Alizai areas of the agency. Due to the closure of the Thal-Parachinar road for the last 10 months, residents of the agency are facing an acute shortage of essential commodities, including medicines and fuel during the month of Ramazan.
Posted by: Fred || 09/12/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Army targets Swat militants' hideouts
Eight militants were killed on Thursday when security forces pounded their hideouts in the restive Swat valley, AFP reported the military as saying. Six of the militants died when helicopter gunships fired missiles in Ningolai Kabal area, hitting the house of local militant commander Khurshid Shah, military spokesman Nadeem Anwar said.

In a separate incident, in the Sher Palam area of Swat, two militants were killed in clashes between security forces and militants. "The bodies of those two have been handed over to the local elders," Anwar said, adding that rifles, grenades and radio sets had been recovered in the area.

Constable killed: Meanwhile, militants killed a police constable and his daughter in Matta tehsil, official sources told Daily Times. They said the militants opened fire and killed Constable Dost Mohammad Khan and his nine-year old daughter when they were returning home in Kooza Bamkhela in Swat district.

The militants blew up a telephone exchange and several houses in Kabal tehsil.

The security forces fired around 200 artillery shells on the militants' hideouts on Thursday. Despite heavy pounding through fighter and spy planes and heavy artillery, the security forces have not fully taken control of the area, locals said.

Sources said the government was intensifying the Swat operation as additional troops were deployed in most of the affected areas of the violence-hit district. Locals said the security forces continued an unannounced curfew in Kabal tehsil, due to which about 100,000 people have fled to safer places. The government had cut off electricity and telephone lines in Kooza Bandai.

The operation and the continued curfew have added to the problems of the residents and created a shortage of edibles and medicines. The security forces have asked the people to vacate the area but have closed the Ayub Bridge checkpost and Bara Banda checkpost. Many of the fleeing people, including children and elders, had to swim across the River Swat. Thousands of people have taken refuge in Malakand division where they are forced to spend nights under the open sky.

The people of Kabal tehsil warned to undertake a long march towards Islamabad if the government did not stop the military operation in Swat.
This article starring:
Ayub Bridge checkpost
Bara Banda checkpost
Kabal tehsil
Kooza Bamkhela in Swat district
Kooza Bandai
Matta tehsil
Ningolai Kabal area
Sher Palam area of Swat
KHURSHID SHAHTTP
military spokesman Nadeem Anwar
Posted by: Fred || 09/12/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Taliban kill three tribesmen for 'spying'
Taliban militants shot dead three pro-government tribesmen in Bajaur Agency, accusing the victims of spying against them, officials said on Thursday. The bodies of the tribesmen were found on Thursday morning near a road in the Tally area in the Bajaur tribal region, a local government official told AFP. "They were shot in the neck and a note found with their bodies said all those indulging in activities against Taliban and co-operating with the government will suffer the same fate," the official said. Militants have killed several tribesmen, accusing them of spying on their activities on behalf of the Pakistani government and the United States forces operating across the border in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred || 09/12/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Mehsud's deputy, 2 other militants granted bail
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) granted bail to three Taliban militants whose release was one of the local Taliban's key demands from the government since the men were arrested in July, officials said on Thursday. The officials said that one of the released men, Maulana Rafiuddin from Waziristan Agency, was Baitullah Mehsud's deputy commander. The other two were Muhammad Aziz, an Afghan national, and Naveed Alam from Hangu. While allowing bail to the three men, ATC Judge Muhammad Ayub asked them to submit bail bonds of Rs 200,000 each.
Posted by: Fred || 09/12/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Foreigners among 100 militants killed in Bajaur offensive
At least 100 militants were killed and around 25 injured on Thursday in the continued military offensive in Bajaur while airstrikes targeted Taliban command centres, official sources and local residents said.

"Eighty to 100 militants were killed in Bajaur today. Most of them are foreigners," the official said on condition of anonymity, Reuters reported The Taliban casualties were reported in Loyesam, Tangkhata, Rashakai, Khazana and Banda areas following airstrikes, artillery and mortar fires.

Several militant hideouts were also destroyed in the offensive, they added.

Main office: Taliban's main office in Inayat Killi, nine kilometres off Khar, was targeted in an airstrike while 200 shops in a commercial market were also destroyed, eyewitnesses told Daily Times.

According to witnesses, the whole market was in flames following the attack, causing damage worth millions of rupees. No official confirmation was available. After taking control of militants' stronghold in Loyesam, the government forces prepared to march towards the militant-controlled areas in Charmang and Nawagai.

"Life is completely paralysed and we feel as if we are lifeless," residents said as curfew was adding to the local population's problems and a creating food shortage in the area.

The operation against militants was launched on August 6 but the authorities have failed to arrest any known militant leader, the local residents added.

Tribal regions have been wrecked by violence since hundreds of Taliban and Al Qaeda militants fled there after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.

US and Afghan officials have repeatedly claimed the tribal region is used by militants to launch cross-border attacks on international coalition troops deployed in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred || 09/12/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  It is nice that the press is distracted by lipstick as GWB mopps up before he leaves office.
Posted by: Betty Grating2215 || 09/12/2008 6:31 Comments || Top||

#2  You go to war with the idiotic and vitriolic election season you've got ....  apologies to Rummy
Posted by: lotp || 09/12/2008 22:06 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Letters from Al Qaeda leaders show Iraqi effort is in disarray
By Bill Roggio
A story of ego, incompetence, ineptitude, and being out-generaled. The feel-good story of the week.
Posted by: Fred || 09/12/2008 09:17 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wonder if there will be a similar article about the donk leaders next week.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 09/12/2008 10:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Any word on when this will be on the front page of the NY Times or Washington Post?

Right, Sept 31, gotcha.
Posted by: AlanC || 09/12/2008 12:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Nope AC. November 5
Posted by: tipover || 09/12/2008 14:38 Comments || Top||

#4  Ya missed it, Tipover, there is no September 31.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 09/12/2008 15:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Ima stuck in an OODA loop and I can't get out.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 09/12/2008 19:49 Comments || Top||


Bomb kills three Iraqi government employees
Authorities say a bomb concealed in a pickup truck belonging to the Iraqi Housing Ministry has killed three employees and wounded three others, a day after Iraqi soldiers arrested three leaders of Al-Qaeda in a raid in Diyala Province. Police and medics say the bomb went off Thursday morning in Baghdad's Shiite district of Sadr City. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Late Wednesday, troops had raided two houses in the Kanaan district of Diyala, which lies to the northwest of Baghdad, acting on a tip-off, said General Mohammad al-Askari.

The main object of the mission had been the search for local Al-Qaeda leaders, he added. "We have arrested three, who were wanted and considered among the most dangerous," he said, without giving any other details.

During the raid on the second house, soldiers had killed three suicide bombers armed with explosive belts, he added. They seized about 10 bombs, six vehicles, weapons and other material, said Askari. He did not say if any other people had been arrested during the raid.

In mid-August Iraqi forces were attacked by "Al-Qaeda terrorists" at Kananna, about 10 kilometers north of Baqouba. During the fighting, Iraqi soldiers killed five of the insurgents and arrested 20 people. They subsequently found a village where tens of abandoned houses had been booby-trapped by insurgents.

Iraqi forces have over the past few months stepped up their actions against Al-Qaeda strongholds, notably in Diyala and in the northern city of Mosul. About 50,000 members of Iraq's security forces have been deployed in Diyala since July, backed by US soldiers.

But the province has been rocked by a series of attacks, the result of a deadly struggle between between Al-Qaeda fighters and members of so-called "Awakening" units. -
Posted by: Fred || 09/12/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel accuses Gaza fighters of bombing attack
Militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza on Thursday detonated a bomb near an Israeli Army patrol along the border fence, causing no injuries but shaking a fragile truce, an Israeli Army spokeswoman told AFP. "An explosive device was set off against an army force patrolling the fence in central Gaza, south of the Kissufim crossing, causing some damage to the fence but no injuries," the spokeswoman said.

A Gaza witness said that an Israeli ambulance had been at the scene, at the border between Israel and the central Gaza Strip, but the army said nobody was injured. A second explosion went off minutes later in the same area, but also caused no injuries, the Israeli Army said.
Posted by: Fred || 09/12/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Southeast Asia
Blast in Thai south kills bomber, wounds 4 police
A small remote-controlled bomb exploded in Thailand's predominately Muslim deep south on Friday, killing a suspected bomber and wounding four policemen, police said.

The police officers were escorting a group of teachers home when the 5-kg (11 lb) bomb exploded on a road in Narathiwat, one of the four provinces where more than 3,100 people have been killed in four years of violence. "The terrorists militants were speeding away after detonating the bomb and one of them was hit by shrapnel and killed," a policeman at the scene told Reuters. Two of the four wounded police officers were in critical condition. Another man suspected of being an accomplice to the bomber was also wounded.
Posted by: ryuge || 09/12/2008 07:53 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Three shot down in southern Thailand
Separatist terrorists militants have shot dead three people in a spate of attacks across Thailand's Muslim-majority south, police said Friday. A 45-year-old village chief was killed in a drive-by shooting late Thursday in Narathiwat, one of three provinces hit by four years of separatist unrest along the southern border with Malaysia, police said. In nearby Pattani province, a 25-year-old Buddhist man was shot dead in another drive by late Thursday, while a 39-year-old Muslim man was killed in front of a teashop, they added.
Posted by: ryuge || 09/12/2008 06:19 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Terror Networks
Anatomy of a Modern Homegrown Terror Cell: Aabid Khan et al. (Operation Praline)
a 24 page PDF by NEFA worth looking at
Posted by: 3dc || 09/12/2008 03:07 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2008-09-12
  Kimmie recovering from brain surgery
Thu 2008-09-11
  Seven years. Never forgive, never forget, never ''understand.''
Wed 2008-09-10
  Head of al-Qaeda in Pakistain dead in Haqqani raid
Tue 2008-09-09
  Car boom attempt on Chalabi
Mon 2008-09-08
  Drones hit Haqqani compound
Sun 2008-09-07
  Mr. Ten Percent succeeds Perv as Pakistan president
Sat 2008-09-06
  Sauerland Group planned attacks in major cities
Fri 2008-09-05
  Lanka troops move to take LTTE capital
Thu 2008-09-04
  Fifteen killed in Pakistan in cross-border raid
Wed 2008-09-03
  Pakistan PM survives assassiation attempt
Tue 2008-09-02
  Two Canadians killed in Wana missile attack
Mon 2008-09-01
  Missile strike kills six in Miranshah
Sun 2008-08-31
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Sat 2008-08-30
  Report says China offered widespread help on nukes
Fri 2008-08-29
  Hezbollah shoots at Lebanese Army helicopter, kills officer


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