Australian soldiers have captured a key Taliban commander in southern Afghanistan, the military said Sunday. The Defence Department said that elite Australian troops in Uruzgan had last week taken in Mullah Bari Ghul -- a man they believe is a central figure in extremist attacks in the restive province.
Defence chiefs said Bari Ghul organised money, equipment and foreign fighters for extremist operations in Uruzgan and acted as "shadow governor" authorising attacks across the region. "Mullah Bari Ghul was directly responsible for the importation of componentry, the provision of specialists in the construction of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and authorising their emplacement across the province," spokesman Brigadier Brian Dawson said. "He was also ultimately responsible for the July 13 suicide bomber attack in the Deh Rawood bazaar that killed 21 Afghans and injured a further 12."
Dawson said the capture of Bari Ghul, who was also involved in coordinating the actions of individual insurgency cells, would likely have an immediate impact on militant activity in the region. ...
This article starring:
Deh Rawood
Uruzgan
MULLAH BARI GHUL
Taliban
Posted by: ed ||
08/10/2008 07:04 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hizbul Mujaheddin
#1
This makes, what, the 974th "key Taliban commander" we have captured?
#2
They can't train them as quickly as we kill/capture them, crosspatch. So each new trainee gets promoted to key commander as soon as he's hired, the poor man.
Twenty Taliban were killed in combat with Afghan and international security forces while a bomb destroyed a police vehicle, killing five policemen, authorities said on Saturday.
A convoy of Afghan police and international soldiers was ambushed in the western province of Farah on Friday, Provincial Police Chief Khalilulah Rahmani told AFP. The forces hit back, including using air strikes. "As result 20 Taliban have been killed and 14 wounded," he said. It was not possible to confirm the toll independently.
The United States-led military coalition confirmed that its soldiers had been involved but was not able to give a figure for rebel losses. "Coalition forces were attacked with small-arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades and indirect fire," Lieutenant Nathan Perry said. "Close air support was called. We have no body count for insurgents but no soldier was injured in the operation," he said.
The latest in a series of bomb attacks meanwhile killed five Afghan policemen in the eastern province of Paktia on the border with Pakistan on Friday, Provincial Governor Muhammad Akram Khapelwak said. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said men from his militia had carried out the attack.
This article starring:
Farah
Lieutenant Nathan Perry
Provincial Governor Muhammad Akram Khapelwak
Provincial Police Chief Khalilulah Rahmani
ZABIHULLAH MUJAHED
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
An American has been taken prisoner by the Russian military. The American, noted to be African American, is thought to be one of the American trainers working in Georgia for the United States. The article notes he is being transfered to Vladikavkaz for further questioning.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/10/2008 17:27 Comments ||
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#4
Google Translation
Translation: Russian » English
"
In South Ossetia captured American mercenary
In South Ossetia captured Georgian group suicide, which is U.S. citizen, African American. It is reported "Osetinskoe radio."
The group arrested in the vicinity of the village of Zar, who is on the "road of life" - Zarskoy road.
It is anticipated that U.S. citizen - one of NATO instructors. At this time, he transferred to Vladikavkaz to ascertain all the circumstances of his stay in the territory of the Republic of South Ossetia.
As Rosbalt "previously полпред South Ossetia in the Russian Federation Dmitry Medoev has already reported that among the corpses in Tskhinvali was found several bodies of black people who fought on the side of Georgia"
Also heard on 1TV.RU that they have captured Ukrainian tankers in t-72's.
#6
Maskirova? They are pretty good at that. I wonder if the strategic deception is aimed even higher. They seem to be opening the shortest route south to Tehran.
#8
In case you people do not know, there are sufficient numbers of black Russians in the country. They are children of Russian women and foreign students who the Soviet Union/Russia invited to Russian free college education. So going just by the color to determine the American citizenship is not conclusive...
Posted by: olga ||
08/10/2008 19:52 Comments ||
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#9
I would not be surprised to find Americans working with the Georgians. There are a lot of ex-mil types out there and lots of money floating around. Ukrainians in T-72's? Not so much. George has about 80 tanks, had about 80 tanks. Though, again, ex-mil types can be from Ukraine, too.
#10
Olga, thank you for the info, yes we understand that, it's the article that made the claim, not us. But it is common knowledge that we have personnel in Georgia, so we look for any info that might shed some light on things. we get that this could just be a propoganda piece.
#11
Actually, I hadn't thought of that, even though I have a Bangladeshi friend who married a blond Russian girl while in Moscow for university, and they have two stunningly beautiful children. Thank you for bringing that up, olga dear.
BAGHDAD - A senior U.S. military official says the Americans have begun flying Georgian troops home from Iraq after they requested help with transportation.
Georgia has called its 2,000 troops home from Iraq to help in the fighting against Russia in the breakaway province of South Ossetia and asked the U.S. military to help transport them.
The official says that the U.S. military has agreed to their request and "some flights have already begun."
The official spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because he was releasing the information ahead of a formal announcement
#1
and the russians bombed the int'l airport and airfields so there is probably no place to land- they have pretty much capitulated anyway - asking for ceasefire and negotiations
#4
I also suspect that there is a considerable flow of goods across Georgia's southern borders. Maybe they will start issuing green cards to the innumerable people who want some payback against the Russians.
#5
Georgia cracks under Moscows military pressure as Russian planes bomb Tbilisi internationational airport
DEBKAfile Special Report and Analysis
August 10, 2008, 8:17 PM (GMT+02:00)
Russian armor pours into South Ossetia and Abkhazia
Russian planes bombed Tbilisi international airport and a military airfield near the capital Sunday evening Aug. 10, after Georgia handed the Russian embassy in Tbilisi a desperate message offering to halt military action in South Ossetia and withdraw its troops from the region. Russian forces were then reported to be on the way to invading the Georgian town of Gori after moving in on the second Georgian breakaway province of Abkhazia.
The Russian president Dimitry Medvedev rejected the Georgian appeal and said the war would go on until Tbilisi withdrew its forces unconditionally from South Ossetia and pledged never to attack the region again. This is tantamount to Georgia accepting its truncation and surrender to Russian hegemony.
DEBKAfile reports that the Russian jets pulverized Gori, leaving hundreds dead, to punish Georgian for invading the South Ossetian capital of Tskhvingali last Thursday.
The air raids of the two Georgian airports took place as the US began flying hundreds of Georgian troops home from Iraq, leaving them nowhere to land.
During the day, Russian soldiers and marines entered Abkhazia, Georgia's second breakaway province, by land and from Russian Black Sea naval vessels, which were ordered to block Georgian ports against arms delivery by sea. This opened a third front in Russias war with Georgia on Day Three of the armed conflict.
At midday, Ukrainian military circles indicated the possibility of closing Russias main Black Sea base of Sevastopol to naval ships on their way back from blockading Georgian ports.
The US has drafted a resolution condemning Russia in third UN Security Council session later Sunday.
#7
If I were Georgia, I'd try to figure some way to retaliate for the attack on civilians in Georgia - do the same inside Russia. Several truck bombs, a'la McVeigh would do the job nicely outside Russian governmental offices in Russian provinces nearby.
US transports - that means US Fighter Escort. Its in range from Balad. F-22s have the legs.
#8
Getting out of S ossetia is hardly giving up. Its a wise move, I think. First tactically, by fighing in SO teh Georgians are commited to a purely conventional fight - which they cant win if the Russians will put in enought force. Second they leave the political situation at least somewhat ambivalent.
By withdrawing they move to turf where they can supplement their conventional forces with guerilla war, and they make the Sov- oops, Russian aggression more blatant. And if they survive in defiance, they humiliate Putin.
#9
#7 OldSpook
Oddly last week before this started there were 2 bombing in Sochi, a Russian resort town just NW of Abkhazia on the Black Sea, As I recall one was a bomb on a beach 2-3 injured and I think the other was in an Apartment/Hotel. Both were spoken of as terrorist.
#8 liberalhawk
I agree, from footage I've seen It looks like the Georgians are digging in defensive positions and waiting for the bear.
#10
I've seen nothing that says that any airfields are out of action. The Georgians have so few combat aircraft that it is a waste of bombs to hit their airbases. The news reports claim 1-3 bombs falling, hardly enough to put an airfield out of action.
We will have notified the Russians which airfield we are using. Doubt the transports are escorted, unless the Turks are flying with them as they cross Turkish airspace. Turks would not appreciate an accidental shootdown in their airspace, so they are likely escorts.
Russian Izvestya newspapers has claimed that Turkey was among the countries that supported Georgia in the recent strife in South Ossetia, by supplying the country with weapons, CNNTurk reported on Sunday.
The Russian newspaper cited a Russian Defense Ministry report published three months prior that claims over the past four years Turkey has supplied Georgia with $45 million in weapons and ammunition, as well as training Georgian army officers.
Interfax Agency also reported that Turkish naval ship has entered in to Georgian territorial waters off the coast near the city of Batumi. Chickens. Coming home. To roost.
#1
now we see why it was so important to allow turkey to come after the kurdish commies hiding in n iraq........the new kurdish sub state got stronger, turkey more secure. responsible policy at the edge, because its always at the edge where things tend to break.
#3
They might as well. They used the Olympic games the Chinese spent billions of dollars on, and as a result they'll be remembered as the Useful Distraction For Russia instead of China re-establishing itself as a great power the way they wanted, all so Russia will be able to run up the cost of the oil that China is a net importer of.
You also remember, I hope, that China has at least as strong a historical claim to Sakhalin Island and large chunks of Siberia as they do to Taiwan?
#4
Putin and the rest of that gang are nothing but a bunch of thugs. Russian mafia is a good term for that government. A drive by would be good for the Russian people.
#5
I guess Russia is too concerned with selling qeapons to Turkey in the future?
Posted by: Mike N. ||
08/10/2008 14:32 Comments ||
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#6
The Armenian Economist comments on the military confrontation between Georgia and Russia noting that 96 percent of Armenias trade goes via its northern neighbor. The blog says that Armenia will suffer as a result and concludes that it is now effectively blockaded on all sides.
Much of the countrys exports are destined west, and much of its imports, other than Russian natural gas which is piped through Georgia, are also from the west. The infrastructure that makes these transactions possible is Georgias, which by extension is Armenias. Unfortunately, this infrastructure is getting degraded with the
escalation in hostilities.
From an economic perspective, there will be no winners, and Armenia will be a casualty of this war. There is nothing that the government can do to alter the status quo. [ ] The country is de facto blockaded on all sides, by (1) instability to the north, (2) Azerbaijan to the east, Iran (the terrain and distance) to the south, and (4) Turkey to the west. Unless wisdom prevails, this winter can be very cold!
#7
Big problem for the russians is that they rubbled the city they were "protecting" with heavy artillery last night, inflicting massive casualties on the citizens they were allegedly there to save.
The mask is off - Putin is a thug and Russia is now a thug nation and must be treated as such.
Startign with armin our allies inthe region. First: Ukraine in NATO with US basing rights after they eject the Russian Black Sea fleet (and they have already publicly threatened to not allow any Russian warship to return that participates in the current actions).
And if the Germans stand in the way of Ukraine in NATO liek they did Georgia, then screw the Germans - kick them OUT of NATO -- They're useless cowards anyway, with piss poor troops that have little fighting ability, and are more likely to run than fight thanks to their politicians.
#9
From Information Dissemination : Both Interfax and independent sources have noted NATO style vehicles heading north. The Interfax report ran at 14:19 GMT. Anyone have any guesses?
Based on the piecemeal reporting we are finding, it appears the tactic sounds a bit like the way Bing West described the Marine assault on Fallujah. Essentially Russia is working to surround the city with armor and mechanized forces and intends to bring up the infantry (might be the paratroopers that were flown in) to enter the city to support the mechanized units already there. The 58th Army has been blooded, by some reports badly, it appears Georgia is having some success with a combination of irregular and conventional military forces. Both Georgia and Russia have used artillery on Tskhinvali and have blasted the city to hell. The civilian death toll there may be much higher than reported. Multiple sources confirm both sides are using heavy artillery on the city.
#10
comments from same: the su-25 production facility (it also produces various air-to-air missiles) has been bombed, apparently the Georgians used it and its runways as an airbase.
#11
Another one from the same blog: For whatever this is worth, I have seen the explanation that while the 58th Army has all the airpower in needs the orders from Moscow to actually start using it have been slow coming. Specifically I have been told that Georgian SU-25 have been tracked over Tskhinvali by Russian "Tunguska's" but the order to engage was not given. Dunno if that true or not and it sure does not explain how the Russians managed to loose 2 (and even 5 according to some, unconfirmed, reports) aircraft on day 1 including, amazingly, a Tu-22M3. (Backfire)
#12
Turks are applyin naval pressure, partolling off Batumi, Georgia.
I wonder if they will escort civilian freighters wiht humanitarian aid into the other ports of Georgia, specifically Puti,, which is apparently blockaded by the Russian Black Sea flotilla.
#13
Translations of blogs from the area... at this link example
On August 10th, divisions of the Abkhazian army entered the Gali district of the republic, which is monitored by the joint peacekeeping forces, and have taken up positions along the border river Ingur, reports Christian Bzhaniya, head of the press office of the President of Abkhazia, to an IA Regnum correspondent. "Currently, we are taking countermeasures against provocations by the Georgian side and enforcing law and order in the border zone. The Abkhazian army does not plan on crossing into Georgian territory at this stage of the operation. Even though Georgia's statement about beginning to force its way to the river Ingur constitutes a provocation," he emphasized. Bzhania has called the provocations the beginning of a large-scale information war with Tbilisi, referring to a statement made by the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs saying that Abkhazia plans to pillage the Zugdidi region of Georgia and for this reason has created a special corridor.
"Similar provocative statements by the Georgian leadership and news media aggravated the conflict in 1992. Similar statements have once again become the ideology in the recent aggressions against South Ossetia," he emphasized. "We understand that now Tbilisi is undertaking efforts to spread disinformation, but at any moment this could lead to quite real consequences," says Bzhaniya.
Regarding the situation in the upper part of the Kodori Gorge, Bzhaniya reports that the rocket and artillery fire continues to come from Georgians who have taken up positions there in violation of all international agreements. He also reports that a fleet of war ships from the Russian Navy continue to protect Abkhazia's coastline. "Today we are also strengthing the numbers of our peacekeeping forces. They have been brought to the Sokhumi airport by military transport planes... These steps have been taken to prevent a similar situation to what has happened to Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia, from happening here," emphasized Bzhaniya.
#17
WAFF.com Thread > NOW TURKEY IS INVOLVED - RUSSIAN AGENTS: TURKEISH TROOPS, ARMORED VEHICLES NOW IN GEORGIA. Turkish ship loaded for bear allegedly off the coast???
#18
And if the Germans stand in the way of Ukraine in NATO liek they did Georgia, then screw the Germans - kick them OUT of NATO -- They're useless cowards anyway, with piss poor troops that have little fighting ability, and are more likely to run than fight thanks to their politicia
#22
Ah, just like the good old days. The Russian bear does a classic smash-mouth annexation. Just a little reminder for those that needed to remember who was who.
I have no doubt that European weakness invited this attack. Further weakness will invite additional attacks. European so-called soft power was always a loser, now it can be seen as such by even the myopic. No wonder the Euro is down.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/10/2008 22:36 Comments ||
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#24
can people stop going on about annexation? Theyre not going to annex georgia - thats not how putin works. Hes never annexed any of the stans that are subordinate to Moscow.
They will try to drive saalikhashivili from power, and get someone more subservient in place. Thats really all they need to do to send a message to everyone else, isnt it?
as for Germany, well this is a different situation now. I wouldnt prejudge their position. And NATO wouldnt be worth much without them, so lets not be in a hurry to ditch them.
#25
The UN has survived worse. Why would the UN end cause of this? Only the far lefty illusion that the UN is some kind of world govt would end - the UN is NOT that, its a debating club, a convenient for heads of state to meet, and a bunch of technical agencies, some of considerable importance. Oh, and it also runs peacekeeping in those limited areas where all the great powers can agree its a good idea. Its NOT the world govt, either as some hope, or as some fear.
TBILISI (Reuters) - Russian fighter jets targeted the major Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline which carries oil to the West from Asia but missed, Georgia's Economic Development Minister Ekaterina Sharashidze said on Saturday.
"This clearly shows that Russia has not just targeted Georgian economic outlets but international economic outlets in Georgia," she said at a news briefing.
There have been no independent verifications of Russian jets targeting the BTC pipeline.
(Reporting by Margarita Antidze, writing by James Kilner, editing by Jon Boyle)
#1
Hmmm. Didn't Clinton attack sovereign Serbia because they didn't like their treatment of their Muslim minority? Some bozos want to NATOize Georgia now, so that they can use Article 5 - military assistance provision - to defend Georgia's territorial integrity. Risk broad war with a nuclear power in the name of Georgia's "freedom" to oppress Russians.
I question if their is a single Western leader or politician who could define "self determination" and "territorial integrity."
Reminder: 350,000 Chaldean and 200,000 Mandean Christians have been cleansed from Iraq since 2003. Good or bad or screw anyone who asks?
Posted by: Zoids R Us ||
08/10/2008 7:18 Comments ||
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#3
McZoid, you seem to miss or at least IMO undervalue the stranglehold that Russia will have on energy supplies to much of the world if they can take over the alternate pipeline. THAT's what defending Georgia is about, in good part.
#7
South Ossetia seceded from Georgia. Georgia is trying to force them back in the fold. Imagine Texas seceding from the union and Mexico sending troops there to help them. We wouldn't like that much would we? That's the same thing that is happening in Georgia, so give em a break McZoid.
Posted by: Gromp Prince of the Geats8061 ||
08/10/2008 9:32 Comments ||
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#8
The numbers I've seen (here) say the number of Chaldeans that have left is lower than your figures by a factor of five or so; I suspect since most of them went to Jordan or Syria, that they'll probably be returning because the civil war in Iraq has been dying down.
I doubt that our membership in "Christian Civilization" means we're bound to be neutral at best in the matter of "Christian" Russia (where the KGB controlled the ordination of priests for roughly three-quarters of a century) bomb another country that is also predominantly Christian.
#12
some background info from comments at blackfive
"well, just read an article through one of the posted links 'ezhednevny zhurnal' and in this article the author lays out the following facts: Russia has been preparing for the military action in S.Osetia for quite a while; Russia has been fermenting the separatist movements in both S. Osetia and Abkhazia since the very beginning in order to ensure Georgia's ineligibility for NATO membership; the actions of issuing Russian passports and recognizing legal property rights of the people of these areas shall be clearly and legally construed as annexation of the territories in question. However, the opionion is this war would be bad for Russia in the eyes of the international community if Russia could not occupy, clean up and force cease fire by Monday."
#13
in the name of Georgia's "freedom" to oppress Russian
How so?
Seems to me Georgia has always been the victim of Russian oppression. There is good reason the US is helping Georgia try to take back the region, because there are a ton of jihadist freely roaming around the gorges.
Also those "Russians" you say were oppressed, are you talking about the ones that Russia gave passports to but who really live on Georgian territory?
A Georgian minister says Georgian troops have pulled out of Tbilisi the capital of the breakaway province of South Ossetia under massive Russian shelling.
Other online sources cite continued massive artillery barrage of the city overnight, essentially demolishing the capital of S.O., and inflictgin huge numbers of civlian casualties due to indiscriminate targeting and "WW2" style massive barrages.
Sounds to me liek the Russians haven;t changed since the Red Army days in terms of deliberately inflicting civilian casualties and reducing cities to rubble.
"Peackeeping" my ass - this is a thug army of a thug country led by a thug gangster -- Putin.
Among freighters halted with warning shots was a Moldovan-flagged vessel carrying wheat to the Poti port, threatening Georgia's food supplies.
I wonder what would happen if we sent a destroyer on a call up that way to exercise the right of free navigation to a country that Russian claims it is NOT officially at war with...
#18
to be quite clear - Clinton spent weeks trying to get a deal with Serbia, during which time the Serbs continued the removal of Kosovar Albanians. IF the Georgians were ethnically cleansing the So Ossetians, they did so MUCH faster than the Serbs, since there were, IF you believe the Russian version, only a few hours in between the Georgian "invasion" of S Ossetia, and the russian "peace keeping operation". Fast work, and NO appeal to the UNSC or anyone else by the Russians.
I note as well, when asked for evidence, the Russian ambassador seems to have replied with only numbers - something on the lines of "2000 are dead, how many more have to die before you call it genocide?"
Well, obviously its not a question of numbers, but of intent. If its numbers, than Russia has committed genocide in Chechnya.
FAct is, Russia is just pissed. Theyre pissed that they Georgia is humiliating them by its definace. Theyre pissed that Kosovo declared independence. Theyre pissed that they arent what they were before Gorby.
And now theyve got money, cause of the price of oil, the US looks overstretched, the euro leaders (Brown, Merkel, Sarkozy) all have domestic problems - this is the time to go in and push the prez of Georgia out, and let everyone in the "former Soviet space" know that "the correlation of forces" has changed - also to remind the Eastern europeans as well.
I think they may be making a mistake. I have seen no reports indicating that the population of georgia is wavering. They need to get over the shock of the loss of S Ossetia and the Kodori Gorge (KG isnt gone yet, but it soon will be) and realize that simply to survive in defiance, poking across the new border in S ossetia once in a while is victory. if Putin goes over the border then, he will only unite them against him. Maybe.
#22
McZoid you have to be the stupidest fucking moron on the internet, or at least on Rantburg.
Back that BS argument up sonny and be prepared for me to slice and dice EVERY bit of morononical drivel you spew on this board. I'll rip your ass to shreds.
Why? Because not only are you wrong, you're a fucking ignorant fool, a wanna-be Nazi, a bigot and porobably a racist. You haven't a clue, much less a brain.
Now back your arguments up or get the fuck out of here, jackass. You're adding N to the S:N ratio here with your idiotic blather.
You're worse than the bigot Aris - at least at times he could overcome his prejudices. You seem incapable of it.
Gimme a break, you idiot - are you living in 1952? Seems like it. Try 2008, a western oriented democaracy with a popular president, freely elected, who has over 2000 troops helping us in Iraq.
So again, you're showing how damned stupid you are. And your bigoted room temperature IQ is on display as well.
Are you an apologists for gangster - a thug like them? You sure seem to be. Prove that you arent - show us a single shred of unbigoted unbiased thought.
#25
Old Spook...the Red Army invented reducing cities to rubble?Try again,nitwit.The good old Allies did it in WW2 from the air,prior to that as well.Gandhi said"It doesn't much matter to the dead if they were killed by communist or democratic bombs."Killing large numbers of civilians for political purposes?Hiroshima,my man.BTW,Pearl Harbor was allowed to happen.(Please don't tell me it was a "sneak attack.")
Posted by: Franklin Coverup ||
08/10/2008 19:47 Comments ||
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#26
[Ar is has been pooplisted.]
Posted by: Ar is ||
08/10/2008 19:51 Comments ||
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#28
FC, the Allies might have invented it (for good reason, I might ass), but the Russians perfected it. There was no military reason to reduce these Georgian cities to rubble. They did it because they could, not because it was necessary. Bugwit.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/10/2008 19:53 Comments ||
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#29
On second thought, I believe the Germans invented it, starting with Guernica. The Japanese took up the practice against the Chinese and then the Germans tried to "Coventry" London. You are a Bugwit, FC.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/10/2008 19:57 Comments ||
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georgians feel betrayed - don't blame them - they stepped up and the world looks away - kind of hard to look in the mirror for me as an american now- I know we don't want a shooting war with Russia over this ... but this is not good at all
#33
It's not really over. The U.S. is flying back the 2,000 man brigade Georgia has had in Iraq, and one assumes we've been loading them up with whatever can be stuffed into the spare spaces on our airplanes. Not to mention the latest satellite information and whatever else we know. The U.S. ambassador let loose at the U.N., so that's the diplomatic end of things ticked off the list, and the nearby countries are starting to speak out and act, cf. the Ukraine denying their ports to the Russian navy, and the leaders of the three Baltic countries declaring in one voice that Russia's behaviour is unacceptable.
Aris, I've no doubt you've been speaking up about this, but I'm not sure it's been here at Rantburg. I've no memory of arguments about that, and you'd developed a tendency to provoke arguments here, whether intentionally or no. By the way, your arguments about Russia's further actions make sense to me.
It will be interesting to see what President Bush does next. Certainly we can expect Europe will do little more than spout platitudes while wringing their collective hands.
#34
Separately, OldSpook dear, please calm down a bit. While I find it educational when you go all Master Sergeant, I'm not sure McZoid deserves quite as much as all that. He means well, and he does not attack others unprovoked as Zenster did at the end -- however heartfelt and researched his positions may have been -- much to the dismay of many.
#35
"If Russia's allowed to annex Georgia, it very soon (5-10 years or less) will turn its eyes either to Ukraine and/or the Baltics."
Eastern Europe is screwed because it has many sympathisers among the older generation, and those who didn't see the benefits after communism collapsed. The younger folks may have seen the light after the expansion of the EU since they see themselves more as European citizens, able to travel wherever the work is. They won't take too kindly to anyone has tries to mess that up, i.e. Russia.
That's why it's critical that Ukraine be helped along in joining the EU, though I suspect that eastern Ukraine may have to be written off.
Getting the Serbs aboard the EU boat might help too.
On a side note, Canada better start beefing up its military presence in the north, lota land up there.
#38
You're perfectly right pointing at pro-stalinist sentiments in Georgia, McZoid.
Let the pictures speak (and support your arguments):
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Statue_of_Stalin,_Gori
Somehow, there's no monument of Hitler in Austrian Braunau-am-Inn...
Posted by: Matt K. ||
08/10/2008 21:39 Comments ||
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#39
FREEREPUBLIC/TOPIX > GURADIAN.uk - THIS ISN'T A PIPELINE WAR. ITS AN ASSAULT/ATTACKS AGZ RUSSIAN INFLUENCE.
FREEREPUB Poster > Ala STRATFOR, etc analyses, this is about the Eastern European Nations and Russ desire to reconstitute the former Soviet Empire-Bloc = Cold War "sphere of influence", right before our eyes.
Russia's use of strategic bombers and ballistic missiles against Georgia's civilians outside of the South Ossetian conflict is "far disproportionate" to Georgia's alleged attack on Russian peacekeepers, a senior U.S. official said Saturday.
The official was not authorized to speak on the record due to the sensitive nature of the diplomacy.
Russia's use of its potent air weaponry signals a "severe" and "dangerous escalation in the crisis," the official said.
"For the life of me, I can't image that being a proportionate response to the charge that Georgia has attacked Russian peacekeepers," the official said. "It's hard for us to understand what Russia's plan is here."
The official said Russia is probably trying to destabilize Georgia politically to kill its chances of joining NATO.
Georgia has withdrawn its forces from the separatist region of South Ossetia, a Georgian official told the BBC. Moscow had said there would be no "consultations" with Tbilisi unless it pulled back its troops. Tbilisi said Russia had brought 6,000 troops into Georgia by land and 4,000 by sea in preparation for a dawn raid.
#8
What ballistic missiles are being used? Iskander?
Posted by: john frum ||
08/10/2008 8:09 Comments ||
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#9
Probably Grads. After all, a journalism major is writing this story. Same for the "strategic bombers". I saw Su-24s and Su-25s.
Posted by: ed ||
08/10/2008 8:15 Comments ||
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#10
I think some Tu-22 Backfires have been used.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/10/2008 8:20 Comments ||
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#11
Blogging from Poti, a Georgian port city whose âoil terminal, port facilities and a nearby railroad junctionâ were attacked by Russian fighter jets shortly after midnight Saturday, 27-year-old LJ user pepsikolka, an ethnic Russian citizen of Georgia, posted these hurried reports (RUS) on Aug. 8 and 9:
Aug. 8, 2008 - 1:23 PM
My colleagues have been drafted, some of them early in the morning, Iâm shocked, canât understand whatâs going on and where to look for the truth - Georgian channels say one thing, Russian say something else, whatâs going to happen???
***
Aug. 9, 2008 - 12:50 AM:
The port has been bombed, weâre sitting in the street, scared, they say some people have been wounded. Pray for us.
[â¦]
alchutoff:
[â¦] Thatâs ours [Russians] who are bombing you, right?
pepsikolka:
Oh God. I donât know, but thatâs what they are saying.
THe fact that they are using these, strategic assets, speaks strongly to the probability that this was a long laid and planned attack.
Question for the west: what price to we impose on the thug Putin and his thug nation?
I'd say putting Ukraine in NATO, along with US forces there, say a stryker brigade base in western Ukraine (including US basing rights on the black sea and ejection of Russian fleet from Ukraine), that woudl be a huge blow toPutin - and a bit of a backbone stiffener to all the former soviet republics.
#13
Why would we have any interest in getting involved in this? It's not like we have any extra men or money to throw around, or like we get any appreciation for being the world police. They'll settle it on their own and the further away from this problem the U.S. stays, the better.
#16
Clinton wanted to start another Cold War. He did it by humanizing Bosnian and Kosovo terrorists. We need to unleash Russians, Serbs and Ukranians against the Muslim enemy. In case anyone hasn't noticed, Muslims are bombing western China. Who gives a rat's ass what Russia and China do to that enemy.
#17
Clinton wanted to start another Cold War. He did it by humanizing Bosnian and Kosovo terrorists. We need to unleash Russians, Serbs and Ukranians against the Muslim enemy. In case anyone hasn't noticed, Muslims are bombing western China. Who gives a rat's ass what Russia and China do to that enemy.
Anyone else, with more patience and lower blood pressure, want to explain to McZerg here about the Russians selling breeder reactors to the most hostile-to-the-US majority moslem country on the planet?
Bosnian civlians were being killed in large numbers, So were Kosovars. See the mass graves you bigoted piece of shit. The Serbs are guilty of war crimes. Accept you you little neo-nazi piece of filth.
Or are you so damned blind that all you see is hatred?
Your type is no different than the insane "kill them all" morons that infest the Muslim hardcore, and the Nazis/Fascists.
You sure have defined yourself McShithead.
Are you one of those holocuast denying shithead McDickless?
The escalating violence in the tense western China region of Xinjiang spiked sharply Sunday morning when eight suspects were killed by the police after a daring series of bomb attacks that began with a predawn assault against a police station, state media reported.
The spate of incidents comes as the Chinese authorities have accused the East Turkestan Independence Movement, or ETIM, of trying to wage terror attacks against the Olympics. ETIM is listed by the Chinese government and the U.S. State Department as a terrorist group, though some specialists on Xinjiang question the scope and potency of the group. Some human rights groups accuse the Chinese government of exaggerating the threat in an effort to justify their crackdown in the region against Uighurs. More recently, an obscure militant group, the Turkestan Islamic Party, has released videos claiming responsibility for recent bus bombings in southwestern China and has threatened to wage attacks against the Beijing Olympics. Last week, IntelCenter, a private U.S. group that monitors terrorism, concluded that this group was the same as ETIM.
The violence Sunday erupted in Kuqa, a county of 400,000 people in the southern expanse of Xinjiang. None of the details could be independently confirmed, though witnesses in Kuqa told news agencies of hearing explosions Sunday morning. In all, the authorities say 12 explosive devices were detonated in attacks against at least four local government buildings, state media reported. "I heard some bombs, and then I heard some machine guns," a Western tourist in Kuqa told The Associated Press. "The bombs sounded like thunder far away."
Xinhua, the country's official news agency, described a series of attacks that began at 2:30 a.m. when a vehicle was driven into the yard outside a public security bureau and exploded. A security guard was killed and two police officers and two civilians were injured, Xinhua reported. Police officers returned fire, shooting and killing one suspect and capturing another one, as one assailant reportedly committed suicide.
Roughly six hours later, assailants began hurling homemade bombs at different government buildings in Kuqa, Xinhua reported. The police shot dead two more attackers and said three others committed suicide. One captured suspect told the police that 15 people were involved in the attack. Investigators told Xinhua that the explosives were made of bent pipes, gas canisters and liquid gas tanks. The police also seized a taxi that the group was using for their attacks.
The local authorities cordoned off the city and shut down business and government institutions. The police detained an AP reporter and a photographer who were working outside the security perimeter near the scene. They reported seeing a burned out storefront from one explosion and a three-wheeled vehicle parked in front of the store that was completely charred. "This doesn't usually happen," one local resident told the AP. "It's happening now because of the Olympics, but I don't know who is doing it." A group of South Korean tourists and other visitors were said to be trapped in the city. More about ETIM at link
At least one person has died after a series of explosions hit the north-western Chinese province of Xinjiang, state media has reported. It said sporadic gunfire was heard after the blasts, which occurred in the early hours in the town of Kuqa. Police have sealed off the area and troops have been deployed, Xinhua news agency said. Earlier this week, 16 Chinese policemen were killed in an attack on a border post in the province, Xinhua reported.
Posted by: lotp ||
08/10/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
#1
Meanwhile the Olympic clock will only tick a couple more weeks, then...
The French Basque country was preparing itself for a tense summer holiday season yesterday after bomb squads were called in to defuse several explosive devices planted at resorts across the region.
More than 1,000 holidaymakers, among them Britons, had to be evacuated overnight from their hotels and apartments after police received an anonymous tip-off that five bombs had been left in different towns in south-west France near the border with Spain.
Yesterday police located three of the devices - one at a popular "holiday village" in the town of Arcangues, another at Arcangues' tourist information office and a third on the high-speed TGV railway line at the town of Ondres in the Landes region. The homemade explosives - one of which was a can of petrol strapped to a detonator - were described by local authorities as "weak and defective".
Searches were ongoing yesterday at the other sites mentioned by the caller, which included the casino in Biarritz and a hotel in Bidarray formerly owned by Alain Ducasse, the Michelin-starred chef who quit the region last year after a series of attacks on his restaurant. A holiday resort in Anglet was also searched.
Police said that although they had so far found nothing, they would keep looking until they were sure no bombs remained.
News of the bombs revived fears that the region could be hit by Basque separatist attacks at the height of its tourist season.
Three local transporters were injured when unknown militants fired rockets at trailers in Torkham and a conductor of a trailer was kidnapped at gunpoint from the Chengai area of Landikotal in Khyber Agency, eyewitnesses and officials said on Saturday. Hazrat Amin, Nadir Khan and Nasrullah of Khyber Agency were injured in the attacks.
A Khasadar official said that two suspected persons were arrested at the Parangsam checkpost after a trailer was attacked nearby. The relatives of Kalim Ullah, the abducted conductor, blocked the Pak-Afghan highway in protest.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2008 00:00 ||
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[2 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
Oh, thought it was a Kentucky story for a minute.
The beheaded body of a former bodyguard of Lashkar-e-Islam chief Mangal Bagh was found in Kareegar Garhi in the Bara sub-division of Khyber Agency on Saturday. Locals said the slain man had been identified as Malak Jan. Residents said unidentified militants killed Malak for being a "US spy". Malak was removed from Bagh's service nearly a year ago. He was kidnapped from Dogra area in Bara ten days ago.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2008 00:00 ||
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[1 views]
Top|| File under: Lashkar-e-Islami
The ongoing clashes between two tribes of the Kurram Agency, which had erupted five days ago, have claimed at least 14 lives and injured 30 persons, sources said on Saturday.
They said the clashes between the Tori and Bangash tribes in the Banyamin area of Lower Kurram Agency continued for the fifth day.
The security forces had tried to stop the clashes between the two groups by using artillery guns, but had failed, sources added.
Local Taliban leader Fazal Saeed said that Tori tribe's militants had always sabotaged peace in the agency by killing innocent tribesmen. He said that some militants of the Tori tribe had opened fire on Bangash tribesmen's vehicle last Sunday and killed one person, after which the clashes had begun.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2008 00:00 ||
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[3 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
A police checkpost, in the limits of the Mattani Police Station, was blown up by unidentified men on Saturday, a police official told Daily Times.
According to him, none of the security officials were hurt. Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Kashif Alam said the post was abandoned long before the attack.
Earlier, the militants had attacked the Mattani Police Station on Friday, but no casualties were reported. Police officials said the attack on the police station was launched from more than one direction. However, the attack was repulsed as they were ready for it, said the officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2008 00:00 ||
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[5 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
Paramilitary troops retreated from the Loyesam area of Bajaur Agency on Saturday, three days after an attempt to recapture the Taliban stronghold near the Afghan border, officials told Daily Times. Loyesam lies on the strategically important road leading towards Peshawar. About 200 Frontier Corps (FC) troops were deployed on Wednesday to set up checkposts near the Afghan border, prompting "tough resistance" from the rebel militants.
Troops killed: A press statement from the FC headquarters in Peshawar said six soldiers were killed and 15 injured after the paramilitary troops broke a Taliban siege "in a bold move" and reached Khar, the agency headquarters. It said "the miscreants", a reference to Taliban militants, "suffered heavy losses" in a gunbattle in Dhilai on Friday, when they attacked a security forces convoy moving from Khar to Loyesam. Dhilai is eight kilometres southwest of Khar. Military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas confirmed the retreat from Loyesam.
The Taliban made a claim to victory, but a senior government official wishing not to be named said the troops had returned to Khar "under a strategy". "We cannot say we have failed," he said.
Taliban victory: Sources close to Taliban said the militants "drove out" the forces. Maulvi Umar, the spokesman for the Taliban, claimed they lost around 10 militants but captured seven paramilitary soldiers and seized ten vehicles and a tank. The claim could not be verified.
Casualty figures from both sides differ, but cannot be verified independently because of limited media access to the conflict zone.
This article starring:
MAULVI OMAR
TTP
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2008 00:00 ||
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[2 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
Militants gunned down eight policemen near Swat on Friday night, officials said on Saturday. "A group of ten armed militants attacked a police checkpost in Buner and shot dead eight police officials deployed there," police official Sardar Hameed told AFP. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Muslim Khan claimed responsibility for the killings. "Our men attacked the checkpost and shot dead police officials," he told reporters by telephone in Mingora, the main town in Swat. "We will continue targeting all those police officials who are taking part in the ongoing military operation against us," he added. Unidentified militants also blew up a bridge in Sinpora in Matta tehsil, disconnecting the road network between Matta and Chitral, and a bomb disposal squad diffused two bombs that were planted on the Khwaz Khela Bridge. According to police, the weight of both the bombs was 80 kg. In another incident, the building of a basic health unit was blown up in Charbagh area. Militants had earlier destroyed the Pakistan Tourism Development hotel in Malam Jaba. The militants had planted five powerful bombs at the tourist resort. Meanwhile, fresh troops of the Pakistan Army have reached Swat and started preparations for a major operation, while security personnel arrested a man and his son during a raid in Malakand Agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) -- A 24-year-old suspected Al-Qaeda fighter captured in Iraq claims to have kidnapped and killed 16 people, including five women, a senior Iraqi official said on Saturday. "Our forces captured Jassem al-Khafadji who says he has kidnapped and assassinated 11 men and five women," Defence Ministry spokesman General Mohammed al-Askari told reporters. "He then led us to the place where he had buried them."
Khafadji is among some 500 people the military says have been arrested since the launch on July 29 of a major operation in Diyala province aimed at flushing out Al-Qaeda fighters who control vast swathes of the countryside. The operation is being carried out by the Iraqi army, supported by the US military.
#1
You,
Jose Manuel Miguel Xavier Gonzales,
I find guilty of murder, and I sentence you to death by hanging.
In a few weeks snows will flee, ice will melt, all nature will be glad. But you shall not see summer.
You shall hang from a tree's branch until your corpse draws vultures from its reek and naught remains but the bare bones of a cold-blooded, saddle-colored, blood-thirsty, throat-cutting, chili-fed son-of-a-bitch!
#4
TW: That is an old-fashioned American yarn. Sometimes attributed to Judge Roy Bean, sometimes to Judge Issac Parker. Some versions are very elaborate and colorful, mentioning all four seasons, and going at length about the heritage, background and family relations and history of the defendant.
But the spirit of the tale remains.
The one bit sometimes mixed together with it that is from a different and documented case was the rebuttal from the defendant: "And you can kiss my ass until it is red, red, red!"
There are volumes of court case trivia like this that lawyers collected over the years. Some of it is very funny.
#5
Thanks, Anonymoose. As always you are a font of information, which is eventually useful. ;-) Like the sugar/salt/baking soda mixture in the drinking water -- terribly useful when trailing daughter #2 biked halfway across the country in June.
#6
A skunk like that needs to be wrapped in a quarter-section of barbed wire and dragged 40 miles through the desert by a HUMMV driven by a young private. What's left can be hung in his native village as a warning for those that might think to follow in his 'footsteps'.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/10/2008 16:38 Comments ||
Top||
#7
I personally like the way the Brits put down the Sepoy Rebellion, wrapping the bad guys in a the hide of a freshly skinned hog.
That'll fix the 72 virgin gig.
Posted by: James Carville ||
08/10/2008 16:58 Comments ||
Top||
A car bomb struck a crowded market in the northern city of Tal Afar on Friday, killing at least 21 people and wounding dozens, police and hospital officials said.
The car was parked when it exploded about 6:30 p.m. inside a food market that was packed with shoppers and vendors peddling fruit and vegetables, according to police in Tal Afar.
A local security official said the blast occurred in the Wahda commercial district less than 30 minutes after the expiration of a regular weekly vehicle ban to prevent bombers from targeting weekly Islamic services.
Iraqi soldiers had searched the car at a checkpoint leading to the market but failed to notice the explosives, another city official said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information, said 21 people were killed and 72 wounded.
The U.S. military confirmed the attack but said initial reports showed 15 people killed and 50 wounded.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2008 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
General Motors Canada also produced a special order of Malibu sedans in 1981 for the Iraqi government, although the order was ultimately rejected, reportedly due to the inability of the local drivers to shift a manual transmission. The real reason was the escalating hostilities between Iraq and Iran, which required diversion of funds to support the Iraqi war effort. These "Iraqi Taxi" Malibus were auctioned off to the public at a greatly reduced price of about $6800.00Cdn., since they carried the unusual combination of the smallest 229 cu.in. 110h.p. V6 engine with a 3-speed manual transmission. All of the cars were equipped with air conditioning, heavy duty cooling and had 14 inch stamped steel wheels with trim rings and "baby moon" center caps. They were sold all across Canada, and later acquired a 'celebrity' status.
Gaza militants on Saturday fired a rocket into Israel in new violation of a fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the coastal Strip. The rocket struck an open area in the western Negev. No injuries or damage were reported.
Last Wednesday, while settlers who were evacuated from the Gaza Strip in 2005 staged a rally marking three years since the disengagement, a Qassam rocket hit an open area in the Sha'ar Hanegev regional council, also causing no injuries or damage.
There have been several rocket launches from the coastal territory since an Egyptian-brokered truce between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas went into effect on June 19, though such attacks tapered off in recent weeks.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2008 00:00 ||
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[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
Some 48 Tamil Tiger rebels and seven soldiers were killed in ground battles across Sri Lanka's war-ravaged northern district, the defence ministry said on Saturday.
Sri Lanka's air force bombed and destroyed a Tamil Tiger rebel base in the country's embattled north on Saturday, while infantry clashes in the same region killed 31 rebels and four soldiers, the military said.
The military has increasingly used airstrikes to try to weaken the rebels as part of an ongoing campaign to drive the guerrilla's from their de facto state in the north.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
If the comment regarding the use of the still in development X-47s UCAV is true, then that implies those birds are a lot further along than previously discussed.
#3
Get the Kleenex. It's some British wanker wanking furiously about the Jews neocons. Substitute Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator for X-47 and the fact quotient of this story would not change.
Posted by: ed ||
08/10/2008 11:17 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I put it up mostly for the task org. How many destroyers are there in a squadron?
The real fun is underwater. Imagine what the submarine chart must look like right now.
The European Union tightened trade sanctions against Iran on Friday to punish Tehran for not committing to a long-standing demand of the international community that it freeze its nuclear enrichment program. The new EU restrictions go slightly beyond existing U.N. trade sanctions and are designed to deny public loans or export credits to companies trading with Iran.
France, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said European governments would also carefully watch financial groups doing business with Iranian banks and step up checks on ships and airplanes traveling to Iran. "This resolution expands the range of restrictive measures adopted by the U.N. Security Council," in December 2006 and March 2007, an EU statement said.
The EU called on member nations to "show restraint when granting new public loans for trade with Iran ... (and) to also be vigilant on activities taken by financial institutions with banks based in Iran."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2008 00:00 ||
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[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
So there's what? 27 more levels of 'new' sanctions before EU admits failure? Where are we at, on a scale of one to ten?
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/10/2008 6:25 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I'd call it an 8, Bobby. The Iranian economy could be said to be tanking if it weren't already in the pits. And the EUros have a lot of warships in the Oil Gulf. There's been a lot of turnover in management there, mostly in our direction. If I were the MM I'd be a bit concerned about the more unified front. And I don't think their friends in Moscow have helped them with the Euros, either.
Just a friendly reminder to check the last day or two at the Burg before submitting articles. There's lots going on and we're getting submissions of articles that have already appeared.
#2
Truly, McZoid. We're all trying to feed in information as soon as we find it, not necessarily checking thoroughly enough before posting. I've been guilty of it more often than I'd like to admit. :-(
#3
It happens - especially with multiple sources of singular events. As an intelligence analyst, thats one of the hazards of early reporting, not only is it sometimes unclear, its often redundant.
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.
Australian soldiers have captured a key Taliban commander in southern Afghanistan, the military said Sunday. The Defence Department said that elite Australian troops in 
Twenty Taliban were killed in combat with Afghan and international security forces while a bomb destroyed a police vehicle, killing five policemen, authorities said on Saturday.
At least one person has died after a series of explosions hit the north-western Chinese province of Xinjiang, state media has reported. It said sporadic gunfire was heard after the blasts, which occurred in the early hours in the town of Kuqa. Police have sealed off the area and troops have been deployed, Xinhua news agency said. Earlier this week, 16 Chinese policemen were killed in an attack on a border post in the province, Xinhua reported.
Paramilitary troops retreated from the Loyesam area of Bajaur Agency on Saturday, three days after an attempt to recapture the Taliban stronghold near the Afghan border, officials told Daily Times. Loyesam lies on the strategically important road leading towards Peshawar. About 200 Frontier Corps (FC) troops were deployed on Wednesday to set up checkposts near the Afghan border, prompting "tough resistance" from the rebel militants.
BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) -- A 24-year-old suspected Al-Qaeda fighter captured in Iraq claims to have kidnapped and killed 16 people, including five women, a senior Iraqi official said on Saturday. "Our forces captured 
