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North and South Korean navies 'exchange fire'
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Can't wait for GB's photo essay: Women Who Wear Boots.
Posted by: Parabellum || 11/10/2009 9:21 Comments || Top||

#2  "Yer mudder wears Army boots!"
Posted by: Mike || 11/10/2009 11:31 Comments || Top||



Afghanistan
Thirty drug suspects detained in Afghanistan
[Quqnoos] The Afghan Interior Ministry announced on Sunday that 30 people, including a foreigner, have been detained for drug trafficking in Afghanistan. The suspects were detained in the last ten days from all over Afghanistan, General Dawood Dawood, Deputy Interior Minister of Counter-narcotics said.

"The members the of gang were spread out all over Afghanistan and were detained after three months' efforts." General Dawood added.

One of the detained people is a foreigner, and about 124 drug smugglers faced trial in the past six months, he further said.

Afghanistan is one of the largest drug producing countries in the world, as about 90% of the world's narcotics are produced in Afghanistan. Corruption and poppy cultivation are the two main challenges ahead for Karzai's government to face, as US President Barack Obama called on President Karzai to take strong actions against poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.

Western officials have accused high ranking officials in the government of drug trafficking, including the brother of the incumbent Karzai who denied the allegations.

But the Afghan government has always said there is no proof that government officials are involved in drug trafficking.
Posted by: Fred || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  That's what happens when you don't pay the required bribes.
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/10/2009 7:18 Comments || Top||


Fighting in north Afghanistan kills 130 insurgents
Afghan and international troops killed more than 130 insurgents in six days of fighting in a once-stable area of northern Afghanistan that has seen a recent spike in Taliban attacks, NATO said Monday. It was some of the heaviest fighting in the north this year.

The operation, which took place last week, was in the Chahar Dara district of Kunduz province against Taliban fighters who had been threatening NATO supply lines from Russia.

An estimated 700 Afghan troops and 50 international soldiers, mostly Americans, took part in the operation. A NATO statement said 130 Taliban fighters, including eight commanders, were killed. The statement did not say how NATO arrived at the death figure.

"It is the largest operation I've ever seen in Kunduz," Mohammad Omar, governor of Kunduz province, was quoted as saying in a NATO press release. "You've got the Taliban running all over the place."

After the fighting ended, Afghan and international troops distributed humanitarian supplies in villages affected by the operation. Six trucks delivered clothing and food, including cooking oil, rice and beans in hopes of winning public support.

Kunduz, a province which borders Tajikistan, is the main area of operation of German forces. But Lt. Col. Joerg Lange, spokesman for the Bundeswehr Operations Command in Potsdam, Germany, said German troops had not been involved in the fighting.

Residents of the northern provinces of Baghlan and Kunduz provinces say security has been steadily deteriorating in the north for the past two years.

But violence increased markedly early this year after NATO opened a new supply route which brings supplies from Europe through Russia and down to the former Soviet republics of central Asia, from where they are brought by truck to U.S. forces in central and southern Afghanistan.

The route was opened after attacks threatened the long-standing supply routes from Pakistan.

On Sept. 4, Taliban militants hijacked two fuel trucks in Kunduz, and German forces called in an airstrike by U.S. fighter pilots, saying they feared the trucks could be used in suicide bombings. Thirty civilians and 69 armed Taliban died in the strike, according to a probe by an Afghan presidential commission.

NATO said no coalition troops or civilians were injured in the latest operation.

Separately in eastern Afghanistan, a woman and child were killed when a mortar hit a home during a more than three-hour fight that insurgents had with private security guards protecting roadbuilders in Paktika province, said Hamid Ullah Zoowak, a spokesman for the governor of Paktika province.
Posted by: Fred || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  The statement did not say how NATO arrived at the death figure

They counted noses.
Posted by: gorb || 11/10/2009 0:35 Comments || Top||

#2  at Dien Bien Phu the french counted Spines. the spinal column was the only part to retain its composition readily in a 155mm artillery blast.
Posted by: abu do you love || 11/10/2009 12:01 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Hong Kong tanker flees Somali pirates
[Iran Press TV Latest] Somali pirates have attacked a Hong Kong-flagged oil tanker off the coast, says the European Union's anti-piracy mission. The BW Lion managed to escape pirates, who fired automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades at the tanker, said the EU's Atalanta naval mission, which is working in the pirate infested waters off Somalia.

The incident, which left no casualties, took place some 400 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles and 1,000 nautical miles off the Somali coast, it said, adding, "This was the longest range of a pirate attack off the Somali coast ever."

Also on Monday, maritime experts reported that pirates seized on Sunday a United Arab Emirates-flagged cargo ship loaded with weapons bound for Somalia in contravention of a UN arms embargo.

Pirate groups have shifted the focus of their attacks to the wider Indian Ocean since other countries started to deploy warships in the Gulf of Aden in a bid to curb piracy.

"There have been 12 pirate events in this area in the last 30 days," said Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program. "There is a high probability of attacks in this area for at least the next 24-48 hours. Weather conditions are expected to remain favorable for piracy...through this period," he added.

Seychelles has voiced concern that the expansion of Somali piracy in its waters could damage its tourism-based economy.
Posted by: Fred || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Pirates

#1  It would seem to me that if the ships' crews armed themselves that they would be in a far better position to fight than any would-be attackers. Who would know what happened to a pirate boat now and then if they just disappeared?

"Where'd you get the bullet holes there, Captain?"
"We have no idea."
Posted by: gorb || 11/10/2009 0:29 Comments || Top||

#2  As the old saying goes....
When guns are outlawed only outlaws have guns.
Posted by: junkirony || 11/10/2009 4:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Then I'll be an outlaw.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/10/2009 12:26 Comments || Top||

#4  I've been pondering the pirate problem, and think I've found at least a partial solution. The US has a dozen or so LSDs (Landing Ship Dock). Put a couple of them out patrolling the sea lanes the pirates concentrate on. Put three or four fast attack boats (Old PT?) aboard, and launch them whenever there's a pirate attack or suspected pirate activity within range. Most LSDs are designed to carry several companies of Marines and a small number of helicopters. Use them in the mission, also, attacking ships the pirates have captured.

The only way to stop this piracy is to make it so expensive in lives and equipment to no longer be profitable. Since we won't ARCLIGHT the pirates' home port, this would be the next best thing.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 11/10/2009 15:02 Comments || Top||

#5  Drinks!
Posted by: Mike N. || 11/10/2009 15:10 Comments || Top||


Somali pirates seize UAE weapons ship
Somali pirates seized a United Arab Emirates-flagged cargo ship loaded with weapons bound for the Horn of Africa, in breach of a UN arms embargo, maritime experts said on Monday.

Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme told Reuters that the ship, called Al-Mizan, had been hijacked on Sunday and was being held near the northern Somali town of Garacad. It added that in a separate incident, gunmen from Somalia opened fire on an unidentified merchant vessel far out in the Indian Ocean, northeast of the Seychelles. The merchant vessel caught fire after being hit by bullets and a rocket-propelled grenade. There were no casualties and the captain remained in control, Mwangura said.
Posted by: Fred || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Pirates

#1  I guess the crew didn't have much of an imagination.
Posted by: gorb || 11/10/2009 0:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Seizure? Or delivery?
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/10/2009 7:43 Comments || Top||

#3  My thoughts too, Glenmore.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 11/10/2009 8:08 Comments || Top||

#4 
Blow it out of the water with the pirates aboard.

Win - Win!
Posted by: Parabellum || 11/10/2009 9:23 Comments || Top||

#5  Here is some information on the Spanish tuna boat seizure. It is disturbing to see how the Spanish cave in to piracy. Though not surprising. From Rooters:

DEAL TO FREE SPANIARDS?
Seasonal monsoon rains brought a lull in hijackings but the pirates have stepped up their attacks in recent weeks and now hold at least 11 vessels and more than 200 crew.

A deal to free the 36 crew members of Spanish fishing vessel Alkrana held hostage since Oct. 2 could be on the cards, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Monday.

"The government thinks that the (hostage) situation could be on the road to a solution," he told reporters in Poland.

Earlier on Monday, the first mate of the Basque tuna boat, speaking from on board the Alakrana, said that he understood Spain's government had agreed to send two accused pirates back to Somalia in exchange for the crew's release.

"It seems almost certain that they are going to send the (captured) pirates here," Ricardo Blach told Spanish state radio. "We want to believe it, good news, even if it's clutching at straws, because of the tension we have here."

The Spanish navy captured the two Somalis soon after pirates overran the Alakrana on Oct. 2 and took its crew hostage. They are set to face trial in Spain for kidnapping.

The pirates holding the crew have said they will not negotiate a ransom for their release until Spanish authorities free their two colleagues.

"In the morning (on Sunday), they were telling us in signs that they were going to cut our throats. Now the head of the pirates is smiling," Blach said in the Spanish daily El Mundo.

Environment Minister Elena Espinosa told state TV the Spanish government was exploring various options. Judge Baltasar Garzon, who ordered the two suspects be brought to Spain, told Europa Press agency that Madrid should not cave into pressure.

"I believe there are legal ways to find a solution to this conflict and without a doubt that is going to happen," he said.

The pirates said last week they had taken three men from the Alakrana ashore. But Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said he believed the whole crew remained on board.

Posted by: Alaska Paul || 11/10/2009 13:46 Comments || Top||

#6  After watching Black Hawk Down the other day, I'm convinced the only way to deal with Somalia is to take off and nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
Posted by: SteveS || 11/10/2009 22:40 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Jihad and juice inside Libya's terror jail
Posted by: ryuge || 11/10/2009 06:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Saudi authorities close two more Shia mosques
The number of Shia mosques closed in Saudi Arabia has reached nine after authorities sealed shut two more mosques in the Kingdom's Eastern Province.

According to the Rasid News Network, security forces closed the only Ismaili mosque in Ras Tanura and have been preventing Shia citizens from performing daily prayers since last Friday.

The Shia mosque of Abqaiq was closed on the same day and some online sources reported the closure of another Shia mosque in Jubail.

Authorities also ordered all Shia mosques to be closed in the cities of Khobar, Dammam and Khafji last month and issued orders banning Shias from building mosques outside Najran and religious centers and cemeteries outside Qatif and Al-Hassa.

Shia Muslims, who comprise nearly one-fourth of the Saudi population, have long complained of being treated as second-class citizens in the Kingdom.

The Saudi government has been closing Shia mosques using various excuses, and has refused to issue building permits for the erection of new places of worship.

A recent report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) strongly lashed out at Saudi Arabia over its" systemic state discrimination" against Shia Muslims across the Kingdom, saying that the unfavorable treatment of Shia Muslims "extends from education and employment to the justice system."
Posted by: Fred || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If the Soddies can do it, why can't we?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 11/10/2009 11:56 Comments || Top||

#2  What - close the Shia mosques and leave the Wahhabi ones in place?
Posted by: Pappy || 11/10/2009 21:40 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Ankhi, 4 others sent to jail
[Bangla Daily Star] Taslima Khan Ankhi, general secretary of a faction of Kushtia town Mahila Awami League and a suspected patron of armed group Gono Mukti Fouz (GMF), and her four accomplices were yesterday sent to jail after a five-day remand ended on Sunday.

Police said they have gleaned some important information from them about the present activities of several outfits in the region, mostly outlawed Gono Mukti Fouz.

Sources said during interrogation it was learnt that the arms, including an AK-47 rifle recovered from their possession, were used in the killing of Awami League Mirpur unit Joint Secretary Meherul Alam and a college teacher on August 15.

Police said the arms and ammunition were being taken to Kushtia for carrying out 'subversive' activities in the town.

Police said the killing of Jubo League leader and contractor Jamirul Islam Jamu on October 30, 2006 was a pre-planned one Ankhi that masterminded. Cadres of outlawed GMF carried out the killing.

Meanwhile, police prayed for seven days' remand for another suspected outlaw cadre Nahid Parvin Champa. The court has fixed today for hearing.
Posted by: Fred || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  how is he related to Babar? or is he more of a friend to Rataxes?
Posted by: abu do you love || 11/10/2009 3:29 Comments || Top||


LeT men also targeted some dignitaries
[Bangla Daily Star] The suspected militants, recently rounded up from Chittagong for plotting attacks on US Embassy and Indian High Commission in Dhaka and some key installations, also targeted to attack several local dignitaries.

The official investigating the plot by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to attack the US Embassy, told a Dhaka court yesterday about the new information gleaned from the arrestees -- Mufti Harun Izahar, son of Islami Oikya Jote leader Mufti Izaharul Islam, and Harun's associates Shahidul Islam and Al Amin alias Saiful.

However, he declined to disclose any further information on the plan or about the targets.

The official produced them before the court seeking seven days' fresh remand. But the court granted three days' remand each.

Officials in the Detective Branch (DB) of police told The Daily Star they also have close link with militant outfits LeT and Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji).

Meantime, detectives are looking for eight other suspected militants with whom arrested Mufti Harun had close contacts.

"We have evidence on Harun's contact with those people, but it is not confirmed whether they were involved in the plot to attack US Embassy and Indian High Commission," said a DB investigator.

DB officials said Harun, along with another suspect, did recce several times to devise an attack plan, instructed by LeT. The LeT had a plan to make the attacks in association with Huji men in Bangladesh.
Posted by: Fred || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


5 army men detained
[Bangla Daily Star] Five army officers detained for interrogation have named six of their former superiors as masterminds behind last month's bomb attack on Awami League lawmaker Fazle Noor Taposh, said intelligence agency sources.

They have also claimed Lt Col Saiful Islam Joarder, one of the six, provided funds for the attempt on Taposh's life.

Saiful has been on the run since he lost his job on November 5 for suspected links with the blast. He had been posted at the Jessore cantonment.

Besides him, three other lieutenant colonels--Abdur Rouf, Zahid and Afzal--were dismissed that day.

The rest two of the six--Brig Gen Habibur Rahman Rukon Uddin and Major Zakir Hossain--have been sent into retirement.

Meanwhile, the five army men, hauled up for questioning five days ago, are still being quizzed. Of them, four hold the rank of captain and one major.

Following up their information, the six army officers were removed from the services.

The bomb attack in front of Taposh's law chamber at Motijheel on October 21 left 13 persons injured. The ruling party lawmaker, also nephew of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, escaped unhurt.

Investigators claim Habibur Rahman Rukon Uddin has been a rokon (full-member) of Jamaat-e-Islami, while Saiful Islam Joarder had close relations with sacked Brig Gen Abdullahil Aman Al Ajmi, son of Jamaat's former ameer Golam Azam.

Contacted, Habibur's wife however dismissed the claim as rubbish.

She also said there's no question of her husband having involvement in the attack on Taposh.

Detectives have traced 35 cellphone numbers that were used by the suspected plotters and attackers. Some of those who had used the numbers have been detained and interrogated by intelligence officials, said sources close to the investigation.

Investigators believe the attackers sought to destabilise the government by creating anarchy.

They suspect the blast might have something to do with "Taposh's handling of things before and during the February 25-26 BDR mutiny". It might also have been made to halt the trial process of the war criminals.

Disrupting the proceedings of Bangabandhu murder case might be another motive.

Other sources say the attack might have been designed to scotch any possibility of the government taking measures against some army officials accused of corruption during the last caretaker rule.

The Detective Branch (DB) of police has so far arrested seven persons for suspected links with the bomb attack. Of the arrestees, five are from among the families of Bangabandhu murder convicts.

Sources said those with suspected complicity in the bomb attack have been under close watch.
Posted by: Fred || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Outlaw killed in shootout
[Bangla Daily Star] One of Pabna's most wanted criminals was shot dead by police during a 'shootout' in Faridpur district yesterday.

Superintendent of police at Pabna Nibash Chandra Majhi described Md Kamruzzaman Oli, 45, as the kingpin of crime in Pabna.
A commie and a kingpin. I bet he doesn't do children's birthday parties, though...
As well as being wanted for three murders, Oli had been involved in outlawed groups since the 1990s. He was the current chief of the outlawed Janajuddha, a faction of the Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) in Pabna, and he was the chairman of Hadal union parishad.
My guess parishad is a name for a rules making commitee...
Oli had been in hiding since the caretaker government came to power in 2007.
"Sergeant: What has Oil been hiding from all these years?"
"7.62mmx39 would be my guess, sir!"

Md Abu Jafar, officer-in-charge of Faridpur Police Station, said, "There were three warrants for his arrest. He was the top outlawed operative in this region."
Someone always has to take down number one.
After receiving a tip-off about a secret meeting being held by Oli and faction members, police cordoned off an area in Hadal union at around 12:25am on Monday.
Early day for the RAB warrant squad, I see...
The criminals opened fire on the police when they raided the premises of 'Nuru Khar Bat-tala', and the ensuing gunfight lasted over half an hour. The police fired 37 rounds of bullets at the criminals.
Two of which were pre-placed behind Oil's right ear ...
Oli died of his wounds at the scene of the 'shootout', while the rest of the criminals managed to flee, police said.
Sergeant, please schedule some range time. Only a single hit for 37 rounds of bullets is pretty bad. Makes us sound like OU's place kicker our shooting's so bad.
Posted by: Fred || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No Blood For Oli!
Posted by: SteveS || 11/10/2009 1:28 Comments || Top||

#2  yet another 'shovel ready' project.
Posted by: abu do you love || 11/10/2009 3:30 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
North and South Korean navies 'exchange fire'
Naval ships from North and South Korea exchanged fire along their disputed western sea border today, with a ship from the north suffering heavy damage before retreating, military officials from the south said.

There were no South Korean casualties, the country's joint chiefs of staff said in a statement, and it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties on the north's side.

The north's patrol boat crossed the disputed western sea border this morning, drawing warning shots from a South Korean navy vessel, the statement said. The North Korean boat then opened fire and the south's ship returned fire before the north's vessel sailed back toward its waters, the statement said.

The North Korean ship was seriously damaged in the skirmish while the South Korean ship was unscathed, said a joint chiefs of staff officer on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

There was no immediate comment from North Korea on the clash.

The countries' navies fought deadly skirmishes along the western sea border in 1999 and 2002.

Six South Korean sailors were killed in 2002, according to the South Korean navy, adding that number of North Korean causalities remained unclear.

The two Koreas have yet to agree on their sea border more than 50 years after the end of the 1950-53 civil war, which ended in an armistice and but without a peace treaty. Instead, they rely on a line that the then commander of UN forces, which fought for the south, drew unilaterally at the end of the conflict.

Pyongyang last month accused South Korean warships of broaching its western territorial waters and warned of a clash in the zone, which is a rich crab fishing area.

The latest conflict comes amid international tensions over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme and expectations that Pyongyang and Washington may soon engage in direct talks.

There were no signs, however, of tension along Korea's heavily fortified land border. The South Korean joint chiefs of staff said that were no unusual troop movements on the north side of that border.

At Panmunjom in the demilitarised zone, an Associated Press photographer said there was no visible tension. A group of Chinese tourists was visiting on the North Korean side.

The area is where officers from the north hold meetings with their counterparts from the south, the US and other members of the UN command.
Posted by: tipper || 11/10/2009 03:12 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Why fire warning shots if they're gonna shoot to kill in response?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 11/10/2009 12:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Why fire warning shots if they're gonna shoot to kill in response?

Foreplay.
Posted by: Don Vito Uleash || 11/10/2009 19:52 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Suspect Could Face Death Penalty but would Barry Sign it?
The Army psychiatrist suspected in Thursday's deadly Fort Hood rampage in Texas could get the death penalty if he is convicted of multiple counts of first-degree murder — and military law experts say the evidence against him will be substantial.

American-born Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan has yet to be charged but is expected to face at least 13 counts of murder, one for each of the victims who died, as well as numerous assault and weapons charges in a court-martial.

"Obviously, we're all guessing, but it's reasonable to believe that he will be convicted and sentenced to death," said retired Navy lawyer Philip Cave, now a military crimes defense attorney.

Posted by: Besoeker || 11/10/2009 03:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hanging or firing squad? Any UCMJ experts out there?
Posted by: Parabellum || 11/10/2009 9:14 Comments || Top||

#2  1 - the appeals process will take it into the next administration. Toss up on who's in the seat, but could certainly be a moot question.

2 - means of execution. The military and civilian appeals process will probably determine which method of execution is authorized since the judicial ruling caste has seen fit to micro direct such actions in their desperate attempts to stave off any executions.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/10/2009 9:47 Comments || Top||

#3  THe ACLU are foaming at the mouth over this one. He needs to be consigned straight away to the end of a rope, as does that J. A. Muhammad Dude and our very own SGT "Let me frag my own HQ on the eve of war". Everyone in our camp is correct in the assumption of being afraid of the PC gig here in the Army, hopefully this will change some minds...

Towards the Greater Good,

Bodyguard
Posted by: Bodyguard || 11/10/2009 10:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Let's not leave out the treason charges, eh? And I favor a firing squad.
Posted by: mojo || 11/10/2009 10:39 Comments || Top||

#5  I know its a British Empire thing but I always had a special regard for a public drawing and quartering with 4 strong bison for a crime like this. On Sat tv would make it better.
Posted by: 3dc || 11/10/2009 10:44 Comments || Top||

#6  Hanging
Posted by: play4keeps || 11/10/2009 10:52 Comments || Top||

#7  Electric chair - with a rasher of bacon in his lap...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 11/10/2009 11:08 Comments || Top||

#8  Firing squad is traditionally considered a more honorable way to go than hanging. The worst of the Nurenberg defendants got the noose, as did the two Conferedate sympathizers executed for treason in the Civil War. The Rosenbergs got the chair.

I'd go with hanging. So I'm a traditionalist? Yougottaproblemwiddat?
Posted by: Mike || 11/10/2009 11:47 Comments || Top||

#9  Old Revolutionary War ditty: Shoot Me Like A Soldier, Do Not Hang Me Like A Dog.

So it follows he should not be shot.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 11/10/2009 11:52 Comments || Top||

#10  Enviserate and feed him to the hogs.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 11/10/2009 12:08 Comments || Top||

#11  I go with the Black Jack Pershing approach to Muslim terrorists: bring in a pig, slaughter it in front of the terrorist, have the firing squad dip its bullets in the blood, ready, aim, fire.
It ain't gonna happen - this will be litigated into the next century.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 11/10/2009 12:11 Comments || Top||

#12  We'll be lucky if this POS isn't released on a technicality, given a medical retirement, honorable discharged, and asked to come to work for the Obama administration.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/10/2009 12:18 Comments || Top||

#13  I gather that he killed at least one civilian, which would incline the Army to let the State of Texas prosecute for that offense. Texas will definitely execute him on State charges, and there is not a damn thing Obama could do to stop it.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/10/2009 12:21 Comments || Top||

#14  'moose beat me to it.

But anyway....Bodyguard, the Supreme Court refused to hear that J.A. Muhammad guy's case, so if the governor refuses to give him clemency he's literally not going to see tomorrow. Last report, Kaine's not gonna do it.

(Besides, even if Kaine changes his mind at the last second, Arizona, Alabama and Louisiana are in line for a piece of him. Those three can and do execute...)
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie || 11/10/2009 12:30 Comments || Top||

#15  THe ACLU are foaming at the mouth over this one. He needs to be consigned straight away to the end of a rope

There, fixed it for you, Bodyguard. No charge.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 11/10/2009 15:13 Comments || Top||

#16  "He needs to be consigned straight away to the end of a rope, as does that J. A. Muhammad Dude"

Be patient a few more hours, Bodyguard. Tonight at 9 p.m.

Injection rather than rope, but he's on his way to HELL either way.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 11/10/2009 15:58 Comments || Top||

#17  "even if Kaine changes his mind at the last second"

Much as I dislike/distrust Kaine, Blondie, I don't think he will. It's political suicide for him, and since he's the chairman of the DNC, damaging to them, too. And don't think it wouldn't get brought up again and again.

Wave buh-bye to Mo-ham-head.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 11/10/2009 16:01 Comments || Top||

#18  Yeah, Barbara, I don't think he will, either. Kaine's supposed to be one of the "smart" ones. Whether he is or not, I'm sure he's smart enough to figure out he's toast if he saves this guy's ass.
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie || 11/10/2009 16:35 Comments || Top||

#19  My vote for the good major? Hang up a black curtain, lay out a table and cut off his head; video every second of it -- then send the video viral around the world.

I know, I know, that would only make them hate us more, and that's beneath us. We can't stoop to their level. Hummmmmm Hummmmm Hummmmm
Posted by: Sherry || 11/10/2009 17:26 Comments || Top||

#20  How about hanging him with dried pig tendon?
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/10/2009 17:46 Comments || Top||

#21  Here's the feller I was referring to in an earlier post. I was a PSD for CFLCC during the buildup and execution of OIF 1 when he did that up on the border. we flew our Principles out straightaway to assess the C2 damage. The 101st bounced back admirably, as indicated by the ass-kicking they gave Saddams' boyz.

"Hasan Akbar, a 34-year-old Muslim who was sentenced to death, told investigators he staged the attack because he was upset that American troops would kill fellow Muslims."

With that being said, he's the next dude Uncle Sugar needs to flush down the dispose-all.

Towards the Greater Good,

Bodyguard

Posted by: Bodyguard || 11/10/2009 17:50 Comments || Top||

#22  BTW, Great Work OP! Oh how we love to hate the ACLU... Tastes like chicken! tick tick tick Barb!

Bodyguard
Posted by: Bodyguard || 11/10/2009 17:53 Comments || Top||

#23  Expect President Palin to set him free during Moose Season....
Posted by: Skunky Glins**** || 11/10/2009 18:42 Comments || Top||

#24  Can we bury him in a pig skin?
Posted by: Icerigger || 11/10/2009 19:42 Comments || Top||

#25  a firm hand on the flush handle - this POS is gone to meet his maker. I doubt he will do well. Adios MFer
Posted by: Frank G || 11/10/2009 21:20 Comments || Top||

#26  J.A. Muhammed is toast - should've been clearer
Posted by: Frank G || 11/10/2009 21:21 Comments || Top||

#27  /Breaking News D.C. Sniper John Allen Muhammad Executed in Virginia/
One down, two to go. Satan won't be going to the prom stag tonight.

Bodyguard
Posted by: Bodyguard || 11/10/2009 21:27 Comments || Top||


Retired Colonel to Defend Accused Fort Hood Shooter
A retired Army colonel and former military judge at Fort Hood has been hired to represent the officer accused of going on a shooting spree and killing 13 people last week at the Texas military base. John P. Galligan told ABC News today that he has been retained by the family of Major Nidal Malik Hasan and has traveled from his office in Belton, Texas, to San Antonio where Hasan is being treated at the Brooke Army Medical Center.

Galligan said he was aware that Hasan, who was shot several times, was conscious and talking with hospital staff. He said he intends to make sure that Hasan's rights are protected, and to that end has asked federal authorities to stay away from his client. He declined to discuss his client's motives or what his line of defense would be.

"I don't think we really know all of the facts, we don't know what the charges are, we're not even necessarily sure of exactly what the specific jurisdictions" Galligan told ABC News.

While no charges have been filed yet against Hasan, military sources late today confirmed to ABC News that Hasan will be charged and tried in military court, although it still not clear if the trial would be held at Fort Hood or at another military facility.

Prosecutors have also said they have yet to be able to determine a motive for the lethal rampage, although family and acquaintances say Hasan was increasingly religious and had turned against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, Hasan was distressed by the stories told by injured soldiers where he previously worked as a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Hospital, and had recently received word that he was going to be deployed to Afghanistan.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hasan was distressed by the stories told by injured soldiers where he previously worked

Methinks he doth proselytize too much.
Posted by: gorb || 11/10/2009 0:13 Comments || Top||

#2  This is America, he deserves the best legal aid, he deserves a fair trail, as Americans we should demand it. Then when that SOB is found guilty by a MIL court he deserves the rope they put around hid neck to be a strong one, the proper length, and tied securly to the beam above him.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 11/10/2009 7:40 Comments || Top||

#3  What Pan said. But his legal aid should be dedicated to seeing he gets a fair trial. Not to 'get him off'. That distinction is what leads to much of the legal injustice in America.
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/10/2009 7:48 Comments || Top||

#4  Is his family wealthy? Might be a good idea to monitor who, if any, will be contributing funds to his 'legal defense'.
Posted by: Woozle Uneter9007 || 11/10/2009 9:52 Comments || Top||

#5  As attributed to Judge Roy Bean: "We're gonna give this man a fair trial, and then we're gonna take him out and hang him..."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 11/10/2009 11:11 Comments || Top||

#6  ...he deserves the rope they put around hid neck to be a strong one, the proper length...

Do not forget that it must be properly stretched before use. Minimizes bouncing.
Posted by: Don Vito Uleash || 11/10/2009 16:46 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Maoist rebels kill four officers in West Bengal
[Dawn] Maoist rebels fired at a police patrol guarding a shopping area in eastern India over the weekend, killing four officers, authorities said on Monday.

The attackers escaped into a nearby forest as two other police officers chased them and exchanged gunfire in Gidhni, a small town nearly 110 miles southwest of Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal state, said Noman Hossain, a police officer.

The rebels took away the rifles of the slain police officers, Hossain told The Associated Press.

The Communist Party of India (Maoist), a key rebel group in the region, claimed responsibility for the killings, the Press Trust of India news agency said.

The rebels, known as Naxalites, have been fighting the government for more than three decades in several states, demanding land and jobs for farm labourers and the poor. They frequently target police and government officials, whom they accuse of colluding with landlords and rich farmers.

Over the past month, the rebels have killed more than 40 people -- including 21 paramilitary troops -- commandeered an express train for several hours, abducted government officials and blown up two schools across central and eastern India, the government said.

The government has ordered hundreds of paramilitary troops to be sent to some of the areas worst-hit by rebel violence in an attempt to reinforce local police.
Posted by: Fred || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  India needs to start training cadres of troops just to fight the Maoists in central India. Ask for volunteers, check them out to make sure they're not commies, train them, give them a rifle and bullets, and send them home (kind of like the local village defense forces in Vietnam). Give them a 100 rupee bonus for every month there isn't a successful commie attack. Such a plan couldn't do any worse than what's going on now.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 11/10/2009 15:20 Comments || Top||


18 Taliban, 7 soldiers killed in FATA violence
The army killed at least 18 more Taliban in South Waziristan, Kurram Agency and Bajaur Agency on Monday.

"Taliban fired rockets at a checkpost in Makeen, South Waziristan ... killing four soldiers. Meanwhile, eight Taliban were killed [in fighting]," said the ISPR, adding that security forces cleared Tauda China Khola and established a checkpost near Makeen.

Makeen is one of the most notorious Taliban-held towns in South Waziristan and close to where former TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud had a house, which the military said on Friday had been demolished.

The ISPR said the army also consolidated its positions around the "Jandola-Sararogha axis".

Troops conducted a search-and-clearance operation in Bangalkhel, Totai Langarkhel and Kanigurm, and demolished Taliban commander Mumtaz Burki's hideout on the "Shakai-Kaniguram axis".

In Swat, troops arrested two Taliban from Batkhela Bazaar and Usmanabad near Mingora. Also, a Taliban surrendered to security forces in Charbagh.

In Kurram Agency, a private TV channel reported that at least eight Taliban were killed and several injured when fighter jets bombed Taliban hideouts.

According to the channel, air force jets bombed Chanark, Wormegai and Spairkot, destroying nine Taliban hideouts.

In Bajaur Agency, troops killed at least two Taliban. However, three soldiers were also killed.

A remote-controlled bomb explosion killed two security personnel and injured another in Mulla Sayed area of Salarzai tehsil. Taliban had planted the bomb in a military vehicle.

In the agency headquarters of Khar, Taliban gunned down a third soldier -- identified as Noor Zada of the Bajaur Levies. The area was cordoned off following the attack.

Taliban rockets: Meanwhile, Taliban also fired rockets at the Scouts Fort in Mamoond tehsil. Troops retaliated and killed at least two Taliban.

During a search operation in Charmang, security forces seized three anti-aircraft guns from an underground bunker.
Posted by: Fred || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


3 killed, 5 hurt in Peshawar suicide attack
Three people, including a policeman, were killed and five others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a police checkpost in Faqirabad on Monday, said police.

The bomber struck near a busy intersection which connects Charsadda Road and Ring Road in the northeast of the city.

Peshawar SSP (Operations) Muhammad Karim Khan said the bomber was trying to enter the city in a rickshaw through Sardar Ahmad Jan Colony. He said police at the checkpost stopped the rickshaw; but the driver tried to dodge policemen.

"When the bomber saw the road blocked, he detonated his explosives," said the SSP, adding that one of those injured was in critical condition. He said five-to-seven kilogrammes of explosives were used in the attack. He said police had launched an investigation, and were trying to determine the actual target of the bomber.
Posted by: Fred || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Army consolidates gains in Waziristan
[Dawn] Twenty Taliban insurgents have been killed as military tried to consolidate gains in its offensive against militants in South Waziristan, the army said on Sunday.

Pakistan launched a punishing air and ground offensive in the region bordering Afghanistan on October 17, with 30,000 troops backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships laying siege to Taliban bolt-holes.

'In the last 24 hours, 20 terrorists have been killed and eight soldiers, including an officer were injured,' the military said in its daily statement.

The military provides the only regular information coming from the frontlines. None of the details can be verified because communication lines are down and journalists and aid workers barred from the area.

Three militants were killed in gunfights as troops recovered a cache of arms and ammunition in the town of Sararogha, a former Taliban stronghold.

The army said troops had 'consolidated' positions there.

Another 12 militants were killed and eight soldiers injured in a battle near Kaniguram village --which the army says they have captured--while five more rebels were killed in fighting elsewhere in the region.

The tribal belt has been dubbed by Washington the most dangerous place in the world because of an abundance of Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

The army claims to have stormed a number of key Taliban strongholds including Sararogha, Makin and Kaniguram.

They say nearly 480 militants and 42 soldiers have been killed since the offensive began.

The long-awaited assault on South Waziristan came after a spring offensive in the northwestern Swat valley and Malakand.

In July, the government declared the Swat offensive a success but sporadic outbreaks of violence continue.

The South Waziristan offensive has displaced more than 250,000 people and the United Nations has urged Pakistan to ensure safety and security of civilians during the operation.
Posted by: Fred || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
At least 10 Palestinians detained overnight
[Ma'an] Israeli forces detained at least ten civilians across the West Bank around dawn on Monday, taking them to an undisclosed location, Palestinian security sources said.

Israeli sources put the number at 14.

The PA police media office reported that Israeli forces stormed the Jenin governorate early on Monday, opened fire and ransacked homes, and ultimately detained from Fahma village Samer As-Sanouri, 36, Iyad Nawassrah, 32, and Yazid Nawassrah.

Soldiers operating in the Bethlehem governorate detained 16-year-olds Ahmad and Baha'a Zaghloul, as well as 15-year-old Ahmad Zaghloul and 18-year-old Bashar Zaghloul.

In Nablus, Israeli forces stormed the Aynabous and Awarta areas, where stun grenades burned Luay Dawabsheh's car.

Three civilians were detained in Hebron, and a fourth was beaten, the police office said. Ma'an's Hebron correspondent identified the beating victim as 32-year-old Nidal Ibrahim Al-Halayqa, who was transferred to Hebron's public hospital.

Meanwhile, Bader Burhan Al-Mihtsib, a civilian from the Ein Sara village near Hebron, told Ma'an that Israeli forces also detained his 25-year-old brother Mu'ayyad. Soldiers seized Muhammad An-Najjar, 23, and Ala'a As-Sarahneh, 24, from Al-Fuwwar refugee camp, other residents said.
Posted by: Fred || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Fourteen."
"No, ten."
"Fourteen!"
"No, ten!"
"OK, ten it is."
"Err, fourteen."
"You guys are never happy."
Posted by: gorb || 11/10/2009 0:18 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran charges three Americans with espionage
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran charged on Monday three detained American citizens with espionage, the official IRNA news agency quoted a judiciary official as saying, while U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said there was "no evidence" for Tehran to charge its citizens.

The three were held after they strayed into Iran from northern Iraq at the end of July.

"We believe strongly that there is no evidence to support any charge whatsoever," Clinton said on a visit to Berlin on Monday.

The three, Shane Bauer, 27, Sarah Shourd, 31, and Josh Fattal, 27, crossed into Iran from Iraq and their families say they strayed across the border accidentally.

"The three are charged with espionage. Investigations continue into the three detained Americans in Iran," Tehran general prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi told IRNA.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suggested in an interview with the American television network NBC in September that the Americans' release might be linked to the release of Iranian diplomats he said were being held by U.S. troops in Iraq.

According to Iranian law espionage is punishable by death.
Posted by: Fred || 11/10/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  The hikers knew the risks. The Iranians are hoping to get something for this that is worth way more than three idiots' lives. Once again, people who don't get it threaten to put the whole process at risk, possibly sowing misery for years to come. And then they get to write a book about it.
Posted by: gorb || 11/10/2009 0:26 Comments || Top||

#2  IIUC, no "hiker kids" !

http://www.thenation.com/directory/bios/shane_bauer

Bauer was also a contributor the the CSM (scroll down past the articles about his arrest).

http://www.shanebauer.net/

IIRC, he's fluent in dialectal arabic, and a full resident of syria (gone native? See his articles tone, you can see to which side he's more inclined to, plus, if sarah is his squeeze, he must be at least nominally a convert), he's done investigative journalism stints in iraq, darfour,...

So it's not like he's an innocent, wide-eyed "kid" caught hiking cluelessly, more likely, a seasoned journalist, who got snabbed while trying to sneak over there, knowing fully what he was doing.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 11/10/2009 4:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Hikers? That's a cover story if I ever heard one. They got sent in and then betrayed most likely. Only need to find if they were handed over by traitors or by electronic eavesdropping.
Posted by: gromky || 11/10/2009 10:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Sent in? By the CSM?
Posted by: gorb || 11/10/2009 10:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Is there really any need for those to be sent by someone? Bauer is a freelance journalist & photograph, most likely, he was on a story about iranian kurds and/or rebels or something like that, which would be somehow ironical if he's used as a pawn by iran, since his sympathies seem to lay more against the USA in the first place.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 11/10/2009 11:13 Comments || Top||

#6  More like they should be charged with aggravated stupidity, but I'm not sure that's covered by the Iranian criminal code.
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie || 11/10/2009 12:37 Comments || Top||

#7  There's only one reason any American should go anywhere near Iran and that's to bomb the crap out of it.
Posted by: Woozle Uneter9007 || 11/10/2009 12:45 Comments || Top||



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Tue 2009-11-10
  North and South Korean navies 'exchange fire'
Mon 2009-11-09
  Police recover 60,000 kgs of explosives, 6 held
Sun 2009-11-08
  Abbas threatens to dismantle PA, declare peace process failed
Sat 2009-11-07
  Saudi armored force crosses into Yemen to fight Houthis
Fri 2009-11-06
  Dronezap kills four in North Wazoo
Thu 2009-11-05
  Islamist major massacres 13 at Fort Hood
Wed 2009-11-04
  IDF Navy uncover Iranian arms on ship en route to Syria
Tue 2009-11-03
  30 dead in Rawalpindi kaboom
Mon 2009-11-02
  Saudi finds large arms cache linked to Qaeda
Sun 2009-11-01
  Pak troops surround Sararogha, Uzbek terrorists' base
Sat 2009-10-31
  8 linked to Kabul UN attack arrested
Fri 2009-10-30
  9-11 suspect's passport found in South Wazoo
Thu 2009-10-29
  Bloodbath in Peshawar: at least 105 killed in bazaar car boom
Wed 2009-10-28
  Feds: Leader of radical Islam group killed in raid
Tue 2009-10-27
  Troops advance on Sararogha

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