Fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Omar pledged in a statement released Friday to drive foreign troops out of Afghanistan, as NATO and Afghan forces killed more than 10 of his fighters in the volatile south. The message from Omar the authenticity of which couldn't be immediately confirmed and which was received by The Associated Press in an e-mail from purported Taliban spokesman Mohammed Hanif urged the Taliban to "sacrifice" their lives and "never submit or accept defeat."
"I am confident that blood of innocent people and mujahedeen will yield results," said the statement, timed for the Muslim religious festival of Eid al-Adha. "The enemy will have to quit the region with humiliation and disgrace."
Afghans have a history of "expelling their enemies as no enemy and invader has quit Afghanistan willingly," the e-mail continued.
The message was sent in the Pashto language with an accompanying English translation. Statements from the Taliban leader whose whereabouts are a mystery are periodically issued through Hanif, who claims to speak for the hardline militia. The latest message comes amid stepped-up attacks this year by the Taliban, particularly in southern Afghanistan, where they have been waging fierce battles with Western and Afghan forces.
Suspected Taliban militants attacked a police post late Thursday night using machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, said Khost provincial police commander Mohammad Ayub. The ensuing battle lasted more than an hour. NATO forces called in a helicopter to attack the Taliban, Ayub said, adding that after the clash ended, the bodies of more than 10 militants were recovered. NATO spokesman Maj. Dominic Whyte said there were no injuries among NATO troops. Ayub said there were also no casualties among Afghan forces.
In the statement, the Taliban leader accused foreign forces of "ruthless bombing" that had killed and displaced thousands of Afghans including women and children. "It has now become a permanent cruel practice and barbaric habit of our enemy. We must stand by the people to fight against the enemy and to take revenge of their blood," it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2006 10:37 ||
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Poor Mullah Omar couldn't get to the front to lead his troops to victory, because he had to bury so many dead wimins and children along the way. Next time, he'll just say a passing prayer as he rushes to the fighting where he belongs.
#2
Flash back to the late 80's. The Afghans I talked to around the Kyber Pass even didn't have much time for the Taliban. One tribal leader's son told me they called them "cowboys".
#4
...urged the Taliban to "sacrifice" their lives and "never submit or accept defeat."
Meanwhile, I'll be in the penthouse of the Peshawar Hilton, sucking down the minibar, mauing on room service and watching inhouse goat porn with my good eye. The Prophet would want it that way...
FORWARD OPERATING BASE ZETTELMEYER, AFGHANISTAN When Major Matthew Sprague says he is tempted to put in his whole company for awards or commendations, he isn't kidding.
So many of the officers, noncommissioned officers and ordinary grunts of the 1st Battalion The Royal Canadian Regiment's Charles Company, which Major Sprague commands, have distinguished themselves under fire here in southern Afghanistan particularly on two terrible days in September, when the company was first attacked with shocking ferocity by the Taliban, and then, still reeling from the four men lost that morning, accidentally strafed in a friendly-fire incident that killed another and injured 38 the very next day that separating the ordinarily brave from the ridiculously courageous is difficult if not impossible.
But there is one man not included in that honourable group.
In several recent interviews, during which he properly sang the praises of his troops, Major Sprague didn't even mention his name. Asked directly about him yesterday, he would not discuss the soldier except to say tersely that he is now out of the army and that the alleged incident that led to his leaving is in the past, as far as I'm concerned.
From Christie Blatchford at the G&M, one of the best Canadian journalists and worth the read.
Posted by: john ||
12/29/2006 07:40 ||
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So no air, no artillery and they drop leaflets to let them know they're coming?
Looks like the only ones that know how to actually fight the war are the grunts. Doesn't seem like it was just one NCO that let them down...
#2
This is a bullshit negative MSM spinning piece of crap! Let's take the story of a hundred hero's and how they valiantly fought a fortified enemy and came out with victory and then spin it into a negative press article with the premise focused on a guy who froze up in battle. Guys like this reporter would describe the birth of Christ as Mary messing up the manger.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/29/2006 9:43 Comments ||
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#3
This must be a technique they teach in J-school. Any mention of something good or heroic will be accompanied by its polar opposite. We *must* have 'balance', you know.
Once you become aware of it, you see in in the most trivial of stories. "Today, the President frolicked on the White House lawn with the Presidential Dog for an hour. However, experts express concern that the Presidential Cat may not be receiving enough attention".
#10
Whoa! She's a blond, now. I enjoyed her work when she wrote for the National Post . The prose was at times a bit purplish, but she had a good nose for a story.
LONDON - A British soldier was killed and three others were injured in an explosion in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said here on Thursday. The troops were on a reconnaissance mission Wednesday in the desert in Garmsir in Helmand, the southern province where the majority of British forces in Afghanistan are based. One soldier was killed, another was seriously injured while two others sustained minor injuries.
It is too early to say what caused the explosion. There were no Taleban in the vicinity and there was no follow-up contact, said an MoD spokesman. The soldiers next of kin were being informed, he added.
The death brings to 44 the number of British troops killed in Afghanistan. Britain has deployed around 5,600 personnel to Afghanistan in total, with around 4,300 of those in the south of the country and 1,300 in the capital Kabul
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Goodbye, our condolences to the families if we can offer any personal sympathy or practical help let us know.
#2
Go to God with our thanks and appreciation for helping to keep us all safe, sir. May your comrades heal well and quickly, that they may carry the fight to the enemy and win, then come home safely to those who love them.
#1
Despite the abandonment of Mogadishu, the Islamic Courts has yet to fully surrender to the TFG. "Unconfirmed reports say that the ICU hardliners and its fighters have gone to Ras-kamboni, a small island in southern Somalia, the Islamists former base," notes SomaliNet.
When you decide to go to war, make sure you go balls deep...I hear from milblogs to MSM reports to reports from my own sources that the ROEs have devolved to the point of absurdity and our forces are more fearful of UCMJ violations than they are of enemy insurgents. This devolution of the ROEs in Iraq originated from an institutional CYA instinct by the DOD and senior commanders resulting from sensationalist media coverage of such events as Abu Ghraib, CIA "secret prisons", and various manufactured Gitmo abuse claims.
The Ethiopian Army has imposed no such constraints on itself and is doing to islamist forces in Somalia in days what the UN, and the US werent able to achieve in years. Reports from the front indicate that the Islamic Courts who had been administering sharia law in Mogadishu have surrendered and fled the city in advance of the Ethiopian assault. Obviously, the Ethiopian Armys combat power, training, and capabilities are a mere fraction of ours and yet they are decisively defeating a fanatical and entrenched enemy in an urban environment. Why?
Off the top of my head, I would say that Ethiopia is not afflicted with a pernicious and defeatist media machine that is capable of manipulating public opinion, and even if it was, it doesnt look like the Ethiopian president would give a damn in any case. The word that comes to mind is resolve. When a leader resolves to send men into battle, he is obligated to withstand the criticism of the media so that the troops who are withstanding hostile fire from the enemy are able to decisively defeat that enemy. This is the area where the President, Rumsfeld, and the Generals have been found wanting. Wars cannot be won with restrictive ROEs that allow the enemy to use our self imposed limitations against us. If the situation dictates that ROEs of this type must be employed, then it has not yet reached a point where combat troops are warranted.
#3
The US is under everybody's microscope. Neither Russian atrocities in Chechnya nor Chinese brutality of their Muslims, warrants much scrutiny. US troops fight while carrying a civil rights sandbag. However, I do forsees circumstances where the America of the Tokyo firebombings, Hiroshima-Nagasaki, Dresden, etc will revive. The benevolent-Islam veil has yet to be cast aside.
Zenster predicted that a "tipping point" will be passed. I agree.
Over a thousand Ethiopian troops accompanied by military vehicles slowly moved in to the Somali capital Mogadishu on Thursday. Hundreds of Mogadishu residents could be seen clapping and handing wreath to the Ethiopian troops. Even though really, truly, they support the Islamic Courts. Everybody at Rooters knows that...
Premier Ali Mohammed Gedi accompanied by his assistant minister Hussein Mohammed Farah Aideed gave a speech to some of the government officials that came along with him at the building of late Emirates president Sheik Bin Ziad Anahyan in Afgoye, 30 km south of the capital Mogadishu. Gedi said the government will impose a state of emergency on the capital until the government and the Ethiopian troops secure the capital Mogadishu. No clan will be allowed to possess weapons of any kind. We will deal with people who claim they seized grounds according to the government laws, he said.
Gedi pointed out that the Somali people should not fear. He called on them to cooperate with the Ethiopian troops. The capital will be secured by our good friends, the Ethiopian troops and the Somali forces, he said. "More the former than the latter..."
The prime ministers remarks came as residents in Mogadishu were waiting for senior government officials to come to the capital and deliver speeches. Prime Minister Males Zenawi, who held a press conference in Addis Ababa, said the Ethiopian troops entered Mogadishu. He said the Islamist radicals who are on the run will not be allowed to escape. We are working with the international community that the radicals should not escape by sea or land, he said. If you're working with the International Community™, they're as good as gone.
He indicated the Ethiopian troops would be withdrawn from Somalia when the Ethiopian government [sic] becomes able to handle its security and problems in the country. I think he means the Somali government. The Aethiops know there's no word for "gratitude" in Arabic, and probably none in Somali.
Hussen Aideed, the Somali internal minister, who spoke with reporters, said his government would move to Mogadishu. The president will come to the capital Mogadishu and it will control the country completely, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
They mean the "other" international community rather than the International Community, I think.
My memory meter is twitching. Wasn't the warlord we went after in Mogadishu of the "Aideed" family? Any relation? Of the "Blackhawk Down" persuasion, maybe?
Posted by: BA ||
12/29/2006 11:00 Comments ||
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#6
This is his son, who, if I recall correctly, is an ex-U.S. Marine.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2006 17:09 Comments ||
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#7
WOW! 'Tis a small world after all!
Posted by: BA ||
12/29/2006 17:20 Comments ||
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(Sh.M.Network) - With Islamists entirely withdrawn from the capital Mogadishu, looters could be seen stealing Islamist reserved arms in their main headquarters in the northern part of the capital Mogadishu. The Union of Islamic Courts, which was militarily powerful and in firm control of the capital withdrew from Mogadishu late on Wednesday afternoon. It surrendered all battlewagons known as technicals back to local clans that gave their backing to Islamists in the first place.
The ICU chairman Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed accompanied by the consultative leaders Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys and Ibrahim Sulaey held a press conference in south of Mogadishu last night. Sheik Sharif who spoke at the news conference said he would call on the civilian population in Mogadishu to take care of the security in the capital and cooperate with Islamist forces that he said will secure the stability of the city. Islamist soldiers who retreated from their strongholds in southern and northern parts of the country which were immediately occupied by Ethiopian and pro-government troops, put off the military dresses mingling with the ordinary people.
Repeated gunshots could be heard in Mogadishu all last night. Clan militias have instantly taken over all Islamist positions, setting up checkpoints. At least six people were killed in separate areas in north Mogadishu. Residents in the capital are most fearful that the country may fall in to a similar anarchy and banditry back in 1991 when warlords overthrew former president Mohammed Siad Barre.
All prisoners in Islamist jails were released on Wednesday when Islamist have learnt it was time for them to give up.
Elders and the foresighted people in the capital called on the transitional government to do something about the escalating insecurity in Mogadishu. Somali premier Ali Mohammed Gedi told elders and scholars in Mogadishu that they should fortify the security in the capital until the government forces reach Mogadishu. Airports and the seaports in the capital halted operating in the past three days although many tribal militias were positioned business companies at the sea port to prevent looters form getting in.
Islamists lost all their strongholds in central and southern Somalia, including the capital Mogadishu, with the exception of the port city of Kismayu, 500 km south of Mogadishu.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2006 00:00 ||
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The Union of Islamic Courts, which was militarily powerful and in firm control of the capital withdrew from Mogadishu late on Wednesday afternoon.
Umm, not so much with the militarily powerful and in firm control part then.
PRINCE Harry is going to Iraq, reportedly heading there with his unit in May. Harry will be stationed near the southern port city of Basra and will likely be assigned to patrol the border with Iran.
Harry, 22, is determined to go, despite reports of resistance from many in the military who fear he would be a fat prize for terrorists.
London's Daily Telegraph said Harry, 22, is determined to go, despite reports of resistance from many in the military who fear he would be a fat prize for terrorists.
They're also worried he would attract attention and put his fellow soldiers in greater danger. The Telegraph said officials are trying to figure out how to minimise the danger without giving Harry special treatment. As a second lieutenant, he will have command of 11 men and four light tanks.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Well, for a start - how about putting a lid on when he is going, where he is going, in what vehicle he will be riding, and the 20-digit grid reference for where he will be sleeping.
I feel sorry for this guy - he just wants to do pay his dues doing a grunt job, and the media (with nothing better to do) are going to paint a big neon bulls-eye on him.
#2
You got to respect him for even going. I'm sure he could find all sorts of ways not to have to go.
As for the media - Of course they are going to blab his exact position. It would be a big story if he gets killed and as a bonus they can blame it all on Bush'es illegal war.....
#4
They're also worried he would attract attention and put his fellow soldiers in greater danger.
Or, he might phueching bloody INSPIRE them with his leadership and BALLS! The stuff of Kings he is! Tip of the hat to him. More royals have met their fate from horse falls than on the field of battle.
#5
Should have sent him under a pseudonym and only mentioned where he was *after* the tour of duty.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/29/2006 8:28 Comments ||
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Should tell the press they can write anything they wish, with 48 hour delay and the reported embedded in his unit. All others tried for violation of the Official Secrets Act and treason.
#7
Mitch H. is on to something. In Henry V Shakespeare has Henry walking around in disguise to assess the mood of his men before the battle of Agincourt. When one of his men asks him his name he says that he is Henri LeRoi -- Henry the King. Harry could just be Lieutenant Harry Leroi for the duration of this service. That would be poetic.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
12/29/2006 10:19 Comments ||
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#8
Leaders lead. They don't hide.
The kid looks like a winner.
Posted by: ed ||
12/29/2006 12:10 Comments ||
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#12
wxjames, LOL! I couldn't agree more.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/29/2006 12:14 Comments ||
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#13
"Proof that the good princess was sleeping around, no ? Surely that asshole, Charlie didn't spawn such a man's man."
Well, W.X., Edward VII and George VI were brothers, but only one of them (the latter) was a man...
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
12/29/2006 13:54 Comments ||
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#14
many in the military who fear hope he would be a fat prize for terrorists
Heere, Hajji, Hajji... Come and get the nice shiny jucy bait. Pay no attention to the tommys behind the wall there....
Posted by: N guard ||
12/29/2006 15:51 Comments ||
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#15
I'd think it would be standard procedure to have the prince on the rolls under a different name. Hell, to REQUIRE him to answer to a different name. Best if the military doesn't treat him like the Heir, but as just another young officer.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/29/2006 19:09 Comments ||
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#16
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2273498.stm
Princess Diana's former lover James Hewitt has spoken out to end persistent rumours that he is Prince Harry's father.
#4
Just picked up the newsbreak here... my daughter, the Marine remarked that while the head is cut off the snake, the body may thrash around for a bit.
Damn... 2007 is off to a screeching start, and two days early at that...
#17
You have been tried by twelve good men and true, not of your peers but as high above you as heaven is of hell, and they have said you are guilty. Time will pass and seasons will come and go. Spring with its waving green grass and heaps of sweet-smelling flowers on every hill and in every dale. Then sultry Summer, with her shimmering heat-waves on the baked horizon. And Fall, with her yeller harvest moon and the hills growing brown and golden under a sinking sun. And finally Winter, with its biting, whining wind, and all the land will be mantled with snow. But you won't be here to see any of 'em; not by a damn sight, because it's the order of this court that you be took to the nearest tree and hanged by the neck till you're dead, dead, dead, you olive-colored son of a billy goat.
#2
This may be one of the last sights Saddam will see:
My son took that pic back in 2004; it shows the gallows at Abu Ghraib where so many died when Saddam was in power. There are two trap doors, and a console in between with a release lever for each. The ropes were secured to hooks in the ceiling.
'Twould be fitting if he died there.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/29/2006 20:17 Comments ||
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#4
Can't think of the appropriate movie to watch for the festivities. Something serious, or something farcical?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/29/2006 20:21 Comments ||
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#5
Movie, hell.
I'm popping the champagne cork as soon as the news of his assuming room temperature demise comes through. :-D
Burn in HELL with your sons and buddies, Sadd-asshole.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/29/2006 20:27 Comments ||
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#6
Alcohol's out of the question; doesn't play well with my medicine. I'm taking a break from the diet, though, and have some chocolate on hand. I'm thinking maybe "Blazing Saddles" for the humorous take on hanging, followed by "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" for the (slightly) more serious.
Of course, the difference with those movies is that the condemned ESCAPES the hanging. Makes it all the sweeter, as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/29/2006 20:50 Comments ||
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#7
Rob - I'll drink enough for both of us. ;-p
Go for Blazing Saddles - one of the funniest movies ever made.
God, I miss Cleavon Little.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/29/2006 20:57 Comments ||
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#9
Nah, Barbara, for true comedy you need to turn into CNN right now. All the usual suspects will probably be on Larry King Live to start the death watch. They just had one of his defense lawyers going off about how this was one of the greatest injustices of all time, blah blah blah....
#10
...Blondie, damned if you aren't right. Larry King has some lawyer, Peter Arnett (no surprise there) and Larry Weiskopf (the Time reporter who lost his hand to an IED) on here...BTW, Fox is saying the US judge says it isn't any of our business...it's showtime!
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/29/2006 21:13 Comments ||
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#11
I'll drink enough for both of us. ;-p
Fair enough. Careful with the results tomorrow.
Go for Blazing Saddles - one of the funniest movies ever made.
Family story about it -- my elderly grandmother was literally rolling in the theater aisle during the campfire scene. Says something about my family, but I still chuckle at the thought.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/29/2006 21:21 Comments ||
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#12
Nah, Barbara, for true comedy you need to turn into CNN right now.
No way I'll ever turn on CNN. Except maybe for long enough to set the cable box to block it.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/29/2006 21:22 Comments ||
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#13
Ah, come on, RC! It's worth it just to see these POS's cry.
Now for the real dilemma....nacho cheese or cool ranch?
Posted by: john ||
12/29/2006 22:07 Comments ||
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#20
SON OF A BITCH!!!
Pull "Blazing Saddles" off the DVD rack, open case, and... NO DVD!!! No one to blame but myself, really. I'm the only one who could have lost it.
Oh, well. I want something FUNNY to drive home just how I feel about Saddam finally getting his just rewards, so I've popped "Kung Pow: Enter the Fist" into the player. I'll just think of Saddam as Betty.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/29/2006 22:08 Comments ||
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Yeah, I'm not drinking. But, damned, I may as well be. Better fate than Saddam deserved, but at least some measure of justice is done. It's rare enough in this world to be intoxicating on its own.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/29/2006 22:25 Comments ||
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#27
Just downed a drink for you, Rob (after the one for me, of course).
Ding Dong, the asshole's dead! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/29/2006 22:29 Comments ||
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#28
#15 tw - I just had an inspiration.
And cooked up some bacon to go with the alcohol I'm drinking in Sadd-ass' "honor" tonight. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/29/2006 23:06 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein could be hanged within hours, a senior Iraqi source told Reuters on Friday after Saddam's lawyer said the former president had been handed over by U.S. forces to Iraqi authorities for execution.
"Things have changed in the past three hours. There were some issues ... and now that is resolved so it seems it's possible he may be hanged tonight," the source, who is in a senior position of authority, said after a day of confusion.
However, the start of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha on Saturday raised the possibility of a delay until after the week -long holiday is over, he added: "It's not certain," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2006 12:59 ||
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The latest noose, as it were.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/29/2006 13:30 Comments ||
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#3
There's just a few more hours,
that's all the time I've got,
A few more hours
until they ties the knot.
Ima meet the hangman 'n the mornin,
Drugged up and feeling just like slime,
Kofi come and kiss me!
Tell 'em how you'll miss me!
But for gawds sakes get me loose in time!
I don't want to be there 'n the morning,
Hell no it's just not my time!
Call out the Army,
I know I'm sounding smary,
But for gawds sake let me loose in time.
#6
Hangman, hangman, hold it a little while,
Think I see my friends coming, Riding a many mile.
Friends, did you get Kofi Annan?
Some human rights NGOs?
What did you bring me, my dear friends, to keep me from the Gallows Pole?
What did you bring me to keep me from the Gallows Pole?
I couldn't get Kofi Annan, I couldn't get no NGOs,
You know that you're too damn bad to keep you from the Gallows Pole.
Hangman, hangman, hold it a little while,
I think I see the New York Times coming, riding a many mile.
Pinch, did you write an op-ed?
Did you write something bold?
What did you write for me, Mister Sulzberger, to keep me from the Gallows Pole?
Brother, I wrote an op-ed,
In phrases loud and bold,
I wrote an editorial
To keep you from the Gallows Pole.
Yes, I wrote it to keep you from the Gallows Pole.
Hangman, hangman, turn your head awhile,
I think I see Maureen Dowd, riding a many mile, mile, mile.
MoDo, I implore you, take him by the hand,
Take him to some shady bower, save me from the wrath of this man,
Please take him, save me from the wrath of this man, man.
Hangman, hangman, upon your face a smile,
Pray tell me that I'm free to ride,
Ride for many mile, mile, mile.
Oh, yes, you got a fine sister, She warmed my blood from cold,
Brought my blood to boiling hot
To keep you from the Gallows Pole,
The NGOs protested, MoDo snarked my soul,
But now I laugh and pull so hard And see you Swinging on the Gallows Pole
Swingin' on the gallows pole!
Posted by: Mike ||
12/29/2006 15:27 Comments ||
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#12
Yeah, that's a bowlderization of an old Zeppelin tune. I don't even like Led Zeppelin, but it fit the situation here.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/29/2006 15:44 Comments ||
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#13
Think it might destablize the place 9125? Downshift the cycle of violence? Add to surging mahem? Loose the war for the allies? Add to global warming climate change? Hurt someones feelings?
#14
9125 is like every other Nazi-loving swine. Adoph Hitler would be worshipped today by such swine. After all, he was an America-hating (nationalist) socialist who loved mass murder, just the kind the left can't get enough of.
Posted by: E. Brown ||
12/29/2006 15:54 Comments ||
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#15
A picnic park with butterflies and daisies and no low-flying body parts at all?
Naaaaw, it won't do that.
But if it does, Sammy won't be around to see it...
#17
A picnic park with butterflies and daisies and no low-flying body parts at all?
Maybe, maybe not, but giving the tyrant his just desserts is an inherent moral good. Consider, also: as long as Uncle Saddam draws breath, it leaves the Ba'athist insurgents with the hope, however faint, however unrealistic, that Uncle Saddam can be freed and returned to power. If Uncle Saddam is dead, there's no such hope; Qsay and Uday are already gone, so there is no obvious successor to carry on the dynasty. There's a fair possibility that Saddam's execution takes the remaining air out of the Ba'athist component of the insurgency.
There are a number of historical examples of a similar phenomenon of a totalitarian movement going defunct after the death of a charismatic leader: Italian Fascism did not outlive Mussolini; National Socialism did not outlive Hitler; Romanian communism did not outlive Caucescu. Not to say it will happen again here, but it's possible. Worth a shot, anyway.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/29/2006 16:02 Comments ||
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#18
I expect stunned silence to set in for about 24 hours. Then a pause as cause and effect start to jell. A sigh of relief from some and a quick intake of breath from others.
Then mayhem as usual. But some big players are now looking in a mirror.
Effect unknown. But we're living in interesting times.
#19
I guess I won't be the only one who gets an unwanted necktie for Christmas.
Yes, but at least you get to wear yours right-side-up!
Yup, hang him, that's sure to turn Iraq into a picnic park with butterflies and daisies and no low-flying body parts at all.
By that logic nobody should do anything at all. Including the terrorists. But hey, they don't play by the rules, so neither can anyone else. No use moaning about what could be in this case. You'd do better to worry about what is!
WASHINGTON - Lawyers for Saddam Hussein on Friday made a last-minute appeal to an American court to avert execution in Iraq, asking a judge to block his transfer from U.S. custody to the hands of Iraqi officials.
Hussein's lawyers filed documents Friday afternoon asking for an emergency restraining order aimed at stopping the U.S. government from relinquishing custody of the condemned former Iraqi leader to Iraqi officials, a spokeswoman for a federal court in Washington D.C. said.
The documents were being processed and were not immediately made public. The Justice Department had not yet responded to the request.
A similar request by the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, Awad Hamed al-Bandar, was denied Thursday and is under appeal. Al-Bandar also faces execution. The Justice Department argued in that case that U.S. courts have no jurisdiction to interfere with the judicial process of another country.
Al-Bandar argued that his trial violated his rights under the U.S. Constitution but Justice countered that foreigners being tried in foreign courts are not protected by the U.S. Constitution.
Well....duh! The appeals court did not indicate when it would rule on the issue.
They should've dumped flaming gasoline down that hole three years ago...
#27
Hussein's lawyers filed documents Friday afternoon asking for an emergency restraining order aimed at stopping the U.S. government from relinquishing custody of the condemned former Iraqi leader to Iraqi officials, a spokeswoman for a federal court in Washington D.C. said.
A US court has NO jurisdiction over a foreign national court, nor over events that happened on foreign soil, not involving Americans at all, so this should be "a slam dunk" and thrown out pronto. But, besides all that, I thought the evil Bushitler and his interogating minions at DoD were the devil incarnate when it comes to prisoner abuse and treatment (a'la abu gharib). Guess when you're facin' the gallows, all the sudden the 'mericans don't look so bad, eh sammy?
The documents were being processed and were not immediately made public. The Justice Department had not yet responded to the request.
Knowing that this is the Friday before New Year's and a LATE afternoon request to boot, I'd imagine there's no one home at DoJ to "respond" to this request until LONG AFTER Sammy's hangin' with Che, Arafish and Hitler in hell.
Posted by: BA ||
12/29/2006 17:12 Comments ||
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#28
I understand that we had Mullah Omar in the sights of one of our predators shortly after we started whomping on Afghanistan. And some lawyer-type advised against blasting him. I suppose out of ignorance the guys at the controls played along with it. Rumsfeld could be kicking on doors for quite a ways away when he found about this.
Perhaps someone's looking to play to the same kind of ignorance here.
Al-Nueimi said U.S. authorities were maintaining physical custody of Saddam to prevent him from being humiliated before his execution. He said the Americans also want to prevent the mutilation of his corpse, as has happened to other deposed Iraqi leaders.
"The Americans want him to be hanged respectfully," al-Nueimi said. If Saddam is humiliated publicly or his corpse ill-treated "that could cause an uprising and the Americans would be blamed," he said.
Posted by: Chuck Darwin ||
12/29/2006 18:35 Comments ||
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#39
I'm going to reach for the tinfoil hat and ask, why aren't any of the European Union countries or the U.N. doing anything to stop this? Usually they're irate over this kind of stuff. It seems they are pretty comfortable with having him offed quickly.
#40
Usually they're irate over this kind of stuff. It seems they are pretty comfortable with having him offed quickly.
The sooner he's dead, the sooner the things he knows die, too.
BTW -- I hope everyone over there's remembering not to step outside without a helmet for the next couple of days. Gonna be a lot of gun sex after Saddam's neck gets stretched.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/29/2006 19:11 Comments ||
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#43
Prime opportunity to communicate the main reason for the war: that evil man and the evil he had done.
What we used to call in ops a "teaching moment".
They way I see it, Bush isnt up to the task. Hell he's wasted chance after chance to explain things inthe past, why would he start now? I expect nothing from the shrub.
(Some executive decisions have come down and I have lost almost all my respect for the man, he is a gutless eunuch - but I'll never lose my respect for the Office, Clinton tested that quite well with me).
#44
OldSpook. Your point is exact. And I am afraid your prediction of silence is as well.
This is the opportunity for the right side of the blogsphere to unite and demand action.
The plan is naive, but unless we can use these Internets to organize and effect change, then this is just an echo chamber, and we should all move on to something productive.
#45
Very good picks on the songs, gentlemen, but I've still got Styx's "Renegade" going on in my head right now. With all apologies....
Oh Kofi, I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the law
Coalition put an end to my running and I'm so far from my home
Oh Kofi, I can hear you a crying you're so scared and all alone
Hangman is coming down from the gallows and I don't have very long
The jig is up, the news is out
They finally found me
The renegade who had it made
Retrieved for a bounty
Never more to go astray
This'll be the end today
Of the wanted man
Oh Kofi, I've been years on the lam and had a high price on my head
George Bush said 'Get him dead or alive' and it's for sure he'll see me dead
Dear Kofi I can hear you cryin', you're so scared and all alone
Hangman is comin' down from the gallows and I don't have very long
The jig is up, the news is out
They finally found me
The renegade who had it made
Retrieved for a bounty
Never more to go astray
The judge'll have revenge today
On the wanted man
Oh Kofi, I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the law
Iraqis put an end to my running and I'm so far from my home
The jig is up, the news is out
They finally found me
The renegade who had it made
Retrieved for a bounty
Never more to go astray
This'll be the end today
Of the wanted man
#46
..CNN saying it's now dawn in Baghdad and the first day of Eid, possibility its done.
And another song - From the musical Desert Storm , Saddam sings Iraqian Nights:
Oh I come from a land
A far away place
Where the Hogs in kill boxes roam
Where we'll gas you to death if we don't like your face
It's barbaric - but hey, it's home!
With JDAMS from the west
And SLCMS from the west
And M1s rolling left and right
Come on down, stop on by
Take cover or die
It's another Iraqian Night!
Iraqian Nights, like Iraqian Days,
More often than not
You'll prob'ly get shot
Cause terror don't pay
Iraqian Nights, like Iraqian moons
I'll have to run hard
cause I've been left by my guards
Out there on the dunes...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/29/2006 21:37 Comments ||
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#47
CNN reporting that the execution will NOT happen in the the Green Zone, that it will be at an alternate site.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/29/2006 21:50 Comments ||
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#48
It shouldn't happen in the Green Zone.
Why should we get all the fun?
The Iraqis are the ones he tortured.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/29/2006 22:02 Comments ||
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#49
...He's arrived at the excecution site...
CNN now saying he's dead 2156 EST
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/29/2006 22:04 Comments ||
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#50
Now some Arab language networks are saying he's assumed room temperature outside the Green Zone.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/29/2006 22:06 Comments ||
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#53
...Cheers, my friends*downs his champagne*
I've been saving this scripture for a while: Isa.14
[15] Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
[16] They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
[17] That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
[18] All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
[19] But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
[20] Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/29/2006 22:09 Comments ||
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#54
Bout time. I will sleep better knowing a Mass-murdering dictator is roasting with his 72 raisins.
Posted by: Charles ||
12/29/2006 22:22 Comments ||
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#55
But he is was a good man. He kept down the inter-faction violence (by having his thugs do all the killing). He kept the Shiites and Kurds from starting a civil war (by gassing them). Remember that he got 100% of the vote in the final election (no one chose "feed my into the shredder").
A lot of Demonrats who won't go to President Ford's funeral would probably like to go to Saddam's.
BAGHDAD, Iraq Lawyers representing Saddam Hussein say the condemned former leader is no longer in U.S. custody. The transfer is one of the last steps necessary before Iraq executes the former dictator.
An Iraqi judge told the Associated Press Saddam will be executed by Saturday at the latest.
A U.S. source in Baghdad said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wanted to carry out the Butcher of Baghdad's execution as early as Thursday night, but that it was delayed for logistical reasons, and because of confusion over the Iraqi constitution and the law that governs the tribunal that convicted him of murder.
Al-Maliki said "our respect for human rights requires us to execute him, and there will be no review or delay in carrying out the sentence."
The Iraqi prime minister said those who oppose the execution of Saddam were insulting the honor of his victims. His office said he made the remarks in a meeting with families of people who died during Saddam's rule. "Nothing and nobody can abrogate the ruling" upholding Saddam's sentence, al-Maliki said.
#3
Saddam had a farewell meeting with two of his half-brothers on Thursday, his lawyers said, adding that the fallen dictator was in high spirits. A third half-brother and another aide are also condemned to die for crimes against humanity.
Probably gave the two half-brothers those numbered Swiss bank account numbers...
#4
Al-Maliki said "our respect for human rights requires us to execute him, and there will be no review or delay in carrying out the sentence." Gotta love the logic!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/29/2006 12:45 Comments ||
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#5
Real reason: did not want to interfere with the bowl games.
but doesn't matter; just get the rope stretched now! we be burning daylight.
#7
Any American who protests / mourns openly upon Saddam's execution should be photographed, quoted and published in all the blogs possible. We'll find them in all the usual moonbat hideouts.
We must ridicule these people. Not harm them, ridicule them. We must make sure ordinary Americans know which side the nutroots and moonbats are on.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/29/2006 12:58 Comments ||
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#8
I await the Boston Globe's tear stained obituary...
-Tariq Harb, Iraq's most famous judicial expert who's been following and commenting on the trial since the beginning said he expected the execution to take place in the next few hours.
-The Sadrist said they would return to the cabinet and parliament after Saddam is executed.
-Bahaa' al-Aaraji, a Sadrist and member of the parliament's legal commission told al-Iraqiya TV that two execution sites have been prepared; one in the IZ and one in another location he wouldn't disclose.
-Al-Aaraji told al-Iraqiya TV that the government is asking clerics whether it's allowed to carry out executions during religious holidays. He added that he expects Saddam to be executed no later than noon tomorrow.
#13
From Pajama Media:
Back and Forth: Now there are unconfirmed reports that Saddam remains in US Military custody. We are absolutely certain that Saddam has not been handed over to Iraqi authorities, according to FNC Iraqi and state department sources. (live broadcast)
So who knows?
#14
Hang him high
or hang him low
Hang him fast
or hang him slow
Hang him from a roof top
or hang him down below
Hang him by the neck
or hang him by a toe
Just freakin hang him
and then lets go
#18
PJ again
Okay Really This Time: Saddam has been handed over to Iraqi authorities. All of the paperwork is done and the execution could occur at any time. (live broadcast)
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Two Iranians detained by American troops in Iraq and suspected of transferring weapons technology to insurgents in that country were released early Friday, Iran's state-run television and news agency reported.
The U.S. military had no immediate comment. There was also no immediate response from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
Iranian state TV referred to the Iranians as diplomats and said the release happened Friday. The two were handed over to Iranian officials in the presence of Iraq's National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie, said Iran's state-run news agency, IRNA.
Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran's ambassador to Baghdad, said the arrest of the two diplomats was against internationally accepted regulations, IRNA said. "Fortunately with the effort exerted by the Iraqi officials, the U.S. forces, who first denied their arrest, were obliged to admit it and under pressure from the Iraqi government to release them," IRNA quoted Qomi as saying.
The White House said earlier this week that U.S. troops had detained at least two Iranians and released two others who had diplomatic immunity. A White House spokesman said the Iranians were taken into custody during a raid on suspected insurgents.
On Thursday, a Pentagon official said U.S. forces had found "indications and evidence that all of the people rounded up, including the two Iranians, are involved in the transfer of IED technologies from Iran to Iraq." IED stands for improvised explosive devices, or small bombs that are commonly used in attacks in Iraq. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not yet been made public, said that U.S. forces were working out ways to turn over the Iranians to the Iraqis.
A spokesman for Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Monday that the two detained Iranians were in the country at his invitation.
Maryam Rajavi, the head of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an Iranian opposition group, said the two Iranians were senior members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards and had coordinated attacks against coalition troops and Iraqi civilians. It was not possible to independently verify Rajavi's allegations, made Thursday in a phone interview from Paris.
Iran, a Shiite Muslim country, has considerable influence among Iraq's Shiite majority. The United States has accused Iran of supplying money, weapons components and training to Shiite militia in Iraq, as well as technology for roadside bombs. Iran has denied the allegations, saying it only has political and religious links with Iraqi Shiites.
Talabani visited Iran last month to seek government officials' help in quelling the sectarian violence in Iraq. The Iraqi president, who is a member of Iraq's Kurdish minority, had close ties with Iranian officials before Saddam Hussein was overthrown by the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
Posted by: ed ||
12/29/2006 9:29 Comments ||
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#4
"indications and evidence that all of the people rounded up, including the two Iranians, are involved in the transfer of IED technologies from Iran to Iraq."
Diplomats my aching arss. Word on the street here is there was little doubt about their intentions. Caught red handed. Sophisticated IED making instructions, money, etc. Saddam should would have some company on the gallows. Thanks you US State Department and lame, pissy military leadership. Please take personal pride in the next soldier, sailor, airman, or marine that dies from a phueching IED you spineless bastards.
#5
I think all future raids should end like the Sadr top aid the other day. Littlest move fire death and then problem solved and no one can request his release.
I understand why its valuable to capture alive for interrogation but this kind of stuff is just bullsh*t. The last thing we need to do is get caught in a Isreali trap of catch and release at every hollow negotiation or request for show of good faith. Arrrrr
#8
Please thank your son from us, Moon6. Unfortunately, if they weren't fighting over there, however counterproductive the Rules of Engagement and diplomatic stupidities, we'd be fighting here at home soon enough.
#9
Maybe we SHOULD be fighting at home. It seems our enemy is "aided and abetted" by our on State Department and every dummycritter in the Congress. Hanging a few of THEM for "failure to register as an agent of a foreign power" would go a long way toward cleaning up the mess that is Washington, DC.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/29/2006 14:45 Comments ||
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#10
This story is so wrong on so many levels.
The other day I learn that the US State Dept. conspired to cover Arafat's ass over the murder of US Dips.
Today I learn that enemy Iranian agents caught red handed are cut loose.
This is just the tip of the proverbeal iceberg.
Whatever happened to the country I thought I knew?
Maybe it never existed.
I don't know if Moon6 is a Dad or Mom, but his or her point is well taken. And I agree: whoever the Iranians were, they should have been shot.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
12/29/2006 15:00 Comments ||
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#11
Part of me agrees with OP there. Maybe we should bring home our troops, if they're gonna be hamstrung by stupid-@ss ROEs like this one. Part of me (no matter how badly I do NOT want any more Americans to die, no matter what shape, political affiliation or stripe) almost HOPES we get hit again. The cynic in me knows then, and ONLY then will we truly get down to business and shove all this P.C.-fighting rules aside. Let's see if these Iranians could last two hours in the woods of south Alabam or Mis-sip. And, I know our home grown patriots would "TCOB" and quickly w/o any hesitations. These brave soldiers lives are not worth the price IF this is how we continue to fight this war. It will drive us to be attacked again, and ultimately, force us to either eliminate muslims wholesale, or be eliminated ourselves.
Posted by: BA ||
12/29/2006 17:18 Comments ||
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#12
Gee - I don't know. It sure seems to me that the western world is getting a lot of effectiveness out of the good old standby:
"Stop, or I'lll say "Stop" again ...."
No need to inconvenience diplomats, or anything like that.
I just hope we have some sharp ODA's prowling around the Iranian oil infrastructure, finding way to unobtrusively accelerate the natural deterioration process, so that the entire system slowly grinds to a halt. Then the Iranians can leatrn to eat rocks and tree bark - kinda like the Norks.
(KUNA) -- The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it was exerting continous efforts to release two Iranian diplomats held by the American forces serving in the country. The ministry said in a statement that the ministry staff, following detention of "two groups of Iranian diplomats" on the 20th and 21st of this month, have acted rapidly to release them. The statement indicated that a number of Iranian diplomats, who had been held by the Americans were set free, but two others remained held by the US forces. It expressed hope that the detention of the two diplomats would not strain the "improving" relations between Tehran and Baghdad. The Iranian diplomats were arrested in recent military operations by the American forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"We're not finished with them yet"
(Translatuon: They still hve some finger and toe nails left, a few teeth left in their mouths, and a testicle or two between them)
#6
"diplomat" may be stretching the definition. According to StrategyPage: December 22, 2006: A U.S. Army raid in Iraq caught four Iranian government officials. Two had diplomatic immunity, and were soon released. The other two appeared to be military technical experts, in Iraq to show pro-Iranian Shia fighters how to make better bombs against foreign troops, and Iraqis who did not support Iranian goals. The Kurdish president of Iraq said the two men were his "guests," but the Americans refused to release the two until an investigation was completed.
Hang them.
Posted by: ed ||
12/29/2006 7:59 Comments ||
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#7
Let's compromise - we'll hang them for 444 days.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/29/2006 14:46 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- Explosives packed into a vehicle blew up in the northern city of Mosul on Thursday killing at least two people and wounding 19 others, a local source said. The source of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the booby-trapped car went off near a building housing offices of the party, killing two civilians, wounding 19 people and causing extensive damage to nearby buildings.
In the northern city of Kirkuk, gunmen showered a police patrol with gunfire in the center of the city killing one policeman and wounding another, police reported. The attackers, two armed men, were arrested.
In the governorate of Al-Huwaijah, southwest of Kirkuk, a bomb blast targetted a police patrol wounding three policemen.
Earlier today, a blast in Baghdad killed five civilians and injured 11 others. A police source told KUNA the explosion was caused by a bomb planted near civilians waiting in line at a gas station in the eastern Al-Muthanna suburb. The injured were taken to a nearby hospital.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Journalists are "no longer safe" in the Gaza Strip, according to a report released Wednesday by Reporters Without Borders (RWB), an international association committed to protecting the freedom of the press. How about an international body committed to increasing the veracity of the press?
Dec 29, 2006 YALA, Thailand (Reuters) - Suspected separatists shot dead two Buddhist teachers on Friday and burned their bodies in Thailand's rebellious Muslim south, police said, the latest attack in a three-year insurgency that has killed more than 1,800.
The teachers were ambushed in their pickup truck only 300 meters (yards) from the village school where they taught in the southern province of Yala, police said. Security forces are bracing for a new round of attacks on government buildings, officials and civilians to mark the third anniversary of the renewed insurgency on January 4, police said.
"We knew they were going to do it, but we didn't know the target," Police Colonel Pumipetch Pipatpetchpoom said of the attackers. "Our security checkpoints have blocked them from entering the city, so they had to do it in a village," he added.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the violence which has seen almost daily gun and bomb attacks in the three predominantly Muslim southern provinces bordering Malaysia.
Thailand's military-appointed government has embarked on a peace drive in the Malay-speaking region, an independent sultanate until the Buddhist-dominated Bangkok government annexed it a century ago. But the attacks have continued.
The Education Ministry said this week 110 schools had been hit by arson attacks and 71 teachers and school staff killed in attacks since January 2004.
Authorities are still baffled as to the motive behind the failed bomb attack last Sunday against a member of the Maguindanao legislative council. Army Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesperson for the 6th Infantry Division, said they are still looking at different angles behind the failed attack against Maguindanao Provincial Board Member Datu Wata Adziz. One of the angles, he said, is rido (clan war).
Adziz, according to Ando, survived the December 24 bomb attack along an isolated stretch of the Cotabato-General Santos highway, just hours after Army bomb experts defused a powerful explosive placed inside a tank of a motorcycle in Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat, which is traversed by the same road. Adziz and his security escorts were on their way to Cotabato City from Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao on board a blue pick up when a bomb exploded just as they were passing through a portion of the highway in Talayan, a town in the second district of Maguindanao. Ando said the bomb was made from two 60 mm mortars rigged with an improvised blasting mechanism. He said fragments of the two mortar shells almost ripped the board members vehicle but no one was injured. Ando said they have yet to identify the suspects behind the attack.
Though I s'pose one could start by asking who has access to 60mm mortar rounds and the itinerary for legislators on Xmas Eve...
A SUSPECTED homemade bomb exploded in a shopping mall in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat province, wounding at least four people and setting off a security alarm in Mindanao, police said yesterday. Chief Supt. German Doria, the Western Mindanao regional police chief, said the explosion happened in a counter where shoppers deposit their bags and packages around 4 p.m. at the Kim San Plaza.
The military said soldiers found a motorcycle whose gas tank was filled with an explosive liquid at the checkpoint on Allah Bridge around 9 a.m. of Dec. 23. Garcia said the gas tank was filled with picric acid, similar to the trinitrotoluene (or TNT), and was connected to an alarm clock and blasting cap.
The wounded were taken to a hospital for treatment, he said, while police ordinance experts were trying to determine the cause of the explosion and what type of explosives were used.
Doria said he ordered security to be tightened in all malls and public areas in Tacurong City and the entire province of Sultan Kudarat, which was placed under heightened alert on Dec. 25 after the military found a motorcycle bomb near a checkpoint in Esperanza town. The military said soldiers found a motorcycle whose gas tank was filled with an explosive liquid at the checkpoint on Allah Bridge around 9 a.m. of Dec. 23. Garcia said the gas tank was filled with picric acid, similar to the trinitrotoluene (or TNT), and was connected to an alarm clock and blasting cap. The motorcycle was registered with the Land Transportation Office in 2000 but the authorities are still tracing the owner.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2006 00:00 ||
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PHILIPPINE and American authorities are working on DNA tests to verify if the body exhumed in Patikul, Sulu, last Wednesday was really that of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani, the military reported yesterday. A body was exhumed yesterday in Patikul, Sulu, but we have yet to confirm if it is Janjalani. Right now, we have some personnel from the Philippine National Police who will collect samples and bring them to the PNP crime lab, said Gen. Hermogenes Esperon during a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo. The American forces that are there have also taken a sample so that they could make their own DNA tests, so until such time that these tests are completed, we could not be sure who the cadaver is, Esperon said. "You want to run your own tests? Of course! Which piece would you like?"
"How about this lip?"
"Here! Take both of them! We have lots of other pieces!"
Of course, I hope its Janjalani, Esperon said, but there is no official confirmation until such time that the tests are complete and I hope the requirements for credible testing are still there.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/29/2006 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Omar pledged in a statement released Friday to drive foreign troops out of Afghanistan, as NATO and Afghan forces killed more than 10 of his fighters in the volatile south. The message from Omar the authenticity of which couldn't be immediately confirmed and which was received by The Associated Press in an e-mail from purported Taliban spokesman Mohammed Hanif urged the Taliban to "sacrifice" their lives and "never submit or accept defeat."
Over a thousand Ethiopian troops accompanied by military vehicles slowly moved in to the Somali capital Mogadishu on Thursday. Hundreds of Mogadishu residents could be seen clapping and handing wreath to the Ethiopian troops. 
(Sh.M.Network) - With Islamists entirely withdrawn from the capital Mogadishu, looters could be seen stealing Islamist reserved arms in their main headquarters in the northern part of the capital Mogadishu. The Union of Islamic Courts, which was militarily powerful and in firm control of the capital withdrew from Mogadishu late on Wednesday afternoon. It surrendered all battlewagons known as technicals back to local clans that gave their backing to Islamists in the first place. 
PRINCE Harry is going to Iraq, reportedly heading there with his unit in May. Harry will be stationed near the southern port city of Basra and will likely be assigned to patrol the border with Iran. 
The headline sez it all....
BAGHDAD, Iraq Lawyers representing Saddam Hussein say the condemned former leader is no longer in U.S. custody. The transfer is one of the last steps necessary before Iraq executes the former dictator.
(KUNA) -- The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it was exerting continous efforts to release two Iranian diplomats held by the American forces serving in the country. The ministry said in a statement that the ministry staff, following detention of "two groups of Iranian diplomats" on the 20th and 21st of this month, have acted rapidly to release them. The statement indicated that a number of Iranian diplomats, who had been held by the Americans were set free, but two others remained held by the US forces. It expressed hope that the detention of the two diplomats would not strain the "improving" relations between Tehran and Baghdad. The Iranian diplomats were arrested in recent military operations by the American forces.
(KUNA) -- Explosives packed into a vehicle blew up in the northern city of Mosul on Thursday killing at least two people and wounding 19 others, a local source said. The source of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the booby-trapped car went off near a building housing offices of the party, killing two civilians, wounding 19 people and causing extensive damage to nearby buildings.
A SUSPECTED homemade bomb exploded in a shopping mall in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat province, wounding at least four people and setting off a security alarm in Mindanao, police said yesterday. Chief Supt. German Doria, the Western Mindanao regional police chief, said the explosion happened in a counter where shoppers deposit their bags and packages around 4 p.m. at the Kim San Plaza. 
PHILIPPINE and American authorities are working on DNA tests to verify if the body exhumed in Patikul, Sulu, last Wednesday was really that of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani, the military reported yesterday. A body was exhumed yesterday in Patikul, Sulu, but we have yet to confirm if it is Janjalani. Right now, we have some personnel from the Philippine National Police who will collect samples and bring them to the PNP crime lab, said Gen. Hermogenes Esperon during a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo. The American forces that are there have also taken a sample so that they could make their own DNA tests, so until such time that these tests are completed, we could not be sure who the cadaver is, Esperon said. 
