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Uprising in Uzbekistan
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Arabia
Yemen rebels seek presidential pardon
SANAA - Leaders of a Yemeni rebel group involved in an anti-government rebellion that has cost the lives of hundreds of people have appealed for a presidential pardon, officials said.

The call in a letter signed by the Faithful Youth movement's spiritual leader Badr Eddin al-Huthi came after the authorities claimed they had put down the revolt in the northwest of the impoverished country after fighting that left some 280 people dead. Presidential sources quoted the letter as saying the rebels were surprised by the launch of the assault in April, which they described as "unjustifiable... as we have never denied the presidential regime."

"As citizens, we ask you to bring to an end the injustice committed against us. If this is done, we are prepared to present ourselves (to the authorities) at any moment," the letter said.
"We're getting our asses kicked! Please stop!"
The presidential sources said that President Ali Abdullah Saleh had "agreed to end action against these elements so that they can go back to their region in safety and renounce their sins."

April's fighting followed another uprising led by Huthi's son, Hussein, a radical preacher killed by the army last September after leading a nearly three-month revolt in which more than 400 people were killed. Authorities announced last month that they had put down the uprising in Saada province but that leaders of the "sedition" were still fleeing on the run.

The Zaidis are a Shiite Muslim sect dominant in northwest Yemen but in the minority in the mainly Sunni country. The rebels reject as illegitimate the republican regime, which seized power in a 1962 coup, overthrowing the Zaidi imamate.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/13/2005 09:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Saudi forces clash with militants
Saudi security forces clashed with suspected militants in an area north Riyadh on Thursday, reported Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television. It said the clashes occurred in the Qassim area, but gave no further details. Government officials were not available to confirm the report. Saudi Arabia has been battling militants loyal to Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, who have staged several attacks against foreign residents, government sites and energy industry installations in the past two years.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Kuwait Seeks Death for Militants
Kuwait's public prosecution has demanded the death penalty for 20 militants, allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda, who clashed with police in January, a newspaper reported yesterday. The prosecution also sought jail terms for 15 other suspects in a 2,000-page indictment submitted to Kuwaiti court authorities on Wednesday, Al-Qabas daily said, quoting unnamed legal sources.

The criminal court is scheduled to open the trial of the group on May 24, the daily said. The 35 are allegedly members or sympathizers of a group named the "Peninsula Lions", which is reportedly connected to Al-Qaeda network. A majority of the suspects are Kuwaiti, but they also include Saudis, bidoons or stateless Arabs, and a Jordanian. Most of the suspects are accused of fighting four deadly gunbattles with Kuwaiti security forces in January that left four police officers dead and 10 others wounded. Eight militants were killed in the gunfights, while the alleged leader of the group, Amer Khlaif Al-Enezi, died in police detention eight days after his arrest on Jan. 31. The list of defendants includes cleric Sheikh Hamed Al-Ali, charged with issuing fatwas, or religious edicts, for the group. He has denied the charge.
This article starring:
AMER KHLAIF AL ENEZIPeninsula Lions
SHEIKH HAMED AL ALIPeninsula Lions
Peninsula Lions
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Uzbek riots as suspected bomber shot
ISN SECURITY WATCH (13/05/05) - Uzbek authorities shot and killed a suspected suicide bomber outside the Israeli embassy in Tashkent on Friday morning, while at least nine people were killed in riots in the eastern city of Andijan.
Israeli and US officials told reporters that a suicide attack by radical Islamic insurgents had been averted in the capital city when Uzbek authorities shot the suspected would-be attacker before he could detonate his bomb. At the same time, gun battles, explosions and a prison break have claimed the lives of at least nine people in Andijan, news agencies reported.

Some reports said that thousands of people, led by armed insurgents, stormed the city's central prison after insurgents ambushed prison guards and opened the gates, freeing some 2,000 prisoners. The rioters were seeking to free 23 prisoners charged with anti-constitutional activity and forming a criminal and extremist organization, in a case that rights activists say is part of a broad government crackdown on religious dissent. All of the defendants pleaded not guilty at their trial, which opened on 10 February.

There were armed clashes between insurgents and Uzbek soldiers after the prison attack, with Russian media reporting that at least nine people had been killed and 34 others wounded. Reports later on Friday morning said Uzbek President Islam Karimov had arrived in Andijan to assess the situation. While new agencies reported ongoing clashes and said several buildings were ablaze, Russian Interfax described the situation as "under control", citing Uzbek authorities. Located near the border with Kyrgyzstan, the eastern Uzbek region has been the scene of growing unrest lately.

In Tashkent, tensions were high after reports emerged that the suspected suicide bomber had only been carrying wooden objects that the Uzbek police had mistaken for explosives, the daily Israeli Ha'aretz reported. In a conversation with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, the Israeli ambassador in Tashkent confirmed that the man might not have been a suicide bomber, the daily reported, adding that the clothing of the suspected bomber had aroused the suspicion of the embassy guards, who had ordered the man to halt. When the man failed to halt, guards shot him in the leg, and when he continued to approach the embassy, he was shot fatally. The incident is still being investigated.

In late July 2004, a series of simultaneous bombings in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent hit the US and Israeli embassies as well as the state prosecutor's office, killing two people and injuring five others. The attacks came during the trial in Tashkent of 15 defendants accused of complicity in attacks earlier last year, when almost 50 people were killed. Karimov, a close ally of the US who allowed US forces into the country after the 11 September 2001 attacks, is accused by human rights groups of torturing critics and repressing the political opposition in his country under the guise of fighting "terrorism".
Posted by: Steve || 05/13/2005 8:55:29 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think the suicide bomber has been refuted by later reports.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/13/2005 9:50 Comments || Top||


Islamist uprising in Uzbekistan
Thousands of people, many of them armed, took to the streets of an eastern Uzbek city on Friday, attacking a prison to protest the detention of prominent businessmen on charges of Islamic extremism, witnesses said.

Uzbek President Islam Karimov and other leaders immediately rushed to the city of Andijan amid reports that police in two districts were surrounded by armed protesters. The Russian news agency ITAR-Tass said nine people were killed in clashes and 34 wounded.

Tensions were also running high in the capital Tashkent, where police shot and killed a man they mistakenly thought was a suicide bomber outside the Israeli Embassy in the Uzbek capital on Friday. The man was carrying wooden objects that appeared to be explosives, said a police official who wished to remain unnamed.

The 23 defendants are charged with anti-constitutional activity and forming a criminal and extremist organization, but rights activists say the case is part of a broad government crackdown on religious dissent.

Valijon Atakhonjonov, the brother of one of the accused, said security forces fired shots in the air as thousands of people massed in front of the local administration building.

"The people have risen," he said by telephone.

Armed demonstrators went to a prison to free inmates overnight, Atakhonjonov said, but he could not confirm reports that the crowd had attacked an army garrison as well.

A government spokesman, also reached by telephone from Tashkent, said administrative buildings remained under government control.

On Wednesday several thousand people turned out to protest the allegations against the men, who have been on trial since early February on charges of being Islamic extremists. It was one of the largest anti-government demonstrations in the ex-Soviet republic.

Radical Islam was a bugaboo for the Soviet Union long before its collapse and was partly behind Moscow's decision to invade
Afghanistan in the last days of 1979. The movement continues to bedevil Central Asian leaders, especially in neighboring Uzbekistan, where deep-rooted radical groups have been accused of a series of bombings and militant incursions.

Thousands of Muslims have been jailed in Uzbekistan over the past few years in a government campaign that critics say has affected many innocent believers and only inflamed anger against Karimov's harsh rule.

Uzbekistan emerged as a key U.S. ally after the Sept. 11 attacks, and hosts hundreds of U.S. troops.

The men, arrested in June, are accused of being members of the Akramia religious group and having contacts with the outlawed radical Islamic party Hizb-ut-Tahrir. Authorities accuse Hizb-ut-Tahrir of inspiring terror attacks in Uzbekistan last year that killed more than 50. The group, which claims to eschew violence, denied responsibility.

Akramia unites followers of jailed Uzbek Islamic dissident Akram Yuldashev, who was accused of calling for the overthrow of the predominantly Muslim country's secular government — an accusation he denies.

The group's members are considered the backbone of Andijan's small business community, giving employment to thousands of people in the impoverished and densely populated Fergana Valley.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 05/13/2005 03:23 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It might be too early to call it an Islamist uprising.
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 05/13/2005 9:32 Comments || Top||

#2  I noted that "rushed to the city" comment. In similar situations, the local dictators have rushed as far *away* from trouble as possible.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/13/2005 16:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Latest reports say the government is cracking down. Looks like its going to be bloody.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/13/2005 21:10 Comments || Top||


'Dramatic scenes' in Uzbek town
Posted by: tipper || 05/13/2005 00:50 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
Another Chinese bus hijacking
Police in northwest China's Xinjiang region shot dead a man armed with dynamite who hijacked a long-distance bus heading for the regional capital Urumqi, state media reported on Thursday.
Xinjiang = distant muslim region
The man boarded the bus as it refuelled at a filling station in a suburb of Yining city on Wednesday afternoon and threatened to blow it up, Xinhua news agency said. Acting on a tip-off, police rushed to the scene and urged him to give up, but he ignited the dynamite so they shot him.
A tip-off? You mean brick-shitting bus passengers called the cops on their mobile phones?
The explosives started a fire on the bus but no one was seriously hurt.
No earth-shattering kaboom? Probably cheap knockoff explosives...typical for China.
Xinhua said initial investigations pointed to a clear need for a cover-up family dispute leading to the incident. It was not clear what his demands were or how many people were on the bus at the time. In January, a man boarded a bus in Xinjiang and blew it up, killing 11 people and injuring seven. The blast was blamed on a disaffected worker. Initially police said it could be linked to Muslim separatists of the Uighur minority group who have been blamed for past violence in the region. Turkic-speaking Uighur separatists have been fighting to re-establish an independent state of East Turkestan in Xinjiang. They accuse the ruling Chinese of political, religious and cultural repression.
Posted by: gromky || 05/13/2005 02:22 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  modernization can be tough
Posted by: bk || 05/13/2005 9:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Take thees bus to Havana?
Posted by: mojo || 05/13/2005 10:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Hijacking a bus with dynamite to resolve a "family dispute"? I'll have to remember that one...
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/13/2005 11:26 Comments || Top||

#4  "The explosives started a fire on the bus but no one was seriously hurt." Maybe he was angry because his wife kept mislaying his detonators?
Posted by: James || 05/13/2005 11:34 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
DREAD Weapon System
Posted by: twobyfour || 05/13/2005 18:29 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Oh god not this again. This was tried back in WWI
Posted by: Valentine || 05/13/2005 20:28 Comments || Top||

#2  A good way to evaluate weapons is whether they are 'point', 'zone' (or 'cone'), or 'area'. A point weapons is like a rifle: from point 'a' to point 'b', in either direct or indirect fire. A zone weapon forms a cone of damage from a start point outward, down or up, like a claymore mine, a hand grenade, or an airburst munition. An area weapon forms a circular or irregular coverage area, such as a propane (overpressure) bomb or chemical weapon. From this perspective, what is the value of the DREAD weapon? Much to much overkill for a point target, but too focused for an area weapon, which leaves it as a zone weapon. Optimally, a zone weapon is used when there is a concentration of enemy. But on the ground the enemy would be far too close for that to be the best weapon--they should have been engaged at a far greater distance. This leaves an aerial platform, used with the purpose of sweeping a large area like a broom. An to carry the requisite amount of ammunition, along with the energy generation equipment, a large aircraft, such as the C-130, would seem to be to best platform. Ironically, the high volume of ammunition could serve the dual purpose of protecting the aircraft from SAMs, if they originated from the area being swept.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/13/2005 21:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Jah love, mon...
Posted by: Ebboling Glomoling8132 || 05/13/2005 22:05 Comments || Top||


Koran flushing not confirmed
Senior Defense Department officials yesterday said there is no evidence corroborating a news report that interrogators flushed a Koran down a toilet to intimidate Muslim prisoners held at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that in an unconfirmed incident, a Guantanamo prisoner flushed pages from a Koran down a toilet in an attempt to clog it.

Newsweek magazine reported May 9 that U.S. interrogators at the prison had desecrated the Muslim holy book. The report was blamed for prompting a series of violent demonstrations this week in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the homelands of many of the more than 500 men held at Guantanamo.

Gen. Myers told reporters in Washington that Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, the head of U.S. Southern Command, has been in Guantanamo for the last couple of days digging into this issue to see if there was a time when the Koran was not respected. They have looked through the logs, the interrogation logs, and they cannot confirm yet that there was ever the case of the toilet incident, Gen. Myers said. He did note a log entry, which they still have to confirm, where a detainee was reported by a guard to be ripping pages out of a Koran and putting them in a toilet to stop it up as a protest, he said. But not where the U.S. did it.
Rest at link.
What is not in dispute is that a few years ago Arab terrorists, while running from Israelis, took hostages in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity and used one of the Holiest Churches in Christiandom as their toilet for 39 days.

http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp490.htm
On April 24, the Jerusalem Post reported on the damage that the PA forces were causing:

Three Armenian monks, who had been held hostage by the Palestinian gunmen inside Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, managed to flee the church area via a side gate yesterday morning. They immediately thanked the soldiers for rescuing them.
They told army officers the gunmen had stolen gold and other property, including crucifixes and prayer books, and had caused damage....
One of the monks, Narkiss Korasian, later told reporters: "They stole everything, they opened the doors one by one and stole everything....They stole our prayer books and four crosses...they didn't leave anything. Thank you for your help, we will never forget it."
Israeli officials said the monks said the gunmen had also begun beating and attacking clergymen.


When the siege finally ended, the PA soldiers left the church in terrible condition:

The Palestinian gunmen holed up in the Church of the Nativity seized church stockpiles of food and "ate like greedy monsters" until the food ran out, while more than 150 civilians went hungry. They also guzzled beer, wine, and Johnnie Walker scotch that they found in priests' quarters, undeterred by the Islamic ban on drinking alcohol. The indulgence lasted for about two weeks into the 39-day siege, when the food and drink ran out, according to an account by four Greek Orthodox priests who were trapped inside for the entire ordeal....
The Orthodox priests and a number of civilians have said the gunmen created a regime of fear.
Even in the Roman Catholic areas of the complex there was evidence of disregard for religious norms. Catholic priests said that some Bibles were torn up for toilet paper, and many valuable sacramental objects were removed. "Palestinians took candelabra, icons and anything that looked like gold," said a Franciscan, the Rev. Nicholas Marquez from Mexico.

Posted by: ed || 05/13/2005 08:38 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Gen. Myers told reporters in Washington that Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, the head of U.S. Southern Command, has been in Guantanamo for the last couple of days digging into this issue to see if there was a time when the Koran was not respected.

Why should this be a concern to the point of sending a general down there to poke around? If a Bible wasn't "respected", would the General Staff send some high-ranking officer down to Guantanamo to investigate? I would think not.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 05/13/2005 10:26 Comments || Top||

#2  The terrorists who took over the church were dealt with very effectively by IDF long gunners using a remote weapon mounted atop a crane 200 meters away. It was credited with solving the siege. We help where we can.
Posted by: remoteman || 05/13/2005 12:57 Comments || Top||

#3  The travesty of truth is laid bare at the foot of the Newsweek editor who allowed this story to go out the way it did. Shame on him/her for very poor journalistic judgement that once again shows the media's disdain for the security of our men and women in uniform. Unlike Eason's theory of targetting, this "is" a case of the media specifically targetting US troops.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 05/13/2005 14:36 Comments || Top||

#4  who cares if it is respected? The government shouldn't wouldn't that be kinda like having the ten commandements in the courtroom kinda situation?
Posted by: Thraing Hupoluper1864 || 05/13/2005 16:57 Comments || Top||

#5  Newsweak and truth in the same sentence...now that's a reall hoot. GI's and Marines further endangered ...not a problem for Newsweak....as long as it sells more copy.
Posted by: anymouse || 05/13/2005 19:40 Comments || Top||

#6  Newsweak oughta go look at the Yahoo! News slideshow on the Middle East Conflict. Dozens of pix today of Hamas Paleos holding up Korans and burning US flags. Thanks for nothing.
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/13/2005 19:52 Comments || Top||


White House set to pick Zarate for anti-terrorism job
The White House is set to pick a senior Treasury official now charged with fighting terrorism financing for a National Security Council job focused on counter-terrorism efforts, sources said on Wednesday. A congressional source said part of the job for Juan Zarate, currently the Treasury's assistant secretary for terrorism financing, would be to coordinate the work of disparate government agencies involved in the terrorism financing battle. Some current and former officials say turf battles and a lack of coordination between the agencies has undermined the government's efforts to track terrorist financiers, trace funds back to operatives, cut off funding and roll up cells before they can attack.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hezbollah Guerrillas Attack Israeli Posts
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Hezbollah and Israeli forces exchanged barrages of shells and rockets across the Lebanese border Friday, and Israeli warplanes struck guerrilla positions in the heaviest clash in months between the two sides.
The exchange began when Hezbollah fighters fired a volley of shells and rockets at Israeli positions in the disputed border area of Chebaa Farms, witnesses said. Israeli forces retaliated with artillery fire against the apparent source of the fire in the Lebanese village of Kfar Chouba. Witnesses counted at least 45 Israeli shells.

Israeli warplanes struck two positions with missiles north and south of Kfar Chouba, and helicopter gunships struck a suspected Hezbollah outpost about 300 yards across the border from the Israeli town of Metullah, witnesses and reporters said. An Israeli tank also fired at a Hezbollah observation post near the village of Rmeish, far from the combat near the Mediterranean coastline, they said. There were no casualties from the Hezbollah fire, an Israeli military spokesman said. There was no immediate word on casualties on the Lebanese side from the Israeli retaliation.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah positions opened fire on Israeli outposts in the Har Dov area -- Israel's name for Chebaa Farms -- with nine shells or rockets. Israeli troops retaliated with artillery and anti-tank rockets, destroying one guerrilla position, while an airstrike took out another Hezbollah post, the military said. Hezbollah's Al-Manar television said the attack was in retaliation for Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory, including a hit on civilian houses in the village of Kfar Chouba. It said the guerrillas used the "appropriate" weapons and scored a direct hit on the Roueissat el-Alam position. "The Islamic Resistance warns the Zionist enemy that any attack on civilians will be met with the appropriate response," the statement said.

It was the heaviest clash between Israel and Hezbollah since January, when Hezbollah guerrillas blew up an Israeli bulldozer operating in Chebaa Farms and Israeli warplanes retaliated with strikes that wounded two Lebanese women. Friday's exchange followed days of sporadic shelling by both sides, which began when Israel mistakenly fired an artillery shell into Lebanon earlier this week while clearing explosives planted by the guerrillas near the border. The Israeli army said the shell fell in an open area, causing no damage or casualties.

The increase in tensions comes amid political turbulence in Lebanon. Hezbollah's ally Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon last month, weakening Damascus's hold in the country -- while Hezbollah has been seeking a greater political role. The guerrilla group's long confrontation with Israel has been a major source of its popularity in Lebanon, even outside the country's Shiite community. Some 2,000 protesters at a Hezbollah-orchestrated demonstration near the U.S. Embassy in a northern Beirut suburb burst into cheers when news of the attack was announced. Demonstrators have gathered weekly to demand that Washington stop interfering in Lebanese affairs.

Hezbollah guerrillas sporadically attack Israeli forces in Chebaa Farms on the foothills of Mount Hermon where the borders of Syria, Lebanon and Israel meet. A U.N.-drawn border that followed Israel's troop withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000 left the area under Israeli control, but Lebanon claims it. The United Nations says the region is part of Syria and occupied by Israel.
Posted by: Steve || 05/13/2005 11:06:34 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think it's well past time to give up on the "Palestinians", and give the Israelis the go-ahead to level the West Bank and Gaza - down to bedrock. Any surviving inhabitants will be exported to either Jordan (from the West Bank) or Egypt (from Gaza). Israel needs to build a new wall, minefield, or whatever it takes to keep the "infiltrators" out, and tell the rest of the world to "bite me".
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/13/2005 14:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Hezbollah Guerillas?

Obviously, someone didn't get the Chirac memo about Hezbollah being a legitimate political entity?
Posted by: jules 187 || 05/13/2005 16:02 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Fighters Remain in Iraq-Syria Border Town
QAIM, Iraq May 13, 2005 — Iraqi fighters toting machine guns and grenade launchers swaggered through the rubble-strewn streets of this town on the Syrian border Friday, setting up checkpoints and preparing to do battle despite a major U.S. offensive aimed at rooting out followers of Iraq's most-wanted militant.

The remote desert region is a haven for foreign combatants who slip across the border along ancient smuggling routes and collect weapons to use in some of Iraq's deadliest attacks, according to the U.S. military. But the fighters who remain in this Sunni town some 200 miles west of Baghdad insist there are no foreigners among them.

"We are all Iraqis," one gunman, his face covered with a scarf, told The Associated Press. He said the fighters were trying to prevent U.S. forces from entering the town.

The 6-day-old U.S. offensive in the area one of the largest since insurgents were forced from Fallujah six months ago was launched in Qaim and is aimed at supporters of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

U.S. military spokesman Capt. Jeffrey Pool said Marines have not conducted operations inside Qaim since the opening days of the campaign, known as Operation Matador, which began overnight Saturday and led to the killing of six suspected insurgents and capture of 54 in the town.

Instead, according to Pool, rival bands of insurgents are now fighting among themselves, trading mortar, gun and rocket-propelled grenade fire almost nightly.

Residents acknowledge fighting in Qaim began even before the U.S. offensive, and characterized it as tribal clashes. The cause of the clashes was not immediately clear.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/13/2005 20:57 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  swaggered huh? ABC's light touch on the anti-american angle? Those bad marines...either they clean every one of these Syrian/Sudi psycho killers out (in which case they were a marauding band of war criminals) or they're incompetent (thank you W!). F*&kers
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2005 22:26 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
CIA Aircraft Kills Terrorist
A senior al Qaeda operative was killed by a missile fired from a CIA Predator aircraft on the Pakistani side of the remote area near the Afghan border earlier this week, U.S. intelligence officials told ABC News.

The CIA refused to confirm or deny any operational matter.

Haitham al-Yemeni, a native of Yemen known for his bomb-making skills, had been tracked for some time in the hope that he would help lead the United States to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, intelligence officials said. But with the recent capture in northwest Pakistan of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, thought to be al Qaeda's No. 3 man, officials worried al-Yemeni would soon go into hiding, and decided to take action. Al-Yemeni was in line to replace al-Libbi, intelligence analysts said.
This article starring:
ABU FARAJ AL LIBIal-Qaeda
HAITHAM AL YEMENIal-Qaeda
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 05/13/2005 20:54 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yes, indeed. That #3 spot sure has a lot of turnover... and now they have to reach even deeper into the organization chartto find those ambitious to become a #4. So much opportunity for a talented young jihadi with plans to change the world! ...At least until the CIA hears about him, and gets him in the sights of one of their clever little missiles
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/13/2005 22:54 Comments || Top||

#2  smite from the earth by the hand from the heavens! Inshallah!
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2005 23:12 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Police Arrest 5 in Baghdad Market Bombing
Iraqi security forces have captured four Palestinians and an Iraqi responsible for a Baghdad market bombing that killed at least 17 people, a police commander said Friday. Brig. Gen. Mohammed Mohsen, commander of the Interior Ministry's Commandos Brigade, told state-run al-Iraqiya television that the men were captured hours after Thursday's attack in the eastern Baghdad Jadida neighborhood. Eighty-one people were also wounded, including women and children. Mohsen said the Shiite Muslim Badr Brigades militia, the military wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, helped the commandos capture the men. He did not say whether others may have been involved in the bombing. Mohsen said the captured men had provided useful information, but declined to name the men or say where they were found. The TV station showed the detainees seated on a floor with their hands tied behind their backs. At least one had a black eye.
Woops. Let me get you a pork chop for that shiner.
Posted by: Seafarious || 05/13/2005 7:31:28 PM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  wanna bet that bruising's contagious?
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2005 20:00 Comments || Top||

#2  The TV station showed the detainees seated on a floor with their hands tied behind their backs.

I'll get the panties...
Posted by: Raj || 05/13/2005 20:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Paleos, what a surprise!
Posted by: phil_b || 05/13/2005 20:51 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks & Islam
Bio WMD in the Islamic world: AIDS and Polio
Islamic Biological Warfare
by James Dunnigan
May 12, 2005...

It turns out there are there are Islamic "Weapons of Mass Destruction" after all. In particular, biological weapons. But these mass killers have been developed within Islamic nations, and are doing most of their damage there. The war on terror has taken many American doctors to Islamic nations, and they have discovered a heretofore hidden AIDS epidemic.... religious leaders and general population will not even admit the disease is there. But it is, and in large numbers. While promiscuity and prostitution are common in Islamic nations, talking openly about it is not... No official statistics yet, but the medical underground hints at high, and rising, infection rate. And little, if any, local willingness to recognize a problem exists [and if they ever do admit a problem, they will blame it on the US, Israel, the Mongols, the British, etc. ].

But it's not just AIDS. In Nigeria, faith based paranoia on the part of Islamic clergy, and politicians, caused a polio epidemic, which is now spreading to other Islamic nations....{we've had other articles on the new polio epidemic]
Posted by: mhw || 05/13/2005 13:12 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Llixgrijgh works in mysterious ways...
Ignorance and stupidity, apparently, are not pleasing to the deity.
Posted by: twobyfour || 05/13/2005 13:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Wait until they here that there is a vaccine for Polio - its oral and invented by a guy named Sabin who was a doctor at Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 05/13/2005 14:45 Comments || Top||

#3  A guy that has polio cannot sneak around with a bomb under his shit jacket.

I guy with aids is helping to wipe out their breeders.

Personally, as long as they are doing it to themselves of their own "free" will I see no downside.
Posted by: Cassie || 05/13/2005 16:21 Comments || Top||

#4  2x4
:)
Posted by: Shipman || 05/13/2005 17:25 Comments || Top||

#5  It is a tragedy for the innocent victims -- and there are many innocents, both women and children, among the victims. But so long as those societies refuse to admit the problem and accept the solution, there is really nothing we can do... except either to test/quarentine everyone coming from those countries for infection, or refuse entry to everyone coming from those countries because of their potential as carriers. But those are political choices, and I don't see our leadership being ready to take such drastic steps.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/13/2005 23:29 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Combat photos


Lucian Read followed Marines from Camp Pendleton to Hawaii, Kuwait, Iraq and back. Spent a year taknig pix of them. A show of some of them opens tonight in NYC, at the launch of Guerrilla Galleries. The exhibition is open to the public Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from May 13 to June 14, 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., at 521 5th Avenue (at 43rd Street).

Go take a look at them (click on title), and if you're in NYC go to the show.
Posted by: growler || 05/13/2005 10:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Here's something else cool, for the youngsters. This site is offering free downloads to your PSP. Exclusive battle scene footage. I think maybe it can be downloaded for Windows too, since there are zip files there. But not sure. Also there, you can go to the photo on NPR and MSNBC, and see stuff from his diary.

No, I have nothing to do with him or the show or the sites; I just think it's really cool.
Posted by: growler || 05/13/2005 11:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Great stuff, Growler -- THX!
Posted by: .com || 05/13/2005 14:30 Comments || Top||

#3  The guy sitting in a tub of ice was cool.
Posted by: raptor || 05/13/2005 16:50 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Tales from the Crossfire Gazette
Two more killed in 'crossfire'Two regional leaders of two underground parties were killed in 'crossfires' between law enforcers and cohorts of the killed leaders in Rajshahi and Chuadanga Wednesday night and early Thursday. With these, the 'crossfire' death toll raised to 299 since June 2004. The deceased were identified as Baki Billah, 35, a regional leader of the Purba Banglar Communist Party of Charghat in Rajshahi, and Atiar Rahman, 45, also a regional leader of the Biplobi Communist Party in Chuadanga.
RAB sources said the Pabna RAB held Baki from village Moud under Faridpur upazila in Pabna on May 11 and took him to Rajshahi RAB Headquarters to interrogate him.
"Hi Baki, welcome to HQ. Can I get you anything? Coffee, tea, pliers, jumper cables?"

Following his confessional statement, the battalion launched a drive to recover illegal weapons and arrest his accomplices, RAB said.
"Come on, Baki, let's go for a "drive"."
"Uh oh"
On their way to Charghat early Thursday, Baki's accomplices opened fire on RAB men.
Just happened to bump into them, huh? How unfortunate.....
The law enforcers also fired back. Baki was caught in 'crossfire' when he tried to escape, RAB said.
....for Baki, at least
RAB said Baki was accused in at least 30 criminal cases, including five murder charges. The battalion also seized a shutter gun and a live cartridge from the spot.
UNB Reports:An outlawed party leader, injured during a gun battle between terrorists and members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Charghat upazila of Rajshahi early today, died later at Charghat Health Complex, reports UNB. The deceased was identified as Baki Billah, 35, zonal leader of Purba Banglar Communist Party and listed terror of Pabna district police.
Police and RAB sources said that acting on a tip-off they arrested Baki Billah from Shahjadpur in Sirajganj on Wednesday evening. After the arrest, as he was being taken to Rajshahi for interrogation the RAB members came under fire from terrorists near a `beel' (waterbody) at Rauthi.
So, no confession, no arms recovery mission?
The RAB members returned the fire, triggering a gunfight that left Baki injured.
Now, back to our story
The critically wounded underground operative was brought to Charghat Health Complex where the on duty physicians declared him dead after admission at 2 am.
"He's dead, Jim"

In another incident, Atiar Rahman, 45, was killed in 'crossfire' with the police at Shahebnagar in Chuadanga Wednesday night. The police said Cobra, a special team of the Detective Branch, aided by the police of Sinduria outpost, arrested Atiar from his second wife's paternal house in Jhenaidah Wednesday evening.
We haven't heard from Cobra in a long time. Nice to see they haven't lost their touch
Soon after his arrest, the police recovered one shutter gun and six bullets from Sinduria Primary School.
Must have been for Show and Tell
.Following his confessional statement, the police team took him to nearby village Shahebnagar to recover more firearms and nab his accomplices.
An old tale that never fails to ammuse
As they reached the spot, his accomplices opened fire on the law enforcers.
BANG!

The law enforcers also fired shots.
BANG! BANG!
Atiar was caught in 'crossfire' when attempted to flee and died on the spot, receiving bullets in the chest and back.
In the chest and out the back, or visa versa?
The police said Atiar was wanted in 10 cases, including eight murders. Earlier, three of his brothers were killed by his opponents.
One big happy family.
Posted by: Steve || 05/13/2005 9:17:06 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Does "crossfire" mean something else to Bangladeshis? I mean, should we assume that they just mean a regular old gunfight? It's just hard for me to believe that the whole damn country is set up for ambushes.
Posted by: Captain Pedantic || 05/13/2005 11:05 Comments || Top||

#2  "Crossfire" = the act of taking a suspect out to a deserted lot in the wee hours of the morning and shooting him. Key items to look for; arrest followed by a interogation, followed by a confession as to the location of a cache of hidden arms and/or cadre of thugs. This is followed by a trip in the dark of night to said location where the cops are "surpried" by a group of the suspects friends who try to spring him. Said suspect "attempts to flee" and is either "shot while trying to escape" or more frequently "killed in the crossfire". This may involve one or more "suspects", but always includes the "leader". The ambushers always flee, dropping one (1) shutter gun and a hanful of bullets. "Crossfire" is common in Bagladesh and popular among the locals who watch the bad guys get off in the local courts. The Rapid Action Battalion is well know for being experts in this practice.
Posted by: Steve || 05/13/2005 12:00 Comments || Top||

#3  We eliminate the middle man and pass the savings on to you!
Posted by: Your Friends at the RAB || 05/13/2005 12:10 Comments || Top||

#4  Think of all the unshuttered windows in Bangladesh since the RAB keeps taking the shutter guns.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/13/2005 12:31 Comments || Top||

#5  What the heck is a "Shutter" gun?
Posted by: Sleth Glatle9076 || 05/13/2005 23:43 Comments || Top||


Iraq-Jordan
Super Shotguns in Iraq
May 13, 2005: The U.S. military is testing a 12 gauge automatic shotgun in Iraq. The Auto Assault 12 (AA12) has a rate of fire of 300 rounds per minute and uses either an 8-round box magazine or a 20 round drum magazine. Recoil on the system has been reduced to that of a light rifle, due to a sophisticated recoil system. The low rate of fire makes it possible to easily fire bursts of one, two, or three shots and is capable of using and mixing all types of 12 gauge ammunition, from shot to solid slugs, as well as non-lethal rounds. Allegedly, Iraqi insurgents have little respect for the M4 rifle and the 5.56mm round, but they fear shotguns.
Being turned into a colander does that to people
If that's not enough of a firepower increase at the squad level, the Marine Corps is testing a family of 12 gauge shells designed to deliver blast, fragmentation, and high-explosive armored piercing projectiles out to 200 meters. The high-explosive armor piercing projectile uses a shaped charge that has been demonstrated to put a 1 inch hole in quarter-inch steel plate. A total of 100 projectiles have been bought for testing as well as some quantity for "experimental use" in Iraq.

At first glance, packing an armor-piercing charge into a 12 gauge round sounds like overkill, but Iraqi terrorists are becoming increasingly sophisticated in fortifying themselves, vehicles, and fixed positions. Foreign fighters are using Russian-style body armor in their raids. Suicide bombers driving vehicles often wear body armor for protection until they get "on target" and some vehicles have been reportedly hardened with bullet-resistant glass and armor plate. In one incident, terrorists in a basement/crawlspace used a Russian machine gun equipped with armor-piercing rounds to shoot through a concrete floor to attack Marines. The American troops had no effective way of firing back and ultimately had to call for an air strike with a 500 pound smart bomb to eliminate the resistance. A combination of 12 gauge armor-piercing rounds with a shotgun would provide a weapon capable of effectively stopping an up-armored vehicle or larger truck without the extra weight and expense of a dedicated anti-tank weapon. It would also provide an enhanced capability in urban warfare with a convenient and familiar method of employment.

More info: Military Police System, out of Piney Flats, Tennessee, has come out with a unique select-fire 12-gauge combat/tactical shotgun called the "Auto Assault 12 Automatic Shotgun", or "AA12 Automatic Shotgun". When fired on full-auto, the Auto Assault 12 Automatic Shotgun employs the "Constant-Recoil" principle, which is a recoil attenuation/mitigation system that was first invented by legendary small arms designer/developer L. James Sullivan for the Ultimax 100 LMG (Light Machine Gun), back in the late 1970's. Constant-Recoil allows a lightweight gun to outhit a heavier gun on full-auto. Since it utilizes "Constant-Recoil", the bolt group of the AA12 Automatic Shotgun never impacts the rear of the receiver, but rather runs out on the long 2-stage recoil/operating spring. This action eliminates the majority of felt-recoil, and thus greatly enhances controllability on full-auto. The result is more hits on target.
The Auto Assault 12 (AA-12) Automatic Shotgun is manufactured from "corrosion resistant, high impact, heat-treated stainless steels and high-impact plastics". Supposedly, the Auto Assault 12 shotgun requires no lubrication (unconfirmed/unverified). Rounds are fed from an 8-round box magazine, 20-round drum mag, or 32-round drum mag. That's a lot of 12-gauge firepower in a select-fire, fully controllable package. The Auto Assault 12 (AA12) Automatic Shotgun also features a quick-change barrel system. Barrel lengths are from 13" to 18".
Posted by: Steve || 05/13/2005 9:09:09 AM || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  For quail hunting, when your goldie is giving you "that look" that sez you missed again moron.
Posted by: Shipman || 05/13/2005 9:32 Comments || Top||

#2  OK ... my Christmas list is complete!
Posted by: legolas || 05/13/2005 9:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Say "Hello" to my little friend.
Posted by: mmurray821 || 05/13/2005 9:55 Comments || Top||

#4  If it'll shoot 300 rounds a minute, give me a 300 round mag, please.

And, aren't we using shotguns as doorbusters? Seems to me I recall reading that.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 05/13/2005 10:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Piney Flats is only about 20 miles from me. I think I'll make a visit, see if they'll give me a tour.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 05/13/2005 10:16 Comments || Top||

#6  Not that I really care, but doesn't the Geneva Convention prohibit the military use of shotguns?
Posted by: Captain Pedantic || 05/13/2005 10:53 Comments || Top||

#7  No. During WW1, the Germans tried to get the shotgun banned because American infantry were effectively using them to clear trenches. The War Dept. basically told the Germans to get bent. The US has used shotguns in all conflicts since.
Posted by: ed || 05/13/2005 11:06 Comments || Top||

#8  Redifining the term"handcannon".I don't think so,CP.
Posted by: raptor || 05/13/2005 11:18 Comments || Top||

#9  baboom baby!
Posted by: legolas || 05/13/2005 11:24 Comments || Top||

#10  Holeeee SH*T! Sounds like something coming out of a Duke Nukem Sequel planning session!

Now, where was THIS little baby when Master Chief was slogging through The Flood?
Posted by: Ptah || 05/13/2005 12:41 Comments || Top||

#11  Can I get my 10-gauge double-barrel upgraded? I want to go bear hunting again...
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/13/2005 14:08 Comments || Top||

#12  I remember reading about the development of automatic shotguns at least 10 years ago (maybe even 15). I believe they were referred to as "streetsweepers". Hadn't heard about them since (until just now). Was there a snag in the technology, or just no demand/use for them?
Posted by: docob || 05/13/2005 14:23 Comments || Top||

#13  It was probably more like 20 years ago, now that I think about it. Getting old sucks, but, like they say, it beats the alternative. =)
Posted by: docob || 05/13/2005 14:39 Comments || Top||

#14  Back when I ran "The Morrow Project" (a paper & pencil RPG), we liked the Atchison Assault shotgun, called it the "Room Broom". I dont know if this is the next generation, but it certainly sould like a close sibling.
Posted by: Trub || 05/13/2005 15:17 Comments || Top||

#15  Docob - "street sweepers" generally refer to shotguns with a 12 round cylindrical mag. I think they are classified as a Class 3 gun (same as a machine gun) - thanks Bill Clinton. They've been around for a while but without a proper FFL, you can't have one without a little visit from the ATF.

Ed is right - in my outfit shotguns were the weapon of choice for corpsmen. We had them cut down to a very short barrel and fashion pistol style grip stocks for them. Short, light and effective.
Posted by: Doc8404 || 05/13/2005 16:10 Comments || Top||

#16  There is a video of this thing floating around some place. It's pretty neat. I really think the development of alternate rounds for the shotguns is the bigger thing. With these even your venreable Mosburg is massivly improved.
Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom || 05/13/2005 17:18 Comments || Top||

#17  I thought that shotguns violated the Geneva Convention. (I'm not joking.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste || 05/13/2005 17:46 Comments || Top||

#18  Negative, SDB. See ed's reply above.

In fact, I just saw a 12 gauge used as a lockbuster on TV last night. The guy using it was a little sloppy. It took him three rounds to bust the lockset up enough to kick the door in, but it worked, and worked quickly.

If I had to fight in a city a 12 gauge would be my first choice.
Posted by: Parabellum || 05/13/2005 18:01 Comments || Top||

#19  It's hard to see how shotguns would be verboten, given the XM1028 120mm Canister Tank Cartridge for the Abrams tank:

"...the XM1028 is, in effect, a 120mm shotgun shell. But it's no ordinary shotgun shell, for sure: a typical OO buckshot round 2 ¾" long contains 9 pellets. But the XM1028 cartridge contains 1,100 tungsten steel balls that are expelled and immediately begin dispersing once they exit the cannon muzzle..."

I want one for my birthday.
Posted by: Dave D. || 05/13/2005 18:45 Comments || Top||

#20  nothing sez "you lose" like 1100 tungsten balls turning you into a sieve
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2005 19:00 Comments || Top||

#21  When my son was over there he said this little gadget did a pretty good job, too.
Posted by: Dave D. || 05/13/2005 19:21 Comments || Top||

#22  Shotguns are not banned by the Hague or Geneva accords.

The Hague Convention's Article 23(e) of the Annex, states that it shall be unlawful "To employ arms, projectiles or materials calculated to cause unnecessary suffering. This was adopted by the Geneva Treaties.

Accordingly, the use of the shotgun depends upon the motive of the shot employed and its effect on a soft target. The use of an unjacketed lead bullet is now considered a violation of the laws of war. The use of shotgun projectiles sufficiently jacketed to prevent expansion or flattening upon penetration of a human body and shot cartridges with chilled shot regular in shape would not constitute violations of the laws of war. More here.
Posted by: phil_b || 05/13/2005 19:40 Comments || Top||

#23  It would be nice, though, to get something better than the M-4 and the 5.56mm rifle round as a standard infantry weapon.

Say, something like the Grendel, or the 6.8, being shot from an XM-8...
Posted by: Phil Fraering || 05/13/2005 23:29 Comments || Top||


U.S. Assault Intensifies at Syria Border
EFL: BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - American fighter jets flattened a suspected insurgent safe house near the Syrian border, the U.S. military said Friday, as hundreds of U.S. troops searched remote desert villages house by house for followers of Iraq's most wanted militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. American forces have met little resistance since the first two days of Operation Matador, aimed at clearing a region believed to be a haven for foreign fighters slipping over the border from Syria, the military said in a statement Friday. American intelligence indicates the insurgents are either in hiding or have fled the region, U.S. Capt. Jeffrey Pool said in the statement. Villagers reached by telephone Friday said gunmen still roamed some areas and they continued to receive U.S. shelling.

The U.S. offensive - one of the largest since militants were forces from Fallujah six months ago - comes amid a surge of militant attacks that have killed more than 420 people in just over two weeks since Iraq's first democratically elected government was announced. The U.S. military said information gained from a "senior terrorist" captured during the operation near the Syrian border led Marines to the safe house Thursday in Karabilah, a village about 200 miles northwest of Baghdad.
"senior terrorist"; anyone we know?

As Marines approached, at least four gunmen fired on them from the building, the military statement said. U.S. F-18 Super Hornet jets destroyed the building with a combination of bombs and rockets, the statement said.
When you care to send the very best

The offensive was launched after U.S. intelligence showed large numbers of insurgents had moved into the northern Jazirah Desert following losses in Fallujah and Ramadi, further east. The area is believed to be a staging ground for foreign fighters, who receive weapons and equipment there to launch attacks in Iraq's main cities.
Push them out of the cities into the open and kill them
The U.S. military has confirmed five Marine deaths so far and says about 100 insurgents have been killed in the operation. But a Washington Post reporter embedded with U.S. forces put the American death toll Thursday at seven - six of them from one squad. Gunmen were taking over the homes of Iraqi citizens to evade Marines in the area, the U.S. military said Friday.

Residents reached by telephone in Saadah said American forces were periodically shelling their village Friday. "The situation is very bad ... Most of the people have fled to the desert," said Samran Mukhlef Abed, a tribal leader. "The Americans are all around ... and medical services do not exist here. If someone is hurt, we have to take him to cities that are far way from here and that is impossible with the situation." The U.S. military denied resident reports that some areas have been without electricity and running water since the offensive began late Saturday, but said regional hospital services were disrupted when a suicide car bomber attacked the hospital in Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, on Saturday.

The U.S. military said it was receiving intelligence from local residents, fed up with the presence of foreign fighters in the region. But residents voiced equal frustration with U.S. forces, who pounded the area with airstrikes, artillery barrages and gunfire during the first days of the offensive "They destroyed our city, killed our children, destroyed our houses. We have nothing left," one man told Associated Press Television News in Qaim on Thursday. He did not give his name and hid his face with a scarf to address the camera.
Uh huh, a typical "reliable source"
Families were fleeing in trucks packed with luggage and APTN footage showed plumes of smoke rising from the town. On the outskirts of Qaim, where the offensive began Saturday, a group of masked gunmen armed with machine guns, remained defiant Thursday. "We will fight whoever comes, whether they are American or Arab," one of them told APTN.
OK, works for me
U.S. and Iraqi forces have conducted stepped up raids across the country in recent weeks. Iraq's government announced Thursday the capture of two more wanted insurgents - one a bomb maker with links to al-Zarqawi identified as Seif-Eddine Mustafa al-Naimi, the other a financier for an insurgent group linked to al-Qaida in Iraq identified as Amar Farid Abdul-Qader Ashur al-Jibouri.
This article starring:
ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWIal-Qaeda in Iraq
AMAR FARID ABDUL QADER ASHUR AL JIBURIIraqi Insurgency
Operation Matador
SEIF EDINE MUSTAFA AL NAIMIal-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: Steve || 05/13/2005 8:45:31 AM || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He did not give his name and hid his face with a scarf to address the camera, so that viewers would not recognize he was their sound engineer

i think that last part got edited out.
Posted by: 2b || 05/13/2005 9:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Las Vegas Sun published an article about what it looks like from the Syrian side.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 05/13/2005 10:12 Comments || Top||

#3  The area is believed to be a staging ground for foreign fighters, who receive weapons and equipment there to launch attacks in Iraq's main cities.

Something needs to be done about Syria. They've been basically getting a free pass, and it needs to come to be ended immediately.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 05/13/2005 12:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Villagers reached by telephone Friday

How the hell do you get the phone number for somebody that lives in Qaim, Iraq?
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 05/13/2005 14:43 Comments || Top||

#5  (191) 1919
Posted by: Shipman || 05/13/2005 15:58 Comments || Top||

#6  B-a-R, patience, my dear. ;-) Let's give our boys and girls time to train the Iraqis thoroughly, then catch their breath, before they start the next thing. They've been going all out for the better part of two years now, even with unit rotations, right?

I have no doubt (in my own little Pollyanna way) that Rumsfeld and Bush have not forgotten Boy Assad's quaint misbehaviours. But taking care of Syria likely also means cleaning out Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, and that is going to take both experts and manpower -- remember all those trucks that drove from Iraq through Syria just before we invaded?

Posted by: trailing wife || 05/13/2005 23:22 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Economy
Border Patrol told to stand down in Arizona
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 05/13/2005 08:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  U.S. Border Patrol agents have been ordered not to arrest illegal aliens along the section of the Arizona border where protesters patrolled last month because an increase in apprehensions there would prove the effectiveness of Minuteman volunteers, The Washington Times has learned.
More than a dozen agents, all of whom asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, said orders relayed by Border Patrol supervisors at the Naco, Ariz., station made it clear that arrests were "not to go up" along the 23-mile section of border that the volunteers monitored to protest illegal immigration.



There need to be mass public firings of BP management and any administration officials issuing these orders. NOW
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2005 8:42 Comments || Top||

#2  There won't be any firings. The BP is probably one of the most entrenched, stultifying bureaocracies in Washington.

Even worse than the FAA. [gasp! Worse than the FAA?!?! Ye-e-e-es! Worse than the FAA!]

Nope, don't see it happening.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/13/2005 8:50 Comments || Top||

#3  talk about effective checks and balences.
Posted by: bk || 05/13/2005 9:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Now they're begging for REAL vigilantes. First they put up warning signs and leaflets, then threatening pictures. And then somebody's going to get hurt.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/13/2005 10:15 Comments || Top||

#5  I'd be interested in finding out just where this directive originated from, and what inspired it. It's getting to the point that I'm willing to see necks on the chopping block in Washington. (Repubs, are you paying attention?)
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama || 05/13/2005 10:22 Comments || Top||

#6  This is getting out of hand. If we have to do everything that the government is supposed to do, what is the use of having the current government? Pay attention you mooks in Washington. The population is getting seriously fed up with your stupid, lazy, bloted asses.
Posted by: mmurray821 || 05/13/2005 10:30 Comments || Top||

#7  Their opponents speak disparagingly of the "vigilantes," but it wouldn't hurt to remind ourselves that San Francisco's episodes with vigilantism occurred because the local gummint, under the control of some spectacularly corrupt pols, had ceased responding to even the minimal requirements of government. The city was infested by thieves, murderers, pimps, and assorted other hard boyz, and had become notorious for shanghai'ing sailors, slipping mickeys to drunks, and bumping people off in significant numbers. Because the city fathers were working hand-in-glove with the Sydney Ducks, thereby becoming a part of the problem, and owned the governor's office, the honest citizens were forced to take matters into their hands. The number of actual hangings was relatively small, and the results lasted about 20 years in each case.

San Francisco in the days of the Barbary Coast is kind of the archetype of this sort of thing, but there were lots of other episodes in other places, and usually for the same reasons. If the duly constituted authorities aren't fulfilling their duties, the citizenry will eventually end up doing it for them, assuming the duties have any import at all.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2005 12:24 Comments || Top||

#8  Understanding the negative impact of illegals (Mexicans for the most part) in my community and having just paid enough in 2004 federal taxes to keep a USBP supervisor happy for a year or a congressman for a few months, I find this report simply nauseating. The problem has been ignored for years.
Posted by: Tkat || 05/13/2005 12:55 Comments || Top||

#9  I see a major 2008 campaign issue developing. Rove, are you taking notice? I'd bet Hillary is.
Posted by: thibaud (aka lex) || 05/13/2005 13:40 Comments || Top||

#10  Also, please consider the disinformation potential here. Remember BP agents are unionized and every union I have ever run across has one priority - expansion!! Duh, how do you do that - one way is to discredit the management by leaking false directives that create this kind of attention to the border problem that then gets more attention to the traditionally easy way out in DC - throw money and more manpower at it - therefore: more border agents doing the same thing they have been doing - not arresting anyone.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 05/13/2005 14:27 Comments || Top||

#11  lex: I see a major 2008 campaign issue developing. Rove, are you taking notice? I'd bet Hillary is.

Hillary will *talk* about it, leading the GOP to *talk* about it, but neither will *do* anything about it. As long as Dems benefit from illegal immigration, we'll continue to have gridlock in Washington. Note that hospital unions in NYC love illegal immigration - it keeps the taxpayer-funded hospitals full.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 05/13/2005 14:55 Comments || Top||

#12  This is very sad. The Federal Government is failing to fulfill specific duties that the founding fathers outlined for it, leaving the states and the citizens holding the bag. This almost smacks of something I would expect of the late Roman Empire. Very distressing.....
Posted by: WITT || 05/13/2005 21:30 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan/South Asia
Harkat deputy chief acquitted of bombing
The Sindh High Court on Thursday set aside the conviction of deputy chief of the Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Alami, Mohammad Haneef, in the Marina Club car bombing case and ordered his release, if not required in any other case. Tried and sentenced to a total of 39 years in prison with a fine of Rs one million by an anti-terrorism court on December 21, 2002, Haneef had appealed against his conviction in the SHC.

His counsel Abdul Waheed Katpar argued that the prosecution presented 'set-up' witnesses in the trial court, which relied upon their evidence and convicted his client for a crime he had not committed. Hitting out at the legal defects in the procedure of identification of the appellant, Katpar argued that the identification was conducted after two weeks of the Haneef's arrest. There was every possibility that the police had shown his client to the witnesses before the identification parade in the presence of a judicial magistrate, he said. He said the identification parade lost its evidentiary value, since Haneef's photos had been published much before an identification parade.
This article starring:
MOHAMAD HANIFHarkatul Mujahideen Al-Alami
Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Alami
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghan election candidate killed in Taliban attack
Taliban rebels shot dead a candidate who was standing in Afghanistan's first parliamentary elections since the hard-line Islamic regime was toppled three years ago, an official said Thursday.

Candidate Akhar Mohammad Tolwak's driver and two militants also died in a firefight after his car was ambushed late Wednesday near the town of Deh Yak, outside southern Ghazni city, provincial governor Assadullah Khalid said. Tolwak was the first candidate to be attacked since remnants of the ousted Taliban threatened to derail September's polls, which were delayed for more than a year because of security and technical problems. Similar threats to launch a major attack during last October's presidential vote won by US-backed interim leader Hamid Karzai proved hollow.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Afghan warlord pledges to Dutch commander he will hand over armoury
A warlord in northern Afghanistan whose village was devastated in the deadly explosion of a secret weapons dump earlier this month has agreed to turn over the rest of his massive armoury to Dutch forces, in what the Dutch defence minister on Thursday called a success for the UN disarmament programme. The explosion on May 2 killed at least 28 people, in the worst accident of its kind since the fall of the Taliban and the deployment of a NATO stabilisation force. It happened in the remote farming village of Bashgah, 125 kilometres north of the capital, Kabul.

The ammunition dump held by Jalal Bashgah apparently was one of nine or 10 depots he had concealed from international forces trying to disarm Afghanistan's warlords and disband their militias to bolster the national army of President Hamid Karzai's government in Kabul. "We think this is a big success," said Defence Minister Henk Kamp on Dutch television. "We are trying to create a safe situation up there as soon as possible." Kamp said that after the explosion Bashgah had acknowledged, "this has to end now." Bashgah and his immediate family did not live in the house under which the weapons were stored. But the blast killed family members of two of his brothers, levelled six houses and damaged the village mosque.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Allah has spoken, and this warlord is finally listening.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/13/2005 5:23 Comments || Top||

#2  After the Dutch backed down at Srebenica, there are two possibilities here.
One is that they do it again because that's the way they are.
The other is that they are soldiers as we understand the term and will not allow this moron to get away with dissing them, no matter what.
And then there's the higher command.
Posted by: RIchard Aubrey || 05/13/2005 7:35 Comments || Top||

#3  thought this mook died in the blast? Apparently his death notice was researched by the MSM quality reporters
Posted by: Frank G || 05/13/2005 9:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Bashgah and his immediate family did not live in the house under which the weapons were stored.

Note to self. Store all explosives at...your cousins house. Or your other cousins house.
Guess he's not as dumb as we thought.
Posted by: tu3031 || 05/13/2005 12:17 Comments || Top||


Terrorists sabotage Sui gas line
LAHORE: Suspected terrorists blew up the main Sui gas transmission line near Chanda Qilla bypass in Gujranwala on Thursday, injuring two people and causing gas shortage in Gujranwala and the industrial area on Grand Trunk Road. However, the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) deputy-managing director told Daily Times that terrorists had tried to sabotage the gas pipeline but the pipeline was not blown up. Police sources said that high explosives were used in the sabotage and the ensuing explosion had damaged surrounding houses. Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited rescue teams, fire brigade and police teams sealed off the area. Gujranwala's assistant superintendent of police Rana Tanveer Tahir confirmed that explosives were used and two passers-by were injured. Regarding the restoration, Tahir said SNGPL rescue teams had reached the spot and were inspecting the affected gas line.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2005-05-13
  Uprising in Uzbekistan
Thu 2005-05-12
  New al-Qaeda group formed in Algeria
Wed 2005-05-11
  Capitol and White House Evacuated
Tue 2005-05-10
  Attempted Grenade Attack on President Bush?
Mon 2005-05-09
  U.S. Offensive in Western Iraq Kills 75
Sun 2005-05-08
  Aoun Returns From Exile
Sat 2005-05-07
  Egypt Arrests Senior Muslim Brotherhood Leaders
Fri 2005-05-06
  Marines Land on Somali Coast to Hunt Terrs?
Thu 2005-05-05
  20 40 64 Pakistanis Talibs killed
Wed 2005-05-04
  Al-Libbi in Jug!
Tue 2005-05-03
  Iraq: Bloody Battle in the Desert
Mon 2005-05-02
  25 killed in attack on Mosul funeral
Sun 2005-05-01
  Mass Grave With 1,500 Bodies Found in Iraq
Sat 2005-04-30
  Fahd clinically dead?
Fri 2005-04-29
  Sgt. Hasan Akbar sentenced to death

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