On Monday, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said traces of the high explosive RDX have been found in the wreckage, which would also be consistent with a torpedo attack.
#5
ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM/OTHER > JAPAN'S NUCLEAR CAPACITY + WILL NORTH KOREA OR CHINA PUSH JAPAN TO GO NUCLEAR?
ARTIC > Among other, denotes that JAPAN has aproxi 55 tonnes of REACTOR-GRADE PLUTNIUM, ENOUGH TO CONVERT + PRODUCE UP TO 10,000 NUC WARHEADS FOR JAPAN, + which is more than the combined arsenals of US + RUSSIA???
* WMF > OKINAWA/RYUKYUS SOVEREIGNTY IS UNSETTLED: DO NOT FALL INTO THE UN-LED LAW OF THE SEA [ICLOS] TRAP AGZ CHINA.
* SAME > CHINA CANNOT BECOME A TRUE SUPERPOWER IN ASIA-PACIFIC UNLESS IT CAN BREAK THE BARRIERS/TRAP OF THE FIRST ISLAND CHAIN [unfettered access into Pacific + Indian Oceans].
* SAME > RUSSIAN EXPERT: DANGER OF MAJOR WAR OVER RESOURCES, TRADE ROUTES BETWEEN "ARCTIC FIVE" NATIONS AND CHINA MUST NOT BE IGNORED.
Through key intelligence sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan, I have just learned that reclusive Taliban leader and top Osama bin Laden ally, Mullah Omar has been taken into custody.
At the end of March, US Military Intelligence was informed by US operatives working in the Af/Pak theater on behalf of the D.O.D. that Omar had been detained by Pakistani authorities.
According to the State Departments Rewards for Justice Program there is a bounty of up to $10 million on Omar for sheltering Osama bin-Laden and his al-Qaeda network in the years prior to the September 11 attacks as well as the period during and immediately thereafter.
At the end of March, US Military Intelligence was informed by US operatives working in the Af/Pak theater on behalf of the D.O.D. that Omar had been detained by Pakistani authorities. One would assume that this would be passed up the chain and that the Secretary of Defense would have been alerted immediately. From what I am hearing, that may not have been the case.
When this explosive information was quietly confirmed to United States Intelligence ten days ago by Pakistani authorities, it appeared to take the Defense Department by surprise. No one, though, is going to be more surprised than Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It seems even with confirmation from the Pakistanis themselves, she was never brought up to speed
#1
i don't believe it and if it is true then the Pakis never would have told us
Posted by: chris ||
05/11/2010 1:00 Comments ||
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#2
So Friday we should know if this is correct. Pak govt must be scared of losing the US due to these aholes their terrorism trainers keep turning loose, if they are willing to force the ISI to turn over one of its main clients (Omar).
Waterboarding would be a good start to quickly break him and see if they can get a bead on Osama (if he's not already assumed ambient temperature).
#3
ION NEWS KERALA > US DOES NOT RULE OUT HEADLEY- SHAHZAD LINK? 26/11-Mumbai-versus-Times Square.
*** cough *** cough ***....@ = D *** NGED SUNSPOTS!
* ALso from NEWS KERALA > EXPERTS: LETHAL
"ELECTRONIC PEARL HARBOR" CYBER-ATTACK COULD DESTROY/CRUSH US IN 15 MINUTES, ala Computer-, Information-depedent Regional andor Nationwide US Grids. E.G. USDOD to FAA to NASA to SPRINGFIELD NUCLEAR [Homer Simpson], STreet Lights.... @. Approximatley 150 US Cities icluding Major Centres under sudden BLACKOUT???
* TIMES.UK > HINDU EXTREMISTS OFFER REWARD TO KILL CHRISTIANS [+ destroy Christian-owned Properties], AS BRITAIN REFUSES TO BAR MEMBERS.
* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > [BBC Report] BNP TRIES TO STIR/FOSTER MUSLIM-SIKH TENSIONS IN UK.
#4
It would seem to me that the story is wrong or it's Alice in Wonderland as to how the US government and its various organs communicate with each other. At the very least, Obooboo should have known. And it seems unlikely that he wouldn't have told his Secretary of State, since she at least seems to be able to keep a secret.
#5
I could well believe that the Paks took Omar into protective custody. Whether we'll get any access to him, or any useful access, would be another matter.
Posted by: lord garth ||
05/11/2010 8:12 Comments ||
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#9
I would not put it past some "out of the loop", enthusiastic Pakistani military officer to put the bag on him, without permission.
This would either be followed up with passionate denials, as he is let go, under US pressure; or he is so sick he has to get major medical care, so has turned operations over to a subordinate and retiring.
#10
Khan is almost certainly under the protection of Pakistan. He is not the only high-ranking terrorist linked with Pak protection. If true, this could be the price exacted on Pakistan for the Times Square attempt.
if true, Bin Laden is also sheltering with Pakistani/ISI assistance. He's the price for a "successful" attack on American soil. Hilary's comments stressing "a successful attempt" make more sense in this light.
#11
Bin Laden is the last person Pakistan will give up. They'll wait until they've extracted every dime in aid money and every high tech weapon they can. As long as they have Bin Laden they can attack India as much as they want and the US State Department will be their bitch.
Everything I've heard about Mullah Omar is that he's a creation of the ISI. His only appeal was a large bag of money from the ISI. His capture (or not) will have no effect on the Taliban.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/11/2010 11:24 Comments ||
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#12
Quick!!!
Read him his rights!!
And call his lawyer!!!
The show trial in New York will commence in 7 years.
#13
To underline lotp's point about protective custody, there's this op-ed in the Washington Post:
...just a few months before Shahzad attempted to blow up a car bomb in the heart of Manhattan, U.S. and Pakistani officials captured the highest-ranking Taliban leader ever detained in the war on terror -- Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. Could Baradar have warned us about the Times Square attack?
Baradar is second only to Mullah Omar in the Taliban hierarchy. Newsweek described him as "arguably the most important terrorist suspect captured since the detention of Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed in spring of 2003." But unlike KSM, Baradar has not been taken into American custody for interrogation by the CIA. Instead, he has been held and questioned by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency.
Baradar is running the show in his interrogation. Only in the past several weeks have American officials finally been given regular, direct contact with Baradar. He has now reportedly begun providing information on the "the inner workings of the Taliban" but still "is not revealing details of Taliban combat operations, yielding little that American commanders would like to know as they prepare for a military operation around Kandahar." Translation: Baradar is the one deciding what information he will share and what he will withhold.
It would be a different story in a CIA black site. But President Obama shut down the CIA's black sites and dismantled the agency's interrogation program. In its place, he created something called the High-Value Interrogation Group (HIG) -- a less controversial alternative for questioning senior terrorist leaders like Baradar and KSM. Yet according to multiple media accounts, the HIG has not been deployed to participate in Baradar's interrogation.
#14
Omar caught? I think the Morton salt girl speaks. I'm pessimistic about such stories. If true, I guess there would be a lot of diddling around time spent trying to figure out what to do with him. Should we read him his rights? Should we bend over backwards to make sure he has better treatment than his captors. Should we try him in NYC? We then have to make certain he doesn't get bitch slapped silly or his feelings hurt. Got make sure he has the Koran and a place to worship facing Mecca. Got to make sure he has the right kind of food and yada yada yada. Of course he would have to be obtained from the Pakis. I guess I'm in a pissy mood today--maybe for the last 30-40 years about these jerks.
#15
If they have him, we can force them to give him up to us. We dont have to ask. Give him to us ...or we will hurt you. It is better to be feared than loved. Or doesnt the US do anything that isnt limp?
When we have him. He disappears. Say what? Never had him. Keep movin'.
Next stop an island in the middle of no where. Somewhere in the Indian Ocean say. Then we get everything he knows any way we please and when he's absolutely empty.... we feed him to the fish.
Omar who?
Sure we can. It all a matter of simply having no compunctions about killing people who are a danger to the United States. Sure they are human. Do it anyway. Sure they have "rights". Do it anyway.
Sure we will be as bad as they are? Yeah? Do it anyway.
Slit his belly open and put a cement block around his neck.
#16
A lot of doubt for the capture of MULLAH OMAR, but even iff true it may be more "Protection" of Omar than per se "Capture" or "Detainment" of same by PAK Govt-Police, espec given PAK recent successful test firing of TWO NUCLEAR BALLISTIC MISSLES + DEMANDS FOR INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF PAK AS A NUCLEAR = NUCWEAPONS STATE [Nuke Club].
IOW, ISLAMABAD > WANTS MULLAH OMAR, TALIBS, + OTHER [major]PAK-BASED MILTERR GROUPS UNDER TIGHT CONTROL WHILE IT DEVS STRATEGIC NUCWEAPS = ICBM ARSENAL. Ditto IRAN = reports of OSAMA being there.
Lest we fergit, POTUS BAMMER'S TIMELINE FOR SCHEDULED WITHDRAWAL OF US MILFORS FROM AFPAK.
FORMER SOVIET SSRS > also desire NUCREAX TECHS + EVENTUALLY THEIR OWN NUCWEAPONS.
SUB-IOW, RISE OF ISLAMIST NUCLEAR ASIA = SOVEREIGN OR MIL-CONTROLLED NUKE ENCLAVES TO OCCUR while the US intentionally downsizes 2011 thru 2016???
An Afghan man was arrested after boarding a passenger plane with a knife and trying to kick open a window while the plane was airborne, the Interior Ministry said Monday.
Nobody was hurt in the incident Sunday on an Ariana Afghan Airlines flight from Kabul to Mashhad, Iran, said Zemeri Bashary, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry. Security forces on the national carrier's plane subdued the man quickly and he was arrested when the pilot made a scheduled landing in the southern city of Kandahar, Bashary said.
The plane then continued to its destination in Iran. It was not immediately clear how many people were on board.
Authorities were still questioning the man and had not yet determined a motive.
Latifullah Taslaim, the airline's deputy director, confirmed the incident but said the man did not board the plane with a knife. The reason behind the discrepancy with the Interior Ministry's account was not immediately clear.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
An Afghan man was arrested after boarding a passenger plane with a knife
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] US and Afghan forces killed 10 militants in a raid in Afghanistan after the militants beheaded four guards working for the US military, the Afghan army said on Sunday.
US and Afghan soldiers engaged the militants for a full day on Saturday in the western district of Shindand, the commander of Afghan army commando forces in Afghanistan told AFP. "We together with US Marines launched an operation against insurgents as a result of which 10 Taliban were killed," said Zainudin Sharifi.
Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has a military base in Shindand, part of the relatively peaceful province of Herat, which shares a long border with Iran. Sharifi did not say when the insurgents had captured and beheaded the four Afghan guards or provide any other details. Meanwhile, four members of a community defense force protecting villagers in Afghanistan were beheaded by militants in a weekend battle, an Afghan army official said on Sunday.
Maj Zainudin Sharifi, the commander of the Afghan National Army's rapid-response team in Herat province, said the fighting occurred Saturday in Zerko, a Taliban area of Shindand district. Sharifi said members of the defense force, hired by the Afghan Interior Ministry, came under fire when they were investigating tips that suicide bombers were planning to attack a coalition outpost. Four were captured and beheaded.
Coalition forces and the quick-response force responded, killing 10 militants. Sharifi said four of the militants died when they were hit by bullets that detonated their suicide vests. Meanwhile, a British soldier was killed by an explosion while on foot patrol on Sunday in southern Afghanistan, the British Ministry of Defence said in London.
The serviceman, from 40 Commando Royal Marines, was hit by the blast in Sangin, Helmand province on a patrol in support of the Afghan National Army, the ministryÃs statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2010 00:00 ||
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A GROUP of Somali pirates captured by the Russian navy in the Gulf of Aden and then set free in a boat are most probably dead after failing to reach the shore, a Russian defence source said. The 10 pirates were captured last week after seizing a Russian oil tanker but were then unexpectedly released, with Russian officials saying there was insufficient legal basis to keep them in detention.
"According to the latest information, the pirates who seized the Moscow University oil tanker failed to reach the shore. Evidently, they have all died," the high-ranking source was quoted as saying by all Russia's official news agencies.
The source said that radio signals from the boat stopped just one hour after it had been set free by the Russian navy. No details were given over the manner in which they could have lost their lives. Reports have said that after their release the Russian navy put the pirates in a boat 550km offshore, removing all weaponry and navigational equipment from the vessel.
"It would have been more humane to have hung them up from the yardarm," a rights activist, whose name was not given, told the Kommersant daily at the weekend.
Marines from the Russian destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov freed the tanker from the pirate's grasp in a dawn operation last week hailed as exemplary by Russian defence experts and officials. President Dmitry Medvedev said the raid was "sharp, professional and quick" and ordered medals for all those involved in the rescue.
The fate of the pirates had been a mystery. Media had at the weekend published a picture taken by state media showing 10 pirates lying face down, hands tied behind their back on the red deck of the Russian ship. A top naval official also told Kommersant that the Russian navy had originally planned to accompany the pirates to within 20km of the shore but the offer of escort was turned down.
But Somalia's ambassador to Moscow Mohammed Handule denied that the Russian navy had acted improperly in the affair.
"Not one Somali or the government of our country sees Russia as being guilty in this. The Russian military showed they can act effectively so that not one crew member of the captured tanker was hurt." "This is the most important thing," he said according to the ITAR-TASS news agency.
Russian shipping expert Mikhail Voitenko said reports about the pirates being set free in a boat could just be covering the possibility they had all been killed in the raid to free the Moscow University.
"I think this is linked to the fact nobody released the pirates and they were killed in the operation," Voitenko, editor of the Maritime Bulletin, told Moscow Echo radio. Then someone had the not very intelligent idea 'Let's pretend that they were released in the middle of the ocean hundreds of miles from the shore without any navigational aids'."
After the tanker was recaptured, officials had also sent conflicting signals about the future of the pirates. Russia's investigative committee of prosecutors had said steps were being taken to bring the pirates to Moscow to face charges but later backtracked, saying that this was not being discussed.
The episode is the latest high-seas intrigue involving Russia, after the disappearance last year of the Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea ship which some reports said was carrying an illicit Russian arms cargo for Iran. Russia denied the charges and arrested eight "pirates" who it said had hijacked the vessel.
#14
So now we get to find out if harsh treatment of pirates makes them leave you alone or makes them seek vengeance on you. And we can then extrapolate that learning to other variations of Islamic terrorism.
#17
Thanks for posting this, Phil - I needed a lift. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/11/2010 13:33 Comments ||
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#18
So who's got the femtoviolin?
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/11/2010 13:53 Comments ||
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#19
I remember when Lebanese terrorists kidnapped several Americans, and got much publicity, so kidnapped some Russians.
The Russians sent some personnel to Lebanon, who promptly counter-kidnapped the "spiritual leader" of the terrorists, then "Fed-Ex'ed" a few of his parts to the terrorists, with promise to send more, soon.
The terrorists were so traumatized, they not only released the Russians, but drove them to the Russian embassy.
#23
The Russian Navy, Army, Air Force and Special Purpose groups do not CARE what anyone thinks.
They just go do it.
Personally, we'd be better off in Iraq and Afghanistan if some of the bad guys we captured were "Fed Exed" in easily reassembled parts to their families and friends.
According to one of my Iraqi contacts, Saddam took displeasure at a Minister and so after he did not return from a meeting at the Presidential Palace, all of his subordinates and peers received 8 x 10 glossy photos of the missing Minister's head on a table...
Sometimes, you have to fight terror with terror. The Brits learned this and did it to good advantage when they put down the original Sepoy rebellion...burying the Sepoy dead wrapped in pig hides and pouring pig fat on captives to make them talk...personally, I think we could learn a thing or two from the Apaches who were very good at extracting valuable bits of info from captives and making everyone dread being captured.
#24
You got to admit the Russians aren't pussies about such things. There are now 10 fewer pirates to do any plundering. I suppose the human rights organizations will have something to say about this---or not.
#28
"It would have been more humane to have hung them up from the yardarm," a rights activist, whose name was not given, told the Kommersant daily at the weekend.
Jeeze Louise! Some people you can never please. Let them go and they get upset. Kill the pirates and they get upset. I guess that the only thing that would make them happy is to let the pirates take over any ship they please.
Posted by: Alaska Paul in Hooper Bay, Alaska ||
05/11/2010 16:12 Comments ||
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#34
In 1985, terrorists stormed the Soviet Embassy in Beirut and abducted several Russian officials, demanding that the Soviets force Syria to stop its efforts to drive Palestinians supporting Arafat out of Lebanon.
Then Soviet president Gorbachev was quickly able to get Syria to stop its operation, but the kidnappers were slow in releasing the hostages. The SPETSNAZ quickly went into action, rushing to Beirut and giving the extremists 48 hours to free their people. When the terrorists let the deadline pass, the SPETSNAZ actually kidnapped four of them and sent one of their decapitated heads in a bag to the terrorist chief, promising further unrestrained action. The captives were quickly freed.
[Al Arabiya Latest] A criminal court on Monday acquitted eight Kuwaitis allegedly linked to al-Qaeda of plotting to attack a key U.S. military base in the emirate, their lawyer said.
"Judge Hisham Abdullah issued the verdict to acquit the six defendants of all charges. They will be released from detention today," Mohammad al-Kundari told AFP of suspects who had appeared in court.
Five of the men were arrested in August last year while the sixth suspect is already serving a life term in jail for an 2002 attack on the U.S. military in Kuwait that killed an American soldier.
They were charged with plotting to attack the U.S. military base at Arifjan, 70 kilometers (44 miles) south of Kuwait City.
They have categorically denied the charges and claimed their confessions were extracted through torture.
Two other Kuwaitis who were being tried in absentia were also acquitted by the criminal court, Kundari said.
The two are Mohsen al-Fadhli, who has been wanted by Kuwaiti security forces for the past five years, and Mohammad al-Dossari who is on trial in Lebanon in connection with terror charges, he added.
"It was an expected ruling," said Kundari, who along with other defense lawyers argued during the trial that the public prosecution and investigators had failed to provide the court any material evidence.
The prosecution can still appeal the verdict, and generally does appeal in cases linked to Islamist militancy. The ruling by a criminal court was issued without immediate explanation.
At the start of the trial in December, the public prosecution dropped the key conspiracy charge but pressed other accusations of planning to manufacture explosives and the illegal possession of firearms.
In February, however, a secret service officer told the court that the six defendants plotted to attack the US base in Arifjan in collaboration with the other two suspects.
A U.S. defence department spokesman said last year U.S. forces in Kuwait had been targeted but that it was unclear if the suspects were linked to al-Qaeda or planned to strike Camp Arifjan.
Kuwait, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, waged a largely successful campaign to stamp out violence by Islamist militants after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities and the Iraq war.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2010 00:00 ||
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A young man accused of encouraging Muslims to murder Gordon Brown and Tony Blair is facing jail after he admitted calling on fellow radicals to prepare themselves for “martyrdom operations'.
Ishaq Kanmi, 23, from Blackburn, in Lancashire, posted messages on a jihadist website claiming to be the leader of al-Qaeda in the UK and demanding targeted murders and large-scale attacks.
He appeared before Manchester Crown Court yesterday to plead guilty to a series of terrorist offences.
In one of the postings made in January 2008, Kanmi was said to have compiled a list of aims for the organisation, which included “the elimination of political leaders and top of the list Blair and Brown. As God said: ‘Kill the nonbelievers'.'
Another objective was “huge attacks, God willing, on centres and places of benefit to the crusaders. As God said: ‘Kill the participants as you find them, take them, guard them and wait for them'.'
Using the pseudonym Umar Rabie, the head of al-Qaeda in Britain, he issued a two-month deadline calling for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, together with the release of all Muslim captives from Belmarsh Prison.
Posted by: ed ||
05/11/2010 00:00 ||
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SWEDISH cartoonist Lars Vilks, who sparked controversy by drawing Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog, was attacked overnight while giving a lecture at a university, police said.
"The man was sat in the first row and suddenly he rushed at me. He punched me in the head and I lost my glasses," said Mr Vilks, adding that at the very most he was "a little bruised".
Police said around 250 people were present at the time of the attack at the university of Uppsala, north of the Stockholm.
"When Lars Vilks arrived, five persons started to protest against him with screaming. They calmed down and the lecture continued.
"When Lars Vilks talked about religion and showed a film, 20 persons tried to attack him, probably offended by the film."
Police evacuated the lecture hall but some demonstrators resisted, forcing officers to use tear gas. Two people were arrested.
In 2007, Swedish regional newspaper Nerikes Allehanda published Mr Vilks' satirical cartoon to illustrate an editorial on the importance of freedom of expression.
The cartoon prompted protests by Muslims in the town of Oerebro, west of Stockholm, where the newspaper is based, while Egypt, Iran and Pakistan made formal complaints.
An al-Qaeda front organisation then offered $US100,000 ($110,730) to anyone who murdered Mr Vilks - with an extra $US50,000 ($55,365) if his throat was slit - and $US50,000 ($A55,365) for the death of Nerikes Allehanda editor-in-chief Ulf Johansson. YouTube
The ringleader of Canada's famous Toronto-18 terror plot pleaded guilty on Monday. Known as what could have been Canada's 9/11, the plot was unearthed in June 2006 with the arrest of 18 Muslim men, mostly Pakistanis, from the Toronto area.
The plotters had planned to storm and blow up the nation's parliament in Ottawa, take leaders hostage and behead the prime minister. They had also planned to drive explosive-laden trucks into the offices of the Canadian spy agency, the Toronto Stock Exchange and a military base here.
One of the main leaders of the plot, Zakaria Amara, 24, was jailed for life in February. Others have been given light sentences and let off. Seven have charges stayed against them. The plot ring leader Fahim Ahmad, 25, Steven Chand, 25, and Asad Ansari, 29, went on trial last month, with the prosecution charging with them with diabolic plans to cripple Canada.
In a major development in the case Monday, Fahim Ahmad, the ringleader, pleaded guilty to plotting against his adopted land. Called a 'time bomb waiting to go off,' the 25-year-old terrorist admitted he wanted to blow up civilian, nuclear and military targets and take leaders hostage to force Canada to pull out of Afghanistan.
The court was told how Ahmad, as a terrorist leader, procured firearms for his group, arranged training camps and prepared videos to fire his band as well as jihadists abroad. The court heard how his men were arrested at the border trying to smuggle guns from the US, and how he revealed to the police mole his plans to hit nuclear and military bases.
In a video prepared by the terrorist leader at a training camp for his group, he is heard saying, "Victory is near... Our mission is great, whether we get arrested, tortured or killed... Rome has to be defeated.''
Though two other accused still remain to be convicted, the guilty plea by the ring leader almost brings the curtain down on what could have been the worst-ever terror attack on Canadian soil.
#1
I said on this board a couple of years ago that these guys would cave, and generally they have.
Wrung dry by CSIS then turned over to the Canuckistanian so-called "Justice" system, eventually to be imprisoned with a bunch of native gangbangers who absolutely hate and disrespect them.
Final indignity is to be subjected to 24/7 country music at the behest of the native gangs.
I love it when a plan comes together, but then again I'm just an old, angry and bitter white guy.
American investigators believe rogue Pakistani intelligence agents may have been involved in the Times Square bomb plot, a potentially devastating blow to the country's shaky anti-terror credentials. They are probing a possible connection between Faisal Shahzad and Pakistan's powerful military and intelligence establishment.
His background as the son of a senior Air Force officer may have brought him into contact with intelligence agents who helped build the Afghan Taliban and who have channelled cash and training to home-grown Jihadis, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
"You don't know who he might have been introduced to in that sort of military environment," said the source.
Such a connection would be desperately embarrassing to the government in Islamabad, which is under pressure to demonstrate its commitment to tackling terrorism.
But it would help investigators make sense of how a boy raised in the secular, moderate environment of Pakistan's military schools could stand accused of terrorism.
Investigation teams, which have been arriving from the US since the start of the week, are at work in Peshawar, close to Shahzad's family home, Karachi, where he spent time as an adult as well as in Rawalpindi, where the Army and intelligence agencies are based, according to the source.
They believe he may have used colleagues of his father -- Air Vice Marshal Baharul Haq -- to make contact with the Pakistan Taliban.
Pakistan has a history of using Jihadi groups as a tool of its foreign policy. Its Inter-Services Intelligence agency helped equip and train Afghan Mujahideen fighting Soviet occupation during the 1980s and then used the Taliban to fill the resulting vacuum. They have supported militant groups in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
However, the government has become increasingly concerned in recent years about groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed for the devastating attacks in Mumbai in December 2008, and has distanced itself from some former allies.
American investigators are now examining what links might still exist "They kept the connection in case of what India might do," said the source. US investigators believe the Pakistan Taliban provided training and financing for the plot.
Pakistan is already under pressure to do more to rid its tribal areas of militants. At the weekend, Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, issued a stark warning.
"We've made it very clear that if -- heaven-forbid -- an attack like this that we can trace back to Pakistan were to have been successful, there would be very severe consequences," she said. Fresh evidence emerged yesterday of Pakistan's problems with militants.
Up to 40 camps housing terrorists are in operation along the Pakistan- Afghanistan border, according to the Russian ambassador to India. Alexandar Kadakin said the findings were based on Russian intelligence and satellite imagery.
No one from the Pakistan government or military was available to comment. "Colleagues of his father" is it, shocking, abosolutely shocking! "No one in the Paki gov't or mil available to comment"....? Even more shocking I tell you. Where must this lead?
#1
an attack like this that we can trace back to Pakistan were to have been successful
Brilliant HRC. Give 'em a goal to shoot for and do bu**er all about attempts. Not important enough to pursue, huh? Americans can sleep comfy cozy at night. HRC is a hindsight kinda gal.
#6
If it was ISI sponsored, you would think that the operative would have at least been able to connect the bomb components. Most Webelo bomb fires are better organized and executed. This can't be professionally sponsored.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/11/2010 22:28 Comments ||
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TWO separate volleys of American missiles slammed into a Taliban sanctuary in Pakistan close to the Afghan border overnight, killing at least 24 alleged insurgents in the latest such strikes since a failed car bombing in New York, officials said.
The first strike in North Waziristan involved up to 18 missiles - an unusually intense bombardment.
They struck cars, homes and tents across a wide area in the Doga area, where insurgents have hideouts and training facilities, killing 14 alleged militants, two intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Hours later, another pair of missiles hit a compound in the Gorwek area of North Waziristan killing another 10 suspected insurgents, including the brother of a reputed Taliban commander, Maulvi Kalam.
The identities of the rest of the people killed in the attacks were not immediately known.
North Waziristan has been the target of nearly all of the about 30 American missile attacks in Pakistan this year. In recent months it has become a new haven for militants who fled a Pakistani army offensive in their previous stronghold, neighbouring South Waziristan.
The two strikes overnight took to four the number of such attacks since Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad was arrested after allegedly abandoning a bomb-laden SUV in Times Square. He has reportedly told investigators that he received training in Waziristan and US officials have said evidence showed the Pakistani Taliban played a role in the plot.
#1
They struck cars, homes and tents across a wide area
Following a succulent pork tenderloin dinner and watching 'Dancing with The Stars' ....Faisal Shahzad was able to identify many vehicles, numerous huts, and a boatload of tents from overhead imagery.
Up to 18 American missiles slammed into a Taliban sanctuary in Pakistan close to the Afghan border Tuesday, killing 14 alleged insurgents in the third such strike since a failed car bombing in New York drew fresh attention to the region, officials said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's foreign minister said the nation's ties with the U.S. have not suffered as a result of the bombing plot, which Washington has linked to militants with bases in the lawless border regions.
The number of missiles fired into North Waziristan was unusually high, reflecting multiple targets.
They struck cars, homes and tents across a wide area in the Doga area, where insurgents have hideouts and training facilities, two intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The identities of the people killed in the attack were not immediately known.
[Geo News] Forty militants were killed and over 15 more injured in a fierce clash with security forces in Upper Orakzai while 4 soldiers were martyred, Geo News reported Monday.
According to official sources, the security forces are pushing forward towards Dabori.
A fierce clash between security forces and militants occurred in Khan Qamar Klay area in which 40 militants were killed and more than 15 wounded. Those killed also included a key militant commander.
Four security men embraced Shahadat during the clash.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] A wave of attacks across Iraq, including twin car bombs against a textiles factory, killed at least 102 people on Monday, security and hospital officials said.
The attacks wounded more than 300 others in the capital, Baghdad, the southern oil hub of Basra and other towns and cities, and appeared aimed at showing Iraqis that Sunni Islamist insurgents were still a potent force, even after battlefield defeats in recent weeks. "Despite strong strikes that broke al Qaeda, there are some cells still working, attempting to prove their existence and their influence," said Baghdad's security spokesman, Major General Qassim al-Moussawi, calling the attacks "hysterical."
The attackers exploited the political disarray that followed a March 7 election that produced no outright winner and pitted a cross-sectarian bloc backed by minority Sunnis against two major Shi'ite-led coalitions.
Two months on, results have not been certified after an election that Iraqis hoped would deliver stable governance as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw more than seven years after ousting Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.
In the bloodiest incident on Monday, two suicide car bombers drove into the entrance of a textile factory as workers were ending a shift in the town of Hilla, south of Baghdad, a regional office of the national media centre said.
A third bomb exploded as police and medics rushed to the scene, causing additional casualties. At least 45 people died and 190 were wounded, a hospital source said.
"This looks like a major campaign by the terrorists, not just in Hilla," said Babil province governor Salman al-Zarqani. The attacks were a reaction to efforts by Shi'ite factions to form a governing coalition after the March 7 election, he said.
The southern oil city of Basra was struck by three car bombs killing 21 people and wounding more than 70 others, security and medical sources said. The first was in a central market and the other two exploded in northern Basra near a petrol station and in a residential area.
Oil production, the bulk of which comes from fields outside the city, was not affected.
Earlier, a suicide bomber wearing an explosives-laden vest and another driving a car killed 13 people and wounded 40 in a marketplace in al-Suwayra, 50 km (30 miles) southeast of Baghdad, said Majid Askar, an official with the Wasit provincial council.
At dawn in Baghdad, gunmen equipped with silencers killed at least seven Iraqi soldiers and policemen when they attacked six checkpoints, while bombs planted at three others wounded several more, an Interior Ministry source said.
"This was a message to us that they can attack us in different parts of the city at the same time because they have cells everywhere," the source said.
A series of further attacks in the western province of Anbar, the volatile northern city of Mosul, the northern and western outskirts of Baghdad and elsewhere took the death toll from Monday's bloodshed to at least 102, with about 350 wounded.
Show of strength
The attacks reaffirmed the continuing vigor of the insurgency after government forces dealt a series of blows to al Qaeda's network in recent weeks, including an April raid that killed Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.
Overall violence in Iraq has subsided sharply since the height of sectarian warfare in 2006-07, but the March election has fuelled tensions again.
The cross-sectarian alliance led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a secular Shiite, rode strong support from Sunnis to take a two-seat lead in the parliamentary vote.
Iraq's main Shiite-led coalitions, however, have agreed to form an alliance that could deprive Allawi of a chance to try to form the next government, potentially angering Sunnis.
At a news conference on Monday before a meeting of Iraqiya's winning candidates, Allawi repeated his assertion that his bloc had the right to make the first attempt at forming a government.
"We will not allow ... our hands to be tied against attempts to undermine Iraqiya and confiscate the will of the Iraqi electors," he said.
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05/11/2010 00:00 ||
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Isn't Israel primed for war all the time? It is a way of life for them in this part of the world? Got the political will? Check. Got the bunker busters? Check. Got the delivery systems? Check. Got intel on Iran's time schedule for completion of their bomb? Check.
#2
ANY WAR AGZ IRAN = GROUND WAR, INVASION AND OCCUPATION, NOT AN AIR WAR, MISSLE WAR.
MOUD + MULLAHS > know ISRAEL proper doesn't have the manpower to invade + occupy Iran, + that even an extensive + highly successful Air, LR Missle campaign may not suffice to destroy all of the key aspects of Iran's nucprogs.OTOH, the Mullahocracy will deem itself "justified" to mil retaliate agz Tel Aviv = ISRAEL via its regul ARMED SERVICES, IRGC, andor MILITANT PROXIES, ESPEC WID NUKES-WMDS.
Iran has made it very clear that any IRAN-ORDERED TERROR STRIKES launched in retaliation for an original or offfensive US-ISRAELI STRIKE upon it WILL NOT BE LIMITED TO ONLY THE MIDDLE EAST. HIZBOLLAH, ETC, PRO-IRAN MILTERRS WILL ATTACK CONUS + US TARGETS IN NATO EUROPE + ELSEWHERE AS PERTINENT.
IOW, IRAN > HAS NOTHING TO LOSE + EVERYTHING TO GAIN BY LETTING ISRAEL [+ US] ATTACK IT FIRST + INVADE.
Pragmatically, IRAN feels it has the whole of MUSLIM FORMER SOVIET SSRS IN CENTRAL ASIA + even AFPAK to fall back on in case of a PROTRACTIVE "PEOPLE'S WAR" AGZ US INVASION being waged in Iran proper. E.G. COMMIE BASES located in CAMBODIA + LAOS + CHINA during the VIETNAM WAR.
WHIHC IS WHY, AMONG OTHER, THAT IRAN + RADIC ISLAM SUPPOR THE NUCLEARIZATION OF MUSLIM CENTRAL ASIAN STATES. Being good comradely brotherly Muslims + CYA-ing in case of any US-Israeli attack, invasion on Iran.
#3
An ISRAEL = US-ISRAELI attack and invasion is thus intended by the Mullah to devol into a "GREAT POWER" INTRENATION CONFRONTATION ala the PERSIAN GULF + ME [oil-Gas]; + CENTRAL ASIA [US in ASIA]
MUSLIM LANDS FOR MUSLIMS = VIETNAM FOR VIETNAMESE, ASIA FOR ASIANS, + the like in History + Cold War.
[Ma'an] A Palestinian citizen of Israel was detained by Israeli forces on Thursday, two weeks after authorities handed down a travel ban imposed by Israel's Interior Ministry.
Amir Makhoul, director of Ittijah and chairman of the Popular Committee for the Defense of the Political Freedoms, was arrested by Israeli forces on 6 May during a raid of his home, noting that police raided the offices of the organization, confiscating equipment and documents.
The move sparked protests among Palestinians living in Israel, set to rally in Haifa on Monday condemning Makhoul's arrest and that of Omar Said, a member of the Balad movement, on 24 April. The demonstration will further highlight political repression of the Palestinian minority, the Free Ameer Makhoul blog said.
Israeli media said a gag order preventing news outlets in the country from reporting the detention was lifted late Sunday evening. Information was then released that both men were arrested on charges of spying and contact with a foreign agent from Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
A statement from the Arab Association for Human Rights, whose board member Hussein Abu Hussein is representing Makhoul, said on 6 May at 6am the Israeli General Security Service (GSS or the Shabak) accompanied by Israeli police raided the Makhoul's home in Haifa with a warrant for his arrest.
The police conducted an extensive search of the house and confiscated items including cell phones and computers, the statement said, adding that according to his wife, Janan, security forces refused to identify themselves and only following her insistence showed her the arrest warrant, which stated that the arrest was for "security reasons."
A hearing took place the same day at the Petah Tikva Court, where Makhoul's detention was extended for six days. The statement said Makhoul is being prevented from meeting with his lawyer, even in court. "By not having access to his lawyer, Mr Makhoul is being prevented from fair legal procedures."
Makhoul's brother Assam, a former MK for Hadash, said the family had no details of the investigation but they suspected authorities had singled out the activist because of his campaigns against the government's "racist and discriminatory polices" against the Palestinian minority in Israel, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
On 22 April Makhoul was handed down an administrative order issued by the Israeli Interior Minister, prohibiting him from leaving the country for a period of two months.
In an article published by the online news site Electronic Intifada, Makhoul said "the travel ban imposed on me is part of an increased campaign to intimidate and to spread fear among Palestinian civil society. The repression is meant to divide us, but it has had the opposite effect. We Palestinians in Israel, the West Bank, Gaza and the diaspora are only more determined and united to claim our rights and to build a nation where we can live in freedom and have equal rights."
"Leaders of the Palestinian civil society, like myself, are under attack. Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic movement, is being persecuted for his involvement in the protection of Jerusalem from ongoing Israeli colonization and extremist settlers."
The detentions have been widely condemned by international organizations, with the HRA describing Makhoul's arrest as "a flagrant violation of fundamental freedoms ... the arrest warrant and prohibition order, which are based on emergency regulations, are arbitrary political decisions issued by the Interior Minister and are not legal decisions issued by the courts. These decisions lack the most basic human rights standards and due process of law, particularly as they are based on 'secret' evidence and the defense is prevented from viewing this evidence."
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05/11/2010 00:00 ||
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A man has been killed in a drive-by shooting in Narathiwat's Rangae district. The victim was identified as Malording Sua-Mae, 46, who had worked as an undercover intelligence officer for the 38th Narathiwat Task Force. He was shot twice, once in the chest and once in the head. Police found two spent shells of an M-16 rifle at the scene.
Police investigators said the victim was riding his motorcycle on an errand in town. Two assailants approached on another motorcycle and the pillion passenger shot him with an assault rifle. He died instantly.
Police suspect terrorists separatists were behind the attack as they were targeting security officers or locals who work for them.
[Dawn] A bank and the home of the Thai election commission chief were targeted with a grenade and small bombs in the latest violence in the protest-hit capital, police said Monday, reports AFP.
Nobody was hurt in the attacks, which were carried out by unknown assailants late on Sunday, said Major General Prawut Thavornsiri, a spokesman for the Bangkok police task force.
The M-79 grenade did not explode when it was fired at a Bangkok Bank branch, while no one was home when three bombs were thrown at the house of the Election Commission chairman Apichart Sukkhakanont.
"The bombs hit a nearby house and exploded. One damaged the house's fence, but injured nobody," he said. Local media said they were made from fireworks.
Thailand is reeling from the worst political violence in almost two decades in its capital, where 29 people have died and almost 1,000 have been injured in a series of confrontations and explosions.
Dozens of small bomb and grenade attacks have been carried out by unknown perpetrators in Bangkok since anti-government "Red Shirt" protesters began street protests in mid-March.
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The incident involving the two old foes happened on Monday, the semi-official news agency quoted the armed forces chief as saying.
Iran's navy last week launched eight days of exercises in the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, in a region crucial for global oil supplies.
"A U.S. reconnaissance aircraft which had intended to approach our operational war games left ... upon the timely warning of our air defense forces," Fars quoted army commander Ataollah Salehi as saying.
He was speaking to reporters as the military test-fired two surface-to-sea missiles in the Gulf of Oman, it added.
There was no immediate U.S. comment on the report.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last week Iran was challenging U.S. naval power in the Middle East with an array of offensive and defensive weapons.
Salehi said: "It's past the epoch when America would change the regime in a country by just dispatching a warship."
Iran's latest maneuvers coincide with rising tension between Iran and the West, which says Tehran's nuclear work is aimed at making bombs. Iran denies this.
The United States is pushing for a fourth round of U.N. sanctions on the Islamic state over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear activities as demanded by the U.N. Security Council.
Iran often announces advances in its military capabilities and tests weaponry in an apparent attempt to show its readiness for any strikes by Israel or the United States.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The leader of the terrorist Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), Abdolrahman Haji-Ahmadi, has admitted that the group has been conducting armed attacks inside Iran.
In an interview with the BBC, Haji-Ahmadi said the situation in Iran made it impossible for his group to carry out operations without the use of arms.
PJAK, an offshoot of the internationally-recognized terrorist group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), is blamed for many terror attacks targeting both military personnel and Kurdish civilians in northwestern Iran.
"It is evident that our members can not operate in Iran without the use of arms," Haji-Ahmadi said.
The terrorist ringleader was arrested in March in Germany but was released after two weeks. Tehran has criticized a German decision to refuse to extradite Haji-Ahmadi to Iran.
Haji-Ahmadi further said that the five terrorists executed in Iran on Sunday had "no organic links" to PJAK.
Four men and one woman were "convicted of carrying out terrorist acts, including the bombings of government centers and public properties in several Iranian cities."
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05/11/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Evenings are for indoctrination. It might seem strange that students enrolled in militant training would need further convincing
Obviously, this doesn't include "How to remove your head from your arse."
I wonder which friend or relative vouched for Feasal the Weasel. SOBs like Faisal and Hassan enjoy a good life in our system. Faisal occupied space in our university system that could been taken by someone who appreciated it. Hassan was educated as a physician in our system but hated us. If we took the route the Russians did and put these a$$holes in a boat out in the middle of the ocean and told them to start rowing it wouldn't bother me. I'd sleep well. We've got this molly-coddling view of what to do with terrorists. I don't know who it was--maybe it was Katie Couric who commented (before anyone knew who did the attempted Times Square bombing) "I hope it is not a muslim." What the hell is wrong with these nitwits?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
An Afghan man was arrested after boarding a passenger plane with a knife and trying to kick open a window while the plane was airborne, the Interior Ministry said Monday.
A GROUP of Somali pirates captured by the Russian navy in the Gulf of Aden and then set free in a boat are most probably dead after failing to reach the shore, a Russian defence source said. The 10 pirates were captured last week after seizing a Russian oil tanker but were then unexpectedly released, with Russian officials saying there was insufficient legal basis to keep them in detention.
The ringleader of Canada's famous Toronto-18 terror plot pleaded guilty on Monday. Known as what could have been Canada's 9/11, the plot was unearthed in June 2006 with the arrest of 18 Muslim men, mostly Pakistanis, from the Toronto area.
