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Bangla Bigots clash with cops, 57 injured
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 4: Opinion
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Africa Horn
Chad declares 'state of belligerence'
The Chadian government has said that it is in a "state of belligerence" with neighbouring Sudan, which it blames for an attack on a border town last weekend.
That means they're at war...
That's not good enough for the liberal left, since the Chadians actually didn't declare war ...
If a state of belligerence exists, that implies they did. But they don't have UN permission, so it prob'ly doesn't count.
Chad's declaration is also awaiting certification from the editorial boards at the New York Times and the Grauniad...
Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor, a government spokesman, told reporters on Friday: "Chad is today in a state of belligerence with Sudan. The friends of Chad must support it by all means possible in this ordeal."
We should be in on that, but I'm sure the Donks would kill any move toward supporting them...
... cheez, you want someone to get hurt?
The comments came a day after Idriss Deby, the president of Chad, accused his Sudanese counterpart of plotting to destabilise his country, blaming Khartoum for a rebel attack on the frontier town of Adre. The president made the accusation during a visit to the town to decorate troops who killed about 100 rebels while repelling the attack by forces of the Rally for Democracy and Liberty. Doumgor said: "The government of Chad believes that one must not stop at simple condemnations of principle but that the enemy of Chad must be pointed out ... [Sudanese] president Omar Hassan Ahmed el Bashir."
AKA Shoulder Board Man...
Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  France backed them in their war with Libya. I wonder if they will this time.

Chad may even decide to 'liberate' Darfur. Wonder how the tranzis will react.
Posted by: phil_b || 12/24/2005 1:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Chad Chad Chad... make sure you keep an eye on that pipeline project.
Excellent opportunity for Libya to show its new colors.
Posted by: R || 12/24/2005 16:00 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemeni tribesmen free Austrian tourists
Two Austrian tourists were freed on Saturday by kidnappers in Yemen who had seized them to press the government to release fellow tribesmen jailed for trying to go to Iraq to fight U.S. forces, Yemeni officials said.

The Austrians were in good health and had been taken to a hotel in the mountainous Marib province, where they were kidnapped on Wednesday by members of the Abidah tribe, said an Interior Ministry statement.

"The two Austrians ... will continue their tourist programme in Yemen. Police are searching for the kidnappers," it said.

Tribal sources said negotiators, including senior Abidah tribesmen, had succeeded in convincing the kidnappers that the government would look into their demands.

It was not clear if the jailed tribesmen were linked to Islamist groups such as al Qaeda, which is involved in an insurgency in Iraq and has sympathisers in Yemen.

Armed tribal groups in Yemen, a poor country at the tip of the Arabian peninsula where central government control is weak in many areas, often seize tourists. They are usually freed unharmed after negotiations.

After the kidnapping, the U.S. embassy posted a statement on its Web site saying it had restricted travel for all its personnel to Marib and the northern province of Saada, scene of a clash last month between government forces and Shi'ite rebels.

Two Swiss tourists were kidnapped last month but later released unharmed. A tribal leader freed the two after receiving a promise from Yemeni officials that they would look into the case of his imprisoned brother.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 12/24/2005 10:22 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  JESUS CHRIST HAS REMOVED HIS BLESSING FROM AMERICA BECAUSE OF HOW CORRUPT THE CONFUSATIVES HAVE MADE THIS COUNTRY. CAN'T YOU TELL? http://www.mixposure.com/song.php?songid=14027
DON'T BE A CENSORING COMMIE; BE MAN ENOUGH TO KEEP THIS POST UP.
Posted by: DEAN BERRY -- REAL AMERICAN || 12/24/2005 10:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Hmmm. Handled skillfully, this could give us the beginnings of a Rantburg Classic...
Posted by: Dave D. || 12/24/2005 10:46 Comments || Top||

#3  No I didn't. Now be quiet and leave me alone. I'm preparing to be born and save the world.
Posted by: Jesus || 12/24/2005 10:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Happy Birthday Jesus. check your calendar tho', tomorrow is the anniversary of your birth.
Posted by: Doc8404 || 12/24/2005 10:50 Comments || Top||

#5  ROFL. Fucking Spammer.

It's not communism to remove SPAM, idjit. It's positively inspiring. You're about as "REAL" as any other lame advertisement. Now fuck off.
Posted by: .com || 12/24/2005 10:53 Comments || Top||

#6  .com,

I'm glad I read that a second time - with all the caps and the ranting, at first I genuinely thought it was Joe.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 12/24/2005 11:17 Comments || Top||

#7  JOE 2008
Posted by: bABY jESus || 12/24/2005 11:35 Comments || Top||

#8  All caps give me a migrane and fond memories of copying down Morse Code when I was a kid.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/24/2005 11:56 Comments || Top||

#9  Nice try Dingleberry
Posted by: Frank G || 12/24/2005 12:00 Comments || Top||

#10  LOL bABY jESus!
Posted by: beeGbus || 12/24/2005 13:13 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Bigots clash with cops, 57 injured
Riot on schedule, you might say...
At least 57 people including seven policemen were injured in the city yesterday as anti-Ahmadiyya zealots locked in sporadic clashes with the police, turning the downtown area from the north gate of Baitul Mokarram to its south gate into a battlefield for over an hour.
A quick reminder: the Ahmadiyyas are rejected by the Wahhabs and Salafists because the Ahmadi branch of The Religion of Peace rejects the doctrine of jihad by the sword. For those of you keeping score at home.
The skirmishes erupted when the police barred a band of International Khatme Nabuwat Movement, Bangladesh (IKNMB) activists from marching towards Dhaka Central Jail to hold a 'voluntary imprisonment' programme in the afternoon demanding a law declaring the minority Ahmadiyyas non-Muslim. The IKNMB has been running a hate campaign for over two years to press home the demand.
And the government's done not a thing to suppress them...
The agitators threatened to start from today branding all Ahmadiyya mosques as 'places of worship for Qadianis' and cautioning people not to 'mistake them as mosques'. They said they will also list and excommunicate the Ahmadiyyas across the country. The law enforcers in the city yesterday also foiled the attempt of another anti-Ahmadiyya fanatic group, Khatme Nabuwat Andolon Bangladesh (Knab), to march to Bakshibazar to lay siege to Ahmadiyya headquarters there. The police kept the Knab activists confined in front of the north gate of Baitul Mokarram National Mosque putting up barricades on the east and the west side of the gate.
I don't suppose they considered baton charging them, did they?
The Knab demonstrators left the area after handing over a signboard they had intended to put up at the Bakshibazar Ahmadiyya mosque, branding it as a mere 'place of worship', to the police, asking them to do the job in their stead. But the police dismissed the request.
"Piss off! (Nazis! I hate those guys!)"
"No question arises of putting up the signboard there. The signboard will remain in our custody," Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner SM Mizanur Rahman told the press. "We will not tolerate any attack on the Ahmadiyyas," he affirmed.

Anti-Ahmadiyya agitation since 1987 has claimed the lives of eight people. The smear campaign got fresh vigour in November 2003, when the zealots attacked an Ahmadiyya Mosque in Nakhalpara in the city. They have continued the anti-Ahmadiyya campaign since then and have hung similar signboards at four key Ahmadiyya mosques in Chittagong, Khulna, Bogra and Patuakhali. A government ban on the Ahmadiyya publications on January 8 last year further encouraged the religious zealots to carry on with their agenda.

The IKNMB activists started gathering in the city's Muktangan yesterday in the noon. About 1,000 IKNMB members clad in panjabi, pajama and topi from different parts of the country occupied the road between Paltan and the Zero Point to hold a pre-announced rally. They made a podium by putting two trucks together. A group of some 40 IKNMB activists took position in front of the podium, posing as handcuffed prisoners with the upper part of their body bare and hands tied in front with rope. IKNMB leaders speaking at the rally stressed the need for branding the Ahmadiyyas non-Muslim and enacting a law towards this end. As the participants chanted slogans like 'Qadianis [Ahmadiyyas] are Kafir' and 'let's set fire to their dens', their leaders continued with delivering instigating speeches. "The government has betrayed the Touhidee Janata [monotheist people] by showing indifference to our demand. Now we have no demand from the government. It's time to implement our demands ourselves," IKNMB President Mahmudul Hasan Mamtazi told the rally.

IKNMB Secretary General Nazmul Haque directed the IKNMB members to list the Ahmadiyyas, excommunicate them, bar them from using Islami terms and not allow them burial in Muslim graveyards. The IKNMB leaders claimed the 4-party coalition had come to power banking on the Muslims' votes and threatened that they would not let it come to power again, as it betrayed the Touhidee Janata. After the rally, Mamtazi and Nazmul led a procession towards the Central Jail, but the police, who earlier had erected a barricade at the Zero Point, intercepted them there. As the IKNMB activists attempted to break through the barricade at 4:20pm, the police baton-charged them, splitting the mob into two groups.
Well, that makes me feel a little better...
One group of the demonstrators rushed to the south gate of Baitul Mokarram Mosque, while the police continued charging baton on the other group standing in front of Muktangan, injuring at least 30 of them. The IKNMB group at the south gate of Baitul Mokarram started throwing brickbats at the police. The agitators vandalised five vehicles including a police van and an oil lorry. As the police chased them, they backtracked to the east gate of the mosque, with the police chasing them up the stairs. At least 20 IKNMB activists were hurt this time, while seven policemen were injured in the zealots' attack.

After the clash, the IKNMB held a short rally in the Muktangan, where it vowed to evict the Ahmadiyyas from Bangladesh. The IKNMB leaders also announced to hold demonstrations across the country and bring out a procession from Baitul Mokarram after the Asr prayers today to protest the police attack. They claimed the police injured some 200 of their activists and picked up 200 others. But, the police said they have not arrested any one. Talking to The Daily Star over telephone yesterday evening, Mamtazi claimed the police also attacked IKNMB supporters at Rahim Metal Jame Mosque in Tejgaon and fired three tear gas cells, injuring three people including him. But, the IKNMB secretary general told The Daily Star no such incident took place.

Ten platoons of police were deployed at the Ahmadiyya headquarters yesterday morning to bar Knab zealots from besieging it after the Juma prayers, as they had announced earlier. Law enforcers were also deployed at different city points from Baitul Mokarram to Bakshibazar to check violence. The Knab held a rally at the north gate of Baitul Mokarram after the Juma prayers. Speakers at the rally made a three-point demand including introduction of a law to stop 'insult' to the last prophet, Hazrat Mohammad, and deception in the name of Islam 'being done by the Ahmadiyyas', and declaring them non-Muslim. "Bangladeshis have sacrificed their lives for their language in 1952. Thirty lakh people gave their lives during the Liberation War. Now 60 lakh others will offer their lives to oust the Ahmadiyyas and thus uphold the honour of Islam," Knab Amir Noor Hossain Nurani said. "It has to be decided now whether the price of Bangladesh is more than that of the last prophet," he said, vowing to sacrifice lives in thousands to realise their demands. "The Ahmadiyyas, Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh militants, atheists and Murtads [deviators] are of the same roots," he told intelligence agencies.

After the Knab demonstrators failed to break through the police barricade, they held another short rally, where Nurani issued an ultimatum to declare the Ahmadiyyas non-Muslim by the Eid-ul Azha next month. He also announced to besiege the Ahmadiyya mosque at Dhanikhola in Mymensingh on February 10 and another at Jyotondranagar in Satkhira on April 17.

Civil society members and rights activists including members of Ain-O-Salish Kendra and Nari Pakkha gathered at the Central Shaheed Minar in the morning carrying the national flag. They later marched to the Ahmadiyya headquarters and stayed there until the afternoon to stop any attack on the Ahmadiyyas by the zealots. There is no room of extremists in the country and they will not be spared, said State Minister for Religious Affairs Mosharef Hossain Shajahan yesterday. "There may be difference of opinion among the followers of a religion, but no-one can attack others for such a difference," he maintained. "We're taking steps against these people and will stop them," he told the BBC Bangla Service yesterday evening.
"Starting any time, now..."
Asked why the government does not take any permanent step against the anti-Ahmadiyyas, the state minister said, "Steps can be taken against them under the existing laws, if they hold any programme. We are now burdened with bombings across the country and have our attention focussed on solving this issue."
Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Here is am example of the kind of men who lead the anti-Ahmadiyya movement.
Posted by: Paul Moloney || 12/24/2005 1:11 Comments || Top||

#2  demanding a law declaring the minority Ahmadiyyas non-Muslim.

How sweet..they want to be just like Pakistan.


Posted by: john || 12/24/2005 12:42 Comments || Top||

#3  ahhhhh the tolerance of the religion of peace™
Posted by: Frank G || 12/24/2005 13:19 Comments || Top||

#4  I think we've finally found those "moderate" Muslims, and the rest of the faith hates them. How appropriate.

Napalm the hate groups when they gather, chase the survivors into the ocean and let them drown.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/24/2005 16:34 Comments || Top||


Militant outfit Ahab demands Galib's release
Call them Ishmael...
Leaders of militant outfit Ahle Hadith Andolon Bangladesh (Ahab) yesterday demanded release of Ahab chief Dr Asadullah Al Galib, denying allegations of their links to international terrorist organisation al Qaeda and banned Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) as well as their secret activities in a peacekeeping mission of Bangladesh army abroad. "Whatever be the allegations, we are not involved anyway in militancy," acting Ahab chief Dr Mohammad Muslehuddin claimed at a press conference in the city.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
He however did not substantiate his claim and failed to answer properly queries from journalists.

Categorically blaming Jamaat-e Islami for militancy in the country, the Ahab leader said, "There is no need to find out who are behind militancy. They (Jamaat) themselves confessed to such crimes. Has Nizami (Jamaat chief and minister Motiur Rahman Nizami ) been arrested although most people and organisations are holding him responsible (for militancy)?" In an oblique reference to Jamaat, he said political vengeance of an Islamic party was responsible for arrests of Galib and other Ahab leaders.

Muslehuddin, a Madina University scholar and teacher at Chittagong Islamic University established by the suspect Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS), said false propaganda by some expelled Ahab leaders, newspaper reports and wrong intelligence reports also led to arrests of Ahab leaders. "Intelligence agencies of our country appear to be ever asleep , we doubt if they are alerted even after August 17 (countrywide blasts," he said.

The press conference was attended by, among others, Ahab General Secretary Abdul Wadud, Galib-run Al Tahreek editor Dr Sakhawat Hossain, Ahle Hadith Jubo Sangha (AHJS) acting President Kabirul Islam and Rajshahi Ahab President Abul Kalam Azad.

Asked how he can deny Ahab links to Al Qaeda when Osama Bin Laden's close associate Sheikh Abdullah Nasser Al Rahmani of Pakistan was welcomed at an Ahab conference, Muslehuddin said, "We invited him as a famous alem (Islamic scholar)." Criticising the US, Muslehuddin said, " Someone's being on America's list of terrorists does not mean one is a terrorist." At a 1997 Ahab conference, Galib named a number of guests from India, Pakistan, Nepal, the Maldives, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, including Nasser Al Rahmani, an alleged leader of Saudi Hizbullah. US Federal Bureau of Investigation announced rewards of $5 million for his arrest. On the presence of Abdul Matin Salafi from India, who was expelled from Bangladesh in 1988 for militancy, Muslehuddin said, "We invite people irrespective of ideologies and anyone can address our annual conference." He kept mum when asked how Matin Salafi can be 'anyone' when Galib had a joint account with him at Motijheel Branch of Islami Bank Bangladesh between July 1989 and May 1990 (after his expulsion). Matin Salafi helped Galib collect funds and establish links to militants abroad, especially in the Middle East and South Asia, investigators said.
Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


BDR seizes arms, ammo in 'gong
Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) seized some arms, ammunition and foreign currency from a forest in Baghaichhari thana in Khagrachhari district in the early hours yesterday. They seized one .22 rifle, one .22 bore revolver, one SMC, one pistol, nine bullets and Indian rupees 120, says a BDR press release. Acting on a tip off, BDR personnel raided the forest area near Uglechhari Primary School at about 2:00am and made the seizure. BDR is continuing a drive in the area.
Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They didn't borrow the Shutter Gun from the RAB safe?
Posted by: Jackal (from Moms house, like people on DU) || 12/24/2005 8:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Essms hardly worth the trouble.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 12/24/2005 9:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Seems, dammit, more coffee
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 12/24/2005 9:40 Comments || Top||


Rab releases Olama Dal Bhola chief
Chief of local Olama Dal, held by the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) early Thursday, was released in the evening the same day. A Rab team caught Mufti Abu Noman Mohammad Shafiullah, president of district unit. Olama Dal, from his Dakkhin Dighaldi residence at about 3:00am and took him to Barisal Rab camp.
RAB picking him up at 3 a.m.? Bet his toilet paper consumption spiked...
The members of the elite force also rummaged through his house but nothing objectionable was found. Shafiullah, also chairman of Dakkhin Dighaldi Union Parishad under the Sadar upazila, was released as allegations brought against him, including that of terrorism, were not proved after interrogation, Rab sources said. Local people gave the Olama Dal leader a rousing reception as he returned to his area yesterday morning.
Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Better look at line 19 of the macro. Premature halt.
Posted by: Leon Clavin || 12/24/2005 7:34 Comments || Top||

#2  "OK, let's go recover your arms cache. Get the shutter gun and 3 rounds of bullet from the same."

"Um, sir? F company has them."

"Drat! Well, Abu, I guess we'll have to let you go. This time."
Posted by: Jackal (from Moms house, like people on DU) || 12/24/2005 8:44 Comments || Top||

#3 
Jackal (from Moms house, like people on DU)
ROLF, big "J"! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/24/2005 11:18 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Caucasus Corpse Count
Seven Russian soldiers and two police have been killed in fighting in Chechnya over the past 24 hours, an official in the pro-Russian local government said Friday.

Six soldiers were killed and three injured in 16 attacks by Chechen rebels on federal positions, the official told AFP.

Another soldier was killed Thursday when the vehicle he was in hit a land mine near the Russian base at Khankala outside the capital Grozny.

Two Chechen police officers were killed and one was injured on Friday in another land mine incident near the southeastern town of Vedeno.

Unofficial reports indicate that the military continues to suffer losses despite Kremlin claims to have pacified the tiny, mostly Muslim province.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 12/24/2005 10:29 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Italian court issues arrest warrant for CIA agents
F*&kers - we need to rethink our aliances - Italian and Spanish prosecutors need to rethink their position in this world...
An Italian court yesterday issued a Europe-wide arrest warrant for 22 CIA agents accused of kidnapping an Egyptian cleric from Milan and flying him to Egypt, where he says he was tortured.

The move raises the stakes in the dispute between Europe and America over the CIA's controversial policy of "extraordinary rendition".

It means that police forces in Britain and the 24 other members of the EU would be legally obliged to arrest any of the suspects, who would be sent back to Italy under a fast-track system adopted as a counter-terrorist measure after the September 11 attacks.

The same procedure was used to return Hussain Osman, one of the alleged would-be suicide bombers in London on July 21, after he was tracked down to Italy.

The Italian prosecutor, Armando Spataro, said he had also asked Interpol to try to detain the CIA agents anywhere in the world.

Magistrates in Milan believe that a CIA team abducted Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, otherwise known as Abu Omar, off a Milan street as he made his way to a mosque in February 2003.

The wanted men include the alleged head of the CIA Milan sub-station, identified as Robert Seldon Lady, who retired to a villa in northern Italy but slipped out of the country before arrest warrants were issued in July.

Prosecutors issued the warrants in apparent frustration with the justice minister, Roberto Castelli, who appears to have been stalling on their demand that the Italian government request their extradition from America.

Posted by: Frank G || 12/24/2005 14:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wow. I'm sure they'll be as fashionable in their dhimmitude as the French. The nuances required of campaigning in a country with such large socialist / communist / moonbat segments must be daunting... But there will be consequences that Berlusconi & Co will certainly regret. Spataro will likely find his political future stunted, unless he can paint himself the "ist" hero. There's no coming back from such a position, though.

Imagine pulling back from the entire EU, leaving them to fend for themselves - in every way and in every respect. That may be the eventuality of the actions and positions the various leaders have taken over the last 5 years. Spataro just may have made Pat Buchanan a happy man, though it's not obvious, yet.
Posted by: .com || 12/24/2005 15:41 Comments || Top||

#2  My first point "fast-track system" and the UK you got to be kidding? Fast track for them means 10 years.

Second point cut this pile of Chumps loose. What are we gaining from any relationship with the EU. All they do is sandbag us an propagandize against us in their press. Screw them. Let them enjoy their dhimmi status.
Posted by: Mahou Sensei Negi-bozu || 12/24/2005 15:49 Comments || Top||

#3  I wouldn't mind if Spataro was given a nighttime visit by the big bad CIA
Posted by: Frank G || 12/24/2005 16:11 Comments || Top||

#4  btw I know alliances has two l's...d'oh!
Posted by: Frank G || 12/24/2005 16:12 Comments || Top||

#5  Maybe not a nighttime visit, but I'd sure declare him personna non gratta in the U.S. and never let him in.
Posted by: Darrell || 12/24/2005 16:17 Comments || Top||

#6  Hmmm, well I think it is time to accelerate our troop withdrawel from Western Europe. Break off any intelligence exchanges with them. Anything that comes from Italy, Spain, or Belgium,needs to be carefully examined, again, and again, and again. A six month stay in quaratntine ought to do it. Any visa application to the US from the EU countries will need careful consideration, say about six months. Every Italian military attache needs to be declared persona non grata. If they are going to declare the US to be nation of demons let's live down to their expectations and have some fun.
Posted by: toad || 12/24/2005 19:34 Comments || Top||

#7  obviously EU applications for visas need the Saudi and Paki treatment - 6 months in an in basket while in depth checkas are done. This dickhead prosecutor should have all visas denied
Posted by: Frank G || 12/24/2005 20:05 Comments || Top||


Italian GSPC involved in planning attacks Italy, Iraq
Police in southern Italy arrested three Algerians Friday on international terrorism charges and accused them of planning attacks in Iraq and Italy, police and the Interior Ministry said.

The three were arrested in a nationwide sweep against an extremist group in Algeria, for whom they allegedly provided logistical support, the Carabinieri paramilitary police said.

Officials suspect that they are members of the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, or GSPC, an Algerian group that allegedly provides fake documents to al-Qaida and seeks recruits.

But recently the cell had acquired a new role, said Gen. Giampaolo Ganzer, head of the Carabinieri special forces group that made the arrests.

"They were set to move to Iraq for terrorist actions, also suicide ones, and at the same time they studied more wide-ranging actions on Italian territory" Ganzer told news agency ANSA in quotes confirmed by his office.

In recent years, the GSPC has turned its sights on jihad, or holy war, beyond Algerian borders.

Specific targets of the allegedly planned attacks were not immediately known.

One of the Algerians was already in prison on other charges, and the other two were picked up in Salerno, near Naples, and the province of Catanzaro, the Carabinieri said.

Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said in a statement the three were arrested on international terrorism charges as part of a broad investigation that involved other countries "against the terrorist threat hanging over Italy and Europe."

Police conducted dozens of raids across Italy, seizing instructions on how to build explosive devices, documents containing addresses for web sites tied to al-Qaida and videos showing guerrilla warfare scenes and executions of prisoners, the statement said.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 12/24/2005 10:31 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Italian GSPC planned to attack US
Three Algerians arrested in an anti-terrorist operation in southern Italy are suspected of being linked to a planned new series of attacks in the United States, Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said on Friday.

The attacks would have targeted ships, stadiums or railway stations in a bid to outdo the September 11, 2001 strikes by Al-Qaeda in New York and Washington which killed some 2,700 people, Pisanu said.

The Algerians, suspected of belonging to a cell established by an Al-Qaeda-linked Algerian extremist organisation, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), were named as Achour Rabah, Tartaq Sami and Yasmine Bouhrama.

The first two were arrested Friday in the Salerno area south of Naples, and in Curingia, in the southern Calabria region, respectively.

Bouhrama, 32, had been in jail in Naples since November 15 in connection with another investigation of the GSPC. He is believed to be the head of the Salerno cell and to have liaised with other cells in Milan, Brescia and Naples.

The three in custody are also alleged to have procured false papers and funds to finance the GSPC, a hardline fundamentalist movement that rejects the Algerian government's attempt to draw a line under years of Islamist rebellion.

Pisanu said Friday's swoop was part of a wider operation involving other countries. Links were uncovered between the GSPC's Italian activities and groups in Britain, the Italian news agency Ansa reported.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 12/24/2005 10:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I sure hope that none of these arrests involved listening in on their conversations without a warrant.
Posted by: Curt Simon || 12/24/2005 13:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Lol, CS - think they ordered Italian sausage?
Posted by: .com || 12/24/2005 13:21 Comments || Top||


Italy police arrest suspected Algerian extremists
Italian police arrested three Algerians on Friday who are suspected of being members of an extremist group with links to al Qaeda, a police spokesman said. The men are being held in the southern port city of Naples on suspicion of breaching international terrorism laws and carrying false documents, the spokesman said. He added that magistrates believed they were part of a cell set up by the Algerian Salafist movement, which has links with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda group.

Friday's arrests followed the detention last month of three other Algerians suspected of contact with the Salafist movement. All three were originally held on terrorism charges, but only one of the three is still being investigated for terrorism links. Italy, a U.S. ally with troops in Iraq, has received numerous Internet threats purported to be from Islamic militants, who have vowed to strike Italian interests.
Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2005 00:16 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Dutchman jailed for 15 years over Iraq poison gas
THE HAGUE - A court jailed a Dutch businessman for 15 years on Friday after finding him guilty of complicity in war crimes for selling chemicals to Iraq used to carry out gas attacks, but acquitted him of genocide charges.
Which Saddam never had, of course ...
The court said Frans van Anraat, 63, supplied the raw materials knowing they would be used to make poison gas by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in the 1980-1988 war with Iran and used against its own Kurdish population, including an attack on the town of Halabja in 1988.

The sentence was the maximum that could be imposed for the charge.
He'll serve what .. five, six years .. out on parole, welfare payments afterwards?
“His deliveries facilitated the attacks and constitute a very serious war crime. He cannot counter with the argument that this would have happened even without his contribution,” the presiding judge told a packed court. ”Even the maximum sentence is not enough to cover the seriousness of the acts,” he said.
I'd say.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/24/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good!
Posted by: phil_b || 12/24/2005 1:31 Comments || Top||

#2  15 years sentence in Holland = 15 years in jail
Posted by: lyot || 12/24/2005 8:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Trials, violence divide Netherlands
Yet Dutch prosecutor Bart Nieuwenhuizen boasted the day Azzouz was indicted that the requested seven-year sentence - which automatic parole would have cut by one-third - demonstrated that other would-be terrorists should think twice.
Posted by: ed || 12/24/2005 8:42 Comments || Top||


Great White North
Judge denies bail to Abdullah Khadr
TORONTO -- A Canadian wanted by the United States for allegedly plotting to kill Americans abroad was denied bail Friday by a judge who said he posed a flight risk. Abdullah Khadr, 24, who is being held in Canada on an extradition warrant, could flee with the help of the al-Qaida terrorist network, said Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy. ''That organization could well assist him in escaping this jurisdiction,'' Molloy said. ''This is not a person I would trust to abide by any restriction I would impose upon his release.''
Uncommon outbreak of common sense up north.
Crown prosecutor Robin Parker said Khadr will remain in Canadian custody pending his extradition hearing. ''This is an extraordinary case,'' said Parker. ''The allegations are very serious.'' He'll be back in court Jan. 10 for a brief hearing. Khadr's lawyers said after bail was denied that they were satisfied he had been given a fair hearing.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/24/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
Final Salute (Heartbreaking, but mandatory reading)
Via Peggy Noonan's OpinionJournal piece. Hat tip: Power Line. Severely EFL; READ IT ALL.
When a young Marine in dress uniform had boarded the plane to Reno, the passengers smiled and nodded politely. None knew he had just come from the plane's cargo hold, after watching his best friend's casket loaded onboard. At 24 years old, Sgt. Gavin Conley was only seven days younger than the man in the coffin.
*snip*
When the airline crew found out about Conley's mission, they bumped him to first-class. He had never flown there before. Neither had Jim Cathey.
[the Marine he was escorting home]
On the flight, the woman sitting next to him nodded toward his uniform and asked if he was coming or going. To the war, she meant. He fell back on the words the military had told him to say: "I'm escorting a fallen Marine home to his family from the situation in Iraq." The woman quietly said she was sorry, Conley said. Then she began to cry.
As did I. As would any decent person with even half a soul.
When the plane landed in Nevada, the pilot asked the passengers to remain seated while Conley disembarked alone. Then the pilot told them why. The passengers pressed their faces against the windows. Outside, a procession walked toward the plane. Passengers in window seats leaned back to give others a better view. One held a child up to watch.
Most Americans (and others) really are decent, caring people. And will show it every time they have a chance.
From their seats in the plane, they saw a hearse and a Marine extending a white-gloved hand into a limousine, helping a pregnant woman out of the car. On the tarmac, Katherine Cathey wrapped her arm around the major's, steadying herself. Then her eyes locked on the cargo hold and the flag-draped casket. Inside the plane, they couldn't hear the screams.

From another of the 12 stories at the site:
Commercial airplanes transport caskets every day - including service members killed in action. For the most part, the passengers have no idea what lies below.

Most people will never see the Transportation Security Administration officials standing on the tarmac with their hands over their hearts as a body is unloaded. They won't see the airport police and firefighters lined up alongside their cars and engines, lights flashing, saluting the hearse on its way out.

Occasionally, a planeload of passengers is briefly exposed to the hard reality outside the cabin. "They're going to remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives," Beck said, looking back at the passengers. "They're going to remember bringing that Marine home. And they should."
As we all should.

A deeply moving tribute to fallen Marines - and the Marines who care for the families through the notification, funeral, and after. It broke my heart, but I had to read it all the way through. There is no other choice.


Remains are shipped from Kuwait, for Iraq, and Bagram, for Afghanistan, to Dover AFB. The mortuary's a largish one-story building adjacent to the flight line. The staff is mostly Air Force, with a small Army contingent. The Medical Examiner is a civilian. He's a stiff-necked, very meticulous fellow, who seems to remember the details of every case he's handled.

Each set of remains has an escort for the entire journey. There's a rather uncomfortable waiting room for them at the mortuary. Every time a set of remains leaves the mortuary the entire staff turns out to render military honors.

The families are assigned a Casualty Assistance Officer whose assignment is to assist them with the military bureaucracy. They assist with the funeral and they help with questions on the deceased's personal effects. The military does its best to take care of its fallen.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/24/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  SAEPE EXPERTUS, SEMPER FIDELIS, FRATRES AETERNI
Posted by: Red Dog || 12/24/2005 3:01 Comments || Top||

#2  If it is true that "dulce and decorum pro patria mori," this is how the respect due that terrible sacrifice HAS to be shown. My heart breaks for the parents and friends left behind. I pray to God that we as a nation will finish the mission that these young men gave their lives for.

Barbara: thank you for posting this.
Posted by: mac || 12/24/2005 6:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Thanks for the insignia, Fred. And the additional info.

Mac - when I read it (and finally stopped crying), I could do no less. I wish there were some way to get everybody in America (and elsewhere) to read this.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/24/2005 11:10 Comments || Top||

#4  I've never had to escort a body, but when I was in Panama, I was in the honor guard. We had to stand to for several funerals, mostly of retired who had worked for the Canal Zone Company. We also stood to for the funeral of one of the South American ambassadors who died of a heart attack. I've also served as a pall-bearer (before my back got too bad) for several VFW-suppored funerals. You NEVER get used to the sound of "Taps".
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/24/2005 16:52 Comments || Top||

#5  I carried a friend from a site and sealed him for his long trip home. I promised him we would find the ones that did this, two years later we did. OP is right, Taps is the most painful music in the world. When I hear it, even on TV I cant seem to hold back the emotion. God bless those that have given their lives for us and be sure to thank those who have the painful task of seeing their brother to their final rest.
Posted by: 49 pan || 12/24/2005 20:29 Comments || Top||

#6  I used to work at the Pentagon and went to work through the Arlington Cemetery as it was the closest way to get to work. If I was going through while they played Taps, the sound just seemed to echo and I have never heard anything so soul-shattering in my life. I would have to stop my car and get out to salute.

I read this article and a couple of others and I literally cried like a baby. These young men and women of today just make me so proud of them. They know that they might not make it but they do it anyhow so that some other nation can enjoy our freedoms and also to protect us from all harm. I see the protestors and they are not fit to even kiss the feet of our young servicemen and women. I think sometimes that our younger generation took a look at their parents and what they did and resolved to try to make up for it in any way they could. They do us proud!!
Posted by: Chailet Hupitle1637 || 12/24/2005 20:56 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
J&K security forces kill 4 terrorists in gunbattle
Security forces killed four terrorists, including two in a 50-hour gunbattle in Sopore town of Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Saturday.

The protracted gunbattle, which began around 3.30 pm on Thursday following an abortive attempt by terrorists to storm BSF battalion headquarters in the north Kashmir town, ended on Friday night with the killing of two terrorists, a BSF spokesman said.

Bodies of two terrorists holed up inside horticulture department building and engaged in a gunbattle with Border Security Force at Sopore were recovered on Saturday, the spokesman said.

Mutilated bodies of terrorists, one of them burnt beyond recognition, were recovered alongwith their weapons, he said.

Sopore town remained under tight cordon for the third day on Saturday as the BSF troops were still searching the building where terrorists had taken shelter, the officials said.

A portion of the building was gutted during the encounter, which also claimed life of a BSF jawan and left six others including three security men injured on Thursday.

In another encounter, security forces killed two terrorists at Gujjarpathi-Sumlar in Bandipora area of Baramulla district on Friday night, the officials said.

The gunbattle broke out when troops laid a cordon around the village to flush out hiding terrorists, they said, adding a large quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered from slain terrorists.
Posted by: john || 12/24/2005 14:20 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  4 less Paki fodder
Posted by: Frank G || 12/24/2005 21:01 Comments || Top||


Hard boyz launch fresh attacks
Two bomb explosions toppled two electricity pylons in southwestern Pakistan yesterday, disrupting power supply but injuring no one, as militant tribesmen launched fresh attacks against government troops, an army official said.

The bombs were planted at the base of the transmission towers supplying electricity to Kohlu, a tribal town east of the provincial capital of Quetta, said Hassan Jamil, a spokesman for the Frontier Corps.

Also yesterday, suspected tribesmen fired eight rockets at government installations near Kohlu, which has been gripped by violence between government forces and armed tribesmen since last week's rocket attack while President Pervez Musharraf was visiting.

Six rockets landed in a field close to a Frontier Corps post in Fazil Chal near Kohlu, Jamil said.

The other two slammed near a railway station in the nearby town of Harnai, injuring one railway guard.

Meanwhile, police seized two rockets, three AK-47 rifles and two radio sets in a raid in which an ethnic Baluch tribesman, suspected of involvement in rocket attacks, was arrested, said Amir Farooqi, a local police chief.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 12/24/2005 10:36 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


2 Pakistani troops wounded in South Waziristan
Two soldiers have been wounded in a landmine explosion in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal area, near the Afghan border, officials say.

Around a dozen men have been detained over the incident, the officials say.

The explosion took place when the security personnel were out on a routine patrol.

The injured soldiers have been shifted to a military hospital in the nearby town of Bannu. Their condition is said to be critical.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 12/24/2005 10:22 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


8 more "Imam Mehdi" disciples arrested
Police have arrested eight more followers of Shahbaz Khan, the self-proclaimed ‘Imam Mehdi’, who were planning to take out a procession in Faisalabad, Amir Zulfiqar Khan, senior superintendent of police, told reporters on Friday. The SSP said law enforcement agencies would not let anybody play with religions and beliefs. He said the followers of Shahbaz Khan had their own ‘Kalma’, which was totally different from that of Muslims.
Whoa! They're for the high jump...
The SSP said police raided several places in the Sattokatla, WAPDA Town B-Block and Nawankot areas to arrest the men. Police also seized several weapons, CDs, computers, a list of friends, including women settled aboard, and international air tickets. “These people have a strong network and are keeping a very low profile. They have a heart-shaped monogram on which the word Allah is printed. Anjuman-e-Sarfaroshan-e-Islam is also written,” SSP Khan said. He said the men had planned to arrange processions similar to the one Shahbaz Khan took out a few days ago.
Still waiting for that earthquake he promised...
Shahbaz and his accomplices were arrested after a gunfight with police, which left two followers dead.
No leaders dead, of course...
The SSP said Shahbaz Khan’s followers were confident of their beliefs. “They are completely convinced that they are following the right man,” he said. He said there could be chances that Khan’s network is being funded by foreign elements. However, he said investigations were underway. “We are contacting Interpol to arrest Younis in the United Kingdom because he is also backing Shahbaz’s activities,” the SSP said.
Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Srinagar airport boomed
SRINAGAR - A blast occurred in or near Srinagar airport in Indian Kashmir on Friday, Indian TV channels reported. Some channels said the explosion was in the airport area while others said it was near the heavily-guarded air facility. CNN-IBN channel said five people were wounded.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/24/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Meanwhile, the lies propagated by the pakistani islamists get knocked down, one by one

J&K has the highest rural income in India

"The average income in the rural areas of Jammu & Kashmir, estimated at Rs 5,500 a month, was the highest across all rural areas in the country. Punjab and Kerala were placed at number two and three, respectively."

Posted by: john || 12/24/2005 10:47 Comments || Top||

#2  meanwhile

Seven militants gunned down in J&K

Srinagar: Security forces gunned down seven militants in Jammu and Kashmir during the past 24 hours, an official spokesman said on Saturday.

He said two militants were in an encounter at Sumlar in Baramulla district on Friday night. The encounter ensued after a search party was attacked by the militants hiding in a house.

Two more militants were gunned down in another encounter at Trakanjan in the same district. A large cache of arms and ammunition and some documents were recovered from the slain militants. In two more encounters, two militants, one each at Banwat kalyan and Khour, were killed, said the spokesman. He said the body of a militant, killed was recovered from the debris.
Posted by: john || 12/24/2005 16:38 Comments || Top||

#3  busy little Pakis.... must be the holiday season
Posted by: Frank G || 12/24/2005 17:41 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Al-Qaida raid kills 10
Armed men stormed an Iraqi army post at dawn on Friday, killing 10 soldiers and wounding 20 in an attack that lasted all morning. A civilian motorist was also killed and another wounded by crossfire during the assault on the outpost near Adhaim, 70km north of Baghdad. There was no account of casualties among the gunmen. In a website statement, al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for the action, which it said started with a suicide car bomb attack on a checkpoint.
Posted by: Fred || 12/24/2005 00:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel to Create Free Fire one in Northern Gaza
According to a report on Israeli radio on Saturday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has approved the creation of a security zone in the northern Gaza Strip to prevent continued rocket attacks on Israeli towns by Palestinian militants.

The radio report said the zone would be a no-man's land, where those entering would do so at their own risk. The Israeli Army will await an improvement in the weather before starting to enforce the measure. The army believes it can enforce the zone along Gaza's northern border with Israel without reoccupying the territory Israel left over the summer.
Posted by: phil_b || 12/24/2005 19:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Freeze them all out.
Posted by: newc || 12/24/2005 20:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Oops! That should read 'Free Fire Zone'
Posted by: phil_b || 12/24/2005 20:53 Comments || Top||

#3  also known as the "baby duck and stray kitten rehabilitation area/baby milk factory"
Posted by: Frank G || 12/24/2005 20:56 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
2 terrorists headed for New Year's in Thailand
The United States has warned Thailand that two Middle Eastern persons who are on its international terrorism watchlist as part of a terror network may attempt to enter Thailand during the Christmas and New Year celebrations, according to the chief of Thailand's Immigration Police.

Pol. Lt. Gen. Suwat Thamrongsrisakul said Washington sent the warning last week, saying that the two unidentified suspected terrorists may disguise themselves as tourists and enter Thailand during the festive season.

The US government urged Thai authorities to apprehend the men and report to Washington immediately if they come across the duo, said Pol. Lt. Gen. Suwat.

The US has also warned several other countries to be on alert for travellers from the Middle East and Pakistan after the British and Australian governments earlier issued similar warnings.

"But so far no terrorist suspect has been apprehended," Pol. Lt. Gen. Suwat told journalists here on Friday.

Immigation Police in a bid to prevent any untoward incident during the New Year's holidays would introduce a 'Smart Card' system throughout the country in which fingerprints of foreigners are required, he revealed.

It is also estimated that more than 40,000 people will cross the Thai border to gamble in neighbouring countries during the holidays.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 12/24/2005 10:35 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


JI planning to avenge Azahari
Indonesia deployed thousands of troops to guard churches and places where foreigners gather Friday amid warnings that al-Qaida-linked militants were planning Christmas terror attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Maj. Gen. Firman Gani, the Jakarta police chief, said Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists might use the holidays to retaliate for the death last month of bomb-making expert Azahari bin Husin, who was gunned down in a police raid.

Azahari's shadowy network is blamed for at least five suicide bombings targeting Western interests since 2002 - including the Oct. 1 restaurant attacks on Bali island - that together killed more than 240 people. It also is accused of Christmas Eve church bombings five years ago that left 19 dead.

''The terrorists have said they will use the momentum of Christmas and the New Year celebrations to carry out attacks,'' Gani told reporters.

''They may not use a car bomb or explosives in bags anymore,'' he cautioned. ''They could be carrying small bombs that can be thrown at a building or into a crowd.''

Gani said security was being bolstered at international hotels, shopping malls and around the main business and embassy districts in the capital, Jakarta, as well as at beaches and other places frequented by tourists in Bali.

Foreign governments were not taking any chances either.

The United States, Australia, Britain, Canada and Denmark warned their citizens that the terrorist threat was very high, and advised against unnecessary travel to Indonesia.

Despite the threats, many Christians said they would attend midnight mass and other celebrations.

''I will be going to the church near my mother's house, where I have been since I was a child,'' said Trade Minister Mari Pangestu.

''Security will be very tight,'' she said, noting that 17,000 police officers were being deployed in Jakarta alone. Thousands more will be deployed in Bali and elsewhere in the nation.

Even more significant, Pangestu said, was an offer by 11 different Muslim-based organizations to deploy 7,000 guards at churches and other houses of worship.

Muslim groups have helped guard churches every year since the 2000 Christmas Eve bombings.
Posted by: Dan Darling || 12/24/2005 10:27 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Be safe Ken.
Posted by: 49 pan || 12/24/2005 15:34 Comments || Top||


Indonesia on high alert ahead of Christmas
JAKARTA - Tens of thousands of Indonesian police switched to high alert on Friday amid threats of extremist attacks over the holiday period, five years after deadly Christmas Eve bombings.

Some 61,000 security forces were fanning out across the world’s most populous Muslim nation, as Christians, who comprise about five percent of Indonesia’s more than 220 million people, prepared to attend weekend church services. “Full alert status is in place across the country as of today (Friday). This is a centralised operation,” national police chief deputy spokesman Anton Bahrul Alam told reporters.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/24/2005 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Senior Iran cleric sez Holocaust is a myth
"Holocaust is a fabricated myth of the Zionists in a bid to push forth their evil intentions," said a senior Iranian cleric on Friday. Ayatollah Mohyeddin Ha"Assumed massacre of six million Jews in Germany after imposing hard labor against them in concentration camps, known as Holocaust, is a sheer historic lie," said Supreme Leader's representative in Fars Province and Friday Prayer leader of Shiraz Ayatollah Mohyeddin Ha'eri Shirazi in an address to large groups of Friday prayers worshipers.

According to Irna, Shirazi said "They have now devised an international law based on which no one is allowed to raise doubts against the authenticity of that fabricated story, and made such practice punishable by imprisonment."

The leader's representative reiterated, "The President of Islamic Republic of Iran called Holocaust a myth quite righteously recently, but if in Europe swearing at God and messengers of Allah is a common practice and considered freedom of expression, why is expressing doubt against Holocaust a punishable crime there?"
Posted by: Dan Darling || 12/24/2005 10:39 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We get all spun up emotional about this type of statement. It's typical propaganda aimed at their people in an attempt to discredit their enemy, us, and increase their own credibility. This is not unlike Japan's history books rewritten showing them as nonagressors and omitting their war crimes of WWII.
Posted by: 49 pan || 12/24/2005 11:25 Comments || Top||

#2  ...And don't forget either that one of the things the Nazis did to make the Holocaust more tolerable to their own people was to dehumanize and demonize the Jews.

The Holocaust denying of the last month or so is our final warning. They are getting ready to strike with their own Final Solution, and we are ignoring it.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 12/24/2005 11:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Well you know what happens when you Ha"Assumed ....you make an ass out of ...well, just yourself. I'm thinking the survivors of the blowback when the clerics actually attack Israel will look back on these stupid statements and say "what were we thinking, letting these fools run the nation into a smoking hole?"
Posted by: Frank G || 12/24/2005 11:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Mike- No argument there. It seems to me they are doing this to prep their people for a war, just like the Nazis did. They are now forming an alliance with Hamas and Hizbullah, building their own coalition. The Iranians are waiting for what they think is the right time to strike. My guess is as soon as we go into retrograde in Iraq. We will be at our most vulnerable state then, just as the Dems want it, sorry couldn’t resist the jab at the Dems. I think they will hit both the US troops and Israel. What they are underestimating is our ability to turn the place into a glass plate. If they think we wont do it they are in for a surprise. As a matter of fact I think there would be a line of folks that would love to push that button on Tehran.
Posted by: 49 pan || 12/24/2005 12:00 Comments || Top||

#5  Come on, they're being paid by the Bush Administration, right?
Posted by: Curt Simon || 12/24/2005 13:18 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2005-12-24
  Bangla Bigots clash with cops, 57 injured
Fri 2005-12-23
  Hamas joins Iran in 'united Islamic front'
Thu 2005-12-22
  French Parliament OKs Anti-Terror Measures
Wed 2005-12-21
  Rabbani backs Qanooni for speaker of Afghan House
Tue 2005-12-20
  Eight convicted Iraqi terrs executed
Mon 2005-12-19
  Sharon in hospital after minor stroke
Sun 2005-12-18
  Mehlis: Syria killed al-Hariri
Sat 2005-12-17
  Iraq Votes
Fri 2005-12-16
  FSB director confirms death of Abu Omar al-Saif
Thu 2005-12-15
  Jordanian PM vows preemptive war on "Takfiri culture"
Wed 2005-12-14
  Iraq Guards Intercept Forged Ballots From Iran
Tue 2005-12-13
  US, UK, troop pull-out to begin in months
Mon 2005-12-12
  Iraq Poised to Vote
Sun 2005-12-11
  Chechens confirm death of also al-Saif, deputy emir also toes up
Sat 2005-12-10
  EU concealed deal allowing rendition flights

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