AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai has warned that foreign troops may be required in the country until 2015.
Amid discussions to boost Australia's military deployment to more than 500 troops, John Howard pledged yesterday to maintain Australia's commitment to the war on terrorism in Afghanistan.
But talks are under way in Europe over whether a provincial reconstruction team would require Australia to send more troops this year.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer will hold talks in London this week with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Mr Karzai, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Mr Karzai told the World Economic Forum in Davos at the weekend that foreign troops may be required for another five to 10 years to combat terrorists and insurgents.
"That will take many more years to accomplish," he warned.
The Prime Minister reaffirmed yesterday that his commitment to the war on terror would continue until the job was done.
Australia announced earlier this month that it would send an extra 110 troops and two Chinook helicopters to Afghanistan. Mr Downer will discuss plans to send another 200 troops.
However, Australia is also expected to consider withdrawing SAS troops from the region in the lead-up to the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum meeting in Sydney next year after they have served a 12-month tour of duty.
Mr Downer will attend the conference on Afghanistan in London tomorrow and Wednesday. The conference will have the Afghan Government and its donors sign a five-year development plan.
The document will outline ambitious targets such as building the army up to 70,000 soldiers, linking 40 per cent of villages with roads, and getting electricity to 65per cent of urban households and 25per cent of rural homes.
Afghan security forces arrested nine people suspected of plotting attacks including two Pakistanis preparing to become suicide bombers, a provincial governor said today. ''They were captured in three separate raids over the past 48 hours in Kandahar,'' the restive southern province's governor, Assadullah Khalid, told a news conference.
Seven of the suspects, who were believed to be working for the Taliban and al Qaeda, were Afghan and two were Pakistanis preparing to become suicide bombers, he said. The two had identified themselves as Pakistanis, he said.
A vehicle rigged up as a car bomb was seized in one of the raids, Khalid said. He did not identify any of the suspects and declined to give further details.
This month Khalid accused neighbouring Pakistan of training and equipping Taliban suicide bombers. Pakistan, an important ally in the US-led war on terrorism, rejects accusations that Afghan insurgents get help on the Pakistani side of the porous border.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/29/2006 13:20 ||
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#1
Excellent. It's your country, your home, keep it up, Gents.
Taliban insurgents have torched three schools in a restive southern province of Afghanistan, the latest attacks in the militants campaign against the US-backed government and its efforts to promote education. The three newly built schools, where 1,000 boys and girls studied, were gutted on Friday night in different parts of Nawa district in Helmand province, said provincial education chief Mohammad Qasim. I can say that the Taliban were behind this, said Qasim on Saturday, adding that no one was hurt in the attacks. Taliban spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2006 02:54 ||
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#1
They plan to start an acid throwing school in its place. I'm surprised they found them given most of them can't read in the first place.
#5
They burn them down from the outside in Afghanistan, while the NEA burns them out from the inside in America. Both believe only in institutions of 'one true faith' and a curriculum of indoctrination.
Darfur rebels have attacked a Sudanese military base in West Darfur state, killing 78 soldiers, a rebel leader said, accusing Chadian insurgents of working alongside Sudan's armed forces. Khalil Abdallah, political leader of the Darfur rebel National Movement for Reform and Development (NMRD), on Saturday said 17 soldiers were taken prisoner in the attack on the town of Arm Yakui, some 30 km northwest of West Darfur's main town el-Geneina. A Sudanese army source confirmed there was an attack on one of their bases in the area but could not give casualty figures.
"We attacked the town of Arm Yakui today - a Sudanese military base," Abdallah told Reuters. "We killed 78 soldiers and took 17 prisoners," Abdallah said, adding his group lost two men with five injured.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2006 01:39 ||
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The Saudi authorities are investigating the attempted assassination of Abdulaziz al Shanbari on Wednesday in the city of Taif. No one was injured in the shooting attempt.
Asharq al Awsat spoke to al Shanbari who was shaken from the ordeal. I was with my family in our farm north of Taif, when my son Abdul Karim fell ill. I took him to Al Udwani hospital on Shahar street. On my way there, I noticed a Japanese car following us but I did not pay it much attention until the driver tried to collide into my car. I managed to evade him. When I stopped in front of the hospital, I was surprised to see the same car again. The driver fired two shoots in our direction and drove off. No one was hurt.
Calls to Lieutenant Mansour al Turki, Interior Ministry spokesperson, went unanswered. However, security sources told Asharq al Awsat that al Shanbari had informed the police in Taif of the incident and the relevant authorities had immediately launched an investigation into the assassination attempt. Police discovered the Corolla car used in the attempt on Thursday.
Al Shanbari had left the Kingdom in September 2003 and moved to London where he joined the Harakat al Islah (Reform movement) led by Saad al Faqih. He returned two years later after issuing a public apology and called on his former companions to return to the right path. He admitted that his former views about Saudi Arabia were misguided. Meanwhile, al Faqih said from London, I do not have any information about the incident.
"Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!"
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2006 02:31 ||
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Two Jama'atul Mujahideen, Bangladesh (JMB) cadres were arrested at Sharulia village in Mollahat upazila of Bagerhat district on Friday. They are Shahidul Islam alias Palash alias Imon,23, son of Abdul Wahab Munshi and Noor Alam,24 son of Abdul Ali of the village.
Oh, that Abdul Ali. His boy was never any good.
Shahidul Islam is a JMB 'ehsar'. Both the arrestees were involved in suicide bomb attacks on Gazipur court premises on December 12 last year. They were arrested by Gazipur police with the help of Bagerhat Detective Branch (DB) of police following a confessional statement of JMB operation commander Enayet. Earlier, Enayet was arrested from Gazipur district.
Police said Shahidul, who can make 'flux bomb', is one of the accused in two murder cases and another case filed with Gazipur Sadar Police Station under Explosive Substance Act. He confessed to his involvement in bomb attacks on Gazipur court premises, police said.
He made a bomb from solder flux? Or did he make it from a flux capacitor?
Gazipur DB police sub-inspector (SI) Ujjal Kumar Dey left Bagerhat for Dhaka with the two JMB cadres in the afternoon.
Wonder if they make it to Dhaka or whether they encounter their henchmen in an 'ambush' in the early am?
With the latest arrests, the number of JMB cadres held from Mollahat upazila in the last three days rose to five. They included two 'ehsars' The other JMB 'ehsar' who was arrested from Morrelganj upazila on Thursday is Hanif Munshi alias Amor,23. His father Idris Munshi,60, and younger brother Yunus Munshi, 20, were also arrested on the same day. They were remanded for 10 days for further interrogation.
During interrogation, Hanif Munshi told DB police that he is an 'ehsar' and a suicide bomber. He told police that JMB supremo Abdur Rahman and Bangla Bhai made him the leader of Sharishabari upazila unit in Jamalpur district. Police said Hanif Munshi also named many top level leaders of JMB moving in disguise in Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira districts.
Germany may need to build its own nuclear weapons to counter the threat of nuclear bombs falling into the hands of a terrorist state, a former German defence minister said Thursday. "We need a serious discussion over how we can react to a nuclear threat by a terrorist state in an appropriate manner - and in extreme cases with our own nuclear weapons," said Rupert Scholz who served as defence minister from 1988 to 1989.
Gee, he didn't mention the name of a terrorist state. Wonder if he meant Iran?
Germany does not have nuclear weapons and Scholz admitted in a Bild newspaper interview that his remarks were breaking what is widely seen as a national taboo.
Scholz - who is a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) - said Berlin should first try to get binding guarantees from the NATO alliance that it would protect Germany in case nuclear threats were directed at the country. But he insisted if such guarantees were not spelled out in a formal NATO doctrine, then Germany needed to ponder building its own nuclear deterrence system.
You want guarantees, you need to remember whose side you're on.
Such a move would clearly violate the 2+4 Treaty which paved the way for Germany's 1990 reunification by formally ending post-World War II occupation rights in the country for the US, the former USSR, Britain and France. Under article three of the Treaty, Germany renounces "the manufacture and possession of and control over nuclear, biological and chemical weapons."
Rainer Stinner, a member of the opposition Free Democrats (FDP) in parliament, sharply criticized calls for German nuclear weapons. "If we start questioning international treaties, what right do we have to demand that others adhere to them?" said Stinner, adding, "Germany's security would be reduced - not increased - through the possession of nuclear weapons."
The USSR isn't around anymore, and that sorta kicks the legs out from under the treaty. See the ABM Treaty as an example.
Last week French President Jacques Chirac warned that France could use nuclear arms against state sponsors of terrorism against his country. Chirac did not name any country but was widely seen to have been referring to Iran which is suspected of seeking to build nuclear weapons - an allegation strongly denied by Tehran.
Just like it took Nixon to go to China, I wonder if it takes Chirac to rattle the nuclear saber at Iran. No government in the west so far has repudiated or dressed down Chirac for doing this.
#1
Germany may need to build its own nuclear weapons to counter the threat of nuclear bombs falling into the hands of a terrorist state, a former German defence minister said Thursday
*Spiiit* D&%$#@*!!, now I have to clean up my keyboard again. This is gonna make some waves.
Back when I was on active duty, I had a SFC who used to joke about how poland would go on alert every time the germans cranked their Leo II's for weekly PMCS. One can only imagine the thoughts in the russian, polish, and other east euro defense ministries, after reading this article.
Posted by: N guard ||
01/29/2006 15:41 Comments ||
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#2
The German minister later added, "we would be willing to buy them from Iran, if they would supply favorable financing terms."
#3
Berlin should first try to get binding guarantees from the NATO alliance that it would protect Germany in case nuclear threats were directed at the country.
Sure, for a reliable ally like Germany we'd do anything.
#6
I saw how much they were worried about their own asses, when they refused to join the Coalition Of The Willing, in preventing the proliferation and or use of WMD's under the old Saddam regime! Germany needs to first, stop callin the kettle black !
#7
Maybe they should think about kicking the collective a$$es of the MMs of Iran, but they have nothing to kick them with. Typical thinking: always defense, never pre-emptive offence with a coalition of the willing.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/29/2006 17:22 Comments ||
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#8
Gee, he didn't mention the name of a terrorist state. Wonder if he meant Iran?
My money's on a country much closer to Germany that has been making nuclear threats lately.
France.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/29/2006 18:28 Comments ||
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#9
25 shutter nukes are a hell of a lot cheaper than 2 expeditionary divisions.
#10
The actions of the 1968ers coming home to roost? They must think they have to have a deterent against The United States of America.
Now that some in the US awake from inattention to things The Federal Republic of Germany is doing and how "unhelpful" they have become it may be a good idea to put a dapmer on that idea. The world doesn't need more Atomic weapons. It needs none in Europe.
#11
We need to announce a doctrine that any nuclear attack on any state that
a) is non-nuclear and
b) wants to be under our protection/deterrent umbrella, including the Gulf states and non-nuclear NATO powers, will be answered by nuclear anihilation by the US.
A 2nd aspect of this doctrine is that, if the nuke strike in question comes from an unknown source, we will destroy all known nuclear powers on that state department terrorist list just to be safe.
We could include an 'out clause' if the nation attacked concludes they do not want retaliation AND our intel tells us that we are not at risk for a follow on strike. That way the Germans can sign up but still opt out when they conclude they deserved it.
That means if a bomb goes off in Bremen and we're not sure who did it, NK and Iran do not exist 3 hours later. If Venesuela nukes up, we'd do them too.
It's harsh, but it will change the incentive structure with regard to inspections, IAEA cooperation, etc.
#12
Berlin should first try to get binding guarantees from the NATO alliance that it would protect Germany
We saw how binding those NATO guarantees are, when Turkey felt threatened before the invasion of Iraq, and the European NATO members flat out refused to help.
#13
as Tom Lehrer reminded us: "...Once all the Germans were warlike and mean, but that couldn't happen again/ We taught them a lesson in 1918 and they've hardly bothered us since then..."
spoken intro: This year we've been celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the Civil War and the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of World War I and the twentieth anniversary of the end of World War II. So all in all, it's been a good year for the war buffs.
And a number of LPs and television specials have come out capitalizing on all this nostalgia, with particular emphasis on the songs of the various wars.
I feel that if any songs are gonna come out of World War III, we'd better start writing them now. I have one here. Might call it a bit of pre-nostalgia.
This is the song that some of the boys sang as they went bravely off to World War III:*
So long, mom,
I'm off to drop the bomb,
So don't wait up for me.
But while you swelter
Down there in your shelter
You can see me
On your TV.
While we're attacking frontally
Watch Brinkley and Huntley
Describing contrapuntally
The cities we have lost.
No need for you to miss a minute of the agonizing holocaust. Yeah!
Little Johnny Jones, he was a US pilot,
And no shrinking violet was he.
He was mighty proud when World War III was declared.
He wasn't scared, no siree!
And this is what he said on
His way to Armageddon:
So long, mom,
I'm off to drop the bomb,
So don't wait up for me.
But though I may roam,
I'll come back to my home
Although it may be
A pile of debris.
Remember, mommy,
I'm off to get a commie,
So send me a salami
And try to smile somehow.
I'll look for you when the war is over,
An hour and a half from now!
#18
For those of you who sing, or play piano or guitar, there is a Tom Lehrer songbook. It isn't quite complete, but does have most of his oevre. Trailing daughter #1 sang the Irish Lullaby for her school talent show last year -- this being the heart of the Midwest, the first night the audience were appalled at the bloodthirstiness of it all ("But she looks so sweet! Did you hear what she just sang!?!?"), the second night they applauded every verse.
#19
About a maid I'll sing a song,
sing rickety-tickety-tin.
About a maid I'll sing a song,
she did not have her family long.
Not only did she do them wrong -
she did every one of them in,
them in,
she did every one of them in.
aargh - I've got to head off to bed for early rising with Lehrer running through my brain!
Congress has granted unusual authority for the Pentagon to spend as much as $200 million of its own budget to aid foreign militaries, a break with the traditional practice of channeling foreign military assistance through the State Department.
The move, included in a little-noticed provision of the 2006 National Defense Authorization Act passed last month, marks a legislative victory for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who pushed hard for the new powers to deal with emergency situations.
But it has drawn warnings from foreign policy specialists inside and outside the government, who say it could lead to growth of a separate military assistance effort not subject to the same constraints applied to foreign aid programs that are administered by the State Department. Such constraints are meant to ensure that aid recipients meet certain standards, including respect for human rights and protection of legitimate civilian authorities.
"It's important that diplomats remain the ones to make the decisions about U.S. foreign assistance," said George Withers, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America and a former staff member on the House Armed Services Committee. "They can ensure such decisions are taken in the broader context of U.S. foreign policy."
Many lawmakers, too, were initially cool to Rumsfeld's request. The Armed Services committees in both the House and Senate declined to write the provision into their original defense authorization bills, citing concerns about a lack of jurisdiction and an absence of detail about where the money would be spent.
But the Pentagon pressed its case, with senior commanders joining top officials in weighing in with reluctant members.
"This was the most heavily lobbied we've been by the Pentagon in the several years I've been here," said one Senate staff member. "They really, really wanted this."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also threw her support behind the measure
#4
This is only a good idea because the Department of State so ill serves the country's interest. I hope Foggy Bottom takes this as the wake up call it is. Props to Inhof for making it happen.
#5
FMS is a slow process. It takes years to program monies, HR vet units, get political agreements, and develop programs. State Dept holds the money over the foreign political leaders heads as a leverage tool for policy and forcing nations to support us. All in all its a great program. It does not work fast enough to influence the battlefields we are currently in.
For example we are in a country helping them find a terrorist that has moved into their country. We need to give them some compatible radios and weapons that will actually work, or maybe ammo. Nothing-large scale but enough to get the missions we need accomplished done. Currently we cannot help them, even though they are helping us, under the current FMS laws our hand are tied. Agreements like AXA and MLSA have been established as a legal way to get around it but they are political hot potatoes. This new bill will clear the way and will be a great tool for our SF team worldwide.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/29/2006 20:25 Comments ||
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One of the Muslims accused in an FBI anti-terrorism sting in Albany has asked the judge to grant him a bail hearing so he can return to work and take care of his family until his trial later this year. Bail was revoked in September for Yassin Aref, 35, imam of Masjid as-Salam in Albany. Muhammad Hussain, 50, an Albany pizzeria owner and mosque member, remains free on bond. They have denied allegations that they conspired to provide support to Jaish-e-Muhammad, a Pakistan-based group listed by the federal government as a terrorist organization.
After a recent hearing, defense attorney Terence Kindlon said Aref is in Rensselear County Jail where he is being kept in solitary confinement 23 hours a day. Aref, writing directly to US District Court Judge Thomas McAvoy on Jan. 16, said that he has four small children, his wife isnt well, he was the only one with a job and whatever they claimed when they said no bail is not true. The federal court clerk forwarded the letter this week to Kindlon, saying McAvoy does not intend to act on Arefs request and recommending he advise his client to make future requests through the attorney.
Entered as new evidence against Aref in September were entries in his personal journals, shortly after he arrived in the United States in 1999 with his family as refugees from their homeland in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. Prosecutors say the journals show that Aref, while working in Syria for the Islamic Movement in Kurdistan in the late 1990s, knew Mullah Krekar. Krekar later founded Ansar al-Islam, a terrorist group that US authorities contend has ties to al-Qaida and has been responsible for attacks on American forces in the Middle East. Aref and Hussain are accused of laundering money for an FBI informant posing as a businessman and arms dealer. Neither is accused of actual violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2006 02:51 ||
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wife not doing well, 4 kids, perhaps they have family in Kurdish Iraq to take care of them? Don't release this POS to restart his cell mosque
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/29/2006 20:26 Comments ||
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Pakistani security forces arrested a suspected Turkish Al-Qaeda militant in a northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border, a security official said on Sunday.
The man, seized on Saturday, identified himself as Mohammad Yusuf and said he was a Turkish national, a security official said.
The 25-year-old was apprehended when security forces stopped a vehicle at a check point at Shah Alam, five kms from Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan region, he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/29/2006 13:19 ||
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A Levies force seized 12 camels laden with heavy arms and ammunition on Saturday after an exchange of fire with arms smugglers. On a tip-off about the smuggling of arms and ammunition from Afghanistan into Pakistans tribal areas, the Levy force of Kurram Agency raided the smugglers den at 4am on which the smugglers started firing at the security personnel. The gunfight continued for some before and the smugglers fled, leaving behind 12 camels laden with kalashanikovs, light machine guns, bags of gunpowder and a large quantity of ammunition.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2006 02:46 ||
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#1
:: Blinks ::
I'll be a monkey's uncle. The headline really *did* read twelve camels laden with arms...
#5
Think of elephants in the role of heavy earthmover and large truck, they are somewhat near as capable as a catapillar tractor, and can carry about as much as a medium large pickup truck across rough terrain.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/29/2006 22:21 Comments ||
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#6
the Levy Force? So there are still Joos in Pakland?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/29/2006 22:27 Comments ||
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Suspected tribal rebels on Saturday again attacked the Pirkoh gas fields water supply, blasted a main power line and fired rockets at a cantonment area in Balochistan. Dera Bugti District Coordination Officer Abdul Samad Lasi said that militants blew up a water pipeline to the Pirkoh gas plant with explosives. The same pipeline had been attacked twice in the last 15 days and had only been repaired on Friday. Armed men also attacked a pumping station of the Pirkoh gas plant. A 132 KV electricity tower between Barkhan and Rakhni was blown up, disconnecting Barkhan and Kohlu districts from power.
Railway police defused a six-pound bomb from rail track near a bridge just before the Balochistan Express was due to pass by. The train was scheduled to pass the area at about 9:50am but was late. Two rockets were fired in the cantonment area in Quetta in front of Askary Park on Saturday night, but there were no casualties, SSP Ghulam Muhammad Dogar said. One rocket hit the residence of a military officer and another fell nearby. A Marri Itehad spokesman said that security forces had shelled the Karmo Wadh area of Kohlu district and helicopters were seen in the area. He said that Marri tribe leader Asghar Marri had been arrested in Dera Bugti.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2006 02:39 ||
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#1
The Iranians are probably financing the conflict. Most Pakis are Sunni Muslims, and that would be the Ayatollah's mortal enemy.
Indian security forces have clashed with suspected infiltrators trying to sneak into the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir from Pakistan, leaving six guerrillas and two soldiers dead, an army official said. Lt. Gen. Sudhir Sharma said the gun battle erupted on Saturday after Indian troops spotted at least 10 rebels trying to cross the ceasefire line dividing disputed Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Six rebels and two soldiers died in the five-hour clash in Poonch, about 220km northwest of Jammu, a major city on India's side of the line, Sharma said. Two more soldiers were seriously wounded, he said, adding that "we may find more bodies".
"It was big group of heavily armed terrorists trying to infiltrate into the Indian side amid rains and poor visibility," Sharma said. "Our troops challenged them and the infiltrators started firing using AK-47 rifles and grenade launchers." Security forces were searching the area for rebels who might have escaped, he said. Sharma said several AK-47 rifles, grenade launchers and satellite phones were recovered from the dead rebel.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2006 02:01 ||
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#1
Photos from today's "clash":
More jihadis turned into fertilizer by the Indian Army
Posted by: john ||
01/29/2006 15:07 Comments ||
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#2
Those civilian porters sure look happy.
Wonder if they get paid by the body?
Posted by: john ||
01/29/2006 17:58 Comments ||
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Perps:
Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM)
General officer Commanding (GoC) 25 Division Major General VK Dutta said while talking to the media persons here today. He said that all the slain ultras were wearing combat dresses.
Maj Gen Dutta said that a group of militants infiltrated into Indian territory from Mendla nallah in Krishna Ghati sub-sector of Poonch at about 0040 hours. The militants were heading towards Nangi Tekri near the border fencing with the intention of breaching it when a surviellance detatchment of army spotted them he said, adding that all ambushes were put on alert.
Major General Dutta said that when challenged by the ambush party led by the Company Commander Major James Thomas near LoC Fence, the militants opened fire. The brave Major alongwith his team kept engaged the infiltrators. The other ambushes were also re-adjusted accordingly. The militants, he said, were in two groups and one of the group tried to move towards other group. The brave Major, GoC 25 Div said came out of his post alongwith Company Havaldar Major (CHM) Saravjeet Singh. They openly challenged the group which was heading towards other and the managed to eliminate four ultras. The militants group fired with UBGL and also lobbed grenades towards the Major and CHM. Both of them were seriously injured and inspite being injured they kept engaged the militants till the reinforcement reached there. Both of them were hospitalised where they succumbed to their injuries.
#4
Major James Thomas Havildar-Major Sarabjeet Singh later succumbed to their injuries.
Seven AK assault rifles with 21 magazines and 500 rounds, two under barrel grenade launchers
(UBGLs) with 18 grenades, 2 pistols with 4 magazines and 50 rounds, 20 different kinds of
grenades and 4 IEDs were recovered.
The spokesman said the recoveries also included a global positioning system, 2 satellite
phones, a digital computer, 7 radio sets, 8 antennas, 2 compasses, a medicine bag, a map
sheet, three matrix sheets, a wire cutter, Rs 7,550 in Indian currency and Rs 20 in Pakistani
currency.
He said the combing operation in the area was continuing as intelligence reports indicated some
militants might have hidden in the
NEW YORK - ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and a cameraman were seriously injured Sunday in an explosion while reporting from Iraq, the network said Sunday.
Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt were hit by an improvised explosive device near Taji, Iraq. They were embedded with the 4th Infantry Division and traveling with an Iraqi mechanized vehicle.
Pray for them. Reporters getting out of the hotel to report. One wonders if they were specifically targetted for doing so, or just got hit by chance.
#2
The San Francisco Chronicle says: "take Osama's olive branch," and "hear him out." Seriously, the fact that - notwithstanding WW2 censorship - prior wartime media organs wouldn't even employ alleged humans who sought to aid and abet the enemy, but our media elites do, is indicative of our lack of resolute leadership. We have spent $300 billion on a war without a fixed enemy, who our leaders want to place on ballots. We have enabled elections that have done nothing but legitimate terrorist movements. If I had a time machine I would bee-line out of this 2006 insane asylum. Still, most are happy as pigs in crap with the current lunacy. Smug!
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/29/2006 12:29 Comments ||
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#7
He was trying to get a line on the Iraqi army and the unit I am advising, but he didn't get to see the tremendous job my troopers did with the fire from the ambush. I was there and did the first aide and it wasn't pretty. One of my best NCOs was Medavaced with them and he is out of surgery and should be back with in a week.
#8
good for you and your NCO - our prayers are with him...
and the reporter, I guess, depending on his agenda. I used to feel bad having to add that caveat, but the MSM agenda threatens American victory and my family's safety, and I don't forgive easily
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/29/2006 16:07 Comments ||
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#9
Redacted by moderator. Comments may be redacted for trolling, violation of standards of good manners, or plain stupidity. Please correct the condition that applies and try again. Contents may be viewed in the sinktrap. Further violations may result in
banning.
#11
I hate to see anyone injured. I really mean it. However when will the MSM realise this is a real war and stand behind our leadership so we can win it? Until they do I hope one of them feels this pain everyday just like those that fight and lead it do.
Thanks for the info, TopMac - glad your NCO will be OK. Don't know if you've been here before - hope you come back often.
Our thanks to your all for your service. You all are the most incredible people on this earth. I wake up every day grateful for two things: That my ancestors got on those boats, and that there are wonderful people like you who are willing to protect the freedom that was bought for me (and the idiot trolls) with the blood of people like you over the past 200+ years.
Ignore the trolls on Aisles 2 and 9.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/29/2006 16:37 Comments ||
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#13
Top - We're hearing endless "reports" about the newsies... and I'm becoming furious that the "coverage" doesn't even mention your people and your NCO's injuries.
Thank you for the great news about your NCO - news that actually matters to me - I am very glad to hear he is gonna pull through clean - w00t! Thank You to you and your troopers for your courageous and selfless efforts. You are appreciated here - please drop in when you can - and stay safe.
#14
ABC did a piece on it and showed the post blast ambush and how they defended it. They were hit from three sides after the blast, or so ABC says. They gave credit to the US for saving the reporters and the Iraquis for fighting off the ambush. Top-outstanding job to you and your men, over to you for the truth.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/29/2006 20:05 Comments ||
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#15
A dead MSM is a good MSM. If I could get my hands on some IEDs, I'd have bombed them myself.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. troops killed three suspected insurgents wearing Iraqi police uniforms Sunday in the northern city of Kirkuk, the military said. U.S. spokesman Maj. Jeff Allen said a gun battle broke out at a checkpoint in Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, and three men wearing Iraqi police uniforms inside a car were shot dead.
Excellent, three fewer problems in phony uniforms.
American troops captured a fourth man in the car, but found no police identity documents on the men. Iraqi police Brig. Serhad Qadir said the four were suspected insurgents disguised as policemen. The U.S. military was investigating the situation.
A top US general has said the United States has reduced its forces in Iraq by up to 20% in the last two months, but may choose to raise the number of troops if the security situation worsens. General John Abizaid, commander of the US Central Command, told Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas in comments published on Saturday that further cut in forces depended on the degree of stability.
Coincidentally, we raised the number of troops by about 20 percent for the elections...
Congressman Murtha will say they've been 'run out'.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2006 01:54 ||
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I wonder if most of the troops being shipped out are combat service support, who might just be in the way if all of a sudden, serious combat operations began.
#5
Depends on whether you're talking support as in logistical support or, say, civil affairs reserve units doing political outreach in Iraqi towns. ???
Posted by: to true ||
01/29/2006 11:42 Comments ||
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Kidnappers holding four Western peace activists hostage in Iraq have said they are giving US-led forces one final chance to free Iraqi prisoners or they would kill their hostages. In a new video shown by Aljazeera on Saturday and dated 21 January, the four hostages were shown standing against a wall in an unknown location. The four - two Canadians, one Briton and one American - appeared to be speaking to the camera but their voices could not be heard.
A statement received along with the tape and read on air said the kidnappers were giving a "last chance" for US and Iraqi authorities to "release all Iraqi prisoners in return of freeing the hostages otherwise their fate will be death". Briton Norman Kember, American Tom Fox and Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Sooden were kidnapped on 26 November in Baghdad, where they were working with a Christian peace organization. They are being held by the previously unknown Swords of Truth.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2006 01:44 ||
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Visualize Peace.
Posted by: ed ||
01/29/2006 1:52 Comments ||
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#7
The Jihadi groups are getting awfully sloppy on their timekeeping. I thought that the deadline for killing the hostages was about a month ago. What is this, a remake of "Groundhog Day'?
#8
We're seeing a lot of this on the local news because one of these peace activists terrorist enablers is from Virginia.
My sympathy meter's busted.
Here's a clue, idiots: If you hadn't been in Iraq actively trying to undermine the American attempt to bring freedom to the people of Iraq, you wouldn't be in this position.
Lie down with murdering terrorist dogs, get up beheaded.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/29/2006 18:50 Comments ||
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A leader of Hamas, the militant group that last week became the controlling force in Palestinian politics, laid out a series of conditions Sunday that he said could lead to years of co-existence alongside Israel.
The conditions included Israel's retreating to its pre-1967 borders and releasing Palestinian prisoners.
Mahmoud al-Zahar, the top Hamas official in Gaza, told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" that a "long-term hudna or long-term truce" is possible. He would not commit to negotiating with Israel and would not say whether recognizing Israel's existence is a long-term possibility.
At Israel's Cabinet meeting, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Hamas must renounce violence for his country to negotiate with the new Palestinian leaders.
"Israel believes there is great importance in putting together a unified international position that will make clear to the Palestinians that it is impossible, under any circumstances, to accept a Palestinian Authority that part of it or more than that is an armed organization that calls for the destruction of Israel," Olmert said.
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz issued a warning to Hamas, saying if the organization resorted to terror attacks, it would be the subject of an "unprecedented attack."
Speaking from Gaza City, Zahar said if Israel "is ready to give us the national demand to withdraw from the occupied area [in] '67; to release our detainees; to stop their aggression; to make geographic link between Gaza Strip and West Bank, at that time, with assurance from other sides, we are going to accept to establish our independent state at that time, and give us one or two, 10, 15 years time in order to see what is the real intention of Israel after that."
"We can accept to establish our independent state on the area occupied [in] '67," he said. Israel took control of the West Bank and Gaza in the Six-Day War of 1967.
Zahar did not say how long an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza would be acceptable. Key conditions could allow Palestinians to give a "long-term hudna or long-term truce," and "after that, let time heal," he said.
A "hudna," historically, has referred to a long pause in hostilities, during which armies prepared for later battles.
But asked about Hamas' call for Israel's destruction, Zahar would not say whether that remains the goal. "We are not speaking about the future, we are speaking now," he said.
Zahar argued that Israel has no true intention of accepting a Palestinian state, despite international agreements including the Road Map for Middle East peace.
Until Israel says what its final borders will be, Hamas will not say whether it will ever recognize Israel, Zahar said. "If Israel is ready to tell the people what is the official border, after that we are going to answer this question."
Israeli and Palestinian leaders have said final borders must be determined through negotiations.
"Negotiation is not our aim. Negotiation is a method," Zahar said.
Hamas has orchestrated numerous terrorist attacks, killing and wounding scores of civilians -- most, though not all, Israelis. The United States considers Hamas, which also operates an extensive social services network, a terrorist organization.
Asked whether Hamas would renounce terrorism, Zahar argued the definition of terrorism is unfair.
Israel is "killing people and children and removing our agricultural system -- this is terrorism," he said. "When the Americans [are] attacking the Arabic and Islamic world whether in Afghanistan and Iraq and they are playing a dirty game in Lebanon, this is terrorism."
He described Hamas as a "liberating movement."
Ex-leaders called corrupt
Zahar railed against certain Palestinian leaders, whom he said were "deeply corrupted" and misspent money contributed from overseas, including the United States.
The Bush administration has threatened to stop sending millions of dollars to the Palestinians unless the Hamas-led government renounces terrorism. Zahar said the government will use international donations to do reconstruction and build needed institutions. "We are looking for this money, but this money should not be conditioned," he said.
He also said, "We are not taking money from Iran," denying suggestions by Israeli and U.S. officials that there are growing ties between Hamas and Tehran. Iran's president has called for Israel's destruction.
News reports have said Hamas plans to establish separate schools for boys and girls in the Palestinian territories and implement stricter Islamic law. Asked whether he plans a theocracy instead of a secular government, Zahar responded, "Do you think the secular system is ... serving any nation?"
A secular system "allows homosexuality, allows corruption, allows the spread of the loss of natural immunity like AIDS," he said. "We are here living under Islamic control. Nothing will change ... If you are going to give a hint that Islamic society will be against the modern life, I think it's incorrect."
#4
The Euros are about to cut off aid. Iran will soon not be in any position to deliver the terror subsidy. Al-Fatah is about to launch civil war. Israel has a free-hand in replying to rocket attacks. I would say Hamas is hardly in any condition to force negotiations on any terms.
#6
Wow. The Paleos are really getting frisky. I hope that we and the Euros have the good sense to shut off the money spigot.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
01/29/2006 21:19 Comments ||
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#7
This has been said before but it bears repeating - a "truce" is NOT a permanent cessation of hostilities, nor does it guarantee permanent cessation of hostilities in the future.
The Israeli leadership would do well to keep this in mind.
ISRAEL will keep back customs revenues owed to the Palestinians until it is satisfied they will not end up in the hands of "terrorists" after the election victory of Hamas, a senior official said Sunday.
Every month, Israel repays around 50 million dollars to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in reimbursement for customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that transit through Israeli ports.
But, speaking after the weekly cabinet, a senior official told journalists that all the money would be screened in the aftermath of the win for Hamas.
Israel had been due to transfer this month's tranche of funds to the Palestinians on Wednesday.
Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed late Sunday that Israel would never transfer any funds to the PA if there was even the slightest chance they could be used for harming Israelis.
"We are not ready in any way to allow a situation in which money transferred by the government of Israel will somehow end up in the control of murderous elements who want to harm Israeli citizens," Olmert said at a joint news conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Islamist movement has carried out dozens of suicide attacks against Israel in the last five years while its militants in turn have been targeted and killed by Israeli military.
"Of course the money is not ours, but if there's any doubt that this money will reach terror organisations then it's obvious that we will not transfer it," the official source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"It will take time to verify that the money is not at risk of reaching the terrorists. In such an instance, Israel would freeze the transfer."
Israel would also "demand guarantees about the final destination of these funds and before making any decision, we will take into account the position of the international community," the official added.
The spluttering Palestinian economy, which has stalled during the past five years of Middle East violence, is heavily dependent on the Israeli receipts and on international aid.
In yet another financial blow to the Palestinians, the German Chancellor said late Sunday that unless Hamas changed its stance towards Israel and the peace process, it would be "unthinkable" for the European Union to continue supplying funds to such a Palestinian leadership.
"We must wait to see how Hamas acts and if it doesn't change its positions, it would be unthinkable that such an authority be directly supported by European Union funds," she said.
The 25-nation bloc is the largest financial donor to the Palestinian Authority and also one of the four sponsors of the stalled Mideast peace roadmap.
Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing oppostion Likud party, earlier demanded the government freeze the transfer of funds in the wake of the election result. "As a first step, we should stop transferring funds to the Palestinians," he told public radio.
"There has to be a limit to the absurd. There can be no question of financing an entity whose declared aim is our destruction," he added.
Netanyahu also called for Palestinians to be barred from entering Israel and to expand the route of the West Bank separation barrier, which already cuts into the occupied territory, in order to incorporate more Jewish settlements.
Netanyahu is expected to exploit the landslide victory won by Hamas in last week's Palestinian general election to bolster his party's campaign for Israel's own elections on March 28.
Polls have shown that Olmert's Kadima party is likely to emerge as the largest party in the Israeli election, but observers believe that lead could easily be whittled away if the situation on the ground deteriorates.
Hundreds of Fatah supporters, including Palestinian security officers, forced their way into the parliament compound in Gaza City on Saturday, firing into the air. "We demand the resignation of the Fatah central committee, the revolutionary council and local (party) leaders," the demonstrators shouted through loudspeakers as they broke down the compound gate in downtown Gaza City.
Saturday saw the second consecutive day of protests in which thousands of Fatah supporters demanded the party leadership resign following the party's crushing electoral defeat to Islamist group Hamas. The Gaza protesters broke down the gates of the Gaza branch of the Palestinian Legislative Council, which had been reinforced following a similar incursion on Friday, but security forces inside offered no resistance. The crowd held aloft pictures of late Palestinian leader and Fatah founding father Yasser Arafat, as well as yellow flags of the party, while gunmen fired off volleys of bullets into the air.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2006 01:40 ||
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"We've gotta protect our phoney-baloney jobs."
Posted by: ed ||
01/29/2006 1:51 Comments ||
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Turmoil since the parliamentary election landslide has fueled fears of inter-Palestinian strife as Hamas tries to form a government and possibly take over security forces packed with Fatah loyalists at odds with the Islamic militants.
Thousands of gunmen from President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah held protests across the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, many firing automatic rifles into the air.
They took over parliament in the West Bank city of Ramallah for about 20 minutes, shouting demands from the roof before descending peacefully. Fatah militants and police also seized the parliament building in the Gaza Strip.
The gunmen demanded Fatah leaders resign. They also aimed to dissuade the party from any idea of sharing power with Hamas or letting it control security forces -- after Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal said it planned to form "an army".
"We will transform the army of the Palestinian Authority into armed militias. We are not waiting for Hamas to teach us their Islamic beliefs. We know the Koran by heart," said Fatah gunman Ramzi Obeid.
In Gaza, where eight people were hurt on Friday in clashes between Fatah and Hamas activists, the gunmen were joined in their protest by police opposed to any Hamas control over them.
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
01/29/2006 2:36 Comments ||
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TWENTY people were wounded when two gunmen on a motorcycle fired at a crowd leaving a mosque on the southern Philippines island of Jolo, an army general and witnesses said today.
Brigadier-General Alexander Aleo, the army commander on the island, said people were coming out from the main mosque after the evening prayers when two gunmen opened fire at them yesterday.
"We're still trying to establish the motive for the drive-by shooting," Brig-Gen Aleo told reporters. "We've counted at least 10 people wounded in the incident, the first attack on a place of worship on the island."
But, witnesses at the scene told reporters about 20 people were hit by the indiscriminate firing. Dozens were also hurt by a near stampede as people scampered for safety after the first burst of gunfire.
"We were shocked," said Amirah Lidasan, a leader of a Muslim activist group Suara Bangsamoro.
She said there were suspicions that soldiers could be behind the shooting to avenge the death of a Marine sergeant two weeks ago near the mosque.
"Pointing to the soldiers as culprit in the attack were mere allegations," Brig-Gen Aleo said, adding the reports could be part of efforts to discredit the annual war games with US troops in Muslim communities on Jolo next month.
The Philippines, fighting protracted rebellions by communist rebels and Muslim separatists, has cemented its close security alliance with the United States with the annual "Balikatan" (shoulder-to-shoulder) war games.
The drills on Jolo, a stronghold of al-Qaeda-linked Muslim militants, were the first to be held on the island, site of the worst fighting last year that killed about 100 rebels.
"They will actually take part in non-combat activities," Brig-Gen Aleo said, adding that 250 US troops would provide medical and dental services and repair roads and school buildings.
Last week, the military struck a truce with one of four Muslim rebel forces on Jolo after the government agreed to allow the group's jailed leader, Nur Misuari, to undergo a 10-day medical checkup in a hospital in Manila.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/29/2006 13:21 ||
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Damn, I was wrong! I was certain it would happen at the market. Let hope GMA does not call Balikatan off in political fear.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/29/2006 19:49 Comments ||
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Despite protests from other countries, the United States is expanding a top-secret effort to kill suspected terrorists with drone-fired missiles as it pursues an increasingly decentralized Al Qaeda, U.S. officials say.
The CIA's failed Jan. 13 attempt to assassinate Al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman Zawahiri in Pakistan was the latest strike in the "targeted killing" program, a highly classified initiative that officials say has broadened as the network splintered and fled Afghanistan.
The strike against Zawahiri reportedly killed as many as 18 civilians, many of them women and children, and triggered protests in Pakistan. Similar U.S. attacks using unmanned Predator aircraft equipped with Hellfire missiles have angered citizens and political leaders in Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen.
Little is known about the targeted-killing program. The Bush administration has refused to discuss how many strikes it has made, how many people have died, or how it chooses targets. No U.S. officials were willing to speak about it on the record because the program is classified.
Several U.S. officials confirmed at least 19 occasions since Sept. 11 on which Predators successfully fired Hellfire missiles on terrorist suspects overseas, including 10 in Iraq in one month last year. The Predator strikes have killed at least four senior Al Qaeda leaders, but also many civilians, and it is not known how many times they missed their targets.
Critics of the program dispute its legality under U.S. and international law, and say it is administered by the CIA with little oversight. U.S. intelligence officials insist it is one of their most tightly regulated, carefully vetted programs.
Lee Strickland, a former CIA counsel who retired in 2004 from the agency's Senior Intelligence Service, confirmed that the Predator program had grown to keep pace with the spread of Al Qaeda commanders. The CIA believes they are branching out to gain recruits, financing and influence.
Many groups of Islamic militants are believed to be operating in lawless pockets of the Middle East, Asia and Africa where it is perilous for U.S. troops to try to capture them, and difficult to discern the leaders.
"Paradoxically, as a result of our success the target has become even more decentralized, even more diffused and presents a more difficult target no question about that," said Strickland, now director of the Center for Information Policy at the University of Maryland.
"It's clear that the U.S. is prepared to use and deploy these weapons in a fairly wide theater," he said.
Current and former intelligence officials said they could not disclose which countries could be subject to Predator strikes. But the presence of Al Qaeda or its affiliates has been documented in dozens of nations, including Somalia, Morocco and Indonesia.
High-ranking U.S. and allied counter-terrorism officials said the program's expansion was not merely geographic. They said it had grown from targeting a small number of senior Al Qaeda commanders after the Sept. 11 attacks to a more loosely defined effort to kill possibly scores of suspected terrorists, depending on where they were found and what they were doing.
"We have the plans in place to do them globally," said a former counter-terrorism official who worked at the CIA and State Department, which coordinates such efforts with other governments.
"In most cases, we need the approval of the host country to do them. However, there are a few countries where the president has decided that we can whack someone without the approval or knowledge of the host government."
The CIA and the Pentagon have deployed at least several dozen of the Predator drones throughout Iraq, Afghanistan and along the borders of Pakistan, U.S. officials confirmed. The CIA also has sent the remote-controlled aircraft into the skies over Yemen and some other countries believed to be Al Qaeda havens, particularly those without a strong government or military with which the United States can work in tandem, a current U.S. counter-terrorism official told The Times.
Such incursions are highly sensitive because they could violate the sovereignty of those nations and anger U.S. allies, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Predator, built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. of San Diego, is a slender craft, 27 feet long with a 49-foot wingspan. It makes a clearly audible buzzing sound, and can hover above a target for many hours and fly as low as 15,000 feet to get good reconnaissance footage. They are often operated by CIA or Pentagon officials at computer consoles in the United States.
The drones were designed for surveillance and have been used for that purpose since at least the mid-1990s, beginning with the conflict in the Balkans. After the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush ordered a rapid escalation of a project to arm the Predators with missiles, an effort that had been mired in bureaucratic squabbles and technical glitches.
Now the Predator is an integral part of the military's counter-insurgency effort, especially in Iraq. But the CIA also runs a more secretive and more controversial Predator program that targets suspected terrorists outside combat zones.
The CIA does not even acknowledge that such a targeted-killing program exists, and some attacks have been explained away as car bombings or other incidents. It is not known how many militants or bystanders have been killed by Predator strikes, but anecdotal evidence suggests the number is significant.
In some cases, the destruction was so complete that it was impossible to establish who was killed, or even how many people.
Among the senior Al Qaeda leaders killed in Predator strikes were military commander Mohammed Atef in Afghanistan in November 2001 and Qaed Sinan Harithi, a suspected mastermind of the bombing of the U.S. destroyer Cole in Yemen, in 2002. Last year, Predators took out two Al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan: Haitham Yemeni in May and Abu Hamza Rabia in December, one month after another missile strike missed him.
The attack on Rabia in North Waziristan also killed his Syrian bodyguards and the 17-year-old son and the 8-year-old nephew of the owner of the house that was struck, according to a U.S. official and Amnesty International, which has lodged complaints with the Bush administration following each suspected Predator strike.
Another apparent Predator missile strike killed a former Taliban commander, Nek Mohammed, in South Waziristan in June 2004, along with five others. A local observer said the strike was so precise that it didn't damage any of the buildings around the lawn where Mohammed was seated. At the time, the Pakistani army said Mohammed had been killed in clashes with its soldiers.
Michael Scheuer, the former chief of the CIA's special unit hunting Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, said he was aware of at least four successful targeted-killing strikes in Afghanistan alone by November 2004, when he left the agency.
In the attack on Zawahiri, word spread quickly that a U.S. plane had been buzzing above the target beforehand. Afterward, villagers reportedly found evidence of U.S. involvement.
The missiles intended for Bin Laden's chief deputy incinerated several houses in Damadola, a village near Pakistan's northwestern border with Afghanistan. But Zawahiri was not there, U.S. officials now believe. Pakistan said it was investigating whether the strikes killed other high-ranking militants.
There were some well-publicized failures before the Zawahiri strike. In February 2002, a Predator tracked and killed a tall man in flowing robes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The CIA believed it was firing at Bin Laden, but the victim turned out to be someone else.
Before the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. government had targeted Bin Laden in at least one Cruise missile strike. But the CIA was reluctant to engage in targeted killings because it said the laws regarding assassinations were too vague and the agency could face criminal charges.
Even today, documents and interviews suggest that the U.S. policy on targeted killings is still evolving.
Some critics, including a U.N. human rights watchdog group and Amnesty International, have urged the Bush administration to be more open about how it decides whom to kill and under what circumstances.
A U.N. report in the wake of the 2002 strike in Yemen called it "an alarming precedent [and] a clear case of extrajudicial killing" in violation of international laws and treaties. The Bush administration, which did not return calls seeking comment for this story, has said it does not recognize the mandate of the U.N. special body in connection with its military actions against Al Qaeda, according to Amnesty International.
"Zawahiri is an easy case. No one is going to question us going after him," said Juliette N. Kayyem, a former U.S. government counter-terrorism consultant and Justice Department lawyer. "But where can you do it and who can you do it against? Who authorizes it? All of these are totally unregulated areas of presidential authority."
"Paris, it's easy to say we won't do it there," said Kayyem, now a Harvard University law professor specializing in terrorism-related legal issues. "But what about Lebanon?"
Paul Pillar, a former CIA deputy counter-terrorism chief, said the authority claimed by the Bush administration was murky.
"I don't think anyone is dealing with solid footing here. There is legal as well as operational doctrine that is being developed as we go along," Pillar said. "We are pretty much in uncharted territory here."
Pillar, who was also the CIA's National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia before retiring in mid-2005, said there had long been disagreement within the intelligence community over whether targeted killings were legally permissible, or even a good idea.
Before Sept. 11, Pillar said, CIA officers were issued vaguely worded guidelines that seemed to give them authority to kill Bin Laden, but only during an attempt to capture him.
The 9/11 commission investigating the attacks in New York and Washington concluded that such vaguely worded laws and policies gave little reassurance to those who might be pulling the trigger that they would not face disciplinary action or even criminal charges.
Although presidents Ford and Reagan issued executive orders in 1976 and 1981 prohibiting U.S. intelligence agents from engaging in assassinations, the Bush administration claimed the right to kill suspected terrorists under war powers given to the president by Congress after the Sept. 11 attacks.
It is the same justification Bush has used for a recently disclosed domestic spying program that has the National Security Agency eavesdropping on American citizens without warrants, and a CIA "extraordinary rendition" program to seize suspected terrorists overseas and transport them to other countries with reputations for torture.
Strickland, like some other officials, said the Predator program served as a deterrent to foreign governments, militias and other groups that might be harboring Al Qaeda cells.
"You give shelter to Al Qaeda figures, you may well get your village blown up," Strickland said. "Conversely, you have to note that this can also create local animosity and instability."
The CIA's lawyers play a central role in deciding when a strike is justified, current and former U.S. officials said. The lawyers analyze the credibility of the evidence, how many bystanders might be killed, and whether the target is enough of a threat to warrant the strike.
Other agencies, including the Justice Department, are sometimes consulted, Strickland said. "The legal input is broad and extensive," he said.
Scheuer said he believed the process was too cumbersome, and that the agency had lost precious opportunities to slay terrorists because it was afraid of killing civilians.
But others said they had urged the Bush administration to adopt a multi-agency system of checks and balances similar to that used by Israel, which for decades has convened informal tribunals to assess each proposed targeted killing before carrying it out.
Amos N. Guiora, a senior Israeli military judge advocate who participated in such tribunals, said that although the failed Zawahiri strike itself appeared to be justifiable, the result suggested a lack of adequate deliberations on the quality of the intelligence.
"I think [the] attack was a major screw-up, because so many kids died. It raises questions about the entire process," said Guiora, who now a professor at Case Western Law School and director of its Institute for Global Security Law and Policy.
"It shows the absolute need to have a well-thought-through and developed process that examines the action from a legal perspective, an intelligence perspective and an operational perspective. Because the price you pay here is that you are going to have to be hesitant the next time you pull the trigger."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/29/2006 04:28 ||
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"I think [the] attack was a major screw-up, because so many kids died. It raises questions about the entire process," said Guiora, who now a professor at Case Western Law School and director of its Institute for Global Security Law and Policy.
Screw up? It killed 5 AQ biggies and might have taken out Zawahiri(which the jury is still out on that verdict)
Jest send out your chiefs and surrender;
in person or call us by phone.
You can drive a carpool,
If you do you're a fool,
'cause you can't get away from the drones.
Jest send out your chiefs an' surrender
if not we will powder your bones
you can turn on your cell,
then you'll end up in hell,
'Cause you can't get away from the drones.
#4
'Targeted killing' with missile-firing Predators is a way to hit Al Qaeda in remote areas, officials say. Host nations are not always given notice.
As I see it if nations are going to harbor guys like Zaw and Atef our strikes are justified. The PAK military see this as our problem and seem to be indifferent to help us. Until countries like PAK and Yemen clean up their militaries, fat chance here, I see no other choice for us but to use precision strikes.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/29/2006 9:42 Comments ||
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#5
Sorry, the first sentance was a quote from the LA times.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/29/2006 9:43 Comments ||
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#6
The most stupid article I've read for a long time.
All these retired this, retired that, ex-official dummkopf, amnesty, UN, etc. etc. want to retire Generals and replace them with lawyers to make sure the US loses the WoT.
#8
#3 Lots of women and children were killed when we bombed the Messerschmidt and Focke-Wolfe plants. Fortunes of war. Posted by Jackal 2006-01-29 09:32
Or as was the case of the "Deutsch arbiters" who lived neared those plants: Misfortunes of War.
Speaking of Predators and other such flying goodies, I wrote a review of a recent issue of Popular Science which covered the advances being made in the Army's move towards semi- and fully autonomous ground vehicles, including fighting vehicles.
In all, we're about 10 to 20 years away, so the current crop of Islamo-terrs will be spared. But hey, with the exceedingly high birth rates in the Mooslim world and given the recent electoral victory of the Nazis Hamas Party in Gaza and the West Bank, they'll be plenty of terrs to mow down in the coming decades.
#10
This deserves the prestigous: No shit, Sherlock award. The article is about three years late.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/29/2006 12:32 Comments ||
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#11
What a crop of cod-whollop! A bunch of people who have never been in uniform, who have never seen what war is like, want to run things "their" way.
"They won't tell us what they're doing, so it must be illegal" seems to be the meme of most of them. The idiot from Case Western is still stuck in the "it's a law enforcement issue" mindset, also held by the majority of the Dummycritter party.
These a$$Holes have, and will continue to get a lot of good soldiers killed before this war is over. I hope it weighs heavily on their conscience. If it doesn't, I hope they have an encounter with reality in their future.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/29/2006 16:10 Comments ||
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#12
It is not known how many militants or bystanders have been killed by Predator strikes, but anecdotal evidence suggests the number is significant.
Critics of the program dispute its legality under U.S. and international law, and say it is administered by the CIA with little oversight.
Position on al-Quesadilla:
Many groups of Islamic militants are believed to be operating in lawless pockets of the Middle East, Asia and Africa where it is perilous for U.S. troops to try to capture them, and difficult to discern the leaders.
Maybe I'm not as nuanced as your average internationalist, but from the tone of the article it seems okay for the terrorists to operate outside of a legal framework, yet we are bound by one.
Nope, no double standards here, everybody just move along and stop asking pesky questions...
#14
It's called "targeted assassination" it works. Those mooks hide in civilian populations which support them and must also pay the price. That is how war is. That is how it is won. Be thankful we are as targeted as we are. B52 dropping iron bombs are way more less "targeted." Have a nice cup of STFU and get out of the way.
As for those still stuck in the "international law" and "law enforcement" mindset. Thios mindset only works when both parties recognise the "law." Read the Koran and other islamo-fascist writings, they don't recognise your right to even exist let alone your laws. Only fools talk like these professor and "experts."
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.
Afghan security forces arrested nine people suspected of plotting attacks including two Pakistanis preparing to become suicide bombers, a provincial governor said today. ''They were captured in three separate raids over the past 48 hours in Kandahar,'' the restive southern province's governor, Assadullah Khalid, told a news conference.
Taliban insurgents have torched three schools in a restive southern province of Afghanistan, the latest attacks in the militants campaign against the US-backed government and its efforts to promote education. The three newly built schools, where 1,000 boys and girls studied, were gutted on Friday night in different parts of Nawa district in Helmand province, said provincial education chief Mohammad Qasim. I can say that the Taliban were behind this, said Qasim on Saturday, adding that no one was hurt in the attacks. Taliban spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.
Darfur rebels have attacked a Sudanese military base in West Darfur state, killing 78 soldiers, a rebel leader said, accusing Chadian insurgents of working alongside Sudan's armed forces. Khalil Abdallah, political leader of the Darfur rebel National Movement for Reform and Development (NMRD), on Saturday said 17 soldiers were taken prisoner in the attack on the town of Arm Yakui, some 30 km northwest of West Darfur's main town el-Geneina. A Sudanese army source confirmed there was an attack on one of their bases in the area but could not give casualty figures. 
The Saudi authorities are investigating the attempted assassination of 
Two Jama'atul Mujahideen, Bangladesh (JMB) cadres were arrested at Sharulia village in Mollahat upazila of Bagerhat district on Friday. They are Shahidul Islam alias Palash alias Imon,23, son of Abdul Wahab Munshi and Noor Alam,24 son of Abdul Ali of the village.
Germany may need to build its own nuclear weapons to counter the threat of nuclear bombs falling into the hands of a terrorist state, a former German defence minister said Thursday. "We need a serious discussion over how we can react to a nuclear threat by a terrorist state in an appropriate manner - and in extreme cases with our own nuclear weapons," said Rupert Scholz who served as defence minister from 1988 to 1989. 
One of the Muslims accused in an FBI anti-terrorism sting in Albany has asked the judge to grant him a bail hearing so he can return to work and take care of his family until his trial later this year. Bail was revoked in September for Yassin Aref, 35, imam of Masjid as-Salam in Albany. Muhammad Hussain, 50, an Albany pizzeria owner and mosque member, remains free on bond. They have denied allegations that they conspired to provide support to Jaish-e-Muhammad, a Pakistan-based group listed by the federal government as a terrorist organization. 
Suspected tribal rebels on Saturday again attacked the Pirkoh gas fields water supply, blasted a main power line and fired rockets at a cantonment area in Balochistan. Dera Bugti District Coordination Officer Abdul Samad Lasi said that militants blew up a water pipeline to the Pirkoh gas plant with explosives. The same pipeline had been attacked twice in the last 15 days and had only been repaired on Friday. Armed men also attacked a pumping station of the Pirkoh gas plant. A 132 KV electricity tower between Barkhan and Rakhni was blown up, disconnecting Barkhan and Kohlu districts from power. 
Indian security forces have clashed with suspected infiltrators trying to sneak into the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir from Pakistan, leaving six guerrillas and two soldiers dead, an army official said. Lt. Gen. Sudhir Sharma said the gun battle erupted on Saturday after Indian troops spotted at least 10 rebels trying to cross the ceasefire line dividing disputed Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Six rebels and two soldiers died in the five-hour clash in Poonch, about 220km northwest of Jammu, a major city on India's side of the line, Sharma said. Two more soldiers were seriously wounded, he said, adding that "we may find more bodies". 
Kidnappers holding four Western peace activists hostage in Iraq have said they are giving US-led forces one final chance to free Iraqi prisoners or they would kill their hostages. In a new video shown by Aljazeera on Saturday and dated 21 January, the four hostages were shown standing against a wall in an unknown location. The four - two Canadians, one Briton and one American - appeared to be speaking to the camera but their voices could not be heard. 
Hundreds of Fatah supporters, including Palestinian security officers, forced their way into the parliament compound in Gaza City on Saturday, firing into the air. "We demand the resignation of the Fatah central committee, the revolutionary council and local (party) leaders," the demonstrators shouted through loudspeakers as they broke down the compound gate in downtown Gaza City. 
