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Today: 89 articles and 593 comments as of 14:27.
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Terrorist summit was held in Waziristan in March
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Britain
20 Scottish al-Qaeda suspects connected to mass murder plot
Something tells me none of them are named Macleod ...
British security services have compiled a 'hit-list' of 20 al-Qaeda terrorist suspects who are living in Scotland and said to be connected with a plot to unleash mass murder on the streets of the UK. The dossier, compiled by MI5 and Special Branch, contains the names of more than 80 alleged extremists across Britain whom security services allege were involved in a plan to kill, using the deadly poison ricin. The 20 suspects living north of the Border are all Muslims and based in the Central Belt. Some are said to be British citizens. Nine of them are Algerians arrested and then cleared of terror-related charges following a massive police operation in Edinburgh in 2002. However, the identities of the 11 remaining suspects are known only to the security services.

The existence of the dossier has been revealed by lawyers in London and Glasgow who represent foreign nationals facing deportation and criminal charges. The list has been submitted as evidence for Algerian asylum seekers facing deportation. The lawyers argue the dossier is shared by British and Algerian security services, which means anyone on the list sent back to Algeria faces certain death, even if they have been cleared of the charges. Henry Miller, a lawyer with London-based asylum specialists Birnberg Pierce Partners, last night confirmed "this list exists" but declined to give further details. But a legal source close to the asylum appeals told Scotland on Sunday: "There are 20 people on this list of 82 who are living in Scotland - both men and women. All of them are Muslim and they live in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Some of them may have been taken in for questioning previously, or arrested. But some of them do not even know they are terror suspects. The number of people on the list was accurate last year, but this may have increased. They seem to have been placed on this list through their links with other people. Some are British citizens and some are seeking asylum."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/15/2004 2:48:26 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  wow!
Posted by: Anonymous5668 || 08/15/2004 9:39 Comments || Top||

#2  "anyone on the list sent back to Algeria faces certain death, even if they have been cleared of the charges"

hokay
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 9:41 Comments || Top||

#3  I guess "certain death" has a nice ring to it when applying for that visa...
Posted by: .com || 08/15/2004 9:43 Comments || Top||

#4  "The men are planning to use the fact they are on the list as a key argument in their asylum claims."

Only in a PC-insane society like Britain's at the moment, would that argument make sense. Send them all back to Algeria, where they obviously have a better idea of how to treat such people. Pronto. I don't want my taxes spent protecting men who want me dead - but then I'm not well versed in PC-logic.
Posted by: Bulldog || 08/15/2004 9:55 Comments || Top||

#5  anyone on the list sent back to Algeria faces certain death,

I guess the logic is that we should leave them in UK so they can kill us instead.
Posted by: B || 08/15/2004 10:02 Comments || Top||

#6  Are you British?
Or is that a taboo subject with you guys?
"I mean where you come from"
Posted by: Gentle || 08/15/2004 10:04 Comments || Top||

#7  And that's why we luv ya, BD!

Puhleeze feel free to rant - we're worried about PCism here in the States, but we're also worried about our cousins! I fear your circumstances are far more dire than ours, regards immigration. While persistent stupidity in our laws seems to stem mainly from a near-gridlock politically, and a corresponding unwillingness to tackle the subject, yours seems to be thoroughly institutionalized insanity already. And they've disarmed you, to boot. Does this article sum that last part up correctly?
Posted by: .com || 08/15/2004 10:08 Comments || Top||

#8  LOL .com - superb!!! Yes, it's pretty indicative of the state of things as regards law and disorder in the UK. The personnel, equipment and techniques are all there and could be used to combat crime very effectively, but the self-imposed straightjacket that is PC-think (criminals' 'rights' protection) and excess bureaucracy, and refusal to implement effective and deterring punishments on criminals, makes law enforcement a bad joke much of the time.

Gentle - Yep, I'm British. It's no secret!
Posted by: Bulldog || 08/15/2004 10:18 Comments || Top||

#9  (obscure historical reference)Being in Scotland and all, I wonder if they planned to live in a cave and eat passerby--maybe cooked in a nice haggis.(/end obscure historical reference)
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/15/2004 10:25 Comments || Top||

#10  BD - Arrrrggghhh! You need that mythical "cowboy" tradition! It worries me that your law enforcement is so thoroughly PC-ized - particularly at the top.

There was a terrific UK "cop show" series starring Helen Mirren (and I'd still hit it!) that was a bona-fide eye-opener for me - and I assume it wasn't far off the mark, given the education you and your fellow UK denizens have posted. Mind boggling, in fact. I believe that the rank and file of law enforcement here in the US is a thin blue line between us and chaos - thankfully, PCism seems to be the exception. I attribute it to the common-sense traditions of Wyatt Earp & Co.
Posted by: .com || 08/15/2004 10:27 Comments || Top||

#11  Well, over here in Blighty, there is a 20:1 ratio of prisoner:victim charities. Does that sound PC enough?

Yes .com - that's exactly the state of affairs here. We're constantly being told that we're "institutionally racist" - a brilliant phrase, as it means exactly what the accuser wants it to mean. This is eroding respect for the police here, which is obviously not a good situation.

As for these twats in Scotland, send 'em all back to the mustachioed men...
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 08/15/2004 11:12 Comments || Top||

#12 
anyone on the list sent back to Algeria faces certain death, even if they have been cleared of the charges

Then deport them to the United Arab Emirates, which can give them asylum.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester || 08/15/2004 11:37 Comments || Top||

#13  They're probably friends of Gentle anyway.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 08/15/2004 11:38 Comments || Top||

#14  (obscure historical reference)Being in Scotland and all, I wonder if they planned to live in a cave and eat passerby--maybe cooked in a nice haggis.(/

Anonymoose, you wouldn't be referring to that dear little tribe of 18th century cannibal highwaymen, would you?
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/15/2004 11:48 Comments || Top||

#15  .com - Is this who you speak of?
Posted by: Raj || 08/15/2004 12:07 Comments || Top||

#16  I would advise the suspects to move north into a friendlier climate.
Posted by: Abu MacShipman || 08/15/2004 12:09 Comments || Top||

#17  Raj - That's my girl! Er, well, I have several, heh... Saved, Thx!
Posted by: .com || 08/15/2004 12:13 Comments || Top||

#18  Abu MacShipman----Great multi-cultural handle, Ship!
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/15/2004 13:29 Comments || Top||

#19  Where are The Queen's Own Kamikaze Highlanders when we need them?
Posted by: Zenster || 08/15/2004 15:11 Comments || Top||

#20  "anyone on the list sent back to Algeria faces certain death, even if they have been cleared of the charges"

Not the UK's problem. This should be an incentive not to engage in Jihad activities. F 'em!
Posted by: dennisw || 08/15/2004 16:06 Comments || Top||

#21  "Welcome to the UK! We'll let you stay, but only if you're bad enough!"
Posted by: Bulldog || 08/15/2004 17:41 Comments || Top||


Europe
Leaflets in UK urge Kashmir martyrdom
Hundreds of leaflets have been found near to Birmingham Central Mosque encouraging people to become martyrs. The leaflets depict the story of a child who dreams of becoming a martyr and later dies fighting in Kashmir. The mosque understands they may have been distributed by a group affiliated to an organisation which supports Mujahadeen fighters in the country. It is urging local Muslims to ignore the leaflets, which have been handed over to police. Chairman of the mosque, Dr Mohammed Naseem, said: "Don't take any notice of them. The police will decide what they want to do with them. I've handed them over to the police representative who works with us." The flyers were found near the mosque last week.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 08/15/2004 1:02:32 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  near a mosque? What possible connection are we to make of that?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 13:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Anyone can crank out a leaflet extolling the virtues of martyrdom. But it takes a REAL JIHADI™ to lead by example. And I do not see too many Imams leading charge. The trick of a successful handbill is to direct martydrom to a convenient place for the rest of us, for example, a marble quarry, gravel pit, or sanitary landfill.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/15/2004 13:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Leaflets in UK urge Kashmir martyrdom

Hell, badanov in Oklahoma urges Kashmir martyrdom. Get them out of England and get them all on a bus to India so they can reap their rewards.
Posted by: badanov || 08/15/2004 14:00 Comments || Top||

#4  LOL, badanov. Great idea!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/15/2004 14:12 Comments || Top||

#5  What a religion of retards, I love god so I will kill myself and others to prove it. Something wrong with that picture.
Posted by: Flamebait93268 || 08/15/2004 16:06 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Plane evacuated after passenger boards, then leaves
A Chicago-bound flight from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was evacuated Saturday after suspicious behavior by a passenger, officials said Sunday. Passengers were boarding United Airlines Flight 627 before 6 p.m. when a Middle Eastern man abruptly got off the plane, airport and Transportation Security Administration officials said. The Airbus 8320 and the airport concourse were evacuated and all passengers were rescreened, said Amy Von Walter, a TSA spokeswoman. The passenger was found, but couldn't be questioned immediately because he didn't speak English, Von Walter said. He was turned over to the FBI, who questioned and released him after 10 p.m., said Debbie Weierman, Washington field office spokeswoman. Weierman said the man had decided to change his flight plans for personal reasons. The plane, carrying 74 passengers, took off more than two hours late and landed safely in Chicago, an airline spokesman said.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 08/15/2004 1:30:50 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
the man had decided to change his flight plans for personal reasons
In other words, he couldn't find the bomb belt and/or gun hidden in the restroom where he thought it would be.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/15/2004 14:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Now this really looks like a "dry run" to me.
They released him???
Posted by: True German Ally || 08/15/2004 14:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Unfortunately, TGA, getting back off a plane before it finishes boarding isn't enough to arrest him. Maybe he was just stupid, or really didn't understand English, or both.

Or maybe they let him go to watch him.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/15/2004 14:30 Comments || Top||

#4  Barbara, maybe... what about his baggage? Did he notify the crew that he was leaving?
I hope he got a good background check.
Posted by: True German Ally || 08/15/2004 14:35 Comments || Top||

#5  627, eh? I happened to be on that flight about a month ago and was planning to book myself on it for my next return trip.

Wonderful.
Posted by: eLarson || 08/15/2004 14:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Now this really looks like a "dry run" to me.

That was sarcasm, right???
Posted by: Rafael || 08/15/2004 14:44 Comments || Top||

#7  TGA - so do I. But the FBI has gotten so PC'd it's hard to be sure.

Maybe he just had a carry-on. I've known men who get on a plane with just a carry-on; as a woman, I can't imagine such a thing. :-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/15/2004 14:50 Comments || Top||

#8  Barb - But what about "go as you are and shop when you get there?" (Easy for me to say: I can just leave stuff with my fiancee!)
Posted by: eLarson || 08/15/2004 15:01 Comments || Top||

#9  eLarson - I'm probably unusual, but I don't go places I have to fly to in order to shop. I like educational vacations. I rarely buy things on vacation (other than food, of course), though I'm not against buying something unusual if I like it, can use it, can get it home or ship it home easily or inexpesively, think I can't get it at home, and can afford it.

Yeah, I know, I'm no fun at all. But I don't come home from vacations up to my ass in debt.

Anymore. ;-)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/15/2004 15:32 Comments || Top||

#10  Simple solution: Whenever any person pulls this sort of stunt, from that point on, ensure that they board all future flights LAST. A deep cavity search extensive background check would probably be a good idea as well.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/15/2004 15:39 Comments || Top||

#11  Just give him a schedule for the hound and tell him that he needs to plan for three or four days worth of travel for a cross country trip. If he needs to fly to Europe, he can fly out of Toronto, where they put up with that type of crap.
Posted by: Super Hose || 08/15/2004 16:56 Comments || Top||

#12  Paranoia
Posted by: Rafael || 08/15/2004 19:13 Comments || Top||

#13  Not to get too pedantic but shouldn't Airbus 8320 be Airbus A320? But, hey, who needs to fact-check when you're a reporter?
Posted by: Xbalanke || 08/15/2004 23:12 Comments || Top||

#14  "Eight" sounds so much like "A"...yeah, let's go with it.
Posted by: Rafael || 08/16/2004 1:48 Comments || Top||


Arab terrorists entering the US through Mexico
President Bush has launched a drive to halt illegal immigration across America's porous southern border, amid growing fears that terrorists may be using Mexico as a base camp before heading to Arizona, Texas and California. A string of alarming incidents has convinced Bush administration officials that lax immigration rules, designed to cope with the huge numbers of illegal entrants from Mexico, have become a significant loophole in the war on terror. Over the past month, border agents from Arizona and Texas have anonymously reported recent encounters with dozens of Arab men, who have made their way across the 2,000-mile Mexican border.

Patrol agents told one Arizona newspaper that 77 males "of Middle Eastern descent" were apprehended in June in two separate incidents. All were trekking through the Chiricahua mountains and are believed to have been part of a larger group of illegal immigrants. Many were released pending immigration hearings. According to Solomon Ortiz, the Congressman for Corpus Christi in Texas, similar incidents are "happening all over the place. It's very, very scary". The two groups of Arab males were discovered by patrol guards from Willcox, Arizona. "These guys didn't speak Spanish," said one field agent, "and they were speaking to each other in Arabic. It's ridiculous that we don't take this more seriously. We're told not to say a thing to the media." A colleague told the paper: "All the men had brand-new clothing and the exact same cut of moustache." Local ranchers have also reported a rise in the sightings of large groups of young males.

Last month, border patrol agents at McAllen airport, Texas, arrested a woman believed to be Pakistani, who was carrying a false South African passport. The woman, Farida Ahmed, is still being questioned by the FBI. She was travelling to New York, and admitted to having illegally crossed the Mexican border. She was still carrying a pair of wet jeans in her travel bag. "If you want to enter the US illegally," said the official, "the way to do it is to get to Mexico first." The possibility of a southern border loophole for potential terrorists was recognised as early as last year. In testimony before Congress, Steve McCraw, the assistant director of the FBI's Office of Intelligence, stated that "the ability of foreign nationals to use [the hearings procedure] to create a well-documented but fictitious identity in the United States, provides an opportunity for terrorists to move freely within the US without triggering name-based watch lists. It also enables them to board planes without revealing their true identity".
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/15/2004 2:56:47 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  About Friggin Time!
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 11:11 Comments || Top||

#2 
This should have been done on September 12, 2001.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester || 08/15/2004 11:42 Comments || Top||

#3 
77 males "of Middle Eastern descent" were apprehended in June ... are believed to have been part of a larger group of illegal immigrants. Many were released pending immigration hearings.

Read it and weep.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester || 08/15/2004 11:44 Comments || Top||

#4  This is a start, but only a start. What is really needed is:

1) Build relocation camps for illegal aliens. Stop the 'catch and release' policy by building the detention centers needed.

2) Arrest and detain *ALL* illegal aliens no matter what nationallity. Otherwise it will be 'racial profiling'.

3) DEPORT ALL ILLEGAL ALIENS regardless of nationality. This is based on IMMIGRATION STATUS and not RACE or RELIGION.

4) Withhold federal funding to local governments who have 'sanctuary' laws which prevent their local law enforcement or fire departments from asking and reporting to the INS people's immigration status. *However* establish the means for law enforcement to determine immigration status.

5) Issue ID to people who are in the United states 'for a period of time allowed by the atty general' (for example while awaiting an Adjustment of Status). This is where you are legally in the united states but do not have papers, besides a expired visa, to prove it. Illegal aliens can use this to simply say 'Well I am awaiting an adjustment of status...'.

6) Get rid of that [stupid] ban the FBI has against hiring Isrealis who speak arabic.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/15/2004 11:56 Comments || Top||

#5  Patrol agents told one Arizona newspaper that 77 males "of Middle Eastern descent" were apprehended in June in two separate incidents.

There we go again, profiling. :-)

Screams of 'institutional racism' in 5, 4, 3...
Posted by: Raj || 08/15/2004 12:11 Comments || Top||

#6  This is my biggest issue with President Bush. I just do not understand why he has done so well in the WoT and has failed so miserably in this vital area. It has been almost 3 years since 9-11. We have hastled every Norweigen Nun and preschool toddler at every airport possible in this country, including interior Alaska, but for political games, we DID NOT SECURE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER after 9-11. The cat is out of the bag after 3 years of illegals trooping in. So, once again, we have to play Ketchup catch up at the expense of our citizens. This is why I get so angry at our two sell-out political parties that I want to vote for a third, if there was a viable one.

***rinses bitterness, frustration, and vitriol out of mouth, spits into biohazard container***

you get the picture......
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/15/2004 13:56 Comments || Top||

#7  The Israelis have the right idea - build a $#%$#^%$&%&$6 wall. One of concrete is a bit expensive, but a nice chain-link fence, backed by a dirt road, patrolled by Predator aircraft, and manned every half-mile by gun-toting angry Americans backed by a "shoot on sight" law would do the trick. Take us six months to put in place, if we put our mind to it. The Canadian border would take a bit longer - it stretches farther, it's COLD up there, and it's a bit more rugged in spots. It's still within our capabilities. We're at WAR, folks - it's no longer kiddie time.

At the same time, we should also have a "shoot on sight" rule for all the "environmentalists" and other left-wing loons who would show up to slow down or put a stop to the effort.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/15/2004 14:12 Comments || Top||

#8  Mexico sells us oil and we sell them jobs.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 08/15/2004 15:15 Comments || Top||

#9  Let us say that an Israeli-style wall costs $500/ft. That translates to $2.64 million/mile which is in the order of major roadbuilding cross country. Do that for 1500 miles and you get $4 billion. That is alot of money, but compared to $87 billion in Iraq war costs, it is a drop in the bucket, for a perspective. Building the wall will send a message to foxie-loxie and others of his mindset that we mean business about our borders. Coupled with CrazyFool's plan, we have a viable plan to protect our country on her southern border. We need some grass roots pressure on our worthless politicians (with a few notable exceptions) in Washington, D.C. to make this happen. Works better for me than making a bloody super intelligence czar (oxy-friggin-moron).
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/15/2004 16:45 Comments || Top||

#10  The Democratic U.S. Rep from these parts is referred to as "The Congressman for Sonora". Notice he (Grijalva) sez not a peep about these illegal incursions.
Posted by: borgboy || 08/15/2004 18:26 Comments || Top||

#11  And mine fields. Make it a lottery. Buy a mine and if an illegal hits it, you win a prize.
Posted by: ed || 08/15/2004 18:58 Comments || Top||

#12  pick 3, the trifecta pays powerball odds
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 19:04 Comments || Top||

#13  But, How many Jihad boys already made it through?
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 08/15/2004 23:01 Comments || Top||

#14  How many Jihad boys already made it through?

ONE is one too many. We know we've caught one, and she's supposedly crossed 250 times. What does that tell you?
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/15/2004 23:14 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
1 Filippino soldier killed in clash with Abu Sayyaf
One Philippine soldier was killed while three others wounded when they clashed with suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits in the island of Sulu in southern Philippines Sunday morning, the local television network ABS-CBN reported. ABS-CBN quoted the spokesman of the armed forces, Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, as saying that the troops encountered the bandits Sunday morning in the Karawan Complex near the towns of Indanan, Maimbung and Parang in Sulu.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/15/2004 3:34:08 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan/South Asia
Paramilitary troops arrest 13 'terrorists' near Chaman
QUETTA: Pakistani paramilitary troops arrested 13 men, confiscating a cache of weapons and ammunition after a gunbattle on Saturday near the Afghan border, an official said. It was unclear who the suspects were and whether they belonged to any militant organisation or not. The troops spotted the men trying to enter Pakistan illegally by foot in Soi Karez, a border area about 135 kilometres north of Quetta, said Mehrab Shah, a government administrator in the area. The men were ordered to stop. They opened fire on the troops who retaliated, Mr Shah said. No injuries were reported. The men believed to be Afghans surrendered after the soldiers surrounded them, said Mr Shah. The weapons included 20 machineguns, nine rockets, two grenades, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a radio set and binoculars. Mr Shah said the men were being questioned. He said they had been smuggling weapons into Pakistan for terrorist attacks, but gave no evidence to support his claim.
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2004 8:47:32 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Aris reviews "Troy"...
... and does an excellent job of it. The only thing I could add would be, "Pretty. They're too pretty..."
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2004 11:31:45 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  but we got the next James Bond out of it....
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 23:59 Comments || Top||

#2 
That was a superb commentary on the film, Aris.

I think the made-up Thessaly introduction served two combined purposes.

1) It depicted Achilles' extraordinary fighting ability right away. The film had to do this somehow, since he sits out of the fighting during the first part of the story.

2) It provided circumstances for Paris' visit to Helen's family.

I thought it was a good movie. Film-makers always change the original stories. The sword fights were great.
.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester || 08/16/2004 7:07 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Debka Updates on U.S. Marines Encircling Shi'ite Terrorists
8-16-04

DEBKAfile's military sources report: Behind news blackout, US forces in Najef inching forward to clear Shiite cemetery adjacent to Imam Ali Mosque of radical Sadrist Shiite fighters.

Sadr is bombarded with contradictory decrees from Iraqi and Iranian Shiite clerics — some telling him to evacuate mosque, others to stay put.

He plans to force prolonged US siege of mosque with intermittent claims of damage to shrine. Americans say Najef standoff will be decided by fatwas not guns. Opening of National Congress of 1,300 delegates from across Iraq was marred by protests against US-Iraqi offensive against radical Shiite cleric Sadr, boycotts and explosions in Baghdad.

American forces complete encirclement of Sunni Triangle towns of Falluja, Samarra, Ramadi and Balad.
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 08/15/2004 10:30:42 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Americans say Najef standoff will be decided by fatwas not guns.
Ok, how about some 2000lb fatwas !!
Posted by: crazyhorse || 08/15/2004 22:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Great name for the newest 'jihad-buster' weapons! The one ton 'Baby Fatwa' & two ton 'Fatwa Whale'! :)
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 08/15/2004 22:41 Comments || Top||

#3  And do not forget the just-out-of-the-shop 40,000 lb MOAF: Mother of All Fatwas
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/15/2004 22:45 Comments || Top||

#4  I have this feeling, real soon Sadr & his moth eaten thugs may not be able to read, hear or issue any further 'fatwas'.
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 08/15/2004 22:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Wasn't Sadr complaining that he didn't have power or water?
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/15/2004 23:30 Comments || Top||

#6  Like so many others, Debka is okay when reporting facts, but falls on its face when doing analysis outside of its area of expertise. They really don't have a handle on American military and diplomatic schemes and maneuvers. Ironically, the US military may be one of the hardest to penetrate intelligence targets out there, the way it is compartmentalized. And on top of that, much of its upper ranks are inscrutable, as individuals. High ranking officers may just be familiar with the US Civil War; or they might just as likely know Dupuy & Dupuy, Clausewitz, Mahan and Sun Tzu by heart.
And remember, foggy bottom, the US State Department, is run by a four-star general. I strongly suggest that for now the assumption should be that the philosophy of US foreign policy truly is "war by other means."
These are the most dangerous men to walk the face of the earth for a long, long time. It would not be wise to mess with them.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/16/2004 0:08 Comments || Top||


Africa: Subsaharan
Rwandan soldiers arrive in Sudan
Rwanda is not exactly the best example of a nation preventing genocide.

Rwandan troops have arrived in Sudan to help protect African Union (AU) ceasefire monitors in the war-ravaged western region of Darfur.

"We welcome the 150 Rwandan soldiers," Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail told reporters.

He said 150 Nigerian soldiers would join the protection force this month.

The small AU team is overseeing a ceasefire between Khartoum and two rebel groups in Darfur, where fighting has claimed 50,000 lives.

Desert town

BBC correspondent Ishbel Matheson says there has been an upsurge of Sudanese refugees fleeing across the border into Chad on Sunday amid reports of renewed military activity in Sudan.

The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said about 500 people crossed the border close to the Chadian village of Berak and further north in Bahai.

DARFUR CONFLICT
Over 1m displaced
Up to 50,000 killed
More at risk from disease and starvation
Arab militias accused of ethnic cleansing
Sudan blames rebels for starting conflict


The refugees spoke of a second wave of violence, our correspondent says.

The Rwandan contingent had landed in El Fasher, the capital of Northern Darfur state.

The BBC's Barnaby Phillips in El Fasher says the soldiers were regarded with some suspicion by Sudanese government officials and soldiers as they filed off the aircraft.

Tens of thousands of people flocked from the surrounding desert to watch their arrival.

The UN has said the deployment of 2,500 AU peacekeepers is being considered but Sudan has voiced opposition to such a large force.

Mr Ismail said it would be unacceptable for African Union troops to fight the Arab militiamen, the Janjaweed, who have been accused by aid workers and refugees of ethnic cleansing.

"If those forces were to enter into clashes with the Janjaweed and armed militia, this would create an unfavourable climate," he said, the state-controlled Sudan Media Centre reports.

In a radio address, Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir blamed unnamed enemies for the crisis in Darfur and said his government was capable of restoring security in the region.

Kagame's pledge

More than a million people have been driven from their homes since the conflict started 18 months ago.

On the edge of El Fasher a vast city of tents and makeshift huts is home to thousands of displaced people.

President Paul Kagame said the Rwandan troops would use force if necessary to protect Sudanese civilians, according to the Associated Press.

"If it was established that the civilians are in danger then our forces will certainly intervene and use force to protect civilians.

"In my view it does not make sense to give security to peace observers while the local population is left to die."

Fighting continues

UN special envoy Jan Pronk has said he wanted many more African observers in Darfur.

He said that progress had been made in talks with the Sudanese government about the establishment of 20km wide safe areas around giant refugee camps in Darfur.

Under the proposal, which is expected to be finalised in the coming days, neither soldiers nor the pro-government Janjaweed militia would be able to carry weapons of any kind in these areas.

Despite the progress in Khartoum, Mr Pronk acknowledged that fighting was continuing in Darfur, with Janjaweed fighters ignoring official instructions to end attacks.

Peace talks due to take place in Abuja on 23 August between all parties in the conflict - the Sudanese government and the two rebel groups - will go ahead, Mr Pronk said, despite uncertainty about whether the rebel groups will attend.


Posted by: Mark Espinola || 08/15/2004 10:22:31 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
Insurgents attack Iraqi conference with mortars
It's al-Reuters. Can you tell?
Insurgents fired mortars at a meeting where Iraqi leaders met to pick an interim national assembly Sunday, killing at least two people in a grim reminder of the country's tortuous path toward democracy. Casting a further shadow over the gathering, Shi'ite militiamen fought fierce battles with U.S. and Iraqi forces in the holy city of Najaf after the collapse of peace talks aimed at ending fighting that has killed hundreds. Iraq's Interior Ministry said three mortar bombs hit a taxi and bus station on the edge of the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, a few hundred yards away from the conference center, also wounding 17 others. The three-day conference, with 1,300 delegates, was not affected, though the explosions rattled windows. The brazen mortar attack illustrates Iraq's nightmarish security situation as politicians and religious leaders try to plot the country's road to democracy.

In Najaf, numerous blasts hit militia positions near the city's holy sites, but it was not immediately clear if U.S. and Iraqi forces had begun an all-out offensive against the Mehdi Army loyal to radical Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. One shell landed near the outer wall of the sacred Imam Ali Mosque, killing one man, a Reuters witness said. Iraq's Interior Ministry said it had issued an order for Iraqi and U.S. forces not to attack the mosque, where hundreds of Sadr's followers were believed to be sheltering. Such an attack could trigger outrage among Iraq's Shi'ite majority. The Interior Ministry also said it had information there were 25 foreigners inside the Imam Ali shrine who are trying to incite violence and threatening to blow it up. Raising the stakes, Sadr has vowed to fight to the death.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/15/2004 3:18:20 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan/South Asia
5 Dawat-e-Islami activists arrested
GHALANAI: The political administration in Mohmand Agency arrested five Dawat-e-Islami Pakistan activists on Saturday. The arrested men were identified as Habibullah from Mayar Samarbagh, Muhammad Saeed from Golra Sharif, Muhammad Sultan from Swabi, Muhammad Naseer from Rawalpindi and Shamrez Khan from Malakand Agency. The authorities were questioning them but were tight-lipped about if they had any connection with Al Qaeda.
Is this a new organization? I don't recall hearing of it before...
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2004 7:51:54 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I believe they are a Brehvli Sunni group that split from the JUP. I'd be suprised if they were connected to Al Qaeda..
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 08/15/2004 23:09 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
British troops, Shiite militia clash in Amara, Kut
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2004 19:40 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine
Israeli troops pull out of southern Gaza refugee camp
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2004 19:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  and left cab fare on the dresser before closing the door on the way out - "we have to work in the morning, but it was nice, thanks"
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 19:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Does anyone have that special recipe for Arab infighting popcorn? I think it was sprinkled with zatar and Mediterranean sea salt. I've already got my lawnchair set up.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/15/2004 20:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Make that Cola - Mecca please? The bitter aftertaste is so mmmmm satisfying
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 21:03 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Four Al Qaeda-linked Turkish nationals arrested in Pakistan
Pakistani security forces arrested four Al-Qaeda-linked Turkish nationals over the weekend, in the ongoing crackdown on militants in the country, a security official said. The men's identities were not disclosed but security officials said two of them were "diehard" operatives of Osama bin Laden's network and fought with the Taliban against US-led coalition forces in neighbouring Afghanistan. "They were injured while fighting against the US forces in Afghanistan and later managed to slip into the Pakistani tribal area near the Afghan border," a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The pair escaped from South Waziristan tribal territory after a major military operation earlier this year and moved to the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore. They were later joined by two more Turkish nationals in Lahore who had flown into Pakistan sometime in June, the official said. "It is not clear as yet whether they had any specific mission to plan a terrorist attack in Pakistan or abroad. Interrogation is continuing and we hope to find out what they were up to."
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2004 7:30:28 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sounds like they may get the chance to die hard. Perhaps they can do an endorsement for Sears to help the family with funeral expenses.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 08/15/2004 19:39 Comments || Top||


Africa: Horn
Charges mount of killing, rape in Darfur, of guilty joining security forces
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2004 19:32 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
Iraq: Foreigners threatening mosque
Twenty-five heavily armed foreigners holed up inside the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf have rigged it with explosives and are threatening to blow up the building if attacked, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said Sunday in a written statement.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 08/15/2004 6:33:22 PM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Attack it...
Posted by: Destro || 08/15/2004 18:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Film 'em.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 08/15/2004 18:43 Comments || Top||

#3  foreigners, huh? Stinking Esquimeaux!

sounds like the case is being made that it will have to "liberated" from 'foreign hands...Heeeellllloooo Black Hats! PR disaster is on the horizon
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 19:02 Comments || Top||

#4  PC sez leave 'em alone. Violence is part of their "cultural heritage".
Posted by: borgboy || 08/15/2004 19:17 Comments || Top||

#5  Y'gotta keep in mind that if they blow up their own holy mosque it's our fault. They're obviously not responsible for their own actions, being Mooselimbs and all...
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2004 19:26 Comments || Top||

#6  I can deal with the guilt...
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 19:33 Comments || Top||

#7  "We got rid of Saddam [Hussein] only to have him replaced by something worse than him."

Ummmm ... no. America got rid of Saddam Hussein, not you, Sadr. The only reason that the Coalition forces seem worse for your ilk is because we aren't letting you shit all over fellow Iraqis with the theocratic bullshit you and your thugs spew.

This latest development leaves me feeling torn. It is almost certain that the shrine is going to be destroyed by what is most likely Iranian controlled agents occupying this site. Once the shrine is demolished, it will form the core of yet another eternally festering carbuncle of anti-Americanism in Iran. Nevermind that Iran is responsible for the destruction.

From the onset, it would have almost been better for US forces to have blown the shrine to hell as a solid demonstration of our resolve to eliminate all insurgents and the mosques they hide in. This would have been a much stronger message for the Iranians than all this dalliance and eventually being (falsely) dragged into complicity anyway.

PLAN A: Use side scanning radar to detect any tunnels leading into the shrine and block them off. Sit back and starve out the occupiers.

PLAN B: Use sleep gas to render the insurgents unconscious or displace all of the building's breathable air by flooding it with a cryogenic tanker truckload of CO2 and suffocate these turds where they sit, sleep or stand.

PLAN C: Blow the mosque to hell and wash our hands of these twisted idiots.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/15/2004 20:23 Comments || Top||

#8  Plan D: Blow it up and tell the Muslim world that the Shi'ites are a heretic sect that doesn't believe in the prophet anyway...
Isn't that what Gentle said?
Posted by: True German Ally || 08/15/2004 20:30 Comments || Top||

#9  Do nothing that makes these aholes look like martyrs. Get some of that Russian knock out gass like Zenster says. Take them out back and hand them over to their fellow muslims and let them deal with them in the street for all to see. The locals are very fed up with these assholes.
Posted by: Flamebait93268 || 08/15/2004 20:32 Comments || Top||

#10  Just spike the water supply.

They'll either go under or dehydrate to unconciousness within 3 days in that 130 degree heat.
Posted by: Oldspook || 08/15/2004 20:36 Comments || Top||

#11  water supply? I assume that was disabled at the start
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 21:00 Comments || Top||

#12  Old Spook, the only problem with spiking their water supply is once the insurgents realize that they are falling into enemy hands, they will have lost any reason not to blow up the shrine. This is why I have routinely advocated the sleep gas or suffocation via atmospheric displacement.

I'm confident that they've laid in sufficient stocks to last for a while. That's why a quick and decisive intervention is necessary. What other ways do you see of resolving this without damaging the shrine? As mentioned above, these rotters will blown up the shrine just so the remaining Arab world will forever blame America for it, right or wrong. Nothing has ever prevented the Arabs from assuming or believing the most hideous of lies (al Qaeda is a Zionist plot et al), so I see few options here.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/15/2004 21:13 Comments || Top||

#13  Pour more Iraqi troops in,back Marines off,and let the Iraqi Interior Ministry issue an ultimatum:Get out,or die.
Posted by: crazyhorse || 08/15/2004 21:14 Comments || Top||

#14  Ah, the Religion of Peace strikes again!

Seems to me someone on Rantburg - probably more than one person, actually - called this development a long time ago, hardly surprising though it is. Bring on the gas.
Posted by: The Doctor || 08/15/2004 21:27 Comments || Top||

#15  One thing to think about: What kind of mindset do the occupants have. Are they really devout Shi'ites ready for martyrdom? There's a Catch 22: If they are, would they really blow up the "holiest place" of the Shia? I mean, what would Allah think if they appeared before him saying: You see, we had to blow up the sanctuary to make the kuffar look bad, now where are the virgins? Hmmmm.

Maybe it's just a big bluff.

The "believers" will probably believe the biggest nonsense, but what about Allah?

And what does the average "Shi'ite in the street" think about those menaces to blow up their holy shrine?

And what game is Iran playing. Do they really want a general Shi'ite uprising at this point which could easily be blamed on them and give George Bush a very good reason to settle the "Iranian problem" before the elections? I think Iran is walking on very very thin ice here, and that's not a good thing to do with 130° C outside.
Posted by: True German Ally || 08/15/2004 21:43 Comments || Top||

#16  No additional deals, cease fires and allowing the Shi'ite terrorist enemy to re-group & re-arm.

This is the final push to remove Sadr and his Iranian infiltrated, paid killers.

The fanatical Islamic enemy longs to meet their Allah, the mythical 72 awaiting virgins, plus the rivers of honey & blueberry pancakes, well, get ready boys, it's a long way down!
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 08/15/2004 22:37 Comments || Top||

#17  We MUST document carefully and in detail EVERYTHING in and around that Mosquq.

And be sure to beam it out in near real time - over the TV in Iraq, and unencrypted over satellite tothe region (Lots of sat dishes in Iran), and be sure to DAILY write up the truth, put lots and lots of photes, and distribute it to each and every regiona nd town in Iraw.

We have the capacity to do this - we really need to get on the propaganda part of this war and get in ahead of the curve.

The society there is only partially literate - so pictures will speak very loudly - and we need to get the true images out there NOW. Show these jerks arming the explosives in the shrine, etc.
Posted by: Oldspook || 08/15/2004 22:57 Comments || Top||

#18  Agreed, it must be a photo finish so even the French & Germans will buy it.
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 08/15/2004 23:08 Comments || Top||

#19  Old Spook: Sounds like Tom Clancy's "The Bear And The Dragon" where he's got the CIA rebroacasting Global Hawk video of the battlefield over the web. Sure we've got the capability. Why aren't we using it?
Posted by: Classical_Liberal || 08/16/2004 0:16 Comments || Top||

#20  While I do not pretend to be an expert on Islamist thinking, there are some pretty obvious components to it. Victory at any cost, even pyric victory, is usually seen as being better than the least loss of face.

Infidels entering the Imam Ali shrine represent a defilement and therefore adequate reason to demolish it rather than letting it fall into enemy hands.

It is almost certain that destruction of the shrine would inevitably be blamed upon the Coalition forces regardless of actual fact. This is a huge motivation for those who have rigged it with explosives.

Why mine the mosque if there is no intention of blowing it up in the first place? An accidental detonation is a very real hazard in this case. Fanatics such as these could easily regard protecting the shrine from the least sort of defilement as their duty to Allah. Somehow managing to foist the blame upon America would merely be icing on the cake.

Consider the significant schism betweek Iran's Qum sect of Shias and those in Iraq. The insurgents recruited by Iran may quite easily be (if not intentionally so) from the Qum faction and therefore have significantly lessened attachment to the Iraqi shi'ites themselves.

None of this fully takes into account the incandescent hatred Iran has for America. Even the Imam Ali shrine's continued existence may well pale in comparison to blackening America's eye in whatever way can be achieved.

Iran's consistent and extensive meddling in Iraq all points towards a determined effort to interfere with any and all progress towards installing a democracy. Demolishing the shrine and somehow attaching blame to the Coalition may well represent a last ditch effort to polarize Iraq's Shi'ite population against any democratic influence.

Iran's anti-American agenda literally knows no bounds. Neither international soil, loss of civilian life at home or abroad nor regional borders matter one whit to Tehran's mullahs. So long as their progress towards regional domination continues, little if anything will deter them. Their blind pursuit of nuclear weapons, even at the risk of military attack or sanctions, should serve as adequate proof of this.

A puny mosque, no matter how revered it may be, is of little consequence by comparison.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/16/2004 1:15 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
LeT terrorists slaughter Hizb commander
A Hizbul Mujahideen area commander was slaughtered by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists following a group rivalry in Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir.
"I respectfully disagree with your opinion, Omar! Take that!"
LeT terrorists kidnapped Hizb area commander Umar Usman from a hideout in Gambhir Moghalla area in Rajouri district following a group rivalry on Friday, official sources said. The terrorists tortured Usman and later slaughtered him, they said adding his body was recovered from near a school.
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2004 5:01:22 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  SD Padres win, Mark Martin comes in third at Watkins Glen, now this... it's a sunshiney, feeling-good-in-the-tummy day! Thanks, Fred!
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 17:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Sorry, which one's our dog in this fight?
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 08/15/2004 17:35 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm rooting against both sides.
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2004 18:09 Comments || Top||

#4  Fred - sounds like a plan to me. :-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/15/2004 18:17 Comments || Top||

#5  Cool, I hope they videotaped it.
Posted by: Destro || 08/15/2004 18:20 Comments || Top||

#6  Just sit back with the hot popcorn and enjoy the party.
Posted by: Mark Espinola || 08/15/2004 22:19 Comments || Top||


15 killed in Assam blast
Fifteen people were killed and 20 others critically injured when suspected Ulfa men triggered off a powerful blast in Assam's Dhemaji district during Independence Day celebrations on Sunday. The Ulfa and five other banned militant organisations had called for an I-Day boycott. The bomb exploded at 8 am when the deputy commissioner of the district, M. Sahu, was on the way to the podium to hoist the tricolour. The Dhemaji police said that six persons died on the spot. Several later succumbed to their injuries. The dead included seven school children, six women and two aged men. However, unofficial sources said that death toll had gone up to 18. The toll is likely to go up, as the condition of eight injured persons is critical.

The state government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh each for the kin of each of those killed. Rs 50,000 would be given to those who were injured in the blast. The government has also suspended both the SP and additional SP of Dhemaji district P.K. Thunglung and Abu Soforia respectively while the deputy commissioner Sahu has been transferred. Reacting to the blast, chief minister Tarun Gogoi said that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act was a necessity and should not be withdrawn from the state. Gogoi said that a district-wise contingency action plan would be drawn up soon and tough measures would be taken against Ulfa activists. "We had information on Ulfa's subversive acts but we failed to stop some of those incidents. Our intelligence network has to be improved", he added. In another incident in Dhubri, six security personnel were injured in an explosion at the venue of the I-Day celebrations. But luckily the celebration was already over.
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2004 4:53:54 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Taliban fighters kill six soldiers in Afghanistan
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2004 16:59 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
Iran TV journalist arrested in Najaf
A journalist for the Arabic service of Iran's state broadcaster was detained live on television Sunday as US troops led a renewed offensive against Shiite Muslim militiamen in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf.
"And now, reporting live from Najaf..."
"Stick 'em up!"

Mohammad Kazem, an Iraqi correspondent of Iran's Al-Alam channel, was detained at gunpoint by Iraqi police during the live interview from a Najaf rooftop. At 10 am (0600 GMT) on Sunday, Najaf police chief General Ghaleb al-Jazairi had given all journalists two hours to leave ahead of a renewed assault on militia positions in the city centre following the breakdown of truce talks the previous day. It is not the first time that Al-Alam has fallen foul of the Iraqi authorities. Officials of the US-backed interim government have repeatedly taken issue with the Iranian television's coverage, along with that of the Gulf-based satellite channels Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya. Earlier this month, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari accused all three channels of "incitement working against the interests, security and stability of the Iraqi people" and warned: "We will no longer tolerate this in the future."
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2004 4:58:28 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "If you wanna still be 'Live from Iraq' you'll get the hell outta Dodge Najaf, Asshat!"
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 17:18 Comments || Top||

#2  That was quick.No Mullah TV tonight in Iran.
Posted by: crazyhorse || 08/15/2004 17:19 Comments || Top||

#3  I'd like to see Allawi singing "Back in the Saddle Again."
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 08/15/2004 17:36 Comments || Top||

#4  My my, can't say I give a flying fark
Went the police tell you to get smart people get.
I just wonder how fast he would have been moving if it was a Iranian police directive? Even the Roadrunner would have been left in the dust I bet.
Posted by: Flamebait93268 || 08/15/2004 17:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Mohammad Kazem

I thought that was a movie starring
Abu ShaK (back-up with the butt) The Real Deal McNeil

Hey! How about them Riccans! LOL! BakitBall geebus, what a joke for the styyle makkers.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/15/2004 19:31 Comments || Top||

#6  ship? you've been into the reserves, haven't you?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 19:34 Comments || Top||


Kuwaiti wanted by State Security has reached Switzerland?
Kuwaiti Khaled Al-Dosari, one of the fugitives wanted by Kuwait State Security for allegedly recruiting teenagers for 'jihad' (holy war) against the US troops in Iraq, is said to have escaped to Switzerland and the Swiss authorities have allegedly agreed to offer him asylum on humanitarian grounds, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting knowledgeable security sources. The daily quoted another unidentified source as saying Al-Dosari will be interviewed by a news satellite channel immediately after asylum procedures are completed. Earlier, it was reported Al-Dosari had telephoned one of his relatives in Kuwait saying he had escaped into Iraq.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) || 08/15/2004 4:36:05 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus
Chechen hard boyz still getting foreign cash
Russian special services have come across intelligence suggesting that foreign terrorist groups have sent money to Chechen rebels which would be used to disrupt the August 29 presidential election, said Sergei Ignatchenko, head of the Federal Security Service's (FSB) public relations center. The money is to be used to step up sabotage activities and harass Chechen civilians with threats and demands to boycott the election, he told Interfax on Tuesday. Terrorist Internet sites, which have become more active lately, claim that more money has been sent to Chechnya for this purpose, Ignatchenko said. "They have stepped up information attacks and the amount of misinformation. Statements from [militant leaders Aslan] Maskhadov, [Shamil] Basayev and [Maskhadov's emissary in London Akhmed] Zakayev have also become more frequent," he said. Special services and law enforcement agencies in Chechnya are working hard to thwart the rebel's plans to commit acts of sabotage before and during the election, Ignatchenko said.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/15/2004 3:33:10 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
Iraq evicts reporters from Najaf
All reporters told to leave city or be arrested.
Posted by: crazyhorse || 08/15/2004 4:11:39 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That means they don't expect the next phase to be pretty...
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2004 16:30 Comments || Top||

#2  My thought was with Iraqi's leading the attack,presure may be brought on the shrine itself.
Posted by: crazyhorse || 08/15/2004 16:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Exhibit A in this tribunal's case against the the AP/Reuters/AFP Axis:
Yahoo slideshow from August 10th

Of 202 images in this particular item, only two showed American forces: a burning Humvee and a distant helicopter.
In contrast, there were literally dozens of heroically posed shots of the mujaheddin.
The style of these would be immediately familiar to anyone whose studies have included the propaganda techniques of the Third Reich.

Under international law, governments have every right in the world to suppress hostile propaganda in time of conflict. A number of US court rulings support this as well, not that US law is relevant in this case.

International law has even prescribed the ultimate penalty for particularly egregious cases of media incitement.

Julius Streicher: follow his path, share his fate.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 08/15/2004 16:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Concerns about the interim government's commitment to freedom of the press were sparked Aug. 7 when officials order the Baghdad office of the pan-Arab television station Al-Jazeera closed.

"How will we write convincing-sounding anti-American propaganda if we can't get anywhere near the action??? Ethel! My salts! ETHEL!!!!"
Posted by: Dave D. || 08/15/2004 16:37 Comments || Top||

#5 
All reporters told to leave city or be arrested
Too bad about the "told to leave the city or" part.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/15/2004 16:40 Comments || Top||

#6  Lefty moonbat mode: Last week's arrest of revered media authority Mike Wallace in New York was obviously intended to telegraph a message.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 08/15/2004 16:45 Comments || Top||

#7  Taking the offensive by taking out the "offensive" Al Jizz-types of propaganda combatants is the first step of the Iraqi govt in getting a handle on the Iran and others backed terrorists. Good move. There is still hope.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/15/2004 16:49 Comments || Top||

#8  OOOH, that last one is too good for a throwaway joke, imnsho that is.
It has been duly forwarded to Operation Indy-borg for inclusion in their daily traffic.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 08/15/2004 16:50 Comments || Top||

#9  When are boys are swatting Mosquetos, they don't need a bunch of Mooooslum sympathizing, left-leaning reporters getting in their way. The media is the single biggest impediment to us winning this war.
Posted by: Anonymous6081 || 08/15/2004 16:51 Comments || Top||

#10  messy is fine - as long as it's Mahdi messy...
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 17:05 Comments || Top||

#11  Oh I am SO upset! Well not really. It seems the media is embeded with the Jihadis. Screw them.

New slogan;
"If you with Jihadis embed, then you be dead"
Posted by: Flamebait93268 || 08/15/2004 17:16 Comments || Top||

#12  wonder if they think Tater really will blow the shrine? We better keep cameras rolling for our own PR purposes
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 17:19 Comments || Top||

#13  Mr. Allawi is lining up his ducks very carefully.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 08/15/2004 17:33 Comments || Top||

#14  Re #3: More like a copy of SIGNAL magazine then Streicher porno-trash...but your point is well madee and well taken...
Posted by: borgboy || 08/15/2004 17:51 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Assassination plot against Pakistani cabinet ministers foiled
The arrests of two suspects in the Pakistani capital is said to have foiled a terror plot to assassinate senior Cabinet ministers and led to a series of raids against other militants, intelligence officials said Sunday. The suspects purportedly belong to a group linked to Al Qaeda network, accused in an assassination attempt in June against, the top general in Karachi that left 10 people dead. Meanwhile security agencies are hunting for Abu Farj, a Libyan believed to be al-Qaeda's commander in Pakistan, accused of masterminding two assassination attempts against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in December.

Intelligence officials said that Abu Farj is believed to have trained Pakistani militants at an al-Qaida camp in the lawless tribal area of South Waziristan near the Pakistani border with Afghanistan. Since mid-July, Pakistan has seized more than 30 terror suspects and uncovered valuable al-Qaida intelligence that has led to a dozen more arrests in Britain and a terror alert in the United States. As the counterterrorism operations have continued during the past week, Pakistani government officials have become increasingly guarded with information about the investigations. Intelligence agencies last week in Islamabad made a number of terrorist arrests and also seized rockets and missiles, a senior security official told reporters on condition of anonymity. The official has asserted that the suspects were planning to attack Saturday's official celebrations of Independence Day marking the 57th anniversary of Pakistan's freedom from British occupation, targeting important government installations. Two of the detained suspects were also plotting to kill senior Cabinet ministers including the ministers of foreign affairs, information and the interior said intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. They said the arrests triggered about 10 more arrests in other parts of eastern Punjab province including in the town of Sargodha, and that more raids and arrests are on their way.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/15/2004 3:22:48 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq-Jordan
Al Douri in Syria
Doing what, we wonder?
In a different subject there is nearly certain information about the presence of Azit Al-Dori [Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri] in the Syrian capital Damascus since last April. He is not in good health accompanied by a woman who may have been married her after the failure of the regime when he was in hiding.
Posted by: doc || 08/15/2004 15:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa: Horn
Sudan: Armed Militia Still Committing Atrocities in Darfur
Posted by: Fred || 08/15/2004 10:56 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Incorporating the Janjawid militias into the security services and then deploying them to protect civilian 'safe areas' is the height of absurdity," Takirambudde said. "The Sudanese government needs to bring war criminals to justice, not recruit them into positions of responsibility."

At least if they are wearing uniforms they will be easier to snipe.
Posted by: Super Hose || 08/15/2004 17:13 Comments || Top||

#2  And in further news, the Pope indeed remains Catholic!
Posted by: borgboy || 08/15/2004 18:21 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
JeM member held for attempt on Aziz's life
Security agencies have arrested two terrorism suspects, including an Afghan national, who are believed to be involved in an assassination attempt on Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz last month that left nine people dead, well-placed sources told Dawn on Saturday. A source said that the accused were arrested in separate raids conducted in eastern Punjab on Friday night. The suspects were identified as Qari Noor Mohammed, an Afghan who allegedly coordinated the attack, and Mohammed Imran, a local man. The source said that one of the suspects, Imran, was a member of the outlawed extremist group Jaish-i-Mohammed. He was seen at the place where the assassination attempt on Mr Aziz was made.

When contacted, Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat confirmed the fresh arrests, saying the accused had hatched a terrorism plan for mass-scale destruction on the occasion of the Independence Day. "Our intelligence agencies preempted a country-wide terrorist plot for mass-scale destruction in different cities of the country," he added. However, the interior minister ruled out the links of the accused with the assassination attempts on prime minister-designate Shaukat Aziz. Replying to a question about the number and identity of the arrested suspects, the minister said that because of security reasons, he could not disclose that who and how many they were and from where they were picked up. The minister denied the reports that the arrested suspects had planned another attack on prime minister-designate.

The arrest of two suspects is stated to be the latest in an on-going crackdown being conducted by the security personnel to hunt top leaders of Al Qaeda hierarchy. Meanwhile, a senior minister told Dawn that some intelligence agencies personnel at a reception hosted by President Gen Pervez Musharraf in the President House on Friday night were talking about the arrest of terror suspects and unearthing of a country-wide sabotage plan. He said that the plans of targeted attacks on important personalities were foiled by the law-enforcement agencies.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/15/2004 2:52:07 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  bet they're not having a good weekend, huh?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 12:09 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
8 dead in US strike in Fallujah
Eight Iraqis were killed and 10 others wounded, mostly women and children, after US troops clashed with insurgents in the flashpoint city west of Baghdad and warplanes struck two homes, hospital sources said. "We have received eight killed and 10 injured," said doctor Ali Khamis at Fallujah's general hospital, adding that the dead included two women and two children. The US military said earlier it struck positions suspected of being used by insurgents after they attacked a US marine position on the outskirts of the city at about 2.00 pm with rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun and small arms fire. A pick-up truck filled with masked fighters was seen escorting the funeral processions as people shouted slogans against the United States and the interim Iraqi Government.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/15/2004 2:50:44 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  where was the armed predator when the pickup-parade happened? Damn! 8 dead is a start
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 10:30 Comments || Top||

#2  I love Dr Inflation - the true protector of baby ducks, puppies, kittens, and fictitious children - he's a trip!
Posted by: .com || 08/15/2004 10:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Is this the same guy they quote every smackdown?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 10:38 Comments || Top||

#4  Same hospital - I figure he's the same guy who confirmed 12 dead bodies were received at the hospital back in April - then, when the story was corrected by the reporter to be 12 wounded - zero dead - was prolly unavailble for comment -- and that assumes the reporter was the unbiased variety who would've followed up for clarification, lol!
Posted by: .com || 08/15/2004 10:46 Comments || Top||

#5  Well Dr. Khamis, where I come from they say you've have to break a few eggs to make an omelette.
Posted by: Anonymous6081 || 08/15/2004 10:51 Comments || Top||

#6  yeah seems kinda funny that they never quote him as saying any of the fighters where killed.
Posted by: smokeysinse || 08/15/2004 10:52 Comments || Top||

#7  Frank,

Did you mean the predators as in Alien vs. Predator?
Posted by: mhw || 08/15/2004 10:53 Comments || Top||

#8  LOL - I wish...an armed UAV is what I meant. BTW - taking my boys to see that today, I expect the Gentle bashing education lesson to continue in my absence.....so much to teach the idjit and so little time. She's a fraud
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 10:56 Comments || Top||

#9  Frank do you dress the guys in little Aloha Shirts? Or are they to young to have earned this perk.... :)
Posted by: Abu MacShipman || 08/15/2004 12:12 Comments || Top||

#10  Exactly! They have to get a job first. Hawaiian shirts are best worn when it pisses off the boss - makes it extra special goodness to wear something that has a topless babe somewhere in the pattern :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 12:22 Comments || Top||

#11  Where are the dead baby seals?
Posted by: someone || 08/15/2004 13:08 Comments || Top||

#12  Ya want some dead baby seals, I'll give you dead baby seals. How many do ya want, and where do we send 'em? Ya should have asked earlier, they are growing like weeds now. Mama's milk is richer than cream.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/15/2004 14:03 Comments || Top||

#13  I guess the Iraqi are kickin your ass big time in fhalujah and najaf and Your bastard in chief and is vice fuck you cheney, are not telling you that. last cell call I recived from 101 exp. unit is that so many bolony and turky feed "boys" are out of commission and sended to Germany and you RantHamburghers I want Kiss george'ass are talking macho
after reading your post i guess all of you are just a bunch of faghety jews or a mobil home retired hillbillyes properly trained in the use of the English language
Posted by: Anonymous6082 || 08/15/2004 15:09 Comments || Top||

#14  ooh! A troll! Can we keep him?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 15:11 Comments || Top||

#15  Oh, dear, 6082, have you seen my husband?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis || 08/15/2004 15:12 Comments || Top||

#16  Nahhh, his language isn't nearly as funny as Mucky's (who's not a troll)!
Posted by: True German Ally || 08/15/2004 15:14 Comments || Top||

#17  No, throw it [6082] back until it grows up a little....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/15/2004 15:21 Comments || Top||

#18  LOL Mrs. D.!

Perhaps Mucki will conjure up a friendly place for our new friend.
Posted by: Shipman || 08/15/2004 15:26 Comments || Top||

#19  Anon--

That's why your fat, smelly hero keeps calling for a truce, right? Because he's winning?
Posted by: BMN || 08/15/2004 16:02 Comments || Top||

#20  Boy, for someone who insults one in the use of the English language you could sure use a dictionary. For example "faghety" should be spelled "faggoty" although it is still an improper form of the word. Please, slow down when you type. Errors distract from your message.
Posted by: whitecollar redneck || 08/15/2004 18:01 Comments || Top||

#21  A6082 sounds like John Kerry's kinda voter.
Posted by: Dave D. || 08/15/2004 18:11 Comments || Top||

#22  Sadr's latest quote... "I will fight until the last drop of everyone's blood around me (but not mine specifically) until I get proper DENTAL CARE!!!!
Posted by: 98zulu || 08/15/2004 18:14 Comments || Top||

#23  He is prolly running "l33t" haxozrs scripts against the IIS server right now. LLLs can't abide any website that deviates from the LLL norms on the internet. "they" invented the internet don't you know. Most of them don't know what DARPA stands for.

Anonymous6082 you can suck on my prune picking arse. Go back to your move on dot org forum and eat the dog feces that you all claim is the "truth". That "truth" Soros and his incestious fellow travelers promote will not make you free.
Posted by: Flamebait93268 || 08/15/2004 18:15 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Clashes subside in Herat
Fighting subsided in Afghanistan's western Herat province Sunday, a day after 21 people were killed in an attack on a disused airbase, part of a raid to oust the provincial governor, officials said. They said governor Ismail Khan's forces had defeated fighters of Amanullah Khan, a local commander who had seized parts of Shindand airbase, some 100 kms (63 miles) to the south of Herat city Saturday. Sayed Nasir Alawi, a spokesman for Herat's governor, said except for some sporadic clashes in isolated parts of Shindand district, the situation was calm. He said governor's forces had secured the airport and military installations from the attackers.

Alawi also said that tension had died down in the northern, eastern and southeastern districts of Herat from where forces opposed to the governor were planning to launch coordinated attacks. Those involved in the attacks are rivals of Ismail Khan who they accuse for not accommodating them in the local administration. Turf wars in the provinces are a headache for President Hamid Karzai as Afghanistan prepares for its first presidential election on October 9, with ousted Taliban fighters running a guerrilla war against U.S.-led forces in the south and east. At least 21 people were killed in the fighting in Shindand alone, but locals and some officials privately said that the death toll was higher than reported.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/15/2004 2:46:22 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Might as well get this over with:

Khhhhhhhhaaaaan!
Posted by: Raj || 08/15/2004 11:56 Comments || Top||


2 Pakistani soldiers killed in rocket attack
Two soldiers were reportedly killed and seven others were injured when militants fired rockets at the Wana Scouts Camp on Friday night. The authorities however did not confirm if there were any casualties in the rocket attack. The camp came under attack from the north and south and continued sporadically till 9:00am on Saturday. Paramilitary forces retaliated with mortar fire. Some of the shells landed in Doog village damaging the houses of residents Syed Afzal, Malik Gul Munir Khan, Wakil Khan, Romal Khan, Bismillah Khan, Sirajud Din, Abdul Khaliq and Mujeebur Rehman, a local journalist. Three women were injured and a car was damaged when a mortar shell hit a house. Two or three rockets fired by suspected Al Qaeda militants landed inside the camp but they caused no injuries.

Tension marred Independence Day celebrations in Wana as no group or organisation held any function in connection with the country's 57th Independence Day. A procession of tribesmen holding black flags marched to the grave of Nek Muhammad, an Al Qaeda collaborator who was killed in an air attack last month, and offered prayers for him. The procession dispersed peacefully. However, the Ghangikhel Wazir, a sub-tribe of the Ahmadzai Wazir, announced support for the administration and agreed to submit a Rs 10 million bond and give a written undertaking that it would not attack the army and paramilitary troops in South Waziristan. Tribal elders also promised that they would not allow Al Qaeda militants to carry on their activities and would turn them over to the authorities. The Ahmadzai Wazir tribe jirga, which was scheduled to meet on Saturday, was postponed for Sunday.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/15/2004 2:59:53 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Tribal elders also promised that they would not allow Al Qaeda militants to carry on their activities and would turn them over to the authorities.

How many times have we read that sentence?
Posted by: Raj || 08/15/2004 11:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Some of the shells landed in Doog village damaging the houses of residents Syed Afzal, Malik Gul Munir Khan, Wakil Khan, Romal Khan, Bismillah Khan....

Looks like the Khan clan took the brunt of the real estate hits from the mortar barrage. Raj, you may do the vocal honors, if you please:
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/15/2004 13:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Hope they didn't get the drum.
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/15/2004 13:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Ahhhh, did it on another thread today, AP. Don't want that one to get too old, now do we?
Posted by: Raj || 08/15/2004 13:13 Comments || Top||

#5  Looks like I'm in for an all day thread hunt.
Posted by: Abu MacShipman || 08/15/2004 15:19 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Iraqi Army to Lead Attack in Najaf
Iraq's Prime Minister Ayad Allawi ordered troops from the country's newly formed army to lead an attack against Shiite Muslim militia in Najaf, the Washington Post said, citing Iraqi officials and U.S. Army commanders. The deployment is the first since sovereignty was restored to Iraq on June 28, the newspaper said. A U.S.-led attack would have been politically hazardous as the militia, led by cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, are holed up at the shrine of Imam Ali, one of Shiite Islam's most sacred sites. ``I think the reason Allawi called us off is this would've turned quickly into the occupier versus the defender of the holy shrine, no matter what the truth is,'' said Major David Holahan of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the Post reported. ``The city would've been damaged, and Sadr would have gained in popularity.'' Yesterday peace talks between Sadr and the Iraqi interim government broke down, ending a two-day truce. Sadr and his ``Mahdi Army'' are calling for the U.S. to withdraw from Iraq.
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 09:09 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Eggggcellent.
Posted by: whitecollar redneck || 08/15/2004 9:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Here's a little more from AP...

Whew - let's all pray the shrine isn't damaged.
Posted by: Brutal || 08/15/2004 9:25 Comments || Top||

#3  An Iraqi blogger is reporting the fight has started.
Posted by: Anonymous5668 || 08/15/2004 9:28 Comments || Top||

#4  What shrine is it you keep talking about?
Don't mix Islam with the cults that later came up.
Posted by: Gentle || 08/15/2004 9:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Oh, you mean the Death Cult that was founded about 710 AD? Yeah that was unfortunate.
Posted by: whitecollar redneck || 08/15/2004 9:34 Comments || Top||

#6  "what shrine?" another clue Gentle's not in the ME - don't play the troll's game
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 9:36 Comments || Top||

#7  Frank,
I think Gentle considers the Shia to be a non Islamic sect.
Posted by: mhw || 08/15/2004 9:48 Comments || Top||

#8  The Sunnis hold the Shi'a beneath contempt. Certainly, however, she protesteth too much, methinks, by implying she knows nothing of Shi'a Islam.
Posted by: .com || 08/15/2004 9:55 Comments || Top||

#9  i do know.
But its so twisted you can't keep everything in mind. AND I don't know about any shrine.
Will you stop with the history! I hate it.
It was the reason I chose the science section in Sec. school.
Posted by: Gentle || 08/15/2004 10:01 Comments || Top||

#10  #9 - you're taking science in school?

Based on your postings here, I suggest you demand your money back.

As for history, those who do not learn the lessons of history are destined to repeat them.

Anyway, your history should be easy to learn - it hasn't changed much in 1400 years. And, as near as I can tell, y'all make most of it up to suit yourselves anyway.

(Kind of like our media. No wonder Sad-Sack's minion said the media are their special friends.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/15/2004 10:13 Comments || Top||

#11  Ok can ask anyone a question? When are they gonna stop talking about this and do it? I'm so tired of reading the same shit everyday and nothing ever gets done. Just blow the damn mosque into the ground already and quit wasting time and men pussy footing around with these criminals.
Posted by: smokeysinse || 08/15/2004 10:55 Comments || Top||

#12  Well, anyone taking bets on the shrine being levelled by the end of the week? Tater is supposed to have wired the place - going out in a blaze of glory.

I'd prefer some psy-ops really. 110 dB of Napalm Death, or maybe "We built this city", "The Final Countdown", or for the Brits here "Mr Blobby".

No, no - I got it.

"The Mashed Potato"
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 08/15/2004 11:23 Comments || Top||

#13  heh, heh. "sloppy joe."
Posted by: nada || 08/15/2004 11:51 Comments || Top||

#14  ACDC - Highway to Hell
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 11:53 Comments || Top||

#15  Tony(UK) wrote in #12: We Built This City

I envision mass handwringing from human rights orgs the world over decrying the incomprehensible cruelty of exposing them to Starship at such volumes. Talk about man's inhumanity to man!

(And the irony of a group sneering at bands taking the corporate dollar while taking the corporate dollar.)
Posted by: eLarson || 08/15/2004 12:00 Comments || Top||

#16  Gentle,

"Those who ignore history are bound to repeat it."

-- (I dont recall who said that...)
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/15/2004 12:00 Comments || Top||

#17  CrazyFool - Its Santayana, a Spanish philosopher (to whom the Spanish have obviously not listened).

"He who does not learn from history is doomed to repeat it"

As for the "Negotiations", and such -


I TOLD YOU SO!

Thats why there was a 3 day pause: it was to allow the Iraqi forces to pre-position, plan and set up coordination with US forces for taking the Shrine.

That and to pre-position Iraqi Police (and Multinational force troops) for the (inevitable) Sadr inspired rioting in Najaf and also in other cities.

This means if Sadr dies, he dies from an Iraqi (Moslem) bullet.
Posted by: Oldspook || 08/15/2004 12:13 Comments || Top||

#18  In Gentles case those who ignore history are probably having a piss poor time in math and practical cookery.

Posted by: Abu MacShipman || 08/15/2004 12:14 Comments || Top||

#19  Thanks OS for the nane (and correction).

I just hope that they take video and pictures and plaster them all over the news and in Sadr city.

Would like to see Tater coming out in tears, begging for his life.... For all his tough talk I dont think he is all that brave. He reminds me of the schoolyard bully.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/15/2004 14:20 Comments || Top||

#20  Old Spook, sometimes your predictions scare me and I came out of CI when I dove into the civilian world.
Posted by: whitecollar redneck || 08/15/2004 18:03 Comments || Top||

#21  those who ignore history are probably having a piss poor time in math and practical cookery.

Not to mention geography. Even those watching news on the idiot box will eventually be told where Najaf is.
Posted by: Pappy || 08/15/2004 18:23 Comments || Top||

#22  Oldspook may have it right,and the Iraqi's may storm the shrine.Makes sense.
Posted by: crazyhorse || 08/15/2004 23:54 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine
Terror cell hid bomb in stroller
EFL - JPost - reg req'd
The capture of a three-man terrorist cell has led to the revelation of plans for a massive attack in Haifa's Talpiot market. The three were arrested by security forces within 36 hours of Wednesday's Kalandiya bomb attack north of Jerusalem in which two Palestinians were killed and three border policemen seriously wounded. The terrorists had purchased a baby carriage to conceal the bomb, but the large presence of security forces at the Kalandiya checkpoint caused them to detonate it prematurely. Two of the cell members attempted to escape detection by attending to Palestinian casualties...

Bassam Mustafa Asad Abid, 29, a taxi driver, was arrested by security forces just hours after the attack. Information obtained during his interrogation led to the arrest the following day of Muhammad Fathi Dieb Ayosh, 27, also a taxi driver. Both are residents of Arraba village near Jenin. A complex and intensive hunt led to the arrest of the third cell member, Wael Nabil Mahmud Nuriat, 29, of Matilon in Samaria. Nuriat was caught while hiding inside a mosque in A-Ram. Details released for publication on Friday by the Shin Bet revealed that Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commanders in Jenin, Zakariya Zubeidi, 28, and Mahmud Asad Ibn Halifa, 25, supplied the terrorists with the 25-kilogram bomb and instructed them on how to detonate it.
Posted by: Frank G || 08/15/2004 9:06:43 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What gave them away? A Paleo man (and I use the term loosely) pushing a baby carriage - that's women's work.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/15/2004 10:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Bassam Mustafa Asad Abid, 29, a taxi driver...
Muhammad Fathi Dieb Ayosh, 27, also a taxi driver


...and everybody says I'm nuts.
Posted by: Travis Bickle || 08/15/2004 11:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Picking up that 'fine tradition' from the IRA, I see...
Posted by: Raj || 08/15/2004 12:19 Comments || Top||

#4  "Ugh! What an ugly baby You've got there!"
Posted by: Ptah || 08/15/2004 21:54 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Dutch soldier killed in Iraq
Posted by: Dutchgeek || 08/15/2004 05:09 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Dank je wel, soldier, for keeping us all safe. Fare you well on your final journey.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/15/2004 6:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Shortly after the attack, US military, including a Black Hawk helicopter, came to help with the medical evacuation.

I'm glad we don't stint on the support. Wish we could have helped the one guy.
Posted by: Super Hose || 08/15/2004 17:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Laurence Binyon's For the Fallen - written to commemorate the staunchness of England's soldiery in the Great War:

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is a music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncountered:
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables at home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end they remain.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 08/15/2004 21:07 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Schism widens among the Taliban leadership
There are signs of the Taliban leadership "falling apart," a U.S. military spokesman said on Saturday, citing reports this week that a breakaway faction no longer recognizes Mullah Mohammad Omar. Reuters reported Monday that a dissident group named Taliban Jamiat Jaish-e-Muslimeen (Muslim Army of the Taliban) had broken away, taking with it about one-third of the Taliban's fighting strength. "That's a significant development which demonstrates the Taliban are falling apart a little bit on the leadership side," Major Scott Nelson told a regular news briefing in Kabul.

Nelson said the military was still assessing what impact the split was having on the Islamist militants' strategy and operations against U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan. "That fissure is widening -- we see that. Specifically what that means we're still looking into it," he said. The new group was being led by Mulla Syed Mohammad Akbar Aga, a 45-year-old commander from the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, Sabir Momin, who was the Taliban's deputy operations commander in southern Afghanistan, told Reuters Monday.
Never interfere when your enemy is in the midst of destroying himself.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 08/15/2004 12:02:29 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yes ... but keep an eye on those remnants just in case, as this might be metastasis.
Posted by: rkb || 08/15/2004 7:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Cockroaches!
Posted by: The Orkin Man || 08/15/2004 11:59 Comments || Top||

#3  It REALLY was time for another faction!

I suppose they disagree about whether to stone women on a football field or on a market place.
Posted by: True German Ally || 08/15/2004 12:02 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2004-08-15
  Terrorist summit was held in Waziristan in March
Sat 2004-08-14
  Tater wants UN peas-keepers
Fri 2004-08-13
  30 Iranians, 2 trucks loaded with weapons captured en route to Sadr
Thu 2004-08-12
  Tater hollers for help
Wed 2004-08-11
  Sadr boyz attack on two fronts
Tue 2004-08-10
  Sudan launches fresh helicopter attacks in Darfur
Mon 2004-08-09
  Tater vows to fight to last drop of blood
Sun 2004-08-08
  Qari Saifullah nabbed in Dubai
Sat 2004-08-07
  Islamist Spy in the Navy?
Fri 2004-08-06
  Pakistan hunting for more al-Qaeda
Thu 2004-08-05
  Federal Agents Raid Mosque In Albany, N.Y.
Wed 2004-08-04
  British Arrest 13 in Anti-Terror Sweep
Tue 2004-08-03
  Paks jug 18 Qaeda
Mon 2004-08-02
  Pakistan confirms arrest al-Qaeda computer expert
Sun 2004-08-01
  Iran Resumes Building Nuclear Centrifuges

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