A Saudi truck driver who was kidnapped and released by a militant Iraqi group in June has sued al-Jazeera television for "moral" damages and is demanding compensation, a lawyer said on Tuesday. Saydan Saadun Saydan charged before Kuwait's lower court that a cameraman from the television station shot a video of him while reading a statement during captivity, al-Jazeera's lawyer in Kuwait, Ali al-Nimesh, said. "As the kidnappers asked me to read a statement, I saw a photographer and a reporter from al-Jazeera entering the place. They started shooting the video," Saydan said in his complaint. But Nimesh said Saydan had not told the court how he recognised that the team belonged to al-Jazeera.
Maybe because they're the ones who ran the tape?
On June 5, al-Jazeera aired a video showing Saydan reading a statement warning lorry drivers not to work for the US-led occupation forces. The man was abducted on May 31 while driving his own truck just outside Baghdad with some 1 800 boxes of soft drinks for a US company. His truck was blown up in what he said was an attack by mujahedeen fighters on a convoy supposed to have been defended by Iraqi forces. Nimesh said the court, which looked into the case on Monday, has adjourned until November 7. He said he has challenged the authority of the court to look into such a case. Al-Jazeera's office in Kuwait was closed more than two years ago. The channel has fought several cases in Kuwaiti courts.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2004 10:42:03 PM ||
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You don't suppose the Al Jazeera men had their press passes in their hatbands? Or the station i.d.on the microphone?
Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov must constantly remain on the move in Chechnya and look for new ways of financing militant operations, spokesman for the regional headquarters of the anti-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus Maj. Gen. Ilya Shabalkin told Interfax on Wednesday. "We have learned from detained militants that a significant number of gunmen, including foreign mercenaries, have been killed in special efforts by the federal forces recently. This has disrupted the terrorists' financial supplies from abroad," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/06/2004 6:48:37 PM ||
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Spanish police on Wednesday arrested five suspected members of the Basque separatist ETA guerrilla group who appeared primed to stage attacks, Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said. The operation was made possible by the arrest in France on Sunday of 20 ETA suspects including the group's alleged leader, and in northern Spain of a truck driver suspected of involvement in recent bombings of electricity pylons, Alonso said. "Police believe the people arrested had agreed to join the terrorist group's operative structure, and were awaiting instructions (to carry out attacks)," the minister told a news conference. "Documents and computers have been seized and the operation is ongoing as these arrests are linked to information extracted in last weekend's operations in France and northern Spain," he said.
The arrests of four men and one woman took place in the early hours of the morning in the northern provinces of Guipuzcoa and Navarre. Spain regards Sunday's extensive operation by French police, who nabbed suspected ETA political leader Mikel Albisu Iriarte, alias "Mikel Antza," as the biggest coup against the separatist group in 12 years. French police also uncovered huge ETA arms caches, including a ton of explosives, grenades and launchers, assault rifles and two Russian-made surface-to-air missiles. "We have to maintain maximum political, police and judicial pressure (on ETA) and not drop our guard for a single moment," Alonso said. "I want to insist on that in order to avoid euphoria, though it would be justified by the good news. Politicians and society in general have to understand we have to remain cautious and keep working."
ETA, classed as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, is under pressure on both sides of the Pyrenees after the wave of recent arrests. The group has killed more than 800 people since 1968 in a campaign to press for a Basque state carved out of northern Spain and southwestern France. However, it has only carried out small-scale bombings recently and has not staged a fatal attack in 16 months. Analysts say it has been weakened by hundreds of arrests in France and Spain in recent years.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/06/2004 4:30:05 PM ||
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No wow about it. France is trying to keep its own backyard clean, even while ignoring the rest of the world...
Ten suspected Islamic militants, including one of Osama bin Laden's alleged associates, went on trial Wednesday in connection with the millennium plot to attack the Christmas market in the eastern French city of Strasbourg. Are the French seeing the light?
Eight of the suspects were on hand for the trial at the Paris criminal court. Another is detained in Britain while one who had been released pending trial did not appear in court. All are Algerians or French-Algerians. The trial is expected to last three months. Four of the suspects allegedly trained in the use of arms and explosives in al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan in the 1990s. All are suspected of involvement, to varying degrees, in a plan to attack the market on New Year's Eve 2000. The well-known market is set up around the city cathedral during the Christmas period and becomes a major gathering place. The 10 are charged with criminal association with a terrorist enterprise, a charge that can bring a 10-year prison term.
France opened an investigation after four suspected Islamic radicals were arrested in Frankfurt, Germany, in possession of a map of Strasbourg and a video cassette showing the market. The four were convicted in Germany in March 2003 and received prison terms ranging from 10 to 12 years. The German court said the group had planned to blow up pressure cookers packed with explosives, a technique they learned in Afghan camps. The top suspects in Paris are Slimane Khalfaoui, 29, Yacine Akhnouche, 30, Rabah Kadri, 37 and Mohamed Bensakria, 37 -- considered one of bin Laden's lieutenants in Europe. Bensakria was extradited from Spain in the summer of 2001. Kadri was arrested in London in 2002 and remains in a British prison. He will be tried in absentia. The six other suspects are mostly alleged to have given logistical support to the plot, notably by supplying false papers to other members of the group.
Akhnouche denies participating in the plot but told investigators that he met Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the United States in the Sept. 11 attacks. He also claimed to have crossed paths with Richard Reid, who tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosive-stuffed sneakers, and Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian convicted after bringing a carload of explosive into the United States in a plot to bomb Los Angeles' international airport.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/06/2004 8:04:58 AM ||
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This isn't exactly a new development or a new approach. France has always been a lot less tolerant, nay supportive of Islamic terrorists at home than abroad.
#8
Old Grouch you're right. I like cats too much to inflict terrorists on them. So let's say they should be fed to the sharks. (I mean the terrorists, not the cats).
Amid concern over right-wing extremists in Germany, four neo-Nazis go on trial Wednesday on terrorism charges in connection with a plot to blow up a Munich synagogue last year. Prosecutors say they will seek to prove the neo-Nazis, who obtained 1.7 kilograms of bomb-making TNT for the attack, were also planning other bombings in the Bavarian capital. The four men belonged to a neo-Nazi group called the "Southern Comrades" and include its leader, Martin Wiese, 28, and three of his followers, also in their 20s. According to German Chief Federal Prosecutor General Kay Nehm, the evidence shows the group was preparing to set off a bomb on the synagogue site near Munich's Jakobsplatz square to disrupt the cornerstone-laying ceremonies last November 9.
The group bought explosives in Poland and tested them in small blasts in remote areas, officials say. Police seized a total of 14 kilograms of explosives in September, including the 1.4 kilograms of TNT high explosive. The group had intended to hide their bomb in a sewer pipe under the site. In mid-August last year, the plot was canceled after several members of the group were questioned by police. Police arrested the men in September and discovered the explosives. Nehm said the group had also contemplated setting off a bomb in the Marienplatz, Munich's main square and a magnet for tourists. It also considered attacking people it considered leftist, including the state Social Democratic leader, Franz Maget.
The date of the synagogue foundation ceremony - November 9 - is full of symbolism: It would have been 65 years after Kristallnacht on November 9, 1938, when Nazi thugs vandalized and burned synagogues all over Germany and their policy of persecution of Jews was turned into the naked violence of the Holocaust. Today, most German Jewish community centers are under almost permanent police protection for fear of attacks by Islamists or neo-Nazis, with roads outside closed to traffic and the compounds walled off. The Munich trial opens after far-right political parties made strong gains in two regional elections last month. In eastern German Saxony state, the anti-immigrant National Democratic Party (NPD) won 9 per cent, while in Brandenburg state, the German People's Union (DVU) garnered 6 per cent. Under Germany's proportional representation system both parties will gain seats in the state parliaments for having crossed the 5 per cent hurdle. Last weekend, several hundred leftists clashed with neo-Nazis in the eastern German city Leipzig to prevent an estimated 150 neo-Nazis from taking part in a march.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/06/2004 1:05:04 AM ||
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You just can't keep these good, loyal Nazis down. There must be something in the collective German psyche that automatically turns these pea-brains into Nazis and makes them impervious to any modern, enlightening influences or any sense of humanity.
On the bright side, there are plenty Germans like the two young cyclists whos story was reported in Monday's Jerusalem Post. They "biked 5000 kilometres from Berlin to Jerusalem to present Yad Vashem with a stone from a German concentration camp.
"The stone given to Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority was hewn as a building block by a Sachsenhausen inmate at a construction materials factory, where many victims of Nazi forced labour died.
"Aaron Blankenburg, 21, said at the ceremony that as they embarked on their first ever journey to Israel with such emotionally charged "baggage", he shuddered at the thought of how people suffered under such inhumane conditions at the camp."
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/06/2004 7:59 Comments ||
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Dave, I don't know whether or not you have been to Yad Vashem. It is a very emotionally moving place. After going through the Hall of Mirrors that commemorates the children who were killed in the Holocaust, I had tears streaming down my face. I am a Christian who married a Jewish woman. Everyone on her father's side was murdered except her father. Both grandparents on on her mother's side and four of her aunts and uncles were also murdered. Thanks for the nice piece about Yad Vashem. It was appreciated.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/06/2004 21:25 Comments ||
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#6
I'm right here, Hal.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/06/2004 21:26 Comments ||
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Alaska Paul, allow me to provide the link for those who are ignorant of Sci Fi prior to Lucas.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/06/2004 21:32 Comments ||
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LOL
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/06/2004 21:34 Comments ||
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#9
Jesus... I gotta learn not to click on Rantburg while I've got a mouthful of food.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
10/06/2004 21:36 Comments ||
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#10
For "Dave" read "Bryan", and all will be instantly clear to you silly people.
My apologies, Bryan, the blood obviously wasn't pooling in my brain at that moment. I wish I could call it a Senior moment, but the MRI definitely proved that my problems lie elsewhere ;-)
Posted by: Dave D. ||
10/06/2004 22:15 Comments ||
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I appreciate the appreciation. Yes, I have been to Yad Vashem, and to the Hall of Mirrors where the names of the children who were murdered are continually read out. It's difficult to find words for the reaction to the experience.
Hundreds of immigrants enter the Netherlands every month illegally using a Dutch passport obtained from smuggling gangs, it was reported Tuesday. The illegal immigrants — mainly from Africa and Asia — adjust their hairstyle and clothing to match the photo on the passport, newspaper Algemeen Dagblad reported. The Dutch passports are not forged and are instead used by people who resemble the photos of the legal holders. It is claimed that the passports are being supplied by Dutch nationals, especially people of Somali and Nigerian origin. The number of immigrants caught with someone else's passport has risen sharply, with 700 people detained so far this year while trying to take advantage of the scam. But the National Documents Bureau (NBD) said the number of people held was only the tip of the iceberg.
A ground-to-air missile used in shoulder launchers has been found in one of seven arms caches in southwest France uncovered in weekend raids against suspected members of Spain's armed Basque separatist group ETA, a French official said Tuesday. The missile was discovered along with a large amount of explosive material in a house under construction in the town of Urrugne, near the Spanish border, the official said on condition of anonymity.
"Don't quote me on this."
Seventeen people, including Mikel "Antza" Albizu Iriarte, ETA's political leader and chief theoretician, and his girlfriend, Soledad "Anboto" Iparragirre Genetxea, a suspected former military chief of the group, were arrested in the region Sunday in swoops by French anti-terrorist officers. Spanish officials said they arrested another four suspects on their side of the border the same day. Three of the suspects arrested in France were released Monday and the 14 others remain in custody, the French official said, adding that searches of the arms caches were continuing and would "take several days". The official said experts were examining the missile to determine where it was made and how it might have been acquired by ETA. According to the Spanish newspaper El Diario Vasco, the separatist group is believed to have several SAM-7 missiles able to blast low-flying aircraft out of the sky, according to documents found in previous raids. Both Spain and France hailed Sunday's raids against the group as a "historic" victory.
The United States vetoed a Security Council resolution condemning Israel for its incursion into the Gaza Strip, calling the resolution "lopsided and unbalanced" because it failed to mention Palestinian rocket attacks against Israeli civilians that triggered the action. The resolution, which was co-sponsored by Pakistan and Algeria, obtained 11 votes in favor Tuesday. Britain, Germany and Romania abstained, citing concern that the text did not fault Palestinian attacks. But the U.S. veto, the seventh cast by the Bush administration on a resolution that condemned Israeli actions, blocked its adoption.
Once again we had to be the stand-up guys.
John C. Danforth, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the resolution would undermine efforts to restore peace in the Middle East. "The resolution today encourages the terrorists; it will not do anything to prevent a predictable response," he said. The Palestinian representative, Nasser Kidwa, said after the vote that "this is another sad day for the Security Council" for not calling for "cessation of the bloodshed of the Palestinian people in northern Gaza." He said he is considering calling for an emergency session of the U.N. General Assembly to press for Israel's condemnation. The failed resolution condemned Israel's "military incursion" into northern Gaza, citing "extensive human casualties and destruction." It also demanded "the immediate cessation of all military operations in the area of northern Gaza and the withdrawal of the Israeli occupying forces from that area."
Strange, not a word about the two Israeli toddlers killed by the Paleo rocket.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/06/2004 12:03:13 AM ||
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Somebody has to be the adult.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
10/06/2004 1:34 Comments ||
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Any doubt what a Kerry administration would have done? Or would NOT have done in this case?
At least 30 people were killed and as many wounded in a powerful bomb explosion at a religious rally early on Thursday in the central Pakistani city of Multan, police and ambulance workers said. A rally in commemoration of assassinated extremist Sunni religious leader Azim Tariq was dispersing at 4.40 a.m. (7:40 p.m. EDT Wednesday) when the powerful explosion took place, police said. "A bomb exploded in a rally in which 30 people have been killed and almost the same number have been wounded," Abdul Rauf, an official for Edhi ambulance service, told Reuters. Paki festivities - what fun!
Y'think somebody's still holding a grudge?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/06/2004 9:15:39 PM ||
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If I understood correctly, when muslims say that Islam is "Religion of Peace" they mean that once all the World is Islamic, there will be World Peace---like there is Peace in Islamic countries now.
#2
Pakistan can not be allowed to fall to Al Qa'ida, ever! Too many longer range nukes.
A number of grude matches underway there.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/06/2004 21:52 Comments ||
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Islam means """Submission""", not peace. The world must submit(peace) to Islam or die. In this particular case, it's the age old, Sunny vs. Shiiiiite rivalry.
Three Palestinian militants and a Thai worker have been killed in Gaza during an infiltration of a Jewish settlement. The militant Hamas movement has claimed responsibility for the attack. The three Hamas militants slipped into a greenhouse in the southern Gaza settlement of Kfar Darom and began opening fire. A worker from Thailand was hit in the back and leg, and later died of his wounds. Israeli soldiers stationed at the settlement then killed one of the militants, while another died when a bomb he was carrying exploded. The third Hamas gunmen tried to escape but was hunted down and killed. Meanwhile, Hamas says it is developing a longer range rocket to strike at Israeli towns.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2004 8:59:35 PM ||
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Hamas says it is developing a longer range rocket to strike at Israeli towns.
Hamas: "We want you to REALLY HAMMER THE SHIT OUT OF US in retribution"
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/06/2004 21:11 Comments ||
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Hundreds of people gathered at a village in central Pakistan on Wednesday for the funeral of Amjad Hussain Farooqi, a militant described as a key link between al Qaeda and local militant groups. Farooqi's village, known not by a name, but a number -- 682/27-GB -- is located in Toba Tek Singh district of Pakistan's Punjab province. News of his funeral attracted hundreds of people from nearby villages and towns. His brother, Javed Farooqi, told Reuters police had informed him Amjad's body would be released to the family for the funeral later in the day. "I informed all our relatives and friends," he said. "But I don't know at what time his body will be handed over to us."
As family members prepared for the burial and ordered a grave to be dug, people began arriving from the nearby towns, and the numbers had swollen to more than a 1,000 people by nightfall. They included both sympathisers and the curious. "It was a cruelty to kill Amjad," said one of his relatives, Qari Sanaullah, who said he last met Farooqi 18 month ago. "He was a loyal Pakistani and committed Muslim."
" mean, there's lotsa people who're bloody-handed serial murderers! Why pick on him?"
Sanaullah said Farooqi had told him in that meeting that he had been a personal security guard of Osama bin Laden before September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, and had committed his life and death to Islam and jihad, or Holy war. Farooqi was known to have been close to the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, who was arrested in Pakistan last year. Sanaullah said Farooqi, in his 30s, had recruited three to four hundred men from Toba Tek Singh to fight a jihad, or holy war, against enemies of Islam, and used to condemn Muslims leaders for siding with the United States. Farooqi's supporters had daubed slogans of support on some walls in the village, including "Long Live Jaish-e-Mohammad", referring to the banned Islamic party to which he belonged.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/06/2004 6:40:18 PM ||
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Buh-Bye, asshole
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/06/2004 20:50 Comments ||
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I hope some one digs his worthless ass up and sews what is left into a pig and it is left out for the wild dogs to scatter.
An explosion in the northern Afghan city of Feyzabad was aimed at President Hamid Karzai's running mate, Afghan officials say. At least one person died in the explosion. However, Mr Karzai's vice-presidential candidate, Ahmed Zia Massood, was not injured. The incident came as Mr Karzai held his final rally in the capital, Kabul. The poll on Saturday will be Afghanistan's first election for head of state. No one has claimed responsibility for the latest attack although the Taleban and al-Qaeda have vowed to disrupt the presidential elections.
The BBC's Crispin Thorold in Kabul says the province of Badakhshan, where the blast took place, is not an area where there has been much militant activity. There is some confusion over the details of the attack. Some reports said Mr Massood was travelling from the airport to a rally site when his convoy was struck, possibly by a mine or roadside bomb. But interior ministry spokesman, Lutfullah Mashal said it took place at the rally itself in Feyzabad, the capital of Badakhshan, 300km north-east of Kabul. He said there had so far been no arrests. "The investigation is going on. It is the work of the enemies of peace and the elements who want to derail the election process," Mr Mashal said. Mutaleb Beg, a local police official, told the Associated Press agency four people were hurt in the blast. Reports said the former governor of the province, Sayed Ikramuddin, was one of those hurt.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/06/2004 8:01:25 AM ||
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our correspondent says
That's fact enough for me. Say no more to back that up.
Posted by: Dan Rather ||
10/06/2004 8:58 Comments ||
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Definitely over the line - in more than one sense. Where'd Antiwar go? - They manage to get her thorazine down her at last?
Posted by: Howard UK ||
10/06/2004 9:50 Comments ||
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Just how loony do you have to be to be denied the vote in Oz? Think they'll refuse to hand over the ballot paper when she turns up at the polling station with her dungarees round her ankles and smelling of sh!t?
#7
Bulldog - here in the US the Democratic operatives not only give her a ballot - they'd give her Michael Moore Underwear (clean?) cigarettes and a bus trip to another precint to vote twice.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/06/2004 03:33 ||
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Does anyone have any direct knowledge about the normal process for creating pure hydrogen for balloon use? Do armies still use weather balloons to support artillery?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/06/2004 4:01 Comments ||
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When we were children we used to mix water, hydrochloric acid and iron filings(zinc) in a coke bottle, (I can't remember in what sequence we added the ingredients, but I remember one sequence was dangerous because the mixture got quite volatile) slip a balloon over the top and tie the balloon with a piece of string when it was full of the resulting hydrogen.
Those balloons really used to lift off.
I'm trying to remember the formula:
ZN + H2O + HCL = ZNCL + H3 + O
Don't quote me, because my recollection is very hazy. It was something like that.
#4
ask your muslim neighbors they all seem to stock a lot of it
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/06/2004 8:30 Comments ||
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They use it for cosmetics.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
10/06/2004 8:37 Comments ||
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#6
Late in the 60âs there was a document floating around called the âAnarchistâs Cookbookâ that outlined various ways to concoct bombs, pick locks, blow up school toilets and make anti-personnel devices.
During a presentation to a group of military wives I was asked why, if the book was so dangerous, the government wasnât actively trying to ban its possession. My answer went something like this, ââ¦although there are indeed several formulas that work, in the main, the majority are inaccurate, or even dangerous to attempt. Often resulting in a premature explosion either maiming or killing the bomb maker.â Darwin at his best!
Today the book has morphed into the âTerroristâs Cookbookâ with similar results.
My personal favorite chapters: 022: Fertilizer Bomb ; and 028: Exploding Lightbulbs
#8
My experience in the chemical industry leaves me believing two things after reading this article:
1. This is not a hydrogen unit. Aside from reasons mentioned, a hyrdogen unit would be hughly ventilated to reduce explosion risk. This unit, when coupled with its mate, appears to be designed for containment, not ventilation.
2. Elements of this story are very dubious. For example, the story says that the "brewing cannister" is stainless steel, but that's not what I see in the photo. The unit in the photo is painted. I've never seen stainless steel vessels painted. There's no need, and the paint wouldn't adhere well anyway. Another example: the vessels shown are uninsulated -- that would be odd if temperature control is indeed important, so I doubt that biologicals and brewing are involved. Maybe just chemical weapons.
Posted by: Tom ||
10/06/2004 9:12 Comments ||
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Iraqi defectors have reportedly told the U.S. that an accident on a similar trailer killed 12 during a production run in 1998.
Boy, that must have been some fun. I'm sure Saddam had his own version of OSHA on top of that right away.
Posted by: Dar ||
10/06/2004 9:26 Comments ||
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#3 "We never had any hydrochloric acid around the house. :("
We didn't either. And I'm damned if I can remember where we got it from. That's one of the frustrating things about reflecting on childhood. There are huge gaps in the recollection.
#6 Exploding lightbulbs? Maybe the guy who told me this trick intended the light bulbs to explode:
When you find that your lamp suddenly leaves you in the dark, the cause is often a detached filament in the bulb. Have a look at the bulb under another light, and you may find that the filament is hanging down because it has become detached from one of the two wire prongs in the bulb that lead to the innards of the lamp and ultimately to the power station. If the lamp in question is small, say a desk lamp, pick it up. If it's a big, standing lamp, you'll have to transfer the bulb to a smaller lamp, ouch, after letting it cool down first, silly.
Right, now make sure the lamp is switched on and then move it around in such a way that the filament touches the end of the prong from which it originally became detached. It welds itself to the prong and light dawns.
Your bulb now has a new lease on light.
Disclaimers:
If the filament is broken, not simply detached, this method is unlikely to work.
If the filament is intact and attached, but the bulb still doesn't work, then you'll have to consult a specialist.
Only attempt this job under the supervision of a qualified, reputable light bulb maintenance technician.
Light bulb maintenance is useful for those on a limited budget and those who never have spare bulbs around when they need them.
Please don't tell anyone about this. I don't want to get into trouble with the manufacturers.
#13
For example, the story says that the "brewing cannister" is stainless steel, but that's not what I see in the photo. The unit in the photo is painted. I've never seen stainless steel vessels painted. There's no need, and the paint wouldn't adhere well anyway. Another example: the vessels shown are uninsulated -- that would be odd if temperature control is indeed important, so I doubt that biologicals and brewing are involved. Maybe just chemical weapons.
Posted by: Tom
Tom, I don't agree with you on that one. In the photos a lot of the equipment is painted a uniform colour - if it's a nice resistant enamel paint that helps with washing everything down with alcohol and bleach, something you do on a regular basis when working around pathogens (trust me). It might also have been done as part of a prior decontamination - anything left just gets painted over. The insulation wouldn't necesarily be visible, the most common temperature control system is a water jacket between external and internal walls. In this case, the external wall wouldn't have to be stainless steel, only the internal wall. Together with the powerful heating/cooling system for the water, this would let you grow bugs that are fussy about their ambient temperature even where it hits 50C in the shade.
What puzzles me about the story is that if they found this so many months ago, why leak it now? It seems a weak response to the official evaluation of no WMDs.
#14
From the article: Some in British and American intelligence groups charged the trailers were used for the production of hydrogen to fill artillery and weather balloons.
I can't speak for British intel, but it sure seems to me that "some" in the CIA are working at cross-purposes with the administration. Not necessarily to the extent that the State Dept is, but similar.
#15
Okay, MendoScot, we need discussion:
1. Stainless steel cladding (internal stainless, external carbon steel)is very expensive and is used for higher pressures to avoid making very thick vessels all-stainless, which would be more expensive. Unlikely for this application, but the vessel may have originated in Germany and been designed for a different application.
2. Epoxy over stainless steel does make sense for bleach washdown. It would avoid stress-corrosion cracking issues. That would help make the biological case if the vessel is indeed stainless. The article refers to signs of caustic washdown, though, not bleach. Is that applicable for biologicals?
3. Water jackets may not need insulation under some controlled low-humidity conditions, but this is not a humidity-controlled clean-room, it's out in the countryside, and the trailer seems designed for containment. Either way, that's a ticket to condensation and slippery puddles on the floor. Besides, it could be a little tricky to route all those gauge nozzles and other connections through the jacket in the configuration shown in the photo.
4. Note the manhole in the relatively-small "brewing canister". That's a heck of a jacket penetration and the cover is not insulated.
5. Anybody know why they might have to have such large access to the inside of such a small vessel? Maybe frequent weld inspections due to the hazards of the materials processed? Or clean-out of boilogical residue after decontamination?
Whatever this is, somebody needs to explain it. Saddam went to a lot of effort and expense to build this, he kept if far from U.S. forces invading through Kuwait, and this is NOT a hydrogen balloon filling station.
Posted by: Tom ||
10/06/2004 12:12 Comments ||
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/06/2004 12:26 Comments ||
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#18
When you guys finish laughing, consider this:
Your government, either through ineptness or choice, has dismissed this odd and expensive contraption as not being part of a WMD program. It is an odd contraption -- and I'm not convinced whether it is for WMD chemicals, WMD biologicals, or WMD scam -- and your government doesn't seem to know what it is. I can't think of any reasonable explanation for why they would not, nor can I think of any legitimate reason why they would keep a secret on this. So are they inept, conspiring to hide a program, conspiring to infer a program that wasn't there, or what?
Posted by: Tom ||
10/06/2004 13:13 Comments ||
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#19
Hydrogen is not used for ballons these days. The Hindenberg seemed to be a turning point. Helium is heavier but safer.
Does anyone ever recall or remember reading that the Japanese floated ballons to our West Coast with bombs attached. Some of them did detonate in the State of Washington. Not particularly effective.
#20
Tom...it's obvious you've extensive knowledge in this arena. Sometimes the din gets so loud that it hurts and only a good laugh will relieve the pressure.
#21
Tom: I believe that it's fairly clear that our government is not monolithic and that some agencies wish to undermine the war on terror.
At least that's how I interpret the "It's been disinfected with bleach, so you can't prove anything" argument.
(The weight of contradictions the anti-war side seems willing to assume is strange to me; after one of the recent sarin-artillery-shell incidents I exchanged messages with a person who maintained that a) we hadn't found WMD and the basis for the war was false, and b) the discovery of the sarin shell should have been kept secret, because of operational security concerns.
I think he had a definite point with b), but he couldn't seem to see that it invalidated a lot of what he said about a). And of course other things, such as work on long-range rockets and cruise missiles (which couldn't be accurate enough to be useful with conventional munitions), indicate that Saddam was working on something, but since it wasn't a talisman, they don't want to see/hear it. I read an interesting article on this earlier, but I think the link is at home. I can't remember where I saw it... it had McGuffin in the title.
I'll see y'all later in the evening...
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
10/06/2004 13:34 Comments ||
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#22
The United States is just about the sole source for helium in the world. Doubt we were selling it to Iraq for weather balloons.
What about the electrical method of separating oxygen and hydrogen from water?
Don't know what this is, but my gut says chemicals not biologicals.
#27
BigEd "Iron Filings (Fe) and Zinc (Zn) are different..."
Thanks for the info.... That sound you just heard was me knocking my head trying to remember some very basic chemistry studied at school. Now I recall that iron is Fe, but I don't know whether we used iron or zinc for the balloons. I see from your formulae that both work. Anyway, the one thing I can say with certainty is that those balloons took off!
Super Hose kicked this whole thing off with his question. Super Hose?............ Super Hose??
#28
John (Q.Citizen)"Does anyone ever recall or remember reading that the Japanese floated ballons to our West Coast with bombs attached. Some of them did detonate in the State of Washington. Not particularly effective."
Sorry I can't answer the question, but it reminded me that when we used to play with the afore-mentioned hydrogen balloons we used to dip a length of cotton in something flammable like methylated spirits, tie the cotton to the balloon and light this cotton fuse before releasing the balloon, then watch in awe as the balloon exploded high up in the sky.
I suppose at a stretch this could qualify as a bomb.
#29
When we were kids, we made balloons of mixed hydrogen and oxygen. Used jet-x fuse and a bettery for ignition. There was a righteous flash! And I still have all eyes, ears, fingers, and tozes. I read that some years ago, the chinese would do operations on light bulbs and put in new filaments. Now that is recycling!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/06/2004 21:22 Comments ||
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#30
BTW, the flanges on the pipe fittings and the access flanges do not look like more than 150# fittings, so we are not dealing in high pressures.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/06/2004 21:25 Comments ||
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#31
one thing i noticed was , why would they keep a balloon filling tank SO CLEAN?
#32
Bryan, I'm sorry for the confusing handle. When I began to frequent Rantburg a year ago, I signed on as Steve D, then noticed that there were quite a few Steve's on Rantburg. (In fact, there is an army of Steve's.) I changed my handle to a High School nickname that I earned for my outstanding ability to hose vomit and bubble-gum off of pavement as a summer maintenance worker in a popular Ohio amusement park.
With respect to the topic, I am familiar with the some industrial processes - to include heat-treating of bearing steel in an endogas atmosphere, which is 20 percent or so hydrogen. This gas is created by cracking methanol or by burning natural gas in the presence of a catalyst. It seemed possible to me that this equipment could have been used for either the generation of hydrogen or brewing up something. My hope was to solicit input from someone like Tom who is less of a generalist.
Frankly, the thread has been school call for me - more than I had hoped for. My only further input is:
1. Generation of industrial gases is conducted at high temperature or cryogenically. In both cases I would expect to see insulation.
2. I think hydrogen stress corrosion of stainless is usually not a problem unless the application is high temperature.
3. Stainless is left unpainted in medical wards on many navy ships because its surface is non-porous and cleanable with bleach. (Dr. Steve White might be able to speak to that topic better than I)
4. Many an artillery man could speak to whether the US, NATO or modern armies still use weather balloons and this types of trailers in particular, but If I were going to launch a balloon near a combat zone I would fill it from an armored truck full of compressed gas bottles.
Thanx to all.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/06/2004 23:02 Comments ||
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#33
If they needed to generate hydrogen for some balloons, it might have been easier to call Proton for a turnkey system. :-}
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/07/2004 2:35 Comments ||
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#34
Super Hose - I wasn't complaining about your handle, I was just wondering where you were.
I found the debate fascinating, even though most of it was way over my head.
#35
I work nights and don't ususally check in at home.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/07/2004 4:08 Comments ||
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#36
Bryan, one of the guys that works for me was an artilleryman in the 70's. I have been meaning to ask about whether we used weather balloons to his knowledge. He says that he hadn't heard of their use since about WWI - the last time chem weapons were used extensively. What does that tell you? Neither ne nor I are experts, though.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/07/2004 4:11 Comments ||
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#37
Yes, I also work at night. Real drag. That's the reason I look like this ;-(
#38
Sorry Tom, been offline for a bit (orcs digging in the walls again).
1) I'm not sure expense would be a problem in the context. I'd have to dig out my catalogs, but units of this size aren't that costly. High pressure is not an issue for most pathogens, unless you want to sterilize that way. I would agree that Germany is a likely source for the equipment.
2) Caustic agents on a case-by case basic. Bleach is widely effective (e.g. Clostridial bugs) and sodium hydroxide generally more effective than acids - but particularly good for removing biological residues.
3) Don't know if condensation would be a problem out in the desert. It's true they don't have surface cladding on the pipes, but they do have a heating/cooling system for something. A 37C line wouldn't condense much.
4+5) I agree. It is a big one. Maybe they used Kurds to brush out the tank.
I also don't buy the hydrogen production story. I'd really like to know what units the guages on the tank are showing
More than 3,000 U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a major operation Tuesday against insurgent strongholds just south of Baghdad, their second mission in five days to wrest control from militants whose attacks threaten national elections seen as crucial to stabilizing this turbulent country. The operation in Babil province -- an area notorious for kidnappings and ambushes and home to the fabled, ancient city of Babylon follows last week's U.S.-Iraqi drive to oust insurgent forces from Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad. The Marines and Iraqis punched their way across the Euphrates River (search), rounded up 160 suspects, seized a suspected training camp and took control of a major bridge, the U.S. command said. The bridge, spanning the Euphrates, is believed to be a favored corridor linking insurgent areas around Baghdad, Fallujah and towns farther south. This further isolates Fallujah and keeps the Muj off balance - north then south, they don't know where we will hit next.
Posted by: OldSpook ||
10/06/2004 1:43:06 AM ||
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#1
I am baffled that Hilah would be a hot point for the insurgency. I think it is one of the sites for mass graves from Sadaam's massacre in 1991.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/06/2004 1:58 Comments ||
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#2
sh - IIUC, Hillah is basically on the frontier between the Sunni triangle and Shiite south, and has a mixed population. The Shiites were massacred in '91. I assume the Sunnis either looked on, or helped. Imagine someplace in Silesia with a mixed German-Polish population, or a mixed German-Polish-Jewish population. Or somewhere in the Sudetenland with a mixed German-Czech population.
#3
other reports indicate the sweep was not so much in Hillah, as in some Sunni villages in the province, which have been dominated by the insurgency. Note also, the villages are on the road from Baghdad to Fallujah.
#4
Some of these guys are insurgents (terrs) and some are criminals who have a history of using kidnapping as a tactic of choice. Round em all up says I. Keeping the Devil Dogs active is a very good thing. Those guys think Whack-A-Mole is very good sport.
Posted by: remote man ||
10/06/2004 15:22 Comments ||
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Iraq resumed exports of oil from its southern terminal on Tuesday, a day after a halt caused by insurgent attacks, an Iraqi oil official said. The resumption came sooner than expected, just a day after two officials at the South Oil Co. said the pipelines to the port of Basra were not likely to be operating for at least a week. "Exports resumed and the pumping is up to its normal level," South Oil's chief of public relations, Samir Jassim, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Exports through the southern ports of Khor al-Amaya and Basra reached their normal average of 1.8 million to 1.85 million barrels by mid-afternoon Tuesday, he said. On Sunday and Monday, insurgent attacks and the fires they started stopped the flow in all the pipelines from Iraq's southern oil fields. The southern ports account for 90 percent of Iraq's exports. Insurgents have been attacking oil pipelines in north and south Iraq for months. But the last time saboteurs brought southern exports to a halt was in June. The northern pipelines, which run to the southern Turkish port of Ceyhan, had no flow on Monday, according to an oil official in Ceyhan.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has condemned the pipeline attacks, saying they are making Iraqis suffer. "This is causing a great loss for the Iraqi people in terms of revenues, which could be used in the reconstruction of the country and to pay the people and get the economy back on track again," Allawi told CNN in an interview broadcast Monday. The governor of Basra, Hassan al-Rashid, said Iraq was losing US$70 million a day because of the attacks on pipelines and oil fields. "A number of saboteurs and terrorists who are spread across Iraq are behind these operations, and they are taking advantage of the lack of security in order to destroy the country's economy," he said. Officials have made a priority of securing the pipelines and oil infrastructure. But with about 4,350 miles of pipeline crisscrossing the country, they concede there are many places for saboteurs to strike. "Those pipelines are very long and very vulnerable," a U.S. diplomat in Baghdad said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/06/2004 1:33:57 AM ||
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#1
It seems to me that using small unmanned aircraft to patrol the pipeline could be very effective.
#5
Seems to me that areas where pipelines are exposed should be declared off limits to the public and patrolled extensively by a thoroughly vetted Iraqi security force. Are they doing this?
#6
The Iraqi way is to pay the local tribes to patrol the pipeline. Obviously Joe Tribesman is falling down on the job.
FYI, we imported 593,000 barrels of Iraqi crude in July, 636,000 in June. Crude Oil prices in world markets for the week ending 24 September closed with Kirkuk Crude at $38.05/ barrel, Basra Light at $39.60/ barrel, and the OPEC basket at $41.45/ barrel.
Hamas has acknowledged that about a third of Palestinian casualties in the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip comprised fighters of the Islamic insurgency movement. Hamas said 25 members of the Izzedin Kassam military wing were killed in the week-long Israeli military operation in the northern Gaza Strip. In a communique, Hamas said one of the insurgents was the brother of the movement's spokesman, Mushir Al Masri. "Our rifles will stay aimed at the enemy as long as it occupies our land," Hamas said. "Our martyrs were killed in these days of rage witnessed in the northern Gaza Strip. Our response to these massacres won't take too long."
Hamas's acknowledgement of casualties came as Palestinian sources reported a debate within the insurgency group whether to appeal for a ceasefire. The sources said the Palestinian Authority urged Hamas to agree to end missile attacks on Israel in exchange for a withdrawal of the military from the northern Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources said about 80 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military operation. They said more than a third of the casualties were civilians. On Tuesday, two Palestinians were reported killed in fighting in Jabalya. The Israeli group B'Tselem asserted in a report that 40 percent of the Palestinian casualties in the current Israeli military operation were civilians. Israel's military said the lion's share of Palestinian casualties were armed combatants and that insurgents were using civilians for cover. On Tuesday, Israeli main battle tanks, attack helicopters and troops focused their operations in Bet Hanoun and the Jabalya refugee camp. The camp has about 90,000 residents and regarded as the stronghold of Hamas and the focus of Kassam-class short-range missile production.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/06/2004 1:20:37 AM ||
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"Our rifles will stay aimed at the enemy as long as it occupies our land," Hamas said."
May Allahhahaha grant you success and go in pieces, Long Rifle.
"In Washington, the State Department said it could not confirm the Israeli claim that Hamas used UN vehicles for the transport of Kassam missiles." This just in across the wire: Foggy Bottom, after four years, still CANNOT confirm that 19 of the hijackers, were Soddies.
Also, "The United States Foggy Bottom provides more than $100 million in annual aid to UNRWA."
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/06/2004 1:15:51 AM ||
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Aren't there supposed to be training camps for these guys in Sudan?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/06/2004 4:04 Comments ||
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#2
Ok boys. You wanna talk? Or do we have to send you to Tunisia, where we have a subcontracting agreement with the Ministry of Interior.
Not that I know the specifics, but I've read of pretty solid Tunisian govt support for WOT. Tourism/investment, etc. Its prez doesn't fool around with Islamofascists.
Algeria? wouldn't be surprised if the Algerians in the group were exported to Iraq by the powers-that-be in that wacko country.
Posted by: chicago mike ||
10/06/2004 15:24 Comments ||
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Pakistani military and Al Qaeda-linked fighters have agreed to a 10-day truce to give chance to their tribal allies to negotiate a peaceful solution, a local administrator said. "The request for a ceasefire by the Mahsud tribe in South Waziristan area has been accepted to give the political process a chance," local administration chief Ismatullah Gandapur said. "The security forces will retaliate only if they are attacked."
Getting kinda close to the head cheeses, were they?
The Mahsud tribe dominates South Waziristan's troubled towns of Kanigarram, Sarvakai, Makin and Laddah, scenes of daily clashes between Pakistani forces and fighters in recent months. The ceasefire, which came into force late Monday, was negotiated by a 19-member mediating team of tribal elders and religious scholars from the region, Gandapur said. Another top member of the government negotiating team said that tribesmen had promised not to attack the army or the paramilitary forces deployed in the area.
That should give them time to move Ayman to a safer spot, maybe in North Waziristan, and to bring up more ammunition...
"Efforts are also being so the cease-fire, if it is not broken in 10 days, can be extended in the month of Ramadan and in the meantime we will continue to persuade the tribesmen to surrender militants," said the member, on condition of anonymity.
IN a remarkable display of skill, elements of the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division and newly trained Iraqi national forces drove the terrorists from the city of Samarra last week. Killing over 100 of freedom's enemies and capturing many more, our troops lost a single soldier. The two-day sweep through Samarra incorporated lessons learned on the ground over the past several months — especially the need to win swiftly in urban settings. Our soldiers performed flawlessly under difficult conditions. Iraqi commandos, backed by our Special Forces, liberated two key mosques before a hostile media could intervene on terror's behalf. The city's population is glad that their oppressors are gone. Has Sen. Kerry acknowledged the performance of our troops? Has he thanked them? Of course not. The senator and his posse of defeatists resent American victories in the final weeks before our presidential election. We're supposed to lose, you understand.
There's an enormous and troubling disconnect between the situation on the ground in Iraq and the portrait of disaster hawked by Kerry & Co. — abetted by the media. The victims of this disinformation campaign are our soldiers, the American people and the law-abiding citizens of Iraq. Indeed, the Dems have declared defeat so loudly and insistently that they've convinced much of the world that freedom's cause is lost in the Middle East. But let me tell you who isn't convinced: Our soldiers. Last week, I was privileged to speak to — and listen to — hundreds of U.S. Army officers and enlisted soldiers at the Land Combat Exposition in Heidelberg, Germany — the headquarters of our ground troops in Europe. Even I was surprised by the complete absence of griping. I did not hear a single criticism of our engagement in Iraq.
Now, soldiers complain. It's a hallowed tradition. Yet, not one of the troops with whom I spoke suggested we were losing in Iraq. Those soldiers, from generals down to the junior enlisted ranks, are the ones who pay the bills that come due in blood. And they were proud to have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many were getting ready to go back. They believed in what their country asked them to do. But the most inspiring exchanges I had weren't with those in uniform. It was the military spouses, left behind while their loved ones went to war, who really got to me. I recall two splendid young women whose husbands serve in the same infantry battalion — the most dangerous of assignments — in Iraq's Sunni triangle. They went out of their way to let me know that they supported their husbands proudly and without reservation.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper ||
10/06/2004 12:39:36 AM ||
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#1
The Kerry campaign may be Bush's new sekrit weapon: make the loons think that the moonbats are winning and they'll let down their guard.
As for how the Dem's have sunk so low: there is nothing that they will not do. Nothing at all. To win this election. If they've got to shoot up a campaign office, or just plain old break in, they'll do it. sad.
#2
Victory! When will Bush give Samarra back to the Islamofascists, like he has every other time American troops invest blood equity? Sanction pseudo-democratic elections, and legitimate an Islamofascist Iraq, at a cost of $200 billion to American taxpayers. Toss nukes, or take a humiliating loss. Those Iraqi bastards really love us, don't they?
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/9842981.htm
#4
A4336: Those Iraqi bastards really love us, don't they?
Some Iraqis are never going to love us. In particular, the guerrillas' supporters are never going to love us. But the comments solicited by the reporter mean nothing. Note that the article mentions that the neighborhood in which the guerrillas are staging attacks against US forces are expressing support for the guerrillas. Doh! What Iraqi moron is going to criticize the guerrillas? The penalty for criticizing them is death. Did Iraqis ever criticize Saddam before he was toppled? No. And Iraqis aren't going to criticize the guerrillas until they are driven out - permanently. The fact that we have taken so few casualties tells me that we know, more or less, where every one of the bad guys is. And that information could only have come from one source - many of the same people who are proclaiming their fealty to the guerrillas to avoid being killed by them.
#5
The point I'm making is that Iraq is still a police state, pervaded by perhaps tens of thousands of Baathist spies or potential informants. Interviews with reporters are worthless because Baathist and Islamist enforcers are all over the place. No one is going to say what he really thinks and risk getting his head cut off. Iraqis working for the new government or the coalition are getting killed daily. No Iraqi is going to say anything positive to the media because it will get him killed.
Asshole4336 is one of the new trolls. A batch of experimental twits, scheduled to be zapped and returned to the primal soup of single-celled intellects, was set free from a lab in Berkely, by ALF relatives. Hideously disinformed, foolishly disingenuous, and with a burning desire to, well, post on blogs, it only comes out late at night. The dysfunctional combination of its beliefs cause a great internal pressure and, unfortunately, blogging seems to offer it some measure of relief. Known primarily for eating its young, fouling its nest, and typing prodigious incoherent Talking Points which clearly reflect this characteristic dysfunctional thought pattern, it has been spotted in several locations. The smell of its spoor. That's how you can positively identify its passing. #2 hits the mark.
#7
A4336 is typical. Nothing of substance on the war - just more "Bush is a monkey with big ears who lies and is like Hitler" overthetop BS that no one is listening to anymore.
#8
He would be more tauntable if he at least adopted a handle. I wonder how long his cloud of stupidity lasts after each EST.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/06/2004 3:33 Comments ||
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#9
Such a good article that I had to check to see who wrote it: Ralph Peters. Well said...as usual. In fact this one is brilliant!!
I'd add one comment re: How on earth have we sunk so low that a man who would be president is willing to undercut those in uniform, while encouraging our enemies to believe Ãâ against all evidence Ãâ that they're winning?
Answer: Undermining the president, soldiers and American people for political gain has been Kerry's political m.o. since the day he began.
#10
The two-day sweep through Samarra incorporated lessons learned on the ground over the past several months â especially the need to win swiftly in urban settings. Our soldiers performed flawlessly under difficult conditions. Iraqi commandos, backed by our Special Forces, liberated two key mosques before a hostile media could intervene on terrorâs behalf. The cityâs population is glad that their oppressors are gone.
I love the way Col. Peters thinks and writes. A shame we don't have a lot more like him.
#12
I would like if Kerry apologized to the Viet vets and the POWs. He should then apologize to the rest of us for making us endure his and the rest of the MSM BS. He doesn't have it in him to thank the troops.
#13
I would like if Kerry apologized to the Viet vets and the POWs. He should then apologize to the rest of us for making us endure his and the rest of the MSM BS. He doesn't have it in him to thank the troops
It wouldn't be enough for me. Kerry would not only have to apologize, he would also have to be reborn as a conservative, voting on all the right things in his senate seat. Slashing taxes and domestic spending, eliminate rules vote inposed on the CIA, maintianing a strong national defense, drilling in ANWR, vote to repeal all federal gun laws passed in the last 25 years, introduce a bill banning partial birth abortion: in other words, the alpha and omega of what it means to be a conservative in the 21st century.
#14
What Peters writes about the soldiers attitudes is right on target. I have had the same experience. These guys know what they are doing and they are ready and willing to do their duty. I am constantly amazed at the quality of individuals who are in our armed forces. It is without question the highlight of my job to be able to spend time with these people.
BTW: Kerry is a bum and 4 out of 5 active duty and reserve soldiers think so too. If that doesn't send a message to the American voter, I don't know what will.
Posted by: remote man ||
10/06/2004 15:37 Comments ||
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#15
Here's hoping that the soldier's (4 out of 5)put their vote where their belief in Bush is.
The Interim Iraqi Interior Minister stated that armed Iranian agents have been arrested among rebels fighting in the city of Samarra. The Al-Hurriya TV aired footage of Falah Naqib who accused Iran of backing insurgents in this presently volatile region of Iraq. Fighting in Samarra has left over 150 rebels and one U.S. soldier dead. On Sunday, residents said they heard random explosions as U.S. and Iraqi forces hunted for insurgent holdouts. Iraqi police have been patrolling the city, while U.S. troops and Iraqi Forces search houses for rebels and weapons caches. Military sources also confirmed that following extensive clashes between U.S. troops and the rebel militia, a large number of armed agents working for Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) were arrested.
Naqib's comments came after U.S. forces separately confirmed the arrests of 80 Iranian fighters who had posed as regular Iraqis. Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kazem also recently confirmed that the flow of Iranian arms and agents into Iraq was continuing. "The Iranian regime's declared policy contradicts the events that are taking place," he said. "In its comments, Iran speaks about the need to establish security in Iraq. What actually happens, however, is the complete opposite, so much that we arrest individuals every day coming with their weapons from Iran into Iraq," Kazem added.
Last week Iran Focus reported the arrest of Nashaat Abd Ali Al-Hussaini an Iranian agent who was detained and later made startling revelations in his interrogation about the role of the Iranian embassy in Baghdad in the espionage and sabotage activities conducted by clerical regime. Al-Hussaini's also revealed that his handler was Mohammad Qorbani, a senior agent of the MOIS who is working under diplomatic cover in the Iranian embassy in Baghdad and who runs a large spy ring in Iraq. Iran's Revolutionary Guards and other state agencies have been sending more gunmen and weapons into Iraq in recent weeks in preparation for a "hot October", according to sources in the Iranian government with a good knowledge of security issues.
Posted by: tipper ||
10/06/2004 12:32:53 AM ||
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This is just a fraction of the numer of imported Iranian terrorists in Iraq today.
A well done to the American & Iraqi troops involved in this latest capture of the enemy Iranians.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
10/06/2004 1:07 Comments ||
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#2
I wish I could say more.
But read between the lines here - and remember, only a fraction of any guerilla force is ever captured.
#4
Read between the lines? What more do you want? The Black Turbans are double dog daring Bush to do something about it. They better send more money to MoveOn.org fast, or they'll get a hot November.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
10/06/2004 11:09 Comments ||
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#5
I think Ray Charles (may he RIP)could read between these lines. Then he could peruse the writing on the walls:
1. Completion of Iraqi elections
2. Signing of a mutual defense treaty between the new sovereign, legitimized and elected government and the United States
3. Continued meddling by Iran
4. Declaration of war by the Iraqi govenment
5. ?!!!!! depends on result of the US election
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/06/2004 21:05 Comments ||
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#6
4. Declaration of war by the Iraqi govenment
My goodness, Super Hose, I clean forgot that as a sovereign and independent nation, Iraq will be free to declare war. Really, really good point. One almost feels sorry for the Mullahs -- if they have Israel, the U.S. and Iraq in their faces, which way should they turn first? (Not to mention the difficulty of then bringing their bad guys back across the border.)
US warplanes today launched a direct attack on leaders of Islamic militant Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi's network as they met at a house in the rebel-held Iraqi city of Fallujah, the US military said. "Credible intelligence sources confirmed Zarqawi leaders were meeting at the safe house at the time of the strike," it said. There were no immediate details on any casualties as a result of the raid.
Dammit, what about the baby ducks?
Dead! All dead! The ones that weren't killed outright were brutally stomped!
Posted by: tipper ||
10/06/2004 12:15:35 AM ||
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I hope they are all face to face with allan.
Surprise, boys!!! allan wasn't who you thought he was.
Officials said about half of the insurgents captured in Samara last week were nationals from Arab states in North Africa. They said an initial interrogation has determined that the insurgents arrived from such countries as Egypt, Sudan and Tunisia. About 150 insurgents were said to have been killed in the combination of air and ground strikes by U.S. units and Iraqi forces, Middle East Newsline reported. U.S. officials said insurgents from such countries as Algeria, Egypt, Sudan and Tunisia have been recruited for operations against the Multinational Force in Iraq. They said many of the insurgents were recruited by the Salafist Brigade for Combat and Call, based in Algeria and regarded as the leading subcontractor for Al Qaida.
The presence of North African insurgents was highlighted during the U.S. military operation to capture Samara, under the control of a coalition of Saddam Hussein supporters and Al Qaida-aligned agents since October 2003. The insurgents were said to have been recruited by Salafist operatives in North Africa and transported to Iraq via Syria. Many of them then joined the Tawhid and Jihad group, headed by Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi, regarded as the most lethal insurgent in Iraq. The recruits were provided with Iraqi government documents that listed their professions as everything from electricians to farmers. Officials said resistance by Saddam and Al Qaida-aligned forces continues despite the capture of Samara. They said the military has not captured the heads of the insurgency.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2004 11:09:00 PM ||
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They said the military has not captured the heads of the insurgency.
JABALIYA CAMP, Gaza Strip - The rumor spread like wildfire through this war-ravaged refugee camp. Mosque-mounted loudspeakers fanned the flames. By sunrise Tuesday, many in this shantytown of 107,000 Palestinians packed into a fetid half-square-mile believed as many as 47 Israeli soldiers had been killed in overnight fighting in the Gaza Strip. They passed out candy on debris-strewn streets to celebrate. In truth, no Israelis died, and one Palestinian gunman was killed, bringing to at least 72 the number of Palestinians killed since hundreds of Israeli tanks and attack helicopters invaded northern Gaza a week ago in an unprecedented show of force to put an end to Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli border towns. About half the dead were armed gunmen, the rest civilians, Palestinian medical sources say.
Tuesday's toll included two Islamic Jihad militiamen killed in an airstrike on their car in Gaza City. Later in the day, a missile killed two Hamas fighters and wounded three others in Jabaliya. The Israeli army has reported that one soldier was killed since the operation began. While many Jabaliya residents interviewed Tuesday amid the crackle of gunfire and sporadic shelling clung to the belief that "resistance fighters" had scored a big success, others acknowledged that the rumor that 47 soldiers were killed was a "lie" some Palestinians propagate to soothe the psychological suffering of their people against a vastly superior foe. "Israel is a stronger state. They are killing us every day. So I say, `OK, I want to see the Israelis suffering like us,'" said Hossam al-Najar, 35. "We wish that every Israeli who comes here to kill will be killed. ... But we are lying to ourselves."
Najar, an engineer with the Palestinian Ministry of Planning, spoke amid the roiling emotions of a mourner's tent set up for the 12-year-old son of his cousin. The boy, Mohammed, died Sunday when shrapnel - from a tank shell the Israeli army said was aimed at a cluster of gunmen who were killed instantly - apparently also struck the child some distance away. Against the backdrop of so much bloodshed, both focused and random, Najar said, many Palestinians succumb to wishful thinking, convincing themselves they are routing the Israelis even though they clearly are not. In a taxi from Gaza City to Jabaliya, he had heard fellow passengers say that 47 Israelis were killed. When he reached Jabaliya, others told him the number was seven. By tomorrow, he said, there's no telling how the story will twist and turn. "For myself, I have to know the reality. ... I don't believe it."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/06/2004 10:32:18 PM ||
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#1
Better a rumor of death than the real thing. Sad though, that their best "victories" are fiction.
#3
4 years of Intifada and terrorism have brought extreme suffering, death and destruction to the Palestinians. What else do they have to show? They've done no deep lasting damage to Israel, they've accomplished zero except making Israel united and making the idea of a wall popular and inevitable. It's kept Sharon popular and in power.
Hmmm, what are the implications here? Does this mean terrorism doesn't work and drags your own side down into a greater misery, violence, depravity, corruption and oppression and leaves your people at the mercy of thugs? ...Naw, couldn't be. They must not be trying hard enough. More attacks on Zionist schools, busses, playgrounds and wedding ceremonies. Praise Allah, victory is near! We're gonna start whooping them Zionists any day now.
In all seriousness, it's a shame that their supporters in Europe and the Muslim world only encourage these delusions and don't demand reform or a more rational and civilized approach toward trying to get and build their own country. But then again, that was never really anyone's real objective in any event.
Posted by: John in Tokyo ||
10/06/2004 2:45 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The ever growing wasteland that is Palestine is and has been created by Palestinians for Palestinians. If they think this hell can't get any worse wait until all the settlements are gone and they attack Israel. It's will get much worse before it ever gets better.
#5
"In truth, no Israelis died, and one Palestinian gunman was killed.... "
People who believe that they will be able to ravish virgins in 'paradise' right after they've blown their own bodies into pieces can be fed any old story.
#6
There is something very wrong with the arab psyche. Despite the "facts on the ground" they continue to believe in some wild fantasy of superiority and manifest destiny.
Believing he would precipitate the return of a 7th century-like caliphate, bin laden strikes an open, free society that couldn't even imagine such an atrocity. And so, he is attacked, defeated, retreating to some forsaken mountain range in Pakistan.
Since the creation of Israel, amidst their continuous seething, arab states alternatively plot, attack and lose, believing they will prevail. And what has it gotten them? They're holed up in "refugee camps," with corrupt, self-serving, greedy, incompetent "leadership."
And the arab public feeds on this crap. It's the stuff of comic books, frankly.
And the answer, ironically, can be drawn from another fantasy -- it's downright Wizard-of-Oz-ish. They've had the power to fix the problem and make their lives better the whole time. To eradicate their misery, all they ever needed to do was negotiate honestly and realistically.
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The operation was made possible by the arrest in France on Sunday of 20 ETA suspects including the group's alleged leader, and in northern Spain of a truck driver suspected of involvement in recent bombings of electricity pylons, Alonso said. "Police believe the people arrested had agreed to join the terrorist group's operative structure, and were awaiting instructions (to carry out attacks)," the minister told a news conference. "Documents and computers have been seized and the operation is ongoing as these arrests are linked to information extracted in last weekend's operations in France and northern Spain," he said. 
Three of the suspects arrested in France were released Monday and the 14 others remain in custody, the French official said, adding that searches of the arms caches were continuing and would "take several days". The official said experts were examining the missile to determine where it was made and how it might have been acquired by ETA. According to the Spanish newspaper El Diario Vasco, the separatist group is believed to have several SAM-7 missiles able to blast low-flying aircraft out of the sky, according to documents found in previous raids. Both Spain and France hailed Sunday's raids against the group as a "historic" victory.
At least 30 people were killed and as many wounded in a powerful bomb explosion at a religious rally early on Thursday in the central Pakistani city of Multan, police and ambulance workers said. A rally in commemoration of assassinated extremist Sunni religious leader 
Three Palestinian militants and a Thai worker have been killed in Gaza during an infiltration of a Jewish settlement. The militant Hamas movement has claimed responsibility for the attack. The three Hamas militants slipped into a greenhouse in the southern Gaza settlement of Kfar Darom and began opening fire. A worker from Thailand was hit in the back and leg, and later died of his wounds. Israeli soldiers stationed at the settlement then killed one of the militants, while another died when a bomb he was carrying exploded. The third Hamas gunmen tried to escape but was hunted down and killed. Meanwhile, Hamas says it is developing a longer range rocket to strike at Israeli towns.
