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CIA Rushing Resources to Bin Laden Hunt
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 4: Opinion
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Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
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Afghanistan
Taliban Claim To Have Kidnapped Journalists
The Taliban claim to have kidnapped three journalists in Afghanistan on Tuesday and have accused them of being spies, according to a report on the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press agency quoting Taliban sources. The BBC Arabic language site said that the Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah had accused the three journalists of entering the southern Afghan province of Helmand, which is largely under Taliban control, without permission. The Taliban have said that the three journalists include a British national and two Afghans.

The reports of the kidnapping on Tuesday come just as NATO and Afghan forces launch a major offensive against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 03/06/2007 12:30 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Taliban claim to have kidnapped three journalists in Afghanistan on Tuesday and have accused them of being spies

I'm sorry to say it, but I'm conflicted.
Posted by: eLarson || 03/06/2007 12:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Dan Rather wasn't out there looking for the big comeback was he?
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/06/2007 12:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Has anyone seen seymour hersh recently?
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 03/06/2007 13:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Keep 'em.

Not one American soldier should be put at risk to save these traitors.
Posted by: jds || 03/06/2007 13:05 Comments || Top||

#5  #4 Keep 'em.

Heh, took the words out of my mouth, jds!
Posted by: Ptah || 03/06/2007 13:06 Comments || Top||

#6  More. An Italian and two locals.

An Italian journalist has been kidnapped by the Taliban in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province. Daniele Mastrogiacomo was travelling with his Afghan driver and translator outside Lashkar Gah, Helmand's main town, when they were taken hostage.

The Taliban originally identified Mr Mastrogiacomo as a Briton named John Nichol, then later described him as a journalist for La Repubblica newspaper who they said was spying for the British military in Helmand. The confusion about the hostage's identity appeared to stem from difficulties by Taliban kidnappers in pronouncing Mr Mastrogiacomo's first name over the phone, according to two Pashtun journalists who have had direct contact with the Taliban.
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/06/2007 14:05 Comments || Top||

#7  More. An Italian and two locals.

Even more reason to keep them (at least until the ransom hits the high millions) which the Italians will gladly pay and then when they are released criticize the NATO (i.e. Americans) for not doing enough to find them and rescue them.
Posted by: Jack is Back || 03/06/2007 14:18 Comments || Top||


Briton Held In Helmand
The Taliban say they have captured a Briton and two Afghans in the southern Afghanistan province of Helmand. About 5,000 British troops are based in Helmand. First reports suggested the kidnapped group may be journalists. The region is linked to the country's lucrative drugs trade. The Foreign Office says it is "aware of the reports" that have been made by the Taliban to Pakistani media organisations.
Posted by: Howard UK || 03/06/2007 06:08 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


NATO Launches Winter Offensive
KABUL, Afghanistan - NATO-led troops launched an offensive against Taliban militants Tuesday in a volatile southern Afghan province where hundreds of militant fighters have amassed. The operation, which will eventually involve 4,500 NATO troops and 1,000 Afghan soldiers, was launched at the request of the Afghan government and will focus on the northern region of Helmand province, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.

"Our first maneuver elements reached their positions at approximately 5 a.m. this morning," said Maj. Gen. Ton van Loon, ISAF's southern commander. Dubbed Operation Achilles, the offensive is NATO's largest-ever in the country. But it will involve only half the number of soldiers who fought in a U.S. offensive in the same region just nine months ago, when some 11,000 U.S.-led troops attacked fighters in northern Helmand province during Operation Mountain Thrust.

NATO said that Achilles initially would focus on improving security conditions, but that its "overarching purpose is to assist the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (to) improve its ability to begin reconstruction and economic development."

The government has little control over many parts of northern Helmand, and the British troops stationed there fight almost-daily battles with militants. U.S. intelligence officials say Taliban fighters have flooded into Helmand the last several months, and that there are now more fighters there than any other part of the country.

The militants overran Musa Qala, in central Helmand province, on Feb. 1 after defying a peace deal between the government and elders reached last fall that capped weeks of fighting. The Taliban still control the town more than a month after the initial attack.

British troops also have been battling militants in the nearby district of Kajaki, in northern Helmand, to enable repair work on a hydroelectric dam there, which supplies close to 2 million Afghans with electricity. "Strategically, our goal is to enable the Afghan government to begin the Kajaki project," van Loon, said.

"This long-term initiative is a huge undertaking and the eventual rehabilitation of the Kajaki multipurpose dam and power house will improve the water supply for local communities, rehabilitate irrigation systems for farmlands and provide sufficient electrical power for residents, industries and commerce," he said.

Helmand is the world's biggest producer of opium, and a new U.N. drug assessment indicates that the this year's poppy harvest could be higher than last year's record output. The U.N. says Taliban fighters protect poppy farmers and tax the crop, deriving much-needed income for their insurgency.
Posted by: Bobby || 03/06/2007 06:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The US counter offensive against the IJN continues today with 3 fleet carriers concentrating to the north of Midway in an effort to fool the IJN forces. The Yorktown just out of an emergency 48 hour maintenance period is certain to be a target.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/06/2007 13:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Pesky bloody japs.
Posted by: Howard UK || 03/06/2007 14:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Nice one Ship.

Is this the dreaded Afghan winter offensive we've been hearing about? Oh, sorry, that'd be the Talibunnies...

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 03/06/2007 18:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Ship - you somehow failed to mention that U.S. commanders have had the advantage of reading Japanese naval communications since breaking their codes a few months ago. No J-school diploma for you!
Posted by: PBMcL || 03/06/2007 23:13 Comments || Top||

#5  NATO Launches Dreaded™ Winter Offensive
Posted by: RD || 03/06/2007 23:14 Comments || Top||


Picking Up Taliban Pieces
Efforts are now underway to identify the dead following a U.S. and NATO strike in a remote area of eastern Afghanistan over the weekend, according to Afghan officials. ABC News reported a major strike may have targeted a high-value al Qaeda target in the village of Mandaghel in Kunar province.

The U.S. military on the ground in Afghanistan continues to officially deny there was anything other than "routine military operations" in the eastern province over the past three days. But U.S. and Afghan government officials said over the weekend that an operation was taking place. They declined to identify who the operation was targeting but indicated they were after a "High Value Target" (HVT).

Official sources would not rule out that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden himself was the intended target. Afghan officials said the target could be another senior ranking al Qaeda leader.
Official sources would not rule out that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden himself was the intended target. Afghan officials said the target could be another senior ranking al Qaeda leader.

Eyewitnesses to the bombing and follow-up ground assault on the compound in Mandaghel, near the border with Pakistan, said two or three massive bombs were dropped on the compound. They described scenes of fierce hand-to-hand combat between the ANA (Afghan National Army) and enemy combatants holed up inside the compound. Afghan officials, who did not want to be identified, said the strike targeted a mix of foreign and Afghan militants loyal to al Qaeda and Hizbi Islami, or HIG, the extremist group headed by former fundamentalist prime minister Gulbuddhin Hecmatyar. They say the compound belonged to a commander named Haji Aminullah, a HIG commander heavily tied to smuggling gems, timber and opium from the lawless Pesh Valley region of Kunar.
This article starring:
GULBUDHIN HECMATYARHizbi Islami
HAJI AMINULLAHHizbi Islami
al Qaeda
Hizbi Islami
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  said two or three massive bombs were dropped on the compound.

How ever many 2000 lb'ers it takes so that no return shots are fired.
Posted by: anymouse || 03/06/2007 1:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Bam!!!
Posted by: Emeril || 03/06/2007 2:13 Comments || Top||

#3  I recall the old saying "The Army's job is to break things and kill people" so Yes it is indeed "Routine Military Operations".
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/06/2007 10:01 Comments || Top||

#4  That's right, Redneck Jim. And it is the job of us civil engineers to design and build targets, heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/06/2007 10:46 Comments || Top||

#5  Yep heard that one many times, my dad was a civil engineer.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/06/2007 13:43 Comments || Top||

#6  Ah, the old D model deivering a pile of 500's on a blanket. Sweet dreams - your 79 raisans await you....
Posted by: Jack is Back || 03/06/2007 14:21 Comments || Top||


Afghan anger after Nato airstrike kills nine in family compound
A Nato airstrike killed nine members of a family in Afghanistan when their mudbrick home was hit by two huge bombs. It was the second time in less than 24 hours that coalition forces were blamed for the deaths of civilians.

The incident appeared likely to increase tension between Nato and Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President, who accused international troops yesterday of not doing enough to avoid civilian casualties and of damaging public support for his administration The airstrike took place on Sunday night after militants fired on a Nato base in Kapisa, just north of Kabul. Coalition forces retaliated and hit a civilian compound, killing five adults and four children, aged between 6 months and 5 years.

A US military statement confirmed that two 2,000lb bombs landed on the compound. The Nato base at Kapisa is staffed by US forces. Lieutenant-Colonel David Accetta, a coalition spokesman, said: “Coalition forces observed two men with AK47s leaving the scene of the rocket attack and entering the compound. These men knowingly endangered civilians by retreating into a populated area while conducting attacks against coalition forces.”

After seeing the men entering the compound American forces called in the airstrike. It is unclear how many insurgents, if any, were killed in the blast, but Zemarai Bashray, an Interior Ministry spokesman, told The Times that nine civilians were killed and that the Government had sent a delegation to the area to investigate the incident further.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They have to proclaim this more openly: shielding yourself with civilians is a war crime and any resulting casualties are your fault, not ours.
Posted by: Jackal || 03/06/2007 6:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Exactly, Jackal. I tried to get MNF-I types to incorporate extremely harsh and specific language about war crimes such as this in every utterance made WRT to similar incidents (including the times journalists got hit), of course to no avail. From the WH on down, the US has never attempted to educate or shape discussion, much less correct systematic distortion by the media. Easily the most important failure since 9/11.
Posted by: Verlaine || 03/06/2007 12:24 Comments || Top||

#3  These men knowingly endangered civilians by retreating into a populated area while conducting attacks against coalition forces.

Too bad, so sad...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/06/2007 12:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Tensions on the increase.... in a combat zone.
This is horrible, anyone got 'ema TUMS?
Posted by: Shipman || 03/06/2007 13:17 Comments || Top||

#5  Lets face it. We are not tough enough socially, culturally or politically to even explain collateral damage or why it is necessary that civilians get killed in times of armed conflict. We are held back by Judeo-Christian guilt and fatalism unmatched except by maybe buddhists. The religion of Allan has no such reservation as they control the social/cultural/political manifestations of its people. This is why the struggle will be long, tedious, disappointing and probably break even as we let the lawyers and chaplins set strategy and tactics.
Posted by: Jack is Back || 03/06/2007 14:26 Comments || Top||

#6  if you live with rats you're going to get bitten.
Posted by: anonymous || 03/06/2007 17:18 Comments || Top||


Taliban Claims Control Of Another Helmand District
(AKI) - by Syed Saleem Shahzad
At least 19 Afghan civilians have been killed over the past 24 hours in strikes and gunfire incidents by coalition forces in Afghanistan in response to militant attacks on NATO targets. Although NATO has said it is trying to reduce civilian casualties, the attacks look set to continue as the "spring offensive" materialises. Taliban commander Abdul Khaliq told Adnkronos International (AKI) that they have taken control of Nawzad district in Helmand province and prior to the recent attacks the Taliban distributed leaflets warning people to keep away from NATO installations or convoys.

Taliban commander Abdul Khaliq said that with their recent seizure of the Nawzad district in the restive southern Afghan province of Helmand, their spring offensive had begun.
In an interview with AKI, Taliban commander Abdul Khaliq said that with their recent seizure of the Nawzad district in the restive southern Afghan province of Helmand, their spring offensive had begun. "There was a ceasefire in Nawzad district during the entire winter but we had taken control of all the villages and only the district headquarters was under the Karzai-backed administration, though it was also under siege by Taliban," Abdul Khaliq told AKI in a phone interview from Nawzad district. "Last Thursday, we just announced that we would break the ceasefire and walked in the headquarters without much of a fight," he said.

Over the weekend, the Afghan people were also warned by the militant group to be cautious and keep away from NATO installations. Pamphlets were distributed all over Kandahar city by the Taliban in which people were warned to stay cautious as the Taliban would not spare any single movement of NATO troops on Afghan roads.
“We have acquired sophisticated weapons and now warn the people not to be within 100 meters on either side of any NATO installation or convoy because from now on everything will be immediate targets."
“We have acquired sophisticated weapons and now warn the people not to be within 100 meters on either side of any NATO installation or convoy because from now on everything will be immediate targets," the pamphlet written in Pashto said.

After the warning, came the attacks. On Sunday, the young Taliban commander Qari Hazrat led an attack on the convoy of the British task force traveling between Sangin and Gereshk districts of Helmand, killing two British soldiers and wounding others. Also on Sunday, a suicide attacker targeted a US marines' convoy just outside the city of Jalalabad, capital of eastern Nangarhar province, and the soldiers reportedly opened fire on civilians killing at least 10 people. Hundreds of Afghan men took to the streets to protest the incident but sources said that the province has so far been calm. President Hamid Karzai said that coalition forces had opened fire on the civilians and ordered an investigation into the incident.

In another incident Afghan officials said that at least nine Afghan civilians were killed overnight in Kapisa province, north of Kabul, in a strike carried out by NATO in response to an attack on a base there.
This article starring:
ABDUL KHALIQTaliban
QARI HAZRATTaliban
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "warn the people not to be within 100 meters on either side of any NATO installation or convoy because from now on everything will be immediate targets,"

Thank for clearing our fields of fire for us.
Posted by: Steve || 03/06/2007 8:54 Comments || Top||

#2  “We have acquired sophisticated weapons and now warn the people not to be within 100 meters on either side of any NATO installation or convoy because from now on everything will be immediate targets," the pamphlet written in Pashto said.

What you bet that pamphlet is one of them old T-54 ex-Soviet Kosomol Tri-Fold jobs. Hot-type I hear.

Posted by: Shipman || 03/06/2007 16:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Doesn't Helmands make mayonase? What does the Taliban want with mayonase? Spread it on their ham sammiches?
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/06/2007 19:36 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Missing Britons' bullet-ridden vehicles found in Ethiopia
MEKELE, Ethiopia -- British investigators looking into the disappearance of a group of Britons affiliated with their country's embassy examined two abandoned, bullet-riddled embassy cars in a remote Ethiopian village Monday.

An Associated Press television cameraman saw the two vehicles in Hamedali, the last staging post before the region's famous salt lakes. Bullet holes lined the doors of the vehicles, which still had luggage, shoes and mobile phones inside. No blood was visible. British investigators at the scene refused to comment.

In London, the Foreign Office confirmed the cars were part of the missing Britons' convoy.

The tour group, which included 13 Ethiopian drivers and translators, went missing Thursday while traveling in Ethiopia's Afar region, a barren expanse of salt mines and volcanoes 800 kilometers northeast of the capital, Addis Ababa. The Britons are employees of the British Embassy in Addis Ababa or their relatives.

There was no word on who was behind the kidnapping.

"If, as has been speculated, the group is being held against their will, it may be they have been victims of mistaken identity," Bob Dewar, the British ambassador to Ethiopia, said in the Ethiopian capital Monday. Teams in London and Ethiopia were doing everything possible to get the facts, he added.

Two residents of Mekele, which at 100 kilometers from Hamedali is the nearest large town, said they had seen members of Britain's elite special operations forces. They spoke on condition anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue but were familiar with military matters.

British media, citing unnamed defense officials in London, reported that planning was under way for a possible military rescue operation.

Britain's The Guardian newspaper, citing unnamed defense sources, reported that two British special forces soldiers, described as being in a "liaison" role, were in the area. The Independent newspaper said British special forces in the region were preparing for an armed rescue should diplomatic efforts fail. The Times said the British Ministry of Defense had been asked to draw up a hostage-rescue plan soon after the five disappeared.

"We can't comment on anything like that," said a Foreign Office press office in London, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with department policy.

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett refused to go into details of the investigation, saying "the safety of those people is of paramount importance to all of us."

The Foreign Office also refused to comment on reports that British officials were seeking to contact Ethiopians in the group who either escaped or were released. Late Saturday, the state-run Ethiopian News Agency said five of the 13 Ethiopians in the group were found near the border with Eritrea.

Communication and travel into Afar are extremely difficult. The region is not heavily traveled by foreigners -- in part because of its proximity to Ethiopia's disputed border with archrival Eritrea -- although the moonlike landscape draws adventure tourists. Travelers are required to have armed guards.

Two Ethiopian government officials have said Eritrea was responsible, which Eritrea denies. On Sunday, Ethiopian officials downplayed the allegations, saying they were still investigating.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 03/06/2007 13:26 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  These so-called journo's are illiterate. The word is riddled, not ridden.
Posted by: Chiper Threreger8956 || 03/06/2007 16:06 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm not an experienced missing persons investigator, so perhaps some of the experts here can help me out: when you find the vehicles belonging a group of missing people and those vehicles are filled with bullet holes, is that a good sign or a bad sign?
Posted by: WhitecollarRedneck || 03/06/2007 17:25 Comments || Top||

#3  ...when you find the vehicles belonging a group of missing people and those vehicles are filled with bullet holes, is that a good sign or a bad sign?

I guess it's a matter of perspective! 8-)
Posted by: Marilyn Unains9464 || 03/06/2007 18:12 Comments || Top||

#4  I guess the next question is, are there pools of blood on the seats and the ground nearby? If no blood, I would think the flying bullets came after the occupants were forced to get out of the vehicles.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/06/2007 18:30 Comments || Top||

#5  If there was no blood splatters or pools, the vehicles were used as object lessons as to why you should do what the men with the guns say. Plus if the village is far enough out, escaping from the kidnappers and making your way back is not an attractive idea without functional vehicles.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 03/06/2007 22:34 Comments || Top||


Marine Huey Down in Kenya, Crew Survive
ABOARD USS BATAAN (March 5, 2007) – Six U.S. service members were safely rescued and evacuated to USS Bataan after their UH-1N Huey helicopter crashed near Manda Bay, Kenya, during a scheduled training exercise with Kenyan armed forces. Two of the crew members from the helicopter were treated for non-life threatening injuries by medical personnel aboard the Bataan.

The aircraft, from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron – 264 (Reinforced), 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, was participating in Exercise Edged Mallet, a bilateral military training exercise with the Kenyan military. The cause of the accident is under investigation.
But Somalia's just a rocket throw away, so enemy action cannot yet be ruled out.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "UH-1N Huey"

Good lord, I know those were great helicopters, but someone give the USMC more money plz.
Posted by: Anon4021 || 03/06/2007 11:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Exercise Edged Mallet

Okay, I'm having a hard time even imagining what an edged mallet might look like. Isn't a mallet kind of blunt? This is like saying "Operation Sharp Hammer" or something.
Posted by: WhitecollarRedneck || 03/06/2007 11:58 Comments || Top||

#3  You never want to look too closely at the bailing wire, duct tape and chewing gum repairs to any of the equipment. It'll make you nervous.

Of course, the USAF gear we stole was in perfect condition until we beat it up after painting it green. Sorry 'bout that Mike. ;)

Bless the crews.
Posted by: GORT || 03/06/2007 12:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Deliveries of the current version, the HH/UH-1N, began in 1971. The last, and newest, UH-1N was delivered in January 1979. Both the Navy HH-1N fleet and the Marine Corps UH-1N fleet are scheduled to start being replaced by the UH-1Y in March 2008. The UH-1N could be in the fleet until 2014 when the last UH-1Y is delivered.

UH-1N Iroquois are fielded in Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadrons, or HMLAs, along with the AH-1W Super Cobras. Detachments from the HMLAs are deployed as part of Marine Expeditionary Units to support ship-based amphibious exercises and operations.
Posted by: Steve || 03/06/2007 13:12 Comments || Top||

#5  Heh, my ole Dad sez the Army used to leave out garbage stuff beyond the wire figuring the Marines would steal it.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/06/2007 13:23 Comments || Top||

#6  The last B-52 was manufactured in 1960. Most of the crew is younger than the aircraft, yet they still do a booming good job. They can't last much longer, though...

I agree, the Marines need a replacement for their Hueys. The Army here in Colorado Springs (and up in Denver, at Buckley ANG Base) still have Hueys.

I never like to fly on aircraft older than I am, but since I'm only slightly younger than dirt, that's not normally a problem.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/06/2007 13:51 Comments || Top||

#7  Most of the -1Y birds will be 'remanufactured' rather than new. there will be new drive trains and rotor systems as well as new avionics, but the majority of the airframe will be original. the tailboom willbe new however.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 03/06/2007 14:25 Comments || Top||

#8  I never like to fly on aircraft older than I am, but since I'm only slightly younger than dirt, that's not normally a problem.

OP,

Then you wouldn't have wanted to be with me a few Saturdays ago when the Collings Foundation sent a B24G and A B17 up to my local airport and for $425 you could hitch a ride as either upper turret gunner, waist gunner or nose gunner. Most folks who signed up were not skinny enough (notice I didn't use the F word) to crawl back to the tail gun on the 17. All the pilots and crew were in their 60's . Some fo the actual crews from WW2 were there. But I wouldn't want them taking me up any more than I like them driving down I95.
Posted by: Jack is Back || 03/06/2007 14:31 Comments || Top||

#9  Jack iz Back you in the SE? They were in Tallahassee last Thursday/Friday, B-17, B-24 and a Mitchell! Everything but a Superfortress.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/06/2007 16:53 Comments || Top||

#10  A remanufactured Huey is a safe bird, since the vast majority of wear-damaged parts and members are replaced in the process. That is why the world helicopter market is depressed on civilian sales : so many UH-1s were retired in the 1990s and then were rebuilt/remanufactured, that the new models are not being put into major production due to the glut of UH-1s. Only major militaries like the US, GB, Japan, and Australia are doing large batch purchases of new model aircraft. Everyone else is buying rebuilt/remanufactured Hueys or the MiL helos from the Eastern Europeans/Russians.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 03/06/2007 22:42 Comments || Top||

#11  Shieldwolf: I never said that a 'reman' was any less safe than new; only wanted to clarify that we were not getting 'new.' I have worked an any numer of aircraft that were either 'remanned' or converted and yes they are just as safe as new since as you pointed out, all the worn bits either get replaced or overhauled.

Jack: Was that B24 called "The Dragon's Tail?" I got do do a walkaround and shot about eleventy seven rolls of film on it a few years back when she was at the EAA in Arlington, WA. A real pretty bird.
Posted by: USN, ret. || 03/06/2007 23:05 Comments || Top||


Police colonel and three others killed in Mogadishu
(SomaliNet) Four people including former police colonel have been shot dead in the Somalia capital Mogadishu on Monday in separate attacks. The killings carried out by unknown gunmen. Colonel Mohamed Aden Borey, former police officer and his friend, Mohamed Haji Ali were gunned down in Hodan neighborhood, south of capital by unidentified armed men.

In Howlwadag junction near the main Bakara market, a civilian man, 35, was killed by three gunmen who robbed his car, witnesses told Somalinet. Elsewhere in Mogadishu, mobile muggers have killed another man in Black Sea junction, south of the capital. The killings came as AU officers were in Mogadishu today, assessing the vicinities where 1,500 Ugandan peacekeepers would be positioned when they arrived.

Suudan Ali Ahmed, the president of Elman Peace and Human rights organization, has condemned today’s killings as un-Islamic and crime against humanity. These acts of killings are part of the escalating insecurity situation in Mogadishu, which had already plunged into chaos, and anarchy. The government has little to address the problem.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
12 Al-Qaeda Linked Militants Killed In Tribal Areas
Karachi, 6 March (AKI) - (by Syed Saleem Shahzad) - At least 12 al-Qaeda linked militants were killed on Tuesday in a clash between the militants and tribesmen in the Pakistani tribal area of South Waziristan, which lies on the border with Afghanistan. The Zalikhail tribe of South Waziristan clashed with the militants in the restive tribal region's town of Azam Warsak. The killing was carried out to avenge the killing of their tribesmen by Uzbek militants linked to al-Qaeda.

According to sources in South Waziristan, the problem started from a personal rift between a Zalikhail tribesman, Malik Saeed, and a group of Uzbek militants. On Monday some of the Uzbek and Tajik militants opened fire on Malik Saeed and as a result, Malik Saeed’s two brothers and one Afghan refugee in the tribal area were killed. The incident reportedly caused immense resentment among the Zalikhail tribal people and they sent armed youths to search out the killers and execute them. This morning the tribal youths found the group in Azam Warsak market and killed them.

South Waziristan is the home of the Uzbek warlord Tahir Yaldeshiv, the chief of Islamic movement of Uzbekistan, an Al-Qaeda linked group. Reports say that there are hundreds of foreign militants, most of them Uzbeks, Chechens and Arabs, who have been in hiding in Pakistan's tribal areas having fled there from Afghanistan after the US-led forces removed the Taliban from power in 2001.
Posted by: Steve || 03/06/2007 11:26 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We need more of this.The locals to turn on Al Qaeda!!!!
Posted by: Ebbolump Glomotle9608 || 03/06/2007 11:44 Comments || Top||

#2  an old fashioned posse ,huh ,i like it
Posted by: sinse || 03/06/2007 19:32 Comments || Top||


Maoists kill local Congress leader in Andhra
HYDERABAD — The CPI Maoist extremists yesterday shot dead a local leader of the state’s ruling Congress party in Mahbubnagar, the district superintendent of police Charui Sinha said. Komati Prakash, a mandal Parishad member in his mid-thirties was shot dead by two unidentified Maoist rebels. “They shot at him from close range, killing him on the spot”, she said.

The incident occurred at Marikal village under Peddakottapalli mandal of the district, about 200km south of Hyderabad, when Prakash was surveying the mud road laying work between Marikal and Peddakarpamula villages. The incident created panic in the area and the workers busy in the roadwork also ran in panic.

The killing of Prakash has come as a surprise to the police as he was neither a prominent political figure nor was he on the ‘hit list’ of the Maoists. “They have killed him without any grudge or any reason”, the SP said.

IANS adds: However, the action is being viewed as a revenge for guerrillas killed in police firing. On Friday, police gunned down three Maoists near Rajhamundry in East Godavari district.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


180 dynamite sticks seized
MARDAN: The police has seized 180 dynamite sticks concealed in a truck coming from Sakhakot to Mardan, police sources told Daily Times on Monday. The sources said that Mardan DPO Akhtar Hayat Gandapur was informed that some men would transport explosives from Sakhakot to Mardan for sabotage purposes. They said that the DPO ordered the police to set up a picket near Katlang village, adding that the law enforcers stopped a truck for checking and found the explosives hidden in the vehicle. The police arrested the truck riders, Nadan Shah and Amir Shah, and are interrogating them.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Two 'US spies' shot dead in Miranshah
Suspected militants in a Pakistani tribal area shot dead two tribesman accused of spying for US forces operating in Afghanistan, said officials on Monday. The body of 30-year-old Qayyum Shahmiri was found early on Monday south of Miranshah, a security official told AFP. He said Shahmiri had been shot in the head and chest, and a note found near his body said he was an “American spy”.

Security officials said another body was found later from a drain in Manzar Khel town, 25 kilometres south of Miranshah. The bullet-riddled body of 40-year-old tribesman Reham Din was found with a note claiming that he was working as an “America spy”, they said. Last week, pro-Taliban militants decapitated an Afghan cleric accused of spying for US forces and making recordings of anti-Taliban speeches in South Waziristan. The militants also cut off the hands and feet of a suspected spy in North Waziristan last month.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


CIA Rushing Resources to Bin Laden Hunt
Although never publicly acknowledged, Pakistan has permitted CIA teams to secretly operate inside Pakistan. Pakistan officials say they are aware that CIA teams have increased their presence in northern Waziristan since last September when Pakistan withdrew its troops from the area under a much-criticized "peace deal" with tribal leaders.
Armed with fresh intelligence, the CIA is moving additional man power and equipment into Pakistan in the effort to find Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al Zawahri, U.S. officials tell ABC News. "Reports that the trail has gone stone cold are not correct," said one U.S. official. "We are very much increasing our efforts there," the official said.

People familiar with the CIA operation say undercover officers with paramilitary training have been ordered into Pakistan and the area across the border with Afghanistan as part of the ramp-up. Although never publicly acknowledged, Pakistan has permitted CIA teams to secretly operate inside Pakistan. Pakistan officials say they are aware that CIA teams have increased their presence in northern Waziristan since last September when Pakistan withdrew its troops from the area under a much-criticized "peace deal" with tribal leaders.

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell testified last week that current intelligence "to the best of our knowledge" puts both bin Laden and al Zawahri in Pakistan. It was the first time a high-ranking U.S. official publicly identified Pakistan as bin Laden's hiding place. Past intelligence has indicated that bin Laden often changed locations in March, traveling to hiding places in the mountains once the snow cover begins to melt.
This article starring:
AIMAN AL ZAWAHRIal-Qaeda
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Pakis move out, Binny thinks he has a kingdom, Wet Teams move in. This might get good.
Posted by: Icerigger || 03/06/2007 6:49 Comments || Top||

#2  It would take the starch out of the democrats sails if Binny or Zawahri were nabbed between now and election time. Would love to see the dhemmis scrambling to spin that story.

I can see it now:

"CIA operatives operating illegally in Pakistan nab high ranking AQ representative." The story would go on to blame Pres. Bush and talk about how evil America is in the WOT. There would be ample reminders of Afghanistan prison abuses and Guantanamo, ya da ya da ya da... More at 6:00 p.m."
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/06/2007 10:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Either that or they blame Bush of rolling him out right before the election to make the Democrats look bad. 'Cuz we have him in a secret prison under DIA. He is a CIA plant, after all.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/06/2007 10:24 Comments || Top||

#4  The other possibility is that if we catch Binny and Zaw, that the Dems will say that we have al Q and we can all go home now. Then they will cut the military budget and spend it on pork and claim the victory. Or something like that. The Dems are more insidious an enemy than al Q because at least you know where you stand with al Q. And I am not kidding about this.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/06/2007 10:51 Comments || Top||

#5  Either that or they blame Bush . . .
the Dems will say that . . .
Would love to see the dhemmis . . .


frankly, let's just catch the bastard first. I don't care about blame or credit. I just want that f**ker in our custody. lots of pics. Preferably with him lookin' scared. And unlike some, I'd love for him to have to go to Guantanamo and sit in a cell like all the others, simply treated like the POS that he is.
Posted by: PlanetDan || 03/06/2007 11:05 Comments || Top||

#6  Clearly this another "WagTheBush" trick.
Posted by: TomAnon || 03/06/2007 11:25 Comments || Top||

#7  CIA is moving additional man power and equipment into Pakistan
Anybody seen Plame picking up the twins lately? Or does Joe usually "do the time" in the kiddee pick up line?
Posted by: Capsu 78 || 03/06/2007 11:43 Comments || Top||

#8  Somehow it seems to me that we shouldn't be reading about this if ABC News had any sense of responsibility.

But then, that's how I felt the last 20 times that I've read about Bin Laden's "impending doom" over the last 5 and a half years.
Posted by: AuburnTom || 03/06/2007 11:48 Comments || Top||

#9  It would kind of cool to have Ayman and binny at Gitmo for the following reasons;

-- to see which US law firms take them as clients

-- to listen to the NGOs, leftists, tranzis, etc. complain that these two aren't getting enough hallel food, prayer rugs and whatnot

-- to have the Commander Gitmo say "well we haven't been able to get much intel out of them, too bad we can't use aggressive questioning"
Posted by: mhw || 03/06/2007 12:14 Comments || Top||

#10  PlanetDan: I think you misspelled 'pieces' as 'pics.'

wonder if this is residual
Cheney-was-here-itis....
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 03/06/2007 14:29 Comments || Top||

#11  Question, why make this info public?
Posted by: Icerigger || 03/06/2007 15:11 Comments || Top||

#12  Question, why make this info public?

Perv has taken some political hits lately and this shows he is playing ball with the US. There is probably a large FMS case in front of congress right now and Perv wants to be seen favorable.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 03/06/2007 16:06 Comments || Top||

#13  I question the timing.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/06/2007 16:58 Comments || Top||

#14  ABC is giving this and similar stories a lot of play.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/06/2007 17:19 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraq Game Films: 'Air strikes target al Qaeda terrorists'
Video footage is now available on the Web sites of Multi-National Force-Iraq (www.mnf-iraq.com) and the Digital, Video, Imagery Distribution Systems (www.dvidshub.net) of Coalition forces targeting members of an al-Qaeda in Iraq network Friday during an air strike operation west of Taji.

Information about this air strike was released by the Combined Press Information Center Saturday in press release A070303a entitled "Air strikes target al Qaeda terrorists west of Taji."
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/06/2007 18:38 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  More please.
Posted by: TomAnon || 03/06/2007 19:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Works for me.
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 03/06/2007 23:31 Comments || Top||


Big Jailbreak in Mosul
Dozens of al Qaeda-led militants stormed an Iraqi jail in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday and freed up to 140 prisoners in one of the biggest prison breaks since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, police said. As many as 300 militants led by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, attacked Mosul's northwestern Badoush prison just after sunset in the ethnically mixed city and overwhelmed police, who were forced to call the U.S. military for backup, officials said.

Hisham al-Hamdani, a member of the Mosul provincial government, said Abu Omar al-Baghdadi took part in the attack himself. The Islamic State in Iraq is a body set up by al Qaeda's Iraq wing and other Sunni militant groups in October. Most of the prisoners were believed to be insurgents, police said. It was unclear if there were any clashes between gunmen and police during the incident.

Saddam Hussein's nephew, Ayham Sabawi, escaped the same prison in December after he was accused of financing the Sunni insurgency against U.S. forces and the Shi'ite-led government.
This article starring:
ABU OMAR AL BAGHDADIIslamic State in Iraq
AIHAM SABAWIIraqi Insurgency
Hisham al-Hamdani
Islamic State in Iraq
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/06/2007 18:09 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hisham al-Hamdani, a member of the Mosul provincial government, said Abu Omar al-Baghdadi took part in the attack himself.

Uh huh, lotsa names here.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/06/2007 18:22 Comments || Top||

#2  If al-Hamdani knows al-Baghdadi took part, then we need to find out HOW he knows this. He should take up residence in one of the now-vacant cells while that question gets investigated.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/06/2007 18:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Proves one thing: Better to kill than capture
Posted by: Captain America || 03/06/2007 18:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe Im a weirdo but I think if I was a prison guard on my way out I would have run down the cell block with a bag full of gernades one or two per box.
Posted by: C-Low || 03/06/2007 19:16 Comments || Top||

#5  Maybe you are weird, #4 C, but not because of that idea. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 03/06/2007 20:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Bet most working in the jail were Saddam era holdovers.
Posted by: phil_b || 03/06/2007 20:59 Comments || Top||

#7  It was unclear if there were any clashes between gunmen and police during the incident.

My bet, no.
Probably one of those half now, half later deals...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/06/2007 21:27 Comments || Top||

#8  As they say... take no prisoners.
Posted by: twobyfour || 03/06/2007 22:19 Comments || Top||


Up to 90 die in Orc attack south of Baghdad
Two suicide bombers blew themselves up today in a crowd of Shiite pilgrims streaming toward a shrine south of Baghdad, killing up to 90 people, police said. The coordinated attack happened on a main street in Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, said Capt. Muthana Khalid. More than 150 others were injured, he said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2007 10:38 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Six American soldiers died when a bomb exploded Monday near their vehicles during a combat operation in Salahuddin province, the military said. Three others were wounded in the blast. Another three soldiers died the same day in a roadside bomb attack in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad.

Rest in Peace Brothers and God Speed..
Posted by: RD || 03/06/2007 11:45 Comments || Top||


Cellphone-Bomb Gang Broken Up
Baghdad, 6 March (AKI) - Iraqi police have uncovered a new terror technique adopted by the insurgents, a cellphone used, not simply as a trigger for a bomb, but as an explosive device. According to the Iraqi news portal Nasariya.net, police in the capital have in recent days arrested an insurgent whom at first appearance seemed similar to hundreds of others belonging to al-Qaeda linked or Baathist groups behind much of the recent bloodshed.

What set him apart was that he headed a gang which had developed a new technique, which enabled him to insert small quantities of explosives inside mobile phones.

The man, 23, whom the portal says lived in the comfortable al-Doura neighbourhood of Baghdad, reportedly confessed to police his role in various killings and explosive attacks, mainly targeting the heavily fortified Green Zone. According to the police, it is the first time that insurgents there have used a similar technique. The man was charged with training other members of the group, who were subsequently arrested.
Posted by: Steve || 03/06/2007 10:01 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hey Ahmed, the phone is ringing. It's for you.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/06/2007 10:13 Comments || Top||

#2  The man, 23, whom the portal says lived in the comfortable al-Doura neighbourhood of Baghdad, reportedly confessed to police his role in various killings and explosive attacks

heh.. he'll get the princess phone now.
Posted by: RD || 03/06/2007 10:38 Comments || Top||

#3  A while back the Mossad was after this one particular Paleo. So they set up a mobile phone shop nearby, offering the best deals around, and sure enough he came in and bought a phone. Next thing, the phone goes on the fritz and he brings it in for repairs. After he picks it up from the shop, first call he gets- "is that you Mohammed?" "Yes" ...BANG!
Ah memories...
Posted by: Grunter || 03/06/2007 13:37 Comments || Top||

#4  The Magic Cellphone. Invented by the Mossad, I believe...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/06/2007 14:14 Comments || Top||


Air Strike Adds Explosives to Mosul IED Warehouse
BAGHDAD, Iraq – A Coalition Forces air strike destroyed a building housing a large cache of materials used to build roadside bombs in Mosul Monday evening.

Intelligence reports stated terrorists were accumulating weapons and were believed to have knowledge of suppliers and producers of improvised explosive devices in the Mosul area.

Upon arrival at the targeted building, two individuals whipped out rods pulled weapons on the ground force. Ground forces dived behind some garbage cans took proper self-defense measures and off'd the perps killed the individuals.

While searching the targeted building, ground forces discovered an underground room that was being used to store large amounts of IED-making materials, including approximately 50 IEDs, 200 bags of fertilizer, blasting caps and multiple grenades. Coalition Forces called in for air support to destroy the building to prevent the IED-related material from being used against Iraqi citizens, Iraqi military and Coalition Forces in the future.

“Considering the amount of human suffering and damage inflicted by VBIEDs, it is always significant when we are able to eliminate or detain terrorists involved in these attacks,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, MNF-I spokesperson.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/06/2007 07:28 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Glenmore, your's is my favourite tagline of the week, so far.
Posted by: phil_b || 03/06/2007 7:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Ahh, the sweet sound of secondary explosions in the night can only mean multiple dead islamomurderers.
Posted by: anonymous || 03/06/2007 17:32 Comments || Top||


Baghdad Booms Blossom
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Nine U.S. soldiers died in two separate incidents north of Baghdad, the military said Tuesday. Six soldiers were killed when a bomb exploded near their vehicles during a combat operation Monday in Salahuddin province, the military said in a statement. Three other soldiers were wounded and transported to an American military hospital for treatment, it said.

In another incident the same day, three more soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Diyala province, another statement said. One soldier was wounded. All nine were assigned to Task Force Lightning. Names were withheld pending family notification.

Also Tuesday, Shiite pilgrims came under attack again, police said, with at least eight killed as they streamed south from Baghdad on foot toward a shrine ahead of a Muslim holiday this weekend. Worshippers were heading to Karbala, 50 miles south of the Iraqi capital, before the holiday that marks the end of a 40-day mourning period after the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson.

There were at least three shootings and three bomb attacks against groups of pilgrims making the journey Tuesday. Four were killed when a parked car bomb exploded in western Baghdad's Yarmouk neighborhood, police said. More than a dozen people also were wounded in the attack, they said.

Gunmen opened fire on pilgrims in two separate incidents in Latifiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad, police said. Three people were killed and at least nine hurt, they said.

Another pilgrim died in a roadside bomb attack in Waziriya, in northern Baghdad, police said. Five others were wounded in attacks across southern Baghdad.

But the violence did not only target pilgrims Tuesday. Five policemen died when a bomb exploded near their convoy in Maamil, a southeastern suburb of Baghdad, police said. Another police convoy was hit south of Baghdad, killing a commander and wounding four guards, police said.

Gunmen killed two men, including a former Baath Party member, in separate attacks south of Baghdad, police Capt. Muthana Khalid said. The first attack took place in Musayyib, about 40 miles south of Baghdad, when gunmen in a sedan killed a man who was walking in the street, Khalid said. The Baathist was killed when gunmen in a BMW attacked him in the al-Hur al-Gharbi area, about 16 miles west of Hillah, he said.

Also Tuesday, a roadside bomb exploded next to a fuel tanker in north Baghdad's Sarafiyah neighborhood, killing two people and wounding four others, police said.
Yesterday's news and 'analysis' at link.
Posted by: Bobby || 03/06/2007 05:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Baghdad bomb kills 26
A powerful car bomb ripped through Baghdad’s oldest book market on Monday, killing at least 26 people and wounding 42, said a security official. The bomb exploded in the renowned Al-Mutanabi Street market in central Baghdad on the east bank of River Tigris, sending huge black plumes into the sky and enveloping the minarets of a mosque in acrid smoke and dust. A police source said that 54 people were injured in the blast. Three witnesses told Reuters it was a suicide car bomber.

Meanwhile, Iraqi and US forces on Monday pushed into Shia militia bastions in Baghdad where they once fought raging street battles, as their security plan faced the first big test of its authority. The house-to-house searches in Sadr City are testing the resolve of Maliki’s government to back coalition forces in going after Shia militants in the bastion of one of its key allies, radical anti-American cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr.

The shove into Sadr City began on Sunday when 600 US and 550 Iraqi troops set up checkpoints and visited homes in the Jamila district, where a police station is due to be converted into a fortified base for a joint US-Iraqi force.

Coalition forces, meanwhile, were under fire from Maliki for a joint raid with Iraqi troops on his Interior Ministry’s intelligence office in Basra. A British military spokesman said that Sunday’s raid, in which 37 people being held prisoner at the office, had uncovered evidence of torture, but Maliki was furious, and issued a statement slamming the raid. “Maliki has ordered an investigation into the raid and has demanded that those behind this illegal act be punished,” said the statement.

Separately, followers of Muqtada Al-Sadr warned they would not relinquish their cabinet posts unless other members of the ruling coalition did the same, setting the stage for a major political battle as Maliki prepares to reshuffle his administration.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We may need some "wet works" in the Iraqi government, starting with Maliki and al-Sadr. We may need to keep fiddling until the Iraqis themselves get the message that we won't tolerate a government that kills its own people. We didn't get rid of one Saddam just to empower another.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/06/2007 14:46 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
At least 18 dead as Philippine army fights Muslim rebels
Army troops and Muslim rebels clashed in the remote southern Philippines despite a 2003 cease-fire, leaving at least 17 rebels and one soldier dead, military officials said Tuesday.

The fighting erupted Monday night in Midsayap, a rural town of about 100,000 people 890 kilometers (550 miles) south of Manila, with the army and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front accusing each other of firing first. The battle raged overnight into Tuesday, leaving 17 MILF rebels and an army soldier dead, Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, the 6th Infantry Division spokesman. Three other soldiers were wounded.

A local reporter at the site saw the bodies being gathered by the roadside in Sambolawan village, next to rebel-controlled Lumupog, where the fighting took place.

About 300 rebels simultaneously attacked two military detachments with rocket-propelled grenades and 81 mm mortars, said Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, the 6th Infantry Division spokesman. Army Col. Diosdado Carreon said soldiers used artillery to push the guerrillas toward the nearby Liguasan marshland.

But Von al Haq, the MILF chief representative on a joint cease-fire committee, blamed the military for starting the clashes. He said only one MILF member was killed and another wounded, and the bodies by the road were probably those of army troops. Al Haq said the soldiers, who had provided security for a U.S. military team on a medical mission in the area, entered a rebel camp at Lumupog near Midsayap, triggering the clash.

Al Haq said the military positions were nowhere near Lumupog, disputing the army's claim that the guerrillas attacked their outposts. It wasn't immediately clear where the military positions were. "I already filed a protest before my counterpart when the soldiers stayed on after securing the U.S. troops on Saturday, asking them to reposition the troops," Al Haq told The Associated Press. "But nothing was done." He said both sides were discussing how to separate the combatants.

About 7,500 frightened residents from at least 10 villages fled their homes, many trapped along an unpaved highway that the military closed to traffic early Tuesday, according to members of Bantay Cease-fire, a civilian group monitoring the truce.

Some residents started fleeing their homes late last week, frightened by the arrival of tanks and soldiers moving into several villages that were abandoned by the MILF, said Rexall Kaalim, the group's coordinator. Ando denied there was a buildup of troops.
Posted by: ryuge || 03/06/2007 06:21 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  is it muzzie season again, already?
Posted by: bk || 03/06/2007 10:23 Comments || Top||


Militants shoot five, killing two in Thai south
Islamic militants shot dead five people in Thailand's Muslim-majority south.

A 21-year-old Buddhist government security guard was gunned down in a public phone booth late Monday in Yala. Also in Yala, two Muslim men, aged 20 and 24, were shot dead in a drive-by shooting late Monday.

Militants also shot dead two male Buddhist villagers, aged 52 and 31, who were working in a paddy in neighboring Pattani province.

more detail on the drive-by here:

Southern insurgents fired into a group of young people emerging from a stadium and killed two youths in the drive-by shooting on Monday night. Police said the killings occurred along the main Yala-Betong road of Yala province, and instantly killed the two young men.

Police Superintendent Pol Col Songkiet Watakul said police responding to a call for help found a motorcycle on its side and the two bodies of youths later identified as Rosadee Mahama and Abdulloh Latte, who lived in the area. Officers rushed a third victim Susee Salamae to Yala Central Hospital, where he was declared in critical condition.

Detectives said the teenagers were leaving an Ayurweng village sports stadium on the main road, when a pickup truck drove alongside and four to five gunmen opened up on them.
Posted by: ryuge || 03/06/2007 06:14 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Sri Lanka
7 killed in Lanka as Norwegian envoy holds talks with rebels
Norway’s ambassador held talks with Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka on Monday and three military personnel were killed in clashes in the Jaffna peninsula.

Norwegian envoy Hans Brattskar’s visit to the Tiger-held town of Killinochchi comes days after the Italian and US ambassadors to Colombo and the United Nations representative to Sri Lanka were slightly hurt when rebels shelled a diplomatic delegation led by the island’s human rights minister to the restive east. There was no immediate comment on Monday’s visit from the Norwegian mediators or the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but a spokesman for the organisation said Brattskar was in Killinochchi for talks with the political leadership.

Sri Lanka’s military said three soldiers had been killed in the restive Jaffna peninsula, cut off from the rest of the island by Tamil Tiger lines, during a confrontation early on Monday.

“One of our patrols confronted some LTTE cadres and three soldiers were killed,” said military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe. He said the Tigers might also have suffered casualties.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Missing Iranian official "fled to the US" - report
Cairo - An Iranian military adviser and former general who disappeared in Turkey last month is said to have sought asylum in the United States. Pan-Arab newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat said on Tuesday, quoting high-profile sources, that Ali Reza Askari left for the US shortly after arriving in the Turkish capital.
I guess the only thing better than "First Class" is flying "Defector Class".
Flying from Damascus, Askari arrived in Istanbul on February 7, but disappeared only a few hours after checking into an Iranian-owned hotel. Askari was seen leaving the hotel and initial reports of the mysterious disappearance speculated that he was abducted by foreign secret services, the CIA and Israel's Mossad topping the list. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Monday that Askari had 'disappeared without a trace' and he held Turkey responsible for his fate.

Iran has formally asked both Interpol and Turkey to conduct an investigation into the adviser's disappearance, according to reports. The al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper sources, however, claim the adviser was not abducted but left for the United States 'along with the secrets he carried.'
Anyone check Dick Cheney's plane when he got back?
Askari, a former deputy to the Iranian secretary of defence, facilitated government weapon deals and may have personal knowledge of Iran's uranium enrichment programme and defence strategies, according to the newspaper.

Meanwhile according to Israel's Haaretz daily, Arab sources insist that Askari was captured by American and Israeli intelligence. 'Unnamed Arab diplomats have been quoted in Israeli media as charging that the Israeli Mossad and the Central Intelligence Agency kidnapped Askari,' the paper said.

Israel denies any involvement in the disappearance, but still fears retaliation as a result of the speculation. Israeli daily Maariv reported Tuesday that the Israeli secret service has stepped up its protection for representatives of the Israeli state abroad.
Posted by: Steve || 03/06/2007 09:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If true .... oh baby.
All your nukes are belong to us, Iran!
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/06/2007 9:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Additional: Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted by Iran's news agency today as saying that a foreign ministry official was currently in Turkey to investigate the disappearance and has asked the Turkish government "to inquire into the issue and give explanation on Asgari's whereabouts."
One respected analyst with sources in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard says Gen. Ali Reza Asgari has defected and is now in a European country with his entire family, where he is cooperating with the U.S.

"This is a fatal blow to Iranian intelligence," said the source, explaining that Asgari knows sensitive information about Iran's nuclear and military projects. Iran called tens of its Revolutionary Guard agents working at embassies and cultural centers in Arab and European countries back to Tehran out of fear that Asgari might disclose secret information about their identities, according to the analyst.

The source, however, believes Asgari's disappearance was prompted by the detention of five Iranians after the raid on their government's liaison office in Irbil, Iraq in January. Asgari, 63, knew and may have worked with some of the detained men, said the analyst.
Asgari's years with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Iranian defense ministry would make him an invaluable source of information. He was reportedly based in Lebanon in the 1990s and was in charge of ties with the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah. At one point he was also in charge of military purchases at the defense ministry and exposed widespread corruption there which led to the arrest of a number of officials. Most recently, he worked as a consultant for the same ministry.
Posted by: Steve || 03/06/2007 9:36 Comments || Top||

#3  48 hour rule? Salt?
Posted by: AlanC || 03/06/2007 9:39 Comments || Top||

#4  The general's disappearance was first reported at the end of February in the Saudi newspaper al-Watan. The paper said that at the beginning of February Asgari visited Damascus and later flew o Istanbul in Turkey, where he checked into a hotel. "Several Turkish citizens reserved a room for Asgari at the Gilan Hotel in Istanbul and paid for it, but haven't heard from him since," the paper stated. "In a meeting held by the Turkish security officials with an Iranian delegation, the possibility was raised that the Mossad and the CIA were involved in his disappearance," it added.

Security sources in Turkey told a local newspaper that so far, the searches for Asgari have yielded no results. According to a Turkish official, "The records do not show that a person under this name left Turkey, but given his sensitive job and the important information he possesses regarding the Iranian nuclear program, the possibility that he left Turkey using a fake passport and an alias is being examined."
Posted by: Steve || 03/06/2007 9:40 Comments || Top||

#5  possibility.

Hes been a defector in place for a while. The admin wants to use his info in public now, so they brought him to safety. Making the decision that going public was more important than keeping the source. YOu can infer what you will from that decision. and they rolled up the cell in Iraq since they were gonna take him to the US anyway. Too hard to roll up all the other cells without endangering his escape.


OR - the Iranians were sniffing, and getting close, so they pulled him out before he was caught, and they arent kewl with losing the source. In which case what you could have inferred from the first possibity, you cant infer.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/06/2007 10:06 Comments || Top||

#6  Turkish newspaper Milliyet, citing unnamed officials, said Turkish intelligence and police had found Asgari opposed the Iranian government and had information on its nuclear plans.
Posted by: Steve || 03/06/2007 10:20 Comments || Top||

#7  Definite 48 hour rule. Still, this will make all the right people nervous even it is not true and not an intentional psy-op.
Posted by: Excalibur || 03/06/2007 10:28 Comments || Top||

#8  Iran did not give details on Asgari's career. But the Iranian chief of police was quoted as saying that he may have been snatched "because of his Defence Ministry background". A Mossad veteran voiced doubt over such a scenario. "Espionage kidnappings went out of style after the Cold War," said Gad Shimron, a former Mossad field agent. "I doubt anyone wants that level of escalation at this point in time."

Agreed. You can nab a low-level agent, but not someone this high ranking.

Shimron said Turkish media reports suggested that Asgari had defected. According to Hurriyet, the Iranian vanished after checking into an Istanbul hotel room that had been reserved from him by two foreigners. Milliyet newspaper quoted Turkish intelligence as saying Asgari opposed the Iranian government. "It sounds to me very much like he turned up for a debriefing, or even to 'come out of the cold,'" Shimron said.

The London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, citing "informed sources", said Asgari, 63, had decided to defect to the United States.
Israeli and U.S. officials had no immediate comment.

Menashe Amir, an Israeli analyst of Iranian affairs, said he had information indicating that Asgari's family was with him. "According to part of the information, his wife and children managed to leave Iran before his disappearance," Amir told Israel's Army Radio, without elaborating on his sources. "It's very possible that he decided to defect," Amir said.


(crossing fingers)
Posted by: Steve || 03/06/2007 10:30 Comments || Top||

#9  Any takers on the over/under of the NYT printing a 12 digit grid to horse farm between Dulles and Front Royal ?
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 03/06/2007 10:32 Comments || Top||

#10  Bets on what interesting docs he took with him?
Posted by: mojo || 03/06/2007 11:14 Comments || Top||

#11  48 hour rule? Salt?

We had a similar article with fewer details yesterday, so by that measure we're already 24 hours into it... not to mention that the gentleman disappeared February 7th. However, the information mainly comes from pan-Arab newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat and unnamed Arab diplomats, and we know how fond they are of baseless conspiracy theories involving the US and/or Israel. It's not nearly so important that it's true, though, than that the Iranians and the Arabs believe it to be -- can you imagine the blood pressure of the the Ayatollahs just now, and the raw nerves of the troops and their generals, both Regular Army and the Republican Guards? Skinless people in a sandpaper world (thanks, Zenster!), and it was just changed to the coarse diamond grit.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/06/2007 11:40 Comments || Top||

#12  If he was a defector in place, he wasn't the only one. The rest are still in place, and their cells were compartmented from Askari's, so rolling up Askari's network won't get you the others.

Or not. This is all just idle speculation by some 46-year old lawyer whose only knowledge of the intelligence business comes from reading Tom Clancy.

Sleep soundly, Mahmoud. Nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.
Posted by: Mike || 03/06/2007 11:41 Comments || Top||

#13  Well, I did a RBurg search, but I really thought we were reading about this guy last week. I didn't find an earlier posting with his name, but this is not the first time this has been mentioned here. Maybe his named hadn't been used in the earlier postings.

'Course, it could also be a "senior memory" I'm having!
Posted by: Sherry || 03/06/2007 12:02 Comments || Top||

#14  This is the article I was talking about, Sherry. Sorry about not giving the link before.

Interesting comment from yesterday's thread:
#5 Tehran, 5 March (AKI) - Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki has asked Turkey to shed light on the disappearance in Istanbul last week of a retired Iranian general and former deputy-defence minister. General Ali Reza Asghari, 63, a former senior officer in Iran's Pasdaran, or Revolutionary Guard, and deputy defence minister for eight years until 2005, disappeared in the Turkish city after arriving there on a flight from Damascus. "We are awaiting clarity and an explanation from the Ankara government who we hold responsible for the ex-deputy minister's safety," Mottaki said on Monday.

Asghari was for several years the head of Iran's missile programme, and some Iranian media reports have alleged that he may have been abducted by US agents. According to these reports Asghari's name appeared on a CIA 'hit list' of 20 people involved in Iran's nuclear programme.

I'll light a candle hoping he defected. He'd be able to spill the beans on everything. Question is, why?
Posted by Steve 2007-03-05 13:10
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/06/2007 13:06 Comments || Top||

#15  TW, changed the grit to coarse AND turned on the lemon juice shower.
Posted by: AlanC || 03/06/2007 13:18 Comments || Top||

#16  Found it, with the added comments -- with a different spelling in TW's post.... Whew... that senior moment has passed!

From Rantburg on Feb 28
-Lebanon-Iran
Iranian General's Whereabouts Shrouded In Mystery
2007-02-28
Istanbul, 28 Feb. (AKI) - Retired Iranian general and former deputy defence minister, Alireza Asghari, has gone missing during a private visit to Turkey, Arab and Iranian newsreports said on Wednesday. Asghari arrived in the Turkish city on a flight from Damascus and after checking into the Hotel Ghilan has not been seen since, the reports said.

"One minute he was here, the next...gone!"

Asghari is a former general in the hardline Pasdaran or Revolutionary Guard, and served in the cabinet of former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami.

Baztab, an internet site linked to the Pasdaran, reported that Ashgari may have been kidnapped. Baztab recently reported that Asghari's name was one of 20 belonging to Pasdaran officers which appeared on what the site said was a CIA hit-list.

Defected ahead of a purge?

Posted by: Sherry || 03/06/2007 13:29 Comments || Top||

#17  That's the one, I recognize my brillant in-line comments...
Posted by: Steve || 03/06/2007 14:35 Comments || Top||

#18  Bet he has family here. Anyone know how to check?
Posted by: Jack is Back || 03/06/2007 14:38 Comments || Top||

#19  Everybody there has family here.
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/06/2007 14:43 Comments || Top||

#20  Suppose we might trade him for Genereal Weasely Clark?
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/06/2007 14:58 Comments || Top||

#21  IF the Iranian government HAS withdrawn "tens of agents" because they were actually Revolutionary Guard instead of Iranian diplomatic personnel, that alone will provide us with a small diplomatic victory. Just go through the list of who's recently been "reassigned" to Iran. At the same time, removing those people also may break up some clandestine networks that Iran has managed to set up in foreign countries. The CIA, I'm sure, has had an "interesting" month, or they need to be disolved. Of course, if all went as it should, we will never know...
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/06/2007 15:01 Comments || Top||

#22  Who cares, I want to talk about Defector Class is that like a 1964 1st Class? I'm talking neck rubs here..... Is it so?
Posted by: Shipman || 03/06/2007 18:30 Comments || Top||

#23  You have been on a roll lately, Steve. :-)

Alan, you're clearly more creative in this area than I. *shudder*

I didn't even remember the February 28th post, Sherry. Good memory! (even if it took a bit to find it)
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/06/2007 22:14 Comments || Top||

#24  HHHHMMMMMMM, Motakki.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/06/2007 22:35 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
WSJournal covers secular Islam summit
ht to Instapundit; WaPo, NYTimes and other dailies are apparently not covering it but Al-Jazeera and some other arab media are
At this landmark Summit on Secular Islam, there are no "moderate" Muslims.

There are ex-Muslims: People like Ibn Warraq, author of "Why I Am Not a Muslim," who doesn't want an Islamic Reformation so much as he does a Muslim Enlightenment. There are ex-jihadists: people like Tawfik Hamid, who, as a young medical student in Cairo, briefly enlisted in the Gamaa Islamiya terrorist group and who remembers being preached to by a mesmerizing doctor named Ayman al-Zawahiri.

There are Muslim runaways: People like Afshin Ellian, who in 1983 fled Iran -- and the threat of execution -- on camelback and is now a professor of law at the University of Leiden in Holland. (Now threatened by European jihadists, he lives with round-the-clock police protection.) There are experts on Islamic law: People like Hasan Mahmoud, a native Bangladeshi who, as director of Shariah at the Muslim Canadian Congress, was instrumental in overturning Ontario's once-legal Shariah court last year.

There are even a few practicing Muslims here, such as Canadian author Irshad Manji. Ms. Manji, whose documentary "Faith Without Fear" airs on PBS next month, describes herself as a "radical traditionalist" and draws a sharp distinction between Muslim moderates and reformers: "Moderate Muslims denounce terror that's committed in the name of Islam but they deny that religion has anything to do with it," she says [wonder if LH agrees with that definition]. "Reform-minded Muslims denounce terror that's committed in the name of Islam and acknowledge that our religion is used to inspire it."

The difference is not trivial. For more than...
[and Irshad should have also defined secular muslims who only know a half dozen verses of the koran and believe the terrorists are making stuff up as well as tayikka/kitman muslims who tell infidels one thing and muslims another]
Posted by: mhw || 03/06/2007 11:36 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I have a Paki doctor - retired, been here in the US over 25 years - who lives in same golf club community as mine. He is even a member of the RNC and has studied "comparative world religions". He is Sunni and doesn't have much time for Shias - which I understand is not unique. But he also doesn't have much time for the dhimmis and those opposed to WoT. He strongly believes that Islam is more at risk than western civilization and Judeo-Christian values. But since I played golf with him yesterday I know he isn't there but probably should be.
Posted by: Jack is Back || 03/06/2007 14:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Your Paki friend resembles a number of moslems I know.

They (the moslems I know) say that they fear that eventually the Islamoterrorists will provoke the west to nuke Mecca or something. But I think what they really fear is that Islam will come to the west and ruin the good life they have here by ruining the good life for everyone.
Posted by: mhw || 03/06/2007 16:50 Comments || Top||


Good morning...
Britney: 'I'm The Antichrist'CIA Rushing Resources to Bin Laden HuntChad: Former rebel leader becomes defense ministerFinal bell tolls for 6 JMB menBaghdad bomb kills 26Geelani suffering from kidney cancerOlmert seeks delay on Lebanon war report
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  HEY! Didn't we just have her a couple of days ago? If I have to look at her again I guess I can force myself to. I mean really just --look at---her (thoughtful silence) If I must, you know, I will---just for the good of the team and all that. I mean just look ----- hhmmmmm!
Posted by: Almost Anonymous5839 || 03/06/2007 0:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Looks like Almost gets "detention". Again.
Posted by: gorb || 03/06/2007 1:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Yes I'll take an order of hash browns.
Posted by: Icerigger || 03/06/2007 6:51 Comments || Top||

#4  nice pearl necklace
Posted by: Frank G || 03/06/2007 7:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Fred must have a "higher" bias.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/06/2007 10:05 Comments || Top||

#6  Steady there Frank :)
Posted by: GORT || 03/06/2007 11:51 Comments || Top||

#7  Look like Connie Hines sister.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/06/2007 13:09 Comments || Top||

#8  higher, Martha......
Posted by: Snineper Sinatra7503 || 03/06/2007 13:22 Comments || Top||

#9  OK! I'm done looking now! NEXT!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 03/06/2007 18:00 Comments || Top||

#10  Nice, uh, leggggggggsssssssss...

This almost looks like it could have come from a 50's era B-movie where Martha, legggggggggsssssss..., would have been the mad scientists' gorgeous sidekick.


Posted by: FOTSGreg || 03/06/2007 18:44 Comments || Top||

#11  One site listing "Measurements: 36 1/2-23-36 (in 1956)"

My measurements aren't the same as 1956--been fighting gravity since 1956. Gravity is winning.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/06/2007 18:52 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2007-03-06
  CIA Rushing Resources to Bin Laden Hunt
Mon 2007-03-05
  Iraqis say they have Abu Omar al-Baghdadi
Sun 2007-03-04
  US and Pakistani agents interrogate Taliban leader
Sat 2007-03-03
  Chechen parliament approves Kadyrov as president
Fri 2007-03-02
  Dozens of al-Qaeda killed in Anbar
Thu 2007-03-01
  Judge rules Padilla competent for trial
Wed 2007-02-28
  Somali police arrest four ship hijackers
Tue 2007-02-27
  Taliboomer tries for Cheney
Mon 2007-02-26
  3 French nationals murdered in Soddy ministry
Sun 2007-02-25
  Boomer tries for Abdul Aziz al-Hakim
Sat 2007-02-24
  3 Pak bad boyz dead when their package blows up
Fri 2007-02-23
  U.S. bangs five bad boyz in Iraq gunfight
Thu 2007-02-22
  Another poison gas attack in Iraq
Wed 2007-02-21
  Brits to begin withdrawing troops
Tue 2007-02-20
  USS Stennis Now On Station

Better than the average link...



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