Operation Opera (also known as Operation Babylon and Operation Ofra) was a surprise Israeli air strike against the Iraqi Osirak nuclear reactor (French: Osirak; Iraqi: Tammuz 1) in 1981. . . . On June 7, 1981, a squadron of Israeli Air Force F-16A fighter aircraft, with an escort of F-15As, bombed and heavily damaged the Osirak reactor. . . .
The reactor complex was heavily damaged, according to plan. Eleven men ten Iraqi soldiers and one French civilian researcher were killed in the attack. Since that time, it has been proposed by some commentators that the French researcher, Damien Chaussepied, was actually a Mossad agent who was responsible for placing homing beacons on site for the aircraft to follow, although no incontrovertible evidence for this has yet been presented. Israel claimed that these casualties were mostly due to stray anti-aircraft fire from the Iraqi defenses, and not from the bombardment itself.
None of the Israeli task force's planes were damaged by Iraqi defenses. Although almost out of fuel, all fourteen jets returned to Israeli territory and landed safely.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/07/2008 15:03 ||
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#1
May happen again just a different ME country. Might finally shut Ahmadinejad's pie hole.
Sayed Salahuddin
Pakistan's foreign minister sought on Friday to allay Afghanistan's concerns that peace talks with Pakistani Taliban would lead to more militant attacks on the Afghan side of the border. "We will not engage with terrorists, we will not compromise with terrorists. And those who would take up arms and guns are neither your friends nor our friends," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a joint news conference in Kabul.
The United States and NATO commanders share doubts about Pakistan's proposed peace pact with Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, based in South Waziristan.
NATO says Taliban attacks have jumped up along the border areas since the start of talks in recent weeks.
The Pakistan army carried out an operation in January to bottle up Baitullah Mehsud's forces in their mountain fastness, after the country had reeled from a wave of suicide attacks in the previous six months.
Pakistan's new government, sworn in at the end of March, followed up by negotiating with elders of the Mehsud tribe in a bid to bring the Taliban leader to heel. But Baitullah Mehsud has said he would carry on fighting Afghan and foreign forces in Afghanistan whatever the outcome of the peace talks.
Standing alongside Afghan Foreign Minister Rageen Dadfar Spanta, Qureshi said the new government in Islamabad wanted to build a relationship with Kabul, based on "trust and understanding."
Relations between Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, two crucial U.S. allies in the war on terrorism, have frequently been fraught. But Musharraf's power has been dwindling since the civilian government was sworn in, and Pakistan political analysts say he may soon step down.
Aside from age-old disputes over the border, the Pakistani military had supported the Taliban militia when it seized control of Afghanistan in the mid-1990s. Musharraf, who was then army chief, only withdrew backing for the Taliban after coming under intense pressure from the United States in the wake of al Qaeda's Sept. 11 attacks.
Afghans suspect that elements within the Pakistani military have allowed the Taliban's leadership to operate secretly from the southwestern city of Quetta, in the hope that one day, after Western forces have gone, they will be able to help form a pro-Pakistan government in Kabul.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/07/2008 17:06 ||
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A rising surge in pirate attacks along Somalia's east African coast is primarily rooted in the policies of the United Nations and Western countries, an Islamist spokesman said Friday. Mohamud Sheikh Ibrahim Suley, spokesman for the Islamic Courts, told Mogadishu media via a teleconference that a recent UN resolution targeting Somali pirates had "taken the wrong route."
"This decision is backed by Western nations whose agenda is to steal Somalia's land and sea resources," Suley said, while referring to UN Security Council Resolution 1816 that effectively authorized foreign countries to use "all necessary means" to combat piracy along the Somali coast. The Islamists' spokesman blamed the UN and unnamed countries in the West for allegedly "strengthening piracy," saying: "As the Islamic Courts fought against piracy, the UN allowed an [Ethiopian] attack against the Courts' administration, which was known for restoring peace in Somalia."
During the Islamic Courts reign in south-central Somalia, between June and December 2006, piracy hit an all-time low along the Horn of Africa country's coastline. Currently, two foreign-owned vessels are being held hostage by Somali pirates, who have demanded million-dollar ransom payments. An international force led by the United States Navy has been patrolling Somalia's coast for months, although critics quickly point out that the presence of naval warships and supporting aircraft has yet to deter pirate attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/07/2008 00:03 ||
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#1
I suppose by being targets/victims the hijacked are responsible..
#2
We are responsible because we are not capturing and hanging the pirates - right there on the spot on the ships they attacked.
Schedule:
7 am - pirates attack
8 am - rapid response team counterattacks
9 am - trial begins
10 am - pirates hanged
#5
The penulitmate goal, of course, being - 6:50 - "pirates" think better of idea, return to peaceful aquacultural pursuits.
I'm afraid the ultimate goal, as others have posited, is 6:50 - christians sleeping peacefully again, years after the forced and voluntary conversions following conquest by combined Ethiopian/Ugandan armed forces.
Moved into Saturday for continued discussion. I think Sarkozy knows this is disgraceful. And is sure does explain why the French can't help out any better with international peacekeeping.
#1
There is a joke here somewhere about France and their fighting force...
Seriously, this is what all of western Europe is facing at the moment. Full fledged welfare means less for other and necessary things, like an army to defend yourself with. The west is dying and it only remains to see if it will go with a bang, or a whimper. Please keep America from going this route. It only leads to death of your culture and country.
He will also use the occasion to push for greater military integration in Europe
#2
I blame Bush! If it wasn't for his failed policies, Europe would not have to agonize through the last 63 years of enforced peace and allow their fighting armed forces to disintegrate like this. MIND Case closed!!
Posted by: George Slolusing8880 ||
06/06/2008 19:40 Comments ||
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#3
142 out of 346 are operational and even these regularly break down.
Less than half of its Puma helicopters, 37 per cent of its Lynx choppers and 33 per cent of its Super Frelon models built 40 years ago are in a fit state to fly, according to documents seen by Le Parisien newspaper.
Two thirds of France's Mirage F1 reconnaissance jets are unusable at present.
41% of tanks, an average of 40% of military helicopters, and 33% of the fighter aircraft are operational? That's an average of 35% of France's military force.
If that were to happen to the US heads would roll.
I know tanks, helo's, and jets take a lot of maintenance, but this sounds ridiculous.
#6
Wonder how the rest of the major continental Euro powers would measure up ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/06/2008 21:42 Comments ||
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#7
bet the Czechs, Hungarians, and Poles could take them. Nothing focuses attention like the boot on your neck. (apologies to the Romanians, et al - my attention span is limited.....)
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/06/2008 21:46 Comments ||
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#10
Hell, if the US Army Reserves had those kind of numbers, heads would roll. The frightening fact about US military power versas the rest of the world is that the reserve components of the US military {National Guard and Reserves} are better equipped, better maintained, and have more recent combat experience than just about all of the NATO countries.
Right now it looks as though France is in the same position as Russia is : conventional forces are falling apart and the only claim to major power status is the possession of nuclear weapons.
#11
41% of tanks, an average of 40% of military helicopters, and 33% of the fighter aircraft are operational? That's an average of 35% of France's military force.
Oh, well, he sure does, defense budgets are to be cut down again and army manpower reduced (link in french)...
Because, unlike what you think, sarko is NO reformer, and the easiest way to carry on with the failed and continually failing "french model", constructivist, statist and collectivist, is to use the defense spendings are a variable.
I know tanks, helo's, and jets take a lot of maintenance, but this sounds ridiculous.
Nope, this is factual; this is a long standing problem, started with the socialists using defense spending as a budget variable (just like sarko still does), and was compounded by yacoub ibn shiraq (you guessed it) turning the french army into an all-volunteers forces, following the putative gaullist doctrine (de gaulle truly has been the single most harmful french politician of all 20th century, bar none); of course, this broke down the army, because public finances simply weren't up to the task, thanks to the GREAT managing of France by the enarchy, because the "military-industrial complex" is a semi or fully nationalized mess, and because the doxa and even the dogma of France since the 60's have been violently anti-militarist, anti-patriotic, and anti-french, to put it bluntly.
So, you've got a demoralized army, materials falling apart, with about 20% of the newly enlisted being Youths (up to 30-40% in some units of the ground army) who basically won't fight for France especially against a muslim army and who pose enourmous cohesion and disciplinary problems...
Not new, I mentioned those facts to my grandfather (who has seen combat, unlike many of the commenters churning the usual clichés about the french army), a WWII veteran and long-time mountain trooper, and it was around 2000 I think.
Bottom line is, France has no army anymore, it just has an hardcore of elite or special troops, to be used as an expeditionary force, to preserve the "french interests" in africa (that is, the Françafrique, the privatized continuing colonization of "former" african possessions, to the benefit of free-mason & gaullist netwotks).
The army can't protect the territory anymore, and the police forces, both civilian and paramilitary, are stretched to the limit against the *continual* frenchifada, have lost the streets anyway, and are neutered by a cowardly political establishment and a leftist justice system, and prefer to harass drivers and smokers rather than the Youths... all this in a context of breakdown of values, bankruptcy of the State (as publically acknowledged by the prime minister), structural bankruptcy of the smothering welfare system (enabled by the commies during the provisional gvt right after WWII to be a SEPARATE COMMUNIST entity from the State, the social security actually has a budget greater than the french State's), the highest level of taxation in the world, a civil society locked by the (commies-enabled) State-approved unions & the (commies-enabled) special status civil servants (about 1/4 of the workforce), a climate of perpetual intellectual terrorism by the Enlightened Elites & the chattering class, backed up by "hate laws" and State-funded "ngos" that sue anyone who dares to bite the line, AND an aging european population, faced with a younger and growing (if only by the 300 to 500 K coming to France each year) african & arab population that see NO interest in becoming "french" (I don't mean, just the ID papers), because they despise us,...
Pretty neat result for the gaullo-communist Vth, and for the f***ing Republic in general, don't you think?
#13
A5089, you've posted some great comments previously, but this has to be your single best contribution. Very succint. Very true. Smug Americans only have to substitute USA for France and Hussein for DeGalle and the future is clear. DeGalle was a smart-assed elitist who hated his own country. F**king Hussein is the same. The creeping socialism here is all too apparent. Just like a gawddamn mound of slime oozing down the mountain. It produces a gnawing in the pit of one's stomach. Errr...., maybe it's just an ulcer. Anyway, like Alfred E. Neuman says, "What ? Me worry ?"
#14
I was hoping the new French main battle tank, the "Petain" would help but after ready performance details, I think not. Key feature is the drive system which has six gears for reverse, the one forward gear is apparently for the rare occasion when they might be attacked from the rear.
Posted by: Total War ||
06/07/2008 11:28 Comments ||
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#15
Anonymous: Apart from that though, tout va bien?
Posted by: Peter Carroll ||
06/07/2008 11:43 Comments ||
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#16
before go too wild about the French, how do they compare with the rest of Europe?
IIRC, the French have more combat experience than other countries in the EU. When I look at the performance of German troops in the 'stan, I am truely apalled.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
06/07/2008 12:40 Comments ||
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#17
A5089 Great post! Many thanks for the clarity and thought.
#18
The only two people outside the recently-freed Eastern European nations with a viable armed force are the Swiss and the Finns. The Swiss have an army of a half-million reserves and about 80,000 professional, full-time soldiers. The Finns have Russia on their eastern border.
British military housing is cosidered substandard by US standards. The British have housing three times as good as the French. German housing, where it exists, is ok, but the other support for German forces is limited. The Italians have a pretty good army, but their NCO corps isn't allowed to truly function as NCOs. The Norweigans and Danes have a solid core, but would be fairly quickly overwhelmed by any long-term conflict. The militaries of Britain, Spain, Portugal, and Iceland are being strangled - "there's no enemy (I.E. the Soviet Union) to fight any more".
Personally, I'm not sure about Sweden. They seem to be getting their act together militarily, and to some extent, socially. They still have a long way to go, but at least they acknowledge (privately) that there's a problem. Turkey is consumed with internal problems, and who knows what's going on with the Greeks.
Eastern Europe may just prove to be the salvation of Western Europe. They understand what too much socialism leads to. They understand the need for military defense. They understand that the Bear may be weak, but it's always hungry. I also think the "French infitada" may just be the straw that breaks the camel's back for all of Western Europe. Sooner or later, the Yoots are going to break something the French hold sacred - Versailles, Sevres, the Louvre, Notre Dame, whatever. When that happens, I think the countryside may just decide they've had enough of these spoilsports, and begin eliminating them from French soil. Whatever happens, it WON'T come from the "elite" or the urbanites. The folks of Normandy or Alsace may be less forgiving.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/07/2008 16:22 Comments ||
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#19
The only two people outside the recently-freed Eastern European nations with a viable armed force are the Swiss and the Finns. The Swiss have an army of a half-million reserves and about 80,000 professional, full-time soldiers. The Finns have Russia on their eastern border.
British military housing is cosidered substandard by US standards. The British have housing three times as good as the French. German housing, where it exists, is ok, but the other support for German forces is limited. The Italians have a pretty good army, but their NCO corps isn't allowed to truly function as NCOs. The Norweigans and Danes have a solid core, but would be fairly quickly overwhelmed by any long-term conflict. The militaries of Britain, Spain, Portugal, and Iceland are being strangled - "there's no enemy (I.E. the Soviet Union) to fight any more".
Personally, I'm not sure about Sweden. They seem to be getting their act together militarily, and to some extent, socially. They still have a long way to go, but at least they acknowledge (privately) that there's a problem. Turkey is consumed with internal problems, and who knows what's going on with the Greeks.
Eastern Europe may just prove to be the salvation of Western Europe. They understand what too much socialism leads to. They understand the need for military defense. They understand that the Bear may be weak, but it's always hungry. I also think the "French infitada" may just be the straw that breaks the camel's back for all of Western Europe. Sooner or later, the Yoots are going to break something the French hold sacred - Versailles, Sevres, the Louvre, Notre Dame, whatever. When that happens, I think the countryside may just decide they've had enough of these spoilsports, and begin eliminating them from French soil. Whatever happens, it WON'T come from the "elite" or the urbanites. The folks of Normandy or Alsace may be less forgiving.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/07/2008 16:22 Comments ||
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#20
is to use the defense spendings are a variable
In a quiet, upscale neighborhood in Charlotte, N.C., rows of custom-style homes and neatly landscaped lawns represent the American dream. But one local resident has shattered that image, calling for the death of American troops in Iraq and supporting Al Qaeda through his Web site, which he reportedly runs from his parents' home.
Samir Khan is the man behind Revolution.Muslimpad.com a radical Islamic site that praises Usama bin Laden and asks for Allah to curse more American soldiers. The site posts videos of U.S. Humvees being blown up by roadside bombs in Iraq. It aims to inspire young Muslims to wage war against the West. Terrorism experts say the Web site, written in English, is one of the premiere sites for Western audiences to get access to radical Islamist propaganda.
Khan, 22, declined requests for an interview, even when approached outside his home with cameras rolling. When asked if the messages on his site represent Islam, Khan would say only that they represent Muslims.
In an e-mail sent to FOX News, Khan lashed out at the "arrogance" of the media, saying it should focus instead on converting to Islam. "When you go down in to the earth six feet deep, nothing will matter except what Religion you died upon," he wrote.
Following a FOXNews.com report last month profiling his Web site, Khan railed against "the Kuffaar" non-believers who wrote the article and affirmed his belief that jihad is "an Islaamic obligation" rooted in Muslim texts.
Words like those stir mixed emotions in Charlotte, among the general public and among the 8,000 Muslims who live there. Imam Khalil Akbar, a religious leader in Charlotte, condemned Khans site, saying its views do not reflect mainstream Islamic thinking and do not represent the Muslim community at large. I would reject categorically those kinds of encouragements to look up to people like bin Laden, Akbar said.
Neighbors described Khan who immigrated to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia when he was 7 years old as friendly and reserved. They said he launched his Web site while taking classes at Central Piedmont Community College and selling Cutco knives.
Abdullah Mahmud, an acquaintance of Khans who attends the same mosque, the Islamic Center of Greater Charlotte, defended Khan's viewpoints, saying his anger stems from the United States' foreign policy and occupation of Iraq. Mahmoud said the blood-drenched videos Khan shows of U.S. soldiers injured in combat serve the purpose of making the reality of the Iraqi scene visible to people.
Those videos are not much different than videos involving American soldiers targeting Iraqi civilians, he said. You have to look at both sides here.
One of Khans neighbors, Ron Williams, also defended Khans right to free speech. Our actions (in Iraq) were interpreted broadly in the Muslim world as an attack on Islam, Williams said, I defend his right to speak out.
But Jarret Brachman, director of research at West Point's Center for Combatting Terrorism, said Khans call for violence takes his anti-American views one step further. To be unhappy with U.S. foreign policy is one thing, but to advocate violence by promoting Al Qaeda is another, he said. This is the most sophisticated and aggressive Web site in English that really puts out bin Ladens ideology and the message thats promoted by Al Qaeda, he added.
Brachman said Khan's site "raises the threshold for what it means to be a good, pro-Al Qaeda Web site" and is "the best in English."
A graphic prominently displayed on the site shows a picture of Abu Yahya al-Libi, a prominent Al Qaeda spokesman whom Brachman calls Bin Laden 2.0. Hes the guy poised to take over the movement after bin Laden fades away, Brachman said. The fact that Khan would display him like he does means hes trying not only to show hes an insider, but also to model himself after him.
The exact dangers his site poses are difficult to assess, experts said.
It doesnt necessarily move someone to action immediately, but it primes the pump, Brachman said. It gets somebody motivated to think more about Al Qaeda and so over the long term this is a very threatening message that hes promoting.
#1
Which is worse the arrogance of license, or the stupidity of indulgence?
Koran to Muslim, "JIHAD IS PRESCRIBED TO YOU." What the f$%& do we expect when those animals act out that script? Four dollar a gallon gas, and neighbors who celebrate American death. Senator McCain: your help is needed.
#2
The sad part is that he sounds similar to virtualy identical to any humanites department prof at most Ivy Leage shchools.
Fortunately, like most wanna-be's, this looser is just talk. Still have to do him, cause he is like the bugler of the Aesop's Fable.
Rabble-rousers, like other provocateurs and support troops are actualy more important nodes than the cannon fodder.
I hope he's being watched, and who he's talking to is being noted.
To whom it may concern: The 1st Ammendment is NOT a suicide pact.
Posted by: N guard ||
06/07/2008 8:20 Comments ||
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#3
Neighbors should be playing ball with this fuckwit's skull. I have an ole 38 ounce Babe Ruth signature around somewhere. People need to know where Muzz live. The time is coming when you will need to be prepared for action. Don't think you can sit back and let some poor young kid handle it for you in Iraq. These scum are thick here and growing in numbers daily. Shortly, their assertions will be demands. Then what will you do ? Buy bullets now or make your own until they shut off the supply. Keep weapons in pristine condition. Know that they work. You might need them in the dark.
#5
If we're getting reports about the goings-on on a private website, I'm quite certain the men and women in dark suits are, too... and tracking down those accessing it. For all we know this is a website provocateur, and young Mr. Khan is either a dupe or one of ours.
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
§ 2385. Advocating overthrow of Government
Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence, or by the assassination of any officer of any such government; or
Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so; or
Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of any such government by force or violence; or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such society, group, or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.
If two or more persons conspire to commit any offense named in this section, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.
As used in this section, the terms organizes and organize, with respect to any society, group, or assembly of persons, include the recruiting of new members, the forming of new units, and the regrouping or expansion of existing clubs, classes, and other units of such society, group, or assembly of persons.
§ 2389. Recruiting for service against United States
Whoever recruits soldiers or sailors within the United States, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof, to engage in armed hostility against the same; or
Whoever opens within the United States, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof, a recruiting station for the enlistment of such soldiers or sailors to serve in any manner in armed hostility against the United States
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
WASHINGTON: A top adviser to Senator John McCain says McCain believes that President George W. Bush's program of wiretapping without warrants was lawful, a position that appears to bring him into closer alignment with the sweeping theories of executive authority pushed by the Bush administration legal team.
In a letter posted online by National Review this week, the adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, said McCain believed that the Constitution gave Bush the power to authorize the National Security Agency to monitor Americans' international phone calls and e-mail without warrants, despite a 1978 federal statute that required court oversight of surveillance. McCain believes that "neither the administration nor the telecoms need apologize for actions that most people, except for the ACLU and trial lawyers, understand were constitutional and appropriate in the wake of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001," Holtz-Eakin wrote.
And if McCain is elected president, Holtz-Eakin added, he would do everything he could to prevent terrorist attacks, "including asking the telecoms for appropriate assistance to collect intelligence against foreign threats to the United States as authorized by Article II of the Constitution."
There's another reason for us all to vote in November, folks.
Pakistan has submitted a formal request to the United Nations asking it to conduct an investigation into the killing of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. According to Geo News, Pakistans permanent representative to UN Munir Akram submitted the request to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on behalf of Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. It said Moons spokesman had confirmed the submission of request but declined to reveal details. But Dawn News said the Foreign Office did not confirm the report.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/07/2008 00:03 ||
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LAHORE: PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif said on Friday that he would maintain a working relationship with President Pervez Musharraf in accordance with the Constitution.
Addressing the media outside the Punjab Assembly building before taking oath as MPA, Shahbaz said that the PML-N would not commit any unconstitutional act, nor would it allow anyone else to do so. He said the PML-N would fully participate in the long march planned by the lawyers for June 10.
Shahbaz was elected unopposed from Bhakkar, and was administered oath by Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal on Friday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The army has already said they support President Perv. That's all that needs to be said. There will be no coup without the army, either legal or illegal. There might be some very strange things happen to those that back "impeachment".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/07/2008 16:58 Comments ||
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LAHORE: NATO supplies from Pakistan remained suspended on Friday as talks between clearance agents and Customs officials failed at the Pak-Afghan border in Torkham, Dawn News reported.
Wanna bet this has something to do with the fact that we're withholding military supplies from the Pak army?
The channel quoted official sources as saying that over a hundred oil tankers and other vehicles were stopped at the border which suspended supplies reaching NATO forces in Afghanistan. The clearance association president said that Pakistan Customs officials had not provided passes to the vehicles to allow them to cross the border, adding that it could be because of security reasons. The channel reported that the clearance agents are continuing to protest against Customs officials.
Oil tankers carrying fuel from Pakistan to NATO forces in Afghanistan have often been targeted by Taliban forces. Pakistan is an important fuel supply line for NATO forces battling insurgents in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
time to purify the NWFP and some N-Weapon storage sites.
#3
McZ - you still have to overfly Pakistan, and one presumes they would withhold permission to do so under the circumstances you describe. A few surreptitious overflights are one thing, a full bombing and air supply campaign could (reasonably) be considered an act of war - and we cannot afford another war right now.
#4
And Wakiland cannot afford a few things either, like being thrown to the wolves in the NW Frontier, or losing American partnership to India. Pakistan isn't really in any position to be a clever dick about this. They'd find it to be a lonely world without any friends.
#5
Actually, with things quieting down in Iraq, we CAN afford to kick Pakistan into the next century - WITH India's help. If you start to see a lot of US diplomats going to India, know that things may be about to happen. If every inch of real estate between Karachi and Kabul is Afganistan territory, this nonsense will stop at once. This has a very high probability of happening, either now or at some future date when the world gets tired of "the land of the pure", and stomps on Pakistan's soul.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/07/2008 17:03 Comments ||
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#6
The war sounds easy OP. Tell me about your post-war plan.
ISLAMABAD: Leader of the House in the Senate Raza Rabbani on Friday tendered an apology on behalf of the ruling coalition for military operations carried out in Balochistan in different tenures. Such operations were launched in the name of federation, but they actually weakened it, he said after Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-Mengal) Senator Sanaullah Baloch submitted his resignation to the Upper House Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro.
Rabbani said the government would not allow demographic change in the provinces, and said the proposal denying the right to vote in Balochistan to those who settled in the province from elsewhere was being considered.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaids (PML-Q) Mushahid Hussain said, We as a nation should apologise to the Baloch.
Hussain, who headed a subcommittee on Balochistan during the previous government, said his party had taken the initiative with a positive mindset, and that it made efforts to reconcile with the people of Balochistan. But there was another line in the system that favoured confrontation. Hawks within the establishment sabotaged our efforts, the PML-Q secretary general said, but without clarifying to which hawkish segment he referred.
Mushahid said the PML-Q would support the government for settling all Balochistan issues through talks. He said the use of military was not the solution to provinces problems.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/07/2008 00:00 ||
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RAWALPINDI: Police on Thursday night foiled a major terror plot, seizing explosives-packed vehicles and arresting four suspected terrorists. Sources within the police told Daily Times on Friday that the suspected terrorists had been shifted to an unidentified location, where a joint investigation team was interrogating them.
They said that the police had seized 1,000 kilogrammes of explosives along with bullets, ball bearings, metal scraps and broken pieces of mirror, adding, religious literature was also seized from the suspected terrorists.
Doesn't sound like the usual TSMN minor league job, does it ...
They said that the terrorists had been captured after a massive sweep of the city was launched on intelligence reports that three explosives-packed vehicles had entered the city to target sensitive locations.
Security forces placed Rawalpindi and Islamabad on red alert following the discovery of the explosives, AFP reported.
City Police Officer Rao Muhammad Iqbal said: Its true that the city police have arrested four suspected terrorists and seized three explosives-packed vehicles from them. An investigation is underway, although its premature to presume anything at this stage. He appealed to people to contact the police as soon as they saw any suspected vehicle or person.
According to the sources, preliminary investigations have revealed that the suspected terrorists confessed that they were planning to target the Presidents Camp Office and offices of several law-enforcement agencies.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/07/2008 00:00 ||
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Kayani tells NATO he wont retrain or re-equip troops to fight counter-insurgency war
WASHINGTON/LAHORE: Relations between the United States military and the Pakistan Army are at their worst point since September 11, 2001, senior Western military officers and diplomats have said, as Pakistani troops withdraw from Tribal Areas bordering Afghanistan. According to Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, writing in the Washington Post, there are also signs that Washington is delaying delivery of US arms meant for the eastern front and is asking Western allies to do the same.
Since the Indians haven't been threatening your sovereignty lately, and Baitullah has ...
The report says that army chief General Ashfaq Kayani has told US military and NATO officials that he would not retrain or re-equip troops to fight the counterinsurgency war along Pakistans western border. Instead, it adds, the bulk of the army would stay deployed on Pakistans border with India.
And coincidentally, relations are so swift right now ...
While the US is training and equipping 100,000 troops of the Frontier Corps, it has rejected Pakistani requests to equip four to five new units, Rashid claims.
Seeing as the Paks have the manpower to do this themselves. Just make nice under the table with the Indians and move a division or two to thump the Talibunnies ...
According to the report, the Taliban virtually rule FATA. The Pakistani army, it adds, is shaken because of the losses it has suffered, which is why it has offered peace deals to the Taliban, which unfortunately do not stop the Taliban from attacking NATO and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.
Which is where we came in ...
Meanwhile, Baitullah Mehsud has vowed that jihad in Afghanistan will continue, even as Afghan President Hamid Karzai expresses frustration at Pakistans attitude on sanctuaries in the Tribal Areas. The Afghan leader is said to have confessed that he has been unsuccessful in convincing the world to end the sanctuaries for terrorism.
Look for an increase in cross-border 'mysterious' explosions in the near future ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/07/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
We need a new main supply route, but I got no clue how it could shaped.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
06/07/2008 2:45 Comments ||
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#2
After the defeat of Taliban, the first PEW poll reported only 8% Pakis support for military relations with the US. The bomb from the north policy is still an option. However, the bright idea to confront Russia with useless ABMs, when that country controls much of the Euro energy supplies, shoots ourselves in the foot.
What have we got in Afghanistan, in any case? We do nothing during the Helman Opium cum Heroin season, while $1 billion in product heads to Europe. We allow Taliban to take their 15% cut of that trade, while they recruit opium extractors for their Summer offensives. We capture land, that Karzai's clowns hand back to the enemy in the Winter. We sit back while UN financed phony refugee camps fuel the jihad terror industry in Pakistan. We won't plant a single mine on the Pak border, and we allow Taliban funerals to proceed, untouched (oh yes, dead Tali bodies are delivered promptly to terror families). Could George Orwell concoct a better example of perma-war stupidity?
#4
Supply routes to A'stan were ALWAYS the problem. Either you make deals with Pakistan, or go the longer way around and make deals with the Russians and their former Muslim republics. Or go to war with Iran. None are good answers.
In my opinion this is the real primary reason we went to war in Iraq - we had to fight the Islamofascists somewhere, we 'could' fight them in Iraq, and Iraq was both more strategic and more logistically manageable. In A'stan we are stuck to the tar baby, in Iraq we ARE the tar baby (or flypaper, whatever.) But this is not the kind of story a Western administration can publically admit to, not to mention that it would be militarily counterproductive to do so as well. Hence the naive McClellan's claims that Bush lied to the people about the war. Didn't 'lie', but undoubtedly (and correctly) left a lot of truth unsaid.
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, is visiting Iran today amid tensions between the two countries over the Iranian Government's alleged involvement in the insurgency in Iraq.
Among the Iraqi Prime Minister's delegation is a team of military and security officials.
Government sources say they will be showing the Iranians evidence of their alleged support for Shiite militias in Iraq - especially Moqtada Al-Sadr's Mahdi army.
It fought bitter battles with government and American forces between March and May in Baghdad and Basra.
Iran has always denied any involvement.
But officials say Mr Maliki will be urging Iran, not for the first time, to support the government in Baghdad and stop secretly backing militias which are undermining it.
#3
He sees an America that is weakened by the war in Iraq but still potent. He has told visitors that United States' and Iran's goals in Iraq are similar, despite the rhetoric of confrontation.
I noted that the article said he backed down when Petraeus told him to knock off shelling the Green Zone so he's not completely stupid.
He still needs to be whacked though - along with a good, hard, pounding into rubble (and then making the rubble bounce) of the Quds Revolutionary Guards combined with a quiet, under-the-radar campaign against Iranian operatives all around the world. There are guys who could do the job easy.
BAGHDAD - Iraq said on Friday it would not grant U.S. troops freedom of movement for military operations in a new agreement being negotiated on extending the presence of American troops on its soil. Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih said the United States wanted its forces to operate with no restrictions, but this was not acceptable to Iraq.
The United States is negotiating an agreement with Iraq aimed at giving a legal basis for U.S. troops to stay in Iraq after Dec. 31, when their United Nations mandate expires. While the Iraqi government has confirmed there are major differences between the two sides in the negotiations, few details of the sticking points have been made public.
"What I can confirm now, with no hesitation, is that there will not be freedom of movement for American (forces) in Iraq," Salih told Arabiya television.
U.S. officials said this week they would not comment on the content of the negotiations. But Western diplomats say it is unlikely the Americans would agree to any deal that would require them to seek permission from the Iraqi government for every military operation.
"If we reach an agreement ... any American military movements should be in the framework of Iraqi approval and decisions and through consultations with the Iraqi side," Salih said.
At some point that has to become the usual state of affairs. We didn't continue to manuever at will through Germany after the war; at some point we and the Germans reached an agreement. Ditto Korea. So there's a fair bit of posturing going on. If we get some slack now, we can give back more to the Iraqis later.
The talks have angered many Iraqis who suspect the United States of wanting to keep a permanent presence in Iraq. But U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker on Thursday rejected such suggestions as "flatly untrue".
Salih said the United States had asked Baghdad to maintain the U.S. military's current status, which does not require a green light from the Iraqi government for military operations. "The U.S. side asked to extend the existing status and the Iraqi side didn't see any use of that," he said.
The Iraqi government's room to manoeuvre may be limited, however, by its dependence on U.S. firepower to secure its borders and tackle armed groups that defy its authority.
Which in practical terms means the Iraqi government will give us a blank 'yes' for some time to come, but want at some point to be able to say, 'we want to think about that'.
While U.S. officials say the Iraqi army's capabilities have improved in recent months, it is still dependent on the U.S. military for logistical and aerial support. Iraqi security forces control only half of Iraq's 18 provinces.
U.S. and Iraqi officials are also negotiating a strategic framework agreement that defines long-term bilateral ties.
In Washington, a supposedly bipartisan group of U.S. senators complained to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates over what they said was a lack of consultation over the long-term agreement with Iraq. In a letter to Rice and Gates, the four senators said Iraq had proposed "significant changes" to the agreements and the Bush administration had not followed through on its commitment to consult with Congress about these changes.
The letter was signed by senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democratic Sens. Joseph Biden of Delaware and John Kerry of Massachusetts as well as Republican Sens. Richard Lugar of Indiana and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/07/2008 00:00 ||
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It's all posturing, by both parties. Between the lines it looks like the Iraqis want - and should have, and already mostly do have - effective control over the framework of American military operations (and the majority of operations are now run in support of IA forces). We won't accept, and Iraq won't 'really' demand, that Iraqi bureaucrats have to be asked for permission for self-defense counter-attacks: though the Iraqis have to demand it for internal political purposes, they really don't want to have to give permission and thus get blamed themselves for collateral damage (and false damage claims generated by enemy propagandists).
When it all settles, there will be little change from the path we are on - formal permission for major campaigns (if any occur), cooperation with IA lead units for mid-level ops, political cover for Iraqi pols for lowest level ops (with fines/compensation paid by US), and denial that special ops even happened.
Exactly. The news media is going to play this as negative for us as they possibly can. They probably heard a rumor by someone and ran with it as gospel. I read a report yesterday that said that Mookie al Sadr was an extremely powerful opposition figure who is making demands. But we all know at this point that Sadr has practically zero influence politically.
An Israeli deputy prime minister on Friday warned that Iran would face attack if it pursues what he said was its nuclear weapons programme. Whew! For a second there I thought they were talking about Omelette!
"If Iran continues its nuclear weapons programme, we will attack it," said Shaul Mofaz, who is also transportation minister.
"Other options are disappearing. The sanctions are not effective. There will be no alternative but to attack Iran in order to stop the Iranian nuclear programme," Mofaz told the Yediot Aharonot daily.
He stressed such an operation could only be conducted with US support. A full-on thwack with the cluebat there, Nutjob.
A former defence minister and armed forces chief of staff, Mofaz hopes to replace embattled Ehud Olmert as prime minister and at the helm of the Kadima party. The results of that vote ought to make a good indicator.
Hamas has said it is ready for reconciliation talks with Fatah and called for discussions to take place under the auspices of the Arab League.
The announcement, by Ismail Haniya, the Hamas political leader, on Thursday came a day after Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, advocated dialogue between the rival factions. "We welcome the call by President Abbas to hold a national dialogue and the new positive spirit in his speech, and we state that our hand reaches out for national unity," Haniya said in a televised address. "We call for an immediate national dialogue. We are ready to make all efforts to have a successful dialogue," he said.
Abbas made his appeal for talks in a televised speech on Wednesday, after months of insisting that Hamas relinquish control of Gaza before dialogue could begin.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/07/2008 00:04 ||
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As quoted in the National Review On-Line, Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis made these comments at the White House last week.
We went over there to help motivate the morale of the troops but I think we came home probably more inspired than even they were. I mean, it was just an unbelievable experience to watch the enthusiasm and the pride and the teamwork over there...We saw thousands and thousands of troops, and when they heard that we were coming to the White House on Monday, to a man and to a woman almost everyone said, "Could you just pass on one message to the President," and asked us to thank him for him supporting them.
I mean, think about it they're there for four months, six months, a year it was just unbelievable from Germany, you know, seeing guys and girls that had gotten injured in battle; and their framework, their psyche; it was just an unbelievable experience...
And we got something special going on over there because there wasn't one person, of the thousands and thousands of soldiers we met, that had one negative thing to say and that's almost overwhelming to think about it; not one. Now, there were a couple at the end-of-their-year tours that were very much looking forward to getting their call to get home. But I'll tell you what, it was great. And what a perfect way to end up our trip, to end up at the White House on Memorial Day.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/07/2008 00:00 ||
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Okay, I'll cut ND some slack. But still can't pull for them against Tulane, LSU, FSU or Virginia Tech.
They moved into my Auburn Zone.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
06/07/2008 2:34 Comments ||
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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.
The reactor complex was heavily damaged, according to plan. Eleven men ten Iraqi soldiers and one French civilian researcher were killed in the attack. Since that time, it has been proposed by some commentators that the French researcher, Damien Chaussepied, was actually a Mossad agent who was responsible for placing homing beacons on site for the aircraft to follow, although no incontrovertible evidence for this has yet been presented. Israel claimed that these casualties were mostly due to stray anti-aircraft fire from the Iraqi defenses, and not from the bombardment itself.
A rising surge in pirate attacks along Somalia's east African coast is primarily rooted in the policies of the United Nations and Western countries, an Islamist spokesman said Friday. Mohamud Sheikh Ibrahim Suley, spokesman for the Islamic Courts, told Mogadishu media via a teleconference that a recent UN resolution targeting Somali pirates had "taken the wrong route."
In a quiet, upscale neighborhood in Charlotte, N.C., rows of custom-style homes and neatly landscaped lawns represent the American dream. But one local resident has shattered that image, calling for the death of American troops in Iraq and supporting Al Qaeda through his Web site, which he reportedly runs from his parents' home.
WASHINGTON: A top adviser to Senator John McCain says McCain believes that President George W. Bush's program of wiretapping without warrants was lawful, a position that appears to bring him into closer alignment with the sweeping theories of executive authority pushed by the Bush administration legal team.
LAHORE: PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif said on Friday that he would maintain a working relationship with President Pervez Musharraf in accordance with the Constitution.
ISLAMABAD: Leader of the House in the Senate Raza Rabbani on Friday tendered an apology on behalf of the ruling coalition for military operations carried out in Balochistan in different tenures. Such operations were launched in the name of federation, but they actually weakened it, he said after Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-Mengal) Senator Sanaullah Baloch submitted his resignation to the Upper House Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro.
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, is visiting Iran today amid tensions between the two countries over the Iranian Government's alleged involvement in the insurgency in Iraq.
