HH: How bad in Afghanistan is it? And what did you see when you were there?
MY: A lot of violence. I was in numerous places. One place was called Lashkar Ga, a place where they had never had suicide attacks before. And actually suicide attacks are new to Afghanistan. Even the Afghanis are scratching their heads on that one. There were two suicide attacks in a six day period when I was there, and they happened very close to where I was. I was there with a friend who's been doing business in Afghanistan for about ten years. And one of his employees was injured during the second bomb. And then on another day, one of his employees was murdered while I was there. I mean, it's just game on. There's a lot of heavy fighting going on. Our Canadian friends are in the thick of it. The British are in the thick of it. The Australians are. The Dutch are putting in more troops. There's a lot of poppy growing, and...tremendous amount. And I'm told by a State Department employee the biggest crop ever. And a lot of that money...that's starting to flood our streets. I've been looking at medical studies here in the United States and Britain, and heroin addiction is up. And that's coming directly from Afghanistan. About 90% of the world's heroin comes from Afghanistan, so it's like the perfect evil. They're making money off of getting our kids addicted. I mean, 8th graders are getting addicted. They're the highest growing group of people in the addiction category.
HH: The AP is reporting today that U.S.-led coalition aircraft killed up to 80 suspected Taliban militants in a night air strike in Southern Afganistan today. Obviously, the war goes on. Did you make it through Kabul? Were conditions in Kabul organized?
MY: Oh, Kabul's relatively safe. I only saw one incident in Kabul, and when I landed at the airport, there was an explosion, maybe a rocket or a mortar, something hit the airfield, but that was it. Kabul's...you know, you can go around there. I went to restaurants, that kind of thing.
[...]
HH: Have you been in touch with the men with whom you served up in Mosul, Michael Yon, since you got back?
MY: Oh, I talked with about a half dozen of them today. So yeah.
HH: And everyone recovering well? Those of who were wounded?
MY: Yeah, Col. Kurilla, who was shot three times in front of me, and I actually saw the X-ray, his femur was snapped in half by one bullet. He made a total recovery in 8 months, and now he's taking over 2nd Ranger Battalion up in Fort Lewis. It's an amazing recovery. One of my spies told me that his physical therapist, that it was the most amazing recoveries he's ever seen.
HH: Have you been in touch with the men with whom you served up in Mosul, Michael Yon, since you got back?
MY: Oh, I talked with about a half dozen of them today. So yeah.
HH: And everyone recovering well? Those of who were wounded?
MY: Yeah, Col. Kurilla, who was shot three times in front of me, and I actually saw the X-ray, his femur was snapped in half by one bullet. He made a total recovery in 8 months, and now he's taking over 2nd Ranger Battalion up in Fort Lewis. It's an amazing recovery. One of my spies told me that his physical therapist, that it was the most amazing recoveries he's ever seen.
We keep praying and saying, "God bless our troops.".
#4
It may be cheaper to find whatever price the Afghanis are getting for the poppy crop, and just buy it out and burn it on the spot, then pay them the same amount to not plant anything next year.
Sounds crazy?
Our sugar and agriculture industry in the US has been doing that for years with federal crop subsidies.
(CBS/AP) Fighting in southern Afghan mountains that involved U.S.-led coalition forces killed at least 24 militants, four Afghan soldiers and one policeman, the coalition said Wednesday. An Afghan general said up to 60 militants had died. It was not immediately clear why there was a discrepancy in the number of reported casualties, which was impossible to confirm independently because the scene of the fighting is remote and insecure.
A coalition statement said the fighting started after a joint Afghan-coalition patrol was attacked in Uruzgan province's Tirin Kot district Tuesday evening. The troops beat back the assault and forced the militants to retreat. Beside the troops and police killed, six Afghan soldiers and three police were wounded, the statement said.
The military commander for southern Afghanistan, Gen. Rehmatullah Raufi, said four Afghan soldiers had died and that the bodies of about 60 militants were recovered. He said coalition airstrikes were called in toward the end of the battle. Maj. Scott Lundy, a coalition spokesman, confirmed that the coalition provided air support.
The fighting began in a small village in Tirin Kot district before the militants fled higher into the mountains, Raufi said. It was there that airstrikes bombed Taliban positions, he said.
In the past year, Uruzgan has been the site of some of the heaviest fighting in Afghanistan, but militants suffered high losses in multiple battles with coalition forces, and the violence there has subsided in recent months. Last Friday, a U.S. soldier was killed and seven wounded in a battle in southern Uruzgan that also saw 20 Taliban militants killed.
Militants have stepped up attacks in the last several months, particularly in Afghanistan's southern and eastern regions near its border with Pakistan. Thousands more NATO forces are scheduled to move into the areas in the next few months, during summer in the region.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/24/2006 09:21 ||
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#1
Are the stinkin' Taleeeebahn even tryin anymore? It's like they just wanna die and get their virgins.
#2
In the old days they used to spend months and years being trained in Al Qaeda's Afghanistan camps. Now they get a few weeks near the border following graduation from the madrassah, are handed pre-loaded weapons, and sent across. Except for the Palestinians, of course, who have the advantage of summer training camps throughout their school lives, but they are otherwise occupied these days.
#3
The Talewhackers are bringing minor leaguers from their Class A farm teams and the Rookie Leagues. It's pretty obvious when the Afghan army kill ratio is 4-5:1.
Must be depressing knowing your best and brightest are not one with the topsoil in Afghanistan and Iraq.
#5
The good guyz have discovered that if you make it a habit of undercounting the enemy killed, that the enemy make all sorts of subsequent boo-boos.
They assume their strength is greater than it is. They also assume that some of their people are MIA/POW, wounded-non-recovered, AWOL, etc. This can lead to lots of headaches for them.
#6
Usually, that's is not the case with a western army, Anonymoose, but we're talking about Muslim warriors here, who already think they're Allah's Supermen.
SIXTY Taliban and five members of the Afghan security forces were killed in a major new clash in Afghanistan today as the US-led coalition defended itself against mounting criticism of civilian deaths.
The suspected insurgents were killed in a "fierce" six-hour battle and subsequent clean-up operation in southern Uruzgan province late yesterday, a top Afghan general and the coalition said.
The Afghan army called in coalition air support, said General Rahmatullah Raufi, who commands Afghan forces in the south. Four soldiers and a policeman also died, he and a police spokesman said.
The fighting started when a joint Afghan and coalition combat patrol returned fire after several Taliban rebels hiding in a nearby compound shot at them, a coalition statement said.
"Afghan and coalition forces beat back the attack with heavy machine gun fire and forced the attackers to retreat. Enemy fighters then attempted to reinforce with additional militants from two nearby compounds," it said.
The coalition put the militant death toll at 24. The coalition and Afghan forces often give differing casualty figures.
Uruzgan is among several provinces that have seen major clashes in the past week in a spike in insurgency-linked fighting that has killed close to 400 people, most of them rebels.
A 1400-strong force of Dutch troops is headed to the province as part of a NATO-led force that will take over from the coalition in the volatile south in the coming weeks.
The latest violence has been some of the heaviest since the Taliban was routed in late 2001 and military analysts have said it suggests the insurgents are better organised and aggressive.
It has included a major coalition air and ground strike in Panjwayi district of southern Kandahar province that started late Sunday and lasted into Monday. The coalition said it believed up to 80 militants were killed.
President Hamid Karzai summoned coalition commander Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry to demand an explanation for the strike that officials said killed 16 civilians and wounded 15.
Afghanistan's main human rights group said it had been told by witnesses and villagers that between 25 and 30 civilians died in the strike, which it condemned as a "clear" violation of human rights.
Villagers have said the toll included children, with several homes destroyed by bombs and scores of animals killed.
A coalition spokesman defended the force against intensive questioning from journalists, saying US warplanes had used only "precision fire" from aircraft cannon and not bombs.
The coalition troops had also been forced to return fire from militants who had occupied the homes of locals. "We didn't know there were civilians in the houses," spokesman Colonel Tom Collins said.
The surge in violence comes before the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is due at end July to take over the bulk of operations in the south although without the same active counterinsurgency mandate of the US-led coalition.
The expanded ISAF operation will include about 3500 British troops deployed to one of the most hostile parts of the country, Helmand province.
A man who claims to lead Taliban in the south warned British Prime Minister Tony Blair against sending troops to his country, The Times newspaper reported today.
"My message to Tony Blair and the whole of Britain is; 'Do not send your children here. We will kill them'," the purported leader said in an interview by satellite phone.
#1
We kill 80, they kill 5. How long can they last at that rate? And still they have the bluster to threaten Tony Blair? You gotta give these idiots credit for one thing, they've got chutzpa. Dumber than shit, but they got brass. At the rate we are killing them, they will go extinct as a race eventually.
#4
The "clear violation of human rights" were Pakistanis Taliban taking people hostage in their homes and then firing on troops from those homes. "Human rights groups" excusing such war crimes and attempting to shift blame from the perpetrators is a crime in itself that gets civilians killed by encouraging the perpetrators. Such groups should be sued or prosecuted at every opportunity.
Posted by: ed ||
05/24/2006 10:27 Comments ||
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#5
Ed,
An excellent point. Those taliban were either invading a civilian home and using them as shields or the civilians were willing acomplices of the taliban.
You can tell the "civil" "rights" group is merely another fellow traveller.
The last two weeks have seen an ambitious Taliban offensive shot to pieces. As many as a thousand Taliban gunmen, in half a dozen different groups, have passed over the Pakistani border, or been gathered within Afghanistan, and sent off to try and take control of remote villages and districts. The offensive was a major failure, with nearly half the Taliban getting killed, wounded or captured. Afghan and Coalition casualties were much less, although you wouldn't know that from the mass media reports (which made it all look like a Taliban victory). The Taliban faced more mobile opponents, who had better intelligence. UAVs, aircraft and helicopters were used to track down the Taliban, and catch them. Thousands of Afghan troops and police were in action, exposing some of them to ambush, as they drove to new positions through remote areas.
The Afghan and British governments are both accusing Pakistan of looking the other way as Taliban groups set up shop and openly operate in Pakistani border areas. Pakistan denies this, but anyone who is bold enough to travel to these areas, will see evidence of Taliban presence (including enforcement of conservative Islamic lifestyle practices.) In truth, the Pakistani government has never controlled many areas along the border, and is only now, for the first time in its history, trying to exert control.
Posted by: ed ||
05/24/2006 09:17 ||
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#1
Now for the second phase of our counter-attack. Eliminate the MSM!
#3
Every time Coalition forces decimate a band of Taliwackers they start crying that we killed civilians. So keep them out of your house and you may not get blown to hell by a JDAM. Giving comfort and aid to the enemy, tisk, tisk.
#5
I wonder what the real reason for Pakistan denile, without looking at the facts. I mean, isn't Musaraff's government against the Taliban too? I'm confused.
#6
JE, Mushi is walking a political tight rope between being hard on the Talibanos and NWPF tribes sympathetic to them and not enciting his own country's islamo-loonies in the process. I think he's trying to quietly get rid of the talibanos w/out looking like W's puppet. If he goes hard and heavy into the NWPF he could lose a lot of support at home. I'm not saying he's our friend (IMHO) however he's prolly better then the alternative. I think our admin sees this and has been dealing w/him on the q.t. about it. I could be wrong but that's my observation of the whole deal.
#7
In the weeks after 9/11, my mom and I were sure we were watching a dead man whenever M. came on TV. Surely his loonies or his generals (or both)would kill him. He's a survivor for sure.
What do you think Waziristan would look like if he were even half as tough with them as he is with Balochistan?
Posted by: Phil ||
05/24/2006 13:31 Comments ||
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#9
The balochis are preventing that gasline from traversing their province and in the process are preventing Musharraf from being able to demonstrate economic benefits from his rule. One reason for trying to be tough with them. They're also ethnically a minority and don't have as many sympathizers in the ISI, I think.
#10
Can't we use some kind of paper bomb like they had in CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER and blast targets from the air while making it look like a truckbomb? Damn you Tom Clancy for filling my head with easy but bullshit solutions.
#11
Phil, I think it would be hard for him to be too tough w/them but I'm not an expert by an stretch. IIUC, He seems to have issues w/both North & South Wazi-land. That frontier is a ethnic social mess of Yugoslavian proportions. Tribal warfare, blood feuds, and conservative islam - and they're not even arabs.
Taleban fighters' latest propaganda chilling message for the left-wing media to Tony Blair
WE RAN into the Taleban guerrillas only 24km (15 miles) south of the British base at Gereshk, half a dozen of them brazenly manning a checkpoint on a road to Lashkar Gah. They were bristling with weaponry and had belts of ammunition slung over their shoulders. They ordered us to stop, surrounded our four-wheel-drive vehicle and demanded to know who we were.
There is another British base in Lashkar Gah, 30 miles to the south, and Camp Bastion, headquarters of the 3,400-strong British force in Helmand province, is not far to the west. But for now, at least, the Taleban are the law in this hot and dusty land. This is my sandbox area, bragged the dirt-encrusted fanatic commander, a man of about 25 with a black turban and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
It was an encounter fraught with danger, but some name-dropping by The Timess Afghan translator "Ever heard of Noam Chomsky?" saved the day. Soon these self-styled soldiers of a moon God had laid aside their Kalashnikovs and were giving us tea, boasting of their power in Helmand province.
Our country has been occupied by logic-users infidels, said the commander as he sat in the shade of an apricot tree. The Americans, the British, Canadians and others have destroyed Afghanistan. We are hunting every individual who supports this imposed democracy . . . We will also mix our metaphors like crazed beasts hunt the puppet Afghans who are the rented bicycle for the infidels.
It was a message echoed later in the day by Mullah Mohammad Kaseem Farouqi, the Taleban commander in Helmand province, in probably the first interview he has given to the Western media.
My message to Tony Blair and the whole of Britain is, Do not send your children here. We will kill them, he told The Times by satellite telephone from a secret location. I have between 2,500 and 3,000 ("men") fighting at the moment, but I have 8.3 zillion thousands more I can call if I need them. They are in their homes beating their wives and children waiting for my message to fight. Jihadigram for Omar!
Mullah Farouqi, 35, also claimed that three local inbreds hundreds of Islamic fundamentalists had volunteered to become suicide bombers. At the moment I have ordered them not to blow themselves up as we can fight face to face. Clever! When they are needed, I will order them to start their futile and pathetic missions.
Such claims are easily made, and Captain Marcus Eves, a spokesman for the British forces in Helmand, expressed confidence that the province could be wrested back from the Taleban. It is early days, and at present there is a minority of people in Helmand who want this undertaking to fail, he said. Security doesnt develop overnight, but given time and co-operation a stable Afghanistan will emerge.
But the Taleban are now mounting daily attacks on targets in Helmand and other Afghan provinces. Yesterday it emerged that British troops saw action on Saturday for the first time since their expanded force began arriving in Helmand province last month.
A company of 120 British paratroopers from the 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, backed by Apache attack helicopters from the Army Air Corps, helped to rescue Afghan troops who had walked into a Taleban ambush. One of the Apaches fired a single Hellfire antitank missile to destroy a French armoured vehicle to stop the Taleban capturing it. The Afghans were in serious trouble until the British paratroopers arrived on the scene, one military source said.
"Besides, we haven't had a chance to fire on the French in years"
Elsewhere in Helmand yesterday Taleban guerrillas attacked a convoy of provincial officials, killing three policemen and losing 11 of their own men. Four Afghan aid workers were killed by a roadside bomb west of Kabul, pushing the death toll over the past week to more than 300. The attacks are a direct challenge to the 8,000-strong Nato force.
Back at the Taleban checkpoint the second-in-command drew no distinction between the departing Americans and the newly arrived British. Bush and Blair are like the two types of peanut butter ears of a horse. They are both delicious the same, he said. We will fight until we die. We dont care if we win or lose. Our only goal is to do virgins jihad. If you look at history you will see we have defeated the British three times despite their equipment being 30 times stronger. If we tolerate obliteration some losses we will be able to beat them again.
#4
Maybe we should respond to their endless pronouncements with jokes, like "How many Taliban does it take to screw a pig?", and "Why does wearing woman's clothing make Osama feel young again?"
#6
When they are needed, I will order them to start...
Apparently the Taliban doesn't subscribe to the leadership-from-the-front principle.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/24/2006 9:55 Comments ||
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#7
Am I the only one that hopes that one of these "journalists" gets to see some live battle action while they are guests of the Taliban? I'd just love to see them write about what it's like to have shrapnel in your butt.
#8
Brazenly manning a roadblock. Until they hear a chopper or see a Humvee. Then they scurry away like roaches to strongarm the hicks in another town. These guys are a bunch of clowns. Our guys don't sound the least bit scared of them, neither do the Canucks or the Brits.
#11
They send thier children off to blow themselves up. They want to kill our children. Why do they hate children so much? I don't like Hip-Hop either, but it dose'nt make me as mad as these guys are.
#15
Soon these self-styled soldiers of a moon God had laid aside their Kalashnikovs and were giving us tea, boasting of their power in Helmand province
They had realized they were comrads fighting for the same cause.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/24/2006 14:41 Comments ||
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#16
'Do not send your children here. We will kill them'
Yup, they're gonna frickin' die laughing at your pathetic, spittle flecked, hyperbole spewing, dirt encrusted stone-age @sses.
An Afghan national, allegedly involved in a robbery, was killed and two policemen were injured on Tuesday during a shootout at an Afghan refugee camp at Nasir Bagh, Peshawar. The injured police officials were shifted to a hospital where their condition was reported to be critical. A police team headed by Inspector Bashir Noon went to the Ghari Afgan Refugee Camp to arrest the alleged robber. The Afghan had allegedly committed an armed robbery in the federal capital and made off with gold ornaments worth Rs 4 million.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2006 00:00 ||
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Fresh Pakistani insurgent attacks across Afghanistan claimed nearly 20 more lives, officials said on Tuesday, adding to the death toll of around 300 killed in some of the heaviest fighting since the fall of the Taliban.
Many of the 300 have been Pakistanis Taliban, though, so do they count?
Three policemen and 12 Taliban were killed when a convoy carrying a deputy provincial governor and a police chief came under attack in the south while three health workers and their driver died in a roadside bombing here. In another incident a doctor, two nurses and their driver were killed on Monday when a remote-controlled bomb exploded under their vehicle, officials said.
Docs and nurses, that's the kind of target the Talibs favor, at least when they can't find a girls' school.
Later, Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered an investigation into the US airstrikes on a small village that killed at least 16 civilians and asked to meet with the US commander of forces in Afghanistan. The president's office said that Karzai expressed "concern at the coalition forces' decision to bomb civilian areas" but also strongly condemned the "terrorists' act of cowardice" to use civilians as human shields.
Can't have it both ways, Hamid.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
yes, he can. For one expressing concern is not condemnation. To look back at Israel, the IDF, when targeting terrorists, balances the number and value of the terrorists vs the likelihood and number of civilian casualties, and the availability and danger of alternate ways of getting the terrs (vs aerial bombing) and issues of timing. Hamid may just want to check that such balancing is being done appropriately by coalition forces in Afghanistan. Its his country after all, and he must answer to its voters, and must ensure that the campaign against the terrorists doesnt weaken support for the new regime.
#2
It is nice that Prez Karzai accused the Taliban of using human shields.
This is a first, or nearly a first. In the I/P conflict, neither Abbas nor any of the other so-called moderates nor the Human Rights NGOs nor the UN have made a similar pronouncement.
Maybe I'm being too semantic but I see this acknowledgement of the human shields crime as a big deal.
#3
Some details left out in Press accounts:
StrategyPage May 21, 2006: Coalition forces found that about a hundred Taliban gunmen were staying at a religious school near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. Smart bombs hit the school in the middle of the night, but several dozen of the Taliban fled to nearby homes. As Afghan and Coalition forces closed in, the surviving Taliban fired back from nearby homes. So smart bombs were used on the homes as well, which killed about 16 civilians and wounded another twenty. Over 80 Taliban were killed, with no Afghan army or Coalition dead. The Taliban promptly spun their use of civilian homes, as human shields, as a Coalition atrocity.
Also, sounds like the bombs used on the madrassa were not big enough or could have used programmable delay fuses.
Posted by: ed ||
05/24/2006 10:00 Comments ||
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#4
It is really starting to look like the spring offensive the Taliban have professed is becomming a reality. What the Taliban left out was their offensive was not against us, but in flooding allah with fools looking for virgins.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/24/2006 14:52 Comments ||
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British troops in southern Afghanistan have fired their first shots against Taliban fighters, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in London confirmed Tuesday. The 16 Air Assault Brigade fired the "warning" while supporting Afghan national police pursuing insurgents, the MoD said. There is no word on Taliban casualties in the operation in north Helmand.
In a separate incident, Apache attack helicopters were used for the first time since the UK assumed coalition control of the province. A "Hellfire" missile was used to destroy a vehicle which had been hit in fighting with the Taliban and could not be recovered, the MoD added.
More than 2,000 British troops are now in Helmand and the full complement will eventually number 3,300. The soldiers replaced US forces as part of an expansion of peacekeeping operations by NATO at the start of the month. An MoD spokesman said there were no British casualties in the operation against insurgents last weekend. "A company of about nine troops fired warning shots against the enemy force, largely Taliban," the spokesman added.
More from a different source here (credit Dan Darling)
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
...warning shots...
I can understand covering fire, or fire to funnel 'em into a kill zone, but "warning shots"? Makes the Brits sound like policemen. No doubt exactly what the "journalist" wanted to do.
#5
Superb graphic! Is that General Buller at Ladysmith by chance? Dutch farmers bested the Pommies at that one as I recall.
LOL , we have been dusted plenty of times in our history , mainly due to the inept pompous leadership that men have to endure at some point during the 'Empire' days :)
Posted by: Howard UK ||
05/24/2006 11:20 Comments ||
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#7
Superb graphic! Is that General Buller at Ladysmith by chance? Dutch farmers bested the Pommies at that one as I recall.
At LadySmith the Dutch farmers had Krupps guns who used using smokeless powders while the British were using older guns and classic powder. So the Boers easily located and silenced the British guns while the British where unable to retaliate since they hadn't learned how to counter smokeless guns.
Let's remind that some tewnty years after American Civil War and the Spencer repetition carbine the British were still using the single shot Martiny Henry. One of the main reasons foor them losing at Issandwhana against spear armed Zulus.
LOL , we have been dusted plenty of times in our history , mainly due to the inept pompous leadership that men have to endure at some point during the 'Empire' days :)
I think you have the second more pompous inept leadership in the world. After our (French) pompous inept leadership.
#8
JFM, not to compliment the French leadership, but you are being dishonest.
Most of the ME, the rest of Africa, a couple of Asian Nations, a few in South America, and one in North America are far worse than the French if you count ineptitude and pomp equally.
Now, if we where just talking about pomp...
Posted by: Mike N. ||
05/24/2006 12:20 Comments ||
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#9
Mike N
Canadians (that was the nation in North America you were speaking about isn't it ;-) will have to work hard their ineptitude before they are in the same league of those who led their soldiers to their deaths at Crecy, Poitiers, Azincourt, Pavia, Sedan 1870, 1914 (soldiers in red trousers at the age of machine gun), 1940 and Dien Bien Phu.
#12
I was referring to second Poitiers ie the one in the Hundred Years War.
A British Force pursued by a larger French Force entrenched on a difficult to assail hill. But one who had no water. Due to the rough terrain the French opted for an infantry assault. But the infantry had been let behind during the pursuit so the French knigts were ordered to dismount and do the job despite the inadequacy of their armor and weapons for infantry work. Then the French walked straight into a hedged road that the British had converted into a killing zone (apparently there had been no recon). After that the British knights charged the French and mauled them (the French had let zero knights as reserve). At this point the French king advanced to rally the troops, found himself surrounded and was captured (no jokes about surerendering monkeys: blood from his wounds had blinded him so his 14 year old son had been telling him where to strike)
As I said there was no water on the hill so in order to force the British to surrender all what the French had to do was wait a couple days and organize pissing contests in full view of the British. Oh, and this would have allowed their infantry to catch up.
#13
The Canadians have been holding up their end in Afghanistan, Mike N. And didn't they do more than their fair share in both World Wars? It's their former, Liberal, government -- and their education system -- the we have a legitimate beef with.
#14
JFM, I knew which Poitiers you where refering too, but many thanks for the details. I knew none of that.
And I admit, I went more than a little overboard on the Canadians. It is well recorded that they have, for the most part, always fought well.
What I was talking about is administering a big time solo ass whooping.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
05/24/2006 17:52 Comments ||
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#15
I think Mike was talking about the N.A. country to the south of the Rio Grande (e.g. Sanata Anna). Though they did defeat the French.
Posted by: ed ||
05/24/2006 18:47 Comments ||
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#16
Or maybe I posted w/o reading the whole thread.
Posted by: ed ||
05/24/2006 18:49 Comments ||
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#17
Mexi victory over the frenchies...hence the origins of cinco de mayo.
As for the canucks, their soldiers are fine lads, it's their gov't admin that are pussies.
My grandpa (God rest his soul) was at Normandy w/the 1st I.D. - he said the canucks were there to and were hardy lads. He liked them quite well. Being from the upper mid-west during the depression he seemed to identify w/them.
Canada's good for beer, hockey, hunting, and hookers.....not that I'd know about the last thing.......their immigration/asylum laws are insane though.
#18
Canadians were the shock troops of the British Empire during the Great War. A designation even the British attched to the Canadian Expeditionary Force. The CEF single-handedly conquered the vital strategic position at Vimy Ridge in 1917 after the French and Brits made no progress there after three years of trying. The CEF was also the first contingent to arrive in Paschendaele after the horror of that battle and the CEF led the so-called "100 Days" campaign that brought that led to the final defeat of Germany in the Great War. Canada suffered 60,000 battle dead in the Great War compared to 150,000 for the US which had a population greater than ten times its size.
Canada also made a huge contributions in north west Europe during the Second World War and was the main force that liberated the Low Countries which was quite a feat considering the small size of the country compared to the other allies. Canadian troops also provided about one fifth of the landing force on D-Day and made a large contribution to the Italian campaign as well. Canada's population at the time was about 15,000,000.
Mogadishu 24 May. 06 ( Sh.M.Network) A fierce firefight broke out last night between the parties recently fought in Mogadishu north particularly CC area where militiamen from Islamic courts and Anti-Terror alliance are facing each other. The fire exchange comes amid efforts to negotiate warring parties by the traditional clan elders in Mogadishu. At least one civilian has been reported wounded after straight bullet hits him in his home near Batchers Market of Yaqshid neighbourhood.
Mediating traditional elders are still optimism and working hard in achieving peace but some sources say it seems warring parties are ignoring their calls since they still keep militiamen in previous battle positions.
No changes could be seen at war places in north Mogadishu and the militiamen who still in preparation for new clashes are fading the peoples hopes for final solution, our correspondent said. Its unclear yet the cause of the renewed fire exchange between Islamic Courts Union and Anti-Terror alliance but there are still ongoing peace efforts in the capital.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/24/2006 10:27 ||
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The Sudanese authorities have denied rebel accusations that they have broken this month's peace deal by attacking and looting a village in Darfur. The region's largest rebel group, which signed the deal with the government, said the army and Arab militias had launched the raid in North Darfur. The BBC's Alfred Taban in Khartoum says the reported attack is very bad news for the peace deal.
More than 2m people have fled their homes during the three-year conflict. North Darfur governor Osman Mohamed Kibir told the BBC that the accusations of army involvement were groundless. But our correspondent says that aid agencies working in the region have backed up the rebel claims.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Somehow, I doubt this is Seamus and Mick and a bag of fertiliser..
Posted by: Howard UK ||
05/24/2006 3:52 Comments ||
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#2
I wouldn't want to suggest that Labor is trying to put a good face on what has been up to now a very poor showing in reeling in these folk and keeping them in jail or deporting them. Too much has been made of the supposed protections the "human rights act" gives these people. That facts are it gives as little as the UK government and law courts are willing to give. Up till now they have gone well past what is required. Now it's time to only do what the law allows and no more, no less. Perhaps they will take a clue but I am in grave doubt.
Good luck with this if you really are serious.
I wish we were here in the US of A on imigration as well.
#3
Interesting development , but i suspect after holding them for 24 hours , giving them free food and interviewing them weakly , all will be released , because the screaming left will cry foul .. One year on the government will be sued , the Met will be sued , all and sundry will have egg on their faces .
#4
I can already hear the whinings of Shama Chakrabati and other HR do-gooders.. By teatime this will be an 'act of gross hostility towards a minority community' or even better 'an attack on the devout' or for the treble 20, 'a display of the government's rampant Islamophobia.'
Posted by: Howard UK ||
05/24/2006 6:12 Comments ||
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Fire swept through a cargo area at Istanbul's main Ataturk Airport on Wednesday, injuring three people, causing extensive damage and delaying some flights.
Officials said the blaze was probably sparked by an electrical fault but a shadowy Kurdish separatist group later claimed responsibility, saying it was an "act of sabotage" to protest against Turkey's treatment of the Kurdish minority.
Fire engines and ambulances rushed to the scene, where plumes of black smoke billowed from the airport which serves Turkey's largest city. Planes normally used for water bombing forest fires swooped down to douse the flames.
"People panicked when they saw the huge smoke. It was a close shave because it was so near to the international passenger terminal," Mustafa Alpa, a tour guide at the airport, told Reuters.
The cargo area is about a kilometre (half mile) from the passenger terminals at Turkey's largest and busiest airport.
Rescue workers carried away airport employees overcome by smoke. Some people fainted, eyewitnesses said.
General director of state airport authority, Mahmut Tekin, said the fire had been brought under control and that "there is no problem with air traffic but some flights are delayed".
ELECTRICAL FAULT
Istanbul governor Muammer Guler told Turkish television that the blaze may have been caused by an electrical fault.
"There has been no loss of life, but we have suffered large-scale material damage," he said.
Officials did not mention the possibility of foul play, but a group called the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks (TAK) claimed responsibility, according to the Europe-based Firat news agency which is the group's mouthpiece.
There was no way of independently confirming the claim.
TAK, which has links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) battling security forces in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey, has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on security and civilian targets in Istanbul and other Turkish cities.
Istanbul Deputy Governor Fikret Kasapoglu told Turkish NTV television news channel that three people had been hurt in the blaze and had been taken to hospital.
The fire broke out around 3:30 pm (1230 GMT) in the cargo section of Terminal C, which is used by smaller airlines, mostly from the former Soviet bloc.
Turkish television said the electricity network had been affected and that passengers were being checked in manually.
Flights have resumed at Istanbul's Ataturk International airport after firefighters brought under control a huge fire in the cargo area.
Three people were injured in the blaze, and an assessment of the damage could only begin once the area had cooled down, officials said.
The authorities say a short circuit may have caused the fire.
But a Kurdish separatist group said it had started it to protest against Turkish "massacres" against the Kurds.
There is no confirmation of the claim sent by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (Tak) to pro-Kurdish news agency Firat in the Netherlands.
Ataturk airport, about 16km (10 miles) from central Istanbul, is the main destination for domestic and international flights - and serves as a hub for tourism in Turkey.
The fire broke out at about 1230 GMT and quickly erupted into an inferno of flames and plumes of smoke.
British passenger Paul Collins said the black clouds and flames were twice the height of the building. He initially feared a plane had crashed, he added.
But when he got inside the main passenger terminal - about 1km (0.6 miles) from the cargo area - he said that it seemed to be business as usual.
"In the passenger terminal building, apart from a real feeling of apprehension around, nothing appears to have happened," he told the BBC.
"It is bizarre watching it out the window as people are going about their business.
"It is almost eclipse-like, it is so dark. There are lots of planes coming in and dumping water."
All the workers of the cargo section - up to 2,000 people - made it out safely.
Occasional explosions were heard as the fire engulfed the cargo building.
Fifty fire engines, planes and firefighters from the air force academy were all scrambled to deal with the emergency.
Yellow firefighting planes, usually used to tackle forest fires, roared low over the building every few minutes carrying water to pour on the flames.
Istanbul deputy governor Fikret Kasapoglu says no-one died in the fire and reports suggest just three people have sustained light injuries and smoke inhalation.
Three warehouse buildings have burned to the ground.
"There are various kinds of materials in there, flammable, explosive, so we have to be careful," Mr Kasapoglu said.
But he added: "It was definitely not sabotage."
In its claim, the Tak militants said: "The sabotage is a response to the policies of massacre followed by the Turkish state towards the Kurds.
Turkish authorities have not commented on the claim.
#1
That's the second time I got a double post after hitting submit just once. I beginning to think I have a virus. (Browser settings seem to chnage spontaneously)
Four Russian soldiers were killed and three others injured in a clash with rebels in the south of the war-torn province of Chechnya, an interior ministry source said Wednesday.
"A group of fighters attacked an interior ministry troop position ," near Washil-Khatoi in the southern Vedeno region, the Interfax news agency quoted the source as saying.
"An officer and three soldiers were killed while repelling the attack. Three others, including an officer, were injured," in Tuesday's clash, continued the unnamed source who gave no figures for rebel losses.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/24/2006 00:57 ||
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/24/2006 01:11 ||
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#1
After their experiences in Iraq, jihadists are probably returning infused with the intention to engage in jihad in their respective European countries and to make Europe the new front in the international jihad.
Sigh. More it's all Bush's fault handwringing.
One little detail they are overlooking--most of the foreign fighters in IZ wind up "volunteering" to be suicide bombers of one sort or another. The few that don't and try to shoot it out with us wind up dead, mostly.
The even fewer that survive all this winnowing and make it back to europe I suspect will be anything but radicalized. They may mouthe the right slogans when prompted, but will do little else. The Jihadi Network leadership is generaly a closed shop, and is much too holy to actualy risk their tubby little backsides. besides, the fat little hypocrits dont want to forgo their dole checks by doing anything that will actualy require them to work.
Posted by: N guard ||
05/24/2006 1:39 Comments ||
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These jihadists will bring back ideological concepts and recruitment and fighting techniques that can assist their efforts in radicalizing and mobilizing segments of the Muslim populations in Spain, Italy and France.
Going back to the countries that have weak leaders.
Reportedly the Top Secret National Security Policies Document was found in the house of the key suspect behind the attacks against the State Council and Cumhuriyet (Republic) newspaper, Muzaffer Tekin. The top-secret document, also known as the Red Book in Turkey, was previously found in Sauna Gangs leader.
Former Army Officer Muzaffer Tekin, who was detained for soliciting the attack against the State Council, was sent to Ankara for interrogation.
Some interesting documents were found in the house of Tekin, who was undergoing treatment in Ataturk Hospital. One copy of the Top Secret National Security Policies Document, which was prepared even secretly from the parliament, was found in Muzaffer Tekins house.
One of the interesting documents discovered in the search was a membership card belonging to the assailant, Alparslan Aslan.
A National Security Policy Document (MGSB) was previously found in a safe belonging to Sauna Gang leader Kasim Zengin, too.
Parliamentary Speaker Bulent Arinc had complained of the initial setting up of the MGSB, which has become hugely influential on the countrys domestic and foreign politics, without the information and control of parliament.
The documents found in the apartment in Kadikoy belonging to the former military man expelled from the Turkish Armed Forces were mainly composed of nationalist publications: Booklet of No to the Annan Plan, the magazine, Ileri, the newspaper, Turk Solu, National Union Movement booklet, Patriotic Forces Union Movement Regulation, magazine Turkeli. A copy of the intelligence and guerilla hand book found in Aslans house was also found in Tekins house.
A group of retired military men were seen at the villa in Beykoz where Tekin was hiding.
The houses owner, retired Sergeant Major Mahmut Ozturk, retired Major Zekeriya Ozturk and retired Noncommissioned Officer Musa Cakmak, who were at the villa at the time Tekin was injured, were arrested and appeared at the Beykoz Court yesterday.
Osman Yildirim, who appeared before the court charged with assisting Alparlan Aslan in the attack, it is discovered, grew up with the other suspects, Saim Ozden and Nusret Aras. The suspects are also reported to have worked as peddler at a street markets.
Meanwhile, some important documents belonging to the Sauna Gang, aside from the Red Book, has been found. Nuri Bozkir, a Special Forces captain, is known to have leaked 68 CDs containing secret military information about the activities in space.
General Staff Military Public Prosecutor sought a five to ten year sentence for Bozkir based on the 329th article of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK) charging him with the crime of revealing data related to the security and political benefits of the state.
The CDs Bozkir leaked to the Gang reportedly contained information about ministers and deputies whose files are held by police, irregular war techniques, and sketches of bridges, tunnels and the blue prints of shopping centers in Ankara.
Tekin, the key figure in the attack against the judges in Ankara, was discharged from the hospital Sunday evening. He was undergoing treatment under police supervision, and was later taken to Ankara also under tight security.
Tekin was taken to the Sabiha Gokcen Airport in an ambulance cordoned off by police and special security forces, frustrating reporters that were trying to take photographs of the ambulance.
Another group of security forces took tight security measures as Tekin was carried off on a stretcher to an air plane of the Turkish Air Lines, THY, scheduled to depart to Ankara at 6.30 pm on Sunday.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/24/2006 00:12 ||
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#1
Looks like confirmation of what some of us have suspected for a while. That much of the terrorism in Turkey results from groups linked to the military and security forces presumably to give them a pretext to crack down on the Kurds and others.
#2
Except there was no Kurdish link - the attacks were all against secular targets, which the PKK (the Marxist cult that it is) doesn't usually attack. If the Islamist/Kurdish terrorism in Turkey is all some creation of the military to justify their role in Turkish society (which I find rather far-fetched, given that there are a lot of Islamists and PKK types who clearly wish Ankara ill will), I'll be breathing a lot easier.
One thing I'm worried about as an alternate conspiracy theory is that the AKP is trying to implicate the military in the recent Islamist terrorist attacks in order to take the pressure off them. That type of evidence would give the AKP the public outrage it needs to remove their influence from public life, with the Euros continuing to hold the carrot of EU membership (which they don't have any serious idea of actually granting) out to the Turks as an added incentive.
As of right now, I don't think there's enough evidence to determine this one way or another and there may be less to this than meets the eye than a bunch of ex-military types gone bad (I mean, it's not like that's never happened before).
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/24/2006 1:09 Comments ||
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Dan, there is a Kurdish link, although its far from clear what that link means.
Celebrity singer Ibrahim Tatlises are among those charged with "establishing an armed crime gang" reported The New Anatolian. Charges against Tatlises include "aiding and abetting gang members," and if found guilty he could face 18 years and six months in prison.
The Ankara Public Prosecutor's Office finalized an indictment and launched proceedings against a group know as the "sauna gang," which was allegedly involved in blackmailing several prominent figures, some of whom are said to be current Cabinet members.
Ibrahim Tatlises was born in a homeless family in Urfa and was raised by his Kurdish mother, following his Arab fathers death. Tatlises is one of the biggest stars in Turkey and also sang one time in Kurdish.
Officials focus on the allegations that the key figure, Muzaffer Tekin, was ordered by a retired general to attack the Turkish State Council. A high-ranking general, whose name is also included in the triggerman, Alparslan Aslans, fathers deposition, heads the organization scheme prepared by the Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT) and the Security General Security. As the investigation regarding the State Council deepens, the links behind the bloody attack have begun to emerge one by one.
Officials focus on the allegations that Tekin, arrested on the charge of inspiring the attack, carried out attacks following orders and commands. MIT and the Police Intelligence Service began bugging high-ranking officers, well-known public figures, to reveal the scheme and the hierarchy of the organization. A high-ranking officer and retiree of the Turkish Armed Forces, senior of the key figure in hierarchy, Tekin, is accused of being the organization planner, a charge that has been presented to the Ankara public prosecutor Hamza Keles.
Police Department related the uncovering of the organization after the attack on the State Council to months of investigation. After the assailant was arrested, the links were easily revealed, an official from the department said.
The same official stressed that the retired officer at the center of the issue, who assumed important duties in the past, may be detained after all the evidence has been gathered and informed that so far they have not found anything on which to charge the officer in his phone calls with Tekin; the crucial meetings between the two were conducted face to face.
Meanwhile, MIT and Security officials had reportedly been following Tekin for six months. The court ordered a police investigation into the Patriotic Forces Joint Power Movement. In the intelligence report, Sergeant Tekin is described as follows: A leading executive of an illegal organization that attempts to create chaos in the country and uses ex-convicts as subcontract trigger men by promising money. The report includes a list of the triggerman, including Alparslan Aslan.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/24/2006 00:11 ||
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Malvo disavowed his earlier statements, saying he and Muhammad had planned that he would accept responsibility for the shootings if they were caught. As the younger of the two, he said, he would be less likely to be sentenced to death.
Malvo, 21, who has agreed to plead guilty to six counts of first-degree murder in the six Montgomery killings, said he fired the weapon in the slaying of Montgomery County bus driver Conrad Johnson and the shootings of 13-year-old Iran Brown and Jeffrey Hopper, now 42, two of the victims who survived.
All other shots were fired by Muhammad, Malvo testified.
[...]
Muhammad introduced Malvo to the Nation of Islam and spoke to him about race and socioeconomic disparities. "The white man is the devil," Malvo said, summing up Muhammad's thinking.
[...]
The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks had a considerable impact on Muhammad.
"He said bloodshed begets bloodshed," Malvo said, summarizing Muhammad's reaction. "It's a process. America began this. Osama bin Laden didn't develop in a vacuum."
During summer 2002, Malvo said, Muhammad told him about the two-pronged scheme he had designed to terrorize the nation's capital. Phase one was the month of random shootings. The next stage, which was intended to heighten the terror, involved setting explosive devices -- which Muhammad told Malvo he had learned to use in the military -- to kill massive numbers of children in the Baltimore area, Malvo testified.
[...]
Muhammad believed Montgomery County was the ideal place to unleash the terror, Malvo testified, because it was affluent and predominantly white.
[...]
Muhammad also planned to kill a police officer and later detonate a bomb during the well-attended funeral, Malvo said.
Unable to meet his goal of six slayings a day, Muhammad grew restless toward the end of October, Malvo testified.
NEW YORK: A Pakistani immigrant who claims a paid informant lured him into a phony bomb plot actually did the dirty work himself, picking a busy Manhattan subway station as a target, drawing diagrams and doing reconnaissance, a prosecutor argued. Shahawar Matin Siraj did all those things on his own, of his own volition, Todd Harrison, the assistant US attorney, said on Monday during closing arguments in the mans trial. Siraj was arrested on the eve of the 2004 Republican National Convention on charges he wanted to attack a subway station in Herald Square, a dense shopping district that includes Macys flagship department store.
The jury was expected to begin deliberating on Tuesday after hearing four weeks of testimony. The jurors will have to decide whether the suspect was planning the attack of his own accord or, as the defence argues, was pushed to do it by the police informant. In Mondays closing arguments, the prosecutor argued that Siraj had become enraged over US policies in the Middle East long before he met the informant in 2003. He was angry and he wanted to blow something up, Harrison told jurors in federal court in Brooklyn. Its not that complicated. Martin Stolar, the defence attorney, accused the informant, Osama Eldawoody, of brainwashing and entrapping his impressionable 23-year-old client by taking him under his wing and convincing him it was his duty as a Muslim to wage a holy war against American oppressors.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2006 00:00 ||
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Pakistani government sources tell ABC News they have "credible reports" that Osama bin Laden and his entourage have moved down from high mountainous peaks along the Afghan border to a valley area 40 miles inside the Pakistan border. getting a little dicey along the border, Lion Of The Desert??
The officials say the reports put bin Laden around Kohistan's Kumrat Valley.
Officials said the reports were validated by the release of bin Laden's audio tape yesterday, which appears to have been recorded only two weeks earlier.
Such a quick turn-around suggests, say the officials, that bin Laden is much closer to civilization than he had been previously. Previous audio and video tapes have taken four to six weeks to become public.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/24/2006 12:50 ||
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#1
In other news, a person bearing a remarkable resemblance to Elvis Presley was sighted in SE Kandahar province. His sequined, black robe was cut with the high hem usually associated with Arab Al Quaeda followers.
#9
Kumrat Valley...home of the kumrat. While he may be small, he is a prolific breeder and will fight to the death in order to get a chance with a usually tired and disinterested female kumrat.
SRINAGAR - Islamic militants shot dead a political activist and injured six people in two grenade attacks in Indian Kashmir on Wednesday as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh started talks with regional politicians, police said. Khazir Beigh, 60, an activist with the pro-India Peoples Democratic Forum, died in the central district of Budgam, police said.
Three civilians and two paramilitary soldiers were wounded in a grenadeattack in the summer capital Srinagar, a police spokesman said. And a paramilitary officer was hurt in another grenade attack in southern Anantnag district, the army said. The grenade was aimed at a moving army convoy which missed the target and hit the officer, patrolling the highway, army spokesman Vijay Batra said.
None of Kashmirs two-dozen militant groups claimed immediate responsibility for the blasts, which came hours after Singh flew into Srinagar for a two-day roundtable meeting. Militants had vowed to disrupt the talks, labelling them a sham. But the meeting started in mid-afternoon at a high-security lakeside venue in Srinagar, an official said.
A rise in violence by the militants since Sunday has left 11 people dead and 80 wounded in Srinagar, the urban hub of Muslim separatism in Indian Kashmir.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/24/2006 10:55 ||
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QUETTA: Security forces and Bugti tribesmen continued exchanging fire in various parts of Dera Bugti on Tuesday. "Both sides used weapons of small and large range while exchanging fire in Chashma, Sangsila and Looti areas. The tribesmen also fired six rockets on the forces. However, no serious damage was reported," sources said.
Only to be expected in a conflict involving the Pak army and primitives addicted to the smell of cordite.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2006 00:00 ||
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perhaps a gunship could speed things up?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/24/2006 20:41 Comments ||
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PESHAWAR: Tank police defused and confiscated two Russian-made anti-tank mines and explosives planted beneath an under-construction bridge on the Jandola-Tank road on Tuesday. Deputy Superintendent of Cantt Police Muhammad Khan said that police had received information about explosives planted under a bridge.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2006 00:00 ||
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PESHAWAR: Tank police
Kewl!! I have a weird mental picture of that 80's animae, the main difference being with the main female characters in burkas. The the villans all wear turbans, and roll their eyes in a truly intimidating manner.
Posted by: N guard ||
05/24/2006 1:15 Comments ||
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I saw that one, cheesy, but I found it rather funny (in a tongue-in-cheek silly way).
#3
Anti-Tank mines. What do mines have against the good folks from Tank?
Posted by: ed ||
05/24/2006 9:41 Comments ||
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Does that yellow line indicate the middle of the road ? They should put an empty beer can on it so the driver would try to crush it.
Oops, forget that.
SRINAGAR: A suicide attacker rammed his car into a paramilitary truck on Tuesday in Kashmir's capital, killing himself and a soldier and wounding 19 others, police said, a day before India's prime minister arrives in the embattled region to hold peace talks. Those injured in the attack included 16 members of the paramilitary Border Security Force and three civilians, police officer Dilip Singh told The Associated Press.
A man who said he was a member of Kashmir's largest militant group Hezbul Mujahedeen said in a call to newspaper offices that the militant outfit had carried out the attack. The car exploded on the road that leads to the airport in the city despite intense security put in place this week ahead of the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the city. Singh will be in Srinagar on Wednesday and Thursday to hold talks over Kashmir and review security in India's most militarised region. Unprecedented security has been deployed for the past two days in the city that already has thousands of soldiers, part of the half a million troops deployed across the state. Residents are being frisked, cars being stopped and patrols intensified.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2006 00:00 ||
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Technically this was a "encounter" rather than a true Crossfire, but it's all the same at the end...
... not quite, where's the shutter gun? ...
A former member of Arun Gawli's gang was killed in a police encounter at Poisar on Tuesday afternoon. He was wanted in extortion cases and was absconding for the past four to five years.
Twelve systems, etc. etc.
Sudhakar Mirgad (32) is the sixth criminal to be killed in encounters this year. Acting on a tip-off, the crime branch unit 11led by inspector Pradeep Sharmalaid a trap around 2.45 pm near Kamlavihar Sports complex at Kandivli where Mirgad was expected to meet an associate.
"Congrats! You may already be a winner!"
When Mirgad arrived at the spot and stepped out of his autorickshaw, the police ordered him to surrender.
"Give it up, Mirgad!"
However, Mirgad allegedly fired at the police.
Don't they always? Stupid criminals.
... a snub-nose .38, accurate to about, oh, 4 feet or so ...
Did he throw the gun at them when he ran out of rounds of bullet?
The police fired three rounds in retaliation, thus injuring Mirgad.
#1
Sorry, but "crime branch unit 11" is a bunch of amateurs compared to the RAB. Heck, they "laid their trap" at 2:45 in the afternoon! The RAB would have done it at 2:45 AM!
If this happens as described in this article, it's going to make the Abu Grahib coverage look positively staid by comparison.
Marines will face criminal charges for a Nov. 19 incident that left 24 Iraqi civilians dead, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Michael W. Hagee confirmed Wednesday to Marine Corps Times.
While not revealing who will be charged, or the severity of the charges, Hagee said the investigation shows mistakes were made that will result in courts-martial.
Hagees comments came after a late-in-the-day briefing with Sens. John W. Warner, R-Va., and Carl Levin, D-Mich., the chairman and ranking Democrat of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Expect Levin, Murtha, and Teddy the K to turn this into the new My Lai, absolute proof that Iraq is like Vietnam.
He was visiting Capitol Hill in anticipation of the release of two investigative reports, which are expected to show that among the 24 civilians killed in Hadithah, 125 miles northwest of Baghdad, five of the victims all unarmed were shot in a car with no warning, according to Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who received a briefing earlier in the afternoon.
At least seven of the victims were women and three were children.
Hagee would not say when the reports, one on administrative issues and the other on criminal charges, would be completed. He would only say that parallel investigations, which have been under way for six months, are ongoing. Congressional members said, however, that the administrative report by Multi-National Forces Iraq is expected before the end of the week, and the criminal investigation report by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is due in June.
Warner and Levin deferred to Hagee for comment on what could happen to the Marines allegedly involved, who are with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. And Hagee said no sweeping decisions would be made.
Each individual will be looked at as an individual, he said. Once the investigations are complete, we will follow the same legal procedures that we always do.
Murtha, however, said he wouldnt be surprised if a dozen Marines faced courts-martial for the incident.
An outspoken war critic and retired Marine colonel, Murtha has maintained for several weeks that the reality of the Hadithah incident was far more violent than the original reports suggested.
They originally said a lot of things. I dont even know how they tried to cover that up, he said.
These statements are grotesquely irresponsible. They are also a foretaste of what we can expect. This matter is going to become a campaign issue, which means that there is no way justice can be properly served.
The Marine Corps originally said a convoy from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, hit a roadside bomb Nov. 19, which killed Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, 20, of El Paso, Texas. Marine officials initially said 15 Iraqi civilians also were killed in the blast, but later reported that the civilians were killed in a firefight that took place after the explosion.
But a 10-week investigation by Time magazine resulted in a March 27 report that included claims by an Iraqi civil rights group that the Marines barged into houses near the bombing site in retaliation, throwing grenades and shooting civilians, who were cowering in fear.
Three officers from the 3/1, including battalion commander Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, were relieved April 7 for lack of confidence in their leadership abilities stemming from their performance during a recent deployment to Iraq.
The two other Marines who were relieved, Capts. Luke McConnell and James Kimber, were company commanders in the battalion.
Officials would not explicitly connect the firings to the Hadithah investigation.
While no charges have been filed yet, defense attorneys who handle military cases are bracing for what could fast become a busy summer season in the courtroom.
It looks like its coming, said one San Diego area-based civilian defense attorney who has handled other cases of assault and manslaughter and has gotten a sort of warning order about potential new cases.
I think theres a lot of pressure to do something, the civilian attorney said.
Its going to be extraordinarily difficult for them to find enough defense counsel, one Marine Corps attorney said.
That's one problem; another problem is that if this becomes a political football, one of two bad things could happen: They will either be railroaded, or else the Corps will rally around its own, potentially giving only a slap on the wrist for what is a war crime. If a massacre really took place, those responsible should be prosecuted to the full extent of military law. Unfortunately, there is no way we can get a real, fair trial when the antiwar forces are using this as a propaganda tool and the administration and the Corps feel like they're under siege.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, who was also briefed on the reports, said his committee will hold hearings on the incident after lawmakers return from their Memorial Day recess.
Hunter was matter-of-fact about the reports contents.
It is not good, he said. Let the chips fall where they may.
The massacre at My Lai was bad enough, but the attempted coverup and the slap on the wrist for the officers involved made it worse. If a massacre took place in this instance, military law must be brought into full force. On the other hand, if there's more here than meets the eye, clowns like Murtha are going to be guilty of poisoning the trials of these Marines. It's a lose/lose proposition. And don't even get me started on the news coverage.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
05/24/2006 20:46 ||
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The sad reality of this, no matter iff these Marines are ever found guilty or not, one or more American Hiroshima event or events will automat prove Dubya's folly for the Left-MSM. Any nuclearized new 9-11(s) will be used to show mainstream America + World that how the US fought and Democrats lost America's war in Vietnam was nothing compared to POTUS Dubya's-GOP's Male Brute, Fascist, decadent Americanski Capitalist Materialist Imperialist warmongering follies.
Basra, 24 May (AKI) - Three Pakistanis arrested in southern Iraq in recent says were in possession of large quantities of arms and explosives, says the police chief of al-Zubayr, Ahmad Ali. He told Adnkronos International (AKI) that the border police had tipped them off that "some infiltrators had entered the country illegally and were based in al-Zubayr [south of Basra]. "Our investigators soon identified three non-Arabs in the area and after several days of surveillance, it emerged that three Pakistanis had entered illegally across the Iranian border and were in possession of large quantities of arms and powerful explosives."
It's a cultural thing, ya can't consider yourself a true son of Pakistan without arms, explosives and phony passports
"This confirmed out suspicions that they were involved in criminal activities" Ali noted, adding that the three Pakistanis "are being interrogated to discovered who financed and sent them."
Posted by: Steve ||
05/24/2006 10:00 ||
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NOT coming to major British broadcast news outlets in 5.. 4.. 3..
Posted by: Howard UK ||
05/24/2006 11:16 Comments ||
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They'll just call them "asian"
Posted by: john ||
05/24/2006 17:17 Comments ||
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A NEPHEW of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has been arrested in Beirut on suspicion of crimes against the Iraqi people, the Iraqi Government said today.
"The criminal Bashar Sabawi was arrested in Beirut in cooperation with Interpol," a government statement said without giving the date of the arrest.
Bashar's father Sabawi testified this week in the trial of his brother Barzan and half-brother Saddam. Sabawi himself was arrested on the Syrian border in February 2005 on charges of funding the insurgency.
"Bashar is at the top of a list of those wanted for their crimes against the Iraqi people during and after the fall of the dictator," the government statement said.
"This is also a message to terrorists inside and outside Iraq and a victory for our intelligence services," it added.
Bashar's brother Ayman, also accused of being involved in the insurgency, was arrested exactly a year ago, on May 2005 during an operation in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit.
GEN. HAM: Good afternoon. It's nice to be back. About two weeks ago, General Eickenberry was here to address the situation in Afghanistan. Since then, since his visit here, Operation Mountain Lion, a combined operation with Afghan, U.S. and other coalition members participating, has transitioned into what we call the stability and reconstruction phase, which will go on for some weeks. And I'd like to give you a quick summary of what's been accomplished so far during Operation Mountain Lion.
More than 30 Iraqis died in car bombings, drive-by shootings, assassinations and other attacks on Tuesday, including 11 killed when a bomber riding a motorbike detonated his explosives at a falafel stand after dinnertime near a heavily Sunni area of northern Baghdad.
The killings, whose victims included children and a university professor, underscored the tremendous challenges facing the new government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. He is trying to find candidates for Iraq's three security ministries who will not be vetoed by the rival political groups in his fragile coalition.
One day after Mr. Maliki predicted that American and British troops would be able to withdraw from all but two provinces by the year's end, Bush administration officials repeatedly tried Tuesday to tamp down expectations that major troop withdrawals could occur quickly.
"We are not going to harness ourself to an artificial timetable," said Tony Snow, the White House spokesman. "The conditions on the ground tell us that our job's not done."
The deputy director for regional operations on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, said at a news conference at the Pentagon that he was unaware of any plans for a specific number of troops to be withdrawn.
"You can't do it too fast," General Ham said. "We've talked some about rushing to failure, and we've got to be very careful to not do that."
And in a stark admission of the security problems Iraq faces, three years after President Bush asserted that "major combat operations" in Iraq were complete, the American ambassador to Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, acknowledged that American forces do not control regions of western Iraq.
"I believe that parts of Anbar are under the control of terrorists and insurgents," Mr. Khalilzad said in an interview on CNN. Anbar Province stretches from Falluja, just west of Baghdad, all the way to the Syrian and Jordanian borders. The province has long been a stronghold of Sunni insurgents, and residents along the Euphrates River say the group once known as Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and similar organizations hold sway in some towns.
For his part, Mr. Bush pledged Tuesday that he would make a "new assessment" of what Iraq's military needs are, now that a constitutionally elected government has taken power.
"We haven't gotten to the point yet where the new government is sitting down with our commanders to come up with a joint way forward," Mr. Bush said during an appearance with the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert.
"Trying to stop suiciders which we're doing a pretty good job of on occasion is difficult to do," he added.
Indeed, the relentless killings throughout Iraq have called into question whether some regions will ever be stable enough that American troops can be pulled out without risking a tumble into civil war.
In Sadr City, the huge Shiite slum in eastern Baghdad, a car bomb in a crowded marketplace killed 5 people and wounded at least 15 about 6 p.m. on Tuesday, an Interior Ministry official said.
In eastern Baghdad, a bomb in a parked car detonated late Tuesday morning as a convoy of Iraqi commandos passed by, killing five Iraqis and wounding five more, according to the official. Gunmen also assassinated a professor and a Ministry of Industry official.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/24/2006 00:30 ||
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Bangladesh Buccaneers: Chittagong anchorage - nineteen incidents have been reported since January 28 2006. Pirates are targeting ships preparing to anchor.
Recently reported incidents
May 22 2006 at 0620 LT in posn: 09:16.7N - 014:42.5W, 60nm from Conakry, Guinea. Two speedboats approached a product tanker underway and six pirates armed with automatic rifles and RPG boarded. They took hostage cook and forced him to take them to master's cabin. Two pirates went to the bridge and took hostage Conning Officer. Two more pirates were stationed on port and stbd at cargo deck and aimed their weapons at the bridge. When cook arrived at master's cabin and informed that pirates were on board, Master sent security message. Master was taken to the bridge and pirates demanded cargo documents which were produced. Pirates then demanded cash and master handed over about USD3, 000. Pirates disembarked at 0650 and fled. Description of boat (main boat): 5 - 7 meters in length, metallic grey/green, engine - Yamaha 40, name on hull - "kassa p 17". Second boat: 15 - 20 meters in length without any identity marks. Leader of pirates spoke Portuguese.
May 22 2006 at 0300 LT at Chittagong anchorage 'B', Bangladesh.
Two unlit boats approached a container ship. One boat with ten robbers armed with long knives came close and two robbers boarded using grappling hooks. Deck Officer raised alarm and robbers escaped.
May 20 2006 at 0810 UTC at Kingston outer anchorage, Jamaica. Two boats approached a container ship. One boat had five robbers armed with knives and the other had one. They tried to board but Deck Officer raised alarm, crew mustered, activated fire hoses and directed searchlights and boarding was averted. Master reported incident but received no response from coast guard.
May 20 2006 at 0245 LT in position 17:52.7N - 076:46.6W, Kingston outer anchorage, Jamaica. Five persons in a small unlit boat approached a container ship. Alert crew directed searchlights at the boat and boarding was averted. At 0305 LT and 0315 LT two other ships at anchorage reported attacks by robbers.
May 18 2006 at 2350 LT in position 01:13.8N - 103:34.8E, west OPL, Singapore straits. Five boats, dark brown colour with 2-3 men in each boat, approached a bulk carrier at anchor and prepared grappling hooks for boarding. Alert crew raised alarm and activated fire hoses. Attempted boarding was averted.
From the Better Late Than Never Desk:
April 30 2006 at river Krishna, Andhra Pradesh, India. Four armed Maoist and a female accomplice boarded as passengers onboard two passenger vessels. Most of the passengers and crew were forced to disembarked but ten people were held as hostages. The hostages were later freed and the Maoists blew up the vessels. The hijackers were then pursued by armed police as they tried to escape.
#1
New slogan for Chittagong anchorage: Only 19 incidents of piracy since January!
(Why the hell anyone would want to anchor there in the first place is beyond me)
New slogan for Kingston Outer Anchorage, Jamaica: We're Number 2!
Iraqi police said on Tuesday that six people have been killed and 15 injured when a car bomb exploded in the eastern part of Sadr city in the capital. Police added death toll may raise since these are first estimates from hospitals and because of the seriousness of some of the injured ones. Earlier, eyewitnesses said the improvised car bomb caused many civilian deaths and that ambulances were rushing to the scene.
Meanwhile, an Iraqi centralized criminal court indicted twelve people accused of terrorism acts, among them one sentenced to the death penalty. A statement by the Multi-National forces in Iraq said the court sentenced the man because of his involvement in organizing and executing acts of terrorism.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2006 00:00 ||
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Seven dead bodies were found Tuesday in the northern city of Mosul, said security source. The source mentioned that Iraqi police patrols found five dead bodies in a car behind a police station in Al-Sokar neighborhood west of Mosul. Another body was discovered in a car west of the city, added the source. A body with no civil identification was pulled out of water in the southeastern part of Mosul, said the source. Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen abducted a civilian, who is the brother of a well-known physician in Kirkuk.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2006 00:00 ||
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Eleven Iraqis were killed and seven wounded in an explosion near a husseiniyah in the northern Baghdad suburb of Tunisia, a security source said. The interior ministry source told KUNA the blast caused severe damage to the husseiniyah and to nearby buildings. He said it is still unknown whether it was a car bomb or a booby-trapped motorcycle. As many as 13 people were killed and 20 wounded in two other car bomb explosions in Baghdad earlier on Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2006 00:00 ||
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An Iraqi citizen was killed and 13 others were injured Tuesday after a bomb exploded near a bakery in Zaafarnia area south of Baghdad, said security source. The source told KUNA that a Bomb exploded near a bakery in Kabisi Market killing an Iraqi and injuring 13 others as well as inflicting damage to the surrounding properties. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Police said that the Tunisia's neighborhood bombing on a husseiniyah which killed 11 Iraqis and injured 7 others was caused by a booby-trapped motorbike.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2006 00:00 ||
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EFL: Look how dey massacred my boy...
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A Gaza security chief loyal to moderate President Mahmoud Abbas was killed when his car blew up Wednesday, the second attack on security commanders in the volatile area in less than a week. Real impressed with the security around the "security chiefs", by the way...
It was not immediately clear who planted the bomb. The attack came during an increasingly bloody power struggle between the Hamas government and Abbas. I dunno...the Barzini's, maybe?
The security chief killed Wednesday was identified as Nabil Hodhod, head of the elite Preventive Security Service in central Gaza. The security branch has been spearheading the confrontation against the Hamas militia. Ooooh. "Elite". Let's all act impressed.
Security officials said Hodhod had just gotten into his car when a bomb went off. Hodhod was killed and his deputy wounded by the blast, the officials said. Yep. That's the way they usually works...
Hundreds of gunmen loyal to Hamas marched through the streets of Gaza City in military-style formation, raising assault rifles and copies of the Quran. This is my rifle, this is my Quran! This is my rifle, this is my Quran! This is... In other sports news...
In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers shot and killed four Palestinians and wounded 33 others, Palestinians said, after an Israeli arrest raid turned violent. The Israeli force captured militants including Mohammed Shubaki, an Islamic Jihad leader, and took him out of Ramallah. The army said an undercover Israeli unit in a sedan was fired on by militants and set ablaze, and regular forces were confronted by a huge riot and gunfire.
In Gaza, Hamas blamed Abbas' rival Fatah group for the kidnapping and shooting of its militants near the southern town of Khan Younis. Hamas activists said the kidnappers served in the Preventive Security Service.
Armed clashes between Hamas and Fatah intensified last week after the Hamas government deployed its own 3,000-member force of militants to the streets.
The three Hamas militants emerged from morning prayers at a mosque near the town of Khan Younis. A car with masked gunmen pulled up, bundled the Hamas members into the vehicle and sped off, Hamas officials said.
About 15 minutes later, the three Hamas men were found lying in the street near a gas station. Two had been shot in the legs and the third in the abdomen and leg. Hamas officials said the man with the stomach and leg injuries died at a nearby hospital. He was identified as Salem Kadih, 22. Fatah declined to comment on the incident. Maybe they, "fell down"?I
n another twist, a 1,000-member unit of gunmen made its debut Wednesday, marching through Gaza City in black T-shirts and bandanas. They professed support for the Hamas militia, even though the logos on their T-shirts identified them as Fatah loyalists. I'M SOOOOO CONFUSED....
Fatah immediately distanced itself from the unit, whose commander, Khaled Abu Hilal, is a former Fatah member who has since been disowned by the group and serves as spokesman of the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry. Looks like somebody's got money rolling in...
#1
Dear Mr. Fatah,
As you know you are our oldest and bestest enemy. In consideration of past business we would like to point out that the AQ and IJ were behind this attack. Tip: Avoid all RPG-7s with SNs ending with 19, this is to should our sincerity.
Still under your bed if you need to reach us.
Regards,
#3
The security chief killed Wednesday was identified as Nabil Hodhod, head of the elite Preventive Security Service in central Gaza. The security branch has been spearheading the confrontation against the Hamas militia.
Actually, we SHOULD be impressed. This guy and his troops have done a GREAT job of preventing security.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/24/2006 17:31 Comments ||
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DEBKAfile Reports: A bomb planted in his car killed Nabil Hudhud, commander of the pro-Fatah preventive security service in Gaza Wednesday night. DEBKAfiles exclusive sources report Hudhud was driving along the coastal road when his car blew up.
Just blew up, you say?
The dead man was one of Mahmoud Abbas most important allies in the Gaza Strip, along with Mohammed Dahlan. Suspicion for the murder falls first on Hamas, which is engaged in a violent contest against Fatah and Abbas following. However, responsibility for the attempted assassination Saturday of another close Abbas associate, commander of Palestinian general intelligence General Tareq Abu Rajub, was taken by al Qaeda.
So many suspects, so little popcorn
Posted by: Steve ||
05/24/2006 15:09 ||
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Posted by: Kalle ||
05/24/2006 15:51 Comments ||
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#7
This one we do for free.
We establish ourselves and take the heat from now on. You cry and moan, say you can't guarantee peace and stability - no funding for it. When the EU restarts the money flow, we get 20% off the top.
The IDF would like to express its deep joy concern over the fortuitous unexpected Yassination demise of your buggermate close colleague, Nabil "Buns-Up" Hudhud. We found it hilarious disturbing that your current stalematestand-offcivil war dispute with Pig's Ass Hamas has escalated risen to such an amusing alarming degree.
Please rely upon us to point and laugh provide whatever Hellfire enemas assistance that will liquidate even more of your thugs contribute to a major increase cessation of this endless interecine thuggery conflict.
We joyously anticipate look forward to continual continued bloodshed and mayhem progress towards parceling out peace-making in our future co-prosperity spheres the Palestinian Terrortories Territories.
In closing, we cannot thank you enough but hope that endless strife in some measure catastrophe reconciliation might fade from hope finally be visited upon you bolstered through more lunatic psycho gun-sex negotiation. Furthermore, we are immensely grateful hoping that you keep saving us the trouble find a path towards peace never sometime soon.
EFL: Three Palestinians were shot dead Wednesday during an Israeli raid in the heart of the West Bank's administrative capital that also resulted in the capture of a leading Islamic Jihad militant. Around 30 other people were wounded in the Ramallah operation that saw Mohammed al-Shubaki, the commander of Jihad in the Qalqilya area of the northern West Bank, arrested. DEBKA sez 4 dead, 35 wounded
His capture came a day after Israeli troops also nabbed the overall head of the governing Hamas movement's armed wing in Ramallah. According to Palestinian security sources, the Israeli forces entered Ramallah to provide back-up for a unit of elite undercover soldiers who were already operating in the town. An Israeli army spokesman said the forces opened fire only after they came under attack from gunmen.
The deaths in Ramallah overshadowed another bout of intra-factional violence in the Gaza Strip where a Hamas follower was killed after being abducted in the southern town of Khan Yunis. Salim Qadih died of his injuries after being kidnapped along with two other members of the Hamas armed wing by unknown gunmen outside a mosque in the southern town. The three were then dumped in the road several hours later before being rushed to the town's Nasser hospital for emergency treatment.
Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility, the shooting came amid a spate of armed clashes between supporters of the governing Hamas faction and followers of the former ruling Fatah movement. After news emerged of Qadih's death, hundreds of Hamas followers gathered outside the hospital in protest.
Two members of a new Hamas paramilitary force which was set up by the Islamist government in defiance of a veto by Abbas, who is also de facto leader of Fatah, were also wounded Wednesday by unknown gunmen in Gaza City. In further violence, security sources reported that a bomb had exploded in front of a Hamas official's house in the central Nusseirat refugee camp, without causing casualties.
The tensions between Hamas and Fatah have been growing by the day, exacerbated by Hamas's decision to deploy members of its own volunteer force while Abbas, the de facto leader of Fatah, was travelling abroad. Under the terms of the Palestinian basic law, responsibility for security is meant to be the remit of Abbas. The ranks of the police and other security branches remain stuffed with Fatah supporters despite the faction's defeat at the hands of Hamas in January parliamentary elections.
A Jordanian driver was killed and nine Palestinians wounded on Monday when the rival forces became embroiled in an armed confrontation outside the Gaza branch of the Palestinian parliament.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/24/2006 10:41 ||
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#1
Salim Qadih died of his injuries after being kidnapped along with two other members of the Hamas armed wing by unknown gunmen outside a mosque in the southern town.
Masked gunmen have killed a member of the governing Palestinian group Hamas and wounded two others in Gaza City. The three men were abducted as they left a mosque and were left wounded at a petrol station in southern Gaza. One of the men, who had been shot in the abdomen, died from his wounds. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes amid a power struggle between Hamas and the police dominated by former ruling party Fatah.
Wednesday's incident began after morning prayers when a car pulled up and gunmen bundled the three men inside, Hamas officials said.
"Youse guys, in da car! We're taking you for a ride!"
About 15 minutes later, the three men were found lying in the street, two of them with leg wounds.
This would be a warning or punishment
The man who died, Salem Kadih, 22, was wounded in the stomach and leg.
Gut shot, they didn't like him very much. Leaving him to die in agonizing pain on a dirty street, his life slowly leaking out of his body while the flies buzz around him......oops, need to put another bag of popcorn in the microwave
Posted by: Steve ||
05/24/2006 10:30 ||
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Senior intelligence officials in the Palestinian Authority have indicated that Hamas terrorists who split with the leadership over its politicization may have well made their way into the Gaza-area infrastructure of the Al-Qaeda international Jihad movement.
Contributing to the probability of this scenario is a special Egyptian Foreign Ministry release according to which the terrorists who carried out the suicide bombings in Dahab trained with help of Islamist elements from Gaza and El-Arish. Furthermore, an Egyptian authority on fundamentalist Islam, Abdelrahman Alian, told the Al-Arabiya television station that Al-Qaeda is working towards a three-point organizational structure, encompassing Amman, Gaza and Sinai, under the command of Iraq-based leadership. Alian said that Hamas rebels have joined the Egyptian-based Tawhid terror group and Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Hamas spokesmen have quickly condemned the bombings in Egypt at the time, saying that the organization is careful not to endanger the security of Arab states.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/24/2006 00:44 ||
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#1
Be still our shocked Shocked SHOCKED S-H-O-C-K-E-D HEARTS.
#4
I'll wager al-Qaeda's paychecks not bouncing may have something to do with it.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/24/2006 9:55 Comments ||
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#5
Exactly, Cap. The idea that there are multiple organizations is pure crap propaganda, intended to provide a measure of deniability. Hamas, Hezbollah, Al-Q - it's all the same. All organized by Saudi Wahhabi/Salafi clerics.
#8
As I recall, Hamas is the local branch of the Egypt-centered Muslim Brotherhood (although now getting funding from Iran), Hizb'allah is tied to Iran, the various PLO/Fatah affiliates used to be funded by the Soviets before the EU got in on the act, and the local Al Qaeda is the directly funded, fashionable newcomer. Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq used to give 5-figure checks to the families of successful suicide bombers, but I don't believe they funded the front end of things. This is not my area of expertise, but I'm not aware that Saudi funding was ever significant to any of these organizations, although the Saudis like to talk big.
AN Iraqi member of al-Qaeda confessed on Jordanian television today to killing a Jordanian driver by shooting him in the head and to kidnapping two Moroccan embassy employees last year. Ziyad Khalaf Karbouli, described as a local head of al-Qaeda network in the Iraqi town of Rutba near the border with Jordan, said he was responsible for last October's kidnapping of two Moroccans, who worked at their country's Baghdad embassy.
The two went missing in October while returning by road from a trip to Jordan. Al-Qaeda said in November it had sentenced the two men to death, but Moroccan authorities say they believe the pair are still alive and they are working for their release. "I took the Moroccans to al-Qaeda headquarters," Karbouli said describing how he handed them over to a senior al-Qaeda militant known as Abu Azzam who told him their leader Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was aware of their mission.
Karbouli, alias Abu Huthayfa, who worked as customs clearance official near the Iraqi border with Jordan, went into detail about how he kidnapped Khaled Dasouki, a Jordanian driver who worked on the Baghdad-Amman highway six months ago. "I told him 'I have to kill you' and he started pleading and said 'don't kill me'. Then I told him 'I have to kill you' and so I pulled my personal gun and shot him twice in the head," a composed Karbouli said.
The official report that quotes security officials said Karbouli had also confessed to participating in killing four Iraqi national guardsmen and kidnapping government officials.
The state news agency quoted a senior Jordanian security official yesterday as saying they had arrested a senior al-Qaeda operative thought to be behind a spate of kidnappings, killings of foreigners and other acts of violence. It was not clear how senior Karbouli was in al-Qaeda.
Karbouli said al-Qaeda had a deep grudge against Jordan, one of Washington's closest Arab allies which supported the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. "There is great vengeance against Jordan and the Jordanians by al Qaeda whom it accuses the kingdom of cooperating with the Americans and supplying them with goods," Karbouli said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/24/2006 00:07 ||
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Israel has speeded up efforts to develop long-range cruise missiles of a type that could be used should the Jewish state try to strike at Iran's nuclear facilities, security sources said yesterday. Israel sent warplanes to destroy Iraq's main atomic reactor at Osiraq in 1981 and has not ruled out similar action to prevent its archfoe from getting the bomb should US-led diplomatic pressure on Tehran fail. The greater ranges to Iran's nuclear facilities might make cruise missiles more practical than planes, but the United States has rebuffed past Israeli requests to buy them. Cruise missiles are programmed to seek out and hit distant targets, flying low to avoid radar. But only the United States and Russia are known to have mastered all aspects of production.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
But only the United States and Russia are known to have mastered all aspects of production.
And that New Zealand bloke who built one in his shed.
#5
I am impressed, Besoeker -- you are a man of surprising talents. Only it would be Yeled Gadol or Yeled Katan... the adjective goes after the noun. For the non-linguists, yeled means boy in Hebrew; gadol is big, katan is little.
#11
Ahhh, so that's what Turkey's top secret space program is for--launching Iranian cruise missiles. How do we know only the US and Russia have mastered production? Same way we knew Iran was years away from even enriching uranium?
#15
#9 Darth - Now, that's downright inhospitable. We should never refuse to take back a present if the recipient is displeased.
How about labeling them, "Return if dissatisified - if you can"? ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/24/2006 14:09 Comments ||
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#16
Perhaps we could misplace a few of our own... inventory errors do happen... or we could just accidentaly leave a copy of the plans at an Israeli embasy.
#17
Actually, cruise missiles are not that hard to build : the Nazis had them in WWII, and did a lot of damage to Great Britain with them. What is difficult is getting the carbon-fibre bodies, the terrain-following guidance and mapping, and the ability to do pop-up launching. However, the Israelis have the experience with their anti-ship missiles, the Popeye missile program, and some others that are not generally talked about. If they really want them, they can build them -- hugely expensive missile series since they would not be able to do a 1000 missile run like we do in the US.
#18
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-1_flying_bomb" gives details of the V-1's construction. Any shop that can bend sheet metal into brake boxes, do basic radiator repair, and handles diesel engines can build a V-1.
Plus to greatly increase the range is not that difficult since much of the range restriction was due to actuator surface controls and the design of same, because of the weight and wind resistance involved.
While Israel spends billions to fortify its border with the Gaza Strip, terrorist groups have found a bypass route into Israel through Sinai, said IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz at the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Tuesday. Instead of risking the high-tech security checkpoints that Israel has designed between Gaza and Israel, terror groups are establishing routes through the largely unfenced Negev and Sinai deserts.
Although the IDF has increased patrols in the area, terrorists have already smuggled 6.5 tons of TNT, 15 rockets, and dozens of RPGs, said Halutz. He also said he would not recommend that the IDF return to Gaza. "Even if we [the IDF] sit in a plaza in the middle of Gaza City, there is no certainty that they won't continue to fire Kassams at Israel," Halutz told the committee.
Halutz said that imposing economic sanctions on the Hamas-led government was more likely to increase its popular support than bring about its downfall.
He also said the recent clashes between Fatah and Hamas gunmen were unlikely to reach the level of civil war.
Halutz said the IDF was also increasing its efforts to prevent terrorist infiltration from the West Bank. Religious MKs on the committee requested that Halutz consider easing restrictions on checkpoints near the West Bank, as thousands of Jewish settlers use them daily.
Regarding the Iranian nuclear threat, Halutz repeated his previous assessment that according to intelligence estimates, Iran would possess a nuclear weapon by 2008-2010 at the earliest.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/24/2006 23:25 ||
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Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement claimed responsibility towards the bombing on the Israeli Sderot town, north of the Gaza strip. A statement for the brigades said it launched a medium-range rocket towards the town. The attack was in retaliation to the assassination of the movement's leading figure Mohammad Al-Dahdoh last Saturday, Al-Quds brigades added. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the attack saying that the bombardment resulted in some material damage.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2006 00:00 ||
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The U.S. Army is researching the prospect of deploying airships to Iraq, both for surveillance as well as for troop transport.
Officials said the army has been briefed on the use of airships equipped with sensors that could provide continuous surveillance over insurgency strongholds in Iraq. The airships would ensure real-time information on insurgency threats to army commands and ease the burden on the Army's unmanned aerial vehicle fleet..
"The capability of an airship would be much greater than that of a tactical UAV," an official said. "We could be provided with a comprehensive situational awareness picture before patrols and other missions."
The Defense Department has held a competition to provide a blimp for troop transport. The finalists were identified as Lockheed Martin and a tiny California firm, Worldwide Aeros.
Both companies have won a total of $3 million in awards to provide the Pentagon with preliminary design work for the air troop transport. Worldwide Aeros, with 40 employees, manufactures blimps for flying billboards.
In September 2006, the Pentagon would determine which one of the companies would win a $100 million contract. In the first stage of the project, the winner would build a 900-foot airship prototype. At a later stage, the U.S. military could order a fleet of the blimps in what could cost up to $11 billion.
Another company, Blackwater USA, has presented a concept for a 120-foot airship packed with infrared sensors, CCD cameras and meant to provide reconnaissance for up to four days at a time. Executives said the 120-foot airship would be ready by the end of 2006.
"If bad guys are setting up IEDs on the side of the road, we can see real-time what's going on," Blackwater USA vice president Chris Taylor said.
The development of the airship marked a new direction for Blackwater USA. Blackwater has provided thousands of security guards and bodyguards for the State Department in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Officials said the military deployment of airships could ensure the retention of UAVs for combat missions. The military has deployed about 1,000 UAVs in Iraq, many of them produced by Israel. Airships like these and better should have been deployed six months after the end of major hostilities. Relatively inexpensive, with known technologies, they could be the ground equivalent of AWACS and have already saved many American lives.
#3
On the serious side, Blackwater knows their stuff - they hire people that know what they are about. They are pretty well known too.
But there are others. If you want to do a good Iraq tour with a good company, first prove that you arent some half assed slack wannabee. Then go see EODT. They consistently impressed the hell out of me doing convoy/facility security, PSD and training of some private and government ISF - as well as the UXO work they are widely known for. As far as civilian contractors go, EODT is the big leagues.
Nevermind who/how I know. If you have the background and want to get into the mix in Iraq but don't wat to get back in the Army/Marines, that's the company I would go with.
#4
Oldspook: I was most impressed by the performance of Blackwater, et al, in Najaf and environs.
But however effective they can be at plowing under vast herds of recalcitrants, I still dislike the idea of not going for the max. If ping-pong balls are needed to hastily dispatch the fuzzy-wuzzy, and they are in the power to be delivered, then I say so be it, and damn any excuse otherwise.
Why haven't blimps been sent, and are only now being considered? Had there been a blimp or two over Fallujah, many precious Marines might still be among us. A blimp, even loaded with our best equipment, is pocket change. So why aren't they there?
#5
THese blimps might potens serve in a variety of missions from armed UAV carrier to GPS and SPAWAR-GMD. The Army at last check is proceeding wid dev of VTOL/VSTOL-style future attack transports for AIRMECH, i.e. Airborne/Airlanding-capable Armored Fighting Vehicles. These blimps may serve as the airborne intermediary between the armed helo and future attack transport, versus traditional heavy sealift and offshore mobile basing, when Army-Marine grunts and Specops absolutely positively need stuff delivered overnite.
#6
Aerostats for surveillance is a good idea, but I have trouble with the concept of using them for troop transport. I guess the idea is that you trade IEDs for ground fire. I would guess that even a jihadi could hit a blimp with a Dragunov 12.7mm.
#7
The important point is not to get too focused on their potential, but what they can do right now. Hell, even taking a can of spraypaint to a Goodyear blimp right now would mean getting one in the air over Iraq where it could do some good.
#8
Groundfire means that blimps are basically going to be used for what they were used for in WW-1 and even the civil war (I think):
static observation.
Differece being its all unmanned stuff - no crew at risk, static location, remote operated and monitored - with a good field of view. Maybe even a hellfire or 2 on the payload bay for snaphots on targets of opportunity (like the Predator).
Given they can make compartmentalized helium bags, and kevlar coating on the outside, and amor up the payload bay - means they will be highly unlikely to be "shot down". Just a slow leak, allowing them to be reeled in, repaired and relaunched.
Certainly a lot cheaper than a Kiwoa or Longbow or Little Bird.
Put these at proper intervals along the log routes and over the city routes - plus move them to 'hot spots". This woudl stop a lot of the IED emplacement - hellfire out of nowhere tends to discourage enve the most determined bomb emplace.
Put the blimp up at 8000 ft, static and stabilized position. Even the most hardcore gunner is goign to have trouble doing meaningful damage to it, yets a full sensor package will be able to zoom in quite well on any MTI's spotted by FLIR or other observation mechanisms.
"In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and prayers and peace upon the Prophets and Messengers. As for what follows:
From Usama bin Muhammad bin Ladin to the American people: peace be upon he who has followed the Guidance.
This is a brief message whose topic is my testimony on behalf of the Muslim prisoners you are holding, and in it I will talk about the truth concerning them, which is something which the Bush administration hates and is hostile to.
I begin by talking about the honorable brother Zacarias Moussaoui. The truth is that he has no connection whatsoever with the events of September 11th, and I am certain of what I say, because I was responsible for entrusting the 19 brothers - Allah have mercy upon them - with those raids, and I did not assign brother Zacarias to be with them on that mission. And his confession that he was assigned to participate in those raids is a false confession which no intelligent person doubts is a result of the pressure put upon him for the past four and a half years.
And were this pressure lifted from him for him to return to his normal state, he would state the fact I mentioned. And among the things that confirm this fact is that the participants in September 11th were two groups: pilots and support teams for each pilot in order to control the aircraft. And since Zacarias Moussaoui was learning how to fly, it follows that he wasn't component #20 from the teams which helped to control the airplanes, as your government previously claimed, and your government knows this fact with certainty. And if Moussaoui was studying aviation to become a pilot of one of the planes, then let him tell us the names of those assigned to help him control the plane.
But he won't be able to tell us their names, for a simple reason: that in fact they don't exist. This is from one perspective, and from another perspective, the brother Moussaoui was arrested two weeks before the events, and had he known anything - however little - about the September 11th group, we would have told the brother Commander Mohamed Atta and his brothers - Allah have mercy upon them - to leave America immediately before their affair was exposed. And with this it becomes clear to even the novice investigator - not to mention the seasoned one - that there is no connection between him and the events of September 11th.
And then I call to memory my brothers the prisoners in Guantanamo - may Allah free them all - and I state the fact, about which I also am certain, that all the prisoners of Guantanamo, who were captured in 2001 and the first half of 2002 and who number in the hundreds, have no connection whatsoever to the events of September 11th, and even stranger is that many of them have no connection with al-Qaida in the first place, and even more amazing is that some of them oppose al-Qaida's methodology of calling for war with America.
And this is in addition to the arrest of those who were working in the relief agencies, like Abu Abdul Aziz al-Mutrafi, or those working in the media, like Sami al-Hajj and Taysir Alouni, who was imprisoned at the instigation of the American administration. So the conclusion is that all the prisoners to date have no connection with the events of September 11th and knew nothing about them, with the exception of two of the brothers, may Allah free them all. Bush and his administration are aware of this fact, but they avoid mentioning it, for reasons not hidden to the discerning.
Among these reasons is that it is necessary to create justifications for the massive spending of hundreds of billions on the Defense Department and other agencies in their war against the Mujahideen. My mentioning of these facts isn't out of hope that Bush and his party will treat our brothers fairly in their cases, because that is something no rational person expects, but rather it is meant to expose the oppression, injustice and arbitrariness of your administration in using force and the reactions that result from that. This is from one perspective, and from another perspective, perhaps there will one day come from the Americans someone who desires justice and fairness, and that is the path to security and safety, if you are interested in it.
This is what needed to be said. And may peace be upon he who has followed the Guidance."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/24/2006 00:04 ||
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#1
This is a beautiful move by Binny. Undoubtedly there will be calls to let him go from the lefty idiots here and people abroad.
#2
Keep sending out those tapes, Binster. Your people are longing for your guidance, your people need to hear your voice at least three times a week, or they will lose faith and stray from the path of the righteous.
#4
Sad. Reduced to pleading that his boy is innocent, innocent I say. Next year, hawking time share condos on late, late night TV.
Posted by: ed ||
05/24/2006 7:12 Comments ||
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#5
"rather it is meant to expose the oppression, injustice and arbitrariness of your administration in using force and the reactions that result from that. This is from one perspective, and from another perspective, perhaps there will one day come from the Americans someone who desires justice and fairness, and that is the path to security and safety, if you are interested in it."
Is he taunting us to attack Iran? What is he suggesting we do, negotiate with him? And doesn't posting on the Net make it easier to find the source for NSA?
#6
Naah, no interest, copies being sold by K-Tel records with Ginsu knifes and miracle cleanser.
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/24/2006 14:13 Comments ||
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#7
My mentioning of these facts isn't out of hope that Bush and his party will treat our brothers fairly in their cases, because that is something no rational person expects, but rather it is meant to expose the oppression, injustice and arbitrariness of your administration in using force and the reactions that result from that. This is from one perspective, and from another perspective, perhaps there will one day come from the Americans someone who desires justice and fairness, and that is the path to security and safety, if you are interested in it.
Brought to you by the Committee to Re-Elect John Kerry President
Posted by: Steve ||
05/24/2006 14:13 Comments ||
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#8
If he was a BRAVE LION OF ISLAM he would come to New York and testify on Moussaoui's behalf.
But he is not a BRAVE LION OF ISLAM. Just another fricking crybaby coward hiding in tunnels in PakiWakiLand.
TERRORISTS linked to the group blamed for the Bali bombings are being trained in the use of chemical weapons that can cause widespread death and destruction.
Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna has warned that the authorities have proof Jemaah Islamiah has been training its operatives in chemical warfare.
Dr Gunaratna said authorities had recovered a training manual from the home of a senior JI leader instructing terrorists on how to develop and launch an attack with the deadly chemical, hydrogen cyanide.
"The chemicals and biological agents discussed in the manual were similar to those that al-Qaeda had been experimenting with and producing in laboratories in Afghanistan," Dr Gunaratna said.
"Al-Qaeda has conducted experiments on dogs and rabbits exposing them to the fumes and forcing them to die harrowing deaths."
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty yesterday confirmed chemical warfare was an option that terrorist groups might consider, saying: "We do have to be prepared for biological and chemical attacks."
Speaking from Kuala Lumpur, where he was attending a meeting of regional police chiefs, Mr Keelty said groups such as JI had demonstrated their ability to quickly embrace new technology.
The AFP has been given $19.1million over five years to establish a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) data centre, which will be responsible for collating and co-ordinating the latest information on threats, strategies to combat them and sending the information to authorities in the region.
Mr Keelty yesterday signed an agreement with Malaysian police to work together to fight transnational crime, including terrorism. The AFP has already signed agreements with 10 other nations.
Mr Keelty said there was now an unprecedented level of co-operation between regional police agencies, which had put them in a much stronger position to fight terrorism.
Mr Keelty said yesterday one of the breakthroughs from this week's conference was the launch of a web-based criminal database linking member nations and the Interpol database. He said the database would allow authorities to track the movements of criminals and terrorists throughout the region.
Dr Gunaratna, also speaking from Kuala Lumpur yesterday where he was attending a cyber-terrorism conference, said the chemical weapons training manual had been seized during a raid on the home of JI leader Taufiq Rifqi in the southern Philippines.
The document has been analysed and translated by the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research's Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies. Dr Gunaratna said the manual was "rudimentary when compared to al-Qaeda manuals but it demonstrated a clear intent of JI to develop chemical and biological weapons".
He said the interest of global jihad groups to manufacture, develop and use chemical and biological weapons such as hydrogen cyanide was growing significantly. Hydrogen cyanide is a widely used industrial chemical which in high doses is extremely toxic, causing laboured breathing, headaches, dizziness, hyperventilation, convulsions, heart attack and death.
Dr Gunaratna said JI had also been involved in training in al-Qaeda's anthrax program in Afghanistan.
He said there had been past plans to move the anthrax laboratory from Afghanistan to Indonesia but the plans were thwarted by the "vigilance" of the Indonesian, Thai and Malaysian police and subsequent arrest in 2003 of JI operations chief Hambali.
Dr Gunaratna said jihadist groups around the world were keen to use chemical warfare and said governments should invest more in developing intelligence on these groups.
#1
Obviously amateurs. Though civilians are the optimal target for chemical weapons, their choice of weapons is based on some TV show they saw once.
There are literally hundreds of untracked industrial chemicals of extraordinary toxicity that can easily be obtained via a corrupt toxic waste disposal company.
Many of these are regularly transported in bulk in tanker trucks over major highways through population centers without notice.
#2
Yes, amateurs. Hydrogen cyanide was effective when contained in the Nazi gas chambers (though Tehran denies it happened), but it has never been used as a field weapon (aside from possibly some Saddam experimentation), and for good reasons. I see and welcome a future full of terrorist work accidents.
"Al-Qaeda has conducted experiments on dogs and rabbits exposing them to the fumes and forcing them to die harrowing deaths."
If they knew where to look, they could find far more toxicity data than they could develop themselves, especially for the industrial chemicals. But I suspect that their experimentation has more to do with visually impressing their scientifically-ignorant jihadi masters than with actually obtaining useful data.
POLICE have arrested a man caught manufacturing blasting caps similar to the ones used in the Rizal Day bombings that killed 22 people and wounded 120 others in various parts of Metro Manila in 2000, and in the terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 189 people in the Indonesian island resort of Bali two years later.
The National Bureau of Investigation identified the alleged explosives manufacturer as Rodolfo Arahan, whom it presented to the media yesterday, four days after his arrest during a raid on his house and shop in the village of Hulugan, Tanza, Cavite, last Friday.
We are now determining his possible linkage to the Jemaah Islamiyah because the blasting caps he made were identical to those used in the Rizal Day and Bali bombings, NBI acting Director Nestor Mantaring told reporters.
Seized from the 45-year-old suspect, who claimed he manufactured blasting caps for dynamite fishing only, were big plastic bags of highly explosive TNT, potassium nitrate, picric acid, pentaerythritol tetranitrate and low explosive black powder along with 37 blasting caps, 247 blasting cap casings, 23 time fuses, metal sheet cutters and molding machines, officials said.
All these chemicals combined are enough to destroy a quarter of the whole NBI headquarters, said Romeo Cotingjo, an NBI explosives expert.
Two weeks ago, NBI detectives posing as buyers obtained from Arahan a bottle of ammonium nitrate mixed with kerosene that is often used in blast fishing, the officials said.
Carlo Valdez, chief of the NBIs Anti-Terrorism Division, said they had received information that Arahan sells his products to clients in Basilan and Jolo, known lairs of the Abu Sayyaf Group that is linked to the Southeast Asian terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah.
Vasquez said the NBI was coordinating with the Australian Federal Police to determine the similarities between the substances used in the Bali bombing and those seized in the Cavite raid. Arahan denied the accusations, saying that Visayan friends gave him the explosives materials.
The NBI said charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives have been filed against Arahan.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/24/2006 01:02 ||
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#1
You do not want to mess with picric acid if you don't know what your are doing, especially if you get next to certain metals. Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) is one of the most powerful explosives known. This guy had one nasty perloo in his shop.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/24/2006 9:33 Comments ||
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#2
I'll wager the number of people who can build reliable blasting caps at home is exceedingly low. This should put a dent in their operation. Nice catch.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/24/2006 10:00 Comments ||
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Muslim guerrillas on a violent southern island have fatally shot four Philippine marines in separate attacks over two days, a military spokesman said Tuesday.
Capt. Jose Richie Pabilonia, spokesman for the military's Southern Command, said militants from the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group on Jolo island took advantage of a six-day suspension of military operations during a visit of a team from the Organization of the Islamic Conference to gun down the four marines.
In the first attack on Sunday, the victim was jogging at Jolo airport when a lone gunman shot him. Another marine was killed in downtown Jolo town, and two others were fatally shot on the same day, Pabilonia said.
U.S.-backed Philippine military offensives have whittled down the Abu Sayyaf's strength on Jolo from more than 1,000 rebels in early 2000 to about 400, but the rebels remain active. U.S. troops have undertaken civic projects for months on Jolo, including dental treatment and school and road construction, and have trained Filipino soldiers battling Abu Sayyaf militants in other southern provinces.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/24/2006 00:54 ||
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#1
on one side of the runway are the marines, on the other is a shanty town on a hill. The marines have shown great restraint by not crossing the runway and burning them out of the hill side.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/24/2006 14:46 Comments ||
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TEHERAN - Two of the Iranian capitals main universities have been rocked by overnight protests and clashes between students and police, press reports said on Thursday. Some 40 police were lightly injured by stone throwing in front of the Teheran University dormitories, Teherans police chief, General Morteza Talaie, told the official news agency IRNA.
Sources contacted by AFP said the protests were against the changing of university heads and the forced retirement of some professors.
But General Talaie said Tuesday nights unrest was provoked by 20 or 30 supposed students joined by thugs from outside the university. He said police responded with tolerance and restraint and arrested no students. These people had their faces covered, but some of them have been identified, the general said.
Teheran University was the scene of violent clashes in 1999, when students protested over the closure of a pro-reform newspaper and the subsequent intervention by Islamist militiamen from the Basij force. Another university in Teheran was also reported to have seen protests late on Tuesday.
Students at the Amir Kabir University, one of the countrys most prestigious technical colleges, demonstrated against the intervention of Basij in elections for members of the Islamic Student Association -- one of the few remaining pro-reform groups still operating on campus. The student news agency ISNA said protestors shouted slogans including we dont want the Islam of the Taleban and death to reactionaries and dictatorship.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/24/2006 10:51 ||
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#1
we dont want the Islam of the Taleban and death to reactionaries and dictatorship.
well ther you have it . anyone from the George Galloway school of thought care to comment? .. ooh wait a minute :)
Please change your leadership any way you can - while you're still alive to do so.
Cordially,
Your Friend, America
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/24/2006 14:01 Comments ||
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#9
The moolahs don't take kindly to protesters. Let's hope the West shows some backbone and supports their efforts.
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/24/2006 14:02 Comments ||
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#10
Well western 'support' would be great, but that support won't make a hill of beans bit of difference, at least not for the students. Just ask the students at Tien An Men square who were massacred by the hundreds and run over by tanks.
#12
Geek, Western support has been missing despite the courage shown by students in the past.
While correct that, short of immediate military intervention, nothing will protect the students from the thugs, the West does have some leverage.
Economically, the "smart sanctions" underway at European banks and worldwide companies that want to continue to do business with the US is a good start. While the UNSC dithers.
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/24/2006 14:34 Comments ||
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#13
Sources contacted by AFP said the protests were against the changing of university heads and the forced retirement of some professors.
#14
Let's hope our boys from the farm are in there advising and assisting these students. This is great opportunity.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/24/2006 14:39 Comments ||
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#15
Yes, it would be great to pry open a split here, but marching in the street will bring the Basij in the night, and we want to avoid that until we have the IEDs planted.
#16
good for the students. AFAICT this is the biggest protest in Teheran in almost 3 years, and its interesting that it comes right after the protests in Tabriz.
#19
Just ask the students at Tien An Men square who were massacred by the hundreds and run over by tanks.
Tehran, 24 May (AKI) - Fifteen Iranian students have disappeared after clashes with police at the University of Tehran, according to Ali Nikusebti, a leader of Iran's largest students' organisation, Tahkim Vahdat. "We have no news of our classmates since last night" when the clashes occurred, Nikusebti told Adnkronos International (AKI) on Wednesday.
"Officially no student has been arrested and we fear that the 15 are being held by the secret services or by fundamentalists acting under police protection," said the students' leader.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/24/2006 20:34 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.
Taleban fighters' 
An Afghan national, allegedly involved in a robbery, was killed and two policemen were injured on Tuesday during a shootout at an Afghan refugee camp at Nasir Bagh, Peshawar. The injured police officials were shifted to a hospital where their condition was reported to be critical. A police team headed by Inspector Bashir Noon went to the Ghari Afgan Refugee Camp to arrest the alleged robber. The Afghan had allegedly committed an armed robbery in the federal capital and made off with gold ornaments worth Rs 4 million.
Fresh 
British troops in southern Afghanistan have fired their first shots against Taliban fighters, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in London confirmed Tuesday. The 16 Air Assault Brigade fired the "warning" while supporting Afghan national police pursuing insurgents, the MoD said. There is no word on Taliban casualties in the operation in north Helmand.
The Sudanese authorities have denied rebel accusations that they have broken this month's peace deal by attacking and looting a village in Darfur. The region's largest rebel group, which signed the deal with the government, said the army and Arab militias had launched the raid in North Darfur. The BBC's Alfred Taban in Khartoum says the reported attack is very bad news for the peace deal. 
Officials focus on the allegations that the key figure, Muzaffer Tekin, was ordered by a retired general to attack the Turkish State Council. A high-ranking general, whose name is also included in the triggerman, Alparslan Aslans, fathers deposition, heads the organization scheme prepared by the Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT) and the Security General Security. As the investigation regarding the State Council deepens, the links behind the bloody attack have begun to emerge one by one.
NEW YORK: A Pakistani immigrant who claims a paid informant lured him into a phony bomb plot actually did the dirty work himself, picking a busy Manhattan subway station as a target, drawing diagrams and doing reconnaissance, a prosecutor argued. Shahawar Matin Siraj did all those things on his own, of his own volition, Todd Harrison, the assistant US attorney, said on Monday during closing arguments in the mans trial. Siraj was arrested on the eve of the 2004 Republican National Convention on charges he wanted to attack a subway station in Herald Square, a dense shopping district that includes Macys flagship department store.
Pakistani government sources tell ABC News they have "credible reports" that Osama bin Laden and his entourage have moved down from high mountainous peaks along the Afghan border to a valley area 40 miles inside the Pakistan border.
QUETTA: Security forces and Bugti tribesmen continued exchanging fire in various parts of Dera Bugti on Tuesday. "Both sides used weapons of small and large range while exchanging fire in Chashma, Sangsila and Looti areas. The tribesmen also fired six rockets on the forces. However, no serious damage was reported," sources said.
PESHAWAR: Tank police defused and confiscated two Russian-made anti-tank mines and explosives planted beneath an under-construction bridge on the Jandola-Tank road on Tuesday. Deputy Superintendent of Cantt Police Muhammad Khan said that police had received information about explosives planted under a bridge.
SRINAGAR: A suicide attacker rammed his car into a paramilitary truck on Tuesday in Kashmir's capital, killing himself and a soldier and wounding 19 others, police said, a day before India's prime minister arrives in the embattled region to hold peace talks. Those injured in the attack included 16 members of the paramilitary Border Security Force and three civilians, police officer Dilip Singh told The Associated Press. 
Basra, 24 May (AKI) - Three Pakistanis arrested in southern Iraq in recent says were in possession of large quantities of arms and explosives, says the police chief of al-Zubayr, Ahmad Ali. He told Adnkronos International (AKI) that the border police had tipped them off that "some infiltrators had entered the country illegally and were based in al-Zubayr [south of Basra]. "Our investigators soon identified three non-Arabs in the area and after several days of surveillance, it emerged that three Pakistanis had entered illegally across the Iranian border and were in possession of large quantities of arms and powerful explosives." 
Bangladesh Buccaneers: Chittagong anchorage - nineteen incidents have been reported since January 28 2006. Pirates are targeting ships preparing to anchor. 
Iraqi police said on Tuesday that six people have been killed and 15 injured when a car bomb exploded in the eastern part of Sadr city in the capital. Police added death toll may raise since these are first estimates from hospitals and because of the seriousness of some of the injured ones. Earlier, eyewitnesses said the improvised car bomb caused many civilian deaths and that ambulances were rushing to the scene.
Seven dead bodies were found Tuesday in the northern city of Mosul, said security source. The source mentioned that Iraqi police patrols found five dead bodies in a car behind a police station in Al-Sokar neighborhood west of Mosul. Another body was discovered in a car west of the city, added the source. A body with no civil identification was pulled out of water in the southeastern part of Mosul, said the source. Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen abducted a civilian, who is the brother of a well-known physician in Kirkuk.
Eleven Iraqis were killed and seven wounded in an explosion near a husseiniyah in the northern Baghdad suburb of Tunisia, a security source said. The interior ministry source told KUNA the blast caused severe damage to the husseiniyah and to nearby buildings. He said it is still unknown whether it was a car bomb or a booby-trapped motorcycle. As many as 13 people were killed and 20 wounded in two other car bomb explosions in Baghdad earlier on Tuesday.
An Iraqi citizen was killed and 13 others were injured Tuesday after a bomb exploded near a bakery in Zaafarnia area south of Baghdad, said security source. The source told KUNA that a Bomb exploded near a bakery in Kabisi Market killing an Iraqi and injuring 13 others as well as inflicting damage to the surrounding properties. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Police said that the Tunisia's neighborhood bombing on a husseiniyah which killed 11 Iraqis and injured 7 others was caused by a booby-trapped motorbike.
Masked gunmen have killed a member of the governing Palestinian group Hamas and wounded two others in Gaza City. The three men were abducted as they left a mosque and were left wounded at a petrol station in southern Gaza. One of the men, who had been shot in the abdomen, died from his wounds. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes amid a power struggle between Hamas and the police dominated by former ruling party Fatah. 
Israel has speeded up efforts to develop long-range cruise missiles of a type that could be used should the Jewish state try to strike at Iran's nuclear facilities, security sources said yesterday. Israel sent warplanes to destroy Iraq's main atomic reactor at Osiraq in 1981 and has not ruled out similar action to prevent its archfoe from getting the bomb should US-led diplomatic pressure on Tehran fail. The greater ranges to Iran's nuclear facilities might make cruise missiles more practical than planes, but the United States has rebuffed past Israeli requests to buy them. Cruise missiles are programmed to seek out and hit distant targets, flying low to avoid radar. But only the United States and Russia are known to have mastered all aspects of production.
Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement claimed responsibility towards the bombing on the Israeli Sderot town, north of the Gaza strip. A statement for the brigades said it launched a medium-range rocket towards the town. The attack was in retaliation to the assassination of the movement's leading figure Mohammad Al-Dahdoh last Saturday, Al-Quds brigades added. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the attack saying that the bombardment resulted in some material damage.
