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Today: 90 articles and 498 comments as of 13:42.
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IAF strikes northeast Lebanon
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 4: Opinion
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Afghanistan
Afghan forces kill 17 insurgents
Afghan troops and police killed 17 rebels and wounded another five in two separate clashes in the southern province of Helmand, police said on Sunday. Three insurgents were killed and one was wounded in a firefight with police in Garmser district on Saturday afternoon, district police chief Ghulam Rasoul Aka told AFP. Following the incident Afghan soldiers and police launched a joint search in the district overnight. This sparked a battle lasting several hours with the Taliban in which 14 insurgents were killed, he said. “At least 14 Taliban bodies are still at the site of the clash from the overnight battle. Four Taliban were also wounded,” said Aka. No soldiers or police were hurt in either encounter, he said.
I love it when that happens.
In neighbouring Kandahar province on Sunday a suspected suicide bomber struck a coalition convoy and at least one US soldier was wounded, said Mohammad Anwar, an Afghan highway police official at the site.

Two Afghan border police were killed and two were missing after armed men stormed a checkpoint in northwestern Afghanistan, police said Sunday. A group of unknown armed men attacked the police post overnight in Murghab district of Badghis province, provincial police chief general Shir Ali said. “Two border police are martyred and two are still missing after an attack on their post in Murghab district,” Ali said. “It is too early to blame the attack on anyone. We are investigating the issue now,” he said.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No runs, no hits, and no errors as the Coalition pitches another shutout against the Taliban Wankers.
Posted by: anymouse || 08/07/2006 1:45 Comments || Top||

#2  About the insurgents: Allahu akbar!
Posted by: gorb || 08/07/2006 2:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Allan must not have looked after them on this day.

Prepare the Heavenly Virgins!
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 08/07/2006 10:49 Comments || Top||


NATO launches first offensive in S. Afghanistan
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) initiated anti-militants operation in Afghanistan's volatile Helmand province on Sunday, a spokesman of the multinational force said. "An operation was launched early this morning in Musa Qala district, which would continue to expand the security there," Toby Jackman told newsmen here at a press conference. This is the first NATO operation in south Afghanistan since assuming the command from the U.S.-led Coalition forces in the troubled region on July 31.

Coalition forces had launched a massive offensive, the Operation Mountain Thrust, against Taliban militants in Afghanistan's southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan and Zabul during the past one and half months. More than 1,100 insurgents were killed, wounded or captured in the operation, which was concluded following the handover. But the security is still tough in the south as some 80 people, including eight foreign soldiers, have been killed during the latest violence this week. "ISAF will not be deterred. ISAF would continue its mission to bring security to Afghanistan within its area of operation," Major Jackman emphasized.

Musa Qala and Nawzad, Sangin and Garmser districts of Helmand, which are famous for poppy product and Taliban's activities, have been the scene of increasing security incidents as six British soldiers have been killed there over the past one month. One day prior to the NATO's operation, dozens of suspected Taliban militants ambushed Afghan and NATO-led troops on Saturday in Garmser district, one of the two districts they briefly captured last month, leaving 17 insurgents killed and seven others injured after the heavy battle.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Asterisk and Obelisk?
Posted by: flash91 || 08/07/2006 11:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Asterix and Obelisk indeed. I never did like them as much as Tintin.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/07/2006 12:37 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Somalia's leader sacks government
The leaders of Somalia's crisis-ridden interim government say they have resolved their differences and agreed to dissolve the cabinet. Some 40 ministers have quit the cabinet over the prime minister's opposition to peace talks with the Islamist militias who control the capital, Mogadishu. The crisis had caused a rift between President Abdullahi Yusuf and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi. Mr Ghedi's government controls little more than Baidoa, where it is based.

"The bloated cabinet of Ali Mohamed Ghedi's government did not do anything during its tenure," President Yusuf announced in parliament. "From today onwards, the government has been dissolved - only the prime minister will remain." Mr Ghedi was present during the announcement, which reportedly follows the intervention of Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin as mediator between the two factions in the Somali government.
"How about this, Ali. We'll toss out all those bothersome ministers and leave you in power. That work for you?"
"Ok"
Ethiopia is the main regional puppetmaster ally of the interim government.

The interim cabinet originally had over 100 members, not all of whom had been approved by parliament. In the past 10 days a succession of ministers left the government, and Mr Ghedi narrowly survived a parliamentary vote of no confidence on Saturday. Mr Ghedi's opponents within the government and parliament believe he should have done more to seek a settlement with the Union of Islamic Courts, whose militia have taken control of Mogadishu in recent months.
Posted by: Steve || 08/07/2006 08:46 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I thought that was sacked as in 'razed.'
Posted by: Snerelet Phavilet1439 || 08/07/2006 13:52 Comments || Top||


Somalia: Clash kills 4 in Kismayo
(SomaliNet) At least four people have been killed and three more were wounded in clashes in the port town of Kismayo of southern Somalia between troops loyal to Juba valley authority and militia on Sunday. The clashes began as Juba valley troops raided a militiaman alleged for murdering many people in the town earlier. Reports say the troops chased the man to capture him but encountered a strong resistance from him causing casualties. The murder suspect was among the dead people killed in the battle with the rest of the three others were the security forces of the town’s authority. The clashes lasted for several minutes.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Egyptian group denies ties to al-Qaeda
One of Egypt's most prominent Islamist groups has denied making any alliance with al-Qaeda. "The Gamaa Islamiya in Egypt stresses the lack of truth in what Aljazeera aired by Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri about it joining al-Qaeda, and categorically denies this," the group said in a statement on its website.

And a former official in Egypt's Gamaa Islamiya said that even if some members had joined al-Qaeda - as al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said in a video aired on Aljazeera on Saturday - it was unlikely that most would do so. The group fought a bloody campaign against the government in the 1990s to set up an Islamic state before declaring a truce in 1997.

Sheikh Abdel Akher Hammad, a former Gamaa leader, told Aljazeera on Sunday from Germany: "If [some] brothers ... have joined, then this is their personal view and I don't think that most Gamaa Islamiya members share that same opinion."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Don't shoot us!"
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/07/2006 12:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Or taqqiyah. It's hard to tell, until we see how many flock to the banner to be killed off.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/07/2006 12:39 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Tales from the Crossfire Gazette
Three more suspected criminals were killed in shootouts between their associates and the Rapid Action Battalion in Dhaka, Chittagong and Kushtia early Sunday, raising the crossfire death counts to 632 since June 2004.
Three bad guys get killed in seperate incidents and human rights groups think there's some kind of death squads running around.
In Dhaka, the battalion members arrested Masud Rana (1) , accused in a number of cases (2) , and took him out to Commissioner Bazar at West Nakhalpara to seize arms and nab his associates (3) .
As the team reached the spot at about 3:00am (4) , the associates of Masud opened fire (5) on the battalion members prompting them to retaliate (6) . ‘At one stage, Masud sustained bullet wounds falling in line of crossfire when he tried to escape (7) and died on the spot (8) ,’ the battalion claimed.

In Chittagong, a battalion team picked up Rabiul alias Surutta, (1) a top criminal listed with the Boalkhali police and wanted in half a dozen cases (2) , from Rajakhali early Saturday and took him to Ghoshkhali at Boalkhali to seize firearms. (3)
When the team went to the area at around 12:30am (4) , his accomplices opened fire on them (5) . The law enforcers also returned the fire resulting in a gunfight. (6)
Rabiul was hit by bullets while trying to escape from the spot. (7) He was taken to the local medical centre where the doctors declared him dead, (8) the battalion said.

Besides, a battalion team arrested Gopal (1) , a member of outlawed Biplabi Communist Party and accused in several cases (2) , from Chuadanga on Saturday and took him to Badyanathpur village under sadar upazila in Kushtia early Sunday to seize his arms. (3) As the team reached the village (4) , Gopal’s associates attacked them to snatch him away. (5) During the fight (6) , Gopal sustained bullet injuries (7) and died on the spot, (8) the battalion claimed.
Yup, totally different 'incidents'. Nothing to see here, move along
Posted by: Steve || 08/07/2006 08:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No lawyer in the lot of them.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 08/07/2006 8:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Finishing off The List before the hammer falls?
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/07/2006 9:04 Comments || Top||

#3  RAB is starting to move faster than the IDF facing a UNSC vote.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/07/2006 9:28 Comments || Top||

#4  They're not even bothering to take the Shutter Gun along? Or even some rounds of bullet?
Posted by: Jackal || 08/07/2006 11:03 Comments || Top||


Crossfire Gazette may have to fold
The High Court on Sunday issued a rule on the government and the Rapid Action Battalion to explain within two weeks why they should not be directed to ensure the safety and security of the person/s detained in their custody.
Humm, cause the general public doesn't feel safe and secure with them on the street
A High Court bench of Justice Syed Dastagir Husain and Justice Mamnun Rahman issued the order after hearing a public interest litigation writ petition filed by a human rights organisation, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, seeking a court directive on the government and the RAB to protect the life of any person detained by the RAB.
Spoilsports.
Pleading for the petitioners, Manzill Murshid told the court that from the very beginning of RAB’s operation almost one person was killed everyday on an average.
Yep, that's what we counted.
The activities of the RAB are neither within the limits of the constitution nor within the bounds of any law of the land, he argued.
Seeing as the law of the land wasn't dealing with the various commie miscreants ...
The killing of arrested persons in the disguise of ‘crossfire’ has denied the rights of every citizen to enjoy the protection of law, to be treated equally by the law, and deprived them of their inalienable rights to be treated only in accordance with the law, contended the counsel.
That's how it's done in civilized countries, though B'Desh hasn't yet made that list ...
After every ‘crossfire’ killing, the RAB issues a statement that after hearing the confession of the arrestee, RAB personnel raid an area for seizure of arms and face resistance by his fellow gangsters, resulting in his death in crossfire, the counsel explained.
That's the correct macro.
Steps 1 through 8, they fell into a routine and the lawyers noticed
The death of suspected criminals either in custody or in the crossfire of the lawmen began with the death of Debashish Sarkar, who was shot on June 26, 2004 in Dhaka. He later died in the custody of the Rapid Action Battalion.
Ahhh, Debashish, we knew him -- briefly.
"He's dead, Jim"
The 100th man was killed in November 2004 while the 500th in March 2006. The 600th victim was Amjad Biswas, a suspected gang leader of the underground Naxal, when he was killed in the crossfire of the battalion at Ataikula in Pabna on July 6, 2006. Six hundred and thirty-two have so far been killed either in custody or in the crossfire.
And all of them were wanted on twelve systems.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/07/2006 01:35 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is there an online petition we can sign to show our support for RAB? But if they do get closed down, how about a commemorative 'shutter gun and round of bullet' coaster set, diorama or role-playing-game?
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 08/07/2006 3:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Any chance we can get the 'complainant' labled as a "Naxalite" and get them offed in a crossfire incident too?
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 08/07/2006 3:53 Comments || Top||

#3  RAB action figures in time for Christmas.
Posted by: Howard UK || 08/07/2006 3:55 Comments || Top||

#4  How about an RAB World Tour where the guys visit Moscow, London, Washington, etc., instructing the local gendarmerie in techniques and training methods, and ride along to neighborhood hotspots?

Compelling television and it would foster loads of goodwill towards B'Desh!
Posted by: JDB || 08/07/2006 5:04 Comments || Top||

#5  Sounds as if they used the "search" feature at Rantburg to gather the evidence they needed.

Posted by: Ptah || 08/07/2006 7:03 Comments || Top||

#6  It's a fact of life, all good things come to an end.
Posted by: wxjames || 08/07/2006 7:20 Comments || Top||

#7  One word: Bobbleheads!
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/07/2006 7:20 Comments || Top||

#8  Collect tham all!
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 08/07/2006 7:44 Comments || Top||

#9  Real bobbleheads, Emily - apparently 600 of them!
Posted by: Spot || 08/07/2006 8:02 Comments || Top||

#10  So much for cross-fires. I forsee a lot of slip-and-fall accidents in the future...
Posted by: mojo || 08/07/2006 9:53 Comments || Top||

#11  "Ratneshwar, can you please wax that top step for me? There's a good lad."
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/07/2006 10:09 Comments || Top||

#12  Or heart attacks. Those happen a lot in stressful jobs, like thugery!
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/07/2006 10:20 Comments || Top||

#13  "Under the Upazila Marched the 600" An historic documentary now in your aclu bookstore.
Posted by: Inspector Clueso || 08/07/2006 11:20 Comments || Top||

#14  At the least, I hope the court will affirm the constitutional right of all Bangladeshis to own shutter guns.
Posted by: WhitecollarRedneck || 08/07/2006 12:05 Comments || Top||

#15  So did anyone ever figger out what a shutter gun is?

Maybe they meant a "stutter" (machine( gun.
Posted by: Bobby || 08/07/2006 12:31 Comments || Top||

#16  At the least, I hope the court will affirm the constitutional right of all Bangladeshis to own shutter guns.

Ever so useful as a club when the constitutional "one round of bullet" has been used up. Bobby, I think 6 found a picture somewhere. As I recall, it is not a machine gun, but rather something that takes a startling variety of ammunition, including smooth pebbles.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/07/2006 12:42 Comments || Top||

#17  Commie spoilsports, probably suspected criminals associates and accomplices. They just dont understand.
Posted by: pihkalbadger || 08/07/2006 17:22 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Popular Kyrgyz imam shot dead
A prominent and popular imam has been killed in the south of Kyrgyzstan, in the town of Korasuv in the Ferghana Valley near the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border. According to his family and local police, the imam - Rafik Kamalov - was shot dead by Kyrgyz special forces. But security officials have not confirmed his death.

The Ferghana Valley lies in the south of Kyrgyzstan - the very heart of Muslim Central Asia. Authorities have been cracking down on what they call Islamic fundamentalism.

In an interview with the BBC, Kyrgyz security officials confirmed that they had killed three men during a special operation on Thursday night and that all of them were members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan - a banned radical organisation. The officials neither confirmed nor denied that Rafik Kamalov, the Imam of the biggest mosque along the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border, was among them.
But family members, who are preparing for the funeral, deny that he belonged to any Islamic group.

For the past month, Kyrgyz security services, often with the help of their Uzbek colleagues, have launched a massive operation aimed at eradicating what the government here calls the serious threat of Islamic fundamentalism. But human rights groups have voiced concern that this label is often used to silence political dissent. The death of this hugely popular Imam could provoke a major public outcry among the deeply Islamic population of the Ferghana Valley.
Posted by: Steve || 08/07/2006 09:13 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Damn shame! That everybody hasn't done this much sooner. Cut the head off the snake. If it becomes a hydra, just keep chopping.
Posted by: SOP35/Rat || 08/07/2006 11:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Allahu akbar!
Posted by: gorb || 08/07/2006 14:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Sung to
There's a Boat That's Leavin'
from "Porgy & Bess"
George & Ira Gershwin

There's a ghost dat's jus' lef' for da virgins now.
Par-a-dise,
dat's where he belong, Jihadis.
Him an' da virgins live a high life in the sky.
He is ready - they'll be pouring him da mead, brother...

Posted by: Ogeretla 2006 || 08/07/2006 17:40 Comments || Top||

#4  Popular Kyrgyz imam shot dead

Authorities have been cracking down on what they call Islamic fundamentalism.

Mister Cause, permit me to introduce Mister Effect.

It's time to declare open season on all jihadist Islamic clergy, from the top mullahs right down to the lowliest muezzin. We need these maggots so scared that they're afraid to even whisper "death to America" for fear of being overheard.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/07/2006 19:45 Comments || Top||


Russian Invaders Blown Up in Chechnya
On Sunday, August 6, Mujahideen attacked a truck of the gang "Russian Interior Ministry" on a landmine near village Prigorodnoye, severely wounding 3 kafirs (infidels). On Saturday, August 5, Mujahideen blew up on a landmine a gang of Russian kafirs belonging to another Russian gang, "Defence Ministry", severely wounding 4 Russian troops. The condition the wounded Russian terrorists "remained severe also on Sunday", reported the Prague-based US station Radio Liberty, quoting invaders' sources.

Two blasts, destroying 5 mobile phone masts, occurred almost simultaneously near telecommunications masts in two Chechen districts, Staropromyslovsky and Groznensky, late on Saturday night (August 5). According to the puppet "mayor" of Jokhar, Chechen Mujahideen were responsible for these attacks. The Russians and their puppets always lower their casualties. No information on actual Russian casualties and damage was received from Mujahideen till the filing of this report.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm truly curious! As in how much of Grozny had to be razed to the ground before the russians were no longer shot at.
cos burnt earth in lebanon is so tempting and so deserved
Posted by: pihkalbadger || 08/07/2006 18:20 Comments || Top||


Blasts Destroy 2 Mobile Phone Masts in Chechnya
Two blasts occurred almost simultaneously near telecommunications masts in two Chechen districts, Staropromyslovsky and Groznensky, late on Saturday night, a source in Chechen law enforcement services told Interfax. The blasts occurred in infrastructure vans. Although no casualties were reported, a man was killed and another injured in an explosion in the Staropromyslovsky district about the same time, the source added.
“The man was killed, when an explosive device he was carrying went off, reports said.”
The man was killed, when an explosive device he was carrying went off, reports said. The injured man remains in very serious condition after a surgery. His identity has been established.

Officials downplayed the incidents, saying the blasts must have been caused by overheated gas containers. “The incidents were definitely not linked to any terror attacks,” Col. Akhmed Dakayev, the Chechen Interior Ministry’s headquarters chief, told Interfax. “The gas containers blew up in infrastructure vans due to overheating,” he said.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  love the photo
Posted by: 3dc || 08/07/2006 2:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah, but it looks doctored.
Posted by: gorb || 08/07/2006 3:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Well it must have come from Reuters then...
Posted by: Thinetch Omomomp3426 || 08/07/2006 8:49 Comments || Top||

#4  You know if you drop the towers in areas where the terrorists operate, they have a harder time communicating with each other and remotely setting off bombs. Just force them in areas you have better control because you know if the devices cause people to act like Borgs [technology all but integrated into their bodies], they'll move into areas where they can get reception. Herd them into a kill zone.
Posted by: Uniger Hupong7602 || 08/07/2006 9:21 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
North Korea Claims Capture of U.S. Submersible
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea claimed it has captured an unmanned U.S. submersible and put it on display in Pyongyang near the captured spy ship USS Pueblo, a pro-North Korean newspaper in Japan said Monday, but the U.S. dismissed the report.

The ultra-small unmanned submersible vessel was captured during a reconnaissance mission in waters off North Korea's eastern city of Hamhung, said the Choson Sinbo newspaper, which is published by a pro-North Korean association linked to the Pyongyang government. The newspaper report on its Web site, monitored in Seoul, was accompanied by a picture purported to be of the black torpedo-shaped U.S. vessel. There were no further details as to when or how North Korea obtained it.
Posted by: Danielle || 08/07/2006 10:56 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Then again, it could be a close-up of Kimmie's girlfriend's favorite dildo, "Big Ernie."

It's hard to tell.
Posted by: mojo || 08/07/2006 12:05 Comments || Top||

#2  lol mojo
Posted by: RD || 08/07/2006 12:23 Comments || Top||

#3  Tell-tale sign: The twist-on twist-off power switch. BTW, Kim has a GF? I thought he was partial to little boys.
Posted by: mcsegeeek1 || 08/07/2006 13:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Steely Dan?
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/07/2006 13:13 Comments || Top||

#5  No fair Deacon. None of the rest of us has a Donald Fagen song for a nickname.
Posted by: mcsegeeek1 || 08/07/2006 13:15 Comments || Top||

#6  "Comrade, we've finished putting the imperialist underwater spy device on display. By the way, any reason you know of why it should be ticking?"
Posted by: Steve || 08/07/2006 13:16 Comments || Top||

#7  LOL! Steely Dan was the name of the dildo in "The Naked Lunch".
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/07/2006 13:17 Comments || Top||

#8  Kim Jong Il is partial to beautiful women, especially kidnapped actresses, whom he also forces to perform in films of his own devising. His several acknowledged heirs have all been from different mothers, as I recall, not all of whom he was officially married to.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/07/2006 13:31 Comments || Top||

#9  LOL indeed. '.....learn to work the saxophone.....and play just what I feel......drink Scotch Whiskey all night long.....and die behind the wheel....'
Posted by: mcsegeeek1 || 08/07/2006 13:32 Comments || Top||

#10  Only the Norks would pull up an old navy mine and call it a US submersible.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/07/2006 13:44 Comments || Top||

#11  Maybe it's one of these.
Posted by: Xbalanke || 08/07/2006 13:51 Comments || Top||

#12  I got the nick-name because I finished a Turkey Shoot (black powder flintlocks) with a 0 score. I got teased because I qualified as a sharpshooter in the army. I didn't miss any targets (we walk a trail in the woods by following written directions) but I had points taken off for minor infractions. So everyone started calling me Deacon Blues.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/07/2006 13:57 Comments || Top||

#13  Judge, Deacon was skipping in the woods.

That's 2 demerits.
Posted by: wxjames || 08/07/2006 14:10 Comments || Top||

#14  Tree hugging undoubtedly. The NRA routinely takes away points for that.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/07/2006 14:12 Comments || Top||

#15  I was wondering where my innertube raft had drifted off to.
Posted by: Dreadnought || 08/07/2006 14:27 Comments || Top||

#16  Hey Deacon, it sounds like the safest place during that shoot was where you was aimin'.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 08/07/2006 14:47 Comments || Top||

#17  North Korea claimed it has captured an unmanned U.S. submersible and put it on display in Pyongyang

Posted by: BigEd || 08/07/2006 14:50 Comments || Top||

#18  Nope, I actually did hit the targets. I just got penalized for not seeing the Indians. Or the Bear. And I had to bribe the guide to not tell anyone.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/07/2006 14:50 Comments || Top||

#19  ROFLMAO Ed. Only thing I don't understand is the soup.
Posted by: mcsegeeek1 || 08/07/2006 14:51 Comments || Top||

#20  I don't care who ya are, that's funny BigEd!!
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/07/2006 15:42 Comments || Top||

#21  Nice piece of carving.
Posted by: 6 || 08/07/2006 17:18 Comments || Top||

#22  Rock & Roll bands, kidnapped actresses in bondage, Naked Lunch sextoy literary references, black powder safaris and Disney movie props. Just another run-of-the-mill day at Rantburg. Eff almighty, I love this frickin' place!!!
Posted by: Zenster || 08/07/2006 19:34 Comments || Top||

#23  I agree with ya, Zen! I truly do learn something new here everyday. BTW, gotta wonder if this so called submersible was piloted by my Cody doll?
Posted by: BA || 08/07/2006 21:48 Comments || Top||

#24  I think that BigEd photoshopped the dildonic Nork-captured submersible, I really do.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/07/2006 21:53 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
US general: free terror suspects to kill them later
A controversial American general has said most of the alleged terrorist prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba should be released to take up arms again because "it may be cheaper to kill them in combat than to sit on them for the next 15 years".

General Barry McCaffrey, now retired, is adjunct professor of international affairs at West Point, the US officer training academy. His comments are contained in a memo obtained by The Herald. It was written in late June this year, after he visited the Guantanamo detention centre on an inspection tour.

More than 450 al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are being held under military guard at the detention facility. Some have been captives since 2001.

General McCaffrey argues in his six-page memo that the "great value" of Guantanamo had been that its status under military law meant "no applicable foreign law, no foreign diplomatic intervention, no US Federal court civil orders, and no nosy intervention by a US ambassador" was possible until recently.

What he describes as "the perfect deal" in which no Federal court had primary jurisdiction was now being eroded and the military tied up "in a legal strait-jacket", ending decades of secret operations using Guantanamo. "Will we soon be required to read Miranda Rights - the standard rights to remain silent, have an attorney present, etc applicable to US citizens - to al Qaeda terrorists?" he asks.

In the absence of persuading an international body to accept legal jurisdiction for the site, General McCaffrey continues: "We need to weed out as many detainees as soon as possible and return them to their host nations with an evidence package as complete as we can produce. We can probably dump two-thirds of the detainees in the next 24 months.

"Many we will encounter again with an AK47 on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. It may be cheaper and cleaner to kill them in combat than sit on them for the next 15 years."
Time to go elk hunting.
The general, who commanded the US 24th Mechanised Division in the 1991 Gulf War, later faced allegations of misconduct for placing his troops in the path of retreating Iraqi forces after the ceasefire. It triggered a one-sided battle in which hundreds of fleeing enemy troops died when they clashed with US tank units blocking their withdrawal. He claimed the Iraqis had fired first and his men replied in self-defence.
How in the world is it misconduct to encircle your enemy?
Posted by: lotp || 08/07/2006 14:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  this strikes me as perhaps a sensible approach, at least for many prisoners.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 08/07/2006 14:53 Comments || Top||

#2  I have an even better solution:

Shoot them now and then free them later.
Posted by: Dreadnought || 08/07/2006 14:55 Comments || Top||

#3  "He claimed the Iraqis had fired first and his men replied in self-defence. claimed? WTF?? It was a war ya farkin asshat. Sheesh.
Posted by: Brett || 08/07/2006 14:58 Comments || Top||

#4  It is a major no-no to shoot retreating troops after they have "retired from the battle area". The assumption is that they are not "under discipline", and as such are not an imminent threat.

The one defense is indeed that they shot first.

The rule is a very old one, and assumes that soldiers generally are not combat effective unless directed by an officer. Even an "ordered withdrawl" assumes that the unit *may* be in effect "surrendering" by leaving the field.

Things such as "regrouping" are not considerations, nor is their ability to continue to fight at a later date.

Other variants that permit attack include "fighting retreats", the commission of major war crimes during retreats, looting during retreats, or the attempt to take hostages such as POWs with them.

This is stuff they really pound into them at Command & Staff school.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/07/2006 15:21 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm all for the cheapest approach, unloading them into the ocean and telling them to swim home.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/07/2006 15:23 Comments || Top||

#6  I gather from the slant that The Herald thinks the general is a bit of a renegade nutcase. We'll take more of 'em, please. Oh, and in this country even generals are entitled to their opinions.
Posted by: Darrell || 08/07/2006 15:24 Comments || Top||

#7  ---- Rantburg Consent Form ----

Inshallah, I ___________ consent to
Biometric tamper-proof tagging of the
liver as a condition of my GITMO release.

Signaure __________________
Date _______________
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/07/2006 15:34 Comments || Top||

#8  It is a major no-no to shoot retreating troops after they have "retired from the battle area".

I don't know where you got that nugget, but it simply is not true. Pursuing an enemy in retreat is what every general dreams about. It offers the moment of shattering your opponent's force fatally without the corresponding damage to one's own troops. Nathan Bedford Forrest referred to it as "putting on the skeer and keeping it on."
Posted by: Dreadnought || 08/07/2006 15:40 Comments || Top||

#9  The Herald thinks the general is a bit of a renegade nutcase

He was always a bit of a renegade, but no ones nutcase!
Posted by: 49 Pan || 08/07/2006 15:50 Comments || Top||

#10  Dreadnought: the devil is in the details, which is why the wording is so explicit.

Pursuing an enemy in retreat is still "in the field of battle", the particular battle is still ongoing. The assumption is that they are still under orders and still fighting in retreat.

However the situation changes if as the General was accused of doing, he is putting his forces in the path of retreating forces after a ceasefire. The battle is over and the enemy is leaving during a ceasefire.

What is the enemy supposed to do at that point, halt and surrender? They are leaving the field of battle during what amounts to a flag of truce. How is he supposed to "block" their retreat other than by firing on them?

At that point, the General is undermining those who have made the truce.

He might not like it, but such conventions are the stuff of the rules of war as written in the Geneva Conventions.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/07/2006 16:32 Comments || Top||

#11  One interesting thing is the ambivalent attitude toward General McCaffrey displayed by the MSM and the Democrats (Ed.: Redundancy alert). When he says something like the quote in this article, he's either "controversial" or a war criminal. But when he says something negative about President Bush, Rummy, or the war in Iraq, he gets lionized by CNN and quoted on Joe Biden's website (from January 2005):

BLITZER: On the whole nature of the U.S. military deployment in Iraq, Senator Biden, listen to what General Barry McCaffrey, retired U.S. Army four-star general, told Time magazine. In the new issue of Time magazine, he says this. He says, "The Army's wheels are going to come off in the next 24 months. We are now in a period of considerable strategic peril. It's because Rumsfeld has dug in his heels and said, I cannot retreat from my position."

Do you agree with General Barry McCaffrey that the U.S. military is in peril right now because it's so overstretched?

BIDEN: It is overstretched. I agree with his assessment. I agree with his assessment of Secretary Rumsfeld.


Posted by: Matt || 08/07/2006 16:48 Comments || Top||

#12  It is a major no-no to shoot retreating troops after they have "retired from the battle area". The assumption is that they are not "under discipline", and as such are not an imminent threat.

I wonder what staff officer would have said that to Ike was the allies were chewing up the Germans at Falaise Gap. Monty failed to close the gap. Many a British soldier would pay for it at Arnham when the reequiped and remanned German units repaid the opportunity.
Posted by: Uniger Hupong7602 || 08/07/2006 16:58 Comments || Top||

#13  Wrong! Suicide bombing produces a relatively high kill ratio, and its use forces the need to tie up more resources in roadblock operations. It would be better to keep the terrorists in jail. However, making participation in terror a capital offense is the best idea. Try 'em and fry 'em! Any Arab who was found in Afghanistan in 2001, was there for only one thing: terror.
Posted by: Snease Shaiting3550 || 08/07/2006 16:58 Comments || Top||

#14  Perhaps a reminder of the President's "National Cathedral" speech, should be made here.


On Sept. 14, 2001, just three days after the terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush, speaking from Washington's National Cathedral stated, "This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. The conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing."

Iraq stabilizing operations are being overwhelmed by sectarian violence (although the oil transfer facilities are somewhat secure). Iran boasts of a swath of supporters all the way to the Mediterranean. We are learning that future missile emplacements could neutralize any Israeli response. Taliban are attacking from bases in our Pakistan ally. Democraticization efforts are resulting in support for jihadi terrorist groups. All the above looks bad, until you think of fact that we can deal with all the above through escalation. And, in these days we don't have to face the countervailing effects of Soviet Russia.

What is the "way"...when is the "time"...and what is "our choosing (choice)? Critics say the enemy hasn't been defined. Maybe now we can identify them, and start the slaughter. I'm in. If something huge wasn't about to blow, then why would Israel assign only piecemeal rendering tasks onto the IDF? Israel is losing less than 2 troops per day, in spite of al-Reuters' daily vomit about non-existent heavy pitched battles followed by nominal IDF retreats. Bigger fish will be fried.
Posted by: Snease Shaiting3550 || 08/07/2006 17:18 Comments || Top||

#15  Ah disagree, Anonymoose. it is a warcrime to kill surrendering troops, but not those retreating in disarray. If they don't throw down their arms and put their hands up, they are, and always have been a legitimate target for death.

That last sentence was solely commentary by the MSM about the EVIIIL US Army.
Posted by: Brett || 08/07/2006 17:25 Comments || Top||

#16  The thing I find interesting in "It may be cheaper and cleaner to kill them in combat" is that the alternative of capturing them is not entertained. Anybody keeping track of the Killed/Captured ratio since Hamdan? I think the correct field fiz is being implemented without unnecessary documentation.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/07/2006 17:40 Comments || Top||

#17  NS, I keep on seeing articles from MNF-I talking about capturing jihadis, not killing the. Sheesh.
Posted by: Brett || 08/07/2006 18:10 Comments || Top||

#18  Historically, most (80 percent) of casualties were inflicted during one side's retreat.
Posted by: Mark E. || 08/07/2006 18:57 Comments || Top||

#19  Try the Frezza method on Gitmos.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/07/2006 19:12 Comments || Top||

#20  kill the mfers
Posted by: Legolas || 08/07/2006 19:24 Comments || Top||

#21  "it may be cheaper to kill them in combat than to sit on them for the next 15 years".

In other late breaking news; A frog's @ss is watertight.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/07/2006 19:24 Comments || Top||

#22  Why do I keep getting the images of peasants and skeet from the movie "History of the World Vol #1"?

Pull!


Posted by: 3dc || 08/07/2006 19:35 Comments || Top||

#23  Is McCaffrey also an advisor to the RAB by any chance?
Posted by: Classical_Liberal || 08/07/2006 20:08 Comments || Top||

#24  Moose,

Don't know what ROE you are looking at, but it sure ain't one I've ever seen. From a naval standpoint (my branch), a ship that has turn tail and run is a target until the moment it surrenders or sinks. The Geneva Conventions are clear about shipwrecked sailors, parachuting aviators (not paratroopers), and soldiers surrendering; they are out of combat. An army in retreat is not.

Also, you added the word "ceasefire" into the discussion, which was not there before. Historically, if your army is in full retreat, no one is granting you a ceasefire.
Posted by: Dreadnought || 08/07/2006 20:40 Comments || Top||

#25  I suppose hunting them for sport is out of the question.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/07/2006 22:12 Comments || Top||

#26  Not my question, #25 SteveS.


Your mileage may vary.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/07/2006 22:18 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
60 militants have sneaked into Kashmir: police
Sixty militants trained in Pakistan have recently sneaked into the border- districts of Indian-held Kashmir, an Indian police official said on Sunday. “Infiltration is going on…. It has increased. As per rough estimates around 60 militants have infiltrated into Poonch and Rajouri recently,” Jammu Inspector General of Police, SP Vaid told reporters.

Indian police, army and paramilitary forces are determined to scuttle the militants’ plans to escalate violence in Indian-held Kashmir, Vaid said, adding that in the past six months the security forces captured and killed 40 militants, out of which 16 were nabbed while 28 had surrendered. Those who surrendered included nine youths who were rescued while being sent to Azad Kashmir for arms training, he said. He said that 46 rifles and 138 kilogrammes of explosive material were recovered from the captured militants and their hideouts.

The police official said that Lashkar-e-Taiba militants were responsible for the Kulhand massacre on May 1, in which 19 people were killed. He said that those responsible – including two foreigners – had been identified, and a man identified as Khursheed Ahmad had been arrested in this connection and was being charge-sheeted in court. The remaining militants were hardcore militants, he said, adding that ‘meeting with them will take place during encounters’.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Akram Lahori shifted to Hyderabad Central Jail
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi leader Muhammad Ajmal alias Akram Lahori was shifted to Central Jail Hyderabad from Karachi on Sunday. Lahori succeeded Riaz Basra as the chief of Lashkar, after Basra was killed in Mailsi, Multan, on May 14, 2002.

Lahori is accused of killing Ehtishamuddin Haider, the brother of former federal interior minister Moinuddin Haider, and Pakistan State Oil managing director Shoukat Raza Mirza. He is also a prime suspect in the massacre at Mehmoodabad Imambargah, and the murder of Iranian military cadets in Rawalpindi. Lahori was arrested in Orangi Town, Karachi, on June 17, 2002.

Ahmed Omar Shaikh, the man convicted for the abduction and killing of US journalist Daniel Pearl and awaiting execution, and three of his accomplices undergoing life imprisonment, are also at Hyderabad Central Jail.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is this the one getting daily Ayurvedic massages and special meals sent in?
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/07/2006 19:19 Comments || Top||


Five LeT militants arrested for Doda blasts
Five guerrillas of the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, wanted in connection with the grenade explosions in the mountain-locked Doda district in May and June, have been arrested, police said on Sunday. At a hurriedly convened press conference, Inspector General S P Vaid claimed all the grenade attacks in Doda, including the one during a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally in May, have been worked out. Two people died and at least 40 were wounded in the explosion on May 13 while taking part in a rally backed by the BJP to protest against the massacre of 22 Hindus in Kulhand area on May 1.

"Sustained investigation and chase of clues led us to the arrest of the five terrorists, one of whom (Mohammad Qasim) was working as a domestic help for years with Saidullah Tantray, a leader Hurriyat Conference (Syed Ali Shah Geelani faction) for years," Vaid said. Police are investigating the role and activities of the Hurriyat leader. The four other arrested rebels are - Javied Ahmad, Mohammad Hussain, Javid Iqbal and Riyaz Ahmed. Vaid said three absconding guerrillas have been identified and they would soon be in the police net. "Our teams are working to trace them."
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
First Navy SEAL KIA Iraq
When Navy SEAL Marc Alan Lee talked to his wife last week from Iraq, he was upbeat as always, discussing their future, his SEAL team's planned return to Coronado, Calif., in October and the prospect of starting a family. The next day the 28-year-old Lee, a petty officer 2nd class, was killed in a prolonged firefight with insurgents in Ramadi, making him the first SEAL killed in Iraq.

Two other SEALs were wounded in what a reporter embedded with U.S. troops described as an hourlong firefight between heavily armed and aggressive insurgents and a force of SEALs, U.S. soldiers and Iraqi troops.

As one of the U.S. military's most elite and secretive fighting units, the SEALs almost never reveal their missions to the public, even long after completion. Lee's death, announced Friday by the Pentagon, is virtually the first recognition that the SEALs are involved in the battle to wrest Ramadi from insurgent control.

Maya Lee, 25, said she never considered that her husband might be killed when his Coronado-based SEAL team deployed to Iraq this spring. The couple met while he was in SEAL training and she was studying dance at UC Irvine; they married four years ago.

The SEALs, she said, give off an aura of invincibility. "They're such heroes, so strong, that never in my mind did I think this could happen," she said in a quiet but strong voice during a phone call Saturday night from upstate New York, where she has gone to be with her family. "Marc was amazing. He was my best friend, my love," she said.

In his calls from Iraq, he preferred not to speak of the violence in Ramadi, she said. "Everything was planning for the future, for October," said his wife, who has been working in fashion consulting and public relations. "We laughed and talked about him coming home and what we were going to do. We talked of buying a house and having children."

In an e-mail to his wife earlier this summer, Lee mentioned going into an Iraqi house on a mission and seeing children there: "The youngest girl was a glimpse into the future of our daughter, really cute curly hair, small and petite. It made me want a family so bad with you. Once again I am in a rush to write this as I am rolling out of here in less than an hour. No worries about anything. I am fine."

Lee's mother, Debbie Lee, said in a statement from her home in Surprise, Ariz.: "In this mother's eyes, he will always be a hero and greatly missed."

Rear Adm. Joe Maguire, a SEAL and commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command, issued a statement praising Lee and the two wounded SEALs. "We want their families and all Americans to know that their loved ones' sacrifices were not in vain."

Stars & Stripes newspaper reported that last Wednesday's assault was the biggest action in a campaign against insurgent strongholds in the Sunni Triangle. Lee was killed as he and other SEALs stormed a building with insurgents barricaded inside. He has been posthumously awarded a Bronze Star Medal for Valor, a Combat Action Ribbon and a Purple Heart.

He grew up in Hood River, Ore., where he excelled in soccer and enjoyed skiing and weightlifting. His brother Kris, 32, served in the Marine Corps. In 2001, Lee enlisted in the Navy and the next year began the 25-week Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training in Coronado. It is one of the most grueling training programs in the military, and the dropout rate exceeds 50%.

When he developed pneumonia, he had to leave training. After a deployment aboard an aircraft carrier as an aviation ordnance technician, he returned to SEAL school in 2004 and graduated that November. "For Marc, becoming a SEAL was like a dream come true," his wife said.

His funeral is pending at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery in Point Loma, across San Diego Bay from the SEALs home base. Since she received the official notification of her husband's death, Maya Lee has had two SEALs with her to offer emotional support and help with arrangements.

The experience has broadened her view of SEALs. "They have this toughness about life generally," she said. "But then, when this happens, you find out they really care about you."
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/07/2006 11:35 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  God bless him and his family.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/07/2006 11:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Amen.
Posted by: Odysseus || 08/07/2006 11:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Thank you doesn't begin to cover it.

I'll have to wait and read it after work.
Posted by: Xbalanke || 08/07/2006 11:45 Comments || Top||

#4  RIP Marc Alan Lee
~~
if memory serves, don't think this was the first SEAL lost in Iraq.
Posted by: RD || 08/07/2006 12:11 Comments || Top||

#5  God bless him and his family.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 08/07/2006 13:30 Comments || Top||

#6  whether a seal or not it alays brings a tear to my eyes when one of our men are killed
Posted by: honkey || 08/07/2006 14:07 Comments || Top||

#7  For more, read what a former SEAL Froggy at http://www.blackfive.net/ writes about this death. Scroll down to Greater Love Hath No Man. Warning, tissue alert!

And RD? Froggy says he is the first SEAL.
Posted by: Sherry || 08/07/2006 14:08 Comments || Top||

#8  My Dad's ashes are interred at Ft. Rosecrans - a place full of heroes and one of the most beautiful spots you'll ever see. RIP, Marc Lee.
Posted by: Frank G || 08/07/2006 14:25 Comments || Top||


#10  We salute you, Mr. Lee. Bless you and yours for giving all you had in our defense.
Posted by: SOP35/Rat || 08/07/2006 18:32 Comments || Top||


21 killed in Iraq violence
At least 21 people were killed across Iraq on Sunday, as US reinforcements rolled into some of the most violent districts of Baghdad to halt Iraq’s slide towards civil war. Fifteen people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the midst of mourners in Tikrit, the hometown of former president Saddam Hussein, police said. At least 30 others were wounded in the attack, they added. The suicide bomber arrived at a hall located in the centre of Tikrit where people were gathered to mourn the death of the father of provincial council member Saab Abd Badaywi. The bomber parked an explosive-laden car outside the building and then entered the hall where he blew himself up, a police officer said.

An Interior Ministry official said that clashes between Iraqi security forces and Mehdi militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr had also erupted in Baghdad’s Shiite dominated Sadr City district. Units of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team were deployed in flashpoint districts in the west of the capital, which in recent weeks has seen hundreds of civilians murdered by sectarian death squads. As they arrived in Baghdad, the blasts of two roadside bombs echoed around the city and security forces recovered 20 corpses across Baghdad – four Iraqi soldiers and 16 civilians who had been tortured and shot dead, police said. One bomb wounded two Iraqi police commandos and two civilians in the Jihad neighbourhood, an Interior Ministry official said. The Stryker Brigade had already completed 12 months in the restive region around the northern city of Mosul, and had begun to head home to Alaska when they were ordered to Baghdad for the next 120 days.

General George Casey, the head of coalition troops in Iraq, said last week on a US military website that the Baghdad deployment was key to his strategy. Two months ago, Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced a plan to restore security by deploying 43,000 Iraqi police and army and just over 7,000 US troops around Baghdad. But the plan has failed to contain the violence, as daily bombings target police and civilians and faceless death squads kidnap, torture and shoot more than a dozen victims daily.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  related, Baghdad Monday, August 07, 2006 2:02 AM

Zappy

A C-130H Spectre “like a C-130” is firing its rounds for the past 90 minutes on the Far East side of Sadr City they are using there Vulcan Canons and some Airborne artillery shells. I have no Idea what’s happening on the ground. I also hear Fighter planes in the Air.
The Mahdi Army are firing Back “with what?” all I hear are shoots from AK-47 And medium machine guns firing everywhere.. spread the news Now!!

Seems the word on the street is TRUE!

Update: it seems to have ended now "word on the street" says "it was a limited operation" one house was distroyed, yabks and APC's were also involved.
Posted by: RD || 08/07/2006 4:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Ah, mashed taters
Posted by: Captain America || 08/07/2006 18:23 Comments || Top||

#3  yabks?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/07/2006 19:10 Comments || Top||

#4  tanks. look at the location of y and b on the keyboard.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/07/2006 20:27 Comments || Top||


Bomber kills 15 in Tikrit
At least 15 people have been killed after a bomber blew himself up in the midst of mourners in Tikrit, the hometown of former president Saddam Hussein. At least 30 others were wounded in the attack, police said. The bomber arrived at a hall located in the centre of Tikrit where people were gathered to mourn the death of the father of provincial council member Saab Abd Badaywi. He parked an explosive-laden car outside the building and then entered the hall where he blew himself up, a police officer said. The toll was expected to rise as many victims were caught in the debris after the roof of the hall caved in following the explosion. The rescue effort was hampered because the bomber's car was outside the building.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IDF releases video of interrogation of Hizbullah member involved in kidnapping of two soldiers
The IDF has released film from an interrogation of a Hizbullah member who took part in the kidnapping of two soldiers on the northern border.

"My role was to stop the tank backup that was supposed to arrive to chase after the kidnappers," Hussin Ali Suleiman, 22, commander of the ant-tank unit of Hizbullah told the camera.

Suleiman was captured by IDF forces, and his interrogators released footage of the questioning on Monday.

In the interrogation, Suleiman volunteered information which shed light on a range of topics linked to Hizbullah and Syria and Iran's
link to activities in the area. He described his role in the kidnapping, but did not provide new information on the fate of the kidnapped soldiers.

During the interrogation Suleiman said he was not involved in the full kidnapping plot and did not know all of its details, but was aware of the general intentions. His role was to shoot anti-tank missiles on IDF tanks mobilized into the area following the kidnapping.

He said in followed his instructions and fired a Fagot-type anti-tank missile.

A senior IDF source added that in total "a few dozen" Hizbullah members took part in the abduction, from Hizbullah's area 2, and from the Nasser unit operating south of the Litani River.
Posted by: Sherry || 08/07/2006 16:35 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


40 troops battling Hizbullah in attempt to destroy launchers
About 40 IDF commandos landed on a southern hilltop near Lebanon's Mediterranean coast on Monday, fighting Hizbullah in close combat in a bid to destroy its rocket launchers. Helicopters dropped off the troops on a hill overlooking Ras al-Biyada, south of Tyre, Lebanese security officials said. It is believed that the majority of rocket launchings take place in the region of Tyre.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/07/2006 11:02 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


2 Terrorists Arrested
Duvdevan Soldiers Nab Wanted Terrorist
16:06 Aug 07, '06 / 13 Av 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Soldiers of the elite Duvdevan unit apprehended a wanted terrorist in Azzoun, east of Kalkilye. The terrorist in custody is linked to a number of terror attacks. The force also apprehended another wanted suspect while operating in the area.

Tanzim Commander Apprehended During the Night
15:20 Aug 07, '06 / 13 Av 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Security authorities report that the Fatah Tanzim commander of Banei Na’im, north of Hevron, was taken into custody by IDF soldiers. Abdel Marei is linked to shooting attacks on the Gush Etzion-Hevron Road and is also believed to have interrogated and tortured suspected collaborators. He was taken into custody by members of the IDF’s Shimshon unit.
Posted by: Steve || 08/07/2006 09:38 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Shimshon redemption?
Posted by: wxjames || 08/07/2006 10:42 Comments || Top||


IDF finds explosive device near Jenin
IDF forces identified two suspicious persons close to the security fence near Jenin on Sunday afternoon. After searching the area, the force uncovered an explosive device weighing 20 kilograms, Central Command spokesmen reported. Border Guard Police sappers later detonated the explosive device.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I suppose it's be a lot of work to repackage the explosive into something they could "return to sender"?
Posted by: Bobby || 08/07/2006 12:45 Comments || Top||


Jordan sentences lawmakers for backing al-Zarqawi
Jordan's military court on Sunday sentenced two Islamist lawmakers to prison terms of up to two years for instigating sectarian strife by praising al-Qaida leader, Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi at his wake. Mohammed Abu Fares was sentenced to two years in jail and fined 400 Jordanian dinars (US$ 585.50 or euros 441.74) and Ali Abu Sukkar to 1 years and fined 200 Jordanian dinars (US$ 284.25 or euros 220.87) for their "provocative" remarks about al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq who was killed by US forces June 7. The court said their prison terms began with their arrest on June 12. The defendants provoked widespread domestic indignation when they paid their condolences at the family home of al-Zarqawi.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Imagine the international indignation if Israel were to confict some of its Arab MK for supporting terrorism.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/07/2006 2:51 Comments || Top||


Palestinian throws Molotov cocktail at car
A Palestinian terrorist threw a Molotov cocktail at a passing car driven by Israeli civilians close to Salam, near Nablus. No casualties were reported. IDF forces were searching the area shortly after the event.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Lion of Islam again eh lol
Posted by: Shep UK || 08/07/2006 7:26 Comments || Top||

#2  What kind of gun laws does Israel have? Can you have a gun in your car?
Posted by: Jackal || 08/07/2006 11:09 Comments || Top||


Palestinian man killed in drive-by near Nablus
Palestinian security officials said that a 47-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed and his 17-year-old son was wounded after unidentified assailants opened fire during a drive-by shooting on Sunday night in the Nablus area. Witnesses reported that the attackers' car bore Israeli license plates.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  About 2000 more like that and they'll be even. Unless it was staged . . . .
Posted by: gorb || 08/07/2006 0:19 Comments || Top||


Gaza: IAF targets Islamic Jihad weapons storehouse
IAF planes targeted a house in the northern Gaza Strip early Monday; the building was used by the Islamic Jihad for weapons storage. No one was wounded in the operation. The inhabitants of the building received a telephone call from the IDF warning them to leave the premises. An additional call clarified that "this was not a joke."
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Why not call the neighbors instead, tell them to get their heads down, or wait a little and call them after with an apology for loud noise.
Posted by: Robjack || 08/07/2006 0:43 Comments || Top||

#2  oh this is just dumb , imagine WW2 and us allies telegraming germans telling them ' oh please get out your nazi infested area before we bomb it' then hours later 'this is not a joke' . Fck me letting your enemys escape - thats a sick joke on all.
Posted by: Shep UK || 08/07/2006 7:34 Comments || Top||

#3  One wonders the Hezbos are calling people and the telling them to get out as a joke / to get more to ignore the calls and get killed....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/07/2006 8:34 Comments || Top||

#4  And then the Hezbs call all the neighbourhood kids and women and tell them to take shelter in the house. then they leave.
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 || 08/07/2006 9:43 Comments || Top||

#5  This is like the Israeli version of gun control. I hear stories all the time about 'gun violence' and 'too many weapons' on the streets, etc, yet I've never seen a single gun ever go out and commit a crime or an act of violence. Targeting the weapons and not the people who wield them is simply insane.
Posted by: mcsegeeek1 || 08/07/2006 12:23 Comments || Top||

#6  Israel's often commendable restraint is beginning to be their undoing. With Hamas elected to office all pretenses must be dropped. It is high time for the Palestinians to start suffering the consequences of their idiotic decisions.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/07/2006 19:57 Comments || Top||


Rescue workers pull people from collapsed building
A woman and two men were killed and at least 189 people were wounded on Sunday evening when a massive barrage of rockets struck at least six sites in a crowded residential area of Haifa. Two people who were critically wounded died of their wounds shortly after. Several others were listed in serious condition. All of the wounded were evacuated to local hospitals within some 30 minutes.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That graphic looks like it's from the same set of photos as this one. The curious thing about the linked image is AFP's caption:

"Caption:
Tyre, LEBANON: Rockets fired from Israel are seen falling in the outskirts of the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre, 06 August 2006."


These are rockets being fired at Israel not by Israel. I forget which site pointed this out.

I guess AFP is wanting to horn in on some of Rooters glory.
Posted by: xbalanke || 08/07/2006 0:43 Comments || Top||


Islamic Jihad militant killed in raid
A PALESTINIAN militant from the radical Islamic Jihad movement was killed by Israeli forces near the West Bank town of Jenin today, Palestinian security sources said. Rashid al-Omari, 24, was killed after his home was surrounded by Israeli troops, the sources said. After he refused to surrender, the force stormed the house and killed him. An army spokeswoman confirmed its forces had come out to arrest the wanted Palestinian militant, who was shot dead "after refusing to surrender". His death brings to 5319 the number of people killed since the start of the Palestinian intifada in October 2000, the majority of them Palestinians, according to an AFP count.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bugs: It's true, Doc; I'm a rabbit alright. Would you like to shoot me now or wait 'til you get home?
Daffy: Shoot him now! Shoot him now!
Bugs: You keep outta this! He doesn't have to shoot you now!
Daffy: He does so have to shoot me now! [to Elmer] I demand that you shoot me now!
[Elmer raises his gun. As Daffy sticks his tongue out at Bugs, he is shot. Daffy walks back over to Bugs, gunsmoke pouring out of his nostrils]
Daffy: [to Bugs] Let's run through that again.
Bugs: Okay.
Bugs: [deadpan] Would you like to shoot me now or wait till you get home.
Daffy:[similarly] Shoot him now, shoot him now.
Bugs: [as before] You keep outta this, he doesn't have to shoot you now.
Daffy Duck: [re-animated] Hah! That’s it! Hold it right there! [to audience] Pronoun trouble. [to Bugs] It's not "he doesn't have to shoot you now", it's "he doesn't have to shoot me now"
[Pause]
Daffy: [angrily] Well, I say he does have to shoot me now!! [to Elmer] So shoot me now!
[Elmer shoots Daffy again]
Posted by: gorb || 08/07/2006 2:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Yup, one of my facorites, where Daffy's beak gets blown off about a dozen different ways.
Troublemakers should always get the same treatment.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/07/2006 6:19 Comments || Top||

#3  "It's Duck Season". "It's Rabbit season". "Duck Seanson". "Rabbit season". "Rabbit season." It's Duck season, shoot the Duck." BLAM! burnt feathers and his bill on backwards.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/07/2006 11:27 Comments || Top||

#4  It would be nice if Israel could either kill or capture every terrorist in the West Bank and Gaza. Unfortunately, it would leave the areas without any male population between the ages of 12 and 50. I'm not sure Israel has enough bullets, or jail space for that many prisoners.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/07/2006 14:58 Comments || Top||

#5  I hate to say this, but it's now baseball season!
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 08/07/2006 15:45 Comments || Top||

#6  Pronoun trouble.

One of the all-time greatest (and personal favorite) Daffy Duck lines in cartoondom, along with, "Nobody puts one over on this little black duck!" Definitely on a par with Foghorn Leghorn's immortal, "Fortunately, I keep my feathers numbered for just such an occasion!"

I'm not sure Israel has enough bullets, or jail space for that many prisoners.

So, line 'em up single file and use high velocity ammunition. I'm beginning to think that any resolution of the terrorism problem will require simple extermination, be it conventional or nuclear.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/07/2006 20:10 Comments || Top||

#7  Only 5319 in the mostly Maroons AFP count? Quagmire!
Posted by: Inspector Clueso || 08/07/2006 20:54 Comments || Top||

#8  So, line 'em up single file and use high velocity ammunition.

Heck, use the terrorists for ammunition. Load them on a catapult and send them back to where they came from! Solves the disposal problem, too! :-)
Posted by: gorb || 08/07/2006 23:49 Comments || Top||


Israel arrests Hamas lawmaker
ISRAEL arrested a politician from the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas today, Palestinian security forces said. Fadel Hamdan was detained tonight after about two dozen Israeli army jeeps ringed the area of Ramallah where he was based, security forces said. Overnight, Israeli forces also arrested Aziz Dweik, the Hamas speaker of the Palestinian parliament. Israeli troops detained 64 other leading Hamas figures, including eight ministers and 26 MPs, on June 29.

The ruling Islamist Hamas movement is correctly considered to be a terrorist group by Israel and the West. The Israeli crackdown, which has also involved large military incursions in Palestinian areas, began on June 28, three days after Palestinian militants from Gaza killed two soldiers and captured a third in a cross-border raid.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Got complacent, eh? The rest are going to have a hard time sleeping for a while, I'll bet!
Posted by: gorb || 08/07/2006 0:24 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Sri Lanka aid workers 'shot dead'
Fifteen local employees of a French charity have been found shot dead in the strife-torn town of Muttur in northern Sri Lanka, aid workers say. An official from the group, Action Against Hunger, said the bodies had been found in the agency's office.

“A pro-Tamil Tiger website blamed the government for the killings but the military rejected the claim.”
The Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies, which found the bodies of the aid workers, said it was unclear who had committed the killings. The director-general of Action Against Hunger, Benoit Miribel, said the organisation had not suffered such a loss in its 25 years of existence. He said the group had wanted to send a team to the area but was prevented by soldiers. "Our sympathy is with the families of the victims and with all the civilians affected by this massacre, whose scale is not known," Mr Miribel said.

The ethnic-Tamil aid workers had been working on post-Asian tsunami relief and reconstruction. A pro-Tamil Tiger website blamed the government for the killings but the military rejected the claim.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka shrugs off Tiger deal, resumes shelling
Sri Lanka rejected a deal on Sunday brokered by Norway with Tamil rebels to lift a water blockade, saying access to the site by its engineers was non-negotiable. Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said they were not involved in Norway's talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that led to the guerrillas announcing they will open a sluice gate closed in late July. "Water should not be a negotiating tool," Rambukwella told AFP. "We don't want terrorists to come and open the water way. They must simply allow irrigation engineers to do it, otherwise we will open it anyway," he said.

The LTTE, in talks with Oslo's top special envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer, agreed on Sunday to end the dispute by releasing water to around 15,000 farming families. Tiger political wing leader S P Thamilselvan said the Tigers would unblock a sluice gate in the east - a blockage that plunged the island into a fresh bout of civil war - if the government agreed to their demands. "Our leader has agreed to open the sluice on humanitarian grounds," Thamilselvan told reporters in the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Tamils call shelling 'declaration of war'
The Tamil Tigers have said that shelling of their territory by Sri Lankan troops amounted to a declaration of war, but they had not yet decided whether to retaliate. SP Thamilselvan, leader of the rebel's political wing, said: "We consider this a declaration of war and strongly condemn the attitude of the government. We may have to take a defensive position if the shelling continues. It is not decided yet." He said there was still space for discussion while Norway's special peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer was in Kilinochchi. Hanssen-Bauer is expected to leave on Monday.

Sri Lankan artillery pounded Tiger territory hours after the rebels offered to give in to a key government demand to open a sluice gate providing water to government territory. The closure of the gate last month prompted the first ground fighting since the 2002 ceasefire. The Tigers said they would re-open it but as the head of the unarmed Nordic-staffed ceasefire monitoring mission, retired Swedish major general Ulf Henricsson, headed towards the sluice south of the northeastern port of Trincomalee, army artillery opened fire.

Tommy Lekenmyr, chief of staff for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission said: "The government have the information that the LTTE has made this offer. It is quite obvious they are not interested in water. They are interested in something else. We will blame this on the government." The government said the Tigers must leave the area of the sluice gate, which officially lies in army territory, but which military sources said was in an area effectively controlled by the rebels.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Israel shoots down Hizbollah drone
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/07/2006 13:37 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Kewl !
Posted by: wxjames || 08/07/2006 14:04 Comments || Top||

#2  I wonder where it came from? Chinese or Russian? This opens more questions about Hez support. I hope they publish the country it came from.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 08/07/2006 14:23 Comments || Top||

#3  So I wonder, what exactly was used to shoot this drone down. Cannon seems to be a bit too difficult with such a small target and so that means they used a missile of some kind.

I imagine the pilot that shot it down is lording it over his buddies too, being the only one with an air to air kill for this entire conflict.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 08/07/2006 14:31 Comments || Top||

#4  Splash one bandit!
Posted by: Mike || 08/07/2006 14:36 Comments || Top||

#5  So they finally nailed Fisk.
Posted by: 6 || 08/07/2006 14:50 Comments || Top||

#6  Iranian

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/ababil.htm
Posted by: Clerert Uneamp2772 || 08/07/2006 15:25 Comments || Top||

#7  Planes to intercept a drone? I wonder if they used cannon to blast it. Anything larger and it would have been turned to a fine mist.

Maybe they can raise and train falcon to attack and take down drones. Maybe give them metal spurs like a fighting cock. Open one of those suckers up like a can opener.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/07/2006 16:39 Comments || Top||

#8  Thought Ratface got stealthy super drones. Haha.
Posted by: Duh! || 08/07/2006 16:48 Comments || Top||

#9  Maybe the Leb Childrens RC Flying Club had one get away due to Jew Jamming...Rooters story at 6.
Posted by: Inspector Clueso || 08/07/2006 17:10 Comments || Top||

#10  Just one more reason to bounce Iranian rubble a few times.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/07/2006 19:28 Comments || Top||

#11  "So I wonder, what exactly was used to shoot this drone down."


Well, a real close and hot flyby would be all it would take. The wake turbulence would probably cause structural failure, or at a minimum, loss of control resulting in an impact with terrain!

-M
Posted by: Manolo || 08/07/2006 21:46 Comments || Top||


Big Fat LIE: 1 killed in Houla - Not 40
AP News Alert
Aug 07 11:17 AM US/Eastern

BEIRUT, Lebanon

The Lebanese prime minister says only one person died in an Israeli air raid on the southern village of Houla, lowering the death toll from 40.
Posted by: mcsegeeek || 08/07/2006 11:56 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But the correction on Yahoo ran only 5 minutes and the story has disappeared - as if it never happened.

The "40 massacred" ran for hours with much wailing and knashing of teeth.
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 || 08/07/2006 13:10 Comments || Top||

#2  these people are just pathetic
Posted by: Legolas || 08/07/2006 13:26 Comments || Top||

#3  So... make it so.
I know they don't have buffs so they can't really do this... but ArcLight the village. They have already paid the political cost so Israel could get some free points.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/07/2006 13:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Siniora is thoroughly pathetic. If he has one grain of honor in him, he should just resign just for being useless, not even counting being aggravating and spineless etc.
Posted by: Duh! || 08/07/2006 13:40 Comments || Top||

#5  But Siniora has shed tears, 3 times. I think the last time was when al-Reuters announced they fired jihad photographer Hajji. Now Siniora has to work overtime a few hours a day....
Posted by: Evil Elvis || 08/07/2006 16:15 Comments || Top||

#6  This is all the Israelis fault so they should corrrect the mistake by killing another 39.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 08/07/2006 16:18 Comments || Top||

#7  As one commentor wrote in JihadWatch:
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/012582.php#comments
And it goes to show , if you don't clean your house of the gargabe, it will become full of rats and vermin carrying filth and disease.
Fouad Siniora has no one to blame except his own government and his own people. If you are unwilling to fight the terrorists, they you are destined to be their slaves, or worse, dead. Because if the terrorists don't kill you, those who come to your land to kill the terrorists will.

Posted by: exsgtbrown
.....
Read the other good comments as well. Perhaps his name should be FOAD Sin-Oral.
Posted by: Duh! || 08/07/2006 16:35 Comments || Top||


Lebanese PM Willing to Deploy Army Forces
(IsraelNN.com) Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora is now signaling a willingness to deploy Lebanese army troops in southern Lebanon, along Israel’s northern border, to expedite the departure of Israeli forces from Lebanese soil.

Siniora states he is willing to deploy his troops along with a United Nations force in an effort to halt the IDF military offensive in Lebanon.

Posted by: Steve || 08/07/2006 09:35 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yes, the Lebanese army. That's a proven deterrant. Should have thought of using the Leb army before their Hizb cousins took over the show down south.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/07/2006 10:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Fuad is not willing to deploy against Hizb'Allah, right?

Olmert needs to learn from Bush: send a 48h ultimatum to the Lebanese government -- "Deliver Nasrallah and deploy the Lebanese army actually fighting against Hizb'Allah and stop all rocket attacks into Israel -- or else you are at war with Israel and will suffer the consequences."
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 08/07/2006 10:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Whew! What a relief.
Posted by: mcsegeeek || 08/07/2006 11:36 Comments || Top||

#4  The hezbullies are a minority within lebanon, Lebanons government has enabled this minority group to bring turmoil upon the whole population. Hezbullies are a political party with two cabinent members, yet they Launched a war as if they represented the entirety of lebanon. Hezbullies are what they are, sources of subversion, intimidation and provocation.

The international force must have the ability to disarm the bully and restore the functioning democracy of a country, representing its population in its diversity and entirety.

hezbullies esteem is said to be rising, I believe this is a lie elevated by the imminent threat they pose to anyone opposed to them.

Its often been said that Lebanon is the Paris of the middle East, it sure sounds like it. The population is acting like the french out of learned behavior, subject to change at the appropriate moment.

Posted by: Shomoting Thromoling5847 || 08/07/2006 11:37 Comments || Top||

#5  Oh gee. I am sure Northern Israel feels safer too.
Posted by: DarthVader || 08/07/2006 11:42 Comments || Top||


IDF Soldier and 14 Terrorists Killed in Bint Jbeil
An IDF soldier was killed in a Monday morning battle with Hizbullah terrorists in Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon. Three soldiers were lightly wounded - and 14 terrorists were reported killed. A total of 12 soldiers have been killed in the current war in Bint Jbeil, a Hizbullah stronghold village just a few kilometers from the Israeli border in the central/east sector of southern Lebanon. Three paratroopers were wounded in today's battle. In addition, a battalion officer and two Nachal Brigade soldiers are listed in "moderate" condition following a battle in Huleh in the eastern sector.

In the western sector, the IDF has destroyed a Hizbullah headquarters, as well as anti-tank missiles and rocket launchers.

The number of victims since the current war began has now risen to 102, among them 58 soldiers, 38 civilians, and six killed in Gaza, Sderot and the Shomron. Fifteen of the civilians killed by the Hizbullah-fired rockets were Arabs and Druze. Ten Katyushas were fired at the Israeli city of Nahariya, on the Mediterranean coast, late this morning, and several at Kiryat Shmonah as well. Sirens were heard as far south as Beit She'an. One person was lightly hurt in these attacks.

Among the wounded in recent Katyusha attacks is a 27-year-old man from the northern community of Sh'ar Yashuv: Shai (ben Dalia) Golan. Hospitalized in Sieff Hospital in Tzfat, he has been in critical condition since a Katyusha attack on Friday, Aug. 4. Two other reserve soldiers wounded in yesterday's attack in Kfar Giladi are in serious condition as well. Some 50 citizens wounded in the Sunday evening Katyusha bombardment of Haifa remain hospitalized.
Posted by: Steve || 08/07/2006 09:27 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bint Jbeil: The meat-grinder where Hezbollah will lose many of its Lions for Allan.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 08/07/2006 10:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Is there a strategic or tactical reason for Israel not simply to bomb Bint Jbeil to rubble, and napalm it?
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 08/07/2006 10:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Yep. US and international pressure perhaps. Also, the creation of too much rubble actually makes the place more suitable to defense. Examples: Monte Cassino, Italy and Caen, Normandy during WW2.

Hopefully, the IDF will leave a bunker or two intact and booby-trapped so that Hezbos re-enter them thinking Allan has helped them drive out the IDF, a big KABOOM will greet them.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 08/07/2006 11:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Kalle, agreed. There is no reason not to burn it to the ground. Israel has taken too many hits here. Rats will keep filtering back in. Destroy it.
Posted by: SOP35/Rat || 08/07/2006 11:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Is there a strategic or tactical reason for Israel not simply to bomb Bint Jbeil to rubble, and napalm it?

Flypaper.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/07/2006 11:42 Comments || Top||

#6  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/747356.html

Like is said before the sorry state of Israel reserve army. Even if it is only half the truth.
Posted by: Clerert Uneamp2772 || 08/07/2006 12:44 Comments || Top||


Hizbo Rocket Command Located in Syria
DEBKAfile’s military sources disclose: Hizballah’s rocket offensive against Israel is orchestrated from a rear command located in the Syrian town of Anjar.
While Israeli officials keep on insisting that Syria must be kept out of the conflict, the fact is that the Assad regime is already in it up to their ears – with a leading role in the Hizballah rocket attacks on northern Israel.

The command which coordinates the pace of those attacks is located at the Anjar base of the Syrian Army’s 10th Division opposite the Lebanese town of Az Zabdani. It is manned by Iranian and Hizballah officers, who take their orders from a Syrian military intelligence center in Damascus to which Iranian Revolutionary Guards intelligence officers are attached. It is headed by a general from one of Syria’s surface missile brigades. This joint command is provided with the most up-to-date intelligence and electronic data available to Syria on targets in Israel and IDF movements. The timing and tempo of Hizballah rocket strikes are set according to that information.

To keep the rockets coming without interruption, the joint Hizballah-Syrian-Iranian command is also responsible with keeping Hizballah supplied with an inflow of rockets and launchers. They use smuggling rings to slip the supplies into Lebanon by mule and donkey which ply the 5,000-7,000 feet mountain paths that straddle the Syrian-Lebanese frontier.

A senior Israeli officer told DEBKAfile: We can go on bombing Lebanon for many weeks, but that will not stop the rockets..
Posted by: Steve || 08/07/2006 09:18 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  what a shock
Posted by: Legolas || 08/07/2006 9:38 Comments || Top||

#2  However, bombing Syria might.
Posted by: phil_b || 08/07/2006 10:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Gasp. Bomb the pencil-necked dipwap's palace and the hezzie rocket center. These as*holes are not paying a price for their complicity. What happened to the concept of "If you harbor terrorists.....?"
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/07/2006 10:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Bomb Syria. Now.
Posted by: mcsegeek1 || 08/07/2006 10:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Is there any fool alive who thinks this will not escalate drawing Syria into the fire soon ?
It's about JDAM time.
Posted by: wxjames || 08/07/2006 10:36 Comments || Top||

#6  It's time for massive attack on Syria. Get UAV's up over these trails. Donkeys move slowly. When spotted get a gunship over them and tear them to shreds. Israel has no gunships, so we need to lend them a couple for a month or so.
Posted by: SOP35/Rat || 08/07/2006 11:10 Comments || Top||

#7  I don't know much about this, but it would seem to me that any rocket or launcher moved by a donkey would have to be rather small in size. So if Israel holds a line at the Litani river these additional small rockets are meaningless. I do know about airplanes tho. The Spectre gunship idea sounds good. A couple along the Leb/Syrian border would make their hairs stand on end.
Posted by: Intrinsicpilot || 08/07/2006 11:23 Comments || Top||

#8  Have we (the US) warned Israel not to bomb targets in Syria, even if as blantantly involved as the Anjar base? Such a warning might be motivated by a US fear that allied Arab governments might fall if the war spreads. If such a warning has been given, Israel they might heed it given the desirability of US resupply.
Posted by: Odysseus || 08/07/2006 11:49 Comments || Top||

#9  Turkish markings and big moustachios on the F16's.

Who's gonna know?
Posted by: mojo || 08/07/2006 13:48 Comments || Top||

#10  Can F-16s grow moustachios as luxuriant as those on Mr. Levant's dreamgirls?
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/07/2006 13:58 Comments || Top||

#11  It's most probably wise to have a nice wide buffer zone before attacking poor defenceless pencilnecks.
Posted by: Jake-the-peg || 08/07/2006 16:44 Comments || Top||

#12  Bomb Syria. Now.

Works for me, Blofeld mcsegeek1 . The civilized world must begin attaching extremely costly pricetags to any abetting of terrorism.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/07/2006 19:38 Comments || Top||

#13  Not sure TW, but ever seen airplane? The scene where Air Israel is departing with orthodox gear is priceless. I bet it send Levant into a frenzy ;)
Posted by: bombay || 08/07/2006 21:14 Comments || Top||

#14  Airplane? Oh, yes. It was the only film in English when Mr. Wife was doing the plant start-up in Cairo. He can recite the bloody thing verbatim... and we have to watch it whenever it comes up on the teevee. Thank goodness it's funny!
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/07/2006 23:47 Comments || Top||


Israeli strike 'kills 40 1 people'
An Israeli air strike has killed more than 40 people in the southern Lebanese border village of Houla, Lebanon's prime minister has said. Fouad Siniora told an Arab foreign ministers meeting in Beirut that there had been "a horrific massacre". At least 20 people died in earlier Israeli raids across Lebanon, as troops fought Hezbollah in the south. The violence comes after at least 15 people were killed in Israel on Sunday - the country's deadliest day so far. "An hour ago, there was a horrific massacre in the village of Houla in which more than 40 martyrs were victims of deliberate bombing," Mr Siniora told the meeting. He broke down during the address, in which he appealed to Arab states for support against Israel's "horrific actions".

The Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz has said Israel will step-up its offensive against Hezbollah rocket launching sites if the diplomatic process does not reach a successful conclusion. More than 900 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict, the Lebanese government says. More than 90 Israelis, most of them soldiers, have also been killed. Humanitarian groups say Israeli military action is hampering efforts to help many of the hundreds of thousands who have fled the fighting - sparked by the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah on 12 July.

AP News Alert: Corpse count less than 40
Aug 07 11:17 AM US/Eastern
BEIRUT, Lebanon
The Lebanese prime minister says only one person died in an Israeli air raid on the southern village of Houla, lowering the death toll from 40.
Posted by: Elmalet Ebboper3621 || 08/07/2006 08:34 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Any sign of "white t-shirt guy" or "green helmut guy" in the MSM photo's of the "massacre"? Just askin is all.
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 || 08/07/2006 9:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Did we say 40 people? We meant, uh, 400 people!

Yeah, that's the ticket.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/07/2006 9:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Already there have been reports of some pilots not dropping payloads

Even the pilots are getting uneasy

There are NO missiles being launched at Israel from well within the border of Lebanon

Israel can't kill everyone / Hezbollah can't kill everyone - SO WHY BOTHER

Nothing will change when the fighting stops - everyone knows that...
Posted by: Elmalet Ebboper3621 || 08/07/2006 10:10 Comments || Top||

#4  Another 40 presumably hapless civies who chose to stay in contested area despite repeated warnings and numerous examples of what happened to those who remained in previous cases, example Qana.

Word of advice: If you're near the Syrian border and locals make it a habit of loading and off-loading trucks coming in and out of Syria in these perilous times, get out of town. Head north, ASAP.

If Hezbos are placing rocket and missile launchers near your village, head north, ASAP.

If Hezbos are stock-piling an arsenal in your local recreational center and or Mosque, head north, ASAP.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 08/07/2006 10:37 Comments || Top||

#5  Cool. 40 Terrorists killed.

This is the BBC so all terrorists are called 'civilians'.

Just do a s/civilian/terrorist/i and you get much closer to the truth.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/07/2006 10:47 Comments || Top||

#6  Still waiting for the Lebanese PM to denounce Hizb'Allah's attacks on Israel. Until then Fouad and his cabinet are tools and should foad.
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 08/07/2006 10:54 Comments || Top||

#7  "This is the BBC so all terrorists are called 'civilians'."

CrazyFool, If you happen to notice this article qualifies it’s statements with “Mr Siniora told the meeting” and “the Lebanese government says”.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 08/07/2006 11:23 Comments || Top||

#8  Nothing will change when the fighting stops - everyone knows that..

Laughs!! EE3821, You have to separate your wishful thinking from what is real. Hizbollocks operatives are getting killed every hour. At some point enough will be killed to stop this.

And BTW, note the sense of panic that the Jooos are going to finish what we started. Why isn't the UN, etc saving us from our dimwhitiness?

We are Arabs we deserve to be saved from our own stupidity and feckless irresponsibility.
Posted by: phil_b || 08/07/2006 11:26 Comments || Top||

#9  Hizbollocks operatives are getting killed every hour. At some point enough will be killed to stop this.

phil_b, you're missing a point. Ask yourself, what proved to be the most effective IDF's tactic against Paleo suicide boomers? Now survey Lebjoke before July 12 and today.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/07/2006 11:49 Comments || Top||

#10  Surprise, surprise: Big fat f*cking LIE.

AP News Alert
Aug 07 11:17 AM US/Eastern

BEIRUT, Lebanon


The Lebanese prime minister says only one person died in an Israeli air raid on the southern village of Houla, lowering the death toll from 40.

Posted by: mcsegeeek || 08/07/2006 11:56 Comments || Top||

#11  Siniora now corrects the massacre numbers to ----- ONE. Just one.

Seems Hezbo didn't get enough time to stock the building with old corpses.

Looks sweet -MSM looking stupid using fake info yet again. You'd think they'd be starting to catch on.
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 || 08/07/2006 11:57 Comments || Top||

#12  Israel can't kill everyone / Hezbollah can't kill everyone - SO WHY BOTHER

Good Call
Posted by: Mel || 08/07/2006 12:35 Comments || Top||

#13  Please explain, gromgoru. Thanks!
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/07/2006 12:54 Comments || Top||

#14  Targeted snuffing of leaders & logisticians?
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/07/2006 13:09 Comments || Top||

#15  tw go here.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/07/2006 13:22 Comments || Top||

#16  Ali Baba and the 40 thieves....and then there was but one.
Posted by: Duh! || 08/07/2006 13:37 Comments || Top||

#17  So who said it was 40? I notice in the original article the '40' number only appeared in the headline (and sub-headline) and only attributed to the PM without being an actual 'quote' or appearing anywhere else in the article.

Did the PM really say it was 40? Or did the BBC reporter pull this number out of his ass and simply attribute it by paraphrase to the PM?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 08/07/2006 14:29 Comments || Top||

#18  #13 Blowing their [paleo self boomers] houses. Same applies to Lebanone. Enough matherial damage, and they'll sit on the Hizb.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/07/2006 19:17 Comments || Top||


Hezbollah rocket kills 12 Israeli reserve soldiers
KFAR GILADI, Israel - Twelve Israeli soldiers were killed when a Hezbollah rocket landed among reservists in northern Israel on Sunday, the guerrilla group’s deadliest single missile strike of the Lebanon war.

The army confirmed reservists called up for duty for ground operations in southern Lebanon had been killed in the attack on the Kfar Giladi communal farm, but did not say how many. Medics put the toll at 12, with dozens of people wounded.

Soldiers near the scene held their heads and one wept as a military ambulance pulled away. Helicopters landed nearby to fly the seriously wounded to hospitals further from the war front. Blood-stained army boots stood on a stone wall. Stretchers lay on the ground, covered in blood. One officer looked down at the bodies, some covered by blankets, and shook his head in disbelief.

“I don’t recall so many dead ever. This is terrible,” said Ron Valensi, head of the upper Galilee municipal council and a resident of Kfar Giladi, on Channel 2 Television.

The attack occurred near the communal farm’s graveyard, not far from the Lebanese border. Smoke rose from two destroyed cars. Trees burned in the aftermath of the attack, sending plumes of smoke into the air.

Medics said several soldiers among the wounded were in critical condition. The casualties bring to 45 the number of people killed in northern Israel in rocket strikes since war broke out on July 12 after Hezbollah seized two soldiers in a cross-border raid. At least 153 rockets landed across northern Israel on Sunday, police said.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/07/2006 01:09 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That's very saddening, but I cant help questionning myself why these soldiers didn't go to the shelters when they heard the alarm, as did the civilians of Kfar Giladi? I hope that from now IDF soldiers will be more carefull. They are doing a great job, protecting Israel and the life of all Israelis, but they shouldn't forget their own lives.
Posted by: leroidavid || 08/07/2006 1:38 Comments || Top||

#2  After 4000 missiles this was bound to happen. During GW1, a Saddam missile hit US barracks in Saudi Arabia in the last days of the conflict. Hopefully, the Hizbis won't get lucky again.
Posted by: Snease Shaiting3550 || 08/07/2006 2:00 Comments || Top||

#3  The Radical Islamists and aligned terror groups have had since the Lebanese civil war and 1980's to pre-sight all of Israel, or at least major or significant targets, just as Israel has had same to gather INTEL.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/07/2006 2:26 Comments || Top||

#4  In every conflict, armies screw up. Mistakes often occur toward the end of conflict or under circumstances where one side lets its guard down.

Recall in the Falklands War (1982), Brits' single greatest loss of life occurred when a jam-packed troop-ship was offloading. Two Argentine aircraft made it through air defenses and struck the vessel. This incident occurred near the end of that conflict, just about the time the UK had won the day.

In the first Persian Gulf War (1991), the single greatest loss of American lives also occurred within hours of victory. I believe it was a Penn. Quartermaster Unit of National Guardsmen that sat down to eat dinner in a hanger at a Riyadh airbase when a Scud missle crashed through and killed about 28 of them.

And now this incident. While the IDF has not won the day yet, it appears these reservists had taken a rather cavalier attitude towards theie own safety.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 08/07/2006 10:45 Comments || Top||

#5  "...it appears these reservists had taken a rather cavalier attitude towards *their* own safety."

Of course, it also did not help that the Hezbos scored a lucky, direct hit.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 08/07/2006 10:48 Comments || Top||

#6  Hezbs may be getting better intel to correct their missle shots.
Posted by: wxjames || 08/07/2006 10:55 Comments || Top||

#7  Are Hizb'Allah getting live intel about Israeli soldiers' location?
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 08/07/2006 10:57 Comments || Top||

#8  Good question:

One concern expresssed by Col. David Hunt and others on Fox News is that the IDF does not seem all that concerned in restricting news outlets to film, often live, IDF staging areas. Often the footage is accompanied by commentators saying stuff like this: "The Israeli infantry and armored units are preparing to go into Lebanon. We're just about a mile from Lebanese territory and maybe three miles from the hilltop town of whatever. Back to you, Brian."

Perhaps Hezbos have figured out that by watching network and cable news, they just need to adjust their rockets and pour a number of them right at the border.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 08/07/2006 11:10 Comments || Top||

#9  On NPR tonight they reported there just are not enough shelters for the troops in the field, who often enough are literally camped in the fields awaiting movement to the front, far from buildings with safe rooms and such. These brave men simply got caught on the wrong side of the statistics. Yitgadal v'yitkadash Sh'mai rabah. Magnified and sanctified is God's Name.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/07/2006 19:33 Comments || Top||

#10  Let's keep some perspective here. However dreadful the loss may be (and it is), that's thousands of missiles and only a few dozen IDF or Israelis killed by them. We're looking at, what?, hundreds of missile to kill just one individual.

Whilst offing Hezbollah leadership and troops must remain a priority, the time to begin torching the rocket command in Anjar and the actual manufacturing sites is long overdue.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/07/2006 19:53 Comments || Top||


IDF destroys 3 launchers used to bombard Israel
The IDF, operating in southern Lebanon on Sunday evening, destroyed two rocket launchers that have been used to fire rockets at Israel. A third launcher was destroyed by the army earlier in the evening.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No they were not launchers but fruit picking machines and a fluffy kitten mobile hospital.
Posted by: Rooters News service || 08/07/2006 7:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Correction!

They were ice cream vendors simply going about their peaceful business.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 08/07/2006 10:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Correction!

They were ice cream vendors simply going about their peaceful business.


Posted by: BigEd || 08/07/2006 18:00 Comments || Top||


IAF strikes 4 targets near Syrian border
Lebanese sources reported that IAF planes struck targets near the Syrian border early Monday morning. According to the report, the air force struck four sites east of Baalbek. It was unclear whether there were any casualties.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, it's a long drive for green helmet.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/07/2006 2:50 Comments || Top||

#2  hey grom, I submitted the same blog in Opinion..

~~~~~

The Dead Baby Handlers

1) first watch, Quana, Hezbolla Actors


2) next, This blog, has done one of the most complete vettings I've seen although there are many others, LGF etc... check the first link then Scroll down to the end of July and begin

re: The Staffs of the Associated Press, Reuters, BBC, Guardian and their stringers etc.

The profession of video and photo journalism is sadly diminished by them, and the trust in those who produce them and in the organs who carry them is misplaced. Truly, we are dealing with loathsome creatures. [paraphrased]
Posted by: RD || 08/07/2006 3:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Ahem...that's QANA...not Quana.

Thanks.
Posted by: Quana || 08/07/2006 9:50 Comments || Top||

#4  RD my aquaintance with MSM started in the first intifada, where they were arranging incidents in advance with the local facillitator.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/07/2006 11:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Q, the whole world says you say Qâna..I say Qüana

what's a vowel between friends..

»|-)
Posted by: RD || 08/07/2006 12:08 Comments || Top||


IDF ditches plans to reach Litani River
I'm getting the impression that Olmert, not the IDF, is horribly out of his depth.
After completing the creation of a security zone in southern Lebanon and with diplomatic pressure mounting, the IDF, senior defense officials revealed Sunday, did not plan to move ground troops northwards towards the Litani River - a line initially named as the IDF's final destination in this current ground incursion.

Meanwhile Sunday, five Golani soldiers were wounded after a bomb went off when they stormed a home in the Lebanese town of Mahbeeb. The wounded soldiers were evacuated to safety and then taken to Rambam Hospital in Haifa for further medical treatment. Five other soldiers were wounded, one moderately and four lightly, during heavy clashes between IDF reservists and Hizbullah guerillas in the southern Lebanese village of Ras al-Baida. The troops from Brigade 609 killed over 35 Hizbullah gunmen since Friday and succeeded in destroying at least three Katyusha rocket launchers hidden in the village. Another soldier suffered moderate wounds when an anti-tank rocket hit his D-9 bulldozer near the village of Kila, west of Metulla. IDF troops took three Hizbullah guerrillas captives during operations in southern Lebanon overnight Saturday. The fighting that continued on Sunday took place in the 20 some villages IDF troops had taken up positions in over the weekend as they finished recreating the 10-kilometer-deep security zone Israel held during its 18-year presence in Lebanon which ended in 2000.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That idiot will make Israel pay an heavy price.
Posted by: Clerert Uneamp2772 || 08/07/2006 1:13 Comments || Top||

#2  ...Olmert, not the IDF, is horribly out of his depth.

I'd have to second that. So far it seems to me that he's been too prone to react to the crisis of the moment, and he's allowed the MSM caterwalling to affect Israel's strategy.
Posted by: PBMcL || 08/07/2006 1:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Fog of War.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/07/2006 2:53 Comments || Top||

#4  i'd wait, might be a another fake out
Posted by: RD || 08/07/2006 3:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Seriously, in such an active democracy as is Israel, with all of Israel behind this effort, how can PM Olmert stop before it has been done right?
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/07/2006 5:44 Comments || Top||

#6  I disagree - i think the IDF will push up to the Latani River. They been playing the MSN guys like a violin the IDF have. Stupid reporters here from the UK based out there and the so called 'experts' on tv, Keith Graves on Sky news for one have all been utterly proved wrong so far, whilst not realising the important details such as IDF forces punching through several KM's over the border then wrapping around and trapping Hezbollocks in pockets. All of these crucial details either slip through the small brains of reporters or they simply choose to ignore the actual Stratigic and tactical moves that the IDF have taken . Personally i think there fckin just clueless to it. Some Journo's on Sky t.v on day 2 , yes just day 2 of this war were saying ' Already Israel cannot seem to defeat the Hexbollocks' - two fckin days two fckin days, yeah imagine in WW2 a reporter saying that. 'Two days of fighting with Germany and still no sign of victory'. The small minded simplistic ness of the MSN is simply jaw dropping! Keith graves like i say on Sky news is one of the greatest examples of Buffonary and stupidity - He claimed outright on day 1 'the IDF will not cross the border to lebenon, absolulty no way' next fcking hour they did cross the border and ever single one of his crystal ball like predications have been so far off the mark its not even funny. Yet after weeks of emailing sky to point out the fact they have a so called 'expert' who gets every single prediction wrong by a massive mark i simply get repliys from Sky News telling me nicely 'Mr Graves has been there 25 years his Knowladge of the region is unsurpassed blah blah blah.' My sky subscription has now been cancelled but alas so many other people will be duped by the propaganda of Idiots like 'expert' Keith Graves.
Posted by: Shep UK || 08/07/2006 7:22 Comments || Top||

#7  So Olmert is playing the media game while the IDF sets up another mssion ? Could be. In fact, I hope that's the case because he does it so well. The MSM will be zigging and zagging, photoshopping their way to an Israeli defeat while Israel buries the Hezbs. Works for me.
Posted by: wxjames || 08/07/2006 7:28 Comments || Top||

#8  I'm getting the impression that Olmert, not the IDF, is horribly out of his depth.

Careful about expressing such dark and depressing thoughts. But Condi will make another trip to stop the wobbling and kep the IDF on track.

It's a real shame Israel did not have political leadership equal to the challenge. I suspect they could have cleaned Hesb'Allah out much more quickly and thoroughly.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 08/07/2006 8:28 Comments || Top||

#9  Hezb'Allah / Iran waited until Sharon was not only incapacitated, but had a compromise, weaker successor in place before launching their attacks.
Posted by: lotp || 08/07/2006 9:02 Comments || Top||

#10  They had an election, and they chose to stay with leftists, pacifists, socialists. They could have elected Bebe.
Posted by: wxjames || 08/07/2006 9:04 Comments || Top||

#11  its not the MSM theyre worrying about, its the reaction in the US and Europe, which are in turn under pressure from the region.

Theres nothing magic about the Litani. They have to weigh the loss of their most precious resouce, Israeli troops, against the gains from pushing a few more miles, and killing some more terrorists.

There does seem to have been some confusion surrounding the planning and execution of this war, but its not at all clear to me that its the fault of Olmert and Peretz, as opposed to Halutz. I know Krauthammer is inclined to blame Olmert, probably hoping for the return of his beloved Bibi, but Krauts no military expert. Too many armchair strategists waving around marches to the Litani, and to Beirut, from their keyboards, without facing the real material and diplomatic costs Israel faces.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 08/07/2006 10:09 Comments || Top||

#12  Nope. Disagree here. The IDF has a different plan in place. It is playing Chess while Hezbollah tries to play poker.

Hezbos could foil Israel's strategy, which is to compel over-confident Hezbo-nutters to fight from defensive positions in towns like Bint Jbeil, by playing their hand with a long-range missile strike at Tel Aviv. If that happens, all hell break loose and those wishing for an IDF drive to and beyond Litani will get their wish.

For now, Israel's playing it right. We have seen a number of bold, deep commando strikes that have resulted in an estimated 17-20 dead Hezbos and about six POWs without the loss of a single Israeli commando.

Airstrikes are hitting larger launchers almost within minutes of an attack. Today, Fox News reported that IDF has killed 40 Hezbos in ground fighting in and around Bint Jbeil in the past 24 hours. Hezbos are adopting what appears to be an Iwo Jima strategy. They've invested so much symbolism in Bint Jbeil and other border towns that they've stupidly decided to face IDF head-on.
Posted by: Lancasters Over Dresden || 08/07/2006 10:59 Comments || Top||

#13  Just like when they stopped at the border, another tactical pause. Not to worry folks the Litani River will be Kosher before long!
Posted by: 49 Pan || 08/07/2006 15:54 Comments || Top||

#14  Smart move. Having to post at a fixed line of control wouldn't be easy. Maintaining a 5 mile - or whatever - kill and destroy zone would be a better exercise of options.
Posted by: Snease Shaiting3550 || 08/07/2006 16:50 Comments || Top||


IAF strikes northeast Lebanon
Israeli warplanes struck deep in Lebanon early Monday, targeting a northeastern region that is a symbol of Hizbullah power, while guerrillas fought with Israeli forces near the border, witnesses and the group said. At least four explosions were heard around the city of Baalbek in the northern part of the eastern Bekaa Valley, witnesses said. There was no immediate word on casualties. Warplanes struck roads about 20 kilometers (13 miles) south of Baalbek, and in the Rashaya region further south on the corridor linking the southern part of the country with the Bekaa Valley, the witnesses said.

Hizbullah has many bases in the Baalbek region, about 100 kilometers (63 miles) north of Israel's border. Israeli commandos on Wednesday landed troops in the Baalbek area and fought guerrillas, apprehended several people before withdrawing. Sixteen Lebanese were killed in that raid.

In the south, several kilometers (miles) inside Lebanon, Hizbullah ambushed an advancing Israeli army unit near the village of Houla early Monday and heavy fighting ensued, the guerrillas' TV station said. In addition to repeated air raids since fighting erupted July 12, Israel has sent thousands of troops into southern Lebanon to try to stop Hizbullah rocket attacks, which on Sunday killed 12 Israeli soldiers and three civilians in the deadliest such strikes.

Israeli airstrikes on Sunday battered homes and roads across southern and eastern Lebanon, killing at least 14 people and leaving others believed buried under rubble. Hizbullah reported three of its fighters also killed. Israeli jets also fired at least six missiles into the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs Sunday afternoon, security officials said.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Strike hits Hezbollah stronghold
ISRAELI forces carried out new bombing raids on Beirut's southern suburbs today, launching six bombs on districts in the Hizbollah stronghold area. At least six explosions were heard and a massive cloud of white smoke billowed over the area,, AFP correspondents on the scene said. Three buildings were flattened on Hadi Nasrallah avenue, the main street of the suburbs which have suffered massive devastation since Israel launched a military onslaught after Hezbollah's July 12 capture of two Israeli soldiers. One of the destroyed buildings collapsed, blocking the way on the street named after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah's son, Hadi, who died in a military operation against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon in 1997.
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ahhh the sweet sound of secondaries. Let the music play!
Posted by: anymouse || 08/07/2006 1:46 Comments || Top||

#2  While you sharpen pencils, we'll choop down a few trees.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/07/2006 2:55 Comments || Top||


Good morning...
Reuters drops freelance Lebanese photographer over imageIAF strikes northeast LebanonAfghan forces kill 17 insurgentsSri Lanka shrugs off Tiger deal, resumes shellingIsrael arrests Hamas lawmaker21 killed in Iraq violenceCuba: Castro to Return in a Few Weeks
Posted by: Fred || 08/07/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Towels, why do they hate us?
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 08/07/2006 0:59 Comments || Top||

#2  I don't know, but I certainly am starting to hate that towel!

'Scuse me ma'am, may I borrow your towel please?
Posted by: gorb || 08/07/2006 1:04 Comments || Top||

#3  Click here if you want to start hating semi-transparent blue sheets, too.
Posted by: gorb || 08/07/2006 1:11 Comments || Top||

#4  The good old days of no silicone.
Posted by: Clerert Uneamp2772 || 08/07/2006 1:17 Comments || Top||

#5  Out Damn Towel!
Posted by: RD || 08/07/2006 1:32 Comments || Top||

#6  hmm
Pawnee City, Nebraska
I may have driven through in one of my wandering drives as a kid...
Posted by: 3dc || 08/07/2006 1:35 Comments || Top||

#7  Excuse me, can I borrow your towel? My car just hit a water buffalo.
Posted by: IG-88 || 08/07/2006 8:04 Comments || Top||

#8  It's a great day for the Irish.
Posted by: Mike || 08/07/2006 8:34 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2006-08-07
  IAF strikes northeast Lebanon
Sun 2006-08-06
  Beirut dismisses UN draft resolution
Sat 2006-08-05
  U.S., France OK U.N. Mideast Truce Pact
Fri 2006-08-04
  IDF Ordered to Advance to Litani River
Thu 2006-08-03
  Record number of rockets hit Israeli north
Wed 2006-08-02
  IDF pushes into Leb
Tue 2006-08-01
  Iran rejects UN demand to suspend uranium enrichment
Mon 2006-07-31
  IAF strikes road from Lebanon to Damascus
Sun 2006-07-30
  Israel OKs suspension of aerial activity
Sat 2006-07-29
  Iran stops would-be Hizbullah volunteers at border
Fri 2006-07-28
  Iranian "volunteers" leave for Leb
Thu 2006-07-27
  Ceasefire negotiations flop
Wed 2006-07-26
  Leb Paleos to join Hizbullah
Tue 2006-07-25
  Egypt: US Mideast plan 'preposterous'
Mon 2006-07-24
  Hamas, I-J rocket Sderot. Surprise.

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