Hi there, !
Today Sun 09/20/2009 Sat 09/19/2009 Fri 09/18/2009 Thu 09/17/2009 Wed 09/16/2009 Tue 09/15/2009 Mon 09/14/2009 Archives
Rantburg
531701 articles and 1855993 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 73 articles and 295 comments as of 14:49.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Noordin Mohammad Top: Dead Again!
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
0 [1] 
2 00:00 Ebbang Uluque6305 [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 Willy [] 
0 [] 
5 00:00 Jumbo Slinerong5015 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
7 00:00 CrazyFool [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 liberal hawk [] 
0 [] 
4 00:00 Jame Retief [] 
3 00:00 lotp [] 
2 00:00 Jame Retief [1] 
0 [] 
20 00:00 Shinelet Bourbon2890 [] 
1 00:00 jay-dubya [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
4 00:00 trailing wife [] 
2 00:00 ed [] 
Page 2: WoT Background
3 00:00 remoteman []
2 00:00 Glenmore []
7 00:00 Bulldog []
0 []
4 00:00 Mullah Richard []
56 00:00 Barbara Skolaut []
19 00:00 JosephMendiola []
2 00:00 Woozle Uneter9007 []
0 []
0 []
6 00:00 Yosemite Sam []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
1 00:00 liberal hawk []
5 00:00 3dc []
Page 3: Non-WoT
7 00:00 USN, Ret. []
0 []
2 00:00 Anonymoose []
2 00:00 Nimble Spemble []
10 00:00 JosephMendiola []
13 00:00 SteveS []
0 []
3 00:00 Glenmore []
5 00:00 Barbara Skolaut []
0 []
1 00:00 gromky []
1 00:00 Ebbang Uluque6305 []
Page 4: Opinion
2 00:00 Barbara Skolaut []
0 []
8 00:00 Glenmore []
0 [1]
22 00:00 USN, Ret. []
3 00:00 Barbara Skolaut []
0 []
5 00:00 lex []
6 00:00 Broadhead6 []
Page 6: Politix
14 00:00 European Conservative []
1 00:00 GolfBravoUSMC []
3 00:00 AlanC []
4 00:00 Rambler in Virginia [1]
1 00:00 Besoeker []
0 []
1 00:00 Glenmore []
0 []
3 00:00 Cornsilk Blondie []
21 00:00 DMFD [1]
Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I bet Joan is not wearing pants either.

Question: is it wrong to laugh at "sends her own head zooming like a rocket"?
Posted by: SteveS || 09/17/2009 0:29 Comments || Top||

#2  I don't think it's wrong to laugh.
Posted by: gorb || 09/17/2009 1:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Joan Henrietta Collins, O.B.E.



Young & Perky

Daily Gam Shot

Rock Star

The cigarette after?

Something more comfortable

Nightie Night

Ants in her pants?
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 09/17/2009 2:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Whatta Dame.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 09/17/2009 9:15 Comments || Top||

#5  She's a "Fauxther" (Fake Bather)....look closely (but not enough to draw unwarranted(?)) attention....she's wearing a bathing suit, presumably one piece....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/17/2009 12:23 Comments || Top||

#6  I've never heard the phrase 'go pound a bathtub' before.

But I could be persuaded to start the trend, given Fred's proclivity toward Wymmin who Bathe...
Posted by: Adriane || 09/17/2009 14:50 Comments || Top||

#7  She's a "Fauxther" (Fake Bather)....

Dammit! Now you went and ruined all the fun...
Posted by: CrazyFool || 09/17/2009 15:02 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Roadside bomb kills Canadian soldier near Kandahar
Private Jonathan Couturier, 23, is dead and 11 others were wounded in attack on armoured vehicle in Afghanistan.

A Canadian soldier known as the little brother of his military section lost his life Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded as he and his comrades were returning home from a mission southwest of Kandahar City.

Twelve troops were wounded when the armoured vehicle in which they were riding was rocked by the bomb. Only Private Jonathan Couturier, 23, succumbed to his injuries.

The explosion occurred less than two hours before a suicide bomber rammed a convoy of vehicles in the capital city of Kabul, killing six Italian soldiers and 10 civilians.
Posted by: Skunky Glins**** || 09/17/2009 18:13 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Car bomb in Kabul kills 6 Italians, 10 Afghans
A suicide car bomber attacked an Italian military convoy on a road in Afghanistan's capital Thursday, killing six Italian soldiers and 10 Afghan civilians, officials said.

The suicide bomber rammed his explosives-filled car into two Italian military vehicles about midday, Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa said in Rome. He said six of those aboard were killed and four wounded.
Posted by: ed || 09/17/2009 07:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Karzai totals 54.62% of vote in Afghan presidential election
[RIA/Novosti] With all the ballots counted, the Afghan Central Election Commission said Wednesday that incumbent President Hamid Karzai garnered 54.62% of the vote in the August 20 elections.

Chief electoral officer Daud Najafi said the winner of the presidential race will be announced only after the commission investigating vote irregularities has completed its work. A large number of complaints have been filed with the commission, and more than 200,000 ballots have already been rejected.

Najafi said 5,662,758 million valid ballots were cast, with Karzai receiving 3,093,256 votes against 1,571,581 (27.75%) for his nearest rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. Ramazan Bashardost came third with 520,627 votes (9.1%).
Turnout was 38.7% of the 15,295,016 eligible voters.

The election official said other details of the counting process, including the number of polling stations expected to be checked by the complaints commission, could not be announced immediately due to technical difficulties.
Posted by: Fred || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thank God this critical phase of the political process is over. The natives in the mountains thousands of miles away and finally catch their breath. Karzai says, "NOW WE CAN!"

Do what?

Posted by: Grunt_0369 || 09/17/2009 9:15 Comments || Top||

#2  NOW WE CAN!

Get on with exporting as much opium as possible. What else would we do? There is certainly no money in goat piss, the only other thing Afghanistan produces.
Posted by: Jame Retief || 09/17/2009 10:06 Comments || Top||


Kunduz Clash Leaves Nine Taliban Dead
[Quqnoos] At least nine Taliban militants were killed in a gun-battle with police in the northern Kunduz province, officials said on Wednesday

The fighting erupted after the Taliban militants attacked a police outpost in the district of Imam Sahib in daylight on Tuesday, District Chief, Juma Khan, told Quqnoos. Seven other insurgents and three policemen have been wounded in the fighting that lasted for a couple of hours.

Taliban have intensified their attacks in Kunduz over the past few months, imposing threat to security of the relatively stable Afghan north. Taliban militants have not made any comment so far.

Imam Sahib, a district on Afghan-Tajik border has rarely been coming under attacks of guerillas. Taliban insurgents have taken over some parts of two northern provinces from which they were driven in 2001, threatening to disrupt NATO's new supply route from Central Asia, according to officials.

A significant number of Taliban fighters have been stationed in the outskirts of Chahar Dara district of Kunduz and Baghlan-e Markazi district of the neighbouring Baghlan province, sources said.
Posted by: Fred || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Suicide car bombs hit Somalia peacekeeper base
Suicide bombers in explosives-laden cars with U.N. logos drove into the main base of African Union peacekeepers Thursday, detonating the devices in two massive blasts that blew out nearby windows and shrouded the sky in black smoke.

There was no immediate word on casualties in the attack at Mogadishu's airport. An Islamist insurgent group claimed responsibility and said the targets were senior African Union peacekeeping officials and Somali government officials who were meeting at the airport.

A security officer at the airport said the explosions were caused by two white Land Cruisers with United Nations logos. "The soldiers at the gate assumed they were U.N. cars and opened the gate for them," the security official said, asking that his name not be used because he is not authorized to speak to the media. "When the cars entered one of them sped toward a petrol depot and exploded. The other one exploded in a nearby area."
Posted by: ed || 09/17/2009 08:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Somalia militant group admits death of commander
[Khaleej Times] Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab extremist group has acknowledged that one of its commanders was killed in a US military raid. The Shebab group "acknowledged the death of one of its commanders... and a group of its fighters in a communique issued on jihadist forums," SITE Intelligence Group said on Tuesday.

US officials confirmed the raid on Monday, and said that Shebab commander Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan had been killed in the operation. Nabhan is a Kenyan citizen wanted by the FBI over the 2002 anti-Israeli attacks in Mombasa.
Israelis killed in Mombasa? How does the FBI have an interest?
The Shebab posted a statement on the Global Islamic Media Front website indicating "that six helicopters initially participated in the attack and fired 'heavily and in a focused manner' on a car driven by the fighters," according to SITE.
"The big meanies are picking on us!"
"They said that two of the helicopters landed and then these fighters responded to them in an hour-long clash, but were overwhelmed by the four other helicopters."
"We coulda taken them, but the meanies cheated."
Earlier Tuesday, a top Shebab commander told AFP that the group would "retaliate against this unprovoked attack." "The United States is Islam's known enemy and we will never expect mercy from them, nor should they expect mercy from us," a member of the extremist group said.
Whatcha gonna do, Mr. Al Shababer-man? Seduce more of our jihadi-minded sons to send to their deaths?
"We are investigating the matter and if any Somali is found to have aided the attackers, then he or she shall face Allah's verdict," he said on condition of anonymity.

The governor of the Lower Shabelle region where the raid occurred said three civilians were killed during the operation, details of which remain murky.

ABC News reported that at least one US helicopter was involved in the raid, along with support from a US Navy ship offshore that was on hand to monitor the situation and provide assistance if needed. Nabhan's body was taken into US custody, added ABC, a US television network.
This article starring:
Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan
Posted by: Fred || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  FBI interest

http://www.fbi.gov/terrorinfo/nabhan.htm

he is wanted for "questioning". Presumably questioning could enable them to learn more about AQ which has attacked the US, including the East African embassies, of course.

Alternatively I suppose it could be some internation aviation treaty, or an interpol thingie.
Posted by: liberal hawk || 09/17/2009 9:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Of course he will not be available for "questioning" any more.
Posted by: liberal hawk || 09/17/2009 9:24 Comments || Top||

#3  The FBI's interest was in the 1998 embassy bombings, which were planned & carried out by a related cell of Al-Qaeda affiliates. He may have had membership in them both and/or it may have been the same cell.
Posted by: lotp || 09/17/2009 12:34 Comments || Top||


Official: Kenya cattle raid death toll reaches 32
[Jakarta Post] A lawmaker says the bodies of 32 Kenyans killed during a cattle raid in northern Kenya are being buried in a mass grave.
"Little Joe! Hoss! Git yur shootin' irons. We got rustlers trying to run off our herd! Oh, and bring a shovel."
Samburu East district representative Raphael Letimao says the 21 members of the Samburu tribe and 11 members of the Pokot killed during clashes will be buried Wednesday. Letimao said dozens of people also were wounded in Tuesday's raid in arid northern Kenya.

A prolonged drought has driven millions of Kenyans to seek food aid and has exacerbated tensions between the tribes in an area already awash with weapons from conflicts in neighboring Uganda, Somalia and Sudan. The raids are a key way of replenishing cattle herds depleted by the drought, and are also linked to political struggles and feuds between ethnic groups.
Posted by: Fred || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
New Biplobi commie eats dirt in 'shootout'
An outlawed party leader was killed in a 'shootout' between his cohorts and police at Gutudia village under Dumuria upazila in Khulna yesterday.
Nope, got no idea where that is.
Identifying him as Mashubar Halder, 40, son of Noresh Halder of Gutudia village, Khulna Superintendent of Police Mohammad Shamsuddin said he was an armed cadre of New Biplobi Communist Party.
As we've said before, the only good commie is a dead commie
Sources said police raided Wapda Road acting on a tip-off where a gang of extremists gathered together around 3:20am to commit a crime.
Lurking on a dark, witness free street at 03:20, check
Mahamoud the Rat dropping a dime on da gang, check

Sensing the presence of police, check
the outlaws opened fire checkforcing the law enforcers to retaliate. checkPolice said Mashubar died on the spot "....rosebud..."while his associates managed to flee the scene after a while. ..and check. they've been rerunning this same story with different dead guys since at least 2002.

Two policemen -- Sobhan and Tajul Islam -- were also injured during the incident. They were admitted to local upazila health complex.
Must have burned themselves with hot coffee from the local takeout
Police also recovered a point 22-bore pistol and three bullets from the spot.
A .22 behind the ear doesn't make much noise
Mashubar was accused in 18 cases, on twelve systems including seven for murder, police said.
Posted by: Fred || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Meet the New Biplobi Commies. Same as the Old Dead Biplobi Commies.
Posted by: SteveS || 09/17/2009 0:32 Comments || Top||

#2  With a little perl, I could write a plausible crossfire generator.
Posted by: gromky || 09/17/2009 6:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Gutudia village under Dumuria upazila in Khulna yesterday.
Nope, got no idea where that is.

Hang on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen, I have FOUND Dumuria upazila! It's the last arable farmland before you reach the coastal mangrove swamp along the western edge of Khulna Province. Funny, there's no visible ferry crossings of any of the several rivers in the area, and the one bridge to the peninsula was down when the Google Earth photos were taken. To see this little "piece of heaven", just type in Dumuria, Bangladesh, into the search function of Google Earth.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 09/17/2009 16:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Old Patriot, you are truly a treasure. :-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/17/2009 16:13 Comments || Top||


Europe
Algerian convicted of Paris metro bombings begins appeal
[Maghrebia] A French appellate court on Wednesday (September 16th) will hear the case of the Algerian terrorist who planned the deadly 1995 Paris metro bombings, L'Expression reported. Rachid Ramda, 40, has always denied his involvement in financing the attacks on behalf of Algeria's Armed Islamic Group (GIA). In 2007, he was sentenced to a minimum of 22 years in prison.
Posted by: Fred || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: GIA


Home Front: WoT
Queens raids: FBI probe into Denver-based cell plotting attack on 9/11 scale
A suspected Al Qaeda cell - the first uncovered in the U.S. since 9/11 - drew round-the-clock FBI surveillance Tuesday as authorities said they thwarted its plans for a major terror attack.

Scores of FBI agents inundated Denver as they closed the noose on the five-man cabal with ties to World Trade Center mastermind Osama Bin Laden's terrorist group, sources told the Daily News. One of the suspects visited New York last week toting bomb-making plans after a trip to Pakistan - home to most of Al Qaeda's leadership, sources said. "The FBI is seriously spooked about these guys," a former senior counterterrorism official told The News. "This is not some ... FBI informant-driven case. This is the real thing."

Najibullah Zazi, seen last week praying and chatting with other worshipers at the Masjid Hazrat-I-Abu Bakr Islamic Center in Queens, was one of the quintet under intense scrutiny, sources said. He recently traveled to Pakistan, where Al Qaeda's major leaders - including Bin Laden - remain hunkered down.

Zazi - known around the mosque as "Naji" - ran a coffee and doughnut cart in Manhattan before moving to suburban Denver this year, other members of the center said Tuesday. He was described as a religious man, sporting a long, bushy beard, who hailed from eastern Afghanistan. Interviewed outside Denver, Zazi said he knows he is under investigation but is innocent.

Zazi apparently lived recently in the same Flushing neighborhood where FBI agents swarmed into three apartments this week, bashing down doors and carrying search warrants seeking bomb-making materials.

"I didn't know what he was up to," said mosque President Abdulrahman Jalili, 58, after he was contacted by the FBI about Zazi. "Islam is against terrorism. It is a religion of peace."
The religion may be. Some significant number of believers are most definitely not.
The operative was recently overseas visiting Pakistan and possibly other countries, police sources said. He drove from Denver to Queens carrying documents and papers about bomb-making and bombs, the sources said. Zazi remained under constant surveillance in suburban Denver Tuesday, three sources said.

Red flags about an impending attack went up last week when Zazi visited with several people in a single day and there was worrisome information collected from wiretaps, sources said. Zazi was stopped at the George Washington Bridge on his way into the city. Authorities later seized his rental car from a Queens street, sources said.

Two mosque members said Zazi was apolitical. "I haven't seen him talk politics," said Mohammad Aziz, 51, of Queens, who hosted a dinner for the suspect and a local imam two years ago.

Zazi, who has a wife in Pakistan, said he was coming to New York to renew his peddler's license for the coffee wagon.

The Queens apartment raids were triggered by the Denver investigation, the operative's New York visit and the timing of the upcoming UN General Assembly. New York authorities also detained several men - later released - in a hunt for bomb-making components, explosive powders and fuses. "The hallway was filled with guys with armor," said one man awakened when the FBI broke down a the door of a neighbor with ties to the mosque. "Heavy armor." Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said unspecified material was seized from the apartments and shipped for analysis.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  In light of the story posted here a few days ago about a prediction of another attack here right around the current time, this story - and that one, as well - is even more interesting.
Posted by: Mike N. || 09/17/2009 0:54 Comments || Top||

#2  FBI unit set for more anti-terror raids in Queens; Colorado home raided
FBI agents with bomb-sniffing dogs Wednesday raided the Colorado apartment of an Afghan national linked to Al Qaeda and a plot to attack the New York City subway system.

Simultaneously, authorities swarmed over a nearby home believed to belong to a relative of Najibullah Zazi, hauling out boxes of evidence.

Earlier Queens raids turned up nine knapsacks and cell phones, raising concerns about bombers detonating simultaneous blasts as they did in the 2004 attack that killed 191 commuters in Spain.
Posted by: ed || 09/17/2009 1:30 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Drone attacks target important Pakistan militants
The U.S. believes Central Intelligence Agency drone attacks have killed two prominent Islamic militant figures in Pakistan affiliated with al Qaeda, one of whom was on the U.S.'s list of top 20 targets, according to officials briefed on the matter.

Drone attacks targeting Baitullah Mehsud and his supporters destroyed houses in a Pakistani village in August. One drone attack Monday is believed to have killed the leader of the Islamic Jihad Union, Najmiddin Kamolitdinovich Jalolov, an Uzbek native implicated in terrorist plots and attacks in Germany and Uzbekistan. Officials said they are almost certain he was killed, though a DNA test hasn't yet been performed.

A drone attack on Sept. 7 appeared to have killed another prominent Islamic militant, Ilyas Kashmiri, who had been briefly detained in Pakistan for alleged involvement in a 2003 assassination attempt against then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. There is less certainty about his death, however.

The two men are "solid midlevel commanders," said Bruce Hoffman, a Georgetown University professor who specializes in terrorism. Targeting middle-level officers is important, he said, because "when you do kill the senior commanders, there's no one to fill their shoes."

CIA drone attacks intensified in the early months of the Obama administration. A drone last month claimed Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, who was believed to have been responsible for the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

This most recent campaign targeted militants in three attacks over the course of a week. The U.S. has launched 74 drone-missile attacks since August 2008, and 38 of those strikes were launched this year, according to the Long War Journal, which tracks CIA drone strikes.

U.S. officials don't openly acknowledge the CIA drone attacks, but as recently as Tuesday, the top U.S. intelligence director touted the success of intelligence operations against al Qaeda. "What has really made all the nations safer has been the accumulation of knowledge about al Qaeda and its affiliate groups, which enables us to be more aggressive in expanding that knowledge and stopping things before they happen," said Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair.

The Treasury Department last year designated Mr. Jalolov's group as an al Qaeda-affiliated organization with the goal of overthrowing the Uzbek government. Treasury officials froze his assets and prohibited Americans from conducting financial transactions with him. The U.N. also placed sanctions on him that included freezing assets and an arms embargo.

Mr. Jalolov, 37 years old, the man on the CIA's top target list, was considered a potential ringleader in a September 2007 plot to attack several venues in Germany, according to the Treasury Department. In 2006, he directed the casing of terrorist targets, particularly hotels catering to Western visitors, in Central Asia. U.S. officials alleged he was an organizer of the 2004 terrorist attacks in Uzbekistan that killed at least 47 people.

Mr. Kashmiri, an al Qaeda operational commander, is reported to be among Pakistan's top 10 most-wanted terrorists. He was arrested in December 2003 in connection with an attempted suicide bombing targeting Mr. Musharraf, and was released a month later. Mr. Kashmiri then moved his operations to Pakistan's tribal Waziristan region and linked up with Mr. Mehsud.
Posted by: ryuge || 09/17/2009 02:45 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


80pc of Mohmand Agency cleared
[Geo News] Mohmand Agency political administration Wednesday said that at least 80 percent area of the agency has been cleared.

Briefing the media in Ghalanai, Operational Commandant Col. Saif said at least 245 militants were killed during the last one year and 300 others were injured.

At least 210 extremists have been arrested in the operation.

Briefing the media on the occasion, Mohmand Agency Political Agency Amjad Ali Khan said extremists caused loss worth Rs1500 million to the private properties; while, the estimated loss to the government properties is Rs2290 million.

The political agent said the development works have been started in the area and the restoration of education and communication are the foremost priorities.
Posted by: Fred || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  Thats south of Bajaur, and just north of Khyber (NW of Peshawar). If truely true, this indicates major Pakistani progress since the spring. OTOH Pakistani forces have a tendency to exaggerate their success.
Posted by: liberal hawk || 09/17/2009 9:31 Comments || Top||


Forces kill 11 militants in DIK action
[Geo News] At least eleven militias were killed while five were arrested during security forces' action following information in regard to presence of militants here in Dera Ismael Khan on Wednesday, Geo news reported.

According to sources, security forces lodged actions ageists militants in Shah Hassan Khel area of Panyala, Wandah nadir, Wandah Mir Ali and Khani Korona areas which resulted in killing of 11 militants and arrest of 5 others.

According to eyewitnesses, also, gunship helicopters participated during the security forces actions meanwhile, police said the actions were conducted following information in regard to existence of militias' chief commander Ashraf Ali Mujahid and his close aides and associates hiding in those areas and who had succeeded to flee Lucky Marwat area when security forces launched actions there during last some days.
Posted by: Fred || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Two Qaeda bosses perished in drone attack on Sep 14
[Geo News] Two Al-Qaeda commanders were reportedly killed including the close aides of Osama Bin Ladin during US unmanned plane attack on South Waziristan Agency (SWA) on September 14, Geo news quoted US intelligence sources as saying on Wednesday. According to US intelligence sources, those two killed Qaeda leaders included Nazim-ud-Din Khilalof alias Yahio and Ilyas Kaashmiri.

Nazim-ud-Din Khilalof was hailing from Uzbekistan and was reportedly a close aide of Qaeda's big boss Osama Bin Ladin while Ilyas Kaashmiri was a resident of Karachi, Pakistan. Also, Kaashmiri was the operational chief of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and the commander of Harkat-ul-Jihad Al-Islami, the religious outfit, sources added.
Posted by: Fred || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan

#1  Why do we always get "close aides", "known associates" et. al.? Can't we just put down this clown? GRRR.
Posted by: jay-dubya || 09/17/2009 16:36 Comments || Top||


Iraq
US military closes largest detention camp in Iraq
The U.S. military on Wednesday closed Camp Bucca, an isolated desert prison that was once its largest lockup in Iraq, as it moves to release thousands of detainees or transfer them to Iraqi custody before the end of the year.

The sprawling facility just north of the Kuwaiti border has held thousands of men over the years, including the most dangerous in U.S. custody — Sunni insurgents, Shiite extremists and al-Qaida in Iraq suspects swept up from battlefields over six years of war.

Iraqi officials say some who have been freed have returned to violence.

"They've been vetted as some of the most dangerous threats not only to Iraq but internationally," said Lt. Col. Kenneth King, the commander of the Bucca detention facility.

By midnight, all were to be transferred to either Camp Taji or Camp Cropper just outside Baghdad, the U.S. military's two remaining detention facilities, while cases are prepared to try to bring them to trial in Iraqi courts. Sixty-five have already been convicted and are awaiting death sentences, said Brig. Gen. David Quantock, the commander in charge of the detention system.

Iraqi officials in the former insurgent heartland around Fallujah have watched with concern as an influx of ex-detainees from Bucca return to homes in places with few jobs, making them easy prey for militant recruiters.

The U.S. military is racing to empty its detention facilities because a security pact that went into effect in January requires them to either transfer detainees to Iraqi custody for prosecution or release them.

The vast majority — 5,600 (veterans) since January — have been freed due to a lack of evidence that would be admissible in Iraqi courts and the military's unwillingness to compromise intelligence sources by bringing them forward as witnesses. About 1,400 have been handed over to Iraqi custody, and the U.S. military now holds around 8,400 prisoners.
Posted by: ed || 09/17/2009 07:49 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, well, well ...
Posted by: Willy || 09/17/2009 16:57 Comments || Top||


3 arrested for rocket attack on Baghdad Green Zone
[Gulf News] The American military said on Wednesdy that US-Iraqi forces arrested three militants suspected of firing rockets at Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, where visiting Vice President Joe Biden was spending the night.

The military said a joint rapid-reaction force raided the launch site after three 170mm [sic] rockets hit in the Green Zone on Tuesday evening. Two Iraqi civilians were killed in the attack.

It said the troops came under small arms fire from a nearby house but were able to arrest three people and seize three rocket rails used in the attack.

The fire came soon after Biden, who was staying in the Green Zone, retired for the evening after talks with US officials there.
Posted by: Fred || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Gaza: Khan Younis building comes under Israeli fire
Ma'an - Israeli forces targeted a building in eastern Khan Younis, launching at least one shell, but caused no damage or injuries.

The attack came after Israeli media sources reported Gazan fighters launched a projectile toward Israeli targets. The report said the projectile landed on the Gazan side of the border fence.
Posted by: Fred || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Woman rescued from captivity in Tulkarm
Ten former IDF combat soldiers rescued a US citizen and her two-and-a-half-year-old son from a Palestinian village in the Tulkarm area where they had been held captive for 3 years, Israel Radio revealed on Wednesday morning.

The woman, who had married a young Palestinian man she met in the United States, was being held captive in his house, together with their son. The man's first wife and four children from the first marriage also live in the house.

The woman's husband allegedly hit her, prevented her from leaving the house and threatened that if she left, she would never see their son again. He also threatened that if she left the home, she would be apprehended by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).

After efforts to bring about the woman's release by contacting Palestinian Authority officials failed, the woman's parents contacted a Jewish American man who had served in a combat unit in the IDF. He contacted friends in Israel who planned the rescue operation for several weeks, gathering intelligence on the family's routine, and carrying it out successfully on Monday, according to Israel Radio.

The woman and her son were transferred to the US consulate in Jerusalem and left the country on an airliner to Ohio on Tuesday.

Giora, one of the men who took part in rescuing the woman and her son, told Israel Radio that while the IDF was not aware of the operation, the US consulate was updated about every step of the mission.

"The rescue mission was planned in a similar way to operations carried out during my time in the military in a way that ensured no lives were endangered," Giora told the station.

The family promised a financial reward to the men for freeing their daughter, Giora said, insisting, however, that "we didn't do it for the money."
Posted by: Fred || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1  hope the husband tried to resist....
Posted by: Frank G || 09/17/2009 7:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Thanks to Mr. Giora and crew. It's more than the US government did to recover US citizen captives.
Posted by: ed || 09/17/2009 7:55 Comments || Top||

#3  "the IDF was not aware of the operation, the US consulate was updated about every step of the mission"

This is very, very odd. Expect more details to leak out. A dozen Israelis organize a private commando op in the WB and Shin Bet doesnt even know about it? (Or Shin Bet does, but doesnt inform Tzahal?)

Its good news for this woman and her son. It raises concerns wrt to the efficiency and organization of Israeli security, though.
Posted by: liberal hawk || 09/17/2009 9:28 Comments || Top||

#4  This is very, very odd. Expect more details to leak out. A dozen Israelis organize a private commando op in the WB and Shin Bet doesnt even know about it? (Or Shin Bet does, but doesnt inform Tzahal?)


Tut, tut.

Shin Bet is not the IDF. The IDF not knowing is good OPSEC.
Posted by: Jame Retief || 09/17/2009 10:11 Comments || Top||


Wild boars attack Palestinian lands in Salfit
Ma'an -- Wild boars entered the residential areas of Salfit, destroying Palestinian farmland and causing the loss of crops, locals reported Wednesday.

Head of agricultural workers in the Salfit district Khalil E'mran, said "herds of big boars attacked the farmland near the village of Al-Matwi destroying fig trees and vine groves." He urged a swift removal of the boars for fear they might be carrying the swine flu virus.

E'mran noted that herds of boars like these have been causing massive losses to Palestinian farmers year after year destroying walls, gardens, trees and even injuring three residents over the past few years.

Many locals believe the boars are let loose by Israeli settlers from nearby settlements.
Posted by: Fred || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Many locals believe the boars are let loose by Israeli settlers from nearby settlements

Many of us non-locals believe the locals are idiots.
Posted by: SteveS || 09/17/2009 0:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Hey - its free bacon, ham and ribs...
Wild Boar tastes real real good!

Just saying..
Posted by: 3dc || 09/17/2009 0:24 Comments || Top||

#3  I suspect someone in the area was casting out demons, who then infested the wild boars. No tellin' where the demons came from.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 09/17/2009 0:54 Comments || Top||

#4  Attack snakes , rampaging rats , wickedly wild boars !

I cant wait for the bloody butchering butterflies or the vicious vexed vultures

As 3dc says , yummy , wild boar fed on figs and grapes . Splendid !
Posted by: Oscar || 09/17/2009 3:15 Comments || Top||

#5  It's not often I sympathize with the Paleos, but in this case I do. Paleo farmers aren't allowed firearms which makes killing the pigs somewhat difficult.

A shame because wild boar meat fetches good prices in Europe.
Posted by: phil_b || 09/17/2009 5:46 Comments || Top||

#6  too kool!
Posted by: newc || 09/17/2009 8:04 Comments || Top||

#7  Paleo farmers aren't allowed firearms which makes killing the pigs somewhat difficult.

Palestinian youths have lots of practice throwing stones. Let them throw stones like the shepherd who was to become King David did, measuring Goliath's length on the ground thereby. Or re-invent boar spears, as the medieval European peasants did. Both are anyway more likely to achieve hits on target, compared to the tradional Palestinian shoot-from-the-hip technique.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/17/2009 8:59 Comments || Top||

#8  to answer the q no has yet asked
While Jews are forbidden from EATING pig meat, there is no prohibition on USING pigs in ways unconnected to food - hence why Jews can play football (with a pigskin). Whether they can be used as a weapon, well I guess you'd have to check with your local rabbi.

I must say though, that as an environmentalist, I am pleased that native wildlife survives in the land.

Would dogs be useful to deter boars? Does the muslim aversion to keeping boars have an impact on this?

Do you need to ride a horse to use a boar spear?
Posted by: liberal hawk || 09/17/2009 9:36 Comments || Top||

#9 
Do you need to ride a horse to use a boar spear?

Riding a horse using a boar spear would be a good way to end up trampled by the horse and then gored by the boar.

Boar spears are used while on the ground and having multiple individuals using one on the boar is preferable as it gives the big son-of-gun more than one target to go after.
Posted by: Jame Retief || 09/17/2009 10:15 Comments || Top||

#10  Since boars aren't kosher or halal, why are either Jews or Muslims raising them? Must be those danged Phalangists, lowering property values in the neighborhood . . .
Posted by: Flailet White6069 || 09/17/2009 10:39 Comments || Top||

#11  Typical. Let the Hamas loonies have more weapons than they can figure out how to use. But don't let the farmers have any means of self defense. Don't let legitimate hunters have hunting rifles even when common sense tells them hunting wild boars would produce good food while at the same time culling the herd to manageable proportions. No wonder these people are poor...they're just plain stupid.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 09/17/2009 11:42 Comments || Top||

#12  Since boars aren't kosher or halal, why are either Jews or Muslims raising them?

WILD boars.

Let the Hamas loonies have more weapons than they can figure out how to use. But don't let the farmers have any means of self defense.

If there are settlements nearby, this must be the West Bank, not Gaza. Im not sure if its an area under IDF control or under PA control. In either case, neither israel nor the PA allows Hamas to be armed in areas under their control. ANd both have good reasons to worry that armed villagers may in fact be hamas supporters.
Posted by: liberal hawk || 09/17/2009 11:49 Comments || Top||

#13  West Bank or Gaza, it's still ridiculous. This is a resource to be managed, not an infestation. Never tasted wild boar but I'd be interested in trying it.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 09/17/2009 12:34 Comments || Top||

#14  Im taking notion with the suggestion that arming the Pal villagers comes with no costs.
Posted by: liberal hawk || 09/17/2009 12:45 Comments || Top||

#15  They already have police there with guns. Many of whom are former terrorists. The west had no problems giving the worst subset of foreign-funded terrorists among the palestinians guns.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 09/17/2009 13:45 Comments || Top||

#16  They can't make or buy bows and arrows? Sheesh. These folks have a welfare state mentality rivaling the City of New Orleans or the continent of Africa -- they don't think "What can I do to solve this problem?" Instead, it's always "Wuddya gonna do for me?"
Posted by: Gabby || 09/17/2009 14:39 Comments || Top||

#17  Pig spears and slingshots aren't that complicated, but they do work - either for driving the hogs off or for killing them. Of course, using these weapons requires teamwork, something not high on the "abilities" list of most Arabs.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 09/17/2009 17:21 Comments || Top||

#18  Snakes, boars, rats...bwaaahaa haaa ha! Operation Chinese Zodiac is commencing brilliantly! Wait until the dragons!
Posted by: swksvolFF || 09/17/2009 17:49 Comments || Top||

#19  They already have police there with guns

Great - so you end up with a bunch of boars with shot-up feet.
Posted by: Pappy || 09/17/2009 20:57 Comments || Top||

#20  Pappy just made me spray a gin and tonic out my nose.
Posted by: Shinelet Bourbon2890 || 09/17/2009 23:22 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Police: Terrorism mastermind Noordin Top dead
Shine your uulators, it's time to take the fat lady out for a night on the town.
Noordin Muhammed Top, a militant mastermind who eluded capture for nine years and terrorized Indonesia with a string of deadly al-Qaida-funded bombings, was killed during a raid in central Indonesia, the country's police chief said Thursday.

Police hunting for suspects in Jakarta hotel bombings raided a hide-out in central Indonesia, sparking gunfire and an explosion Thursday that left four suspected militants dead, including Noordin, national police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said. Three alleged terrorists also were captured.

Noordin's remains were found in the house on the outskirts of the town of Solo in central Java after the hours-long gunfight, he said.

Fingerprints of Noordin's stored on a police database matched those of the body, Danuri said. DNA tests have not yet been conducted.

"It is Noordin M. Top," he told a nationally televised news conference to loud cheers from the audience. Documents and laptop computers confiscated from the house prove that Noordin "is the leader of al-Qaida in Southeast Asia," he said.

Hundreds of pounds (kilograms) of explosives, M-16 assault rifles, grenades and bombs were removed from the house as ambulances shuttled away the dead and injured.

"We asked Noordin M. Top to surrender, but they kept firing," Danuri said. "That is how he died ... he even had bullets in his pockets."

Noordin, a Malaysian citizen, fled to Indonesia in 2002 amid a crackdown on Muslim extremists in Malaysia in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. He was linked to bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali in 2002 and 2005 that together killed 222 people, mostly foreigners. ...
Posted by: ed || 09/17/2009 07:33 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Update:
Another police source said that Top had blown himself up, and that while his body was badly damaged, his head was intact. A security analyst said Top typically strapped explosives to his body so that he could avoid capture.
Posted by: tipper || 09/17/2009 8:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Cheers!
Posted by: Parabellum || 09/17/2009 8:53 Comments || Top||

#3  excellent news! Yay Indon coppers!
Posted by: liberal hawk || 09/17/2009 9:18 Comments || Top||

#4  youre the top, youre the cats pajamas .....
Posted by: liberal hawk || 09/17/2009 16:27 Comments || Top||

#5  tales from the Cross Fire Gazette? I would have been happier to hear that they found a few shutter guns lying around.
Posted by: Jumbo Slinerong5015 || 09/17/2009 16:35 Comments || Top||


Village official gunned down in southern Thailand
Posted by: ryuge || 09/17/2009 02:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Noordin Top May Have Been Killed, Again
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Unpublished IAEA Document Details Iran Nuclear Bomb Capability
It's an AP article, over at Breibart's, so I'm not going to quote it. It is, however, an interesting counterpoint to two other items on the 'burg today, mainly "US to shelve nuclear missile shield" and "Intelligence Agencies Say No New Nukes In Iran".
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 09/17/2009 14:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Greta interviewed interim Honduran president Micheletti On The Record last night. Apparently Zelaya and Chavez are BFFs and he was bringing in bombs along with large cocaine shipments, with a lot of land now owned by Arabs. The comments on her blog think the US is being blackmailed and why Obama and Clinton chose to support the wrong side. Hezbollah is active in Latin America so it is quite plausible.
Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091 || 09/17/2009 17:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes, it is indeed interesting that this news finally finds the light of day on the very same day that our Fearless Leader drops the missile shield in Europe that was supposedly designed to defend our European allies from Iranian missiles, nuclear tipped or otherwise. For some strange reason I was listening to NPR this afternoon (I won't go into details) and the story from the O-man is that the shield is to be replaced by a stronger and more cost-effective system to be deployed on ships. Huh? Well, that's what he said and he had some Marine Corps general agreeing with him. Dunno if it will make the Euros feel any better.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 09/17/2009 19:11 Comments || Top||


Lebanon convicts 5 Palestinians for armed attacks
[Khaleej Times] A Lebanese military court has convicted five Palestinians of carrying out armed attacks, including a bombing aimed at U.N. peacekeepers, a court official said Tuesday.
Only one of the five men convicted is in custody. He was sentenced to three years of hard labor, the official said, while the other four men, who are still on the run, were given life sentences in absentia.

Lebanon's most powerful militia is the Iran-backed Shiite group Hezbollah, but the country is also home to smaller armed factions, some of them inspired by al-Qaida, whose members have attacked international and Lebanese government forces and periodically launch rockets at Israel.

The court found that the men established an armed gang with the intent to kill people, obtained explosive materials and attempted to kill members of a U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon by detonating a roadside bomb targeting a vehicle carrying troops, according to Tuesday's ruling.

In that attack, in January 2008, a roadside bomb that exploded near a U.N. vehicle on a coastal highway south of Beirut lightly wounded two peacekeepers.

The official spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to divulge details of court proceedings to the media.

In July, the same court convicted 12 members of an al-Qaida-inspired group of carrying out attacks, including a bombing of a U.N. peacekeeping jeep in south Lebanon in July 2007.

Several attacks have targeted the international peacekeeping force in recent years. In the most deadly attack, a car bomb killed six Spanish peacekeepers in June 2007.

No group claimed responsibility for that bombing, but al-Qaida's deputy chief, Ayman al-Zawahri, praised the attack. In an audio recording last year, he called on Sunni militants "to expel the invading Crusaders who pretend to be peacekeeping forces in Lebanon."

A 13,000-strong U.N. force was deployed on Lebanon's border with Israel as part of the U.N. resolution that ended the monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.
Posted by: Fred || 09/17/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



Who's in the News
57[untagged]
2TTP
2Govt of Iran
2Govt of Syria
2Palestinian Authority
1al-Qaeda
1Govt of Pakistan
1Taliban
1Hamas
1Iraqi Insurgency
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1al-Shabaab
1GIA

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2009-09-17
  Noordin Mohammad Top: Dead Again!
Wed 2009-09-16
  IDF nabs Park Hotel attack terrorist
Tue 2009-09-15
  Baghdad Green Zone attacked during Biden visit
Mon 2009-09-14
  U.S. Special Forces Kill 2 Al Qaeda, Capture 2 in Somalia
Sun 2009-09-13
  Taliban in Swat Surrender?
Sat 2009-09-12
  Pakistan arrests Muslim Khan
Fri 2009-09-11
  Hariri quits
Thu 2009-09-10
  Drone attack leaves 12 dead in N. Waziristan
Wed 2009-09-09
  Supply for Nato stops again after row with Afghans
Tue 2009-09-08
  Two foreigners among seven dead in NWA drone strikes
Mon 2009-09-07
  33 militants killed in Khyber Agency
Sun 2009-09-06
  'Taliban' kidnap NYT reporter in Afghanistan
Sat 2009-09-05
  Yemen suspends offensive on northern rebels
Fri 2009-09-04
  Andhra Pradesh CM killed in chopper crash
Thu 2009-09-03
  Iraq: 4 get death sentence in bank heist case

Better than the average link...



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.
44.192.47.250
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (17)    Non-WoT (12)    Opinion (9)    (0)    Politix (10)