AN Australian man charged with being a member of a terrorist group is due to reappear in a Kuwait court this weekend, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) says. Sydney businessman Tallaal Adrey, 30, is accused of running guns across the border from Iraq and being involved in a terror group known as the Peninsula Lions, whose members were involved in a deadly gun battle with Kuwaiti police in January. A DFAT spokeswoman told AAP today Adrey and 33 other suspects were scheduled to reappear in a Kuwait court on Saturday. "The court has adjourned until September 24," the spokeswoman said.
Adrey's lawyer Stephen Kenny said last month the charges were false and that his client had returned to Kuwait with his wife and three children to care for his sick elderly mother. He says Adrey's name was given to Kuwaiti police by one of the men arrested after the gunfight. Mr Kenny also said Adrey had gone on a hunger strike after accusing police of torturing him by pulling out his fingernails and shackling him to HIV-infected prisoners. The Kuwaiti judge has reportedly ordered the claims to be independently investigated.
Parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs Bruce Billson said in July that consular officials had sought an investigation into Adrey's treatment after finding during a visit that he had fingernail damage.
The Australian government has received conflicting advice about whether Adrey, who moved to Australia in 1997 and became a citizen, could receive the death penalty if convicted. The DFAT spokeswoman said consular officials had been told by a legal representative of Adrey that he would not face execution if found guilty on any or all of the charges. But the Australian consulate had also received advice from Kuwaiti authorities that they were seeking the death penalty for all of those charged. "We've had differing advice," the spokeswoman said.
The January gunfight left four police dead and 10 other people wounded.
Eight militants were killed in the fighting while Amer Khlaif al-Enezi, the alleged leader of the Peninsula Lions, which has al-Qaeda links, died in police detention eight days after his arrest.
EFL: The suicide bombers who attacked London on 7 July staged a practice run nine days before the bombings, police say. Detectives studied tens of thousands of hours of CCTV footage as part of their investigation into the attacks which killed 52 people and the bombers. Scotland Yard said the practice shows "terrorist methodology".
CCTV images show three of the bombers entering Luton station, before travelling to King's Cross station where they are also pictured. Police traced the movements after recovering tickets and receipts from houses connected to the bombers which pointed to their trip.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard's Anti-Terrorist Branch, said: "The implication is that they were possibly conducting reconnaissance on that day. We know that is part of a terrorist's methodology: to check timings, layout and security precautions." He said "the investigation is incredibly intense and will carry on for many months to come", pointing out that over 3,000 witness statements had been gathered, while around 80,000 CCTV tapes had been analysed. "We are trying to reconstruct their movements as far as we can on that day," Mr Clarke said, adding that anyone with information should call the anti-terrorist hotline.
Police have revealed that two bombs were found in a car left by the attackers at Luton train station on 7 July. It has also emerged that a landfill site in Skelton Grange, west Yorkshire, is currently being searched in a bid to uncover more clues. The area being search is understood to be equivalent to the size of 18 Olympic swimming pools.
Detectives believe the site could be connected to the apparent "bomb factory" at a flat in Alexander Grove in Leeds.
Evidence of a reconnaissance mission supports the theory that all four had planned to detonate their rucksack bombs on the Underground system.
It is believed that the bus bomber, Hasib Hussain, was prevented from getting onto the Northern Line on the day of the attacks because the service had been disrupted. The other bombers - Shehzad Tanweer, Germaine Lindsay and Mohammad Sidique Khan - detonated their devices almost simultaneously.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/20/2005 08:47 ||
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Al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri said in a statement broadcast Monday that his terror network carried out the July 7 London bombings, marking the group's first direct claim of responsibility for the attacks that killed 52 people. The Egyptian-born militant also criticized the legitimacy of Sunday's parliamentary elections in Afghanistan and condemned Pakistan — the one-time ally of Afghanistan's deposed Taliban regime — for forging strong ties with the United States.
"The blessed London attack was one which al-Qaida was honored to launch against the British Crusader's arrogance and against the American Crusader aggression on the Islamic nation for 100 years," al-Zawahri said in the tape aired on Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV. "In their final testament, the heroic brothers in the London attacks ... provided great lessons to the Islamic nation and Muslims in Pakistan to oppose the infidels," said al-Zawahri, who wore a black turban and white shirt and spoke to someone off-camera who was interviewing him. "This blessed attack revealed the real hypocritical face of the West," said the bushy gray bearded al-Zawahri in his latest tape, which included English subtitles and credits saying it was produced and translated by al-Sahab Media Production House, a shadowy purported al-Qaida media organization.
While there was no immediate way to verify al-Zawahri's claim, the attacks on three London underground stations and a double-decker bus bore all the hallmarks of the terror group. U.S. intelligence is reviewing the new tape from al-Zawahri, who is thought to be hiding along the Afghan-Pakistani border. A counterterrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said that it remains unclear whether al-Qaida planned or directed the London attacks, as opposed to inspiring them. The official said the message appears to be an attempt to intimidate and noted the organization has recently increased the volume of its messages, considered propaganda by U.S. intelligence.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2005 00:00 ||
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Typical infidel "leadership". The minions go to pieces and the "leader" takes the "credit".
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/20/2005 18:31 Comments ||
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An officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) department for Chechen republic has been killed in the Nesterovskaya settlement located in Ingushetia republic on the border with Chechnya.
The Ingush Interior Ministry told Itar-Tass two unidentified masked criminals clad in camouflage uniforms broke into a house at Kommunisticheskaya Street at about midnight, Moscow time and shot dead from automatic weapons the officer, Gilani Amriyev, who lived there.
After the murder the perpetrators escaped. An investigation group has been dispatched to the scene. An operation to track down the criminals is underway. An interception plan has been activated in the republic of Ingushetia.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/20/2005 00:46 ||
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We knew there was a catch ...
North Korea said Tuesday it would not dismantle its nuclear weapons program until the United States first provides an atomic energy reactor, casting doubt on its commitment to a breakthrough agreement reached at international arms talks.
The North insisted during arms talks that began last week in Beijing that it be given a light-water reactor, a type less easily diverted for weapons use, in exchange for abandoning nuclear weapons. The agreement reached at the talks' end Monday the first since the negotiations began in August 2003 says the six countries in the negotiations will discuss the reactor issue "at an appropriate time."
Both the United States and Japan, members of the six-nation disarmament talks, rejected the North's latest demand.
"This is not the agreement that they signed and we'll give them some time to reflect on the agreement they signed," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in New York, where he was with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at meetings of the U.N. Security Council.
"The Japanese side has continuously said that North Korea's demand is unacceptable," Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura told reporters.
The Beijing agreement called for the North to abandon it arms efforts and accept inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency in exchange for energy, economic and security aid.
But the North's statement Tuesday indicated it was again raising the reactor demand as a prerequisite for disarming.
"We will return to the NPT and sign the safeguards agreement with the IAEA and comply with it immediately upon the U.S. provision of LWRs, a basis of confidence-building to us," the North's Foreign Ministry said in the statement, carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
"The U.S. should not even dream of the issue of (North Korea's) dismantlement of its nuclear deterrent before providing LWRs," the North said.
The impact of the North's statement wasn't immediately clear. During the years of debate over its weapons program, the communist nation has sometimes given confusing or dramatic statements as it publicly maneuvers for negotiating leverage.
Other countries at the talks made clear that the reactor could only be discussed after the North rejoins the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and accepts inspections from the International Atomic Energy Agency which North Korea pledged to do in Monday's agreement.
U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli emphasized earlier in Washington that the "appropriate time" for discussing the reactor means only after the North comes in compliance with those conditions.
"It's a theoretical proposition in the future, contingent on dismantling having taken place, resigning up to the NPT and having IAEA safeguards in place," he said Monday in Washington.
The North's position is likely to be a major sticking point in talks slated to begin in early November on implementing Monday's agreement.
The North had demanded during the six-nation talks in Beijing which include China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas that it be allowed to keep a civilian nuclear program for power generation after it disarms.
But the United States strongly opposed the demand, and Monday's agreement only acknowledged that the North had "stated" its claim to that right.
The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has opposed anything resembling a 1994 U.S.-North Korea agreement, which promised the North two light-water reactors for power. That project stalled amid the current crisis that broke out in late 2002 over the North's resumed nuclear weapons program.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/20/2005 00:07 ||
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Seriously, maybe they've hit a sticking point, say coming up with the money to complete their own reactor, or to fuel it.
Or they expect their reactor to be radioactive ruin any day now, so why waste another penny when they don't expect to get a return.
Whaddya do?
Bluff and extortion seems right down their alley.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/20/2005 11:37 Comments ||
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#5
A second thought, "Hey you" Yes You World",
"How much will you pay me to put this gun down."
"Oh and whatever you pay, you have to include a bigger, better gun into the bargain."
I don't think so, far smarter to take the gun away than listen to the Madman's ranting.
Best all around solution would be for China to build the Nuke Plants powering N Korea across the border in China.
That'll keep the NORKS on a short leash for the next 30 years or so. Misbehave, and lose your power.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/20/2005 11:46 Comments ||
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I just thought Kimmy wanted a fancy chemistry set to play with...
ZAGREB (AFX) - Croatian police said that a bomb blast at Britain's diplomatic mission in Zagreb was caused by an employee who smuggled in the explosive device and set it off in the mailroom, injuring himself in the incident. 'Damir Rovisan admitted today that he had carried in the explosive and set off the device' yesterday, Interior Minister Ivica Kirin told reporters, adding that the man had worked for the British embassy for the past four years. 'This indicates that this is not a terrorist act against the British embassy, but an act of an individual coming from criminal circles,' he added.
Huuummmm, ok.
Kirin added that the 28-year-old employee, who sustained leg injuries, was recently sentenced to 16 months in prison for robbery, and was to start serving his jail term earlier this month. The minister refused to elaborate on the man's possible motives, saying only that a probe was continuing.
President Stipe Mesic yesterday called the blast a 'terrorist attack,' while Prime Minister Ivo Sander said it was likely aimed at scuppering the country's efforts to join the European Union.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/20/2005 09:16 ||
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French anti-terrorist police detained six people yesterday as part of an investigation into networks recruiting Islamic militants to fight in Iraq, judicial sources said. Police from the DST domestic intelligence agency also searched a number of premises under warrants issued by three leading anti-terrorist judges. The suspects can be held for four days after which they must be brought before a magistrate or released.
Since late 2004 French anti-terrorism officials have become increasingly concerned at the number of its nationals travelling to Iraq via Syria to fight international troops supporting the US-installed government. In January and April of this year, police smashed two recruitment rings. Six people remain in prison pending further investigation. In late June, a Moroccan was arrested on his return to France from Syria as part of the same investigation into recruitment networks. Police said he was in possession of material that could have helped make a bomb.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/20/2005 00:57 ||
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Since late 2004 French anti-terrorism officials have become increasingly concerned at the number of its nationals travelling to Iraq via Syria to fight international troops supporting the US-installed government.
Why? They're only acting out what Chiraq says.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/20/2005 11:51 Comments ||
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An explosion aboard a passenger bus killed two Turks and injured 10 others near a Mediterranean resort, authorities said Monday. The attack was followed by a second bomb in a central Istanbul park, which injured a sanitation worker. The Anatolia news agency reported that a second device was defused in Ankara. The cause of the Sunday night explosion near the popular resort town of Manavgat in Antalya Province was not clear. Police would not say whether it was a terrorist attack. "We're thoroughly investigating it," the Anatolia news agency quoted Police Chief Naciye Ekmekcibasi of Antalya as saying.
The bus was traveling from the southern city of Adana to Antalya, the agency said. All passengers were Turks, authorities said Monday. The injured were reported to be in stable condition. The agency said the explosion partly tore the bus into pieces. Police prevented two reporters from taking pictures and briefly detained them, the agency said.
The Istanbul explosion occurred at 9:35 a.m. at the central Taksim Promenade, on the European side of the city that straddles the Bosphorus. "A worker for a private cleaning company discovered a package, which exploded as he threw it into a litter box," Istanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah told reporters at the site of the incident. He said the device, a so-called "noise bomb," was apparently not intended to cause serious damage or injuries, although the victim, a man in his 50s, suffered slight wounds to his hands and face. No one had claimed responsibility for the blast, police said.
In Ankara, an explosive device was defused outside a police station early Monday, Anatolia said quoting police. The device was wired-up to a timer and set to go off at 7:00 a.m., but was detected in time by a police patrol, the report said.
Several extreme-left movements active in Istanbul and Ankara have used similar explosive devices in the past. Police have also blamed rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) for a string of attacks in recent months, both in Istanbul and elsewhere in the country. Twin suicide attacks blamed on the Al-Qaeda network left 63 people dead and wounded 750 others in Istanbul in November 2003.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2005 00:00 ||
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INDEPENDENCE - A drilling rig explosion that killed two workers and injured a third might not have been an accident, authorities said Monday.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with the Kansas State Fire Marshal's office and the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department, are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. The June 2 explosion killed Michael W. Holland, 29, of Altoona, and William M. Sanborn, 29, of Burlington. They were drilling for coalbed methane gas.
Authorities first thought the southeast Kansas explosion was an accident, but on Monday they said evidence of possible criminal activity has since been discovered. Paul Marquardt, an ATF spokesman in Kansas City, Mo., declined to discuss the evidence in detail.
"I will say no more!"
"If this tragedy was the result of a deliberate criminal act, we will not rest until whoever is responsible was brought to justice," Sheriff Stan Veach said in a written statement announcing the reward.
The rig belonged to McPherson Drilling of Cherryvale. Shortly after the explosion, one of the owners of the company noted the unusual nature of the blast. "You could tell the way the pipe blew that something inside the pipe blew out instead of up," Nancy McPherson said on the day of the explosion. "My husband says he has never seen anything like this before."
IRAN may be as little as six months away from completing the know-how to build a nuclear bomb, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said today.
"The question is not if they are going to hold that bomb in 2009 or 2010 or 2011, the question is when they will have the full knowledge," Shalom told a meeting of US Jewish community leaders in New York.
"According to our people, security and intelligence, they are very, very close. It may be only six months before they will have that full knowledge."
The authoritative, independent International Institute for Strategic Studies said this month Tehran is at least five years away from producing enough fissile material for a single bomb, and that 15 years was a more likely time frame.
Shalom did not say when he expected Iran to have the material to make a bomb.
He was speaking as the board of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was meeting in Vienna to consider whether to refer Iran to the Security Council for possible sanctions over its secretive nuclear program.
Iran insists its nuclear program is purely civilian to make electricity. The United States and Europe suspect Tehran of seeking a weapons capability.
Israel is widely assumed to have a sizeable arsenal of nuclear weapons, although it does not publicly acknowledge that and maintains a policy of ambiguity.
Shalom warned that if the IAEA hesitated in reporting Iran to the Security Council, it would be very difficult to do so in future, and it might be too late as the Iranians were pushing ahead with their nuclear research.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/20/2005 19:14 ||
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#3
For the Lefties the WOT is about forcing anti-sovereign Socialism, Communism, and OWG upon America - DOMINATION IS THE LEFT'S STANDARD OF SUCCESS, AKA "ENDS JUSTIFIES THE MEANS", NOT "JUSTIFICATION" OF ANY IDEOLOGY. Its about forcing andor inducing America to expand the size and scope of the Federal Govt, and ONLY THE FEDERAL GOVT., while preventing Amrrica from controlling its own State-specific sovereignty, world order and OWG. WILL SAY AGAIN THAT THE DEMOLEFTIES AND ALIGNED HAVE NO PROBS WITH "FASCIST" "SOCIALIST = CAPITALIST" AUTHORITARIAN AMERIKA WARRING AROUND THE WORLD AS LONG AS A COMMUNIST ANTI-SOVEREIGN TOTALITARIAN AMERIKA RULED FROM EURASIA IS THE OUTCOME! Within this context it makes no difference iff Iran- North Korea has one bomb or 100 - America will be blamed for not having "PERFECT" INTEL DUE TO LACK OF SECULARISM, SCIENTIFISM, AND FAILURE TO SPEND ENOUGH, ... ETC. IT DOES NOT MATTER TO THE FAILED/ANGRY LEFT WHETHER RADICAL ISLAM NUKES AMERICA CITIES WITH 00K's - 00M's dead and injured, or US MIlfors overseas are nuked. THEY WANT AMERICA TO PC EXPAND ITS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS WHILE NOT ENGAGING IN ANY RETALIATORY ACTION AGS RUSSIA-CHINA AND THE REMNANT OF THE COLD WAR COMMIE WORLD. THE CLINTONS > AMERICA MUST LOSE WHILE IT BELIEVES IT IS "WINNING"!?
Four men who sold mobile phone lines that were only used around the time of the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri have been arrested, a Lebanese judicial source said on Tuesday. The men were on the list of ten mobile subscription salesmen handed over to Lebanese public prosecutor Said Mirza by the United Nations inquiry into Haririâs killing in a massive blast in February, the source said. Mirza issued arrest warrants against the four who may face charges of withholding information about a crime, the source said.
"It's time to play, 'Let's Make A Deal!'
Mobile lines are sold privately in Lebanon, often at a premium. The arrests came as the head of the inquiry, German investigator Detlev Mehlis, was due to question Syrian intelligence officials in Damascus over the bombing. The four officials to be questioned by Mehlis are the former General Security chief Jamil Seyyed, ex-internal security head General Ali Haj and former army intelligence General Raymond Azar as well as the Head of the presidential Palace guard, Mustapha Hamdan.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/20/2005 12:50 ||
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Sounds like this Mehlis fellow, is out for the truth, which is all we want. Better than German leaders.
The head of the UN inquiry into former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination, German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, is expected to visit Syria Tuesday to interview security officials about the murder, said a Syrian source close to the case. "Mehlis is coming to Damascus tomorrow" to interview Syrian officials over Hariri's assassination in a massive Beirut bomb blast in February, he told AFP on Monday.
His visit follows an initial trip to Damascus earlier this month during which he and the Foreign Ministry agreed on a format by which he would question the Syrian officials. The interviews will be a key test of the Syrian regime's readiness to cooperate following the arrest of four top allies in Lebanon. Mehlis is expected to question Interior Minister Ghazi Kenaan, a former military intelligence chief in Lebanon, as well as his successor Rustom Ghazaleh, who left along with Syrian troops in April, and two key aides in Beirut, Mohammad Khallouf and Jamaa Jamaa. According to As-Siyassah newspaper, Mehlis will also be questioning Maher Assad, the Syrian President's brother. Mehlis has said no Syrian suspect has been identified, but there are "more people involved" than the four Lebanese security chiefs arrested so far.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2005 00:00 ||
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Syria is the last place where objective fact-finding on the Hariri assassination would be possible.
Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler ||
09/20/2005 2:38 Comments ||
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But it's a good plafce to catch people in lies.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/20/2005 8:18 Comments ||
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#3
"Colonel Achmed, I believe we have established that you are directly responsible for the order to deliver the explosives to the Lebanese security detail which [etc. etc.]. Please put yourself under arrest."
Yeah, I wouldn't want to be staffer #3 on the UN side at *that* meeting. Give you 1 in 6 odds that they get arrested and deported.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/20/2005 10:44 Comments ||
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With Judicial Investigating Magistrate Elias Eid's questioning of four civilian witnesses Monday, judicial sources are expecting more arrests on Tuesday or Wednesday. The sources said State Prosecutor Said Mirza supervised the questioning of 10 suspects provided by the Internal Security Forces' Information Branch, all of which were cell phone dealers form either Beirut or Tripoli. It is believed calls were made in unison from several mobile phones before Hariri's assassination and then shut off together right after the bomb that killed him was detonated. The sources said Mirza examined the files of the suspects before sending them to the judicial investigator.
The sources confirmed reports by An-Nahar that the international probe commission had raided the offices of one of the two major mobile companies in Lebanon, seizing some items they deemed suspicious. However, the sources did not reveal whether the company was the German-owned Alfa or the Kuwaiti-owned MTC. The sources also said the commission took the statements of several witnesses who had already visited its headquarters in Monteverde several times.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2005 00:00 ||
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DEBKAfileâs military sources report that the Egyptians propose to build on their Gaza âfeatâ to set up in Ramallah a coordination center on the Gaza model. They see themselves taking charge of Palestinian security forces and the policing of the West Bank and Arab Jerusalem and its environs. In the Gaza Strip meanwhile, Egyptian border police and a delegation of intelligence generals in the Gaza Strip continue to stand by as people, terrorists and weapons stream across the Sinai-Gaza border and the territory evacuated by Israel deteriorates into a Hamas stamping ground.
Egyptian intelligence minister General Omar Suleiman came up with the Ramallah scheme. It was then passed on by the Egyptian generals in Gaza to Israeli officers, including the defense ministerâs political coordinator Maj-Gen Amos Gilead. Conscious of how sensitive the suggestion of Egyptian officers operating in Jerusalem can be, Cairo did not put forward a formal proposal, just a general thought for discussion. This too was how the military protocols governing the failed Egyptian border police security operation on the Philadelphi border strip started out.
Before he went off to New York last week, prime minister Ariel Sharon dismissed the concept. He was still under the shocked impression of the Egyptian fiasco in Gaza. But he suggested testing the ground in Amman for a reaction to the general notion of an Egyptian military presence on the West Bank. He also took it up tentatively with King Abdullah in New York. Surprisingly, the Jordanians were not as totally against the plan as expected. They were prepared to give it some thought under certain conditions. DEBKAfileâs sources report the impression gained from Jordanian officials is that they are no longer sure how much Sharon is prepared to give away to the Palestinians. They fear he may even present the Hashemite kingdom with accomplished facts on the common Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian border that may come out of future negotiations with the Palestinians. That being the case, Amman may conceivably prefer the Egyptian military on the West Bank to an uncertain, transient Israeli presence.
The implications for Israelâs national interests are problematic. An Egyptian military foothold in Ramallah as backup for Palestinian control, would count as semi-recognition of the unacknowledged Palestinian security and intelligence operations in East Jerusalem. It would open the door to an Egyptian security and policy role in Israelâs capital. Up until now, the Sharon government has not contested the revival of Palestinian national activity in Jerusalem through the reopened Orient House. The symbolic institution was closed down some years ago to prevent the Palestinian Authority pre-empting peace talks and stealing a march on Israel in its capital. Now it is again open for business.
Earlier, Cairo brushed off Israelâs complaint about the wild Palestinian border rampage in violation of all negotiated accords. DEBKAfile reported on the breakdown of Israel-Palestinian-Egyptian coordination before the first day of the Israeli pull-out was over.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/20/2005 16:46 ||
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If Egypt gets into Ramallah, then Paleos will hang around Egyptian govt personnel and troops to avoid getting boomed when the IDF starts retaliating for Paleo cross border activities. Seafarious is correct about camels' noses poking into tentses.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/20/2005 17:33 Comments ||
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Ramallah is on the Jordan side. Let Mubarek argue with King Abdullah for a while. Popcorn?
An Iraqi journalist working for the New York Times has been killed after men claiming to be police officers abducted him from his home in Basra. Fakher Haider, who had also worked for the Guardian and National Geographic, was found dead in a deserted area of the Iraqi city yesterday.
"This murder of a respected colleague leaves us angry and horrified," said Bill Keller, the executive editor of the New York Times. "Fakher was an invaluable part of our coverage for more than two years. His depth of knowledge, his devotion to the story and his integrity were much admired by the reporters who worked with him." Haider is survived by a wife, Isra, and three children, ages 5, 7 and 9.
According to Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres, he is the 68th journalist killed in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003 and the 19th this year. He is also the second New York Times journalist to have been killed in Basra over the past two months. Last month the freelance journalist Steven Vincent was killed after he and his Iraqi translator were abducted at gunpoint. Vincent had earlier written an opinion piece for the New York Times, criticising the Basra security forces.
Apparently, Haider was doing much the same
"We are very concerned about security in Basra, as two journalists have been killed there within two months," said RSF in a statement. "It is becoming increasingly difficult and dangerous for the press to operate in Iraq. We call on the Iraqi authorities and the US-British military coalition to carry out a rapid and thorough investigation to identify those responsible and prevent any recurrence of such tragedies."
Posted by: Steve ||
09/20/2005 13:00 ||
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We call on the Iraqi authorities and the US-British military coalition to carry out a rapid and thorough investigation to identify those responsible and prevent any recurrence of such tragedies." And then complain how you did not follow the Geneva convention, and how your being there causing people to kill reporters.
Posted by: Eason Jordan ||
09/20/2005 13:58 Comments ||
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Has anybody given them MoDo's address?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/20/2005 14:25 Comments ||
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Speaking of, Mrs D, same MO as Vincent. Confirmation of the state of affairs.
I'd like to point out that the UK troops can operate independently. Operations can occur simultaneously, all over Iraq... Wow! - who'da thunk it?! We can be bagging asshats by the boatload in Tal Afar whilst our cousins are rockin' and rollin' on Basra and the Iranian border. Want to borrow an AC-130? Sure, bro. It could happen, I'm thinkin'. Silly me.
Do I doubt the UK soldier? Nope, not if he's not a snide commander with terminal penis envy.
But that's just me. Sure. HQ knows all about this mess and has given everyone a pass. Sit in your camps and ignore everything. We're not worried. Those high-grade mil-spec explosives pouring in and blowing up Iraqi and US troops from Baghdad to Mosul are no problem. Don't trouble yourselves. Right. Rings like a bell. Yewbetcha.
#5
.com: Do I doubt the UK soldier? Nope, not if he's not a snide commander with terminal penis envy.
I think British officers and other senior people are born with a chronic case of potty mouth - not in the sense of cursing people out, but in the sense of being unable to resist saying uncomplimentary things, accurate or not, about other people. They are incredibly fast with a comeback, but it is also true that, the vast majority of the time, these comebacks are not only untrue, but also diametrically opposed from the truth. The idea that some things are better left unsaid - especially things that are not only insulting, but wrong - doesn't seem to have occurred to these people.
#6
I guess it's a modern phenomenon. Just like Clinton tosses the rules out to damage Bush so he can get back to the WH, these ranking Hyde Park Rangers just can't help themselves and trash-talk their peers. Boggles that they aren't beaten like a drum - or drummed out for being too stupid to command. That said, I've vented, heh, you don't doubt the average UK trooper, do you?
#9
Things are tough all over for the NYT....If you are in a war zone, better watch your six. If you are playing the "neutral" reporter and observer, better watch your six. There are no neutrals in the war unless you are out of the country. If you want a good scoop by following the terrorists with camera, you are fair game, AFAIC. The media is just as an important weapon as the rifle in this war.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/20/2005 17:11 Comments ||
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THE violence that erupted on the streets of Basra yesterday was the result of a simmering struggle between British forces and the increasingly powerful Shia Muslim militias active in southern Iraq.
Attention has been focused on the Sunni Muslim insurgency against US-led forces further north, yet the British have been facing a sharp rise in attacks from an increasingly sophisticated and deadly foe.
There are strong suspicions that the bloodshed is being orchestrated with weapons and encouragement from Iran.
The clashes and the arrest of two undercover soldiers was almost certainly triggered by the arrest at the weekend of Sheikh Ahmed al-Fartusi, the leader of the Mahdi Army, a banned militia loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr. He was seized by British troops in a raid that also netted his brother and another colleague. âThe operation is the result of an ongoing multinational force investigation that identified individuals believed to be responsible for organising terrorist attacks against multinational forces,â said a statement released by the British military on Sunday after the deaths of six British soldiers and two security guards over the past two months.
Al-Sadrâs supporters are known to dominate the local police and can mobilise gunmen or mass protests at short notice, as they did regularly during an uprising last year that swept across southern Iraq.
British officials are convinced that Iran is implicated in the upsurge in violence and suspect it may be connected to Britainâs hardening position against Tehranâs nuclear programme. Britain has been working closely with Iran over the past two years to reach a compromise. But with the victory last month of the hawkish President Ahmadinejad, Iran has hardened its position.
Britain is now actively lobbying to have Tehran referred to the UN Security Council, where it could face sanctions.
Iranâs policy in Iraq is co-ordinated by the Supreme National Security Council â the body responsible for running its atomic industry. âThe Iranians are careful not to be caught,â a British official said. âBut they like to stoke up the temperature in Iraq when it suits them.â
Apart from the activities of al-Sadrâs supporters, military intelligence has concluded that Iran has been supporting a local terror group run by Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani, who is blamed for the murder of at least 11 British soldiers.
In a secret report, military intelligence warned commanders that attacks on British forces were being deliberately intensified, with the use of a new bomb, developed in Iran, that can penetrate the thickest armoured protection.
Al-Sheibaniâs group is said to have an estimated 280 fighters, divided into 17 bomb-making teams.
One of al-Sheibaniâs bombs, a passive infra-red device, is blamed for the deaths of Second Lieutenant Richard Shearer, 26, Private Leon Spicer, 26, and Private Phillip Hewett, 21, of the Staffordshire Regiment, in the Risaala neighbourhood of central al-Amarah, near the Iranian border in July.
A similar roadside device was used six weeks ago against a British embassy convoy in Basra that killed two British bodyguards.
The report, drawn up by British and US experts, said that al-Sheibaniâs group was being investigated for its role in the murders of six Royal Military policemen in June 2003 by a mob in Majar al-Kabir.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/20/2005 11:16 ||
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#1
In a secret report, military intelligence warned commanders that attacks on British forces were being deliberately intensified, with the use of a new bomb, developed in Iran, that can penetrate the thickest armoured protection.
So when are these guys going to pay a price for their treachery? Will it be soon?
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday challenged the need for major foreign military operations in Afghanistan, saying air strikes are no longer effective and that U.S.-led coalition forces should focus on rooting out terror bases and support networks. Karzai also demanded an immediate end to foreign troops searching people's homes without his government's authorization. "I don't think there is a big need for military activity in Afghanistan anymore," he told reporters in Kabul. "The nature of the war on terrorism in Afghanistan has changed now. "No coalition forces should go to Afghan homes without the authorization of the Afghan government. ... The use of air power is something that may not be very effective now."
If he's saying that the Afghan army and government are strong enough now to take on more of the effort, or at least to be equal partners in the effort, great. However, this just may be for domestic consumption.
In suggesting a new approach to fighting militants, Karzai said foreign governments should "concentrate on where terrorists are trained, on their bases, on the supply to them, on the money coming to them" - a veiled reference to alleged support that the militants get from neighboring Pakistan.
aka; "The country who's name we dare not speak", "The country to be named later", "The crater formerly known as Pakistan", etc
Afghan officials have repeatedly accused Pakistan of aiding Taliban rebels and other militants, a charge Islamabad vehemently denies.
"Nope, nope, no terrorists here. We've asked."
Karzai's comments came amid the biggest resurgence in Taliban violence since U.S.-led forces ousted the hard-line regime in 2001. More than 1,200 people have been killed in the past six months, many of them suspected rebels slain in coalition air strikes, according to information from Afghan and U.S. officials. The country held legislative elections Sunday, the final step toward democracy on a path laid out in 2001.
Just hours before Karzai spoke, coalition commander Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry warned that he expected "more fighting in the weeks ahead." "We are staying on the offensive against the enemies of Afghanistan, and we will continue that process throughout the fall and throughout the winter," Eikenberry told journalists. But Karzai played down the militant threat, saying, "We do not think a serious terrorist challenge is emanating from Afghanistan." The president did not specify whether he was referring to a threat from al-Qaida terrorists, Taliban rebels or both.
"I can say no more"
Posted by: Steve ||
09/20/2005 10:38 ||
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#1
If the Afghans want to take over, then more power to them.
Posted by: ed ||
09/20/2005 11:07 Comments ||
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#2
I sure hoped we've mapped every inch of this country, so that if we leave too soon, we can do our damage from battleships next time.
#6
"concentrate on where terrorists are trained, on their bases, on the supply to them, on the money coming to them" -
Makes sense to me,tell perv"Lead,follow or get the hell out of the way".
#9
One of my biggest fears is that the bad guys would get smart and go to ground, the US pulls out, then they come back.
The cost of the yo-yo effect politically and financially would be devistating. I was sure that was Saddam's game. So far we've been lucky that our enemies aren't really that bright.
#10
Does anyone have any information on the state of the Afghan Air Force? I'll bet our AF generals can't understand why the Afghans don't want F-15s, when what they require are sturdy prop-engine cargo and ground attack aircraft.
#11
The problem with that is that the average Afghan village has the knowledge, tools, and motivation to knock anything out of the air designed before 1980. Sure, maybe they have been "disarmed;" which only means they've oiled and buried their stuff in a cave somewhere. Afghans have forgotten more about hiding weapons than a NorCal survivalist will ever learn.
If I were the Afghan army I would simply skip having an airforce entirely except for helicopters and rely on a having a U.S. airbase. Safer and more cost effective that way.
#12
Helicopters don't work too well at the altitudes encountered in the Hindu Kush. Maybe an upengined Apache?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
09/20/2005 18:41 Comments ||
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Karzai states the obvious. Not too long ago he addressed the real problem by complaining about the lack of, and diversion of, reconstruction funds.
The best pacification program would a massive, if relatively inexpensive agricultural program improved one generation above what they currently use. This would involve hiring a huge number of people to clear and prepare new land for agriculture, dig irrigation canals, and set up co-ops to run each section as a business, coordinated by the experts as what would be best for them to grow and how.
The idea is to create constructive, additive, labor intensive employment for vast numbers of people, and quickly. Tens of thousands of acres could be in production in a few months, creating a huge agribusiness infrastructure.
THE two British servicemen whose capture led to the storming of a jail in Iraq were later rescued from militiamen, senior army officials said today. Brigadier John Lorimer, commander of the 12th mechanised brigade, said the two men were actually found at a house in the city after troops broke into the prison at a police HQ to look for them. He said that the jailbreak had been ordered after Iraqi security services - supposedly allies of the British military - handed the two servicemen over to militiamen.
Defence secretary John Reid raised concerns that the two servicemen - thought to be special forces officers - were handed to militiamen. Politicians today condemned the incident and raised fears that relations between the British military and Iraqi security forces would never be the same again. Basra's governor, Mohammed al-Waili, said British soldiers used more than ten tanks and helicopters to break down the walls of the prison after the two soldiers were arrested for allegedly shooting dead a local policeman and wounding another.
#1
Its good to hear they understand the concept of overwhelming force. Hope they all wore helmets.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/20/2005 10:18 Comments ||
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#2
I read a day or two ago that Basra's governor, Mohammed al-Waili is a Sadr deputy. Nothing like controlling the governmental machinery to get your people in. If I run into it, I will post the cite.
Posted by: ed ||
09/20/2005 10:34 Comments ||
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#3
i have an idea. Since oil went up another $4.79 yesterday just from the threat of a storm. Lets kill the shit out of all of them and take their fuckin oil instaed of helping these pieces of shit. Like they say we are doing anyway. ANYONE WITH ME.
#6
Bluto, I'm with you, but only if this time *I* get to ride off with the hot cheerleader ast the end.
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
09/20/2005 12:23 Comments ||
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They were SAS, working undercover.
Two SAS soldiers were freed from a jail in Basra under the watch of British armoured vehicles last night a few hours after they were seized by Iraqis during the worst riots in Iraq's second city in two years. They had been wearing Arab clothes when they were arrested in the southern city by a Shia militia loyal to the Iraqi government. The militia accused them of shooting at policemen who approached them. After hours of intense negotiations to secure their release, British forces arrived at the central jail last night. Iraqi government officials and the governor of Basra claimed that Warrior armoured vehicles had stormed the jail, destroying a wall.
But the Ministry of Defence denied reports that Warriors had broken in. It said that a Warrior being used to collect the men "might" have accidentally knocked into a wall as it reversed in the dark. ''We would never orchestrate or authorise a jail break as is being reported,'' said a spokesman. The British embassy in Baghdad said three people had been injured as the men were released.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/20/2005 12:50 Comments ||
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DEBKA Exclusive: The influx of Palestinian long-range Qassam, anti-tank, anti-air missiles and terrorists entering Gaza from Sinai swelled Monday a week after it began. Palestinian security forces posted to halt the illegal traffic helped it through instead. DEBKAfileâs military sources report that the scale of the weapons transfers expanded most in the Rafah area where two battalions of the Palestinian Authorityâs crack Force 17 troops charged a hefty toll in cash which they pocketed for letting the weapons through. On orders from Jerusalem, the IDF continues to bide its time as though expecting the Egyptian and Palestinians to assert control over the lawless traffic transiting the Egyptian-Gazan border unchecked.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/20/2005 08:52 ||
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#1
I'm wondering if the Israelis are making Gaza another Fallujha. If you understand the behavior of the enemy, let him make the best possible target for you to utterly destroy. Let the enemy demonstate behaviors which will neutralize outside opinion to the level that when they do go in, there will be little to really pay attention to. Hamas will stockpile and build up in one big kill zone. The Israelis will take the lessons learned from the infantry-armor-air support operations in Iraq to hammer Hamas in one tight controlled area, minimizing their casualties and maximizing Hamas'.
#2
I figure the Iraelies sre letting HAMAS and co. stockpile,and get set to attack Israel.Israel may or may no wait for the first rocket to hit,but they should let the Paleos strike the first blow.When that happens the IDF is going to turn Gaza into a pile of blood soaked rubble.
#3
I suspect a far more subtle idea, based on the idea that no matter what the Paleos do, they will be unable to mount an aggressive war--and then what will happen?
Right now, might makes right in Gaza. A man with a gun is king. But what happens when two or three men have guns, and each want to be king? Twenty or thirty? To or three hundred?
Israel, in the defense, can make itself impenetrable to them. How long can the Paleos live by eating bullets? How many jobs does being a gunman create? What good are a hundred anti-tank rockets with no tanks to fire them at?
Egypt will not tolerate their antics in Egypt, so there will be no escape for them there.
The Paleos will continue to fight the old war until they turn their guns on each other. After significant loss of life, the light will dawn that the value of all their guns is nothing. Each bloody warlord will rule his part of chaos much like warlords in Somalia.
#4
I may have missed something, but it has seemed to me as though the various Palestinian factions consider enmity to Israel as the touchstone for legitimacy. So when they fight each other, they'll also have to keep fighting Israel. The cheapest way is to take credit for attacks your group didn't commit. I suppose the next cheapest is exaggerating the effects of the rockets you fired over the wall, and waving banners with names of cannon fodder that caught return fire. Then what? Amphibious attacks? Terrorist attacks using recruits from Israel and other countries? If they get enough explosives they might try breaking through the fence a few times, but that'd use up the trained fighters they need at home.
I've thought for a while that a bloody civil war was going to be the Palestinian's best hope for peace, but I don't think it'll be easy on Israel in the process.
Posted by: James ||
09/20/2005 13:56 Comments ||
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If the Paleos have a turf battle in Gaza, would al Q get into the vacuum created by Paleos blasting each other? I think that the Paleos would be self-defeating units. They lost their brains to attrition and work accidents. They all are second- and third-string players. But al Q heavies could take advantage of that situation.
If the Paleos get REALLY frisky vis a vis Israel, they will get pounded. They have nowhere to go, as Egypt will close the border. Then they are like fish in a barrel. The question would be how hard would the IDF hit them, as the Paleos would have a media PR campaign drummed up to show all the suffering in the hands of the Evil Zionistsâ¢. That would be how it would play out, IMHO. Would the US back Israel, or would the US try to stop the pounding that the Paleo armed morons deserve?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/20/2005 16:54 Comments ||
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#6
If Gaza attacks, Israel can decide on a response that fits the situation.
How about this logic:
1) Gaza wasn't peaceful when occupied.
2) Gaza is more aggressive when free.
So if 1 and 2 aren't good, then how about forced relocation of the population to the west bank? Its the only humane solution (oh think of the children...)
#9
that's the MSM memem TW, and totally bullshit. Once the Paleo civil war swings into full auto mode, the "overcrowding" solves itself. You can't f*&k and fight
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2005 22:37 Comments ||
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#1
Victims' rights groups say the number of "honor crimes" appears to be climbing, but at the same time, getting little attention. Israelis and Palestinians are too busy with political and military issues to notice what they dismiss as domestic disputes
Here's a worthy cause for MSM to write on. Show the world what the "insurgents" and "freedom fighters" want, for first the people of the Middle East, and then us.
#3
But plainslow -- deep down this is what the left wants too. Legalized killing of anyone 'inconvient' such as the woman in Florida or an inconvienant pregnancy. Next it will be the aged, and severly retarded, etc....
A elitist's paradise where only the elite are permitted [to live]...
#5
Major fallacy: this occurred in the West Bank. Not under Israeli rule, therefore not Israeli responsibility. On the Israeli side of the line these things are prosecuted, on the other side, encouraged. This article is, despite having been published in the Jewish World Review, a "How barbaric the Palestinians are, what is the matter with those Jews that they don't do something to fix it?" article. Evil Palestinians, eviler Jews who let it happen. Fooey.
#7
I'm horrified by this. I was also horrified by it in 2003, when this piece was published. Why is this up today?
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
09/20/2005 16:55 Comments ||
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#8
FWIW, this maternal monster has done her two years and is out, according this this June '05 article. Presumably she is free to keep raising her surviving children as long as they do not make her feel bad about herself.
http://www.dawn.com/2005/06/24/fea.htm
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
09/20/2005 18:37 Comments ||
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Post-parturation abortion is one way to reduce the population explosion...
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated Dr. Abdul Latif Saleh pursuant to Executive Order 13224 for providing support to Usama bin Laden and al Qaida. "Saleh has multiple ties to al Qaida, ranging from the Al Haramain Foundation to Yasin Qadi to Usama bin Laden," said Stuart Levey, the Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI). "This designation identifies him as a terrorist facilitator and ensures that he will no longer be able to operate unencumbered."
Saleh is closely associated with Usama bin Laden and was expelled from Albania on suspicion of membership in a "radical Islamic Jihad group." Bin Laden provided Saleh with $600,000 to encourage the establishment of extremist groups in Albania. In addition, Saleh is closely associated with a number of non-governmental organizations in Albania with links to the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist organization tied to al Qaida. Saleh founded and organized an Albanian jihadist organization that has been financed by the Al Haramain Foundation, a non-governmental organization linked to al Qaida. The mission of the Albanian jihadist group has been to destabilize the internal situation in Albania by fomenting conflict among the different religious groups in the country. Al Haramain recruited members from this organization, which Saleh directly assisted in vetting.
Saleh is also associated with Yasin Qadi, who was named a specially designated global terrorist by the Treasury Department in October 2001. Qadi was known to be an active supporter of, and fundraiser for, Saleh's jihadist group. Saleh and Qadi had entered into several business partnerships with one another, including a sugar importing business, a medical enterprise, and a construction business. Saleh served as the general manager of all of Qadi's businesses in Albania and reportedly holds ten percent of the Qadi Group's investments in Albania.
In 1998, six individuals were arrested in Albania, two of which were tried and executed in Egypt as perpetrators of terrorist attacks. In their testimony, the individuals said it was Saleh who had helped them come to Albania. Saleh was identified as "the one who had helped them in every respect, beginning with picking them up at the airport." The United States is taking action today pursuant to United Nations Security Counsel Resolution 1617, which requires member states to financially isolate individuals and entities added to the UN 1267 Committee's consolidated list of terrorists tied to the Taliban, al Qaida and UBL.
"Resolution 1617, recently adopted by the UN Security Council, makes the international sanctions regime against the Taliban, al Qaida, and its affiliate groups stronger, more accessible, and more transparent," Levey continued. "Today's action illustrates the power the global community now has to take unified, decisive action against al Qaida's support networks."
Citizenship: Jordanian/Albanian
Identification Numbers: Jordanian Passport Number D366 871
Last known residence: United Arab Emirates
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/20/2005 01:05 ||
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Algerian press sources reported that gunmen killed four members of the security forces in the most recent acts of violence taking place in the country before the referendum regarding the pardon law by the end of September. The two Algerian dailies al-Watan" and Liberty said that gunmen believed to belong to the "Islamic group for call and fighting" killed two members of the self-defense citizens, citizens who were provided by the authorities with weapons in order to protect the civilians from the attacks, in Skikda province, east of the capital. The two papers added that the gunmen implanted an ambush for forces heading towards the site of the attack that resulted in killing one member of the national police forces and one member of the municipal guards and injuring other 4.
The Algerian security forces killed last Thursday two gunmen in Bani Farqan area in Jejil state, east Algeria. Since the beginning of the current month, at least 25 persons have been killed, 8 of them are policemen, according to Algerian press and official statistics.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/20/2005 00:51 ||
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Two missiles on a paramilitary fort were fired in volatile North Waziristan Agency on Sunday night. The attack did not cause any casualty. The army and paramilitary troops returned fire. According to AFP, the rockets, fired from across the border, landed in a plant nursery near an army camp in the same area where troops last week raided a suspected Al Qaeda compound. Just kilometres away from the rocket attack, troops continued to surround the compound.
Meanwhile, supporters of two tribal militants clashed in Jandola near neighbouring South Waziristan Agency on Monday. Two persons were wounded, sources said. They said that clashes erupted in the town when armed men of wanted militant commander Abdullah Mahsud abducted two supporters of his former comrade Baitullah Mahsud, the one-legged former detainee of the Guantanamo Bay who is still on the wanted list.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/20/2005 00:30 ||
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Ugandan rebels from the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) ambushed a school bus in southern Sudan, killing 14 people, mostly women and children, officials said yesterday. âThe attack took place on Saturday, near the border with Uganda. LRA rebels attacked a school bus and most of the victims are women and children,â said a local security source. Pagan Amun, a senior official with the Sudan Peopleâs Liberation Movement (SPLM), confirmed the attack. âIt took place in Loka, a small town between Juba and Yei,â he told AFP.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2005 00:00 ||
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This is the type of action that wins a fella one o' them sprockets, ala Bob, Hugo, Moammar.
Seven suspected militants accused of recruiting jihadists to fight U.S. forces in Iraq pleaded not guilty Monday at the opening of their trial in Jordan. The defendants, mostly Jordanians of Palestinian origin between the ages of 23 and 33, were detained in March and May and have been charged with plotting to undermine relations with Iraq by enlisting and dispatching at least six militants there. It was unclear if the defendants had links to Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian- born leader of al-Qaida in Iraq who is responsible for scores of deadly suicide bombings, beheadings and kidnappings in the war-torn country. If convicted, the seven face up to five years in jail. Their hearing was adjourned until Sept. 26.
The prime suspect was identified as Palestinian Zeid Saleh al-Horani, 27, who allegedly worked with the other members of his Jordan-based cell to recruit militants and send them to neighboring Syria to prepare for suicide bombings. One recruit was Raed Mansour al-Banna, the Jordanian who was wrongly blamed for the Feb. 28 bombing in Hillah, south of Baghdad, that killed 125 people, according to allegations in an indictment sheet detailing the charges. Al-Banna's family and Jordan's government have said he carried out a different suicide bombing and al-Zarqawi's group ultimately claimed responsibility for the Hillah attack. Al-Banna and five other suicide bombers are accused of being sent to Iraq through Syria in three batches since the start of 2005.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2005 00:00 ||
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Indian troops have killed three militants in a gun battle in Kupwara district, the Indian Army said on Monday. "The three militants were killed during a gun battle in the village of Lashtial in Kupwara district on Sunday," army spokesman Vijay Batra said. He said the slain militants belonged to the Hizbul Mujahiddin, adding that one of the killed men was a Hizb battalion commander.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2005 00:00 ||
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Editorial Note:
The use of "gunney" or "gunnies" in an headline would tend to lead the reader to believe that a non-commissioned officer belonging to the Marine Corps was involved in the ensuing exposition.
Violent street clashes erupted Monday between Shiite militia and British soldiers in the southern city of Basra, after British tanks stormed a local jail where two of their troops were being held.
The daylong violence in Iraq's second-largest city raised troubling questions about the relationship between British forces in charge of security and their Iraqi counterparts, in what once was considered a relatively safe area of the country.
The clashes, which involved members of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Al Mahdi army, apparently began when British commandos fired on Iraqi police, who took them into custody.
Tanks then bore down on the jail, knocking down a wall before the men were freed -- along with dozens of other detainees who took advantage of the chaos to escape, according to local reports and news agency accounts.
Two Iraqis were reportedly killed in the clashes, and several British soldiers were wounded.
Television images of the street fighting showed Iraqis firebombing a tank, and a British soldier emerging with his uniform in flames. The British Broadcasting Corp. reported the soldier was treated for minor injuries.
As night fell Monday, confusion and chaos dominated Basra's city center. Residents huddled in their homes reported gunfire and tank maneuvers.
Though Basra has not suffered the same level of violence as other cities in Iraq -- such as Fallouja, Samarra and the capital -- residents say peace has come at a cost. Armed militiamen rule the streets, enforcing perceived infractions of Islamic law with beatings and even killings, residents say.
In the once cosmopolitan city, women no longer can go unveiled on the streets, and physicians have been beaten for treating female patients.
The militias have also infiltrated the police, taking orders from clerics instead of commanders. When the Basra police chief acknowledged this spring that he'd lost control of his 13,000-strong force to Shiite Muslim militiamen, he was quickly removed from his job.
"The shift in Basra's situation from calmness to disorder is because of the authorities here," said Abid Sayid Mohammed Samad, 52, a Basra auto mechanic. "All are affiliated with different entities and blocs, and this rivalry among parties has undermined the security situation."
The clashes followed the discovery Monday of the body of Fakhr Haidar al-Tamimi, 38, a journalist and father of three who worked for local TV and radio, as well as The New York Times, the Guardian in London, National Geographic and other publications, according to the New-York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
After enjoying a brief flowering of freedom and opportunities in the wake of the 2003 U.S. invasion, Iraqi journalists live in fear for their lives and rarely admit their profession in public.
"All the media people are now targeted and vulnerable simply because they convey the truth," said Nadhem Jabari, spokesman for the Basra provincial council. "We know very well that the truth would embarrass and many people."
Because of threats to Western reporters, much of the street-level reporting has been done by local Iraqi journalists, who file reports to all major media, including the Los Angeles Times.
Lucie Morillon, Washington, D.C. representative for Reporters Without Borders USA, said Western media sources bear responsibility for their Iraqi correspondents' safety.
"You see the figures," she said. "We just send them on the front lines, and they are the ones who pay the price."
It was unclear if Tamimi was targeted for his work with Western or local media.
"Covering this war is a perilous assignment for all journalists, but the gravest risk falls on those whose country is the battleground and whose lives are inextricable from the society," Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times, said in the announcement.
"We're all in shock about Fakher's death," said Robert F. Worth, a Baghdad-based New York Times correspondent. "He was a wonderful colleague, gentle and brave and resourceful. He had a great sense of humor. We will miss him."
Elsewhere, Iraq's steady tempo of bloodshed continued, with at least 11 other Iraqis killed in politically motivated violence.
Near Baghdad on Monday, at least eight Iraqi police commandos, an Iraqi soldier and a civilian were killed and 12 others injured in car bombings at two checkpoints beyond the city's southern edge.
The attacks, in Mahmoudiya and Latifiya, were launched within the perilous cluster of small towns and palm groves south of Baghdad known as the "triangle of death." Authorities have tightened security in the area as pilgrims head on foot toward the holy city of Karbala for an annual Shiite religious ceremony.
In Baqouba, a turbulent city of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds 40 miles north of the capital, the provincial governor escaped an assassination attempt that injured three of his guards while an explosion targeting a group of day laborers left one civilian killed. U.S. forces in the northern city of Mosul killed two suspected insurgents and detained three in early morning raids. The men were "suspected of having senior al-Qaeda in Iraq connections," the military announced.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/20/2005 00:23 ||
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#1
So, please explain to us exactly what the advantages of the nice approach are?
#3
"Though Basra has not suffered the same level of violence as other cities in Iraq -- such as Fallouja, Samarra and the capital -- residents say peace has come at a cost. Armed militiamen rule the streets, enforcing perceived infractions of Islamic law with beatings and even killings, residents say."
This didn't happen overnight... it just came to light overnight. I can't help but wonder...
How widespread is this shit?
WTF were the commanders in this region telling the people at Coalition HQ?
WTF have they been doing down there for the last 2 years?
I truly hate saying it, as I cheered the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders for their bayonet charge in May '04, but this sounds like an unmitigated fucking disaster. An utter failure of command - fuck the philosophy shit about soft power - this is asinine incompetence at the leadership level. And to think at least one of these jerkoffs went public in the press not long ago trash-mouthing the US commanders for our methods. Arrogant ass. *spit*
#4
This is not new at all. Steven Vincent was murdered by these bastards for exposing them. It's been covered by bloggers,especially Iraqi bloggers for quite some time now. I'm sure others here at Rantberg can lend a hand with other sources.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/20/2005 1:29 Comments ||
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#5
Iran has been quietly infiltrating fighters loyal to Sadr and its other proxies into southern Iraq for some time now (as we've noted here) and the UK forces around Basra have been fairly passive about dealing with them up until now.
Remember, these are the same bastards who killed Vincent awhile back because he was one of the few journalists willing to report on their activities.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/20/2005 1:32 Comments ||
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#6
Aw come on, RD - the stories posted here about the militias openly running the South have been, um, spotty - that's a kind way of putting it, at best. And Vincent's murder was only 6 weeks ago, Aug 3, to be precise.
I recall the first story I heard about them was of the group of college kids who were attacked. IIRC, one young man and one young woman were killed while several were injured - and that was about 4-5 months back. That should have gotten the local commanders off their asses, no? When few stories follow, you usually presume remedial action has been undertaken, no?
Regardless of whether it has been covered well, or not, the people on the ground down there knew what was happening.
#7
Oh definitely there's been a screw-up on how we dealt with Sadr and the Brits' tolerance of his activities while letting themselves rebuild. But it's not like this stuff just popped up out of nowhere - see that big Time Magazine primer on Iranian designs in Iraq.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/20/2005 1:58 Comments ||
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#8
And I'm not dismissing Iranian designs on Iraq, though I wouldn't read Time Mag unless it was printed on a beautiful femalian derrière, but openly running the cities is not a covert infiltration. Sheesh. They're gonna have to re-fight the fucking first year after the invasion all over again - if this description of Basra is accurate.
#9
Next time someone wants to tell me this is common knowledge, back it up with at least 5 cites of RB stories - or save it. The problem is the fatastic fuck-up in the South, not whether I saw the stories or not.
#10
We post it on Rantburg so you don't have to read Time, my good man ;)
My understanding is that the situation in Basra is more Chicago in the 1930s (i.e. mafia-style) rather than any kind of "direct rule" like what we saw in Fallujah and Tal Afar.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/20/2005 2:08 Comments ||
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#11
Utter cock-up and failure of leadership.
this is asinine incompetence at the leadership level. And to think at least one of these jerkoffs went public in the press not long ago trash-mouthing the US commanders for our methods. Arrogant ass. *spit*
point taken on the leadership and laissez-faire policy of the Brit mil governance. The Ayatollahs & Tater Tot will fill any space where there is a power vacumn. They understand force though, which will have to be used openly and covertly.
Vincent's Basra posts started about the 1st of June.
I'll try and hunt up more sources.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/20/2005 2:29 Comments ||
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#12
Did anyone else notice that left wing media sources are reporting that UK forces were engaging Iraqi forces. Someone got it wrong.
Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler ||
09/20/2005 2:35 Comments ||
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#13
I know a little about this topic. If you have an AO to secure & pacify, then you concoct your strategy and give it a go. If you see it's not working, and there are signs such as a trout in the milk, a village chief wearing his NVA uniform and the local school marm sportin a Ho Chi Minh pin on her jammies, well, you gotta figure your shit's weak. So you double or triple your intel efforts to find WTF is going on. Then, if it turns out you can't "win the peace" with what you got on hand, well, you call for backup. It takes more forces to take an area, initially, than it does to hold it. Overwhelming force is the order of the day in US operations Methodology when faced with an uphill battle. So call HQ, get the team you need, and then you rock and fucking roll right over the bastards. Then your little force can likely maintain that level of security, since you just wasted a shitload of the bad guys, and restart the pacification process. Piece of fucking cake. Ya don't need to go to Sandhurst to figure it out.
Now if you're having to hunt up references to stories on RB about operations in the South, you sorta make my point. A quick compare and contrast finishes it off: I can whip up several hundred for US troops in the last 6 months - hardass operations killing asshats the hard way, house to house. I only asked for 5 - and spotted you two of 'em.
I should feel better after this little rant, but I don't. This is a major fuck-up.
#14
Vincent report:
Basra, Iraq â Itâs been a little over a year since I was last in Basra, and at first glance little has changed. The buildings are just as dilapidated, livestock still periodically cross the rubble-strewn streets, and the once beautiful canals remain clotted with trash. The heat, too, is the same, although the summertime onslaught of humidity that afflicts this southern port city â situated about 40 kilometers from the Arabian Gulf â is still months away.
âAfter the elections, the Islamic parties seized control of Basra,â Layla [Layla surived but was shot and left for dead along with Steven] explains. âNow they want to appear more respectable.â Indeed, all but six of the 41 seats on the provinceâs Governing Council are filled by a cluster of Islamic groups, such as Dawa Islamiyya, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), and the up-and-coming Fadillah party â affiliated with Moqtada al al-Sadr â which scored a coup when one of its members became the provincial governor [Basra provincial governor Mohammad Al Wa'ili] ....[snip]
Another change is the number of abiyas you see around town. As the religious parties flex their muscles, their various sheikhs and imams exert a steady, if unlegislated, pressure on women to cover themselves in hejab. Layla once wore Western-style clothing and a scarf; now she has to add a thin black tunic to appease Basraâs guardians of female virtue. âIf you donât abide by their wishes, they will harass you on the street â or worse,â she complains.
â This has become an Iranian city,â contends Salaam Wendy, a Basra native who recently returned to his hometown for the first time since he fled to Canada in 1986. âIn the â70s and â80s, you used to find bars, nightclubs, casinos â and no women wore hejab. Today, you canât even find secular books or music CDs, the religious parties have such control of the city. This isnât the place I remember.â
The shadow of religious fundamentalism falls across other areas, too. Take, for instance, Basra Provinceâs âelectedâ council, the first such body in the long history of the region. I put âelectedâ in quotes in deference to the cynicism of numerous Iraqis, who claim that the religious parties fixed the balloting: One young man who acted as a poll-watcher on January 30 told me how he saw party members direct voters to cast their ballots for the United Iraqi Alliance slate of Islamic candidates. The result is that many members of the Governing Council are party hacks with zero concept of democracy. Recently, I attended a workshop organized by the Research Triangle Institute, an American NGO. Ostensibly an all-day seminar in democratic principles, the program instead stressed simple, almost childlike concepts such as âunderstand that you are useful,â âbe aware of your skills,â âcompromise,â and â rather alarming, I thought â âbe calm when you lose.â Alexis de Tocqueville this wasnât.
âBefore the elections, the Governing Council was appointed by educated elites who chose capable people,â former Basra governor Hassan Alrashidi griped to me at the meeting. âThe elections have brought in people whose main qualifications are their loyalty to the religious parties.â [snip]
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/20/2005 3:17 Comments ||
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#15
whoops on the bold
Posted by: Red Dog ||
09/20/2005 3:19 Comments ||
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#16
The link would've been fine. Better yet, the RB story link to it... What, wasn't it posted on RB? I see... Do you? Did you read what I wrote?
This story makes my point - it's a major fuck-up. It sounds like the South is a province of Iran - not the relatively secure place that a lack of stories about actions indicates. I never even knew the Vincent guy existed until the story of his death. You imply you did - and read posts such as this. Why not post such great info on RB?
#17
I'm not going to defend the Brits, but try to justify their position. The local government is democratically elected. The objective should be to pacify the area, not to impose a particular form of government. Basra was quiet until recently. The fact the local police etc. are hopelessly infiltrated is not an issue for the Brits unless they challenge their authority. Eventually the central government needs to address the situation in Basra, but getting the Sunni terrorism situation under control must be job one. The last thing the central government wants is a fighting in the Shiia areas.
One final thing is these soldiers were under cover probably keeping someone under observation. Its a technique they developed over many years in N. Ireland. In Basra its almost certain they were keeping a Shiia extremist under observation. It could be that were 'made' and their target sicced the cops on them.
#18
Weak shit it what this is. We have been given to believe that every thing was wonderful in the south. I really don't care who is in charge but they should be on the next plane home. This "soft power" bull shit will get you run over by a D-11 in this part of the world. This shows that it's totaly true and was a known fact that some fool though he could disprove. Seeing a picture of a Tommy balling his tank and him on fire makes my blood boil. Someone needs a shit pounding and a one way trip home.
#19
Quite, SPoD. Looks like we need to double/triple the numbers in Basra and go after these mooks. Seems we got rid of one form of despotism only to allow it to be replaced by another.. clearly the sky will fall on your head brigade are in charge at the moment.. not for long one hopes..
Posted by: Howard UK ||
09/20/2005 5:13 Comments ||
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#20
Sending a tank to break down a wall and rescue their men is hardly a wimpy response.
#21
That it should come to that, after 2 years of supposed co-operation and training, is really quite something.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
09/20/2005 6:31 Comments ||
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#22
I agree w/ .com. The Brits have been openly critical of the US approach, while allowing Basra to become a bastion of Iranian-sponsored thuggery.
"democratically elected" means nothing if those elections come after the thugs have been killing and intimidating people for months. Which has been the case. Sadr backed down only when the US moved against his forces in Baghdad last year. He never backed down in the south because the Brits refused to make him. This is the result.
#23
I think we've been given a live re-enactment of exactly how the "British Approach" to things lost them their empire. This is nothing more than a continuation of the last 100 years of British "rule".
I'm not surprised at any of this.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
09/20/2005 9:08 Comments ||
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#24
The militias have also infiltrated the police, taking orders from clerics instead of commanders
(please excuse me if my understanding isn't what it should be. I'm trying to get up to speed)
I can see this grow into more headaches. So here we have the militia's taking over the Iraqi police? (are the Iraqi police set apart from the Iraqi trained troops?) If they can be swayed so easily, we should keep some of our guys embedded with them shouldn't we to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen. Seems the militia can be bought off too, not just the religious bent.
Posted by: Jan ||
09/20/2005 9:09 Comments ||
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#25
Is this activity contained to the urban and suburban center or has it taken root in the countryside further south?
Can a pacification operation be contained to the urban areas?
Do you like coffee with your napalm?
Those are the only three questions I've got regarding Basra. Tater ain't seen real kaboom.
Real kaboom make Basra go bye bye.
Tater go bye bye too.
#26
Looks like us British forces need to cut the 'peace keeping' crap and start RETURNING fire instead of just hoping these guys will just go away. Incidently did the Warrior vehicle caught up in the fire stew yesterday launch any smoke screen around it - if not why not? that woulda kept the Orcs i'd thought. As for the whole bit about our 2 guys getting caught by the iraqi police i say first how could this be - the media tell us iraqi police/troops havent been trained yet?? Well i guess they are pretty good after all and have been well trained seeing as they rather embarresingly caught our 2 guys. Second what the hell happened for us too go and knock the fcking jail walls down, surly a pure failure of any sort of reasoning or attempts to negotiate these 2 guys back. Seems incredably harmfull thing for us too do and i can be absolutly 100% sure that if American commanders took the decision to knock the jail walls down the condemnation would be going for months if not years for it/ why the double standards?? oh and another point where the fck was our guys air support - surly we have our own organic air supportor are we hoping uncle sam will provide it?? This event was a disaster and the Arab media will play us off for fckin chumps who are frightened to fight back, watch Zark move south as he sees what an easy picking us Brits are when compared to the Americans. Sorry to anyone i may have offended with this post but we Brits need to sort our forces out and soon.This is the reason people like myself wont join our lame army - its all talk and bravado about 'were the best' buts its outa date bull, now if i could join the US Army that'd rock! ROE that don't work against the soldiers.And again where where the fckin smoke dischargers??? Angry.
#27
SOD -- Gotta complete the unholy alliance "Zarq-Tater-Iran-Saddamites"
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/20/2005 9:53 Comments ||
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#28
This is what happens when you do not come down with overwhelming force, like .com sez. People like Tater need to be initially slammed. We play pussyfoot with hard cases like Tater and this is what we reap. You cannot reason with thugs. But they do understand power and their cads understand about dirt naps when their leaders take them.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/20/2005 10:41 Comments ||
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#29
i dont blame the brits. Weve been doing plenty of ops, but NOT in Sadr city, which has been effectively conceded to Sadr as long as played nice. Basically the coalition has been pursuing a Sunni first strategy, and leaving sadr alone, since August of 2004. This was useful in getting the political process going.
The tradeoff was the mess in BAsra.
What changes now?
1. The situation in Basra is SO Bad, they had to deal with it.
2.The sunni insurgency is finally on the run (pace the MSM) and now its finally possible to take on Sadr
#33
Yep, .com's 100% right--this is pretty serious if, in a once cosmopolitan city:
Armed militiamen rule the streets.
Armed militiamen enforce perceived infractions of Islamic law with beatings and killings.
Women no longer can go unveiled on the streets.
Physicians have been beaten for treating female patients.
The militias have also infiltrated the (13,000-strong force) police.
The militias take orders from clerics instead of commanders.
Voter intimidation is rampant, unchecked.
The worst part is that they ARE gonna have to go back and deal with this. I'm not for hooting "quagmire," but this looks like the real thing to me this time.
What the West cannot, but must, understand, is that the Islamics understand and react to one thing only: P-O-W-E-R. You have to make them do what you want, no exceptions, no mercy, which goes against the grain for us. But that's how it is there, with those type of people. So, how many years decades, do you think, will it take for the West to accept and then deal with the cultural phenomenon/reality of the Islamic world? And will the West be willing to take decisive action, regardless of world opinion (since that's what it's going to take to end this)?
Ain't never gonna happen, IMO. I'm wondering if we should pack up and go home. Opinions?
#34
"Zarq Promises Not to Fight Tater"; the other shoe?
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
09/20/2005 13:01 Comments ||
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#35
what evidence is there that Centcom wanted to crack down on Sadr, but the Brits refused? AFAICT the decision to look the otherway was NOT a matter of controversy between US and UK forces.
#37
It won't end until the problem in confronted directly and with constant superior force. It should have started a long time ago. Letting the rats freerange across the city of Basra and infiltrate government means normal folks are going to think twice before they even think about trying to stop it. Monday they would have done well, after fair warning of course, to start by opening up on the petrol bottle throwers and would be Warrior climbers the moment they showed the slightest indication of their intentions. There's no point in a show of force that is impotent under those circumstances. It only makes them bolder.
#38
LH: Weve been doing plenty of ops, but NOT in Sadr city, which has been effectively conceded to Sadr as long as played nice.
The playing nice part is demonstrably false. American forces have killed hundreds of Sadr's men in Sadr City. The following was just one incident: Meanwhile, US forces killed more than 50 Shia militiamen on Wednesday in a significant advance into a Baghdad suburb that is a powerbase of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the military said.
The forces, backed by tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles, advanced some 2.5km into Sadr City, a slum of two million mainly Shia inhabitants, meeting sporadic resistance. A US officer said soldiers killed âslightly overâ 50 Iraqis identified as firing upon the advancing forces. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the death toll.
#40
Where there is no choice, there is no freedom. Where there is no freedom there is no democracy. Therefore, where there is Islam there will be no democracy. Muslims live in social, economic, intellectual, and religious poverty. All Islam has ever been able to breed is tyranny and terror. You have dragged Americans into a lose-lose situation in Iraq. If we stay, they will murder many more good men in the name of Allah. And there is no rational hope for success so long as Islam endures. If we leave, there will be civil war between Islamic factions.
In Basra or Baghdad THERE WILL BE NO VICTORY
Opinion (based upon what, is just a tad unclear) noted. Thank you so much for your pithy input. We'll all commit quagmire suicide immediately. Trust us.
#42
.com
My point is softly softly or going in hard US style will not stop the inevitable. We will not install democracy.
Iraqis will elect a Shiâite government and they will impose an Islamic state. The Suniâs will fight them and America will be caught in the middle of a civil war. It will be like Vietnam all over again.
Under Islamic law and unified with Iran, Iraq will become what it was notâa clear and present danger to America. We will have set our actual enemy and the enemy of freedom on the throne. And we will have squandered American prestige and wasted thousands of American lives and billions of dollars in the process.
As in the case of Vietnam where we allowed Americans to die until we had achieved âpeace with honor,â so it will be in Iraq. The peace accords were of no value because the signatories did not share our values. The Communists ignored the document and imposed their will on the people. It was as if we had never been there.
Muslims, like Communists, do not honor treaties. The Qurâan says that any treaty between a Muslim and a non-Muslim is not binding on the Muslim. Muhammad used this tactic when he had too insufficient a force to invade and control his hometown-Mecca. He signed the peace treaty of Hudibyah in which he agreed not to fight with, rob, or terrorize Mecca for ten years. The following year, with 10,000 men carrying swords and spears, he returned and conquered themâimposing Islamic law. Throughout his career, Muhammad authorized lying to achieve his means. It is why he is noted for saying: âI have been made victorious with terror,â and âwar is deception.â
Sad to say, but our engagement in Iraq will end just like Vietnam. The only question is: how many will die before we declare victory and leave?
#44
Shep you can join the US army. That is unless it's not lawful in your home country if you do. I would ratehr you join the US Marines however. (Ducks and runs like hell.)
#45
For democracy to prevail, even a republic to succeed, the voters need to be enlightened and responsible. And they need to cherish the virtues which nurture education, freedom, and choice. Does this sound like present day Iraq? Do you honestly beleive we can turn it into post WW2 Japan? with Islam as part of the Iraqi constitution? omniscient No. travelled to the region yes, know the people yes. know islam Yes
#46
Only one problem CW. Iraq is not Vietnam. It's very different in many important ways. Only a fool, liar, or idiot would suggest otherwise. Given that, it will never end "like vietnam" for us or the iraqis. Can't tell you the exact future but I can assure you of that buddy. Anypart of that you don't understand?
Actually, he can't. The only non-citizens who can are green card holders (permanent residents) and Filipinos (a special dispensation from the time that the Philippines was a US territory).
I, as you are, am surprised the Brits let this situation get to this point. While all of us knew Tater Sadr was a residual problem, many including myself in recent weeks assumed he had been pacified beyond this point.
And yes, ZF, I am including those times we had to wax his Mahdi militia and when the Badr brigades and Tater's forces were engaged in sporadic fighting only last week. I thought he might play nice for a little longer, especially since he's looked so weak since Fallujah.
Hell, two days ago I was rethinking my position on allowing his dumb ass to live after Fallujah, as he was playing ball, specifically in regard to condemning Zarqawi.
But no dice, obviously it isn't enough that we give him his ghetto feifdom, he wants the whole ball of wax.
Or is this just the Iranian Red Guard stirring up trouble in their continuing destabilization efforts?
My limited perpective calls both very likely.
Sadr's control over his militia is the wildcard factor I'd like to know specifics on, as would many I'm sure.
Does he have operational and on the ground control as the MSM makes it appear, or just riding the whirlwind that the Iranians continually fuel?
I don't know how sophisticated his counter intel is either, but I am betting that these two British agents were watchin him and his Iranian buddies cohabitate, and the Iranians felt the eyes on their backs.
Perhaps that's why the Brits had to fetch the boys so quickly, loss of intel to the Iranians would have been 10x worse than this small loss of face in the MSM.
Maybe, all speculation.
I do wonder how this connects back to Vincent's assasination. I assumed the Badr Brigades did that dirty work to cover executions of Sunnis and Baathists, but it looks more like Sadr's kids at this point.
I thought that Rory Fellow's reference to our discussions following Vincent's murder was very accurate, in that we had this discussion then.
Note my and many others' comments re: Iranian influence in Shiia Iraq in that thread. Oh, and thanks Phil B, I never saw your response to that posting until today, point taken.
.com, I have gathered from recent postings that you have the point of view that the Iraqi Shiia as a whole would likely not bow to a Iranian/Persian rule, but...
Sadr, Sistani, Chalabi and the like would sell their children's souls to rule a cesspool, much less a nation so strategic and rich with oil, and they would give away the shop to assure themselves and their tribes' continued wealth and influence with or without the average Iraqi's knowledge/coalescence.
However, I think Mr. Winn is inaccurate in a Vietnam modeling of the Iraqi conflict. Different beast and all, remember Mr. Winn, there are many more factions at play here, and no outcome is certain. And, is an American modeled democracy our only and end goal, perhaps, perhaps not. We could settle for less, and maintain a "democracy" to a lesser degree long enough to get some things done to our liking. We do have other, equally important strategic goals in mind. But your point is taken.
However, again, IMVHO, Civil War is not only imminent, it is present in much of Iraq today.
That is the biggest threat to American designs in Iraq, and Zarq knows it, and has preached it for a long time. We all remember his letter to Binny.He is bringing that nightmare along nicely I'd say.
Sadr is a problem, but in the end I think he is just a small and insignificant player, and he will soon die like his father at the hands of a Sunni, regardless of Zarq's supposed alliances.
Let's hope a more moderate force at least fills his vaccuum rather than the Iranians, as I fear will likely or has already happened.
Good discussion though, Somebody tell Fred this is why I come back to RB every day.
#50
The first article of the Iraqi Constitution says: âNo law may be established that is counter to the sacred religion of Islam.â That means it will be a tyranny and that they will be terrorists. Elvis I think you have missed the point comparing the conflicts. I concentrated on the end result, that is all.....
#51
That doesn't sound right, Zhang Fe. What about all those illegal immigrants who join, then are sworn in while based in Iraq and other distant places?
Mr. Winn, we've been wrestling with this issue for a while. This time around we cannot pull a Vietnam "peace with honour," else in the end your daughters will be wearing the burqa and mine will have been raped to death in front of their father. You are not the only one who has spent time in that part of the world, or with Arabs/Iraqis/Muslims. .com lived there for years as a senior-ish programmer for one of the oil companies (.com, I'm afraid I never memorized your resume', figuring if I needed to know something about your history you'd be able to tell me), my own husband spent the better part of a decade developing products and starting up manufacturing facilities in the region (the Indians were shocked that he could read Urdu, but apparently it's just Arabic with another funny accent), a few of our correspondents only left the region when AQ/SA started attacking foreign business offices and compounds. Mr. Winn, sir, what is your expertise to make such pronouncements as you make here today?
#52
EHLTB: However, again, IMVHO, Civil War is not only imminent, it is present in much of Iraq today. That is the biggest threat to American designs in Iraq, and Zarq knows it, and has preached it for a long time. We all remember his letter to Binny.He is bringing that nightmare along nicely I'd say.
I think civil war is the worst thing that could happen to Zarqawi. Sunni Arabs are outnumbered 4 to 1. Kurds and Shiites hold the purse strings, because they control the oil. If there's a civil war, Sunnis will get massacred. What Zarqawi is trying to achieve isn't civil war, it's submission.
He is like a kidnapper slaughtering his hostages one by one, hoping that their loved ones will submit to his demands rather than see them die*. What he is doing isn't all that different from what Saddam did - attempt to compel submission via murderous rampages. The problem for Zarqawi is that his enemy is better financed and armed than Saddam's opposition ever was. In a war of attrition, Zarqawi can only lose. In a civil war, Zarqawi's supporters would be massacred.
* It's nothing particularly new - standard operating procedure for organized crime.
#53
Elvis, dear, this kind of discussion is why Fred keeps this website instead of just talking about stuff with a few of his also-retired military analyst friends (besides, I think he enjoys the snarks -- I know I do).
#54
TW: That doesn't sound right, Zhang Fe. What about all those illegal immigrants who join, then are sworn in while based in Iraq and other distant places?
The people who are sworn in are green card holders, not illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants generally get discharged and deported.
#55
TW
I wanted to know why Muslim militants were killing us. So I went off to Ground Zero for Islamic terrorâIsrael. I arranged to meet with the terrorists themselves. I asked members of al-Qaeda, Islamic Jihad, al-Aqsa Martyrsâ Brigade, and Hamas why they were killing us. They said, âIslam. We are following Muhammadâs orders.â
#57
We know that, Mr. Winn. They've been saying that for decades. But the PLO and its handmaidens have been at war with the West in their own little way for even longer, and they are/were pan-Arab Nationalist (ie secular fascist) in outlook. My father was fighting that in the 1930s and'40s. What else can you bring to the table?
#58
EHLTB: Civil war isn't the endgame of course, but a path to Zarq'a liking nonetheless.
You're thinking of civil war as being like a Chinese fire drill, with everyone getting in everybody else's way. Actual civil war would involve Shiites and Kurds systematically wiping out the Sunni population, much as the Sunnis used to employ these tactics against both Shiites and Kurds. This would definitely mean the end of Zarqawi and all his followers - a lot of innocent Sunnis would get caught up in the violence - but the end of Sunni terrorism.
#59
That last sounds right to me, ZF. But despite all his loudmouthery, I do believe Zarqawi is counting on Coalition forces to protect his Sunni innocents while he gets on with killing his opponents. His connection with reality being no better than others of his ilk...
#60
TW
I spent 10000 hrs plus studying the Hadith Collections of Ishaq, Tabari, Bukhari, and Muslim contain all that is known about Muhammad and his formation of Islam and wrote 3 books enough on the table?
#61
Within a year the Civil War Quagmire would be replaced by the Ethnic Cleansing of Sunnis in the MSM.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/20/2005 18:05 Comments ||
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#62
Right back to the real world, gotta catch Man U V Liverpool replay. Enjoyed the prophet of doom discussion kids stop taking it all so seriously! I was only messin with yer. Laterz Craig....
#63
I hope you got satisfaction from your studies, Mr. Winn, I wish I had the energy for such things. However, its usefulness in terms of predicting real-world outcomes in modern Muslim countries -- even Saudi Arabia -- is about as much as using the New Testament to predict the behaviour of England (within the Great Britain entity), or the Torah to predict the behaviour of Israel... or even American Jews of any shade of religiosity. Not to mention that the concept of taqiyah means one can't necessarily trust the answers one gets from one's more or less charming Palestinian-Muslim interlocutors.
#64
Mr. Winn, I assume you also have read Bat Yeor on dhimmitude, and Rantburg's own savants Dan Darling and Paul Maloney? (Dan has had a couple of very interesting internships, and a great many published articles on the current machinations in the MidEast, Paul seems to be specializing in the Muslims of the Indian Subcontinent.) And of course, young Edward Yee, who has interesting thoughts about everything.
I, on the other hand, am merely the wife of a man who so far has spent about as much time abroad in various more or less exotic places as he has at home here in the Mid-West of America, but I've listened wide eyed to his tales, and enjoyed entertaining the nicer of his friends and colleagues at my table. And I did make a home for Mr. Wife across the ocean for a few years, where one of our children was born. (Hence the nom-de-web ;-] ) I am considered an amateur in the Rantburg crowd, but then, I've never been ought but a civilian.
#65
The really sad part is that .com, OP, I (and others) were predicting this outcome with regards to Tater, I dunno, back in the summer of 2003. Not that anyone listens to us loudmouths, but it still rankles.
#67
11A5S: The really sad part is that .com, OP, I (and others) were predicting this outcome with regards to Tater, I dunno, back in the summer of 2003.
As I said earlier, I think Sadr is more valuable to us alive than dead. He got hundreds of his people killed without much apparent damage to American troops. Zarqawi we want dead, because he gets GI's and hundreds of innocent Iraqis killed. Killing Sadr won't end the movement and it would be hard to find a Shiite rebel leader more incompetent than him. The problem isn't that he's still alive - the problem is that despite Sadr's incompetence and military weakness, British forces let his people take over Basra.
#68
ZF: Let's take the logic a little further. If Tater is so incompetent, why hasn't some Shiite Zarqawi or Lenin come along and taken him down and seized his mantle? After all, Tater's been shamed many a time by the kafirs already, and that is about the greatest sin that you can commit as an Arab, right? I mean its the whole shame/honor thing. I would argue that this means there is no Shia wolf waiting to be sucked into the power vaccuum that killing Tater would leave.
In general, I've never believed in the power vaccum theory, anyway. You kill Lenin and Trotsky in September of 1917, and Kamenev and Zinoviev don't transmute into killers. They compromise with the Mensheviks and the Right SRs and the Russian revolution takes a very different path. There aren't 1000 bin Ladens. There's one. Functional psychopaths are rare. I've met a couple of them face to face in my life (one coincidentally nicknamed Tater). Functional psychopaths who have good organizational skills, ambition, intelligence, charisma, and _some_ brake on their egos are vanishingly rare.
Al-Qaeda's wing in Iraq says it will not attack Shi'ite groups, including that of maverick cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, which have opposed US and Iraqi military operations in northern Iraq.
Iraq's al-Qaeda leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, last week declared a war on Shi'ite Muslims in Iraq in response to a US-Iraqi government offensive on the rebel town of Tal Afar, considered a stronghold of the country's Sunni-led insurgency.
"It has become known to our group that some sects, such as the Sadr group ... and others, have not taken part in the massacres and not helped the occupier," the group said in a statement posted on an Islamist website often used by al-Qaeda.
"So we have decided not to hurt these groups in any way, as long as they do not strike us," it added.
The statement named six Shi'ite and Kurdish groups in the US-backed government or supporting it, and said it would continue to target them.
The authenticity of the statement could not be verified.
Sadr has led calls for resistance to Zarqawi's militant Sunni network, which has claimed responsibility for some of the most spectacular suicide bombings in Iraq since a US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Supporters of Sadr, whose Mehdi Army militia has led two uprisings against US forces, are considered the closest to Iraq's minority Sunnis.
Monday's statement appeared to be an attempt to avoid alienating Sadr, whose anti-US line has gained him sympathy around the Arab world where there is much suspicion of Shi'ite parties in the government of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari.
An audio tape posted on the internet and attributed to Zarqawi ridiculed government efforts to bring alienated Sunnis, the dominant group under Saddam, into the political process.
The speaker, who sounded like Zarqawi, denounced "the call to take part in the crime of drawing up the constitution".
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/20/2005 00:12 ||
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Somehow, I can't see this helping Sadr's popularity as the bombs keep killing Shiites.
I think we didn't kill Tater because Sistani asked us not to. Sistani said he would take care of it and he sort of did with some subtle and not so subtle verbal put downs.
Al Qaeda carried out the July suicide bombings in London to strike at "British arrogance," the group's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said in a video tape aired on Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera on Monday.
"The London attack is one of the attacks that al Qaeda ... had the honour of carrying out against ... British arrogance, the aggression of the crusader British against the Muslim nation for over a hundred years," Zawahri said.
He denounced Britain for "the historical crime of setting up Israel and the continuing crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"These and other attacks have revealed the true hypocritical face of Western civilisation that talks about human rights and freedom only as long as it is in its interest," he said, citing the planned toughening of British security laws after the London blasts.
A U.S. counterterrorism official said the tape was "al Qaeda's clearest public statement to date suggesting that they were responsible (for the London attack). But that in and of itself does not prove that al Qaeda planned or directed the attack. They're quite happy to take responsibility for any terrorist attack."
The U.S. official, who said the tape was still being reviewed by intelligence officials, said it was "still unclear what the nature and extent of their involvement (in London) was." Oh, please ...
Zawahri denounced elections in Afghanistan, saying they were not free and were carried out under U.S. occupation. "These elections are a farce more than anything else," he said. I find this interesting because it means he knew the Afghan elections were a success even though they just happened yesterday, which implies that he threw together a tape and had it smuggled to Qatar in a little more than 24 hours. I think that this goes along way towards affirming the position that he and Binny, wherever they are, certainly aren't living in a cage.
He insisted the Taliban were still powerful and said U.S. forces had to "hide" in their bases.
Al Jazeera said the tape was prepared by al Qaeda's media group al-Sahab, which distributes Islamic militant videos on the Internet, to mark the fourth anniversary of the Sept 11, 2001, attacks.
The video, excerpts of which were aired by TV network, had English subtitles and showed Zawahri apparently talking to an off-camera interviewer.
The U.S. counterterrorism official said the subtitles, along with the use of English speakers in past tapes, were a sign al Qaeda leaders wanted their messages to resonate better in the West and to get "better play" in the Western media.
"They are quite savvy on the propaganda front," he said.
In the latest tape, Zawahri, Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, also denounced reforms in the Muslim world promoted by the United States, saying Washington would not tolerate independent Islamic governments.
"The Americans will not allow any Islamic system to come to power even in the heart of the Muslim world unless it collaborates with them," said Zawahri, who wore a black turban and a white robe.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
09/20/2005 00:09 ||
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He could hae been condeming the elections in advance.
And how hyprocritical for him to complain that the elections were unfair when his ideology holds that all elections are unIslamic anyway.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
09/20/2005 1:14 Comments ||
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"The Americans will not allow any Islamic system to come to power even in the heart of the Muslim world unless it collaborates with them," said Zawahri, who wore a black turban and a white robe.
He doesn't understand a government "of the people, by the people, for the people", as his worst nightmare is a free and fair election. No one would willingly choose enslavement to such cruel self-appointed dictators. By the way, what does 'al-Sahab' mean? The Iranian Shahab missile means 'star', but that would be Persian, not Arabic, right? No one but US intelligence seems to think Zawahiri and Bin Laden are in the Afghan-Pakistan border region anymore, but maybe Zawahiri is no longer in Iran. I think they separated some time ago, but they could either surmise the outcome of the election or delay for two months before releasing them to confuse everyone. I'd bet Bin Laden is back in Saudi Arabia or some other remote desert region, probably fomenting the building mess on the Gaza/Egyptian border.
#4
"The Americans will not allow any Islamic system to come to power even in the heart of the Muslim world unless it collaborates with them," said Zawahri
If by "Islamic" Dr. Z means "committed to the violent overthrow of the United States and the utter destruction of all who share its values", well then he's on to something. Shockingly, the US refuses to cooperate in its own annihilation. From the Z-man's point of view, this is a grave injustice.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
09/20/2005 21:13 Comments ||
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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
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over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
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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.
Al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri said in a statement broadcast Monday that his terror network carried out the July 7 London bombings, marking the group's first direct claim of responsibility for the attacks that killed 52 people. The Egyptian-born militant also criticized the legitimacy of Sunday's parliamentary elections in Afghanistan and condemned Pakistan — the one-time ally of Afghanistan's deposed Taliban regime — for forging strong ties with the United States.
French anti-terrorist police detained six people yesterday as part of an investigation into networks recruiting Islamic militants to fight in Iraq, judicial sources said. Police from the DST domestic intelligence agency also searched a number of premises under warrants issued by three leading anti-terrorist judges. The suspects can be held for four days after which they must be brought before a magistrate or released.
An explosion aboard a passenger bus killed two Turks and injured 10 others near a Mediterranean resort, authorities said Monday. The attack was followed by a second bomb in a central Istanbul park, which injured a sanitation worker. The Anatolia news agency reported that a second device was defused in Ankara. The cause of the Sunday night explosion near the popular resort town of Manavgat in Antalya Province was not clear. Police would not say whether it was a terrorist attack. "We're thoroughly investigating it," the Anatolia news agency quoted Police Chief Naciye Ekmekcibasi of Antalya as saying. 
Four men who sold mobile phone lines that were only used around the time of the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri have been arrested, a Lebanese judicial source said on Tuesday. The men were on the list of ten mobile subscription salesmen handed over to Lebanese public prosecutor Said Mirza by the United Nations inquiry into Haririâs killing in a massive blast in February, the source said. Mirza issued arrest warrants against the four who may face charges of withholding information about a crime, the source said. 
The head of the UN inquiry into former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination, German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, is expected to visit Syria Tuesday to interview security officials about the murder, said a Syrian source close to the case. "Mehlis is coming to Damascus tomorrow" to interview Syrian officials over Hariri's assassination in a massive Beirut bomb blast in February, he told AFP on Monday. 
With Judicial Investigating Magistrate Elias Eid's questioning of four civilian witnesses Monday, judicial sources are expecting more arrests on Tuesday or Wednesday. The sources said State Prosecutor Said Mirza supervised the questioning of 10 suspects provided by the Internal Security Forces' Information Branch, all of which were cell phone dealers form either Beirut or Tripoli. It is believed calls were made in unison from several mobile phones before Hariri's assassination and then shut off together right after the bomb that killed him was detonated. The sources said Mirza examined the files of the suspects before sending them to the judicial investigator. 
Algerian press sources reported that gunmen killed four members of the security forces in the most recent acts of violence taking place in the country before the referendum regarding the pardon law by the end of September. The two Algerian dailies al-Watan" and Liberty said that gunmen believed to belong to the "Islamic group for call and fighting" killed two members of the self-defense citizens, citizens who were provided by the authorities with weapons in order to protect the civilians from the attacks, in Skikda province, east of the capital. The two papers added that the gunmen implanted an ambush for forces heading towards the site of the attack that resulted in killing one member of the national police forces and one member of the municipal guards and injuring other 4.
Two missiles on a paramilitary fort were fired in volatile 
Ugandan rebels from the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) ambushed a school bus in southern Sudan, killing 14 people, mostly women and children, officials said yesterday. âThe attack took place on Saturday, near the border with Uganda. LRA rebels attacked a school bus and most of the victims are women and children,â said a local security source. Pagan Amun, a senior official with the Sudan Peopleâs Liberation Movement (SPLM), confirmed the attack. âIt took place in Loka, a small town between Juba and Yei,â he told AFP.
Seven suspected militants accused of recruiting jihadists to fight U.S. forces in Iraq pleaded not guilty Monday at the opening of their trial in Jordan. The defendants, mostly Jordanians of Palestinian origin between the ages of 23 and 33, were detained in March and May and have been charged with plotting to undermine relations with Iraq by enlisting and dispatching at least six militants there. It was unclear if the defendants had links to Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian- born leader of al-Qaida in Iraq who is responsible for scores of deadly suicide bombings, beheadings and kidnappings in the war-torn country. If convicted, the seven face up to five years in jail. Their hearing was adjourned until Sept. 26.
Indian troops have killed three militants in a gun battle in Kupwara district, the Indian Army said on Monday. "The three militants were killed during a gun battle in the village of Lashtial in Kupwara district on Sunday," army spokesman Vijay Batra said. He said the slain militants belonged to the Hizbul Mujahiddin, adding that one of the killed men was a Hizb battalion commander.
