Taliban fighters have had a falling-out in one of their strongest mountain redoubts in northern Kandahar province, with one faction apparently prepared to give up the fight against Canadian combat forces deployed in the area, coalition officials say.
"What I'm seeing is very positive here. There has been a split in the local leadership," said Lt.-Col. Ian Hope, commander of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group. "There are indications that one group does not want to fight any more. There have been yelling matches with words that are not characteristic in the culture. That is tremendous for the people here and has really boosted our morale."
The Canadian battle group is wrapping up its part in Operation Mountain Thrust, which has been the biggest coalition offensive in Afghanistan in more than four years. The operation has involved Canadian, American, British and Dutch forces moving into remote Taliban-held areas across Afghanistan's four southern provinces to counter a large and violent push by Taliban insurgents infiltrating back into the country from Pakistan. The offensive has been backed by U.S. air power including B-1 and B-52 bombers.
"The Taliban are literally watching us all the time, but they are unable to mount co-ordinated attacks," said Maj. Kirk Gallinger of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, PPCLI. "They are very cognizant that they cannot meet our force with force. We are convinced the days of the Taliban are over. Every now and then they do something that the media thinks is spectacular. They are a threat and a security issue, but they run from us.
While there has been no fighting between Canadians and the Taliban in northern Kandahar recently, Hope said that Panjwai, an agricultural area just to the west of Kandahar City, remained "the main centre for Taliban now. That's where their numbers are."
Canadian troops have already been involved in several deadly battles with the Taliban in Panjwai's labyrinthine orchards and vineyards. Commanders have indicated they will return there as often as necessary to deal with the Taliban threat.
As Hope spoke, some of his troops provided security during a joint Canadian-American medical clinic in the Meinshin District, about 100 kilometres northeast of Kandahar City. The area has long been one of the greatest hotbeds of Taliban activity and support.
Meinshin's deeply conservative Islamic traditions, which underscore why it has been a good refuge for the Taliban, were much in evidence Tuesday. All 167 patients seen by military doctors, nurses and medics in the village of Zamto Kalay were boys and men. It was the same story two days ago when a similar Canadian-American clinic in neighbouring Gombad saw 469 boys and men and no women.
"Unfortunately, the women are reluctant to come out in some communities. In such places, no amount of coaxing can change that," said Maj. Tony Littrell, a U.S. army epidemiologist from the Special Operations Command.
As well as receiving de-worming medicine, the boys were given oral polio vaccine supplied by the United Nations. As part of the charm offensive, all boys and men also lugged away goody bags stuffed with items such as shovels, rice, cooking oil, groundsheets, pots and wind-up radios.
#2
You've got to hand it to the Canadians. They've really hammered them with the help of the USAF. If any group of Talibs surrender, they should be hauled into Kabul to sign some papers in front of the Press. It's about time those treacherous media dicks learnt who's winning this war.
#4
All 167 patients seen by military doctors, nurses and medics in the village of Zamto Kalay were boys and men. It was the same story two days ago when a similar Canadian-American clinic in neighbouring Gombad saw 469 boys and men and no women.
So, why didn't they have female doctors seeing female patients in a segregated area?
Oh, let me guess...it wouldn't look good if it was written up in the New York Times. Accessory to discrimination, and all that. Better that we should feel good about ourselves.
#6
Dang...I thought this Taleban push to retake the 3 southern provinces, and then the country was paralyzing the coalition...er, the US effort? That's what I have been reading in the NYTLATREUTERSCNNMSNBCCBSNBCABCAP.
(SomaliNet) Colonel Abdi Hassan Awale Qeybdid one of the last remaining Somali warlords who lost his strong base in the outskirt of the capital of Mogadishu after hours of armed clashes with Islamic militiamen, has held a press conference in Mogadishu on Tuesday talking about the latest battle in which he described it as incursion launched by clan men on his policemen. Mr. Qeybdid told the reporters in Mogadishu one of Habar-gidir sub-clans covering under the Islamic courts has invaded the police checkpoint overnight killing five people, tow of the them were policemen and three others were civilains and taking away three battle wagons and several rifles of AK-47 and they also caused massive displacing,
The officials of Islamic courts indicated that their troops have eradicated a checkpoint set up by militia of former defeated antiterror alliance on the main road 12km to the capital. It was a key road links between Mogadishu and Afgoie district of lower Shabelle region in southren Somalia. Asked whether any one had talked him about the roadblock he lost, Mr. Qeybdid replied no one has contacted us about the removal of the roadblock and it was unfortunate clan-based militiamen had violated into my police station.
Since clan men under Islamic courts have attacked us, we promise to die for the defiance of our people and property, Qeybdid angrily said adding the clan who aims at another clan no matter what name they call themselves would not be successful, it is not to make people displace from their homes and it is not rightful to justify the Islams sake, Qeybdid said. Col. Qeybdid who was so in furious said they will defend their children and properties from any assault if God wishes. But he declined to launch an attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2006 00:00 ||
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Islamic militiamen seized a checkpoint outside Somalia's capital Tuesday in an hourlong battle that killed six people, according to a clan leader who accused the militia of breaking a new cease-fire. The checkpoint connecting Mogadishu to the Lower Shabelle region was manned by members of the Habar Gidir clan who had been charging motorists to pass. The fighting killed three clan gunmen and three civilians, clan leader Abdi Kaibdid said. "The Islamists made a surprise attack on my troops overnight," he told The Associated Press.
The militia took control of Mogadishu and most of the rest of southern Somalia this month. It signed an agreement last week to stop all military action and recognize the country's powerless, U.N.-backed interim government. But militia officials subsequently voted to replace their relatively moderate leader, who also had been reaching out to the West, with a radical cleric whom the U.S. accused of links to al-Qaida.
Salad Ali Jelle, deputy information minister for Somalia's interim government, said the militia's attack on the checkpoint was a clear breach of the cease-fire. "They should withdraw from the post they captured and go back to their original positions," he said. Members of the Islamic militia could not be reached for comment.
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CHINESE Premier Wen Jiabao today warned the United States against launching a preemptive strike on a suspected North Korean missile launch site.
This is not exactly curbing their dog.
Some commentators inside the US have urged the Bush administration to take the site out before North Korea can test fire a long range ballistic missile. There is also speculation the US is preparing an interception strike if a missile is fired.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard asked Mr Wen today to persuade North Korea not to act provocatively. After their talks, Mr Wen urged all sides to maintain calm. "We follow closely the information showing that there might be a possible testing launch of a missile in (the People's Republic of Korea) PRK and we are following the situation very closely," Mr Wen said through a translator. "We hope that the various parties will proceed from the greater interest of maintaining stability on the Korean Peninsula and refrain from taking measures that might worsen the situation on the peninsula."
And there it is -- the Chinese won't do anything to stop Kimmie, and they'll be real unhappy if we do ...
Mr Wen said China still believed the six party talks - involving North Korea, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Russia and China - were the best way to resolve the issue. "Therefore China will work actively on the various party concerns on this matter, so we can resume negotiations as soon as possible."
Mr Wen and Mr Howard discussed the North Korean situation and Iran's nuclear program during almost an hour of private talks in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen this morning.
Mr Howard would not speculate on whether the US would intercept any missile: "Except to note that all countries are entitled to look after their own position".
"No country in the world has a greater influence on North Korea than China has and I'll be encouraging the Chinese leadership to encourage the North Koreans to pull back and not to behave in a provocative fashion," Mr Howard said.
#1
Kimmi can't exist without China. Every move that has an external affect that is made by North Korea is cleared with China first.
Where do you supposed this technology to produce missiles of this type came from? These people have a hard time keeping their trucks running and growing food yet they can build and launch missles? It's not all home grown rocketry to be sure.
#6
After their talks, Mr Wen urged all sides to maintain calm.
Sorry we all got worked up, Mr. Wen. We forgot that everything was hunky dory.
Kimmie should have been history years ago when the other communist states fell. They did not because other countries gave the regime aid, including the US. Now Kimmie is feeling his oats because of our and the EUniks weakness in dealing with our adversaries. Kimmie is very useful to the Chicoms for divide and conquer.
Now we have to play catch up, big time. All these dictatorships play brinksmanship with the US.....because it pays.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/28/2006 10:34 Comments ||
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#7
The rotting husk that is North Korea needs to be cracked between two thumbnails wide open to reveal the starvation, cannibalism, tyranny and human rights abuses that epitomize the Jong regime.
Lurid photographic evidence needs to be captured and hung directly around China's neck for the collective albatross it is such that the entire world can see the communists' usual bloodletting. China has enabled one of the most horrific dictatorships to continue unabated and they must be made to answer for it.
#8
North Korea is a good testing ground for China to gauge the West's resolve in defending itself. With Clinton, the resolve was weak. Now it is strong. I am sure they are encouraging the Koreans to go ahead with the launch, just to see what we will do. They will keep North Korea much like it is now just for a measurement of western resolve.
#9
I would really like to see the Patriot take down the missle in the air, rather than an airstrike. I know there is a chance of a miss, but it would be a great symbolic event.
#11
Interesting the Aussies defense minister is in D.C. today and stated that they're working to use INTERNATIONAL powers to shoot it down if it's fired. Guess Howard made a quick call to his minister after he saw the Chicoms aren't gonna help.
Posted by: BA ||
06/28/2006 13:28 Comments ||
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#12
Whisper to Permier Wen Jiabao "If Kimmie is not gone by August the US policy will be to ensure Japan and Taiwan have missile defense systems and nuclear weapons and for China's goods to be banned from US Markets until the WTO forces action. Count on it."
#13
China "warns" US, North Korea "warns" US, Venezula "warns" US, Bolivia warns US, Cuba "warns" US, California "warns" US .... did I leave anyone off?
#16
Whisper to Permier Wen Jiabao "If Kimmie is not gone by August the US policy will be to ensure Japan and Taiwan have missile defense systems and nuclear weapons and for China's goods to be banned from US Markets until the WTO forces action. Count on it.",
I'm about ready to say that any candidate, regardless of political party, who has the scrotal endowment to whisper such sweet nothings to the Mandarins will get my vote, period.
#19
It will be an intersting world after North Korea collapses and the reunited Korea inherits the nuclear weapons and missiles.
What in blue blazing hades do you think the Chinese are so panic stricken about forestalling? Every single thing they do with respect to North Korea is centered upon averting that one nightmare (for them) scenario.
I do believe the volume has been turned up on the White House microphone
President George W. Bush accused some Democrats on Wednesday of wanting to "wave the white flag of surrender" on Iraq, and vowed that American forces would stay until the mission was complete.
Speaking just over four months before an election in which Democrats hope to wrest control of Congress from Bush's Republicans, the president took a swipe at those Democrats who are pushing for a timetable for troop withdrawal.
Increasing public disapproval of the Iraq war, in which over 2,500 U.S. military personnel have died, has contributed to low popularity ratings for Bush.
"We will complete the mission and I will make my judgments as to the troop levels necessary to achieve victory, not based upon political polls or focus groups, but based upon the measured judgment of our commanders on the ground," Bush said at a fund-raiser for Republican Sen. Jim Talent of Missouri.
"Make no mistake about it, there is a group in the opposition party who are willing to retreat before the mission is done," Bush said. "They are willing to wave the white flag of surrender and if they succeed the United States will be worse off, and the world will be worse off."
Bush vowed to "defeat the enemy," and said the United States had a plan for victory.
"We've got a plan to succeed, a plan for victory, a plan that will enable a new ally in the war on terror to govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself," he said. "The stakes are vital."
Bush said he wanted senators like Talent, who understood that "retreat is not an option" for the United States, to be in Washington.
Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, has drafted a plan for withdrawing American troops, among other options.
Democrats seized on that earlier this week to criticize Republicans for accusing them of wanting to "cut and run" in Iraq while the military was drawing up proposals for troop reductions.
I'd question the "breed" part, though. I think they want to have sex (even if it's just with themselves), but don't want anything productive to come of it (unless they consider the rash "productive").
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/28/2006 22:39 Comments ||
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#4
you're right I should've said sex or masturbate vice breed, more precise.
#5
Democrats might want to pay a little more attention to their President. His poker hand just might be a full-house. But then, he can also comfortably play two pair when the Dems are playing. Even Clinton, after this last presidential campaign, admitted, Bush is a good politician. So, even with a pair, he could probably rake in the pot.
LAHORE: Nine associates of Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) chief Nawab Akbar Bugti, including three militant commanders, have surrendered to the government and pledged to support development in Balochistan, Aaj Television reported on Tuesday. The commanders are Wadera Nayalan, Wadera Bangan and Wadera Saeed, who were wanted in over 100 cases of bomb blasts and rocket attacks, the channel reported. The leaders renounced Bugti's actions and confessed involvement in subversive activities on his and his grandson Brahamdagh Bugti's directions, the channel reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2006 00:00 ||
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QUETTA: A Frontier Corps (FC) soldier was killed and another injured in a landmine blast in Dera Bugti district on Tuesday, while two gas pipelines were blown up in the Pir Koh area. FC soldier Imran Shah was killed and his colleague Abdul Aziz injured in the blast in the Sangsila area when they were on a routine patrol. Separately, unidentified militants blew up two gas pipelines in the Pir Koh area, disrupting gas supplies to the Pir Koh gas plant. Sources told Daily Times that the gas pipelines were blown up with explosives early on Tuesday morning. There were also reports that a 220 KV electricity tower was blown up in the Chatar locality of Dera Murad Jamali district. Similar attacks in the past have been blamed on tribal rebels who are waging a sporadic revolt to gain political rights and a greater share of profits from Balochistan's rich natural resources.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Hummm... maybe if they make the pipes octagonal.
(KUNA) -- A roadside bomb explosion in Pakistani North Waziristan tribal agency, bordering Afghanistan, Tuesday killed over five including three soldiers and wounded many others, said officials. A military convoy was heading toward Miramshah, the regional headquarters, from Bannu district when on Mir Ali road one of the vehicles hit a landmine, being planted by suspected militants, security officials told KUNA. They said the explosion killed three soldiers, wounded one and badly damaged the vehicle. Following the explosion, they added, forces launched retaliatory operation in the area.
Forces targeted suspected hideouts of militants, officials said. It was not immediately clear how many people were killed in the operation but according to eyewitnesses two militants were also killed. The explosion occurred only a day after a suicide explosion in the same area killed six soldiers and wounded over 20. The government pointed finger at local Taliban militants who only a day before announced to observe ceasefire in the restless agency for a month. But a purported Taliban spokesman talking to local journalists from undisclosed location by phone denied the charges.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2006 00:00 ||
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Eleven Sunni insurgent groups have offered an immediate halt to all attacks including those on American troops if the United States agrees to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq in two years, insurgent and government officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Withdrawal is the centerpiece of a set of demands from the groups, which operate north of Baghdad in the heavily Sunni Arab provinces of Salahuddin and Diyala. Although much of the fighting has been to the west, those provinces are increasingly violent and attacks there have crippled oil and commerce routes.
The groups who've made contact have largely shunned attacks on Iraqi civilians, focusing instead on the U.S.-led coalition forces. Their offer coincides with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's decision to reach out to the Sunni insurgency with a reconciliation plan that includes an amnesty for fighters.
The Islamic Army in Iraq, Muhammad Army and the Mujahedeen Shura Council the umbrella group that covers eight militant groups including al-Qaida in Iraq were not party to any offers to the government.
Naseer al-Ani, a Sunni Arab politician and official with the largest Sunni political group, the Iraqi Islamic Party, said that al-Maliki should encourage the process by guaranteeing security for those making the offer and not immediately reject their demands. "The government should prove its goodwill and not establish red lines," al-Ani said. "If the initiative is implemented in a good way, 70 percent of the insurgent groups will respond positively."
Al-Maliki, in televised remarks Wednesday, did not issue an outright rejection of the timetable demand. But he said it was unrealistic, because he could not be certain when the Iraqi army and police would be strong enough to make a foreign presence unnecessary for Iraq's security.
In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that
President Bush's "view has been and remains that a timetable is not something that is useful. It is a signal to the enemies that all you have to do is just wait and it's yours. "The goal is not to trade something off for something else to make somebody happy, the goal is to succeed," he said. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
06/28/2006 18:50 ||
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#1
Actions speak louder than words.
Just stop it, assholes.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/28/2006 18:56 Comments ||
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#2
If I was cynical, I'd say that the numerous anti-American interests, internal and external, calling for a withdrawal timetable were, y'know, colluding.
#6
Sounds like a Palestinian hudna to me. Remember what happened in Vietnam? North Vietnam negotiated a ceasefire. We left. Saigon fell just over 2 years later.
#8
Eleven Sunni insurgent groups have offered an immediate halt to all attacks including those on American troops if the United States agrees to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq in two years
The US response should be favorable, pending receipt of the Sunni insurgent group's member names, addresses, telephone numbers, and weapons. A great deal can happen in 2 years.
#9
WELLLLL, from what I hear ole al-Maliki kinda likes us around.
So I bet he told them to not let the door hit them on the butt on the way out and to quit wasting his time.......and next time you clog up his appointment calendar, take a bath and have something meaningful to say.
I wonder if he asked them for a mailing address or a cell phone number?
IraqtheModel.com report is better. Man, they are rolling these guys up fast!
That's 'cause IraqtheModel is out in the real world, and the AP is at the hotel bar ...
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraqi forces have captured a key al-Qaida suspect wanted in the bombing of a Shiite shrine that brought the country to the brink of civil war, the country's national security adviser said Wednesday.
The official identified the arrested man as Yousri Fakher Mohammed Ali, a Tunisian also known as Abu Qudama. The national security chief said Abu Qudama was seriously wounded in a clash with security forces north of Baghdad few days ago.
Gut shot, we hope ...
Fifteen other foreign fighters were killed in the confrontation, he said.
Mouwafak al-Rubaie said the ringleader in the operation, an Iraqi he identified as Haitham Sabah Shaker Mohammed al-Badri, was still fleeing on the run. Al-Rubaie said Abu Qudama and al-Badri were in a gang that included two other Iraqis and four Saudis who carried out the attack.
The bombing in February of the Shiite Golden Dome shrine in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, set in motion a spasm of sectarian killing and revenge attacks on Sunni and Shiite mosques. The national security adviser said the gang planted bombs in the 1,200-year-old Askariyah mosque that obliterated its glistening golden dome, an addition completed in 1905. While acknowledging al-Badri was still at large, al-Rubaie did not say if the other members of the group had been captured.
He said Abu Qudama, the captured Tunisian, was involved in the killing the of Al-Arabiya TV correspondent Atwar Bahjat, who was shot along with two of her colleagues hours after the shrine bombing.
Abu Qudama entered Iraq in November 2003 and was captured ``few days ago'' in Udaim, a village about 70 miles north of Baghdad, al-Rubaie said. ``Abu Qudama confessed that he killed hundreds of Iraqis'' in different parts of the country al-Rubaie said, but gave no further details.
"More giggle juice, Abu?"
"Yessssh, Shank youse!"
``Iraqi forces and its intelligence have achieved major penetrations of al-Qaida and other terrorist groups,'' the national security adviser said.
#2
I wouldn't bet a plug nickel on this guy surviving an interrogation related "heart attack." You could jam a de-fib unit up his @ss and it still wouldn't buy him another hourminutesecond millisecond of life.
President Valdimir Putin has ordered Russian special services to hunt down the killers of four Russian hostages in Iraq, news agencies reported Wednesday.
"The president has ordered the special forces to take all necessary measures to find and destroy the criminals who killed Russian diplomats in Iraq," news agencies said, citing the Kremlin press service.
The order follows Monday's confirmation by the Foreign Ministry that four Russians working at the embassy in Iraq had been killed; they were seized in early .
#1
Won't this sort of cowboy justice just contribute to the cycle of violence? I mean, isn't this a law enforcement matter? What assurance do we have that the kidnappers won't be tortured, or that they'll be afforded due process of law?
No, wait, these aren't Americans, they're Russians. Never mind.
[/moonbat]
Posted by: Mike ||
06/28/2006 9:33 Comments ||
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#2
The last time the Russians hunted down hostage takers in the middle east, the islamists really came out on the short end of the deal. Hopefully we both can work to that happy end without an international incident.
#4
Hunting them down is OK. But what would hurt these guys more than anything, is if these killings got the Russkies to send 5000 troops or so, to give our guys some relief. They can take over an area. How poplular would the terrorist (I know, politically incorrect) be if they brought in the other Satin to a war in which they were just watching.
#5
Oh, dear, didn't I predict last week that this was Darwin Award nominee material on the part of the kidnappers?
I swear, 400 years ago, I might have been burnt as a witch....
#8
Hope the Russians are successful than following up Beslan, NordEast operahouse, etc. Though they might want to coordinate with US and Iraqi forces. Strange men skulking around with guns have a short life span.
Posted by: ed ||
06/28/2006 10:12 Comments ||
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#9
If I were a local commander I'd be happy to pass on whatever bad guy info I had to 'interested' parties. Provided, of course, that any further info recovered was passed back to me. Sure beats incarceration for dealing with recidivists...
Posted by: DanNY ||
06/28/2006 10:28 Comments ||
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#10
Yep, a strategic f*ck up on the part of the terrorists. A very amateur move thus proving that the amount of senior terror leadership that has been taken out thus far in iraq is putting junior islamonutz into billets they have no business being in. Of course, the muzzies will claim this op was really perpetrated by that evil genius Bush and the Jews IOT get the ruskies in the mix.
#11
If I were a local commander, I'd make sure the Ruskies didn't need their return flight. We don't need them anywhere near conflicts. They only exaccerbate problems. They'll butcher somebody just to report home that the job is done. Whether it's the right guy really won't matter. Note how effective they've been with their domestic muzzie problem.
#13
It wasn't a strategic fuck-up, it was all part of their strategic plan to isolate Iraq's government diplomatically. They kill diplomats, then countries decide it's not safe and withdraw their representatives. The UN withdrew after a terrorist strike.
Only problem here is countries like Italy, France, and Germany will pay well to get their people back. Russia evidently doesn't do that, and the terrorists had to do something with their hostages.
#14
Pooty is playing to the home audience, only he has no idea what his ratings are. For my money, uncoordinated Speznatz in Iraq is just one more target.
#16
DV: The last time the Russians hunted down hostage takers in the middle east, the islamists really came out on the short end of the deal.
My feeling is that the Soviet account of the operation was just typical disinformation spread to project an image of omnipotence. The fact is that the Russians weren't well-placed to do anything outside of Europe. I can't believe they had Muslim assets in Lebanon. Contrary to movies like "Navy SEALS", you can't just put a dozen friendlies on the ground in an area with ten of thousands of hostiles.
#18
As much as the Russians tend to fall on the side of these countries, you'd think they would have plenty of contacts and be able to rent all sorts of assets. I know a lot of these contacts are on the side the US is trying to make disappear, but they seem to do anything for a price, including plant IEDs.
You'd think there'd be some kind of backdoor semi-diplomatic channels they'd have to coordinate something, whether it be to put the info into US hands or go in and do it themselves. I would think the former would be the most realistic option. I don't think they'd put a bunch of troops in the country given all they've done, and I don't think the US would allow it unless they want to be team players 100% of the time. Unlikely!
Posted by: grb ||
06/28/2006 13:48 Comments ||
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#19
Russian special services
Basketballs? Mountain Bikes? Fishing? er .... maybe no?
#21
"The President gave the order to Russian special services to take all measures for finding and eliminating the criminals who carried out the murder of Russian diplomats in Iraq", the Interfax news agency quoted the Kremlin's press service as saying.
He said Russia hoped its friends would help to identify the killers.
The head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Nikolai Patrushev, promised to carry out the task "however much time and effort it requires", Interfax reported.
Posted by: john ||
06/28/2006 16:38 Comments ||
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#22
A short word.
Spetsnatz.
US Response?
No bag limit, just let us know where you are so we don't accidentally engage you.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/28/2006 17:08 Comments ||
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#25
Plus, the Russians have all sorts of friends and allies in the surviving Baathists and Saddam-era military personnel. Handing over info on the guys that killed the diplomats to the Russians to help them catch the killers, just earns the Baathists brownie points that can be traded in during the amnesty negotiations. Plus, the Russians tend to be VERY unpleasant during interrogations, and have NO qualms about bring in family members to make examples out of. Refusing to answer a KGB/Spetsnatz question usually results in the loss of a finger or toe joint, of which there are 60 on the average human. After you run out of them, they progress onto other tender locations.
#26
The Russians would never occupy an embassy without a full detail of intel and ops guys to support it. I must assume they have been operating in Bagdad all along and ol putin remarks are just a public admission they are hunting, sort of a friendly way of letting everyone know they are there.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/28/2006 19:44 Comments ||
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#27
How do you say "Can Achmed come out and play?" in Russian? in Arabic?
Makes no difference. I bet the Tigris has some really interesting "floaters" in the next few weeks.
AND I bet the US Forces will be more than happy to turn the other way while the Russkys do that which they do best.........make people die and disappear.
What is Reuters saying about this?
Can we outsource Guantanamo to the KGB?
How about building a new subway in Baghdad and let the Russians supervise construction using anyone they can catch?
#28
I hate to say it...but I'm not all that inclined to let the Russians in without a some sort of quid pro quo. Putin has been screwing the US...and is responsible for unecessary US military combat deaths becasue of his lack of cooperation.
#29
A favorite Russian interrogation method is simplicity itself. You insert a long blade of grass up someone's nose into the sinuses, inducing an insane amount of pain but without visible damage.
by Joshua Partlow and Bassam Sebti, Washington PostLRR
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki vowed Tuesday that no one who has killed Americans or Iraqis would be pardoned under his government's national reconciliation plan.
"The fighter who did not kill anyone will be included in the amnesty, but the fighter who killed someone will not be," Maliki said in his first interview with Western print reporters since he became prime minister last month. "This is an international commitment, an ethical commitment: Whoever kills is not included in amnesty."
This is probably an opening bid. I'd expect amnesty, or at least leniency, to be extended to low-level cannon fodder and to anyone who turns states evidence on their al-Qaida connections.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/28/2006 08:46 ||
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#1
That sounds much better. Of course, if you ask them, they never did anything like that! They're all innocent shoe merchants just trying to make a living.
Posted by: grb ||
06/28/2006 13:51 Comments ||
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#2
The "insurgents" want all foreign troops out w/in 2 years.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi security forces have arrested a Tunisian who played an "active" role in the Feb. 22 bombing of the Askariya Mosque in Samarra, a Shiite shrine, Iraq's national security adviser announced Wednesday.
The bombing triggered a wave of sectarian violence in Iraq.
National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said the Tunisian, Abu Qudama, was seriously wounded after he and 15 other foreign terrorists tried to storm an Iraqi military checkpoint, about 25 miles north of Baghdad. All the others were killed. After he was captured, Abu Qudama "confessed to all the information I've just told you," al-Rubaie said.
Abu Qudama operated under the terrorist cell leader, Haitham al-Badri. Al-Badri was "a known terrorist," a member of Ansar al-Sunna before he joined al Qaeda in Iraq, al-Rubaie said. However, Iraqi authorities "were not aware of his being the mastermind behind the golden mosque explosion" until Abu Qudama's arrest, al-Rubaie said.
"The sole reason behind his action was to drive a wedge between the Shiites and Sunnis and to ignite and trigger a sectarian war in this country," al-Rubaie said, referring to al-Badri.
Like 99.9% of Marines operating in Iraq, the men of 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines are out there every day operating with courage and professionalism in a hostile environment. In this case, it was LT Posselts platoon from India Company patrolling the streets of Haditha. Acting courageously in the midst of a firefight, the lieutenant performed heroically, though he declines any such accolades. Sgt. Roe F. Seigle reports:
Regimental Combat Team 7 HADITHA, Iraq, June 27, 2006 Marines here say a lieutenant who was leading Marines and Iraqi soldiers through the volatile streets of Haditha, Iraq, June 14, showed uncommon valor when he ran into a barrage of enemy gunfire to pull a wounded Marine to safety.
1st Lt. Rick Posselt, a 25-year-old from Crystal River, Fla., said he is not the Marine who deserves the recognition.Cpl. Michael Estrella, who was killed by sniper fire during that same patrol, is the real hero and deserves the recognition, said Posselt. The mission Posselt, a platoon commander assigned to the Hawaii-based India Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, led the Marines and their Iraqi Army counterparts on that day was like any other a patrol through the winding streets of Haditha. On this particular patrol they were searching for a suspected insurgent. [....]
When Posselt came to an intersection in a marketplace, the Marines began receiving gunfire and saw Estrella, 20, fall to the ground. Shortly after the initial cracks of enemy gunfire pelted the ground below and spit up shards of concrete around him, Posselt said his platoon was shot at from another direction. Posselts first instinct was to get Estrella to safety and he did so risking his own life in the process. As the enemy gunfire continued, Posselt ran to the wounded Estrella and pulled him approximately 15 feet to safety, further exposing himself to more gunfire.I just did what my instinct told me to do, said Posselt. I was just trying to take care of my Marines. Looking back, Posselt feels any other Marine in his position would have done the same thing that day. I just happened to be the Marine closest to Estrella when he fell, said Posselt. I had to get him off that street and that was really the only thought going through my mind. John B. Dwyer
#6
TW, I think that ES's comment was a reference to the Clint Eastwood movie (Heartbreak Ridge) in which Clint Eastwood plays a Marine gunnery sergeant who had won the CMH with the 23rd Infantry at Heartbreak Ridge in Korea. In the movie, the phrase was uttered by a particularly inept, vicious, and obnoxious company commander. My guess is that ES was trying to be clever as a tribute to the obvious heroism of the Marine lieutenant. But then again, I've been known to be wrong before.
#7
Ahh, he was being subtle, RWV? I'm afraid I'm not very good at that -- I need to be told things directly. If you want me to know you're quoting, you have to use quotation marks and attributions, or I won't get it. I hope you're right; I do hate disliking people on first acquaintance.
Elmeath Sleash8721, if I owe you an apology, then I'm truly sorry. Would you be so kind as to clarify?
#10
Now I gotta go rent the movie Heartbreak Ridge.
One of the great things about being old is that you forget the movies you've seen, and when you see them again, it like the first time.
Not that way for sex, though.
#11
It's rare when someone gets one over on the hard core RBr's. Impressive.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/28/2006 19:50 Comments ||
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#12
Gotta be honest, I somewhat fell for it, but I knew in the back of my head that Sgt. Highway was in a movie I'd seen...just couldn't place it. Guess I jump to conclusions about how insane the moonbats are in posting here.
Posted by: BA ||
06/28/2006 22:12 Comments ||
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Iraq has freed about 450 prisoners from Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad as part of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's national reconciliation plan to restore law and order in his war-torn country.
None of the prisoners had been convicted of any crime, Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie told CNN on Tuesday.
"These detainees were detained on a security basis," al-Rubaie said. "I believe it's a goodwill gesture toward our people in our country to show that the government is serious about the national reconciliation."
Through the plan, the government hopes to quell the daily insurgent violence and bring more ethnic and religious factions into the political fold. (Watch what the government is proposing -- 2:39)
Iraq has released more than 2,700 prisoners under the program and plans one more release this month, a Justice Ministry official told CNN.
Al-Maliki has vowed not to free anyone who has committed or been accused of terrorist acts, war crimes or crimes against humanity, like former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
U.S. lawmakers have expressed concern, however, that al-Maliki's plan leaves the door open for amnesty for prisoners who have killed U.S. troops in battle.
Al-Rubaie has disputed that, saying "Iraqi blood is as sacred as the American blood" and that al-Maliki intends to have "selective amnesty" for prisoners who have not committed crimes against Iraqi civilians, soldiers or coalition forces.
The prisoner release coincided with the government's announcement of new benefits for freed detainees, as they transition into normal lives.
Former government employees who had been detained and released will be reinstated to their jobs, and their service is to be considered uninterrupted when considered for bonuses, promotion and retirement privileges, The Associated Press reported.
Students who had been detained and released can return to school to take final exams and won't be failed for the past school year, despite time missed, according to the AP.
In a boost for al-Maliki, the reconciliation plan won the endorsement of one of Iraq's largest Sunni Arab groups Tuesday, according to the AP.
Prominent Sunni cleric Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samaraie offered the support of his Sunni Endowment, the state agency responsible for Sunni mosques and shrines, the AP reported.
He urged the government, however, to act quickly in completing the details of the plan, such as the disbanding of armed militias, according to AP.
Meanwhile, some insurgent groups are talking to the Iraqi government about possibly laying down their arms, two parliament members said.
"Some sources around the president said that groups may respond positively to the national reconciliation plan, but have conditions like American withdrawal and recognition of resistance," Kurdish parliament member Mahmoud Othman told CNN.
However, he noted that he does not know the groups' names.
Another parliament member and a member of al-Maliki's Shiite alliance, Hasan al-Seneid, confirmed the interest, telling CNN that intermediaries are "getting positive signals" from insurgents.
(KUNA) -- A Multi-National Forces (MNF) soldier died of his injuries Tuesday and four men were injured in two separate improvised explosive device (IED) attacks in Diyala. A marine from the fifth division died of the injuries inflicted by insurgents in Al-Anbar, according to a U.S. Army statement.
Meanwhile, one Iraqi police officer was injured today when an IED blew up at an intersection near his patrol in Baqouba, said a joint coordination center statement. Insurgents also detonated an IED in a residential area injuring three civilians.
Fourteen militants were arrested Monday in southern Baghdad, two of which are allegedly leaders of militant groups, announced a MNF statement today. The raid in Al-Yusufiya was based on information obtained from previous operations. MNF forces have tightened security in Al-Yusifiya after two soldiers were abducted and killed on June 16th. In other news, the body count for yesterday's booby-trapped bike attack in northern Baqouba reached 18 deaths and 23 injuries including women and children.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- In continued violence in Iraq, four Iraqis were killed Tuesday, over 22 injured, and a child kidnapped. In Kirkuk, two Iraqi civilians were killed and at least 22 injured when a booby-trapped car exploded near a gas station. The cars in the station caught fire as it damaged the surrounding areas. Gas stations have been generally crowded due to the shortages experienced.
An Iraqi policeman was killed by an insurgent's gun shot in Kirkuk; he died instantly. Police found a body punctured with stabbing wounds in Domiz. The man was identified as 59 year old Mohammad Awad Fayyad. Also in Kirkuk, according to police sources, militants in two cars were kidnapped a child.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- Three Iraqi policemen from a unit assigned to protect oil facilities in northern Iraq were injured on Tuesday. A security source said the three men were injured when a bomb exploded as their patrol passed by in an area north of Kirkuk.
Seperately, one of kirkuk's village chiefs was assassinated in his car by unidentified gunmen. In Kirkuk also, ceremonies were taking place at the Kiwan military base, on the occasion of the coalition forces' handing over the authority to the Iraqi army. A large number of senior officials attended the event. "The Iraqi army now is able to take over due to the continuous support it received from the Multi-National forces in the earlier stages," deputy of the denfense ministry said. Kiwan military base provides backup to the military units through the management and logistic support especially to the units stationed in Kirkuk.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- One Iraqi was killed and eight were injured on Tuesday when an improvised car bomb exploded in Al-Doura district, south of Baghdad. An Iraqi source said in press remarks the car exploded in a parking lot and that the number of casualities were only initial estimates. Today's attack occurred close to another assault when a suicide bomber blew himself up amid an Iraqi police force last night.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2006 00:00 ||
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Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has called on the United Nations to intervene to stop violence escalating in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian security officials say the Israeli army has detained more than 10 ministers and members of the Hamas-led government during a night-time raid.
It is not yet known where they were seized and there has been no comment from the Israelis.
Israeli forces have dug into positions in southern Gaza after an incursion to try to free a captured Israeli soldier.
Palestinian security sources also say the body of an Israeli settler kidnapped at the weekend by militants has been found in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Mr Haniyeh called on the United Nations to step in to deter Israel and protect his people.
Mr Haniyeh also expressed his sorrow at Washington's position.
US President George W Bush's spokesman has said that Israel had the right to defend itself and the lives of its citizens.
A spokesman said that Hamas militants have precipitated the crisis to their involvement in the abduction of the Israeli soldier.
For its part, Hamas says that it was retaliating for Israeli attacks on militants targets in Gaza in which a number of civilians have been killed in recent weeks.
#7
lol, Darrell! I expect fully that CrazyFool will be pictured front-page/above the fold as a crazy link between Cheney/Rove and Halliburton. Ya know, they'll ignore the real news going on in the Gaza Strip & even the IAF buzzing the tower at baby Assad's place...it's all about Bush-bashing. What a summary of a day:
(1) IAF buzzes baby Assad's palace.
(2) Syria can't do nada.
(3) IAF bombs Gaza City.
(4) IDF walks right on in to the Gaza strip.
(5) Paleo "security forces" mysteriously find the body of an "executed" (I say, murdered) 18-year old Israeli.
(6) IDF arrests tons of Paleo "government officials" (read: Hamas).
(7) Coffee shows his ignorance by NOT knowing the Paleos had been firing rockets into Israel lately.
(8) And, breaking news, President Bush says go ahead, Israel AND calls the Demos on the carpet for wanting to cut and run.
(9) Multiple Sunni groups in Iraq suddenly are offering to stop insurgent attacks if we leave within 2 years.
First, Israel's gonna make quick work of Hamas being "elected as their government," and quite possibly, finally get through to the MM's in Iran that they'd better not piss Israel off. Some here feel Iran (through Hezbollah) may well attack our boyz in Iraq. Not that I want that, but I almost hope it happens and they get a severe arse whoopin' like they've never seen. And, now, the Prez is finally using the bully pulpit for calling the Demos on the mat for wanting to cut and run. I have a sneakin' suspicion that we're gonna be seeing a LOT of action (both in Gaza and Iraq) tomorrow! Happy huntin' boyz!
Posted by: BA ||
06/28/2006 22:39 Comments ||
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#8
I can just see Kofi protesting in front of a IDF bulldozer.
ISRAEL had put its army on high alert for possible strikes by Lebanese militia Hezbollah after Israel's Gaza incursion and flyover of Syrian territory, a military spokeswoman said.
"This measure has been taken due to concerns that the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah or other organisations will try to trigger an escalation of hostilities by launching border attacks,'' she said.
The spokeswoman said Israel was not preparing an offensive operation but merely preparing its units along the northern border to "be prepared to face any likely scenario''.
Hezbollah, allied with Syria, has carried out several deadly attacks along the Israeli-Lebanese border since Israel withdrew its troops from southern Lebanon in 2000.
Israel launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip early yesterday in a bid to hunt down a teenage soldier captured days earlier by Palestinian militants.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed to use ``extreme measures'' to free conscript Gilad Shalit, as Israeli ground troops move deeper into the Palestinian territory late Wednesday, setting up roadblocks and arresting a Palestinian minister near Ramallah.
Israeli warplanes also overflew Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's palace in northern Syria while the leader was inside.
"This operation was launched due to the support and protection Syria gives Hamas, which is responsible for the kidnapping of our soldier (Shalit),'' the military spokeswoman said.
Syrian state television confirmed the incident, calling it an "aggressive act and an unacceptable provocation'.'
THE Israeli army has detained more than 10 ministers and Mps of the Hamas-led Palestinian government in an overnight raid in the West Bank, Palestinian security officials said.
Deputy prime minister Nasser al-Shaher and the minister of religious affairs, Nasser Nayef Rajoub, were among those arrested early today in the Israeli raids.
The raids targeted a building in Ramallah where ministers had gathered for the night, as well as sites in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, the sources said.
#2
If the Paleos execute any of those captured, what are the odds Israel brings these folks up on War Crimes charges? Maybe they can use the same booth they used for Eichmann.
A Palestinian militant group said early Thursday it executed an 18- year-old Israeli settler kidnapped earlier in the West Bank. The statement from the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza said the settler, Eliahu Asheri, had been executed.
The group, which has links to the ruling Hamas, had threatened to execute the Israeli if Israel did not halt its invasion of Gaza.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/28/2006 20:44 ||
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#1
That should just about do it. Lots of new Jewish beach front real estate opportunities soon to unfold would be my guess.
#5
1)Put Hamas officials in jail.
2)Take 100 Arab women and children. Put them in jail. Treat them extremely well and release them when our people are set free
3) Have a clear security zone in the border and periodically bomb the area.
4)Foster lots of chaos in Gaza, so the Egyptians have to take over. Let the Egyptians deal "properly" with Hamas aka Muslim Brotherhood
5) I am sure that I can come up with more. I have a great imagination.
#6
That Syrian flyover was a warning....hey, back off, don't get involved in what we're about here. I'm anxous to see what kind of kak our Iranian friends will come up with. Surprised we've seen no "Soodie rage" or condemnation yet.
Kofi Anan pressured Olmert to wait for negotiations, but the Israeli PM noted that the Hamas-led government was neither helping to release the hostages nor putting an end to rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza - which continued today. Anan was unaware that rocket attacks have been happening.
boggles the mind if true. Here's the money quote from an Israeli blog: Annan demanded an explanation for the Gaza deaths. When Olmert asked why Annan had not shown similar concern about the scores of missiles hitting Israel, Annan was nonplussed. "What missiles?" he asked.
#1
GAZA (Reuters) - An Israeli warplane fired a missile on Thursday at the pro-Hamas Islamic University in Gaza City, setting off a huge explosion, witnesses said.
Must have hit the ROTC directorate and set off a can of training blank ammunition.
If anybody in Gaza was still alive to hear it, it wasn't loud enough.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/28/2006 20:40 Comments ||
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#4
Kofi Annan is the poster child for why I want the UN to be dismantled and shipped to the Sudan.
He seriously does not have a clue whats going on.
I think someone should nominate me for the Nobel Peace Prize. I do as much for World Peace as he does. AND I probably know more about current affairs than he does. Since I read Rantburg and he obviously doesn't.
#6
Palestinian Group Says Israeli Executed
Jun 28 8:37 PM US/Eastern
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip
A Palestinian militant group said early Thursday it executed an 18- year-old Israeli settler kidnapped earlier in the West Bank. The statement from the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza said the settler, Eliahu Asheri, had been executed.
The group, which has links to the ruling Hamas, had threatened to execute the Israeli if Israel did not halt its invasion of Gaza.
Palestinian security officials in the West Bank city of Ramallah said they believed a body had been found.
Israeli forces arrested the deputy prime minister of the Hamas government, two other Cabinet ministers and four lawmakers in a raid on a complex of buildings in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian security officials said. Israeli forces also arrested Labor Minister Mohammed Barghouti. All those arrested were from Hamas
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/28/2006 20:53 Comments ||
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#7
kill them
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/28/2006 20:58 Comments ||
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It's one thing when a terrorist groups claim to have "executed" someone, but it enrages me when media use the word outside of quoting the terrs. Here's an example from AP (surprise, surprise).
After decades I cancelled my NatGeo subscription after they said that Nick Berg was executed.
THE Palestinian labour minister, Mohammed el Barghuti, has been arrested by Israeli soldiers at a roadblock near Ramallah in the West Bank, his entourage said overnight.
The arrest came as Israeli planes carried out an air strike on the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis overnight, an Israeli army spokeswoman said. "Our aircraft attacked a building in Khan Yunis which was being used to store arms and as a workshop for producing rockets," the spokeswoman said.
A Palestinian security source said two rockets landed in the courtyard of the house of Zaki Dardissi, a local official of the ruling Islamist Hamas movement, but that nobody was hurt. The raid followed Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip earlier on Wednesday, part of an Israeli offensive aimed at freeing an Israeli soldier captured by armed Palestinians.
#5
All geneology aside, this is great news. It's about time Israel began apprehending this band of murderous thugs masquerading as the Palestinian government.
#6
They need to parachute him into the middle of Gaza so he will get a firsthand look at the power plant and bridges... even if the chute doesn't open.
#11
Selling highly complex triple A systems, even RU produced systems, to muzrats is something akin to taking a Duroc to violin lessons. I doubt anyone's air force is too concerned.
Now it's Fatah doing it. Everybody has to have one, it seems. Not a joking matter, I know, but ....
The claim, made the al Aqsa Brigades of Abu Mazens Fatah, referred to a 62-year old Israeli civilian from Rishon Lezion. The police are checking to see if he is Noah Moskovitch who disappeared from this home in that town two days ago.
A large Israel Duvdevan commando force surrounded four buildings, including Fatah HQ, in the al Bireh district of Ramallah Wednesday afternoon and detained an activist suspected of involvement in or knowledge of the kidnap of 18-year old Israeli civilian Eliahu Asheri from Itamar, who has been missing since Sunday
#2
The Palestinians are now FULLY implementing everything the insurgents have been doing in Iraq, to the Israelis - Kidnappings, shaped charges, etc., etc., all involving Syria and Iran in Iraq, and now most likely involving Syria and Iran in Israel.
Time to crush the last roque regimes. And this time the Lions of Judah will join us in hammering the Lions of Islam.
#4
Cool beans. Now Israel can pretend that each of the three hostages have been sequestered in separate parts of the Palestinian Terrortories and now set about leveling all three of them in the search for their soldiers.
PS: The Palestinians can f&ck off and die. ALL OF THEM.
ISRAEL launched a ground and air assault on the Gaza Strip Wednesday, vowing to used "extreme measures" to rescue a teenage soldier captured by Palestinian militants.
Palestinians warned the offensive would only trigger more bloodshed, with the Hamas-led government slamming it as "military madness" and Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas branding it collective punishment.
It was the first major ground incursion into Gaza since Israel pulled out of the impoverished coastal strip last year in a highly controversial operation that ended a 38-year occupation. "We decided to use extreme means to bring Gilad (Shalit) home and we have no intention of reoccupying the Gaza Strip," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was quoted as saying in by public radio referring to the 19-year-old conscript.
"Last night's operation will continue. No one who is involved in terror will be immune. We have one central goal: to bring Gilad home."
Much of Gaza was plunged into darkness after war planes waged night-time strikes to blow up a power plant and three bridges as militants prepared for an invasion by building barricades and blocking roads.
Before dawn, tanks, armoured cars and bulldozers rolled several kilometres (miles) into southern Gaza, where the missing soldier was believed to be held, pushing into the disused international airport near Rafah. No casualties were reported.
The move followed intensive efforts to free Shalit after his seizure in an attack Sunday that killed two soldiers and was claimed by three groups including fighters loyal to Hamas. Israeli planes later raided a Hamas training camp in Rafah.
White House spokesman Tony Snow backed Israel's "right to defend itself" and blamed Hamas for the incursion, but urged Israel to ensure "innocent civilians are not harmed."
#1
Abu Mazen can call it whatever he wants. But it's punishment. Punishment for electing Hamas to the majority of the Govt, for being a pain in the ass, and for bagging a soldier and a citizen. Now it's pay time, and the tab is very, very large. Let them sit in the dark for the next few months and think about it. Let them walk 6 blocks for a bottle of water. Let them wait another 4 months for a paycheck. But somehow I don't think it is going to sink into their thick heads anytime soon that they may be their own worst problem.
#3
Israel needs to do the deeds and not talk about them. Take out the Hamas leadership now. Abbas can talk to his soup bowl for all we care. He is as useless as the Arafish.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/28/2006 16:16 Comments ||
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#4
One extreme thing out of this is that it has been very humiliating for Hamas.
1. a split between Hamas factions, which always existed was made public
2. The Hamas leader was shown to be powerless to control his own troops.
3. The Hamas troops were shown to be powerless to stop the Israelis.
4. The PA was shown as powerless to get an instant condemnation of Israel by the Arab League, Jordan or Egypt.
#7
It's time for Israel to break the back of the paleostains. I would strongly urge Israel to pull back from gaza, line up all the artillery they can muster, and walk shells back and forth across the entire gaza area for a week or so, THEN send in a strike force to take care of anyone that survived. Once they've finished, do the same thing to the west bank, starting with Ramallah. There won't be a "palestine" problem if there are no "palestinians". That means wiping out the paleostain refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan as well. Good riddance to a world nuisance.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/28/2006 18:12 Comments ||
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#8
Darfur, Gaza. What the hell's the difference? Ignore 'em both.
#9
The more I think about it, the more I believe the Gazans should all be deported to Syria. Hopefully they will do for Syria what they did for Jordan and Lebanon.
Posted by: ed ||
06/28/2006 18:32 Comments ||
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#10
I hope their "extreme measures" include a lot of extreme prejudice.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/28/2006 18:41 Comments ||
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#11
Abu Mazen can call it whatever he wants. But it's punishment. Punishment for electing Hamas to the majority of the Govt, for being a pain in the ass, and for bagging a soldier and a citizen. Now it's pay time, and the tab is very, very large. Let them sit in the dark for the next few months and think about it. Let them walk 6 blocks for a bottle of water. Let them wait another 4 months for a paycheck. But somehow I don't think it is going to sink into their thick heads anytime soon that they may be their own worst problem.
#13
It's going to be interesting to see how much of the tab the Euros are willing to pick up to rebuild this rubble pile. Especially as we all know it will be returned to rubble before the rebuilding is completed.
I think it's now an Airmap straight over baby Assad's palace by the IAF, lol! Flying's much cheaper and faster these days, ya know?
Posted by: BA ||
06/28/2006 22:23 Comments ||
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#18
White House spokesman Tony Snow backed Israel's "right to defend itself" and blamed Hamas for the incursion, but urged Israel to ensure "innocent civilians are not harmed."
It's Ok Mr Snow. There are no innocent civilians in Mordor Palestine.
GAZA CITY (AFP) - Two Palestinians were killed and another seven, including a baby, wounded when a grenade accidentally exploded in the southern Gaza Strip. Family members were playing with a grenade in the town of Khan Yunis when it exploded, killing 23-year-old Qassem Massud and his one-year-old niece, medical and security sources said Wednesday. All the casualties were members of the same family.
And you thought Fred just made this picture up
Posted by: Steve ||
06/28/2006 13:03 ||
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#1
Sound like Kennedy's playing with ice-footballs.
Throughout the day, Israel kept up the pressure by firing missiles at open areas in northern and southern Gaza. At the same time, Israeli aircraft created jarring sonic booms that rattled windows and nerves in Gaza City.
The military also destroyed the Gaza Strip power station that supplies energy about half of the 1.3 million Palestinians. The station powers many of the region's electric water pumps and Palestinian officials said it could take months to repair the power grid, raising fears of a potential humanitarian crisis in the coming days.
Palestinian militants refused to be cowed by the Israeli incursion and fired back with their own threat to kill Eliyahu Asheri, a Jewish settler kidnapped in the West Bank. The Popular Resistance Committees held a news conference to show a copy of Asheri's identification card and threaten his life unless the Gaza Strip invasion came to an end.
As Israeli troops punched into Gaza early Wednesday morning, Palestinian militants and soldiers began preparing for battle.
Around dawn, masked Hamas militants carried machine guns, rocket propelled grenade launchers and mines through the streets while others kept watch on Israeli tanks that rolled into the defunct Gaza Strip airport. "We are not afraid because we have God on our side and we have proven that we are able to hit the well-equipped army from time-to-time," said one masked Hamas member in an alley near the center of Rafah. Across Gaza, there was widespread sympathy for the militants holding Shalit.
In interview after interview, Palestinians said the Israeli soldier should not be given back without getting something in return, such as the 100 women and 300 inmates under the age of 18 held in Israeli prisons.
Time and again, Palestinians invoked the killing earlier this month of eight Palestinian picnickers during Israeli shelling of the northern Gaza Strip coast. An Israeli military investigation cleared itself of responsibility for the deaths, but that finding is in dispute.
No matter who is responsible ,facts being irrelevant to Paleos, the incident has become a rallying cry for Palestinians ever since images were broadcast around the world of 11-year-old Huda Ghaliya wailing over her slain father on the beach that day.
"When the world saw the Palestinians killed on the beach that day, nobody did anything," said a Palestinian soldier who gave his name only as Abu Mohammed. "When one Israeli soldier was kidnapped, everybody moved." Some people might call that a clue.
Abu Mohammed was one of nearly 100 soldiers who withdrew from the Gaza Strip airport as Israeli soldiers moved in. This is the most important part of Paleo battle preparation. Along with the soldiers butting in front of them, scores of Palestinians living in the area near the Israeli border sought refuge from the approaching forces. Among those fleeing was Abu Yousef, a 36-year-old father of eight who walked nearly two miles with his frightened children to a safer area.
Standing outside his house during a lull in the shelling, Abu Yousef said his whole life had been filled with fighting until last fall when Israel officially ended its military occupation of the Gaza Strip.
"It was good," said Abu Yousef. "It was quiet. Until last night."
#1
"We are not afraid because we have God on our side..."
When you are masked Hamas member in an alley near the center of Rafahlive in Hell, don't assume that's God there in your peripheral vision.
#3
If the Israelis even so much as suspect that a section of road has been IED mined, they should fire a minefield clearing ribbon charge down it. Since it's not their road, they're not the ones who have to fix it afterwards.
Then use a simple policy: any building used as a firing position or as cover will be flattened. If that means that the entire town is leveled, so be it.
#4
If the Israelis even so much as suspect that a section of road has been IED mined, they should fire a minefield clearing ribbon charge down it. Since it's not their road, they're not the ones who have to fix it afterwards.
#6
Great, this gets all of the most belligerent @ssholes up to the front lines where they can be picked off first. I hope the Israelis brought a sh!tload of ammo.
(IsraelNN.com) Partial information that has reached the intelligence agencies of Israel, as well as foreign media outlets, indicate that the body of a murdered Israeli may be located in the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Ramallah. According to Arab sources, the Israeli was murdered on Sunday. The information may be connected to the disappearance of Itamar resident Eliyahu Asheri, 18. He was last seen in Jerusalem on Sunday night. Meanwhile Arab terrorists claim that they have been holding a "settler" captive since Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2006 00:00 ||
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(IsraelNN.com) Contrary to the implication of earlier reports, the IDF does not have solid information regarding the whereabouts of kidnapped soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit, an IDF spokesperson said. However, military intelligence is operating based on an assumption regarding a likely area for his captors to have taken Shalit - southern Gaza.
In the IDF, there is concern that the terrorists will attempt to smuggle their captive into the Sinai, under Egyptian control, or to other unknown destinations. To prevent such a possibility, the IDF reinforced its southern Gaza-area force deployment and sent unmanned spy aircraft into the air over Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Do those idiots still think Israel is going to release hundreds of prisoners for this one kid? Hundreds of murderers set free for kidnapping an IDF soldier? I think they are in for a big suprise.
#2
The IDF takes great pains to get back their own, even if only the remains. They've traded many live prisoners for remains before. Doesn't look like it this time tho.
ARMED Palestinian group the Popular Resistance Committees has threatened to kill a Jewish settler it claimed to be holding unless Israel stopped an offensive in the Gaza Strip. "Unless the aggression stops, we will kill the settler," a representative of the Committees said.
The Palestinian militant group has claimed to be holding a second Israeli citizen kidnapped in the occupied West Bank on Monday, following the capture of an Israeli soldier on Sunday. Although there has been no official Israeli confirmation of the kidnapping, police have confirmed they are looking into reports that a Jewish settler in the West Bank was missing.
(KUNA) -- A Palestinian was killed and two injured in an Israeli air raid in southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, eyewitnesses said. They told KUNA an Israeli warplane launched at least one missile at a civilian car in Tal Al-Hawa area killing the driver and injuring bystanders, including a woman. The Shefa hospital's public relations department said the body of the deceased arrived at the hospital and it was difficult to identify it. The missile landed in the near Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' house in Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2006 00:00 ||
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Israeli planes attacked three bridges and a power station, knocking out electricity in most of the coastal strip early Wednesday and stepping up the pressure on Palestinian militants holding captive a 19-year-old Israeli soldier. As tanks were seen moving along the Israeli side of the border fence with Gaza, Palestinians dug in behind mounds of dirt, preparing for a possible Israeli offensive.
The buildup of Israeli tanks and thousands of troops along the border with Gaza came amid intensive diplomatic efforts in the Arab world and by the United Nations. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Israel to "give diplomacy a chance." Trying to defuse building tensions, negotiators from the ruling Hamas movement said Tuesday they had accepted a document implicitly recognizing Israel. But two Syrian-based Hamas leaders denied a final deal had been reached. Israel said only freedom for the captive soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, could defuse the crisis, not a political agreement.
The Israeli military said in a statement that the object of the attacks on the bridges late Tuesday and early Wednesday was "to impair the ability of the terrorists to transfer the kidnapped soldier." Knocking down the bridges would cut Gaza in two, Palestinian security officials said. Early Wednesday, Israeli planes hit a power station, cutting power to much of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian security officials said. Israeli military officials said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert approved a "limited operation" for southern Gaza, aimed at "terrorist infrastructure." The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.
Palestinian security forces said Israeli tanks were on the move near the Israeli village of Nahal Oz, a main Israeli staging area just outside Gaza, but that they had not yet entered the territory. An Associated Press reporter saw tanks moving on the Israeli side of the border fence. In the Shajaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza City, not far from the fence, armed militants took up positions across from the blaring headlights of Israeli vehicles, and Israeli attack helicopters hovered overhead. The roar of Israeli fighter planes reverberated throughout Gaza City. The militants told residents to leave the area. They piled gasoline-soaked tires in the streets. Earlier, bulldozers blocked some of the main roads with piles of sand and dirt to try to slow down Israeli tanks.
One of the bridges targeted in airstrikes was in central Gaza, another near the town of Deir al-Balah and the third south of Gaza City, according to the Israeli military and Palestinian security officials. There were no reports of casualties. Palestinian TV showed pictures of the first bridge hit, with fallen concrete blocks, twisted metal and protruding water pipes. Children walked in the wreckage.
Shalit's abduction Sunday by Hamas' military wing and two other Hamas-linked groups has threatened to turn already devastated relations between Israel and the Hamas-led government into an all-out war. Hamas took over the Palestinian Authority after winning parliamentary elections in January, and has been under international pressure to renounce violence and recognize Israel. White House press secretary Tony Snow said he had only seen media accounts of the Hamas-Fatah accord, but reiterated that Hamas had to meet three conditions before a crippling aid boycott could be lifted. "Once again, we can all recite from memory now: recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce terror, and abide by all past agreements. Those are the preconditions," Snow said in Washington.
Complicating matters was a new claim by the Hamas-linked Popular Resistance Committees, one of the three groups that carried out Sunday's assault, that it had also kidnapped a Jewish settler in the West Bank. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the report was being taken "very seriously," and military officials said there was "rising fears" the claim was true.
The fate of the abducted soldier has riveted Israelis, with Shalit's face plastered on newspapers and callers to talk shows praying for his safety. In an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, Noam Shalit begged the captors of his wounded son's to provide medical care and asked "to hear his voice and to see his face."
Olmert rejected the kidnappers' demands to free Palestinian prisoners and instead approved plans for a military push into Gaza. About 3,000 soldiers, along with tanks and armored vehicles, massed along Israel's border with the territory, and commanders said they were awaiting orders to move in. Hamas' Web site said there were "back channel" negotiations with Israel over a prisoner release. Israeli military officials said a negotiating team has been activated, but declined to release further information.
The kidnappers did not say where Shalit was being held or release any photos of him. Israeli officials said they believed the soldier suffered light wounds to his stomach and was being held in southern Gaza. On Tuesday, for the first time since Sunday's assault, in which two Israeli soldiers and two militants were killed, militants acknowledged they were holding Shalit and said he was alive. "The soldier is in a secure place that the Zionists cannot reach," said Mohammed Abdel Al, spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees. He said his group also took a West Bank settler hostage.
Mohammad Nazal, a Damascus-based member of the Hamas politburo, said the militant group would not agree to free the Israeli soldier "without a deal." "No release without something in return," he told AP. "This is the popular demand and we cannot let down our people."
Israel's Channel 2 TV reported that international mediators involved in talks with the kidnappers had given up, saying negotiations were going nowhere. An Egyptian official concurred that talks with Hamas officials in Gaza were "on hold," but insisted negotiations were still taking place with Hamas leaders in Syria. Egyptian officials said their government asked Hamas to release the soldier and deployed 2,500 extra soldiers along the border with Gaza to prevent an influx of Palestinians if Israel invaded. Egypt also imposed a nighttime curfew on residents along the border. Egypt's intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, urged Hamas' Syria-based leader, Khaled Mashaal, to push for Shalit's release.
The crisis touched off by the soldier's capture has caused widespread alarm among Arab countries worried about a flare-up in Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Arab countries, worried about Hamas' ascendancy and especially the actions of its more militant wings, appeared to be trying to support Abbas as he worked to isolate the more militant arm of Hamas and forge ties with the political wing of Hamas. Abbas has been in touch with Arab leaders, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, King Abdullah II of Jordan and Saudi King Abdullah to discuss the latest crisis, said his aide, Nabil Abu Rdeneh.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"armed militants took up positions across from the blaring headlights of Israeli vehicles"
"Blaring"?
Somebody needs to go back to remedial writing class, and an editor ought to be horse-whipped.
#10
The fact the israelies are hitting southern targets first and taking out bridges seems to be to keep the terrorists bottled up in the north and preventing them from escaping into Egypt. http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/ has a good summery of it. It looks like the IDF is trapping the terrorists between the IDF and the sea. In quote from the captain, "The Israelis appear serious this time about delivering the war for which the Palestinians voted when they elected Hamas to govern them."
#12
In the bottom of the eighth, the powerhouse Jooz are up three bridges, the completely destroyed electric power plant and the water supply. The Paleos so far have scored one 19 year old soldier in a sneak attack through a rathole tunnel. Following the stats, the Paleos again used the familiar weak side tunnel offense but were retired in the top of the eighth with only one hit.
And now, on to the ninth....
#15
Mohammad Nazal, a Damascus-based member of the Hamas politburo, said the militant group would not agree to free the Israeli soldier "without a deal."
How about this deal? If the Israeli soldier is returned in good medical condition by Noon tomorrow, Israel won't blow Gaza off the face of the earth. You know the down side.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/28/2006 14:54 Comments ||
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#16
I doubt that they either can or want to return that soldier, unfortunately. MAYbe the settler kid, if the Israelis trade 800 prisoners for him.
Which, at this point, I really really doubt is going to happen.
Jakarta, 28 June (AKI/Jakarta Post) - The Indonesian Attorney General's Office says it is preparing to execute three convicted Bali bombers and 16 drug traffickers sentenced to death for their offenses. Spokesman I Wayan Pasek Suarte did not reveal when the bombers - Imam Samudra, 36, Amrozi 43, and his elder brother Ali Ghufron, 46, alias Mukhlas - would face firing squads for their role in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings. The law forbids authorities from publicly releasing dates for executions until after the events, although the convicts and their families are informed in advance.
Pasek said the AGO had received preliminary approval from Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin to carry out the executions of the bombers at Nusakambangan Island, a heavy-guarded prison in waters off Cilacap in Central Java where they are on death row. Normally, death row convicts are executed in jails in the jurisdiction where their crimes were committed. However, the bombers would be executed outside of Bali for "safety reasons", Pasek said.
"The justice minister hasn't approved (the executions) formally, but thanks to our excellent relations with him, we can assure you that we have received a positive signal from the minister," he said.
Pasek said Imam, Amrozi and Mukhlas and their families had made formal statements they would not seek clemency from the President. "That's why we are preparing all the necessary procedures for the executions," he said. However, a lawyer for the terrorists, Ahmad Dinan, said the defense team planned to petition the Supreme Court to review the sentences. A "legal loophole" would be the focus of the defense's request for a case review, Dinan said.
"The convictions have violated the Constitution Court's ruling that laws cannot be retroactive. Because the law on terrorism was passed after the 2002 Bali bombings, it should not be applied in this case," he told The Jakarta Post.
The Denpasar District Court sentenced the three militants to death in September 2003 for the 2002 bombings that killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists. Pasek said prosecutors would also execute 16 of 43 men and women the state had sentenced to death for drug trafficking.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/28/2006 08:54 ||
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#1
Still time for an escape or a presidential pardon then?
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/28/2006 11:09 Comments ||
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#2
Still time for an escape or a presidential pardon
Not with the damage they did to the tourist trade.
"Nothing personnel, Mukhlas. Just business"
Posted by: Steve ||
06/28/2006 12:45 Comments ||
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Lamitan, 28 June (AKI) - The presence of foreign-based terrorist organisations in the southern Philippines such as al-Qaeda and the southeast Asia-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) is stopping significant amounts of overseas aid being sent to the conflict-ridden Muslim minority stronghold of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago, an expert has warned. "The United States and even the Australian believe there are still terrorists actively operating in Mindanao, Astrid Tuminez a senior researcher at a US Congress backed think-tank - the United States Institute of Peace (USIP)- told Adnkronos International (AKI). USIP is working to build dialogue between local Islamist rebels and the government on Mindanao.
Tuminez was attending the 5th Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Business Congress, which closed in Lamitan, Basilan province, on Tuesday. The event sought to present business opportunities in the region - the poorest in the Philippines - to foreign and national investors.
An armed struggle for independence in Mindanao waged by Islamist and Communist rebels has been ongoing for some forty years, causing over 120,000 victims. Sporadic violence has continued despite a 2003 ceasefire and peace talks.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve ||
06/28/2006 08:44 ||
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#1
Surely Canuckistan, Japan and the others could up their ante?
They don't need US, but then, he'd be out of a job.....
#2
"the United States Institute of Peace (USIP)- told Adnkronos International (AKI). USIP is working to build dialogue between local Islamist rebels and the government on Mindanao."
There's still people who think they can talk to these idiot's.
#3
You Sip and other ignorant, do gooder orgs are too dense to realize that they are dealing with psychpaths that are incapable of empathy. USIP are useful idiots to terrorists.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/28/2006 10:47 Comments ||
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#4
"Terror Organisations 'Deterring Foreign Aid'"
What's the downside?
Particularly if it's our 'foreign aid' [i.e., my tax dollars] that's being deterred.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/28/2006 14:00 Comments ||
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#5
So then, we can safely assume the presenc of "forein aid" does not prevent terrorism?
Sri Lanka on Tuesday deployed more troops and threw up roadblocks in Colombo as the government tightened security following the assassination of a top army general. Heavily armed soldiers took up positions around the capital while police stepped up random vehicle searches, a senior police officer told AFP. "There is a greater military deployment to assist the police with the security arrangements," the officer said on condition of anonymity.
The new measures are part of the government's decision to reimpose a security clampdown that was in force before the February 2002 ceasefire with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The military announced the measures on Monday, shortly after Major General Parami Kulatunga, the army's number three commander, was killed by a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber. Government Defence Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella warned on Tuesday of even stricter measures but declined to give details. "We will do everything necessary to protect national security," Rambukwella said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2006 00:00 ||
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Israel AF planes flew over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's palace in the city of Latakia in northwestern Syria early Wednesday morning, officials revealed on Wednesday evening.
The IDF said the flyover, carried out by four planes flying in a low-altitude pattern, was a part of an overall IDF operation aimed at pressuring the Syrian leadership to expel Hamas Politburo chief Khaled Mashaal from Damascus. According to Israel, Mashaal has been calling the shots out of the Syrian capital and orchestrated the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
Syria responded by saying that its air defenses opened fire on the warplanes, forcing them to flee.
State-run Syrian television said two Israeli planes flew near Syria's Mediterranean coast early Wednesday but did not mention Israel's announcement that the planes swooped low over the summer residence of Assad. "The overflight by two Israeli planes near the Syrian shores is an aggressive act and a provocation," the television news said, quoting an unindentified Information Ministry official.
Yup. Sure is. Bummer that you can't do anything about it.
It said "national air defenses opened fire in the direction of the planes, and they dispersed."
"If the goal of this (overflight) is to blame the political leadership of Hamas for the abduction of the Israeli soldier, then israel is making a big mistake that is goes beyond logic," the ministry official said, according to the TV report.
Earlier, Justice Minister Haim Ramon said that Mashaal, was a target for assassination due to his ordering of the kidnapping of Shalit. "He is definitely in our sights ... he is a target," Ramon told Army Radio. "Khaled Mashaal, as some who is overseeing, actually commanding the terror acts, is definitely a target."
Interior Minister and former Shin Bet head Avi Dichter said that the only reason Mashaal is not in an Israeli jail is that Israel, as an enlightened nation, has placed certain restrictions upon itself. Mashaal is allegedly responsible for the attack Sunday in which two soldiers were killed and a third kidnapped, Ramon said. Israel launched a ground offensive into the southern Gaza Strip early Wednesday in an effort to force the kidnappers to free the soldier.
Israel tried to kill Mashaal in a botched assassination attempt in Jordan in 1997. Two Mossad agents injected Mashaal with poison, but were caught. As Mashaal lay dying in a Jordanian hospital, King Hussein of Jordan forced Israel to provide the antidote in return for the release of the Mossad agents.
Binyamin Netanyahu, who was prime minister at the time, was also forced to release Hamas's spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin form Israeli prison. Yassin was helizapped killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza in March 2004.
After the assassination attempt, Jordan's relationship with Hamas deteriorated and Mashaal was expelled to Qatar, where he lived before moving to Damascus. Ramon, who said Mashaal was the equivalent to Osama Bin Laden, called on the international community to force Syrian President Bashar Assad to expel Mashaal from Damascus, where he has operated freely for years.
#8
So if the Israelis can rattle Assad's window panes, how come we're still eating sh*t over Syria's continued transit point of Islamo terrs entering into Iraq?
#9
Why did the Israelis do this? To humiliate Assad the Alawite. The thinking might be that Assad's humiliation will give the majority Sunnis courage to try to topple him. The revolt might fail, but would be a real nightmare for Assad. The incursion may be a promise of many more such humiliations to come. The threat of future humiliations - and the negative impact on his perceived strength among his subjects - might cause Assad to expel Hamas, just as Jordan did.
#10
They also did it because they know he's harboring Marshal. It was notice to pencilneck that they''re coming after him (Marshal) and there's nothing pencilneck can do about it.
#11
When the Israel AF hit Osirak in 1981 their jets flew low level right over Amman Jordan enroute to the Iraqi reactor. Jordan's King Hussein had just stepped outside and actually witnessed the flyover. Pissed him off quite properly I'm told.
#12
You gotta love the IAF. Only Air Force I almost respect as much as our own. Only thing better woulda been doing it upside down and giving baby Assad the finger a'la Tom Cruise in Top Gun.
Posted by: BA ||
06/28/2006 22:19 Comments ||
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#13
This has just got to be, for a fighter pilot, one of those memories that just gets better with time! I'm practicing the smile on my face I would have, if that had been me, buzzing that palace.... and hey, I'm just a little ole lady, deep in the heart of Texas. And this is good..
DAMASCUS - A Syrian court sentenced three members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to death, but then commuted the verdict to a 12-year prison term, a human rights group said on Tuesday.
The National Organization for Human Rights (NOHR) in Syria said Mohammad Thabet Hillali, 38, Fuad Ali Al Shughry, 44, and Youssef Omar Hussein, 26, all from the Idleb province, 330 kilometres in northern Syria, were sentenced to death on June 4 under a Syrian law calling for death sentences against all members of the Muslim Brotherhood. NOHR added that Mohammad Osamah Al Sayyess, 27, has been also sentenced to death and his sentence was commuted to 12 years in jail.
So the three are going to swing?
According to the human rights group, the defendants left Syria with their families for Iraq in the 1980s, but returned in 2005 following deteriorating conditions there. The three had received safety assurances from the Syrian embassy in Iraq, but on their arrival were arrested by security agents, NOHR said.
You mean the Syrians ... lied?
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/28/2006 00:00 ||
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The Syrian government has deployed security forces to protect Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and has advised him to restrict all public activities for the time being, Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip told WorldNetDaily Tuesday. Mashaal has for years enjoyed the protection of the Syrian government. Israel accuses him of using bases in the country to order terror attacks and raise money for his terror group. According to Israeli security sources, Syria and Iran has been pressuring Mashaal against releasing Shalit. "Iran and Syria both want an escalation in the region to distract from the troubles surrounding their regimes," said a diplomatic source. "They want Israel to launch a ground operation. Violence helps them."
#2
No surprise here - the WND article indics, AGAIN, that the terrorists are wilfully escalating the level of violence in the region in order to offset or disguise failure, weakness, schism, and defeat.
#6
Tu do you think that Fredman would stoop to selecting out the head with the magic want and then doing a 99.5 size tranform each time the picture was used? That would be crazy.
#7
Thats their loss. Sounds like a job for a handful of those new shiny JDAMs we gave the Israelis. Boom splat and those Syrian Guards well collateral damage.
Syria and Iran may want to put the Israeli/Palestinian conflict back on page one instead of themselves BUT would they risk all out warfare with Israel? I dont know Iran may not worry so much about such but Baby Assad wouldnt last long and the wild card of would the US take that chaos as a opportunity to strike Iran?
http://www.vitalperspective.com/
Vital Perspectives is blogging the Gaza operation. And he just reported
UPDATE 06/28 @ 13:18: BREAKING NEWS... An Israeli warplane flew over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's palace to warn Syria against supporting Palestinian terrorists who kidnapped an Israeli soldier, Israeli television stations are reporting. The overflight reportedly took place yesterday.
Who knows we are playing Chess with some hot head Islamist that may play or may freak out and just throw the whole board on the floor. (even knowing full well in a fight we will beat them down unmercifully)
#8
Ass-hat is the epitome of a pencil-necked fool. Maybe the Air Force should program a Tomahawk to search just for that face. It would make a nice gesture, and the rest of Syria would consider old pencil-neck radioactive.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/28/2006 15:06 Comments ||
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#9
Who knows we are playing Chess with some hot head Islamist that may play or may freak out and just throw the whole board on the floor. (even knowing full well in a fight we will beat them down unmercifully)
Iran. Syria. plus al Qaeda maneuvering under their cover.
This image will really hit you in the heart. It is so true about what terrorists do to all people, even children (our cubs).
This not only sums up Israel's position on the young soldier the bad guys are holding hostage, I would like to think it sums up what we are fighting for.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
(SomaliNet) Colonel Abdi Hassan Awale Qeybdid one of the last remaining Somali warlords who lost his strong base in the outskirt of the capital of Mogadishu after hours of armed clashes with Islamic militiamen, has held a press conference in Mogadishu on Tuesday talking about the latest battle in which he described it as incursion launched by clan men on his policemen. Mr. Qeybdid told the reporters in Mogadishu one of Habar-gidir sub-clans covering under the Islamic courts has invaded the police checkpoint overnight killing five people, tow of the them were policemen and three others were civilains and taking away three battle wagons and several rifles of AK-47 and they also caused massive displacing, 
Islamic militiamen seized a checkpoint outside Somalia's capital Tuesday in an hourlong battle that killed six people, according to a clan leader who accused the militia of breaking a new cease-fire. The checkpoint connecting Mogadishu to the Lower Shabelle region was manned by members of the Habar Gidir clan who had been charging motorists to pass. The fighting killed three clan gunmen and three civilians, clan leader Abdi Kaibdid said. "The Islamists made a surprise attack on my troops overnight," he told The Associated Press.
CHINESE Premier Wen Jiabao today warned the United States against launching a preemptive strike on a suspected North Korean missile launch site.
LAHORE: Nine associates of Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) chief Nawab Akbar Bugti, including three militant commanders, have surrendered to the government and pledged to support development in Balochistan, Aaj Television reported on Tuesday. The commanders are Wadera Nayalan, Wadera Bangan and Wadera Saeed, who were wanted in over 100 cases of bomb blasts and rocket attacks, the channel reported. The leaders renounced Bugti's actions and confessed involvement in subversive activities on his and his grandson Brahamdagh Bugti's directions, the channel reported.
QUETTA: A Frontier Corps (FC) soldier was killed and another injured in a landmine blast in Dera Bugti district on Tuesday, while two gas pipelines were blown up in the Pir Koh area. FC soldier Imran Shah was killed and his colleague Abdul Aziz injured in the blast in the Sangsila area when they were on a routine patrol. Separately, unidentified militants blew up two gas pipelines in the Pir Koh area, disrupting gas supplies to the Pir Koh gas plant. Sources told Daily Times that the gas pipelines were blown up with explosives early on Tuesday morning. There were also reports that a 220 KV electricity tower was blown up in the Chatar locality of Dera Murad Jamali district. Similar attacks in the past have been blamed on tribal rebels who are waging a sporadic revolt to gain political rights and a greater share of profits from Balochistan's rich natural resources.
(KUNA) -- A roadside bomb explosion in Pakistani North Waziristan tribal agency, bordering Afghanistan, Tuesday killed over five including three soldiers and wounded many others, said officials. A military convoy was heading toward Miramshah, the regional headquarters, from Bannu district when on Mir Ali road one of the vehicles hit a landmine, being planted by suspected militants, security officials told KUNA. They said the explosion killed three soldiers, wounded one and badly damaged the vehicle. Following the explosion, they added, forces launched retaliatory operation in the area.
President Valdimir Putin has ordered Russian special services to hunt down the killers of four Russian hostages in Iraq, news agencies reported Wednesday. 
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi security forces have arrested a Tunisian who played an "active" role in the Feb. 22 bombing of the Askariya Mosque in Samarra, a Shiite shrine, Iraq's national security adviser announced Wednesday.
(KUNA) -- In continued violence in Iraq, four Iraqis were killed Tuesday, over 22 injured, and a child kidnapped. In Kirkuk, two Iraqi civilians were killed and at least 22 injured when a booby-trapped car exploded near a gas station. The cars in the station caught fire as it damaged the surrounding areas. Gas stations have been generally crowded due to the shortages experienced.
(KUNA) -- Three Iraqi policemen from a unit assigned to protect oil facilities in northern Iraq were injured on Tuesday. A security source said the three men were injured when a bomb exploded as their patrol passed by in an area north of Kirkuk.
(KUNA) -- One Iraqi was killed and eight were injured on Tuesday when an improvised car bomb exploded in Al-Doura district, south of Baghdad. An Iraqi source said in press remarks the car exploded in a parking lot and that the number of casualities were only initial estimates. Today's attack occurred close to another assault when a suicide bomber blew himself up amid an Iraqi police force last night.
GAZA CITY (AFP) - Two Palestinians were killed and another seven, including a baby, wounded when a grenade accidentally exploded in the southern Gaza Strip. Family members were playing with a grenade in the town of Khan Yunis when it exploded, killing 23-year-old Qassem Massud and his one-year-old niece, medical and security sources said Wednesday. All the casualties were members of the same family. 
(IsraelNN.com) Partial information that has reached the intelligence agencies of Israel, as well as foreign media outlets, indicate that the body of a murdered Israeli may be located in the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Ramallah. According to Arab sources, the Israeli was murdered on Sunday. The information may be connected to the disappearance of Itamar resident Eliyahu Asheri, 18. He was last seen in Jerusalem on Sunday night. Meanwhile Arab terrorists claim that they have been holding a "settler" captive since Sunday.
(IsraelNN.com) Contrary to the implication of earlier reports, the IDF does not have solid information regarding the whereabouts of kidnapped soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit, an IDF spokesperson said. However, military intelligence is operating based on an assumption regarding a likely area for his captors to have taken Shalit - southern Gaza. 
ARMED Palestinian group the Popular Resistance Committees has threatened to kill a Jewish settler it claimed to be holding unless Israel stopped an offensive in the Gaza Strip. "Unless the aggression stops, we will kill the settler," a representative of the Committees said. 
(KUNA) -- A Palestinian was killed and two injured in an Israeli air raid in southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, eyewitnesses said. They told KUNA an Israeli warplane launched at least one missile at a civilian car in Tal Al-Hawa area killing the driver and injuring bystanders, including a woman. The Shefa hospital's public relations department said the body of the deceased arrived at the hospital and it was difficult to identify it. The missile landed in the near Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' house in Gaza.
Israeli planes attacked three bridges and a power station, knocking out electricity in most of the coastal strip early Wednesday and stepping up the pressure on Palestinian militants holding captive a 19-year-old Israeli soldier. As tanks were seen moving along the Israeli side of the border fence with Gaza, Palestinians dug in behind mounds of dirt, preparing for a possible Israeli offensive. 
Jakarta, 28 June (AKI/Jakarta Post) - The Indonesian Attorney General's Office says it is preparing to execute three convicted Bali bombers and 16 drug traffickers sentenced to death for their offenses. Spokesman I Wayan Pasek Suarte did not reveal when the bombers - Imam Samudra, 36, Amrozi 43, and his elder brother Ali Ghufron, 46, alias Mukhlas - would face firing squads for their role in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings. The law forbids authorities from publicly releasing dates for executions until after the events, although the convicts and their families are informed in advance. 
Lamitan, 28 June (AKI) - The presence of foreign-based terrorist organisations in the southern Philippines such as al-Qaeda and the southeast Asia-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) is stopping significant amounts of overseas aid being sent to the conflict-ridden Muslim minority stronghold of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago, an expert has warned. "The United States and even the Australian believe there are still terrorists actively operating in Mindanao, Astrid Tuminez a senior researcher at a US Congress backed think-tank - the United States Institute of Peace (USIP)- told Adnkronos International (AKI). USIP is working to build dialogue between local Islamist rebels and the government on Mindanao. 
DAMASCUS - A Syrian court sentenced three members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to death, but then commuted the verdict to a 12-year prison term, a human rights group said on Tuesday.
The Syrian government has deployed security forces to protect Hamas leader 
