"U.S. President George W. Bush writes a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a Security Council meeting at the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York September 14,"
#4
So he wants her to hold the fort while he's gone. I think the lower comment he is still writing is the more interesting.
1. Writer is right handed.
2. The style of writing at the top apears to be different than the lower note.
3. He initials his notes "D". D?
4. Pencils are cool.
Posted by: john ||
09/14/2005 20:32 Comments ||
Top||
A British terror suspect arrested in the Channel Tunnel has given evidence at the Old Bailey. Andrew Rowe, 34, of Maida Vale, west London, who was arrested in October 2003 en route to the UK, had socks with traces of explosives in his luggage. He said the socks were used as gloves to unload ammunition during volunteer work in Bosnia in 1995.
And he hasn't washed them since?
Mr Rowe has denied charges of having articles for use in terrorism and recording information for terrorism.
The socks were found in his luggage as he was about to return to Britain via the Channel Tunnel after a trip to Germany. After they were forensically examined, traces of three explosives used in Russian 82mm mortars were found on them. The prosecution has said the socks, which had been rolled into a ball and attached to a pyjama cord, could have been used to clean a mortar launcher barrel, or used as a mortar bung.
Mr Rowe, a Muslim convert who faces four charges under the Terrorism Act, laughed at the suggestion, claiming that he used the socks as makeshift gloves to avoid getting splinters. He added that the pyjama cord was used as part of his martial arts training to hang the sock ball up so he could kick it. "It would dangle it and I would use it to kick," said Mr Rowe.
It appears this guy has a good lawyer and is listening to him. Not a bad story, might work with a Los Angeles jury
Mr Rowe had gone using his original passport to Bosnia in 1995 as a volunteer where he said he had been injured in a war zone, the court was told. Taking the stand for the first time, Mr Rowe said the traces of explosives found on his socks, and a notebook found in his former flat with 20 pages of notes on how to use a mortar, were related to his time in Bosnia.
Mr Rowe is also accused of having a code to communicate in secret with others and a notebook with details on how to use mortars at addresses in London and Birmingham.
He said he volunteered to go to Bosnia as a driver but was put to work unloading boxes of ammunition, adding that he was shown a book about mortars when he said he wanted to do more. Mr Rowe said: "The boxes were breaking. I did not want to get splinters. "I tried to buy some gloves but I could not find any, so I used my socks over my hands."
He told the Old Bailey that he transferred the notes he had made in Bosnia, into a blue notebook upon returning to the UK. Asked why, he said: "For memorabilia basically - to be a bit of a lad. "When I spoke to people, I could look as if I had authority." The trial continues.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/14/2005 09:26 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
He told the Old Bailey that he transferred the notes he had made in Bosnia, into a blue notebook upon returning to the UK. Asked why, he said: "For memorabilia basically - to be a bit of a lad. "When I spoke to people, I could look as if I had authority."
This lad clearly didn't list genius amongst his achievements.
Britain is closely monitoring hundreds of possible terrorism suspects as it tries to thwart future attacks after July's deadly London bombings, interior minister Charles Clarke said today. Summoned before a parliamentary committee, Clarke and Britain's top policeman Ian Blair both defended the police's ''shoot-to-kill'' policy, criticised since officers killed an innocent Brazilian electrician they mistook for a bomber.
The government has introduced a string of measures to tackle terrorism since four British Muslims killed themselves and 52 others in suicide bombings on three underground trains and a bus on July 7. Two weeks later four bombers failed in an attempt to repeat the attacks when their devices failed to explode. ''There are certainly hundreds of people who we believe need to be very closely surveyed because of the threat they offer,'' Clarke said.
Police chief Blair told the same committee some small changes had been made to its so-called ''shoot-to-kill'' policy after a brief review following the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, gunned down by officers on an underground train. But he said the policy should, in principle, remain. ''There is no question that a suicide bomber, deadly and determined, who is intent on murder, is perhaps the highest level of threat that we face and we must have an option to deal with it,'' he said. He has resisted calls that he resign pending a full-blown investigation into Menezes's killing.
Clarke, who is due to reveal new details of new government anti-terrorism proposals later this week also said he supported the use of lethal force where necessary. He said police were investigating the exact links between the London bombers and foreign militants, as part of a probe that has cost 60 million pounds. ''The extent to which there was some kind of command and control we don't know at the moment, but we are trying to find out precisely what that relationship is,''he said. Police initially said the bombings bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda, but have found no evidence of links to the organisation.
Except for the tape where Ayman claimed credit for it, of course.
Italy's highest appeal court on Tuesday upheld the extradition to Britain of one of the suspected bombers in the failed attacks. Ethiopian-born Hamdi Issac, also known as Osman Hussein, was seized in Rome a week after the July 21 attacks.
Asked if the July 7 attacks were the result of intelligence failure, Clarke said the government had intelligence but no specific advance warning of the bombings. Britain's intelligence chiefs have come under fire for reducing the al Qaeda threat level from ''severe - general'' to ''substantial'' in June, after a general election in May. Britain had boosted security services' resources and recruitment, said Clarke. Authorities were also trying to work more closely with intelligence networks in other countries.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/14/2005 00:21 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Italy's highest appeal court has upheld the extradition to Britain of one of the suspected bombers in the July 21 attack on London's transport system, the British government's lawyer, Paolo Iorio says. Ethiopian-born Hamdi Issac, also known as Osman Hussein, was seized in Rome a week after the July 21 attacks, which killed no one but brought chaos to London exactly two weeks after suicide bombers had killed more than 50 people in the British capital. Mr Iorio says under Italian law, Issac must be sent to Britain within 10 days of the ruling.
Issac has admitted taking part in the July 21 attacks, in which four bombs were placed on London underground trains and a bus but did not explode, but says they were meant to scare people, not kill them. Issac's defence lawyer had argued that there was not enough evidence to prove the bombs would have been fatal and that Issac would not receive a fair trial in Britain. Last month's lower court ruling, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, says Issac said during questioning in Italy that he and his associates met the day before the attacks to prepare the devices. The document cited British officials as saying they suspected the July 21 bombers used a homemade explosive known as TATP (triacetone triperoxide). TATP is the explosive that British "shoebomber" Richard Reid placed in cavities in his shoes before trying unsuccessfully to ignite them on a transatlantic flight in 2001.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
The Department of Defense said Tuesday it transferred one detainee from Guantanamo Bay prison to Afghanistan. This marks the 246th detainee to be transferred or released from the controversial US-run prison, which currently still holds around 500 detainees. The majority of detainees held at the prison are from predominantly Muslim nations.
What an astounding coincidence.
Some have been captured and held at the prison indefinitely since 2001. A military tribunal court determines whether or not the detainee in question is an "enemy combatant" or not. The Pentagon said that during course of the so-called war on terrorism, the Defense Department expects there will be other transfers or releases of detainees.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
US and UK has become world's insurance policy, like State Farm Insurance, "Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There."
Tony Blair and President George W Bush told world leaders last night that they must unite or face destruction at the hand of terrorists.
At a summit in New York to mark the 60th anniversary of the birth of the United Nations, they said Muslim fanatics were exploiting deep divisions and a lack of decisiveness in the international community's response.
After member states failed to agree a definition of terrorism because of objections by Third World states sensitive to the wars waged by "liberation movements", a frustrated Mr Blair told the 15-nation security council that disaster would await unless they formed a strategy as clear as that of the terrorist enemy.
Terrorism won't be defeated until our determination is as complete as theirs; our defence of freedom as absolute as their fanaticism, our passion for democracy as great as their passion for tyranny," he said.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/14/2005 20:54 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Ah, the AP at it's very best... By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS - Before skeptical world leaders, President Bush on Wednesday urged compassion for the needy and pressed the global community to crack down on terrorists plotting deadly attacks.
Addressing more than 160 presidents, prime ministers and kings gathered for three days of U.N. General Assembly meetings, Bush sought to sell his blueprints for spreading democracy in Iraq and elsewhere, overhauling the United Nations and expanding trade.
"As we fight, the terrorists must know that the world stands united against them," Bush said. Those gathered before him â including many who harbor lingering bitterness about the U.S.-led war in Iraq â sat silently throughout the 25-minute speech, reflecting tradition.
Bush pressed for Security Council approval â which quickly followed â of a resolution calling upon all nations to adopt laws prohibiting the incitement of terrorist acts. The measure had been circulated by Britain in the wake of this summer's bus and subway bombings in London. Later, sitting at the Security Council's horseshoe-shaped table, Bush applauded its adoption: "We have a solemn obligation to stop terrorism at its early stages," he said.
Before the General Assembly, the president also asked nations to follow his lead and sign a Russian-sponsored treaty that would require the prosecution and extradition of anyone seeking radioactive materials or nuclear devices."We must send a clear message to the rulers of outlaw regimes that sponsor terror and pursue weapons of mass murder: You will not be allowed to threaten the peace and stability of the world," Bush said. The president gave his annual speech to a packed hall in which there was dissatisfaction that the American president does not support an international treaty on global warming and has not promised to donate foreign aid at a level more proportionate to other rich nations.
But Bush tried to impress upon his audience the urgency of addressing the world's problems as he sees them.
Hoping to prod progress toward a global trade agreement, he said the United States would eliminate all agricultural tariffs, subsidies and other barriers to the free flow of goods and services if other nations do the same â a move he said is key to overcoming poverty in the neediest nations.
"By expanding trade, we spread hope and opportunity to the corners of the world, and we strike a blow against the terrorists who feed on anger and resentment," Bush said.
He asked world leaders to partner in his second-term pledge to spread democracy, even in unlikely or unreceptive places, and touted U.S. efforts to battle AIDS in Africa and prevent a bird flu pandemic. And, seeking broader support for U.S. engagement in Iraq, Bush said the whole world has a stake in fostering democracy there. "The U.N. and its member states must continue to stand by the Iraqi people as they continue their journey," he said."It's an exciting opportunity for all of us in this chamber," he told an assembly of nations, many of whom had bitterly opposed the U.S. decision to go to war.
Reaching out to Africa, Bush pledged the United States would provide training for more than 40,000 African peacekeepers over the next five years "to preserve justice and order in Africa." Bush, who arrived in New York with the lowest approval ratings of his presidency and the perception his administration mishandled hurricane relief, switched to diplomatic duties after two weeks of nearly constant attention to Hurricane Katrina.
The Katrina problem wasn't far away, however: Bush scheduled a prime-time address from Louisiana on Thursday night and he gave it top billing in his General Assembly speech, thanking the more than 115 nations and nearly a dozen international organizations who have sent offers of money, equipment and other aid pouring into the United States."We have witnessed the awesome power of nature and the greater power of human compassion," the president said. "We are all confident that America will overcome this natural disaster," said Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, opening the Security Council session.
On the sidelines of the U.N. meetings, Bush met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, saying he was inspired by Sharon's "courageous decision" to evacuate Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip. The president urged Palestinians to "come together and establish a government that will be peaceful with Israel" and asked Arab states to help Palestinians create a successful economy. "I want to work together to see the vision of peace come to be," he said. Israel withdrew the last of its troops from Gaza on Monday and handed control to the Palestinians, a move that is seen as a test for Palestinian aspirations for an independent state. However, chaos has followed as abandoned settlements were looted and thousands rushed back and forth across the Gaza-Egyptian border.
Posted by: Achmeds Guns R Us ||
09/14/2005 14:06 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
A good start would be to crack down on corruption at the UN. Withdrawing our funding and sending it packing to Geneva would be a nice start to that process. That and nuking every country that so much as looks at us funny.
A briefcase containing foreign banknotes, believed to be Iranian or Afghani currency worth more than three million baht, has been found at Hat Yai railway station. The black-leather briefcase was found on a passenger platform on Monday afternoon by cleaning woman Banjit Bunsiri, 31, a source said.
Mahmoud, we have everything right?
Ms Banjit opened the briefcase and was stunned to see it was stuffed with banknotes and other documents, the source said. She handed it to a station official, who later reported the discovery to Hat Yai railway police. Senior railway officials refused to discuss the matter.
An Indonesian court has sentenced to death a second man for the 2004 bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta. Ahmad Hasan was found guilty of helping build the bomb and plotting with the attack's alleged mastermind, Malaysian fugitive Azahari Husin. The attack, which killed 11 people including a suicide bomber, has been blamed on regional militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI). Hasan was the fifth person to be convicted so far. On Tuesday a separate court sentenced Iwan Darmawan, also known as Rois, to death for buying the van used in the attack and recruiting its driver. The others have been sentenced to between 42 months and seven years in jail.
The judge, Sobari, said Hasan had sheltered the men believed to have masterminded the attack - Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top - and helped build the bomb. The judge also said Hasan surveyed the embassy before the attack and gave Azahari Husin a lift from the scene of the bombing on a motorbike. "The defendant has shown no remorse at all for his action," Sobari said. "The defendant has discredited Islam maintaining that his actions were in the name of Islam, despite the fact that most of the victims were Muslims," he said.
Hasan said he did not accept the verdict, which he said was the result of US or Australian pressure. "I'm not afraid of death because this is jihad," he said, according to the AFP news agency. Police continue to hunt for Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top. Both men are believed to belong to the militant Muslim group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), and Azahari Husin has been accused of masterminding the 2003 Bali bombings.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/14/2005 09:08 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
U.S.-trained Philippine marine commandos raided a hideout of suspected Islamic militants on a remote southwestern island, seizing weapons and smuggled cigarettes, the military said on Wednesday.
"Our troops caught them by complete surprise," said Captain Rommel Abrau, a spokesman for the Marine Corps. "They offered token resistance before scampering away, leaving behind their heavy weapons and personal stuff."
There were no casualties on either side during the brief firefight following the raid on Tuesday, he said.
A speedboat, two machineguns, an assault rifle, a crate of ammunition and about 130 boxes of smuggled cigarettes were found in the raid on Kalingalang Kaluang island, Abrau said.
Abrau said the discovery of boxes of untaxed cigarettes was an indication Abu Sayyaf rebels could have shifted to smuggling operations to fund their activities.
"Kidnappings are down in the south, so they must be looking at other means to raise money," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/14/2005 00:18 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Why were they able to slink away? Sounds like smugglers not Terrorists.
#4
I suspect the the name "Abu Sayyaf" is being used generically - like "bandits." Don't think there is a functioning organization by that name anymore. Just add up the reported casualties over the last 3 years -- there are far more killed or captured than Abu Sayyaf's total membership.
#5
China holds the cards on smuggling cigs. The ASG probably lifted them from a ship they pirated in the straights. ASG numbers are as varied as people trying to count. They have large numbers of supporters but only a limited number of key leaders. So mostly the pack mules are killed and counted as ASG. This event sounds like more of that.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
09/14/2005 14:13 Comments ||
Top||
Excellent article on Nuclear possibilities with a focus on Iran,But I could do without the MSM crap referring to Air Force objections to nuclear force contingencies.
Bunker buster update
The Pentagon and Energy Department will resume research on a new earth-penetrating nuclear bomb, if Congress approves funds for it contained in the fiscal 2006 budget.
According to a Congressional Research Service report, the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) will be based on a modified B-83 high-yield nuclear warhead that is needed for U.S. military forces to be able to bomb deeply buried targets, such as underground nuclear facilities or leadership bunkers.
The penetrator could be used if President Bush decides to knock out the nuclear programs of North Korea or Iran. Both countries use rock-hardened and underground facilities for their militaries.
The new warhead is needed to replace the current warhead in the U.S. arsenal that is capable of burrowing before detonating, the B-61-11.
The CRS reported Aug. 2 that the B-61-11 "cannot penetrate certain types of terrain in which hardened underground facilities may be located."
Critics of the warhead in Congress, spurred by anti-nuclear activists, succeeded in cutting off funds for the new penetrator for 2005. The Bush administration is seeking $8.5 million for fiscal 2006 to continue studying the RNEP.
The CRS quotes Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the need for the bomb. "Our combatant commander [who] is charged by this nation to worry about countering the kind of targets, deeply buried targets, certainly thinks there's a need for this study," Gen. Myers said, referring to Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command.
Posted by: john ||
09/14/2005 20:36 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Whaddya mean "drawing up"?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/14/2005 21:43 Comments ||
Top||
#6
You mean the "Flying Crowbar" yep,
Calculate the cost of putting a few tons of steel in orbit, and you'll see why it wasn't practical.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/14/2005 21:47 Comments ||
Top||
#7
It doesn't need to be from orbit...
From Jack Wheeler:
Blowing it up like the Israelis blew up Saddam Hussein's Osirak reactor in 1981 (with bombs dropped by F-16s) is obviously not the best way -- far too public, releasing a media firestorm. Far better to destroy it quietly, safely, stealthily, and mysteriously.
With a spear. A steel rod forty feet long and four inches in diameter, fin-stabilized, with a needle-sharp tungsten-carbide tip, equipped with a small JDAM guidance package including a GPS. It is non-explosive; there is no warhead. You've heard of smart bombs. This is a smart spear.
You take a half-dozen of these Smart Spears up in a high-altitude bomber, like a B2 or B52. and drop them over Yongbyon at 50 or 60,000 feet. The Smart Spears have such a big sectional density that it will be like a vacuum drop -- with no wind resistance, they will be going faster than the speed of sound when they hit their target.
#8
THe Iranians = Norkies > prefer to be invaded, as evident by the growth of military and militia units dedicated to anti-US domestic insurgency. They already know it doesn't matter whether they admit or infer to having one nuke or 1000 - the USA and Dubya will still be blamed for everything, as the GWOT for the Dems and aligned International Leftists-Socialists is about forcing PC "justified" Socialism upon free America. For me the more vital issue or question is what kind of severe event(s) will entice or cause the USA to invade Iran-North Korea!? As implied by one of their own Generals, the Chicoms are prepared to sacrifice all Chinese cities east of the Xian River, includ but not limited to Beijing, in any Sino-US nuke conflict. The Iranians = NK = Chicoms = Saddam > are prepared to give up ground in return for preplanned guerilla actions. Saddam nor any other despot could NOT have lasted this long in power iff the Iraqi peoples had all this hidden arms caches. I'LL SAY IT AGAIN - THE LEFTIES HAVE NO PROB WID DUBYA AND HIS DEMOLEFT-ALLEGED "FASCIST" ADMIN WAGING WAR AROUND THE WORLD AS LONG AS A COMMUNIST, SOCIALIST, AND ANTI-SOVEREIGN AMERIKA UNDER SOCIE-COMMIE OWG AND WORLD ORDER IS THE FINAL, PERMANENT OUTCOME.
Bsharri MP Strida Geagea's abrupt departure from the country last week came after threats were made against the Lebanese Forces representative from persons claiming to be Al-Qaeda members, according to security sources. Geagea had been scheduled to address a crowd of LF supporters in Bourj Hammoud last week and attend a rally at the Our Lady of Harissa Cathedral on Sunday in remembrance of the party's martyrs killed during the Civil War. But according to sources, an anonymous caller - identifying himself only as a member of Al-Qaeda - threatened to blow up a commercial center in Bourj Hammoud if the LF held a rally in the area. The call was made to the Internal Security Forces emergency 112 number, and was eventually traced to a pay phone in Bourj Hammoud. LF officials immediately cancelled the planned rally upon being informed of the threat.
Two other calls were made to the Internal Security Forces operations center in Jounieh Friday night. The first came from Dora, with the second, made two hours later, coming from Bikfaya. Again the caller claimed he was an Al-Qaeda member and threatened to blow up the Our Lady of Harissa Cathedral, with the LF "blasphemers" inside it, if they spoke against the forces fighting Israel and Zionism. The LF commandment was once more informed of the threats and decided to go ahead with the rally, but without Geagea. Security measures were increased and explosive experts were called in to examine the site several times before the Mass was given the green light. All the roads leading to the church were also searched.
According to instructions from the authorities and with the cooperation of technical experts, the origins of the phoned in threats were determined and two people were arrested. An Egyptian national has been charged with threatening to blow up the commercial center in Bourj Hammoud. A Syrian national was found to have placed the call from Dora before he moved to Bikfaya to place the second call threatening to blow up the Our Lady of Harissa Cathedral and the square where the LF planned to gather. Well-informed sources said the pre-paid telephone cards used to place the phone calls were seized after investigations led to the discovery of the locations of the phone booths. Investigations are still ongoing.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
Lebanese Investigating Magistrate Elias Eid evaluated the depositions of three witnesses in investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, after he "interrogated them on Monday" according to judicial sources. The sources added that this is "the first time Eid has interrogated the three witnesses, who have already been questioned by the UN investigating team" looking into Hariri's murder.
The sources added that the head of the UN team, German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis "is currently preparing a road map for his next step of interrogating Syrian officers." Mehlis is expected to start his interrogation of the Syrian officers next week, after agreeing on Monday the procedure of the interrogations with the Syrian Foreign Ministry. It is understood that the former heads of Syria's recently dismantled intelligence apparatus in Lebanon will be among the those questioned by Mehlis. Brigadier Generals Ghazi Kenaan and Rustom Ghazaleh, in addition to Generals Jamaa Jamaa and Mohammad Khallouf, are expected to be top of the interrogation list.
Kenaan is the current Syrian interior minister, but served as Damascus' military intelligence chief in Lebanon from 1982 to 2002. Ghazaleh was his successor until Syria's military and intelligence units withdrew from Lebanon on April 26, amid mounting international pressure. Jamaa and Khallouf were heads of central intelligence units in Lebanon during the 29 years of Syrian military presence in Lebanon. The sources added that Mehlis' questions "would most probably aim at establishing a link between the four arrested top Lebanese security officers and the Syrian officers."
So far, Mehlis' interrogations have led to the arrest of Lebanon's Major General Ali Hajj, Brigadier General Raymond Azar, Brigadier General Mustafa Hamdan, and Major General Jamil Sayyed, former heads of the Internal Security Forces, Military Intelligence, Presidential Guards and General Security, respectively. All four have been charged by the Judiciary with planning the assassination and are currently awaiting trial in Roumieh prison. Sources have indicated that more arrests are expected which is why some "24 prison cells have been prepared to hold the new detainees." On Tuesday, local newspaper Al-Balad reported that Sayyed had issued some 170 "normal and diplomatic" passports to Syrian intelligence agents and officers, and that the names of these personnel have been listed at borders and airports to stop them having freedom of movement.
Former MP, Nasser Qandil, who was questioned several times by the UN team, remains a suspect while Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah reported that "this MP has given a primary and dangerous confession and has promised to reveal the perpetrators if he gets international protection." Al-Seyassah also reported that a source close to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told the newspaper that some "six to 10 suspects have been named in the assassination," adding their punishment would be the "death penalty if they are prosecuted in Lebanon or a maximum of 30 years imprisonment if judged by an international tribunal." Al-Seyassah's UN sources added that there is an almost definite impression that the most important figures in the crime are four people "two Lebanese and two Syrians" naming these as "Hamdan, Sayyed, Kenaan and Ghazaleh."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
With an hour-long slide show that blends satellite imagery with disquieting assumptions about Iran's nuclear energy program, Bush administration officials have been trying to convince allies that Tehran is on a fast track toward nuclear weapons.
The PowerPoint briefing, titled "A History of Concealment and Deception," has been presented to diplomats from more than a dozen countries. Several diplomats said the presentation, intended to win allies for increasing pressure on the Iranian government, dismisses ambiguities in the evidence about Iran's intentions and omits alternative explanations under debate among intelligence analysts.
The presenters argue that the evidence leads solidly to a conclusion that Iran's nuclear program is aimed at producing weapons, according to diplomats who have attended the briefings and U.S. officials who helped to assemble the slide show. But even U.S. intelligence estimates acknowledge that other possibilities are plausible, though unverified.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/14/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Not PowerPoint again! Hasn't anybody in the US government ever read any of Edward Tufte's books? Has anyone there read Peter Norvig's translation of the Gettysburg Address into PowerPoint?
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
09/14/2005 0:43 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Relax, Eric, they used the animated features in PowerPoint to compel the cynical audience members that Iranian nukes are bad, bad...
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/14/2005 0:58 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Hasn't anybody in the US government ever read any of Edward Tufte's books?
Unfortunately, Eric, the data to ink ratios of most product coming out of the government remain incredibly low. Some parts of the Navy seem relatively immune to this, but otherwise, I shudder.
#6
"Gentlemen, the time has come. We face our destiny with open eyes and firm resolve. Prepare to deploy...the Slide Show of Doomâ¢. May G-d have mercy on our souls."
Al-Qaida's leader in Iraq purportedly declared all out war on Shiite Muslims, Iraqi troops and the country's government in audio tape released on Internet on Wednesday. The speaker on the tape, introduced as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, also said his militant forces would attack any Iraqi it believes has cooperated with an ongoing U.S.-led offensive in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar.
"If proven that any of (Iraq's) national guards, police or army are agents of the Crusaders, they will be killed and his house will demolished or burnt â after evacuating all women and children â as a punishment," the voice said in the new tape that surfaced on an Internet site known for carrying extremist Islamist content. The speaker announced "all out war against Shiites everywhere. Beware, there will be no mercy."
Posted by: ed ||
09/14/2005 14:43 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Tal Afar must of hit a sore spot with them.
Will Iran continue to help them now?
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/14/2005 17:14 Comments ||
Top||
#7
The Sunnis would be wise to start making plans to move to Syria or Jordan. There's a Sunni pogrom coming; how bad it will be I won't guess but I don't suspect either the Shia or the Kurds will be in any mood to show them mercy.
Posted by: mac ||
09/14/2005 18:45 Comments ||
Top||
#8
What happened to the chemical weapons they were going to use against us in 24 hours? Once again they are full of shit and dying off like flies.
RAFAH, Egypt, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Egyptian border guards destroyed a tunnel to the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip after finding guns and grenades in it, a reassuring action for Israel two days after it left Gaza. "The opening of a tunnel was found ... and it went to the other (Gaza) side of the border," an Egyptian security official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters on Wednesday. He said it was discovered near the Rafah border crossing.
"Hokay boys, which tunnel do you want us to 'find', Tom, Dick or Harry?"
Egypt has begun deploying 750 border guards along the 12-km (seven-mile) border with Gaza under an agreement to help Israel end 38 years of control of the strip, home to 1.4 million Palestinians.
The tunnel, which started inside a house and was at least 10 metres (33 feet) below the surface, contained 35 automatic rifles with 115 magazines and three rocket-propelled grenade launchers with 280 grenades, the security official said. He said no one was found in the tunnel or nearby, and the tunnel had since been destroyed.
Since Egyptian guards started deploying on Monday, thousands of Palestinians have crossed the frontier freely into Egypt, which says it wants to let them celebrate the Israeli withdrawal before resealing the border. Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner said Israel had confidence in Egypt's ability to control the frontier and stop arms smuggling.
Sure they do, the Egyptians are famous for their military prowess. Ask any Israeli.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/14/2005 14:02 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Fred, what does the suprise meter say right now?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/14/2005 14:28 Comments ||
Top||
#2
...and somewhere in Hell, Rachel Corrie stares up and wonders if it was all worth it.
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) - Gunmen on a motorcycle murdered a minority Shiite Muslim in this southwestern city Wednesday before fleeing, violence that police said was apparently part of a wave of sectarian killings blamed on Sunni militants. The slain man, Ijaz Hussain, an employee at Pakistan Railways, was going to work when assailants opened fire on him, said Pervez Zahoor of Quetta police.
"Take that, Ijaz! BangBangBang!"
"It seems to be an act of religious terrorism, but we are still investigating," he told The Associated Press. Sectarian killings are common in many parts of Pakistan, often attributed to outlawed Sunni extremist groups. It was the city's second such attack in as many days: On Tuesday, assailants on a motorcycle fatally shot Ayaz Ali Bangash, 40, a Shiite who worked as a cashier at a government department.
Police on Wednesday arrested three members of two outlawed Sunni militant groups for planning these and other attacks against Shiites in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province. The militants were arrested in separate raids in Jacobabad, about 155 miles southeast of Quetta, said provincial police chief Chaudhry Mohammed Yaqoob. None of the suspects - allegedly members of the Sipah-e-Sahaba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi organizations - was identified. The government banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in 2001 and Sipah-e-Sahaba a year later. Both groups are accused of attacks against Shiites.
A man claiming to speak for Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the shootings. The man, who identified himself as Mohammed Zarar, called the press club in Quetta and warned of more attacks against Shiites in Baluchistan province. Quetta police had no information on the group's claim.
Most of Pakistan's Sunnis and Shiites live peacefully together, but small radical groups on both sides have a violent agenda. About 97 percent of Pakistan's 150 million population is Muslim, and Sunnis outnumber Shiites by a ratio of about 4-1. The divide between Sunnis and Shiites dates back to a seventh-century dispute over who was the true heir to Islam's Prophet Mohammed.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/14/2005 13:51 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
When writing well-written, worldly words of wisdom, one should stay several steps away from alliterations. In fact, always avoid alliterations; Americans' adhere to high standards of grammar, and you're writing will wow worldwide well-wishers, Welshmen, Waziristani Wankers and Weirdos.
Sept 13: The customs authorities last night seized huge Saudi Riyal worth around Tk 2 crore from a Bangladesh Biman flight at the Shah Amanat International Airport here.
Ten million takas equal 1 crore. At todays exchange rate, that's $304,391.00. Walking around money to a Saudi.
Sources concerned said the customs men, acting on a secret information,
"Ahhhh, I'll talk, I'll talk...just put that away!"
raided the Biman flight, which reached from Saudi Arabia at around 10:30pm and recovered the said amount of foreign currency from the bunker of the flight. Nobody was nabbed in this connection. The recovered currency will now be deposited with the Bangladesh Bank.
Where you find stuff blowing up, ya got to figure Saudi money is involved.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/14/2005 13:17 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
TerroristsOfficers from Hamas's militia are vowing to turn Gaza into a huge armed camp devoted to digging Israel's grave, with tunnels, rocket attacks and a free flow of weapons and militants from Egypt. "If Israel attacks the West Bank, we will fire rockets from here," thundered Hamas officer Abu Muad, bouncing his young son on his lap during a "victory parade" in the abandoned Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom in central Gaza.
Ground commanders, with bushy black beards and pistols strapped to their sides, rode defiantly in a convoy of 50 jeeps and SUVs to cheers of Allah Akbar from a rapt crowd. Many officers remained unmasked, in testimony to their soaring confidence after Israel ended its 38-year occupation of the Gaza Strip on Monday.
Commanders from Hamas's Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades armed wing spoke triumphantly of their post-Israeli withdrawal war strategy from the Gaza Strip. They sketched out a vision of tunnels into Israel, regular rocket attacks on the Jewish state; a free flow of weapons and militants from Egypt; and constant smuggling to the West Bank.
They spoke of their determination to turn the strip of Mediterranean coast, home to 1.3 million people, into an armed camp intent on the destruction of the Jewish state with a Palestinian Authority powerless to stop them.
The movement, which Israel estimates counts 1,000 armed terrorists militants across Gaza and the West Bank, has been responsible for the majority of anti-Israeli attacks during the last five years of Middle East violence. In the past month, Hamas's top military commander, Mohammed Deif, has posted dispatches on the Internet, threatening to fight the Palestinian Authority if it tried to disarm his terrorists militants. Hamas political leader Mahmud Zahar said Tuesday that the movement would intensify attacks against Israeli targets.
But observers caution that Hamas will not take any dramatic steps in the short term and believe the movement's main weapon from Gaza are its homemade Qassam rockets. "If there are any Israeli attacks on Gaza, or Israel undertakes dramatic actions against Palestinians in the West Bank ... they may fire their weapons, but I don't think they'll rush into anything," said Ziad Abu Amr, a Palestinian MP who has written books on Gaza's Islamist movements.
Speaking perfect English, an Al-Qassam officer bragged that the group was banking on smuggling more and better quality arms from Egypt now that Israeli troops had handed security on the southern border to Egyptian guards. Abu Muad painted Gaza as a giant weapons laboratory, where militants will perfect their rockets, such as their trademark Qassams. He also warned that Hamas will take up arms against Mahmud Abbas's government if the Palestinian Authority tries to stop them. "If we are forced to, we will do it."
Abu Hamza, a refugee camp commander, said Hamas would infiltrate Israel from Gaza despite the security fence and high-tech surveillance. "We will have tunnels into Israel. We can smuggle into the West Bank by many means. In the name of Satan God, Gaza is the first step and next the West Bank."
Israel's deputy defence minister, Zeev Boim, warned Monday that Israel would treat any future rocket or mortar attack from Gaza as tantamount to an act of aggression of one state against another. "If Israeli towns are subject to rocket attacks we will respond towards the source of fire by artillery fire," the junior minister told public radio.
Since Israel is going to be called a genocidal racist state anyway, why not do the deed to match the accusation?
#1
I wonder how long it will take the Gypos to realize they got a major stinker of a deal with Gaza, and either build an Israeli-type wall, or, more traditionally, go in there with a punitive expedition and slaughter Paleos like there is no tomorrow.
#5
Officers from Hamas's militia are vowing to turn Gaza into a huge armed camp devoted to digging Israel's grave, with tunnels, rocket attacks and a free flow of weapons and militants from Egypt.
#7
A perfect example of why Israel can't negotiate with the PA. The PA can't/will not attempt to control Hamas. Hamas still declares the destruction of Israel as their goal. It's pretty apparent that Hamas controls Gaza.
I have a feeling Egypt doesn't want any trouble with Israel and will use force on the Paleos to make sure there is none.
#10
Egypt and Jordan both have shown no restraint in dealing with Paleo troublemakers on their soil : Black September was named after the September, 1970 punative raids into Paleo camps in Jordan by the Jordanian Army. The sitting Jordanian King felt the Paleos were posing a threat to the Kingdom, and killed a whole lot of them as a warning.
Plus the Egyptians have all of that Camp David Agreement aid money riding on the outcome of the Gaza handover.
#11
I'd like to see the Israelis deport or exterminate every Paleo in both Gaza and the West Bank. There will never be any sort of peace until they do.
Posted by: mac ||
09/14/2005 18:55 Comments ||
Top||
#12
No mac, let the Egyptians and Jordanians do it. They really don't give a damn about the Paleos.
#13
arabs kill arabs with impunity. They worry even less about killing Paleos. Look for Hosni to take an active approach to keeping the roach motel doors closed
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/14/2005 20:41 Comments ||
Top||
#14
I've been hearing lately about smart bullets. They can pick one person as a target out of a crowd and follow him if he moves even when fired from a great distance. If anyone has them you can bet the Israelis do. These Hamas hard boyz have no idea. The hiding in crowds of children trick could be about to be played out.
Life in Gaza is likely to remain nasty, brutish and short, only more so.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
09/14/2005 21:04 Comments ||
Top||
#15
#6 Many officers remained unmasked, in testimony to their soaring confidence...
Might be regretting that move somewhere down the road..
Black market prices for weapons and bullets have dropped sharply in Gaza in recent days because of intensive smuggling across the wide-open Gaza-Egypt border, Palestinian officials and arms smugglers said today.
The frontier used to be heavily guarded by Israel, but thousands have crossed in both directions since Israeli troops withdrew on Monday.
An arms dealer said the price of an AK-47 assault rifle has dropped from around $1,821 to around $1180. Bullets for the weapon are now being sold for as little as three shekels (around $.91) when previously they cost up to 18 shekels. Darn. I was going to set up a business, but I can't beat those prices.
Egyptian-made pistols that were recently sold in Gaza for $1275 can now be bought for as little as $164, while an Italian pistol can be bought for $365 , down from a previous high of $3200, said the dealer, who identified himself only as Khader. Yes! For only $49 down and $49 a month for one year, you can murder jooos with this $3000 pistol. All the other jihadis will be so jealous they'll ... um ... anyway, it's a good price. No refunds. Family responsible for remaining payments in event of matyrdom.
Israel has long been concerned that once it withdraws from the border, arms, and terrorists militants would be freely smuggled into Gaza. Looks like those concerns were valid, huh?
Gazans have been moving across the border unhampered since Israel withdrew on Monday, buying cigarettes, cheese, petrol and even concubines goats. Many have enjoyed seaside meals at Egyptian resorts, and reunited with family they have been unable to see for years due to Israelâs fortress-like guard of the border.
#3
brer rabbit has it right - theyre arming for civil war, I think.
Its up to Abbas and the Egyptians to stop this, or face the consequences when Gaza explodes. (Egyptian troops apparently found an arms smuggling tunnel today - whoda thunk it) Either way, Israel is well rid of the place. And has a valid reason to keep the crossings from Gaza into Israel shut, as long as smuggling from Egypt to Gaza takes place.
#4
brer rabbit has it right - theyre arming for civil war, I think.
An unfortunate, but effective, way to take care of the imaginary overcrowding problem. (Not long ago Israel statisticians discovered that the Palestinian population was missing well over 1 million assumed offspring. Bullets only hit real people, or so I've been told.)
#9
...And let me be the first to blame Bush for the upcoming civil war. KBR mind control satellites will be used to set Paleo on Paleo. Bush hates the Paleo people. If there was a dike nearby he would blow it up.
#10
Well I'm glad to see the traditional economy picking up so folks in Gaza can get on with their lives and live peacefully. The PA will probably seek immediate legislation to subsidize ak47 and rpg purchases so every muck in Gaza can live life to it's fullest free from overpriced small arms. It's gonna be wonderful I am sure.
#11
And yet, amidst the corruption, lawlessness, incompetence, self preservation and the unbridled ambitions of each faction, this inevitable civil war will be blamed on the Jews.
And not just by paleos, either. There's nothing Israel can do or say that will allow it to be viewed favorably on the world stage. Israel simply needs to do what is in its best interest. No one else will, obviously.
So I say, keep building the wall. Keep disengaging. Keep making unilateral decisions that perserve the sanctity of Israel.
September 14, 2005: Two developments are likely to lead to a marked increase in the number of terrorist attacks over the next few weeks.
@ Ramadan: the Moslem âLentâ begins around October 4th and ends about November 2nd In the past two years terrorist attacks increased greatly, by about 25-percent in 2003 and nearly double that rate in 2004. The targets were most often Shia mosques and holy places, crowded with worshipers, leading to a high casualty rate.
@ Constitutional Referendum: On October 15th Iraqis will go to the polls to ratify the new draft Constitution. Results are expected to be announced about two weeks later. In the past, elections for the provisional government and delegates to the Constitutional convention led to significant increases in the number of terrorist attacks. Coalition and Iraqi forces are being beefed up for the referendum, in an effort to insure greater security. Nevertheless, the level of violence is likely to rise sharply over the next few weeks.
The referendum has already led to some interesting political developments. Sunni clergy are urging their followers to turn out in great numbers, in order to deliver a resounding âNoâ vote on the new charter. In contrast, most Shia clergy are urging their followers to vote âYes,â though dissident cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has instructed his followers to be prepared to vote, while reserving a decision on whether they should support or oppose the constitution until the last minute, apparently in an attempt to gain some political leverage.
Over the past year, Sadr has âreformedâ himself somewhat, trying to project a more moderate image, which includes reaching out to some Sunni leaders, urging less violent resistance to the âoccupation,â and even changing his mode of dress somewhat. However, Sadr is also suspected of being in contact with anti-government Sunni Arab groups. Twice, Sadr has ordered his gunmen to attack Americans, and twice his gunmen have been crushed. But the last time, it was found that Sunni Arab terrorist groups had come to the assistance of Sadrâs men. For this reason, Sadr is seen as a man more concerned with personal ambition, than what is best for his Shia Arab followers.
In the town of Tal Afar, after five days of fighting, terrorists were pursued through the streets by Iraqi police commandoes. Several terrorist gangs were trapped in Tal Afar, which is on the Syrian border. The terrorists stood and fought, but that led to some 500 of them getting killed or captured by American troops. Now, Iraqi police are going house-to-house to find those who have tried to escape by pretending to be unarmed civilians.
Despite all the fighting along the Syrian border, American casualties in the last two weeks have been half of what theyâve been the last few months. The number of terrorist attacks is way down, and more of the combat operations are being conducted by Iraqi troops.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/14/2005 10:09 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
CAIRO (Reuters) - Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is in poor health and is seeking medical attention, the London-based Arabic newspaper al-Hayat said on Wednesday, quoting a U.S. officer in Afghanistan.
Is he...stable?
Can we run the vulture pic?
I think the vapor pic would do for now...
"Osama bin Laden is trying to obtain medical attention," Colonel Don McGraw, director of operations at the Combined Forces Command in Kabul, told a group of British reporters, including one from al-Hayat, it said. "He (McGraw) refused to say what the Qaeda leader is suffering from or whether it is the same kidney disease which Pakistani officials said in the past he was suffering from," the newspaper added. Al-Hayat said it was not clear how the U.S. military had obtained its information or where it thought bin Laden might be.
"We can say no more"
The Saudi-born militant is believed to have taken refuge somewhere on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan after escaping from U.S. troops and their Afghan allies who toppled the Taliban government that had hosted him in 2001. The United States holds al Qaeda responsible for many attacks, including the suicide hijack assaults on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001.
You mean the ones they took credit for?
Posted by: Steve ||
09/14/2005 09:52 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
This Colonel just didn't make this up...this had to have been cleared by higher ups.
#2
I see a few possibilities here. His death is kept secret so the followers will still have him for a leader. Or would he marytr himself, for a 'big' disaster, thinking that he will die anyway. I can't see him just dying of natural causes huh. No virgins and all that right.
Interesting that it's a London based new source that is reporting on his health needs. Again seeking medical care away from the middle east.
Posted by: Jan ||
09/14/2005 10:35 Comments ||
Top||
#4
KABUL (Reuters) - The U.S. military in Afghanistan denied on Wednesday that one of its officers had told reporters Osama bin Laden was seeking medical attention. The London-based Arabic newspaper al-Hayat, citing U.S. Colonel Don McGraw in a briefing with reporters in Kabul, said on Wednesday that the al Qaeda leader was in poor health and was trying to obtain medical attention.
But a U.S. military spokeswoman in Kabul said McGraw had not said that."Colonel McGraw did not say Osama bin Laden was trying to get medical attention," said the spokeswoman, Lieutenant Cindy Moore."We're working with the editor to correct the record," she said of the al Hayat report.
McGraw had been asked by a reporter about an Arabic Web site report several weeks ago saying bin Laden had been wounded. McGraw said he had seen the report, which security experts said lacked credibility, but had no information, Moore said.He was then asked about old reports that bin Laden had suffered from a kidney ailment and McGraw had said bin Laden might have, in the past, sought treatment but he didn't know about now, Moore said.
Moore said McGraw had presented the reporters with no new report about bin Laden.
Hamas militants have destroyed a section of a concrete barrier erected along the Gaza-Egypt border. Palestinian and Egyptian troops have been trying to shore up the barrier to stop Palestinians crossing into Egypt after the withdrawal of Israeli troops. In chaotic scenes, thousands of Palestinians have streamed over the border in the last few days without undergoing official checks. Despite this, Egypt says that its Gaza border is officially closed.
Militants from Hamas cleared an area before setting off explosives that blew away a section of the wall. Palestinian security officers present did nothing to prevent them. A local Hamas commander warned them not to try to intervene, the AFP news agency reported.
The Egyptian authorities have given a deadline of 1800 (1300 GMT) for people to return to the right side of the Gaza border or they will be arrested. The mass crossings have raised questions whether Egypt is be able to honour its deal with Israel and maintain security along the border, correspondents say. Many of those crossing have been going to visit relatives stranded on the other side of the border, to buy cheaper food and other goods, or just out of curiosity. Israel fears militants will exploit the situation to smuggle weapons into Gaza.
Fears? They're counting on it
Egypt's ambassador to Israel, Mohammed Asim Ibrahim, has vowed to maintain law and order. But the diplomat expressed sympathy for Palestinians from Gaza crossing the border. "You're talking about people who have been physically in prison for the last 38 years. So some elements just rushed to the other side of the border," he added.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/14/2005 09:22 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I just hope Egypt likes its new neighbors. I know they couldn't stand the old ones. Hehehe.
'A local Hamas commander warned them not to try to intervene'
It's nice to see who's really in charge here
Posted by: Jan ||
09/14/2005 10:23 Comments ||
Top||
#3
nice to see the Egyptian border so respected by the new state of hysteria Palestine
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/14/2005 11:40 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Methinks the withdrawal from Gaza was the smartest move made by anyone since the last Intifada.
If Abu Maazen pulls his finger out of his ass and kicks Hamas butt (which I think is highly unlikely) we have achieved one goal and there may be some chance after all.
If he does not, and the stupid Hamas make a single mistake, the IDF will have a nicely fenced, pre-targeted killing zone (this time with no remorse and no holds barred).
HastaLavista
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
09/14/2005 14:56 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Hamas controls Gaza. Abbas will do nothing to assert control. The Egyptians will do what they can to maintain the border. At some point they will get hard assed about it. Thay have no interest in having more Paleos in Egypt.
#10
SPOD, while they have no interest in more paleos in Egypt, what are your thoughts to letting bad guys in with weapons. I see them not giving a rip which will be very bad here.
Posted by: Jan ||
09/14/2005 17:35 Comments ||
Top||
DEBKA, yes, but just a pinch o'salt, I think.
DEBKAfileâs Exclusive sources in Eilat report that a new US fuel supply line to Iraq began operating through Jordan last month. Every few days, a US supertanker puts in at the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba and transfers the oil to escorted overland convoys cutting through the Hashemite Kingdom to US forces in different parts of Iraq.
Jordan provides the port installations (built with financing from the defunct Saddam Hussein regime); Israel, the port tugboats and a naval-aerial protective umbrella.
Our Eilat sources report that the Israeli tugboats are fitted with state of the art navigational electronic gear for guiding the supertankers into harbor for unloading and then out to sea. They access Jordanian port waters for this operation. However the Israeli naval-air force umbrella provides environmental protection without entering Jordanian air space or waters.
Our sources report that Israeli transport minister Meir Shitrit paid an unpublicized visit to Eilat last week to inspect the protective shield for the new US oil route.
According to DEBKAfileâs counter-terror sources, the July 23 al Qaeda Katyusha attack on Aqaba and Eilat was planned to disrupt this route by blowing up the first US supertanker due to enter Aqaba port the night before. The two US warships which the rockets missed were there to escort the tanker. *NaCl* LHD and LSD as escort? I dunno. Port security, maybe, or setting up security along the land route. This attack held up the start of the new route until the new protective measures were put in place in September. Except the one (possible) error I noted, I think the article is correct. The Katyusha attack now fits. And it's a Big Deal, for two reasons. 1.CENTCOM is confident enough of its control over al Anbar province to set up an Main Supply Route that runs through it. 2.CENTCOM now has an alternate MSR. There's been an uptick in bomb/mortars/what have you around Basra. I think Tehran's getting frisky again. It would be much harder for Iran to interdict an West to East supply line than a South to North. There's also Hormuz to consider. The important thing about this isn't the volume moving through Aqaba, not immediately. The important thing is the fact that King Abdullah is willing to allow coalition supplies to move through Jordan.
#1
"The important thing is the fact that King Abdullah is willing to allow coalition supplies to move through Jordan."
A point not missed by Al Qaeda, especially Zarqawi. They claimed the attack meaning they have better information than we do, as we are just hearing about it. Wise and courageous of the King.
#3
Every few days, a US supertanker puts in at the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba and transfers the oil to escorted overland convoys cutting through the Hashemite Kingdom to US forces in different parts of Iraq.
The radio and terriblevision say the death toll could be as high as 100. Looks like Zark is kicking off his counter-offensive in Tal Afar, though I'm still not sure why he sorta sat out Katrina and its aftermath ...
Someone should be fired for the slow Al-Q response to the disaster. It's not like they couldn't see it coming; they had days to prepare for this.
The casualty toll from a car bomb in Baghdad has risen to at least 40 dead and 100 wounded, police say. A suicide bomber detonated his vehicle near a group of labourers who had gathered to look for work in the mostly Shi'ite district of Kathimiya in north Baghdad. The blast occurred early in the morning, local time, near Oruba square where labourers gather before going to work at nearby construction sites, said police Major Musa Abdel Kerim. He said the suicide driver drove his car into the gathering before detonating the explosive charge.
The report I heard said he pulled up and called out that he needed to hire a bunch of workmen, he waited 'til a crowd had gathered around his truck before he hit the trigger.
Meanwhile, gunmen dragged 17 people out of their homes just north of Baghdad and killed them, other police said. Police said the gunmen rounded up their victims and shot them outside their houses in Taji.
I was being flippant before but I'm not now; this is dreadful. Faster, please.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/14/2005 00:54 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Senior Pentagon and military officials are discussing a proposal to cut American troop levels in Afghanistan next spring, perhaps by as much as 20 percent, the largest withdrawal since the Taliban were ousted in late 2001.
The troops would be replaced by NATO soldiers, who now oversee security and reconstruction missions in northern and western Afghanistan and are to take over an American command in the south next spring. American troops have been taxed by lengthy deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Pentagon officials have sought to replace them with indigenous or allied troops.
But Germany, supported by Britain, France and other European allies, said Tuesday at a meeting of defense ministers in Berlin that it strongly opposed any American-backed restructuring of the NATO command structure that could lead to having alliance troops become involved in counterinsurgency.
Because those operations represent a large part of American troop activity in the south, it is not clear whether the reductions can go forward. In the past few months, violence has surged in the south, with Taliban forces conducting a campaign of assassinations and intimidation ahead of elections on Sunday.
Military officials emphasize that any reductions in the nearly American 20,000 troops in Afghanistan hinge on resolution of the details with NATO, successful parliamentary and provincial elections and stable security.
"It makes sense that as NATO forces go in, and they're more in numbers, that we could drop some of the U.S. requirements somewhat," Gen. John P. Abizaid, the head the United States Central Command, said in an interview here on Tuesday.
General Abizaid declined to give an exact number of potential troop cuts. But another senior officer, who spoke anonymously because the decision is not final, said the Pentagon could reduce force levels by as much as 20 percent, or about 4,000 troops.
American officials were quick to note that the United States would still have the largest number of foreign soldiers in Afghanistan, and would remain committed to ensuring political, economic and security gains in the country.
At the meeting in Berlin, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he would urge the alliance to expand its role in Afghanistan beyond its security and peacekeeping duties.
Although Mr. Rumsfeld emphasized that American troops would continue to handle the counterinsurgency mission "for a time," he said NATO should consider deploying troops to the eastern border region, which the United States oversees and where much of the fighting is occurring. He added that "over time, it would be nice if NATO developed counterterrorism capabilities, which don't exist at the present time."
But the German defense minister, Peter Struck, said merging NATO's peacekeeping mission with the American combat operation under a single commander would fundamentally change NATO's role in Afghanistan and "would make the situation for our soldiers doubly dangerous and worsen the current climate in Afghanistan." Officials in Britain and France also voiced opposition to the idea.
Some American officials played down the dispute, saying that while they were seeking to combine the operations of American and NATO forces, they were not committed to any particular approach, and that a consensus would be worked out.
To overcome European opposition, the Pentagon is proposing, among other ideas, a joint NATO command structure in which countries willing to contribute troops to counterinsurgency would be under one officer, while allies that want to continue to conduct peacekeeping and other noncombat roles would fall under another. The two contingents would fall under one overall commander.
Both France and Germany have small special forces involved in combat alongside American troops, but most of the European contribution is to the 11,000 officers in the International Security Assistance Force, which conducts peacekeeping and security duties in Kabul and in the north and west.
Britain, Canada and the Netherlands have already agreed to take over the NATO command in the south, where American troops have clashed with Taliban, in particular north of Kandahar. But it is unclear if the force in the south will be intended for counterinsurgency.
Throughout Afghanistan on Tuesday, the American military continued gearing up for an anticipated spike in insurgent attacks just before the voting. Virtually all American troops will stand by, out of sight, to safeguard some 6,200 polling stations, which will be ringed with Afghan soldiers and police officers.
Attacks against American forces are down slightly from a year ago, commanders said, but this year's violence has been deadlier, with assassinations and roadside bombings killing 2 candidates for Parliament and at least 16 others.
Maj. Gen. Jason K. Kamiya, the American commander of daily tactical operations in Afghanistan, gave details on a new plan to outfit Afghan soldiers to fight through the winter, when both insurgent and allied troops usually curtail operations because heavy snows make travel through mountainous regions extremely difficult.
General Kamiya said in an interview that he wanted to keep the pressure on Taliban fighters as they leave their summer fighting positions for sanctuary in Pakistan or deep in the Afghan interior.
He said he was also planning to spend $68 million in reconstruction projects by next spring in an effort to show the Afghan people that combat operations were pushing ahead along with improvements to their villages and towns.
In a similar effort to impress villagers in the Taliban heartland, Army engineers and the Agency for International Development recently completed a $35 million, 74-mile road connecting Kandahar to Tarin Kwot, cutting a bone-jarring 11-hour drive to 3 hours.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/14/2005 00:42 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Gosh. We didn't come here to fight 'n stuff. We just wanted to, y'know, try out our camping gear and ride around in dune buggies and take some snaps to send home to mum. Silly 'Merikans."
Posted by: .Fightin B Hard ||
09/14/2005 2:08 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Wasn't NATO involved because we invoked the mutual-defense aspects of the treaty following 9/11?
Now they're refusing to take part?
Isn't that a repudiation of NATO?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/14/2005 8:18 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Unlike Iraq, in Afghanistan you rarely hear of our efforts to develop their army. They also keep a much lower profile in combined operations. This raises concerns about how effective they are and will remain as a national standing army capable of securing their country.
I am wondering if there is a different developmental philosophy than in Iraq. In Iraq, the conventional US army was and is very direct in helping them create a conventional Iraq army. But in Afghanistan, I wonder if our SOCOM people are building Afghani forces on a conventional army model or a SOCOM model.
While I can agree that there will for a long time remain a need for SOCOM-like operations in Afghanistan, in the long run they will definitely need a conventional standing army if they are to remain viable as a state.
#4
There are about 25,000 in the Afghan military plus others in training. The goal is 70,000 by 2009. The biggest of the problem encountered so far in forming a western style army is desertion, an Afghan tradition, where fighting is more of a casual pastime than a deadly profession.
I think there is little need for foreign forces in Kabul, except to show the flag in a non-threatening sector. It was quiet before their arrival and has stayed so. The Northern Alliance army, and now the Afghan army are better able to maintain control. It would be better for the Afghan to assume responsbility for Kabul and the NATO forces to go where needed or get out.
Posted by: ed ||
09/14/2005 11:35 Comments ||
Top||
#5
In Iraq the issue is rebuilding a society. In Afghanistan it has to be built for the first time. Kabul has ever been the place where those who wish to govern Afghanistan live, but control only a small area of the surrounding countryside. The rest has always belonged to the various tribes controlled by their various chieftains. The change that we're going for is a national identity that will allow for a functioning nation throughout the territory.
#7
MM: 10 to 1 after the US leaves the entire country goes to hell again.
Afghanistan was a functioning country before the Soviets came along. Now that we've stabilized things and imposed a king-like figure in Karzai, things will go back to what they were before the Soviets and the Taliban, as long as we hand more money over to the Afghan government than the Pakistanis hand over to Taliban remnants. We can pull out our troops, but we can't stop sending the Afghan government money to keep it standing. In the countryside, ordinary Afghans know that the Taliban is not the way to a better life. And more than anything else, they want to be let alone - they rose against Soviet rule because the Soviets wanted to make every Afghan a good communist.
Having said that, if we want Afghanistan to become a slice of America in Central Asia, we will have to stick around. If we're there in force, the Afghan government won't have to make compromises with rival factions - it will have the implicit threat of American power to enforce its edicts, while having to cater somewhat to our preferences. A strong US military presence there means there is no danger of governmental collapse, but it also means that the local government is beholden to us. A non-existent US military presence there means that we are always biting our nails about the possibility of a collapse, which means that we will be much more beholden to the Afghan government. We're either spending money on a military presence and some aid dollars or spending the same amount of money on aid dollars alone. Personally, I trust the Pentagon more than the Afghan government, which is why we'll probably have a brigade-sized force there for decades to come.
Afghanistan is a landlocked country with little in the way of natural resources. It can use the help - and we'd rather not have Pakistan using it as a terrorist proxy state again.
#8
Anonymoose, the Afghans have a new military academy explicitly modeled on West Point, with lots of quiet US help in getting it up and running.
West Point was a key factor in the creation of a *national* identity for US leaders - as opposed to state, religious and ethnic identities. The Afghan academy will play the same role. It opened last March. See Winds of Change exclusive photos and comments here.
#9
Zhang Fei>> little in the way of natural resources.
rich in minerials, hydro/power potential, good geo location for pipe lines. etc. check it out.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/14/2005 16:07 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Stability is the key there as it is anywhere. Good people in the cities we have worked with. There is a very good attitude because what does not work has been proven wrong and what we have worked with them to build HAS. Culture shock for those living in the remote regions though. Tricky and expensive work for sure and barometer changes easily. It is similar to so many remote regions. Culture and "Living Standards" should remind Everyone that we are going up or we are going down. And in Life, going down is not a good idea or option. Everyone should be doing better, not worse.
There is still no reason that a lawful force could not help.
Updated: 3:11 p.m. ET Oct. 27, 2004: Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi's brutal campaign of vehicle bombings and beheadings has grabbed most of the headlines coming out of Baghdad in the weeks before the U.S. presidential election. But terror attacks by a far largerâand more ominousâinsurgent network organized by remnants of Saddam Hussein's deposed regime may be having an even more disruptive impact on U.S. efforts to bring stability to Iraq before nationwide elections scheduled for the end of January, according to U.S. and British intelligence officials.
President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have repeatedly asserted that the new Iraqi government and U.S. forces are having success in building a post-Saddam Iraq. "We're making progress in Iraq," Bush told an enthusiastic crowd at a recent campaign stop in the battleground city of Canton, Ohio. "What we did in Iraq was exactly the right thing to do," Cheney insisted during his televised debate earlier this month with Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards. "We've made significant progress in Iraq."
But data flowing into U.S. defense and intelligence agencies suggests that if progress is being made, it may not be in the right direction.
According to U.S. defense sources, for example, the rate at which "improvised explosive devices"âmilitary jargon for home-made bombsâare being planted around Iraq every day by insurgents has nearly doubled since last spring. As of May and June, sources say, the rate of bombs being planted ran at about 500 per month. Today, the figure is running at just under 1,000 per month, which means that about 30 bombs are being planted somewhere in Iraq every day. (About half are found and defused by U.S. or Iraqi technicians before they explode).
U.S. experts are seeing patterns in the way improvised bombs are constructed and planted which have reinforced the view of many analysts that there are two distinct groups of insurgents.
One relatively small group consists of Islamic holy warriors, many of them foreign fighters who infiltrated Iraq from neighboring countries like Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Increasingly, these jihadis seem to be submitting themselves to the leadership of Zarqawi, whose flamboyant video appearances (which U.S. intelligence agencies believe include his personal wielding of the knife in the taped beheadings of American businessman Nicholas Berg and other hostages) have made him the world's second best-known terrorist after Osama bin Laden.
U.S. intelligence analysts believe Zarqawi's group consists of a hard core of only 200 or 300 fighters, perhaps an equal number of serious supporters, and another 1,000 or 2,000 tacit supportersâdefined as those who might be willing to give active fighters food, shelter or other logistical support. This relatively small network has had an impact on Iraq far out of proportion to its small size, however. That's due to Zarqawi's willingness to employ terrorist tactics of the most brutal kind, ranging from videotaped beheadings to car and truck suicide bombings of civilian and nonmilitary targets (like the United Nations headquarters or the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad) to the mass abduction and execution-style mass murders of recruits to Iraqi's new security and police agencies.
But a much larger network of former Saddam loyalistsâdirected by former leaders of Saddam's feared intelligence service, the Mukhabaratâmay be playing an equal, if not even larger role in the Iraq insurgency. According to U.S. and British intelligence sources, the insurgent network of former Baathists consists of as many as 8,000 to 10,000 active fightersâa hard core 40 to 50 times the size of Zarqawi's coterieâand at least that number of tacit sympathizers or logistical supporters.
Unlike Zarqawi and his religiously motivated associates, the Baathists don't go in for sadistic exhibitions like Internet beheadings and large-scale suicide bombings. Instead, U.S. analysts believe they are responsible for many of the smaller-scale bombings of supply convoys and oil pipelines which make up a majority of the daily toll of terrorist acts committed in Iraq. While these attacks may have less impact on the U.S. and Iraqi public than Zarqawi's blood-drenched spectaculars, they are extremely damaging to the Iraqi economy and only seem to be increasing in frequency. Some U.S. officials believe the Baathist insurgency was well-planned by Saddam and Mukhabarat leaders before the U.S. invasion and that it is being led by former members of M-14 and M-16, two sections of the Mukhabarat that under Saddam were responsible for monitoringâand, according to some conspiracy theories, liaising withâlocal and international terrorist groups.
U.S. officials say that while there is believed to be no grand alliance between Zarqawi's jihadis and Saddam's former spooks, the two rival insurgencies may occasionally collaborate on an ad hoc basis to stage particular attacks. U.S. intelligence sources acknowledge that both insurgent networks have what amounts to virtually unlimited access to military material.
The U.S. failure to secure Iraq's weapons cache immediately after the start of the occupation has in recent days emerged as a major issue in the presidential campaign. Democratic candidate John Kerry has pounded the president all week over this week's disclosure that nearly 380 tons of powerful explosives has disappeared from a Iraqi munitions stockpile called Al Qaqaa.. The Bush campaign has fired back, arguing that the explosives may have been removed by Saddam before American troops even arrived at the complex in April of last year and that the Kerry camp was seeking to gin up a last-minute political hit with the timing of the disclosure.
But while the dispute has grabbed the headlines, United Nations officials tell NEWSWEEK that the Al Qaqaa case may only be the tip of the iceberg. As many as 10,000 other conventional-arms dumps dotted around Iraq are believed to have been looted after the U.S. invasion, the officials say. In addition, as many as 30 out of 90 of Saddam's known nuclear research facilities were also stripped downâsome to the groundâby looters.
While much of the material taken from the nuclear sites is believed to have been "dual use" manufacturing equipment largely useless to terrorists, the looting of conventional-arms depots means that Zarqawi and the ex-Baathists are not unlikely to run out of weapons any time soonâand that the insurgency may have a long way to go before it runs out of steam.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/14/2005 00:37 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Whoa is us! Plague, pestilence and whoa! And pestilence and plague! And the world is coming to an end, too."
#2
Democratic candidate John Kerry has pounded the president all week over this week's disclosure that nearly 380 tons of powerful explosives has disappeared from a Iraqi munitions stockpile called Al Qaqaa.. The Bush campaign has fired back, arguing that the explosives may have been removed by Saddam before American troops even arrived at the complex in April of last year and that the Kerry camp was seeking to gin up a last-minute political hit with the timing of the disclosure.
Huh? This is a reprint from last October! It's a year old!
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/14/2005 8:10 Comments ||
Top||
At least 10 people were killed early Wednesday when a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle near a group of construction workers in the north Baghdad district of Kazimiyah, police said. The Al-Arabiya television station said 27 people had died.
The blast occurred at 6:30 a.m. near where a number of workers had assembled before going to work on nearby construction sites, said police Maj. Musa Abdel Kerim. "There are a large number of victims, at least 10 are dead," he said, adding that a large number of wounded had been taken to Kazimiyah and Yarmouk hospitals. He said the suicide driver drove his car into the gathering before detonating the explosive charge.
Posted by: ed ||
09/14/2005 00:34 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The body count has gone up to at least 112 people and wounded more than 200 others. The terrorsist used a bus to act like it was picking up the laborers.
Posted by: ed ||
09/14/2005 14:31 Comments ||
Top||
A thirty-two minute audio message titled: âA Call upon the Muslim Algerian People,â purportedly voiced by Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, the Emir (Prince) of the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), was recently issued on the groupâs official website. In the message, Wadud emphasizes jihad as the only solution to what is viewed as oppression of Muslims in Algeria by its domestic government, France, and America, and seeks to kindle an aggressive and rebellious fire within the Algerian Muslims to join this jihad. Further, Wadud avers that the Salafist principles on which the GSPC base its war construct the same bulwark the mujahideen in Afghanistan, Iraq, Chechnya, and elsewhere follow. According to Wadud, this is evidence of a âglobal warâ waged between those that allegedly seek to eliminate Islam, and those that are defending the Muslim Ummah.
Wadud maintains that the war in Algeria is not for âpurposes of this world,â but for Islam, and they have taken weapons to protect their Islamic identity and isolate themselves from Western âcultural and ideological invasion,â which is accorded greater significance than military invasion. The fight is not limited to just the âgreat imperialistic powers,â but all countries, democratic and dictatorial. However, the Algerian, French, and American governments are specifically targeted as the enemy. The Algerian president, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, branded an âinfidel traitor and a Soviet spy,â is believed by Wadud to serve French cultural interests and American fuel interests. He states: âThe close alliance between the ruler of Algeria and America, this imperialistic power that is trying to gain influence over the entire world, is the greatest proof that this government is not different, in any aspect, from Karzaiâs traitorous government in Afghanistan and from Allawiâs collaborating government [in Iraq].â
Most importantly, Wadud states: âFrance is our primary enemy, the enemy of our religion and the enemy of our belief.â His call upon the Muslims to join jihad is seen as the only means by which the alleged French intervention in Algeria will end. If the Muslims do not commit themselves to jihad, then, Wadud believes, all will be lost and the oppression will run rampant. The audio message concludes with a final call and mission of the GSPC: âWe raised this flag in Algeria according to our efforts, we protected it according to our abilities and called upon people to join it according to our powers. We expect you to join us under this flag, in order for us to raise it more and to fix it more firmly in placeâŠhurry to the jihadâŠwe need men but not any man but only those who are willing to follow the jihadâŠbelieve in Allah and willing to fight our enemiesâŠ. We don't have any other path than the path of jihad.â
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/14/2005 00:31 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Unidentified men shot and killed a seminary teacher here at about 7pm on Monday night, police sources told Daily Times on Tuesday. Qari Abdul Salam, who taught at a seminary near the Old Polo Ground in Gilgit, was on his way to his way to his in-lawsâ house when unidentified gunmen shot him. He died at the scene. Salam was a resident of Bargo in Hospital Colony. The sources said that Salamâs in-laws had lodged a first information report in which they had nominated Fiaz Iqbal, a resident of Hospital Colony, and two other men as accused.
"If nominated I will run like he**, if convicted I will not serve."
No arrests have been made.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/14/2005 00:26 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
An Al-Qaeda linked Sunni group in Iraq said it used chemical weapons to attack targets in Baghdad today, according to their statement released on an Islamist website. Jaish al-Taefa al-Mansura (Army of the Victorious Community) said its fighters fired shells filled with chemical agents at the interior ministry, foreign ministry, the 'green zone' and Baghdad's security academy.
In Baghdad, the interior ministry said five rounds of mortar fire exploded, including two in the heavily fortified green zone which houses the Iraqi government as well as the US and British embassies. Two struck the heavily protected 'green zone' which is home to the government and to the US and British embassies, but it was not immediately known if there were casualties. Two hit a vacant lot near traffic department offices and one a street, causing no casualties.
But the Jaish group, in the statement whose authenticity could not be confirmed, said ambulances were used to evacuate dead and wounded from the interior ministry. The same group warned Sunday that it would use chemical weapons against 'occupation' and Iraqi forces unless they halted their offensive against rebels in the northern town of Tal Afar.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/14/2005 00:17 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Hard boyz say they fired chemical rounds into Baghdad
1) total BS? only a press release.
2) got ahold of new stocks?
3)I've read that the coalition ( US & Brits in the main), have been buying Iran/Iraq war vintage (1980â1988) chemical mortar & chemical arty rounds from the Iraqi blackmarket, since right after the the take down of Saddam.
They'd be at least 20 years old +...degraded ?% depending on the agent.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/14/2005 0:59 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Hey, "No WMDS" remember - you know the Failed/Angry Left and their Spetzlamists: its not their fault no one understood that when they use the term "WMDS" in the MSM, they're SSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, silently inferring, implying, or meaning Nuke weapons and only nukies, NOT any chemies andor biologicals. Good Clintonian Barbarians care about Sharp Swords of Bullying, NOT Swamp Gases.
#3
20+ year old stocks inert or more dangerous to those handeling them than if used as a weapon.
It's not like these have been stored in perfect conditions, they haven't.
If it was from fresh stocks I would be worried if I was Iran. I don't think Iran will get a warning before the air bursts of fissle weapons above one or more of their major cities. We don't have much else we can do and we will not ignore any such agression.
#6
I think it was old stocks of English Leather and Old Spice. Low rent stuff. mid 60's memories. (Carolyn K. called me the other day for the HS reunion. LOL!)
Spetzlamists splash on Aqua Velva. »:
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/14/2005 2:36 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Yeah, RD, that old stuff would only endanger wheezers 'n geezers. For a general swoon that gets the juicy babes, too - they're gonna hafta lay down some serious coinage.
#11
Chemical agents? Like the WMDs that "don't exist"? Heh.
Putting on my Magical Tinfoil Hat of Moral Equivalence, I have to point out that the Coalition forces are already using kinetic energy weapons powered by chemical free-radical oxidation reactions. So, there!
And finally, a serious question: given the general Islamic prohibitions against fun, is it un-Islamic to smell nice?
US forces widened their operations against insurgents in northern Iraq, launching an attack on the Euphrates River stronghold of Haditha only days after evicting militants from Tal Afar. Residents also reported American air strikes in the same region near Qaim.
The Americans called in bombing raids on Tuesday in Haditha, 140 miles (225 kilometers) northwest of the capital. They captured one militant with ties to Al Qaeda in Iraq and killed four others.
In the volatile city of Qaim, about 80 miles (129 kilometers)northwest of Haditha, residents said clashes broke out between insurgents and coalition forces. The US military did not confirm the air strike.
In the south, a roadside bomb killed four people near Basra - an attack that was a twin to a deadly bombing in the area last week. Iraqi police said the dead were four American contract workers, but US officials were unable to confirm the nationalities of the victims. Last Wednesday, a roadside bomb near Basra hit a passing convoy of US diplomatic security guards, killing four Americans.
President Jalal Talabani, meanwhile, said in Washington that Iraq would not set a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops, declaring at a news conference with President George W. Bush that the American force still was needed. The Bush administration is under increasing pressure at home to set a date to begin pulling out the 140,000 US troops.
âWe will set no timetable for withdrawal. A timetable will help the terrorists,â Talabani said. He said he hoped Iraqi security forces could take responsibility for the country by the end of 2006.
Bush pledged to stand by Iraq despite âacts of staggering brutalityâ aimed at destabilizing the country.
A US Army commander said Tuesday that extremist fighters battling for control of Tal Afar in northern Iraq had committed atrocities against civilians, including beheadings, torture and the booby-trapping of a murdered childâs body.
âThe enemy here did just the most horrible things you can imagine - in one case murdering a child, placing a booby trap within the childâs body and waiting for the parent to come recover the body of their child and exploding it to kill the parents; beheadings and so forth,â Col. H.R. McMaster, commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, said in an interview from Tal Afar with reporters at the Pentagon.
McMaster said Tal Afar is not yet under the control of the 5,000 Iraqi government forces and 3,500 to 3,800 US troops that have been fighting together there for the past two weeks. Tal Afar lies about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Syrian border.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, speaking in Washington, said Syria was playing a âdangerous gameâ in allowing insurgents to penetrate Iraq from Syrian territory.
âDonât think you can benefit from our difficulties. It may be for the short term, but for the long term it might backfire on you,â he warned Iraqâs neighbor to the West.
Bush also renewed criticism of Syria, accusing it of doing too little to control the flow of fighters across the border.
âThe Syrian leader must understand we take his lack of action seriously,â he said. âThe government is going to be more and more isolated.â
Syrian officials say they are doing all they can and deny they offer sanctuary to insurgents.
During Sundayâs operation in Tal Afar, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari closed the closest Syrian border crossing. Iraqi officials say most of the insurgents they flushed out of the city were foreigners who entered the country from Syria.
After the raid Tuesday on Haditha, Associated Press Television News videotape showed at least three houses that residents said were demolished in the US air strike. The US military said American jets destroyed a vehicle used by one of the insurgents. Haditha is one of a series of towns in the Euphrates River valley controlled by militants.
US forces have been conducting random raids and air strikes in the region that target insurgent safe houses and weapons caches.
In Baghdad, insurgents shelled the heavily fortified Green Zone, firing two mortar rounds that exploded near a military hospital inside the protected area that houses the US Embassy, the Iraqi government and parliament and other foreign missions. There were no casualties.
In the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad, police banned trucks from entering the city as of Tuesday and said they would prohibit cars from entering beginning Thursday. The move was a precaution against bomb attacks on 3 million pilgrims expected for a key religious festival early next week.
The stringent security measures in Karbala reflect fears that birthday celebrations for Imam al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, a 9th-century religious leader, could be marred by attacks by Sunni Arab insurgents, many of whom view Shiites as heretics.
Insurgent attacks on similar celebrations throughout the country have left hundreds dead in the past two years, prompting authorities to impose increasingly restrictive measures.
The security plan involves roughly 5,400 provincial policemen, including police commandos and about 750 Iraqi soldiers, Karbala police chief Brig. Karim Al-Hasnawi told The Associated Press.
âThe main duty for the army battalion and the 1,400 police special forces will be to set up check points on a 25-mile (40-kilometer) radius around the city to secure the main highways leading to the city and the surrounding farming areas,â said Al-Hasnawi.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/14/2005 00:14 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
MSM speak.
President Jalal Talabani, meanwhile, said in Washington that Iraq would ¿not set a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops, declaring at a news conference with President George W. Bush that the American force still was needed?¿The Bush administration is under ¿¿increasing pressure?? at home to set a date to begin pulling out the 140,000 US troops. ?
Who? What? Where? When? Why? and throw in a How?
Even if they followed the the basic rule, they'd lie anyway.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/14/2005 1:25 Comments ||
Top||
#2
RD - when did we pull our troops from Germany? Still there 60 years later. Given that the EUs and associated crooks have participated in Iranian nuclear capacity for the last decade, we're going to be in Iraq in some force for the exact same reason we faced off over the Soviets for decades in Germany. Or are little brown men less worthy of freedom than the former master race?
#3
Good catch Red Dog. The MSM can't resist the "Meanwhile back at the BatCave" slant. Your right, the "Basic Rules" of journalism have been abandoned for the more eye catching conflict frame.
Checkout a recent WaPo quote: Talabani's statement has the potential to put Bush in a difficult position if the troops are not pulled out by year's end, since critics are certain to ask why U.S. soldiers cannot come home when Iraq's own president says they can.
#4
..I truly HOPE that someday I get a chance to meet COL McMaster. As a captain he was the victor at 73 Easting, he's run up another incredible record here, and I see an E-ring office in his future.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/14/2005 20:34 Comments ||
Top||
Troops recovered a spy unmanned drone plane and arrested 21 militants, some of them âimportantâ Al-Qaeda operatives, in a raid on suspected militant hideouts in the tribal areas near Afghanistan, sources said yesterday. Militants used the Chinese-made vehicle to spy on security forces in the rugged area, where Pakistani soldiers have battled militants for more than a year, Lt. Gen. Safdar Hussain told reporters. The find in North Waziristan, believed to be the first of its kind in Pakistan, came as President Pervez Musharraf unveiled plans to build a fence along part of the border with Afghanistan to curb the movement of militants. âThe busting of this stronghold has broken the back of Al-Qaeda in the tribal area,â Hussain, who commands troops in northwestern Pakistan, told reporters in Peshawar. âIt is the biggest-ever operation, which is still going on in North Waziristan,â Hussain said.
The latest operation came in the same area where suspected militants Monday slit the throats of three people and threw their bodies in a drain in a village east of Miran Shah, on suspicion that they were spies. According to residents and officials, a note pinned on one of the bodies read, âAnybody who works as a spy for America will have to face the same fate.â
The 21 suspects detained in Mondayâs raid on a compound and religious school near the regionâs main town of Miranshah included âimportantâ militants and some were foreigners, Hussain said. He did not give their nationalities. âThe terrorists used the RPV (remotely-piloted vehicle) to check the position of security forces and attack them,â the general said, adding that the drone was capable of carrying weapons. The vehicle was shown to the media along with audio and video CDs about the anti-Soviet âjihadâ, or holy war, in Afghanistan, motivational songs and a number of maps, mostly in Russian. A military officer from the armyâs Signal Corps said the vehicle had a sophisticated, wide-angle camera to take pictures of targets on the ground, while Hussain said they had seized a CD which pinpointed Pakistani troops. Security forces also found a âsuicide jacketâ and Jordanian, Afghan and Pakistani passports along with Al-Qaeda training material from the compound, Hussain said.
Additionally they uncovered a cache of weapons including 17 machine guns, 29 rockets, 51 grenades, eight improvised bombs and 10 land mines, he added. Around 4,000 troops took part in the operation, which included raids on two other sites. âThis madrassa (religious school) was an Al-Qaeda and Taleban stronghold and operational center which we have secured now,â Hussain said. The buildings are owned by relatives of former Taleban minister Jalaluddin Haqqani. He is still on the run.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Militants used the Chinese-made vehicle to spy on security forces
Do you just pick these up at the Karachi WalMart or do you get them direct from the manufacturer?
Posted by: Steve ||
09/14/2005 8:24 Comments ||
Top||
#2
You get them direct from the factory only if you need them monogrammed...
#3
You can actually purchase these via Paki-Amazon.com; however, you will need an ISI-provided credit card from Karachi-Al-Kaboom credit banking company.
Three Jamatul Mujahedeen suspects were detained overnight after a police drive in Dhaka uncovered two make-shift factories assembling crude but deadly grenades. Over 300 suspected militants were arrested for their reported links with the cross-country bomb attacks. A cleric was being interrogated yesterday about the serial bomb attacks, a police official said.
If you've had serial bomb attacks, who else would you interrogate?
Obaidur Rahman Fazle was arrested late Monday at his father-in-lawâs house in Jamalpur district, 128 km north of Dhaka, police chief Noor Akhand said.
"Y'gotta hide me! Da coppers is hot on me tail!"
"Quick! In here!"
"In the garage?... Ummm... Is that a paddy wagon?... Those ain't coppers, are they?"
Yesterday, a court allowed police to keep Fazle, 35, hanging by his thumbs in custody for questioning about the Aug. 17 explosions, Akhand said. Fazle is the younger brother of Abdur Rahman, a fugitive leader of the Jamatul Mujahedeen suspected of carrying out the bombings. He is also suspected of being a member the group.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
At least six people were killed and 11 others suffered wounds in clashes between rebels and shepherds in the troubled western region of Darfur, the Sudanese Press Center reported on Tuesday. The center said in a statement that the fatal clashes erupted when the armed rebels attempted to steal a large number of camels in the region.
"We are simple, but well-armed shepherds. Keep yer damned hands off our camels!"
Two days ago, at least 17 people were killed and up to 56 others suffered wounds in fierce clashes that pitted a local militia against another in the troubled region. The fighting involved warriors from the Movement for the Liberation of Sudan and the Movement for Justice and Equality, the mainstream militias in the violence-infested region, known for famine and violence. The region has witnessed internal violence since February 2003, taking the lives of 70,000 people and making more than 1.5 million others homeless. Some 200,000 civilians have taken up refuge in neighboring Chad.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Ya don't mess with a man's camel .. ya just don't!
The Multi National Forces (MNF) based here announced Tuesday that a terror suspect, who maintains close relations to the Al-Qaeda terror network, has been arrested in a crackdown on the Haditha city. The MNF did not reveal the detainee's identity, but said in a statement that the operation was carried at dawn today.
The statement added that clashes have flared up between the MNF and three gunmen groups, and that two militants were killed. It reported no MNF losses. Two other terror suspects in the city of Samarra were also killed by the forces today. The two suspects have allegedly been trying to plant a land mine. The Iraqi police in cooperation with US marines managed to defuse a booby-trapped car in the Musaieb area. They recovered several missiles and gas cylinders in a addition to a bomb from the car, which had been reportedly stolen from the Iraqi city of al-Fallujah one month back.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Up to 16 terrorists were killed in Iraq on Tuesday and 279 arrested, a statement by the Iraqi government said. The statement stressed that four arms caches were discovered by the authorities, the government statement said. It added that two car bombs also targeted multinational force patrols in the Abu Ghuraib area. One of the cars exploded without making any damage while the other bumped into a tree without exploding.
Gawd, I love it when that happens!
The incident led to the arrest of a terrorist in connection with the attack. A member of the patrol was injured.
"Awright, buddy! Outta the car!"
"Yes! Yes! I will get out of the car immediately!"
"Whatcha got in there, bub?"
"Dynamite!"
Meanwhile, a booby-trapped car was found east of the Ramadi area. It was removed by the multi-national force and the bomb was dismantled.
Another winner...
Moreover, four arms caches were found by the multinational force. The weapons confiscated there included RPG rockets and anti-tank missiles. In the North-central area, law and order forces killed 16 terrorists and arrested 181, including 10 wanted in connection with the recent Baqouba unrest. In the Majarin area, 20 kilometers away from the Talafar area, 22 terrorists were arrested and a tunnel used by them was discovered.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I hope the tunnels are being emptied and destroyed ... unless the plan is to turn them into future rat traps. :-D
Multi-national forces in Iraq arrested 2,300 "terrorists" during August and released 1,085 suspects following interrogation. A statement issued by the forces said that the suspects had been detained for executing operations against coalition and Iraqi forces, adding that around 50 percent of them were released after interrogation for lack of substantial evidence. It added that a just and unbiased system is applied to those in detention, where they receive care in accordance with international regulations and Geneva Convention.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Via DhimmiWatch
Hours after thousands of Palestinians desecrated synagogues in Gaza, setting them on fire and taking buildings apart by hand, members of the Palestinian terror group Hamas, headed by senior Hamas chief Mahmoud Zahar, arrived at the synagogue in Kfar Darom and held a Muslim prayer session at the site.
Ahmad Jabari, another senior figure in Hamas, said that Hamas would continue to attack Israel. âThe withdrawal proves that the resistance is the only legitimate weapon. We will strike at any hand that reaches for our weapons,â said Jabari.
âThe jihad and the resistance are the only ways to liberate our homeland, not negotiations and agreements,â said Jabari. The Hamas leader ruled out the possibility that Hamas members would join Palestinian security forces, saying, âwe will never be part of that corrupt Authority,â before waving his gun.
Earlier, thousands of Palestinian burst into abandoned Israeli settlements in Gaza Monday morning, where they burned a synagogue and took away pieces of the rubble. They Palestinian Authority later bulldozed the synagogue.
Palestinian security forces stood on the side and did not act to restrain the crowds, and failed to prevent the chaotic scenes. In Kfar Darom, dozens of gunmen from the Popular Front wandered around unchallenged by Palestinian Authority security forces, who sat underneath trees in silence.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom slammed the burning of Gaza synagogues, characterizing it as âa barbaric act by people who have no respect for holy places.â However, Yossi Sarid (Meretz-Yahad), said that âit was known from the start that this destruction would happened. How easy it is for the government to blame someone for this, to condemn the Palestinians with rage.â
Posted by: ed ||
09/14/2005 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Paleos. Will be fair when muslims are tossed off the temple mount and Jews take it apart by hand and start worship there as the Paleos could have know this from the start as well too?
Paleos be careful what you do now. Israel no longer has anything to risk in the Gaza strip.
What small part of the West Bank you may get is entirely up to Israel and Jordan. Jordan has claims that would be more valid than any Paleo claim to the West Bank and they are an actual country which knows how to deal with Israel as an equal and honor it's comitments.
#3
Too bad the Israelis were too nice to booby-trap the synagogues before they pulled out, huh? A nice radio-controlled surprise package would've come in real handy...
#4
âThe jihad and the resistance are the only ways to liberate our homeland, not negotiations and agreements,â
and the downward spiral continues...
Posted by: Jan ||
09/14/2005 10:51 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Just underscores the fundamental problem - they don't play well with others. The world has for the most part evolved and changed greatly. Paleos and their kin are fundamentally the same as they ever were. Sounds alot like a description of the state of affairs back in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries in the Holy Land.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The government has introduced a string of measures to tackle terrorism since four British Muslims killed themselves and 52 others in suicide bombings on three underground trains and a bus on July 7. Two weeks later four bombers failed in an attempt to repeat the attacks when their devices failed to explode. ''There are certainly hundreds of people who we believe need to be very closely surveyed because of the threat they offer,'' Clarke said.
taly's highest appeal court has upheld the extradition to Britain of one of the suspected bombers in the July 21 attack on London's transport system, the British government's lawyer, Paolo Iorio says. Ethiopian-born Hamdi Issac, also known as Osman Hussein, was seized in Rome a week after the July 21 attacks, which killed no one but brought chaos to London exactly two weeks after suicide bombers had killed more than 50 people in the British capital. Mr Iorio says under Italian law, Issac must be sent to Britain within 10 days of the ruling. 
The Department of Defense said Tuesday it transferred one detainee from Guantanamo Bay prison to Afghanistan. This marks the 246th detainee to be transferred or released from the controversial US-run prison, which currently still holds around 500 detainees. The majority of detainees held at the prison are from predominantly Muslim nations.
An Indonesian court has sentenced to death a second man for the 2004 bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta. 
The sources added that this is "the first time Eid has interrogated the three witnesses, who have already been questioned by the UN investigating team" looking into Hariri's murder. 
RAFAH, Egypt, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Egyptian border guards destroyed a tunnel to the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip after finding guns and grenades in it, a reassuring action for Israel two days after it left Gaza. "The opening of a tunnel was found ... and it went to the other (Gaza) side of the border," an Egyptian security official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters on Wednesday. He said it was discovered near the Rafah border crossing.
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) - Gunmen on a motorcycle murdered a minority Shiite Muslim in this southwestern city Wednesday before fleeing, violence that police said was apparently part of a wave of sectarian killings blamed on Sunni militants. The slain man, Ijaz Hussain, an employee at Pakistan Railways, was going to work when assailants opened fire on him, said Pervez Zahoor of Quetta police. 
Sept 13: The customs authorities last night seized huge Saudi Riyal worth around Tk 2 crore from a Bangladesh Biman flight at the Shah Amanat International Airport here. 
CAIRO (Reuters) - Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is in poor health and is seeking medical attention, the London-based Arabic newspaper al-Hayat said on Wednesday, quoting a U.S. officer in Afghanistan. 
Updated: 3:11 p.m. ET Oct. 27, 2004: Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi's brutal campaign of vehicle bombings and beheadings has grabbed most of the headlines coming out of Baghdad in the weeks before the U.S. presidential election. But terror attacks by a far largerâand more ominousâinsurgent network organized by remnants of Saddam Hussein's deposed regime may be having an even more disruptive impact on U.S. efforts to bring stability to Iraq before nationwide elections scheduled for the end of January, according to U.S. and British intelligence officials.
A thirty-two minute audio message titled: âA Call upon the Muslim Algerian People,â purportedly voiced by 
Unidentified men shot and killed a seminary teacher here at about 7pm on Monday night, police sources told Daily Times on Tuesday. Qari Abdul Salam, who taught at a seminary near the Old Polo Ground in Gilgit, was on his way to his way to his in-lawsâ house when unidentified gunmen shot him. He died at the scene. Salam was a resident of Bargo in Hospital Colony. The sources said that Salamâs in-laws had lodged a first information report in which they had nominated Fiaz Iqbal, a resident of Hospital Colony, and two other men as accused.
An Al-Qaeda linked Sunni group in Iraq said it used chemical weapons to attack targets in Baghdad today, according to their statement released on an Islamist website. 
Troops recovered a spy unmanned drone plane and arrested 21 militants, some of them âimportantâ Al-Qaeda operatives, in a raid on suspected militant hideouts in the tribal areas near Afghanistan, sources said yesterday. Militants used the Chinese-made vehicle to spy on security forces in the rugged area, where Pakistani soldiers have battled militants for more than a year, Lt. Gen. Safdar Hussain told reporters. The find in North Waziristan, believed to be the first of its kind in Pakistan, came as President Pervez Musharraf unveiled plans to build a fence along part of the border with Afghanistan to curb the movement of militants. âThe busting of this stronghold has broken the back of Al-Qaeda in the tribal area,â Hussain, who commands troops in northwestern Pakistan, told reporters in Peshawar. âIt is the biggest-ever operation, which is still going on in North Waziristan,â Hussain said.
Three 
At least six people were killed and 11 others suffered wounds in clashes between rebels and shepherds in the troubled western region of Darfur, the Sudanese Press Center reported on Tuesday. The center said in a statement that the fatal clashes erupted when the armed rebels attempted to steal a large number of camels in the region. 
The Multi National Forces (MNF) based here announced Tuesday that a terror suspect, who maintains close relations to the Al-Qaeda terror network, has been arrested in a crackdown on the Haditha city. The MNF did not reveal the detainee's identity, but said in a statement that the operation was carried at dawn today.
p to 16 terrorists were killed in Iraq on Tuesday and 279 arrested, a statement by the Iraqi government said. The statement stressed that four arms caches were discovered by the authorities, the government statement said. It added that two car bombs also targeted multinational force patrols in the Abu Ghuraib area. One of the cars exploded without making any damage while the other bumped into a tree without exploding.
Multi-national forces in Iraq arrested 2,300 "terrorists" during August and released 1,085 suspects following interrogation. A statement issued by the forces said that the suspects had been detained for executing operations against coalition and Iraqi forces, adding that around 50 percent of them were released after interrogation for lack of substantial evidence. It added that a just and unbiased system is applied to those in detention, where they receive care in accordance with international regulations and Geneva Convention.
