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''Assad's right hand man'' assassinated in Syria
Today's Headlines
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Mad 'Thrax Genius Was Banking On Success In The Mail
Long article -- adds lots of details and leaves more questions

The suicidal scientist revealed as the likely culprit behind the 2001 anthrax mailings was part of a megamillion-dollar deal to have his own vaccine mass produced in the wake of those biological attacks and the national panic they created.

Bruce Ivins, 62, was the co-owner of a patent on what was seen as a cure to the terrifying threat.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Sherry || 08/03/2008 15:07 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  VaxGen? Weren't they in that "designer vagina" post? Perhaps not.....nevermind


/Emily Litella

Posted by: Frank G || 08/03/2008 16:00 Comments || Top||

#2  All I see in the posted article is supposition.
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman || 08/03/2008 17:04 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder how many scientists will "off themselves" when the gerbil worming scam comes undone.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 08/03/2008 18:06 Comments || Top||

#4  even better, what will the cut in CO2 be? Someone should do a study!
Posted by: Frank G || 08/03/2008 18:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Excellent deduction of motive. There is a man in Idaho whose blood contains anti viral qualities. He only discovered that it was being peddled by Biomedical companies when his doctor kept demanding blood donations. I read this years ago so I am sketchy on the details.
Posted by: McZoid || 08/03/2008 21:44 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Afghan president heads to India to cement ties
NEW DELHI, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai is due to arrive in India on Sunday to cement ties with New Delhi, just weeks after a suicide bombing at the Indian embassy in Kabul underscored the security tensions in the region.

Afghanistan, India and the U.S have accused Pakistan's spy agency of being involved in the July bombing that killed at least 58 people, including two Indian diplomats. Islamabad denies any involvement.

The attack was a blow to a tentative peace process between India and Pakistan that highlighted how Afghanistan could quickly become another source of diplomatic tension between the two nuclear-armed neighbours already divided over the Kashmir region.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum || 08/03/2008 09:21 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That will get the Paki Turbans spinning.
Posted by: Lampedusa Glack5566 || 08/03/2008 10:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, I suppose Pakistan is right, from their point of view, to be making war with Afghanistan.
Posted by: gromky || 08/03/2008 10:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Planning the dismemberment of Pakistan, are they? About time!
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/03/2008 13:25 Comments || Top||


Kabul attack: U.S. warning was accurate
Afghan investigators believe that the suicide bomber who crashed an explosives-laden car into the Indian Embassy in Kabul last month was a Pakistani national. Intelligence sources said Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Hamza Shakoor, tentatively identified as a 22-year-old resident of Pakistan's Gujranwala district, is believed to have driven the white sports utility vehicle used to bomb the Indian mission. Over 100 kg of military-grade explosives were welded into the chassis of the SUV, leading to an explosion in which 54 people, including four Indian diplomats and guards, were killed.

Shakoor, intelligence sources say, is thought to have been recruited by the Lashkar in 2006. He trained at Lashkar camps before being despatched on his mission. According to the sources, Shakoor was first tasked with participating in a fidayeen-style commando attack on the mission, but then he volunteered to carry out the suicide attack himself after its defences were upgraded just days before the attack.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has promised an independent investigation into the Kabul attack after a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Colombo.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Islamic group urges support for peace agreement
Sheikh Abdiqadir Muhammad Somow, the spokesman of the supreme council of Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama'a, has revealed the group's stand regarding the prevailing situation in the country and the peace agreement signed between the interim government and the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS). "We call on the Somali people to support the peace agreement reached in Djibouti," said Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama'a spokesman Sheikh Abdiqadir Muhammad Somow, who was attending a seminar for the group.

He called for a cease-fire, and proposed that Somali intellectuals be included in talks.

He urged the interim government and the ARS to support peace and to make good on the pact they have signed. "The role of the Somali religious leaders is to call for an end to the unremitting violence against the Somali people and to urge reconciliation to recover the lost Somali nationhood," he said, adding that his group was making efforts to help Somalia achieve lasting peace.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts


Rival clans sign peace agreement on Islamic law in central Somalia
Clans from Adado town of Galgadud Region, and Galkacyo, Mudug Region (both in central Somalia), are said to have signed a peace agreement in Galinsor locale on Friday afternoon. Religious leaders in the region brokered the peace agreement signed in Galinsoor, Galguduud Region. Elders from Gal Mudug, Heb and Adado signed the agreement.

The meeting also discussed hostilities between the two clans, and particularly the incidents, which took place on the 24th of last month in the region that parts of the hostility acts between the warring clans.

Omar Muhammad Dirie, who is the mayor of Adado, gave details of the agreement to Mareeg online. " The meeting was attended by clan elders from the two sides. A very important agreement pertaining to the following points was reached: one, adaptation of Islamic shari'ah; two, religious leaders from both clans to safeguard border between the two regions; and three, peaceful co-existence between the two clans" Dirie said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts


Hawiye clan accuses president of being opposed to peace efforts
The Cultural and Unity Council of the Hawiye clan has accused the President of the Transitional Federal Government [TRG], Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad, of being opposed to the peace and reconciliation efforts of Prime Minister No Hasan Hussein's administration.

The political spokesman of the Council, Abdullahi Hasan (bdullahi Dhere)who contacted Mareeg online, accused the president of the TFG, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad, of being opposed to the stability of the central and southern regions of Somalia and the efforts of the transitional government to pacify the regions, adding that the president was only interested in promoting the interests of the regions where he comes from.

The remarks by the Hawiye clan council come in the wake of refusal by the president to put his signature to a memorandum issued by the prime minister's office in which Muhammad Omar Habeb aka Muhammad Dheere (capital Mayor) was sacked as the governor of Banadir Region.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts


Islamist group expresses solidarity with Al-Shabab fighters
The Somali Islamic Courts have said they will continue their fight against Somali government soldiers and Ethiopian troops that have aggressed against Somalia, stating that the courts and Al-Shabab group have a shared goal of fighting them.

Islamic Courts military operations spokesman, Sheikh Abdirahim Ise Addow, has said they will not enter into any agreement with what he called Abdullahi Yusuf's [Somali president] mercenaries, adding that the courts and Al-Shabab have a shared goal of fighting Ethiopian troops and Abdullahi Yusuf's faction.

Sheikh Suleyman Haji, Somali Islamic Courts commander for Bay and Bakol regions, said their forces are fighting alongside the Al-Shabab group said that they, the Islamic Courts, had no ties with the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS).
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts


Home Front: WoT
Travelers' Laptops May Be Detained At Border
Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed. Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"The policies . . . are truly alarming," said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who is probing the government's border search practices. He said he intends to introduce legislation soon that would require reasonable suspicion for border searches, as well as prohibit profiling on race, religion or national origin.
But not until the end of the article does the Post reporter bother to tell you that the Ninth Circus Court has said that it's legal. So Feingold is just bleating again.
DHS officials said that the newly disclosed policies -- which apply to anyone entering the country, including U.S. citizens -- are reasonable and necessary to prevent terrorism. Officials said such procedures have long been in place but were disclosed last month because of public interest in the matter.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Have a subfile labeled Recent Messages. Put in 'Dan Rathered' messages between Pelosi and Harry with FARC and Iranian official. Customs will quietly return your machines unharmed. Now put in My Images files labeled "Edwards Love Child" and they'll disappear.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/03/2008 8:50 Comments || Top||

#2  US Customs are not the only ones who do this. Quite a few foreign countries (Third World) will also detain laptops. Excuses vary, or they don't even bother with excuses, or with returning the detained computers (or other high tech goodies.)
Posted by: Glenmore || 08/03/2008 9:40 Comments || Top||

#3  If handled badly then this will kill trade with the states.

The customs officials should sign an NDA on behalf of the US Government.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 08/03/2008 9:48 Comments || Top||

#4  I don't like the rough way laptops are treated by TSA let alone customs. This, outside of what is mention in this article.
There is a business plan lurking somewhere with rental laptops when you reach a destination and personality (OS and files) on a flash key. Perhaps a Virtual Machine (VM) and laptops that support a VM on a flashkey.
Then you only need to carry the flash key as a keybob or earing or ring or something.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/03/2008 11:51 Comments || Top||

#5  I just bought an 8 gig Sandisk Cruzer for less than $40 that is only about an inch long when retracted. That would carry a lot of illicit info that they would never find if hidden in by bags or on my person. I doubt it has enough metal to set off a detector or a wand. They are pissing in the wind.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/03/2008 11:58 Comments || Top||

#6  I just bought an 8 gig Sandisk Cruzer for less than $40 that is only about an inch long when retracted.

You can do even better than that, you can get an 8 gig microSD card that are as big as your little fingernail and they come with an adapter. I've got one that boots Linux with a USB card reader. $50.00 not counting the USB reader.
Posted by: Grease Dark Lord of the Algonquins9226 || 08/03/2008 12:33 Comments || Top||

#7  SD-RAM uses the same interface that IDE drives do (except it's shrunk).

You can buy an expander and plug them straight into the computer.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 08/03/2008 13:03 Comments || Top||

#8  So the basic consensus to travel with a disposable laptop & keep your data in a separate, hard-to-identify object on your person?
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 08/03/2008 13:58 Comments || Top||

#9  Gott wonder if they will start confiscating Blackberries or highly capable mobile phones. Most of them have a microSD port that can be used to hold the vital data.
Posted by: OldSpook || 08/03/2008 16:22 Comments || Top||

#10  OK I'm an evil minded person, if I knew my laptop was going to be stolen I'd put a bit of plastique in it and remove the battery.
Whatever idiot puts a battery in it, gets a facefull of plastic and metal shrapnel.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/03/2008 16:28 Comments || Top||

#11  OK I'm an evil minded person, if I knew my laptop was going to be stolen I'd put a bit of plastique in it and remove the battery.
Whatever idiot puts a battery in it, gets a facefull of plastic and metal shrapnel.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/03/2008 16:30 Comments || Top||

#12  OK I'm an evil minded person, if I knew my laptop was going to be stolen I'd put a bit of plastique in it and remove the battery.
Whatever idiot puts a battery in it, gets a facefull of plastic and metal shrapnel.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/03/2008 16:33 Comments || Top||

#13  Sory guys , I just loaded Opera and don't quite have the hang of it yet.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/03/2008 16:41 Comments || Top||

#14  if they will start confiscating Blackberries or highly capable mobile phones. Most of them have a microSD port that can be used to hold the vital data. My reading of the original & similar articles indicates the border agents may hold/confiscate anything of that nature, including basic cellphones, much less anything more capable than that.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 08/03/2008 17:08 Comments || Top||

#15  that's why I carry my cell phone and USB stick in a body cavity at all border entries. Plus, I kinda like it, but that's just me
Posted by: Frank G || 08/03/2008 17:10 Comments || Top||

#16  I do note that few people ask to borrow my phone though.....
Posted by: Frank G || 08/03/2008 17:10 Comments || Top||

#17  Frank, everyone except you gets a smaller mobile phone when they upgrade. Why?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 08/03/2008 17:45 Comments || Top||

#18  LOL, dunno ;-)
Posted by: Frank G || 08/03/2008 17:47 Comments || Top||

#19  With instant cracker thumbdrives now available, the last place I would put anything incriminating or sensitive would be on a computer.

The best bet is to upload heavily encrypted steganographic files to some ordinary sites open directory, where they will sit unnoticed until you visit the web site and select a picture not linked from their page. You will then download the picture to your buffer, rip the data and recombine it to the hidden source.

You can easily get tremendously better encryption than AES, and if you blend it into separate stenographic files there is no practical way to decrypt it unless you get all the pieces.

It sounds a lot harder than it is.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/03/2008 23:51 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Posters slamming 'Talibanisation' appear in Karachi areas
Hundreds of posters condemning the Talibanisation in Karachi were seen on walls across the provincial capital on Saturday, a satellite channel reported.

The posters contained gruesome images of severed heads and mutilated limbs, Dawn News reported, adding that most of the posters were found in North Karachi, New Karachi, North Nazimabad and Gul Baharabad areas of country's financial hub. The posters put on walls by 'citizens of Karachi' did not contain the name of any organisation or group, the channel added, saying that the posters had sparked a debate about the threat of Talibanisation in Karachi.

MQM, ANP: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Raza Haroon said Karachi was facing the threat of Talibanisation. He added that various reports of threats to truck drivers supplying oil to NATO forces in Afghanistan had been received. The Awami National Party (ANP) however denied that there existed any tangible threat to the city. ANP leader Amin Khattak said the Taliban would be exposed if they were present in the city.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


JUI-F hints at leaving coalition
Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) will review its alliance with the central government if the latter fails to stop military operations in Swat and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the party's NWFP chief Gul Naseeb said on Saturday. The districts of Hangu and Swat were converted into battlefields days after assurances given by the prime minister to JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman that no fresh operation would be launched, he said. Briefing reporters after his party's executive council meeting, Naseeb said the coalition government in NWFP was responsible for the failure of the Swat peace deal. He said the provincial government had failed to honour the promises made to the Taliban, which led to the breaking out of hostilities. He said the opposition parties did not intervene to save the deal because neither they, nor the people had been consulted before the agreement.
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami


Haqqani seeks proof in embassy bombing charges
Ambassador Husain Haqqani on Saturday challenged those alleging Pakistani intelligence service's involvement in the Indian embassy's bombing in Kabul, and asked them to produce "hard evidence" to support the charge. Haqqani said, "If India and Afghanistan level some allegations and the United States supports them, we need hard evidence." He said during the prime minister's visit, the two governments had agreed upon a set of measures that both sides would take to ensure that American concerns are allayed and Pakistan's concerns about its sovereignty, civilian authority and control, and its concerns relating to Afghanistan and India are all addressed together. He said the Pakistani military leadership and its intelligence services are going to work on the issue under civilian direction. Haqqani said the two sides "are now trying to deal with the trust deficit" that exists in the field of intelligence. He said, "Action will be taken against networks the Central Intelligence Agency says it has hard intelligence on, but it will have to share that intelligence with us."
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


CII to devise anti-terror guidelines
The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) said on Saturday it would devise guidelines for parliament to deal with terrorism and extremism in the country.

CII Chairman Dr Khalid Masood said the council expressed deep concern over increase in the incidence of terrorism in the country. The council recommended to "redefining controversial and divisive" terms like jihad, apostasy and 'nahi anil munkar', Dr Masood said.

At the conclusion of its 170th session the council said that it would publish a report regarding terrorism and extremism.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Plan to place ISI under IM intact
The government has not shelved its plan to 'tame' the ISI as a notification to place the country's top intelligence organisation's internal security wing under the Interior Ministry (IM) is likely to be issued soon.

A source close to PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari told Daily Times that a new notification would be issued soon to explain the "first one", which had created a lot of stir in the GHQ and the ISI.

The government had issued a notification on July 26 to place the ISI under the "administrative, financial and operational" control of the Interior Division. But within hours a clarification was issued that the ISI would continue to report to the prime minister.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: ISI


'No such thing as Indian Mujahideen'
The government feels that the "Indian Mujahideen" is clearly a cover for anti-India terror tanzims but agrees that recent attacks on Bangalore and Ahmedabad, as well as the failed bombings in Surat, indicated "local support" for jihadi organisations suspected to be behind the outrages.

"There is no such thing as Indian Mujahideen," said top sources in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Colombo-bound delegation. While investigators were working on a "few leads" and were as yet not in a position to pin-point the authorship of the blasts, the usual suspects in terms of groups operating outside India were very much in the frame.

At the same time, the scale of the attacks clearly showed that there was "an organisation in India with the capacity" to carry out the strikes. This could not have happened without the active involvement of in-house collaborators even though the plot itself could have been hatched by elements based on foreign soil.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: SIMI


Rogue Pakistan spies aid Taliban in Afghanistan
The United States has accused Pakistan's main spy agency of deliberately undermining Nato efforts in Afghanistan by helping the Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants they are supposed to be fighting.

President George W Bush confronted Yusuf Raza Gillani, Pakistan's prime minister, in Washington last week with evidence of involvement by the ISI, its military intelligence, in a deadly attack on the Afghan capital and warned of retaliation if it continues.

The move comes amid growing fears that Pakistan's tribal areas are turning into a global launch pad for terrorists.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: ISI


Taliban deny Ayman hit by missile
A spokesman for a top Taliban official in Pakistan denied Saturday a U.S. media report that al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, may have been critically wounded or killed in a missile strike in recent days.

CBS News reported Friday it had obtained a copy of an intercepted letter from unidentified sources in Pakistan which urgently requested a doctor to treat al-Zawahri. The letter was purportedly from Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and said al-Zawahri was in "severe pain" and his "injuries are infected."
Sepsis? Have our prayers come true?
Mehsud spokesman Maulvi Umar said, "We deny it categorically."

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Where'd the vulture go?
Posted by: gorb || 08/03/2008 2:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Back to circling, I reckon.
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/03/2008 2:45 Comments || Top||

#3  The Taliban wouldn't lie to us. Right?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 08/03/2008 9:44 Comments || Top||

#4  "of course not....Infidel!"
Posted by: Frank G || 08/03/2008 11:20 Comments || Top||

#5  of course he wasn't hit by a missile

it was chunks of a building that hit him
Posted by: mhw || 08/03/2008 14:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Taliban deny Ayman hit by missile

Taliban Spokesman: A big Sheech and Correcto-mento!

*Sigh* we get so tired of these rumors!! OK once again... from the top...

Give him a break... Ayman just had an accident with hiz new Dildo!
Posted by: Red Dawg || 08/03/2008 15:10 Comments || Top||


Rogue Pakistan spies aid Taliban in Afghanistan
Bush warns of 'serious action' after evidence of agents masterminding deadly embassy bombing

The United States has accused Pakistan's main spy agency of deliberately undermining Nato efforts in Afghanistan by helping the Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants they are supposed to be fighting.

President George W Bush confronted Yusuf Raza Gillani, Pakistan's prime minister, in Washington last week with evidence of involvement by the ISI, its military intelligence, in a deadly attack on the Afghan capital and warned of retaliation if it continues.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is this the "legitimate" prelude to (finally) giving our guys the green light to conduct full-fledged SpecOps in Pakistan? Couple this with the predator strike and it sure seems that way. Better we do it by stealth then when Barry gets in and "invades" Pakistan - what a dope he is.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 08/03/2008 7:34 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraq Getting M-1A1 Tanks
August 3, 2008: Iraq wants to buy 140 M1A1M Abrams tanks, along with over a hundred support vehicles (for maintenance and transportation, like 35 tank transporters). The request includes training and technical support. The total contract cost would be $2.16 billion. Iraq would not be the first Arab country to operate the M1 tank. Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia already operate over 1,600 of them, and Egypt has built hundreds of them (mainly using components imported from the U.S., but with some locally made parts). Neither Iraq nor the U.S. Army has revealed the details of the "M" version of the M1A1. All the other Arab users have at least some of the latest model (M1A2 SEP).

The Arab users of the M1 have been very happy with their American tanks. This satisfaction increased when they saw how the M-1 performed in Iraq. While most Arabs deplored U.S. operations in Iraq, Arab tank officers and M-1 crewmen were quietly pleased that their tanks appeared invulnerable, and able to assist the infantry in any kind of fight. Iraqi army officers have spoken to fellow Arab officers who have used the M-1, and were told this was the way to go.

Selling the M-1 to Iraq creates the possibility (although remote) of M-1s fighting M-1s. Saudi Arabia is seen as the champion of mainstream Sunni Arabs, and has long supported the Sunni Arab minority in Iraq. For a while, after 2003, with the increasingly savage fighting between Sunni and Shia Arabs in Iraq, there was talk of Saudi Arabia intervening, or threatening to, in order to halt attacks against Iraqi Sunni Arabs. This idea quickly went away in the face of an American army in Iraq, and growing al Qaeda terrorism in Saudi Arabia. But once U.S. troops leave, and if the ancient animosity between Sunni and Shia Arabs in Iraq gets ugly again, there could at least be incidents on the border, and the possibility of a few clashes between Saudi and Iraqi M-1 tanks.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 08/03/2008 17:41 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  > (and is unable to upgrade much because of all the arms embargoes)
I thought Russia ignored that.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 08/03/2008 17:48 Comments || Top||

#2  regional power, democraticaly elected. Arab dictatorship sphincters must be puckering
Posted by: Frank G || 08/03/2008 17:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Iran could upgrade from one Russian tank to another, but that won't do them much good against M1s.
Posted by: Mike || 08/03/2008 18:16 Comments || Top||

#4  M1's won't have to fire a shot. They can just run over the "new" Iranian tanks.
Posted by: ed || 08/03/2008 20:19 Comments || Top||

#5  I'll bet Persian sphincters are tighter than Arab.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/03/2008 20:47 Comments || Top||

#6  I love it. Proof we are truly interested in seeing Iraq function as a country. Iran's mullahs must be having kittens.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/03/2008 21:17 Comments || Top||

#7  I dunno about them persian sphincters. having good tanks, and being able to engage effectively in armored warfare are different things - in the last Iraq-Iran war tanks were mainly used as semi-fixed artillery by both sides, right. Leaving aside difficulties in terrain in launching an armored attack on persia.

Not to mention that politically Maliki and pals dont want to make an enemy of Iran. OR of the Sunni states. They want to balance between them.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 08/03/2008 21:24 Comments || Top||

#8  I don't think Iraq would invade Iran, but having a few hundred M1 tanks would certainly give the Medes and Persians pause about attacking Iraq. Particularly if the Iraqis learn to use them properly. Given the progress of their military over the last couple years, I'd say that's more than possible.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/03/2008 21:29 Comments || Top||

#9  I would say more than probable. If they keep up this pace, in 2-4 years they could put on a good blitzkrieg attack into Iran.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/03/2008 21:44 Comments || Top||

#10  Selling the M-1 to Iraq creates the possibility (although remote) of M-1s fighting M-1s.

An interesting thought from a war nerd point of view. We would get to see who has done their homework and who fights like a traditional Arab army.

I say sell 'em. The Soviet T-55 was a decent machine in its day, but it is embarrassing for a modern army to have to buy spare parts on eBay.

And yes, all this talk of puckered sphinters, Persian or otherwise, is creeping me out.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/03/2008 22:34 Comments || Top||

#11  "it is embarrassing for a modern army to have to buy spare parts on eBay"

Snark o' the Day! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/03/2008 23:01 Comments || Top||

#12  Several important qualifiers:

1) MBTs are a LOT less effective with the assortment of sophisticated tank killing weapons around today. It is far better and cheaper to have a large number of troops in anti-tank companies. The Germans very successfully held off huge Russian armored units with just Panzerfausts.

2) That being said, the best use for MBTs is domestic, against militias and insurrectionists.

3) The Stryker is the god-awfullest tank killer around, because of its superior C&C. But Reapers are its evil twin in the air. With either about, the LAST place I would want to be is in a tank.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/03/2008 23:35 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Report: Syria's liaison officer to Hizbullah assassinated
Probably a business dispute, but in that region business, politics, guns and booms tend to go together.
Mohammed Suleiman, a senior advisor to Syrian President Bashar Assad, was assassinated over the weekend, Arab website Albawaba reported Saturday. Suleiman also served as Syria's liaison officer to Lebanon's Hizbullah movement.

According to the report, Suleiman was shot dead by a sniper in the Syrian port city of Tartous. The assassin's identity is unknown. It was also reported that the officer's death was not reported in Damascus, and that it appears the Syrian authorities are exerting efforts not to bring the affair to the public's attention.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: phil_b || 08/03/2008 04:49 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is Assad breaking his affiliation with Hizbullah for normalized relations with Israel?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/03/2008 10:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Power struggle maybe? Pencilneck never was a very convincing "headman".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 08/03/2008 15:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Ima thinking mebbe it's tied to this
Posted by: Pappy || 08/03/2008 19:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Pretty good recollecting, Pappy.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/03/2008 20:51 Comments || Top||


Israel set to free 5 Palestinians in final stage of prisoner swap with Hezbollah
The cabinet was set to approve the release of five Palestinian prisoners on Sunday as part of the final stage of a prisoner swap with the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

Last month, Israel released five Lebanese prisoners, included notorious terrorist Samir Kuntar, in exchange for the bodies of Israel Defense Forces reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who were abducted by Hezbollah in a cross-border raid in July 2006.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was expected to present the cabinet with a document authorizing the ministerial panel charged with prisoner affairs to select the five Palestinians it wishes to release within the framework of the deal.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Lebanon: Hezbollah may fight Israel to recover land
Lebanon's new government guidelines declare Hezbollah has the right to fight against Israel to "recover the land occupied by Israel." The document was drafted on Friday and will be brought before the government for approval tomorrow.

The Bush administration conveyed its serious dissatisfaction that President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora had succumbed to a number of Hezbollah directives.

While forces within Siniora's western-backed coalition demanded that military action to liberate occupied lands be carried out "under the aegis of the state," now the government guidelines state that Hezbollah has what is essentially an independent right to take action. "Lebanon, its army, its people and its resistance [Hezbollah] have the right to take action to liberate lands that have remained occupied at the Shaba Farms, the hills of Shuba village and the northern portion of the village of Ghajar, with all legitimate means possible, and to resist Israeli aggression."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Better do it quick. Mr. Wuss is leaving, and Netanyahu is warming up in the bullpen....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/03/2008 0:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, seeing that half of Egypt and ALL of Lebanon belongs to Israel, it would be a good way for Israel to get it's land back.
Posted by: newc || 08/03/2008 6:10 Comments || Top||

#3  If they mean to retake land, they would have to come out of their rat holes and fight in the open. That would be a grave mistake. They are good at shooting rockets from hospital parking lots, but probably not so good at brigade size maneuvers. They have no armor, no artillery, no logistics and supply lines, limited comms. Its just not going to happen.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/03/2008 9:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Yeah, it's all fun and games fighting the Jews, especially when you gain deniability by doing it thru a proxy. But just remember what a mess it made last time. I'm guessing you are still cleaning up the wreckage.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/03/2008 12:29 Comments || Top||

#5  I'd like Bush to supply another 20,000 bunker-buster JDAMs to Israel before the next president takes office, no matter who wins. And do it quietly, if possible. Hezbollah considers all of Israel "occupied lands", which gives them a green light to do anything they wish. I do believe that if Livni gets elected, her first act should be to tell Lebanon that if Israel is attacked by Hezbollah, everything north of the Litani will become glowing glass.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/03/2008 13:45 Comments || Top||


Iran defiant on nuclear deadline
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said his country will not retreat "one iota" on its nuclear programme. He was speaking after meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is on a two-day visit to Tehran. The meeting coincided with an informal deadline set by Western officials in a dispute over Tehran's uranium enrichment plans.

Mr Assad had promised France he would use his ties with Iran to help resolve its nuclear stand-off with the West. In a statement published on the Iranian president's website, Mr Ahmadinejad said: "In whichever negotiation we take part... it is unequivocally with the view to the realisation of Iran's nuclear right, and the Iranian nation would not retreat one iota from its rights."

He said that international agreements meant Iran, like every other country, had the right to engage in uranium enrichment and possess nuclear power stations.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Weak dollar caused 30 percent of oil price rise: Iran
(Reuters) - The falling value of the dollar is to blame for around a third of the rise in the price of oil, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Saturday.

"Thirty percent of the increase (in the price) of oil is because of the decrease in the value of the dollar," he said on the sidelines of the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo.

He did not say what time period he was referring to. The dollar has dropped 33.8 percent against a basket of six currencies since U.S. President George W. Bush took office on January 20, 2001, according to the New York Board of Trade's dollar index .DXY.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  What is more amazing is that with record oil prices, sphincter-tight credit, rising food prices, record foreclosures and bankruptcy, a negative housing market and GM losing $15 billion, et.al., the US economy is still GROWING not SHRINKING. Whereas both the UK and Eurozone with their very strong currency's are going down, down, down. American exports are leading the way and in some cases we are seeing reverse out-sourcing and industrial immigration - autos, steel, fabrication and manufacturing from Europe, India and Japan. Sure, just like now when I am in Belgium for a few weeks, the weak dollar sucks. But when I get back I won't be worried about a soup line.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 08/03/2008 7:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Jack,

Only if you use a GDP deflator of 1.1% to "take account" of inflation.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 08/03/2008 12:30 Comments || Top||

#3  If/when the $10+ trillion in credit default swaps issued by the world's financial institutions are themselves defaulted on, we will forget all about expensive oil.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 08/03/2008 14:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Given the massive deflation in all things housing related, a overall 1.1% inflation may actually be overstating things, even with oil spiking.
Posted by: Bin thinking again || 08/03/2008 16:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Nope, House prices wasn't included on the way up, so there not effecting stuff on the way down.

There's certainly inflation and deflation in the economy simulatneously. this is due to the delveraging effect. i.e. deflation in things nornally bought on credit, inflation on everything else.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 08/03/2008 17:51 Comments || Top||


Iran: US creating nuclear precedence for Israel
Iran's top representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Saturday that the US had signed a nuclear agreement with India as part of a plan to allow Israel to "continue its clandestine weapon activities" and to create a nuclear precedence for the country.

The comments were made by the Iranian official prior to an IAEA meeting that approved a deal between Washington and New Delhi, which would reverse more than three decades of US policy that has barred the sale of nuclear fuel and technology to India, a country that has not signed international nonproliferation accords and has tested nuclear weapons.

Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, Iran's top representative to the UN agency, said in his speech that Tehran was seriously concerned about what he called a US double standard. He said that would undermine the credibility, integrity and universality of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:


Terror Networks
"You don't understand al Qaeda," 9/11 plotter says
The accused mastermind of the September 11 attacks told a U.S. war crimes court at Guantanamo on Friday that Osama bin Laden's driver had no role in al Qaeda attacks and was unfit to carry them out.

Anyone who thought all bin Laden's associates were involved in his plots "is a fool and does not understand al Qaeda," Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said in written comments submitted as defense evidence in the trial of Yemeni prisoner Salim Hamdan.

The jury of six military officers is scheduled to begin deliberating their verdict after the lawyers give closing arguments on Monday in the first U.S. war crimes tribunal since World War Two.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/03/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  He vas chust a baker in der officer's mess. He knew nutting! Nutting!
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/03/2008 11:57 Comments || Top||

#2  He just drove the truck, he didn't build that bomb.
Posted by: Mohamed Salami || 08/03/2008 16:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Anyone who thought all bin Laden's associates were involved in his plots "is a fool and does not understand al Qaeda," Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said in written comments...

But if all of AQ is killed off or captured, then why bother trying to understand them? What difference does it make. Seems like we understand them well enough for our purposes.
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/03/2008 18:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Execute them all and let allan decide who gets the virgins.
Posted by: ed || 08/03/2008 18:49 Comments || Top||

#5  Keep movin', movin', movin'
Though they're disapprovin'
Keep them dogies movin'
Don't try to understand 'em
Just rope, throw, and brand 'em
Rawhide!
Posted by: Spaish Flomble3461 || 08/03/2008 19:46 Comments || Top||

#6  ""You don't understand al Qaeda," 9/11 plotter says"

And the 9/11 plotter sure didn't understand America!
Posted by: Slats Glans2659 || 08/03/2008 20:27 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2008-08-03
  ''Assad's right hand man'' assassinated in Syria
Sat 2008-08-02
  Taliban deny al-Qaida No. 2 hit by missile
Fri 2008-08-01
  189 arrested, curfew lifted in Diyala
Thu 2008-07-31
  Qaeda big turban in Afghanistan killed in US airstrike
Wed 2008-07-30
  Gilani in Washington; Paks raid Haqqani's empty madrassa in N Wazoo
Tue 2008-07-29
  Military offensive under way in Diyala
Mon 2008-07-28
  Mudhat Mursi: Dead Again?
Sun 2008-07-27
  3 people killed in second day of Tripoli festivities
Sat 2008-07-26
  India: Serial kabooms in Ahmadabad
Fri 2008-07-25
  Serial booms in Bangalore
Thu 2008-07-24
  'Mohmand Agency now under Taliban control'
Wed 2008-07-23
  Sheikh Aweys claims Somali opposition leadership
Tue 2008-07-22
  Another Paleo Bulldozer Operator Goes Jihad
Mon 2008-07-21
  Death-row Bali bombers forgo presidential pardon
Sun 2008-07-20
  B.O. visits Afghanistan on grand tour


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