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9 held in Morocco after suicide blast
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
IED emplacers killed in Mosul (second in four days)
Multi-National Corps – Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
APO AE 09342


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20070315-08
Mar. 15, 2007

IED emplacers killed in Mosul
Multi-National Division – North PAO

MOSUL, Iraq – Coalition force members engaged and killed anti-Iraqi forces who were in the act of emplacing an improvised explosive device Monday.

Coalition force members observed two males digging a hole, placing munitions in the hole, and laying wire next to a main road in southeast Mosul.

Coalition helicopters immediately responded and engaged the emplacers with rocket fire. Both AIF were killed before they could detonate their roadside bomb. There were no friendly casualties or damage sustained.

This is the second incident in four days where AIF were caught or killed in the act of employing a roadside bomb against the Iraqi Security Forces, Coalition troops, and the innocent civilians of Mosul.

AIF= All Insurgents F**ked
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 03/15/2007 17:37 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It is about time that we had high altitude surveillance available for spotting these mugs. Something like a dirigible would be able to observe a very large area, but be too high for casual observation.

It would just appear to the bad guyz that the good guyz have some psychic ability to know when they are making mischief.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/15/2007 17:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Anonymoose - you mean something like a UAV.
Posted by: DMFD || 03/15/2007 18:19 Comments || Top||

#3  mooses wants that blimp in a BAD way! lol...
Posted by: RD || 03/15/2007 20:00 Comments || Top||

#4  There are, of course, several dirigible observation platforms aloft at Baghdad airport - but I believe they provide warning/tracking of ballistic projectiles, not video of shenanigans at street level. Could be wrong.

One more idea: howz about, when the nitwits get iced like this, we ID them, and pay a little visit to their families (well, actually, detain every male between 17 and 60 in the family, and some from the neighbors as well), have ourselves a real long discussion, just as long as it takes to find out everything about their deceased relative's involvement (contacts, motivations, etc.).

Seems to me one would unravel bad-guy networks (esp. those, as reputed to exist in Iraq, of very flat, dispersed, fairly expedient networks). Also, probably more important (and our biggest failing in Iraq), it supplies INTIMIDATION. There is no political solution in Iraq that does not entail lots and lots of killing and intimidation. Any attempt to reach our goals without these key elements will not just fail, but be an inexcusable waste of lives and a self-inflicted blow to our national interests.
Posted by: Verlaine || 03/15/2007 23:10 Comments || Top||

#5  New SOP in action, or just a fluke?
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/15/2007 23:24 Comments || Top||


MNF Iraq YouTube page (official page, great video and graphics)
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 03/15/2007 17:36 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wow, thanks AC, this site is a keeper.
Posted by: wxjames || 03/15/2007 19:15 Comments || Top||

#2  The official site is divids Digital video and Imagery Distribution System.

Video, Images, Audio, NEWS, Publications, Media requests, press kits etc. Check it out and register so you can get members only videos and other materials.
Posted by: RD || 03/15/2007 19:58 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
An Explosion and a Bomb Kill at Least 11 in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan, March 14 — A huge explosion on Wednesday in a hunting supplies store here killed at least six people and wounded nine, and a few hours later a suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his chest in a bazaar in the eastern province of Khost, killing five people and wounding 38, officials said. The early morning explosion in Kabul shook the city and turned an outdoor market near the store into a mass of debris. Afghan officials said that the explosion appeared to have been an accident and that it had occurred in a place where gunpowder and dynamite were stored.
Musta been the local branch of al-Bass Pro Shop, serving the elk hunting community
Might have been trout fishing. I always use dynamite when I go trout fishing.
Nothin' better for barking dogs.
Relatives of the store’s owners were digging in the debris on Wednesday to try to find the victims. The blast also destroyed more than a dozen other shops and two vehicles.

The suicide bombing came hours later in the provincial capital, Khost. Four civilians and a police officer were killed, and the wounded included nine police officers and two children, said the provincial public health director, Dr. Muhammadin, who, like many Afghans, uses only one name. The attack was apparently aimed at a police convoy patrolling the crowded bazaar. It was the fourth attack in 24 hours by suspected insurgents in the volatile southern and eastern areas of Afghanistan, where fighters linked to the Taliban are active. Two suicide attacks and a roadside bomb killed four people and wounded at least 10 in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday.

Arsallah Jamal, the governor of Khost Province, blamed “the enemy of Afghanistan” for the attack, a term he has used for fighters suspected of being allied with the ousted Taliban government and Al Qaeda. “We want the international community to help us more and pressure our neighboring countries to stand firm on the campaign against international terrorism,” he said by phone, in a clear reference to Pakistan, where militants are believed to be hiding in the border areas.
Posted by: Steve || 03/15/2007 14:33 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Isuppose it's silly to ask why didn't the coalition forces know about "the place where dynamite and gunpowder was stored?"
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/15/2007 18:39 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Security Forces Launch Mass Search
Mogadishu, 15 March (AKI) - Several hundred Somali security forces launched Thursday a search operation in the 'KM4 junction' area near Mogadishu's international airport - a part of the country's capital that has witnessed several attacks in the past days and weeks, Somali broadcaster Radio Shabelle reported. More than 4,000 Somali forces who recently ended their two-month military training in the Baledogle military airfield, situated some 100 kilometres south of Mogadishu, were deployed to the volatile city early this week. “They have been searching all kinds of cars passing by the road,” Anab Ahmed, a resident in KM4 neighborhood told Radio Shabelle.

At least 16 people died and 30 were wounded when unidentified gunmen attacked the Presidential palace on Tuesday, the day when President Abdulahi Yusuf shifted his temporary base from the town of Baidoa to the capital. Also Mogadishu deputy mayor Ibrahim Shaweye was injured when his vehicle hit a remote-controlled explosive device. Shaweye was flown to Kenya for medical treatment, reports said.

Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi has appealed for 42 millions US dollars to help improve security ahead of a Somalia national reconciliation conference due to take place in Mogadishu on 16 April. Gedi has announced that moderate Islamists would be invited to the conference as long as they attend as representitives of their clans and not as delegates of the Union of Islamic Courts which controlled Mogadishu before being driven out from the capital by Ethiopian troops and pro-government forces in late December.
Posted by: Steve || 03/15/2007 07:32 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Police Seize 200 Kg Of Explosives In Casablanca
Casablanca, 15 March (AKI) - Moroccan police found 200 kilograms of explosives following an extensive operation in Casablanca's Mulay Rashid neighbourhood as part of investigations into an apparent suicide attack on Sunday at an internet cafe, reports said Thursday. Some 300 plainclothes officials evacuated on Wednesday night entire buildings in the area to search the homes of suspects and found the explosives in the home of one of the two attackers of the cafe in the city's Sidi Mumin area. Saad al-Hasani, who is believed to be the leader of the armed wing of the militant Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, or GICM, used to regularly visit the apartment where the explosives were found.

Police reportedly carried out the operation with the aid of counter-terrorism experts with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Officials have already arrested 12 people in connection with Sunday's explosion in which only the attacker, identified as Abdel Fattah al-Raydi, died. His alleged accomplice was wounded. Six of those arrested lived in the neighbourhood of Mulay Rashid while another four, incluuding a woman, lived nearby.
This just in: Rabat - Moroccan police investigating a suicide bombing in a Casablanca cybercafe have arrested seven former Islamist prisoners previously released under a royal pardon, newspapers reported Wednesday. "L'Opinion" reported that those being questioned had - before being pardoned - been suspects in the devastating Casablanca bombings of May 16, 2003. Those attacks killed 45 people, including 12 suicide attackers, and wounded dozens more.

Sunday's attack injured four people and police already said they had the bomber's suspected accomplice, named as Youssef Khoudri, in custody. "The security services have arrested seven Salafists who had benefited from a royal pardon," the independent newspaper "Aujourd'hui le Maroc" (Morocco Today) reported.

Police believe the suicide bomber did not intend to detonate his explosives belt at the cafe but the device went off unexpectedly while his target was far from Sidi Mumin. Raydi was reportedly at the cafe with an accomplice, Youssef Khoudri, who was arrested a few hours after Sunday's explosion, and the police suspect the two were awaiting orders via the internet on which target they were meant to strike. Khoudri is being treated at a local hospital and risks loosing his eye as a consequence of the explosion.

Most of the 13 bombers responsible for the 2003 Casablanca bomb attacks, in which 32 people were killed, come from Sidi Mumin. Sunday also marked the third anniversary of the Madrid train station attacks in which 191 people lost their lives. Morocco is on a state of high alert after recent explosions and attacks in neighbouring Algeria.
Posted by: Steve || 03/15/2007 07:28 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Police reportedly carried out the operation with the aid of counter-terrorism experts with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Two thoughts:

200 kg seems like and awful lot of explosives, and
The FBI seem to be involved in a surprising (to me) number of these overseas successes.

Posted by: trailing wife || 03/15/2007 8:34 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm shocked, shocked, that Islamists would commit acts of violence.
Posted by: mhw || 03/15/2007 8:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Hat tip to the Casablanca Chief of Police and the FBI Legat embassy weenies. Sticking a quarter in the juke box for those unlucky GICM lads:

Scratch, scratch, static....

You must remember this / A kiss is still a kiss / A sigh is just a sigh / The fundamental things apply / As time goes by. / And when two lovers woo, / They still say, "I love you" / On that you can rely / No matter what the future brings-.................
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/15/2007 9:08 Comments || Top||

#4  "Rabat - Moroccan police investigating a suicide bombing in a Casablanca cybercafe"

The proprietor of the cafe helped catch the terrorists didnt he?

Perhaps the proprietor was an old hand at antiterrorism, from Israel to Spain, whod tried to leave his past behind him by going to ... Casablanca.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/15/2007 14:35 Comments || Top||

#5  Yeah, LH. Either that, or Sydney Greenstreet's trying to go straight...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/15/2007 14:40 Comments || Top||


9 held in Morocco after suicide blast
Moroccan police arrested nine people in swoops on Casablanca slums and seized explosives after a suspected suicide bomber blew himself up at an internet cafe, officials and residents said yesterday. Police on Tuesday descended on the neighbourhood where the dead man, Abdelfattah Raydi, had lived and arrested six people suspected of involvement in planned bombings, security sources said.

Overnight, at least 300 mostly plainclothes policemen evacuated some 15 homes around 4 kilometres from the web cafe and arrested three people, including a woman wearing a veil, security sources and residents said. "The three were in a house where police suspected they were stocking explosives," a resident said by telephone, adding that they were newcomers to the area. A bomb disposal team entered the house and took away what appeared to be explosives, the resident said. It was not clear if the arrested people were planning bombings or were hiding the explosives for someone else.

On Sunday night, Raydi blew up a belt of explosives he was carrying, killing himself and wounding four people after a tussle with the owner of the web cafe in Sidi Moumen, a suburb which is home to Casablanca's largest slum. Security forces have moved quickly since then to round up suspects as they fear members of Raydi's network will try to shift their operations to other cities. Newspapers said Raydi was one of a gang who planned to attack landmarks in Morocco's sprawling commercial capital including Casablanca's police and military headquarters, restaurants and hotels.

Among those arrested after the explosion was Abdellatif Amrine, already jailed in 2003 for his suspected role as reserve bomber in a Casablanca suicide attack that killed 45 people, Moroccan daily Aujourd-hui Le Maroc reported yesterday. Amrine was handed a 30-year prison sentence but released in 2005 due to ill health under a royal pardon for 164 Salafist Islamists, the paper said, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Posted by: Fred || 03/15/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Two (Zim-Bob) police stations petrol bombed
HARARE – Three police officers were seriously injured in the early hours of Wednesday after their houses at Marimba police station were petrol bombed as political tensions remained high in Harare’s working class suburbs.

Sources at the camp told ZimOnline that two women police officers suffered extensive burns on their faces in what the police suspected to be an act of retribution against the police following last weekend’s violence in Highfield.

A similar attack was also reported in at Nehanda police station in the Midlands city of Gweru. No one was injured in the Gweru attack.

Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena confirmed the incidents which he blamed on MDC youths. “I can confirm that incidents of such nature did happen last night and our initial investigations indicate that this is a continuation of the violence that is being perpetrated by unruly MDC elements in some parts of the high density suburbs in Harare," he said. Bvudzijena said two suspects had already been arrested in connection with the bombing of the police station in Marimba.

Tensions have been rising in Zimbabwe since last Sunday following protests between the police and MDC supporters n Highfield. An MDC youth member, Gift Tandare, was shot and killed by the police. MDC leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara as well as National Constitutional Assembly chairman, Lovemore Madhuku, were arrested and brutally tortured while in police custody.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 03/15/2007 07:01 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Things are starting to fall apart. It won't be long now.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 03/15/2007 7:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Who knew there was any petrol left in ZimBob?
Posted by: ed || 03/15/2007 7:35 Comments || Top||

#3  The reported price last (two weeks ago)was 50 bucks a gallon black market, (I don't quite believe that, who's got 50 bucks to begin with?)
so somebody hates the cops really bad to put out that kind of cash just to set a fire.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/15/2007 8:13 Comments || Top||

#4  And in other News:

Flaming Firestone Tire necklaces at 7:00.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/15/2007 9:29 Comments || Top||

#5  So Bob is purging the cops from above and the youths are firebombing them. What's a cop to do?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/15/2007 11:29 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Security officials arrest suspected Islamic militant
DHAKA, Bangladesh: Security officials on Thursday arrested a suspected Islamic militant in northern Bangladesh, a domestic news agency reported. Members of the special security force Rapid Action Battalion raided the home of Mostafizur Rahman and arrested him in Pabna district, 120 kilometers north of the capital, Dhaka, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported.
Islamic militants don't get the "Shuttergun" treatment
The agency, quoting unnamed battalion officials, said the 35-year old man belonged to the outlawed Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh group and was wanted for his alleged involvement in a 2005 bombing in the district. Officials could not be immediately reached for comment on the report.

The group, which wants to replace secular laws with harsh Islamic rules in Bangladesh, has been held responsible for a string of bombings across the country in 2005. Earlier this month, the country's President Iajuddin Ahmed rejected appeals for clemency by the group's six top Islamic militants sentenced to death for killing two judges in 2005. The Supreme Court turned down the militants' appeal against the death sentence in late November.

No date has been set for the execution but prison officials said it can happen anytime. Under the law, an execution must take place no more than 28 days after the president rejects a bid for clemency. The six men were to die by hanging for the killing of two judges on Nov. 14, 2005 in southern Jhalakathi town.
The bombings have killed 26 people and wounded dozens more since August 2005, police said. Six of the accused admitted their involvement in the attack. A seventh defendant was tried in absentia and convicted.

In May last year, a trial court in Jhalakathi sentenced the militants_ including group leaders Shaikh Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam — to death for the murder of the judges.
Posted by: Steve || 03/15/2007 13:07 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


JMB cadre held in Gaibandha
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and police in a joint drive yesterday arrested a listed cadre of outlawed Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) at Barokona village under Shaghata upazila.

Acting on a tip-off, the forces raided a house at the village at around 5:00am and arrested Alauddin. He remained absconding since August 17 serial blasts across the country. Police said Alauddin was the in-charge of a JMB recruitment and training centre at Akonderpara village under the upazila. Prior to the August 17 blasts, many JMB cadres, who received training from this centre, were deployed in different areas of Bogra, Joypurhat and Dinajpur districts, they added. They further said the JMB also used a qwami madrasa at Barokona village as their training centre and meeting place.
Posted by: Fred || 03/15/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
'Australia terror plotter' jailed
A French national suspected of plotting terror attacks in Australia has been found guilty of links to terror groups. Willie Brigitte, from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, was sentenced to nine years in jail by a Paris court. He was arrested in Australia in 2003 and deported to France to stand trial on a charge of "criminal conspiracy in relation with a terrorist enterprise".

Brigitte, 38, was accused in court of plotting to blow up Australia's only nuclear research power station. The Frenchman, who declined to speak during the trial, had previously denied any plans for an attack in Australia. His lawyers are said to be considering an appeal. A state prosecutor had requested the maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment, saying Brigitte had played a major role in the alleged attack plan.

Lucas Heights nuclear facility was a potential target, prosecutors said
Australia's only nuclear research power station, in the Sydney suburb of Lucas Heights, was one of several potential targets cited by prosecutors. Brigitte was also accused of plotting to attack a US-Australian electronic intelligence surveillance station at Pine Gap, near Alice Springs, and military bases across the country. France's top anti-terrorist judge, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, accused Brigitte of setting up a terror cell in Australia in alliance with the Pakistani Islamic militant group, Lashkar-e-Toiba. Lashkar-e-Toiba was banned in Australia in November 2003, a month after Brigitte was deported for immigration offences.

Brigitte's lawyer, Jean-Claude Durimel, told reporters he was considering an appeal but needed to discuss matters with his client, AFP news agency reports.
"The sentence is grotesque," said Harry Durimel, who also represented Brigitte, describing the trial as a "witch-hunt" based on no evidence.

Brigitte, who converted to Islam in 1998, first attracted the attention of French intelligence that year after he travelled to Yemen to attend a Koranic school. He is accused of running forest training camps in France for would-be Islamic militants, and is thought to have undergone combat training in Pakistan after 9/11. He moved to Australia in May 2003 and subsequently married an Australian Muslim convert, a former army signaller. He has been portrayed in Australia as the country's most dangerous link with al-Qaeda.
Posted by: Steve || 03/15/2007 13:02 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A French national

sheesh. those french.
Posted by: PlanetDan || 03/15/2007 13:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Allahu Ahkbar
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/15/2007 13:21 Comments || Top||

#3  I think he is really gonna regret that last name once he's in the pen.....
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 03/15/2007 14:26 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Key suspect 'admits 9/11 guilt'
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the 11 September attacks, has admitted responsibility, a court transcript says. "I was responsible for the 9/11 Operation, from A to Z," he said.
Good enough. Hang him.
He also reportedly confessed to planning to attack Big Ben and Heathrow airport in London, at the hearing at the US Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba. The hearing was the first time the Pakistani national had faced a court since being captured four years ago. Sheikh Mohammed was believed to be the third most senior al-Qaeda leader before his capture in March 2003. He was held in US custody at an undisclosed location from then until his transfer to Guantanamo Bay.

Hearings opened at the detention camp last week to decide whether key suspects can be deemed enemy combatants and therefore face military trials. In total, 14 terror suspects are due at the hearings. The court is not open to the public. Transcripts of testimony have been translated from Sheikh Mohammed's Arabic and edited by the Pentagon to remove sensitive intelligence material.
Trial transcript is here (pdf).
Posted by: Fred || 03/15/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  awwww we didn't spel the Sheikh nyme right..

pdf linky
Posted by: RD || 03/15/2007 1:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Hmm. I heard Guantanamo had no further value. Silly me for even hearing that!
Posted by: gorb || 03/15/2007 2:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Man, that picture still conjures a warmth inside my heart. He should have a rack of doner meat behind him.

'You want chile with your kebab, Sir?'
Posted by: Howard UK || 03/15/2007 4:33 Comments || Top||

#4  chilli - too darn early(!)
Posted by: Howard UK || 03/15/2007 6:09 Comments || Top||

#5  Happy Happy Joy Joy>
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 03/15/2007 6:30 Comments || Top||

#6  21st Century mass murderer deserves some American 19th Century justice.
Posted by: doc || 03/15/2007 6:41 Comments || Top||

#7  Judge Bean, what a hoot and great reminder. By the way can we hang him twice? Not that one fricking single Mooslim has been hung for 9-11.

MsUnderestimated has some video
Posted by: Icerigger || 03/15/2007 7:04 Comments || Top||

#8  So, he was working with Halliburton to place the explosives in the WTC and launched the missile that hit the Pentagon?
Posted by: Jackal || 03/15/2007 8:21 Comments || Top||

#9  he also said he personally cut off Daniel Pearl's head. Suitable punishment? The sharks get to nibble before finishing him off
Posted by: Frank G || 03/15/2007 8:56 Comments || Top||

#10  Notwithstanding this confession, at least a third of the muslim world (and about 10% of the French and about 5% of Americans) will continue to believe that 9-11 was a Mossad or American plot.
Posted by: mhw || 03/15/2007 9:02 Comments || Top||

#11  Howard UK,

Set up a website/Game

KebabmanOrTerrorist.com
Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan || 03/15/2007 9:38 Comments || Top||

#12  Stavros Sheikh Mohamed.
Posted by: Howard UK || 03/15/2007 10:50 Comments || Top||

#13  amputate his legs and arms and feed them to pigs in front of him.

Then dunk him in a vat of pig fat/oil.

then feed the rest to pigs.

make sure there is a live HD feed.
Posted by: Anon4021 || 03/15/2007 11:16 Comments || Top||

#14  Be sure to watch the MSM & opinionators' response to further actions against KSM, now that he has confessed. Know your enemies.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/15/2007 11:27 Comments || Top||

#15  He is confessing to virtually every operation. "Strong claims require strong evidence", so I would not take the word of mass-murderer who believes in takiya (lying to defend Islam, even including denying islam and making false conversions).

It is a standard trick, once your cover is completely blown, to claim you did things which you did not, so as to draw attention away from those who are still out fighting.

So I would double check it all, and never trust a liar.
Posted by: Laocoon || 03/15/2007 11:36 Comments || Top||

#16  He's copping a plea to make his reputation even bigger in the Land of Nod. Perhaps one of his relatives has cornered the market in his card.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/15/2007 11:40 Comments || Top||

#17  It may be sort of like when our military guys are forced into photo ops with Kerry & his kind or as POWs - they show a little 'sign' to let those they care about know it's a fake. KSM confessing plotting to kill Djimmi Carter is a signal that his statement is fake. Proof of torture. (sarc, but soon to be seen in the NYT, I bet.)

Seriously, Laocoon's got it right.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/15/2007 12:11 Comments || Top||

#18  Cut him and put him in a two room building. One with pitbulls, the other with pigs. let him choose his poison. Oh yeah, in a Burka.
Posted by: plainslow || 03/15/2007 13:01 Comments || Top||

#19  Let him visit a good prisoner in a max security prison for some quality shank time. That will be punishment enough.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/15/2007 14:09 Comments || Top||

#20  2 rooms, one with liberals and one with liberal jooos. We can learn a lot about self loathing.
Posted by: wxjames || 03/15/2007 14:13 Comments || Top||

#21  Re: #15: Almost got it right. Try this: Go ahead and double check all the things, but in the meantime, go ahead and hang him. If the double check proves that he was lying, a simple: OOPS should suffice for anybody that matters.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 03/15/2007 14:29 Comments || Top||

#22  Will be interesting to see how the Truthers handle this gut bomb.
Posted by: Icerigger || 03/15/2007 16:45 Comments || Top||

#23  Two Words: Death Penalty.

PS: Looking at his picture, how does this maggot know where to stop shaving?
Posted by: Zenster || 03/15/2007 20:49 Comments || Top||

#24  Yeah, whatever, he did your mothers too.
Posted by: anonaminie || 03/15/2007 23:52 Comments || Top||


Judge Rules Against Sudan in Bombing
A federal judge said Wednesday that Sudan is responsible for the bombing of the USS Cole but he needs more time to determine damages for the families of the 17 sailors killed when terrorists bombed the ship in 2000. "There is substantial evidence in this case presented by the expert testimony that the government of Sudan induced the particular bombing of the Cole by virtue of prior actions of the government of Sudan," U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar said.

The civil trial started Tuesday in which the victims' relatives tried to prove the terrorist attack couldn't have happened without Sudan's support. Sudan sought unsuccessfully to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that too much time had passed between the bombing and the filing of the lawsuit in 2004. Lawyers representing the Sudanese government declined to comment after Wednesday's ruling. Doumar said that he would issue a written opinion later to fully explain his ruling. He requested additional paperwork, including tax returns of the sailors killed, to determine the appropriate damages.
Posted by: Fred || 03/15/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Commie Rat Bastids Kill 49 police officers in India
By ASHOK SHARMA, Associated Press Writer strike one
NEW DELHI, India - Communist rebels armed with rifles, hand grenades and petrol bombs attacked a police post in the jungles of eastern India on Thursday, killing at least 49 officers, police said.
hey these a$$holes are getting serious.
The pre-dawn attack Thursday was the latest in a series of increasingly bold assaults by the rebels, who have been fighting for more than two decades in central and eastern India's long-impoverished hinterlands.
time to fire the bunch who were in charge [if they still live]
Equipped with rifles, hand grenades and homemade petrol bombs, the insurgents appeared to have caught the 79 officers guarding the remote post by surprise, Swarnkar said. Another 12 officers were wounded in the attack.
Suprise? heh 49 are dead I guess suprise and flat footed and maybe drunk too!
The post is located in the state of Chattisgarh, nearly 930 miles southeast of New Delhi.
Chattisgarh, my fav hideaway till now anyway.
Before fleeing with weapons stolen from the police post, the attackers scattered land mines around the area, Swarnkar said. By midday, police reinforcements had reached the post and were fanning out into the jungle to search for the attackers.
fanning, yea right.
Posted by: RD || 03/15/2007 06:37 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And suppose they got control of the Hinterlands....
What exactly would they do with them?
What's their plan to bring economic and social improvement to the region? Oh yeah, rifles, hand grenades and petrol bombs, that ought to take care of it.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 03/15/2007 7:37 Comments || Top||

#2  This is the bitter fruit of India's betrayal of Nepal to the Maoists : the revitalized Maoists in India. When the Indians refused to back up the King and Army in Nepal 6 months ago, and helped the Maoists gain power and seats in Parliament, they assured that the Maoists in India would soon begin another series of terrorist/guerrilla operations. There is a great deal of bleed over and joint occupancy between the Nepalese and Indian Maoists, including sharing of weapons and safe houses.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 03/15/2007 20:47 Comments || Top||


49 Police Officers Killed in India (Commie, not Islamo perps)
By ASHOK SHARMA, Associated Press Writer
4 minutes ago

NEW DELHI, India - Communist rebels armed with rifles, hand grenades and petrol bombs attacked a police post in the jungles of eastern India on Thursday, killing at least 49 officers, police said. The word for this is "massacre."

The pre-dawn attack Thursday was the latest in a series of increasingly bold assaults by the rebels, who have been fighting for more than two decades in central and eastern India's long-impoverished hinterlands.

Equipped with rifles, hand grenades and homemade petrol bombs, the insurgents appeared to have caught the 79 officers guarding the remote post by surprise, Swarnkar said. Another 12 officers were wounded in the attack. This ratio indicates that many wounded officers were murdered after they could no longer resist. SOP for Maoists.

The post is located in the state of Chattisgarh, nearly 930 miles southeast of New Delhi.

Before fleeing with weapons stolen from the police post, the attackers scattered land mines around the area, Swarnkar said. By midday, police reinforcements had reached the post and were fanning out into the jungle to search for the attackers.

Rebel operations have become increasingly bold over the past two years — and increasingly deadly.

In March 2006, insurgents detonated land mines under four trucks carrying villagers in Chattisgarh, killing 25 people. Days later, they seized a passenger train for 12 hours in the neighboring state of Jharkhand — a well-coordinated operation that highlighted their capabilities, even if no one was killed.

Those assaults — and dozens of other attacks — have prompted Indian officials to describe the rebels, know as the Naxalites for the Naxalbari region where the movement was born, as a major internal security threat.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went even further in an April 2006 speech, describing the insurgents as "the single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country."

More than 6,000 people — police, soldiers, and civilians — have been killed since the rebels launched their campaign from the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh more than two decades ago.

The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, demand land and jobs for agricultural laborers and the poor. They are mainly active in six of India's 28 states — Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Karnataka, Orissa and Chattisgarh.

The cops are clearly outmatched in this area and PC officials in New Delhi need to realize that it will only grow worse if they lack the intestinal fortitude to deploy the army (and air force) on a massive scale.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 03/15/2007 04:47 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  AC ya beat me LOL..MODS please delete mine!
Posted by: RD || 03/15/2007 6:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Sounds like India needs an RAB or two.
Posted by: Jackal || 03/15/2007 8:20 Comments || Top||

#3  The question is: How much help are these Maoists getting from China? Where did they get their rifles, hand grenades and petrol bombs?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/15/2007 11:41 Comments || Top||


Top Baluch militant caught in southwest Pakistan
QUETTA, Pakistan - Pakistani security forces arrested a senior nationalist militant with five of his men on Wednesday after a brief clash in the gas-rich province of Baluchistan, officials said. Wahid Bakhsh Qambar is a leader of the banned Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA), a shadowy insurgent group fighting for control of the province’s gas resources.

The suspects were caught in a raid in the Tump area, near the border with Iran, 640 km (400 miles) southwest of the provincial capital, Quetta. “We had intelligence information that Qambar and his men were hiding there and when we reached there they opened fire,” said an officer in the paramilitary Frontier Corps, who declined to be identified.

Qambar and his men were later captured. There were no reports of casualties.
So they decided not to fight to the bitter end, did they?
Posted by: Steve White || 03/15/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


First arrests made in Indo-Pak Friendship train blasts by police in India
(KUNA) -- In the first arrests in the blasts on Indo-Pak friendship train that killed 68 last month, police Wednesday arrested two suspects who had allegedly provided suitcase covers to the guerrillas behind the terror attack. One Huzaifa and another Poonam Singh Thakur were arrested today from Indore in Central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh by the Haryana Police, who claimed that the duo had supplied covers for the suitcases in which the explosives for the blasts were kept, the news agency Press Trust of India reported.

The twin blasts ripped through two coaches of Samjhauta Express near Panipat in Northern Indian state of Haryana on February 19. Huziafa and Thakur were not cooperating in the investigation, the news agency said. Haryana Police have also visited Central Indian city of Allahabad to verify details that have emerged during the investigation into the blasts. Mohammad Zakir, a blast victim, admitted to Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital, has been taken to Panipat to help in the investigation.
Posted by: Fred || 03/15/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Stryker Fight In Baqouba
Dozens of U.S. Stryker combat vehicles roared into Baqouba at sunrise. The enemy was ready. As the dawn call-to-prayer fell silent, the streets blazed with insurgent fire. Within minutes of the start of their first mission in Diyala province Wednesday a voice crackled across the radio: "Catastrophic kill, with casualties."

Inside the rear of one Stryker, soldiers shushed one another and leaned closer to the radio. They all knew what it meant. A U.S. vehicle had been lost to hostile fire. Nearly 100 Strykers, armored troop carriers with 50-caliber machine guns, were called north from Baghdad into the province and its capital to try — yet again — to rout Sunni insurgents, many who recently fled the month-old Baghdad security operation.

The fighters have renewed their campaign of bombings and killings just 35 miles northeast of the capital as the war enters its fifth year. Diyala province is quickly becoming as dangerous as Anbar province, the Sunni insurgent bastion west of Baghdad.

Rocket-propelled grenades pounded buildings Wednesday where U.S. soldiers sought cover. Mortars soared overhead and crashed to earth spewing clouds of deadly shrapnel.

Gunfire rattled ceaselessly — the hollow pop of insurgent AK-47s and whoosh of grenade launchers nearly drowned out by shuddering blasts from the 50-caliber machine guns. Soldiers screamed into their radios for backup. Apache attack helicopters swooped in, firing Hellfire missiles. By day's end, one soldier was dead, 12 wounded and two Strykers destroyed. The Americans said dozens of insurgents were killed but gave no specific number.

It was a bloody first day for the 2nd Infantry Division's 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment — the crack Stryker battalion dispatched from Baghdad's northern suburbs.

"They threw everything at us — RPGs, mortars — and a guy even tossed a grenade just in front of my vehicle," said Capt. Huber Parsons, the 28-year-old commander of the 5-20's Attack company. "But the most devastating was the IEDs," the Coral Gables, Fla., native said. He was talking about improvised explosive devices — roadside bombs.

One Stryker was lost in a particularly sophisticated ambush.

Struck head-on by an IED, the rubber-tired armored vehicle was swallowed up in the bomb crater. Insurgents emerged from hiding, firing RPGs in unison.

The Stryker crew was trapped. One U.S. soldier was killed. All nine other crew members were wounded, though six later returned to duty.

The other Stryker was destroyed when a roadside bomb exploded as the armored vehicle drove over it. The nine-man squad got out alive, three with injuries.

"It was quite an introduction to Diyala," said Sgt. William Rose of the 5-20's 3rd platoon, Alpha company. "That was the most contact we've had in weeks, maybe months," said Rose, a 26-year-old Arlington, Mass., native.

"They always say the next place we're going is the worst — the most violent — and it never turns out to be the case," Rose said. "They really meant it this time."

Violence has risen dramatically in Diyala since the Feb. 14 launch of the Baghdad security operation. Insurgents have slowly been taking control for months, however. Attacks on American forces in the province have shot up 70 percent since July, according to military figures.

The Stryker group sent to fight the insurgents was hand-picked by Gen. Ray Odierno, the second in command of all U.S. forces in Iraq. It marked the opening of a new front in the Baghdad security operation, a broadening of the mission for which President Bush has promised more than 20,000 additional soldiers.

The Stryker group came to Baqouba on Tuesday full of optimism about pacifying Diyala, as they did earlier in parts of Baghdad and in the northern city of Mosul.

Confidence faded Wednesday in the hail of insurgent fire and news of casualties among comrades.

"Our first day and we lost one already," said 22-year-old Spc. Jose Charriez of Hermiston, Ore. "You realize how quickly your life can go."

He and his comrades went through names — Jones, Rubenstein, could it be them? — trying to figure out who died. A young private bowed his head in prayer.

"One killed in action and nine casualties. That's basically all of us right here," said Spc. Anthony Bradshaw, a 21-year-old from San Antonio, pointing to the nine men around him.

Hunkered down in their vehicles, the 3rd platoon was itching to get into the fight. They are infantrymen trained for foot patrols, not to ride in armored vehicles, they said. And word of the two lost vehicles fueled their determination.

Then the order came: dismount, clear houses to the north.

At the back of the Stryker, the hatch dropped open, and nine soldiers piled out. They took cover on the front porch of an abandoned house and plotted their path. Explosions rang out to the east, source unknown.

They crouched behind a crumbling cement wall separating overgrown lawns where rusted garbage trucks lay. With large red wire cutters, Spc. Jeremiah Westerfeld, 22, ripped through concertina wire to allow the soldiers to scramble over the wall.

The Batesville, Ind., native bent over and offered a reporter his shoulder as a step to break her fall.

They dropped down into a scruffy yard, thick with foliage and muddy ruts. A dog barked wildly. Smoke grenades were thrown for cover.

Someone shot the dog.

Doors were kicked in, residents questioned. One vacant house was booby-trapped with a trip wire connected to a homemade bomb made from a propane tank.

Throughout the day, soldiers took aim but seldom got a clear shot at the elusive militants, who hid behind rooftop water tanks and vanished in lush palm groves. Gunfire seemed to come from nowhere and from everywhere.

Insurgent fire kicked up pebbles at the Americans' feet as they ran between buildings. Incoming bullets were getting more accurate.

In Baghdad, the 5-20 met little resistance as it scoured suspected insurgent dens in neighborhoods around Sadr City. They often drank tea with residents.

Things were different in Diyala, which could prove far more difficult to tame than Baghdad.

"I think the chai (tea) days — the quiet days — are over," said 24-year-old Pfc. Allen Groth of Winona, Minn.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/15/2007 18:29 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is the kind of fight we were hoping for when we chased the baddies out of Baghdad. Many fled due North to Baqouba, where they concentrated and set up defensive positions.

But even before the fight begins, they have lost.

They can't go back to Baghdad, and once they are driven out of Baqouba, there isn't a whole lot of place left for them to run to.

Most likely, they will flee either to the NW, to Al Khalis, Balad and Samarra, towards Tikrit; or to the NE, to Al Mansuriyan, Jalula and Khanaqin.

But in each of those cities, there will both be a warm welcome waiting for them, and more defeats. I suspect that our intentions are just to get them as far out of Baghdad as we can, for as long as we can. Separated from their command, their homes, their support.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/15/2007 18:42 Comments || Top||

#2  I wish I had a map. Good to know where the mosques are, and the possibility of cutting the city into slices. At any rate, keep attacking and the death rate will stay low. Stop to regroup, and the IEDs will appear again. The IEDs are their big kill weapon, so don't stop.
Posted by: wxjames || 03/15/2007 18:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Shithead LAUREN FRAYER Associated Press wrote in the SF Comical:

One Stryker was lost in a particularly sophisticated ambush.

Struck head-on by an IED, the rubber-tired armored vehicle was swallowed up in the bomb crater. Insurgents emerged from hiding, firing RPGs in unison.

The Stryker crew was trapped. One U.S. soldier was killed. All nine other crew members were wounded, though six later returned to duty.


The other Stryker was destroyed when a roadside bomb exploded as the armored vehicle drove over it. The nine-man squad got out alive, three with injuries.

My take: Even though the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team assulted into prepared positions thick with enemy, mines, RPGs, mortars and IEDs, The Strykers and our US Soldiers over came that terrorist advantage and did one Hell of a JOB.

The Strykers took the brunt of jehadi attacks, shape charges, IEDs, RPGs etc. within a city no less and saved the lives of all but one Soldier [Gods Speed RIP].

SH LAUREN FRAYER Associated Press Writer wrote: Confidence faded Wednesday in the hail of insurgent fire and news of casualties among comrades

SH: "Hunkered down in their vehicles, the 3rd platoon was itching to get into the fight. They are infantrymen trained for foot patrols, not to ride in armored vehicles, they said. And word of the two lost vehicles fueled their determination."


yeah rite, "Cofidence fading and Hunkered down?" YET itching to get into the fight...

nuff said biyotch.
Posted by: RD || 03/15/2007 19:25 Comments || Top||

#4  Good catch, RD. The very point I was going to make.
Posted by: Brett || 03/15/2007 19:32 Comments || Top||

#5  Need some armor tougher than Strykers, send in the M-1s.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/15/2007 19:32 Comments || Top||

#6  This kind of pre-planned ambushes screams local involvement and responsibility. Surgical clearing operations should slectiviely be replaced by CAS and indirect fires engagement. Pounding the areas where the ambushes were most pronounced sends the message of consequences....
Posted by: Angeater Slinemble7044 || 03/15/2007 20:13 Comments || Top||

#7  IF the local support angle can be proven, screw the selective firing; level the place. And why did we wait until paryers ere over? should have taekn them while on their knees doing the marble floor head banging thingy....
Posted by: USN, ret. || 03/15/2007 21:36 Comments || Top||

#8  Reread the story. The Strykers are protecting their soldiers quite well. Only one dead for the loss of two vehicles.

The enemy has little choice in their options to flee. To the north are the Kurds. The surge is to their west and the Shia's are to the south. To the east is Iran. This is possibly AQ's final stand in Iraq.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 03/15/2007 22:35 Comments || Top||

#9  Exactly, RD and Brett. This is a fairly typical pattern one sees in the generally awful reporting on this and many other topics. Catchy phrases and stark topic sentences that are ..... either completely unsupported by accompanying details, or refuted by them.

As a good friend (also a long-since recovered journalist) always used to say: "does anybody edit this stuff?" Answer is yes - but New York is just as full of clueless, biased editors as the field is full of similar reporters. There are some good ones (field reporters) - but unless they're senior their stuff often gets forced into the old, distorted templates (saw it myself many times, have many stories of reporters outraged at what emerges from New York/London/Paris compared to what they file).

Angeater makes a great point here. Not sure the best way (indirect fires, or other ways) to do it, but I don't see how, in areas where there is a reasonable suspicion of local support, you can make any progress in this or ANY other war unless you pound the s**t out of the place, make people pay a big price. Every situation has to be assessed on its own merits, but there have been many situations in Iraq where there was a very reasonable conclusion that locals cooperated in preparing atttacks/defenses aimed at our forces. In places like that, unless we take very harsh measures, we're simply killing more US and Iraqi soldiers in the medium term through incompetence.
Posted by: Verlaine || 03/15/2007 23:04 Comments || Top||

#10 
Stryker Fight In Baqouba
Posted by: RD || 03/15/2007 23:07 Comments || Top||


Commanding General Multi-National Force-Iraq letter 15 March 2007
15 March 2007
Members of MNF-I:

I've been on the ground for about a month now and wanted to share some early thoughts with you.

First, and foremost, I want to note how impressed I have been by your professionalism, skill, and determination. In my visits to units all over Iraq, I have repeatedly seen a true will to win and a sincere desire to help our Iraqi partners achieve success. These observations give me confidence that we and our Iraqi counterparts will be able to improve the level of security for the Iraqi people - though I recognize that it won't be easy or without frustration and setbacks. You know as well as I do how challenging an endeavor this is.

Improving security for Iraq's population is, of course, the overriding objective of our strategy. Accomplishing this mission requires carrying out complex military operations and convincing the Iraqi people that we wiH not just "clear" their neighborhoods ofthe enemy, we will also stay and help "hold" the neighborhoods so that the "build" phase that many of their communities need can go fonvard. Helping ensure enduring security in Iraqi neighborhoods not only helps Iraqi of1icials make the most of the opportunity that we and our Iraqi counterparts will create, it also helps ensure that our Iraqi counterparts are fully ready to accept the eventual hand-off of responsibilities to them.

Operation Fardh al Qanoon - the Iraqi name for the operation to improve security in Baghdad - is in its early stages. Success will take months, not days or weeks, and there undoubtedly are many tough days ahead. Nonetheless, because of your hard work with our Iraqi partners, some encouraging signs are already emerging: sectarian murders are dow11and sectarian displacement appears to have slowed or even stopped, with increasing numbers of families returning to their homes. It already appears that the Joint Security Stations and Combat Outposts you are establishing arc making their presence felt and helping restore a sense of hope to the Iraqi people, block-by-block.

Your efforts will provide Iraqi leaders an opportunity to resolve the serious political challenges they confront, reconcile their sectarian issues, and forge the way ahead for the new Iraq - thereby giving all Iraqi citizens a stake in their new country. From my vantage point, I believe the Iraqi poIiticalleadership is committed to moving in the right direction, despite being pulled in different directions by various political parties, sectarian inf1uences, and ethnic pressures. They are realistic, however, and they recognize, as we do, that resolving the many challenges facing Iraq will not be easy.

Beyond that, although most Iraqis want a future of peace, opportunity, and increasing prosperity, there clearly are some individuals and groups with whom the Government of Iraq will not be able to reconcile - soulless thugs who violently reject the goals of the new Iraq. They will not be won over by Iraqi political action; rather, there appears to be no alternative to Iraqi and Coalition Forces bringing them to justice so that they cannot inflict further barbarism on the Iraq people.

The environment in Iraq is the most chal1enging that I have seen in over 32 years of service. Indeed, few soldiers have ever had to contend with the reality of an enemy willing to blow himself up for his twisted cause. In view of that, as you conduct your daily operations, remember that you have every right to protect yourself, even as you attempt to prevent situations from escalating vithout good reason.

I also want you to be aware of my recognition that our focus on securing the population mean: that many of you will live in the neighborhoods you're securing. That is, in fact, the right way to secure the population - and it means that you will, in some cases, operate in more austere conditions than you did before we adjusted our mission and focus. Rest assured that we will do everything we can to support you as we implement the new plans. This approach is necessary, because we can't commute to the fight in counterinsurgency operations; rather, we have to live with the population v,,'eare securing. As you carry out the new approach, ] also cotmt on each of you to embrace the warrior-builder-diplomat spirit as we grapple with the demands that securing the population and helping it rebuild will require.

Tom Brokaw spent some time with the unit I was privileged to command in Iraq a few years ago and, after seeing all that our troopers were doing, he said to me, "You know, General, the World War II generation may have been 'the Greatest Generation,' but the soldiers I've seen today surely must be 'the new Greatest Generation,' I agreed with him then, and I agree with him even more now. You should, in short, be quietly proud not just of what you're doing and how you're doing it, but also of the individuals on your left and right with whom you're privileged to serve.

Thanks for the sacrifices that you and your families are making.

David H. Petraeus
General, United States Army
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/15/2007 12:56 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  good luck to him, and to his troops.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/15/2007 17:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Meanwhile the Copperheads Democrats in Congress are openly attempting to sabotage all military planning and operations in Iraq.

If there is a political behaviour more deserving of the label "treasonous" I can't imagine what it would be.
Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) || 03/15/2007 17:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Thank you for sharing again, Besoeker.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/15/2007 22:12 Comments || Top||

#4  I like lots of the points he makes. Though I don't have one to hand at the moment, I can recall letters from Casey in the past, and they certainly didn't emphasize some of these things. Thanks, Besoeker.

Be nice if the administration (just for the heck of it, not that they've ever much cared for leading the country on these matters) would step up, open up, and jawbone the populace and the opposition about Iraq. Not the usual lame responses to idiotic criticism or proposals, but something a bit inspirational.

I feel disgusted and guilty over the way our political class and much of our populace has abandoned our warriors and the Iraqis who are risking all for a decent future.
Posted by: Verlaine || 03/15/2007 23:18 Comments || Top||


Saddam Deputy's Death Sentence Confirmed
Baghdad, 15 March (AKI) - Iraq's high court on Thursday upheld a death sentence against former Iraqi deputy president Taha Yasin Ramadan, the Qatar-based Al Jazeera channel reported. The court dismissed an appeal by Ramadan's legal team to have the sentence overturned. A lawyer representing the former deputy president, Bushra al-Khalil, was quoted as saying by the Arab daily al-Hayat that he believed his client would be executed "soon". "The Americans have called his (Ramadan's) family asking them to name a person who will be delegated to collect the body for burial following the execution," al-Khalil added.
I just hate getting those calls at dinner time
An appeals court sentenced Ramadan to death by hanging on 12 February overturning a previous life sentence handed down for his role in the 1982 killing of 148 Shiites the village of Dujail. The death sentence was confirmed despite a plea by UN human rights chief Louise Arbour, who said an execution would violate international law.
This article starring:
Bushra al-Khalil
TAHA YASIN RAMADANIraqi Baath Party
UN human rights chief Louise Arbour
Posted by: Steve || 03/15/2007 07:35 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  UN human rights chief Louise Arbour
Hey Louie....BLOW IT OUT YOUR A$$!!! What about the rights of the people this BASTARD killed???
Posted by: ARMYGUY || 03/15/2007 7:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Army Guy, I couldn't agree more.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 03/15/2007 9:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Ah, well. Louise's gotta do something once in awhile to justify her phony baloney job...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/15/2007 9:37 Comments || Top||

#4  tick ... tick ... tick ...
Posted by: xbalanke || 03/15/2007 13:02 Comments || Top||

#5  wot everyone else said..&

Bushra al-Khalil, was quoted as saying by the Arab daily al-Hayat that he believed his client would be executed "soon".

no shiite
Posted by: RD || 03/15/2007 13:42 Comments || Top||

#6  Actually, RD, she IS a Shi'ite - making her chummy relationship with the Hussein boys back in the day, and her antics on behalf of the chief monster and his minions in the Dujayl case, all the more appalling. I'm a wee bit surprised Ramadan's getting the short drop for this case - though he was bound to do so for a future case. He wasn't central to the Dujayl events.
Posted by: Verlaine || 03/15/2007 14:33 Comments || Top||

#7  "An appeals court sentenced Ramadan to death by hanging on 12 February overturning a previous life sentence"

" We'll give you an appeal special--here, try our new necktie!"

One wonders what Ramadan would get if he appeal again...
Posted by: twobyfour || 03/15/2007 22:01 Comments || Top||


VBIED Network Swept Up
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Coalition Soldiers from eight brigade combat teams completed a nine-day sweep throughout Baghdad to disrupt the Baghdad vehicle borne improvised explosive device network on March 10. The operation was designed to attack the terrorist command and control structure organizing and financing the deadly car bomb attacks.

Over the course of the operation which began March 2 Coalition forces and Iraqi security forces struck 82 precision targets. As a result, 24 terrorists were killed; four wounded and 90 suspected terrorists were detained. Several of those detained were members of Al-Qaeda.

Coalition Forces also found or captured many weapons caches to include two aircraft bombs, one 500-lb MK-82 bomb, 50 155mm artillery shells, one complete 82mm mortar system with over 100 rounds, four 122mm rockets, one DSHKA heavy machine gun, six rocket propelled grenades, two RPK light machine guns, 27 AK-47 assault rifles, five bolt action rifles, two shotguns, six pistols and numerous ammunition and other bomb making materials.

The operation coined as Arrowhead Strike 8 included Soldiers from 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division; 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division; 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division; 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division; 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division; 4th Brigade, 25th Infantry Division; 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division; and other Special Operations Forces.
"We wanted to put pressure on the entire network at one time" said Colonel Steve Townsend, Commander of 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. "We think the number of detainees we have should shake things up a bit. Although car bombing has continued in recent days, their effectiveness against civilians has significantly decreased," said Colonel Townsend.
Posted by: Bobby || 03/15/2007 06:24 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hoo Rah!
Posted by: doc || 03/15/2007 6:40 Comments || Top||

#2  More news not fit to print in the NY Slimes.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 03/15/2007 6:52 Comments || Top||

#3  There's no time Atomic Conspiracy!
They're all packing to head for higher ground to escape rising sea levels!!!!!!!
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 03/15/2007 7:51 Comments || Top||

#4  I saw blossoms on trees in northern Virginia yesterday afternoon, but we're gonna get sleet Saturday! It's GOLBAL CLIMATE CHANGE, I tellya!
Posted by: Bobby || 03/15/2007 10:33 Comments || Top||

#5  Coalition Forces also found or captured many weapons caches to include two aircraft bombs

Hey, they're into recycling, too! :-)
Posted by: gorb || 03/15/2007 17:40 Comments || Top||


Is Falluja Next?
The Iraqi newspaper al-Mada, which has recently been at the forefront in reporting the news of the “retreat” of al-Qa'ida from al-Anbar, has published another front-page article claiming that Al-Qa'ida is now facing in Falluja the same form of opposition that had forced its retreat from other Anbari cities.

Al-Mada quoted unnamed “sources” (perhaps the same sources that had informed the paper about events in Hit and Ramadi in the last weeks) who told the newspaper that al-Qa'ida is “in its death throes” in Falluja. Falluja is seen by Iraqis and Americans alike as a bastion of opposition to the US occupation and the pro-American Iraqi government.

Eliminating al-Qa'ida from the city, or even significantly weakening it, would be seen as a major step in depriving al-Qa'ida from its safe havens in Iraq.

Al-Qa'ida is resorting to harsher tactics as its popularity plummets in Anbar, claimed al-Mada. Among those new methods is the liquidation of ex-supporters who have left the organization, and different forms of collective punishment against communities that ally themselves with al-Qa'ida’s enemies.

As expected, al-Mada heralded Maliki’s visit to Ramadi, Anbar’s capital, yesterday as a sign of the faltering of al-Qa'ida. The newspaper said that the visit was “the last nail in al-Qa'ida’s coffin..."
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/15/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wait ... didn't we clear out Falluja already? That's the problem with roaches - they come back. The clear part is certainly easier than the hold. Getting the locals on board is critical.
Posted by: doc || 03/15/2007 6:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Ya know, maybe the Dem shenanigans are having a positive effect? Either the locals are getting on board, or the Dems are driving them to get on board?

No, I believe the Dems are just being ignored by everyone except the enemy. The locals must be finally fed up with the insurgent shenanigans!
Posted by: Bobby || 03/15/2007 6:50 Comments || Top||

#3  As expected, al-Mada heralded Maliki’s visit to Ramadi, Anbar’s capital, yesterday as a sign of the faltering of al-Qa'ida.

Damn straight. A year ago, I went to Ramadi in a convoy that included M-1 tanks, those tracked amphib things, and a couple of F-16s flying shotgun. We were still shot at and a 6x6 truck was blown up by an IED. (Did see some AQ hajis vaporized by a 120mm canister round, an ugly but heartwarming sight.)
Malaki's willingness to show his face there is graphic evidence of progress against AQ and the insurgency in general, especially since it results largely from a dramatic increase in local opposition to the terror-scum.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 03/15/2007 6:55 Comments || Top||

#4  That is the problem with roaches doc. You cant just yell "Trick or Treat" at them, you have to kill them and spray their home with a persistent pesticide that keeps killing for at least 8 months.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 03/15/2007 7:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Well, maybe in a very perverted way, the dems have helped us. It got the President off his duff and got some life-saving changes into ops in Iraq that are starting to get results.

I said, maybe....and I don't recommend that we do business this way with the dems. Like I said, perverted.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/15/2007 14:14 Comments || Top||

#6  Falluja should have been cordoned off, emptied of all voluntary departees (with the detention of any fighting age males), then progressively flattened. Those burnt bodies hanging from that bridge deserved nothing less. Had we done so then, we probably would never have encountered so much downstream resistance there or anywhere else.
Posted by: Zenster || 03/15/2007 15:14 Comments || Top||

#7  From what I understand we never left enough troops in Falluja to keep the town.

Zen nice to hear from you! Oddly enough the Blackwater video is the most popular one on the Minnesota Troops Support web site. Those burned bodies left a bitter taste.
Posted by: Icerigger || 03/15/2007 17:57 Comments || Top||

#8  Zen, my impression is that our November '04 op in Fallujah pretty much did what you called for above. At least something pretty close. Chief problem I recall is that we didn't seal the area off effectively before the party, and many of the most important guests weren't on hand.
Posted by: Verlaine || 03/15/2007 23:25 Comments || Top||


Five killed, two injured, two bodies found as result of violence in north
(KUNA) -- Three Iraqi policemen were killed in an armed attack in the city of Mosul northern Iraq, police said Wednesday. The attack occured when unknown gunmen fired at a police patrol in al-Baker neighborhood, which resulted in the killing, an Iraqi police source told KUNA today. To that, two civilians were killed and four others were wounded due to mortar rounds' attacks that hit the east coast of Mosul, the source added. Furthermore, two unidentified bodies were found by Iraqi police patrols laid down at the west coast of Mosul. The bodies had gunshot traces on them.
Posted by: Fred || 03/15/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Franklin Graham's son hurt in Iraq
The son of the Reverend Franklin Graham has been injured in combat in Iraq. Reverend Graham said his son was hospitalized after suffering shrapnel injuries in his arms, legs and back. Captain Edward Graham, 27, an Army Ranger, is the grandson of the Reverend Billy Graham. A spokesperson for the family said the injuries are not life-threatening.
Get well soon, Captain, and thank you.
Posted by: Fred || 03/15/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How many Senators and Representatives have family members in the Service? Senator Webb, the rude jerk, has a son in Iraq. Remember he told W to buzz off when he asked about Webb's son? Anybody else?
Posted by: Bobby || 03/15/2007 7:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Duncan Hunter's son is a Marine, and has served in Iraq
Posted by: Frank G || 03/15/2007 11:22 Comments || Top||

#3  I believe the proportion of children in Iraq is the same for the Congress as for the general population.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/15/2007 11:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Well, NS, you're probably right, but it's still disgusting. No, I never served, but I came close a couple of times, and have always respeceted those who "provide for the common defense".

Like Frank Schaeffer suggested in his book Keeping Faith: a Father-Son Story About Love and the United States Marine Corps - nothing changes a liberal's perspective about the the military like having your son join the Marines!
Posted by: Bobby || 03/15/2007 17:16 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Sa-weeet! Hamas digs in for war in Gaza
I LOVE stories like this!
HAMAS is busily preparing their graves fortifying the Gaza Strip with the help of Iranian expertise and funding for what may be the fiercest dying of jihadis fighting the embattled enclave has seen.
"They're digging bunkers and tunnels 20m underground equipped with airconditioning," retired Israeli intelligence officer Brigadier General Shalom Harari said this week. "That's something the Iranians taught them."
LOL! Airconditioning in a dirt tunnel? Riiight. "And they have a fierce look on their stubly faces, too!"
Since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza 18 months ago, hundreds of Hamas fighters have gone to Iran for intensive military training sometimes lasting months, according to Shin Bet security service chief Yuval Diskin. Iranian experts have also reportedly reached Gaza.
Good, good. please dig in so the IDF knows exactly where you are.
Mr Diskin said on Tuesday that militants last year smuggled more than 30 tonnes of explosives into the Strip, mostly through tunnels from Egypt. According to an Israeli assessment, there are 120,000 automatic weapons in Palestinian hands in the 40km-long strip.
The key, of course, is ammo. This is especially true since the paleos seem unable to actually aim their weapons at the intended target.
Mr Diskin told the Knesset foreign affairs and defence committee that Hamas had significantly upgraded its rocket arsenal with help from ACME of Gaza. Some could now hit Israeli towns 20km away. Hamas had also acquired in recent months Russian missiles capable of penetrating heavily armoured tanks. Newly acquired anti-aircraft missiles would challenge Israel's domination of the skies over Gaza for the first time assuming the paleos can master one.
One word: Artillery.
Brigadier General Harari said: "Hamas and Iran have formed a strategic alliance. Iran sees Hamas as part of a pincer aimed at Israel."
The other arm of the pincer, in Lebanon, is Hezbollah.
Too bad the pincers are paleos.
Like Iran, Hezbollah belongs to the Shia branch of Islam. Though Hamas members are Sunni, they share Iran's Nazi-like fundamentalist ethos and its militancy towards Israel.
Iran is also funding terrorists militant groups in the West Bank, which borders Israel's heartland. However, Israeli forces are still deployed in the West Bank and almost nightly arrests of terrorists militants have prevented Hamas from gaining traction.
Israel is getting coordinates for all paleo fighting positions closely monitoring developments in Gaza and has drawn up detailed plans for a large-scale incursion that it would like to press home before Hamas reaches Hezbollah's level of military sophistication.
"Avner, how many M109s can we fit here?"
"Hamas wants quiet now so that it can continue its preparations," Brigadier General Harari said. "But their build-up will oblige an Israeli operation, probably before the end of the year."
A major clash with Hamas threatens to be far bloodier than the war with Hezbollah.
For the paleos, yes. For the IDF, no IF they change their RoE to KILL the enemy.
South Lebanon, where most of last summer's war was waged, is NOT a thinly populated rural area. Its residents were warned by Israel through leaflets and radio broadcasts to flee before their villages were bombed or shelled. Gaza, by contrast, is one of the world's most densely populated areas, with few secure places to which civilians could flee. If Israeli forces wished to root out Hamas armories and rocket workshops, they would have to fight their way into built-up areas.
If the paleos want security, I suggest converting another religion. Bloody for the paleos IF the IDF is agrressive.
In all the years of skirmishing, Israeli troops have never engaged in significant house-to-house fighting in Gaza City or other urban locations, except for Jerusalem, Ramallah, Jenin, Tyre, Sidon and Beirut.
Much better to call out the M109s.
Given the lacklustre showing of the Israeli Political leadership Defence Force against Hezbollah last year, it is highly motivated to seek a decisive victory against Hamas by inflicting very high casualties. But international pressure could prove a restraining force if many civilians were killed.
Fuck the EU. Fuck the UN. Fuck the arabs. KILL the enemy, CRUSH the enemy, make them FEAR the IDF.
Hamas has mined the approaches to Gaza's towns and is expected to mine streets and buildings inside the shantytowns when fighting appears imminent. It is also believed to have dug tunnels under the Israeli border fence to infiltrate fighters behind the Israeli lines.
And paleos are soo good at engineering complex technologies like command mines.
Israel has drawn up plans for an orderly evacuation of settlements bordering the Gaza Strip when and if fighting starts.
Get them out of the way, roll up the artillery and get to work. Also, take over the Philadephi route and Corrieize bulldoze any building within 100 yards of the border.
Posted by: Brett || 03/15/2007 16:59 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Also, take over the Philadephi route and Corrieize bulldoze any building within 100 yards one mile of the border.
Posted by:Brett

typo Brett, fixed it for ya. ;-)
Posted by: RD || 03/15/2007 20:06 Comments || Top||

#2  Speaking of bulldozers, tomorrow marks the fourth anniversary of the Rachel Corrie vs. D9 bout.
Please patronize your local IHOP in solidarity...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/15/2007 20:09 Comments || Top||

#3  I see in my crystal ball many secondary explosions....
Posted by: Al Aska Paul, Resident Imam || 03/15/2007 20:38 Comments || Top||

#4  "Gaza, by contrast, is one of the world's most densely populated areas, with few secure places to which civilians could flee."

Which goes a long way towards explaining their collective fascination with martyrdom.

"Please patronize your local IHOP in solidarity... "

tu3031, your syrupy tone is duly noted.

PS: Most excellent inline commentary, Brett.
Posted by: Zenster || 03/15/2007 20:41 Comments || Top||

#5  "Hamas wants quiet now so that it can continue its preparations"

Oh, so that explains the "tense calm" we've witnessed there in the last year.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 03/15/2007 21:00 Comments || Top||

#6  "digging bunkers and tunnels 20m underground"

Normally graves are only 6' deep, but 66' will work too.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/15/2007 21:00 Comments || Top||

#7  tu3031, I presume you mean in solidarity with D9, right? (Both D9 and I love pancakes)
Posted by: twobyfour || 03/15/2007 21:43 Comments || Top||

#8  Insertions, corrections, and comments on this one most excellent. Laughing heartily.
Posted by: Verlaine || 03/15/2007 22:55 Comments || Top||


Hunt continues for Beeb Gaza reporter
I'm sure they're hunting real hard. Helps drive the price up.
"Here boy! Here boy! C'mon, here boy!"
Renewed attempts are being made to find BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston, who has been missing since Monday afternoon and is feared kidnapped. The BBC has sent a team to Gaza to liaise with Palestinian officials.
Hope they brought a big bag of money. For everybody...
Palestinian security officials say he was kidnapped from his car by masked gunmen, but the BBC says it cannot independently verify these reports.
Jeez, after all they've done for them, this is the thanks they get.
Other reports in Gaza say he is healthy and negotiations are under way with the abductors to secure his release. The BBC says it is continuing to work with the Palestinian authorities and others to establish the facts surrounding Alan Johnston's disappearance. He disappeared on Monday after leaving the BBC office in Gaza City.
Yes. How much and where do you want it?
There has been a series of abductions of Westerners in the increasingly lawless Gaza Strip. All were eventually released unharmed. The motives for the abductions were mainly local: unpaid salaries, demands for jobs or the release of jailed family members.
It's just the way things are done there. A quaint local custom. No big deal. Until one of them ends up dead when Mahmoud drops his AK-47 and puts a round in their head...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/15/2007 09:55 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Does the fact that I hope he'll get killed, makes me a bad person?
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/15/2007 10:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Only a little :-)

You'll need to do an act of contrition. Perhaps you could sweep up in the O-Club tonight?
Posted by: Steve White || 03/15/2007 10:31 Comments || Top||

#3  Marco.
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/15/2007 11:34 Comments || Top||

#4  We may see the conversion-ransom-release dynamic again.
Posted by: Baba Tutu || 03/15/2007 13:02 Comments || Top||

#5  Grom, I understand the sentiment but let's continue to be better than some by hoping for safe return. Followed by a very unsafe ending for the perps, at the hands of undercover border police or some other worthy outfit. I'm all for killin' them that needs killin' today, but let's limit our reaction to the BBC to fisking, debunking, and humiliation (and let's have more and more of that).
Posted by: Verlaine || 03/15/2007 14:55 Comments || Top||

#6  I'm still waiting for Israel to "ransom" its kidnapped Israeli soldier - preferably with two brigades of infantry, backed up with tanks, artillery, and airpower.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/15/2007 15:06 Comments || Top||

#7  Wish I could afford to think like you Vervane, but I've a child---so I cannot.
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/15/2007 15:21 Comments || Top||

#8  Oops, sorry. No disrespect intended Verlaine.
Posted by: gromgoru || 03/15/2007 15:22 Comments || Top||

#9  "undercover border police"

You mean Israelis? Im not rooting for the Beeb guy to die, but I doubt that going after some local kidnapping ring is a particularly good use of Israeli covert assets in the Strip, they being a scarce and valuable resource.

Note to world - its NOT Israel's responsibility to maintain order in the Gaza Strip. Not anymore, at any rate. (Of course if say, MI6 requested assistance, and offered something in return, at least good will, and maybe something more tangible, that might be different)
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/15/2007 16:04 Comments || Top||

#10  Understood, grom - no problem.

LH, it was a throw-away line - I agree with you on the substance. But as I see most Pal criminality as being along a continuum, all of which is inimical to Israel and the civilized world in general, I'm always happy to see bad guys iced. Today's kidnap-for-$$$$ operative, tomorrow's vest-bomb courier ....
Posted by: Verlaine || 03/15/2007 16:31 Comments || Top||

#11  i understand it was a throwaway line, and im not blaming you. Just kinda taking issue with the larger mindset (not necessarily yours) thats held both by some folks here, and by folks on the left, of as Israelis as being all powerful. Their assets in general are scarce and limited and must be rationed carefully.

Basically if bad stuff is happening in the strip, its for the most part NOT their business, even if its indirectly inimical. They cant go after every kidnap artist in the territories - thats what an occupier has to do, and the flip side of withdrawl, with its dangers, is freeing your assets from having to pursue such things. Let the Pals, who have far more at stake, do something about it (and I mean either the Abbas Pals or the Hamas Pals) If its a threat to the whole civilized world, let the whole civilized world do something - at least let the Brits do something.

Israel hasnt gone into Gaza overtly even in response to months of Qassams. As long as they dont hit, I think Israel will continue to hold back. Any covert assets in the strip should be reserved for A. Intel gathering and B. Hitting VERY high value targets. Not for playing cops and robbers, or for fixing "broken windows" Fixing broken windows is a great strategy, but its hard to do when you cant move freely somewhere - basically Israel doesnt have the wherewithall to do it in Gaza and shouldnt try. (Again, this is not aimed at you Verlaine, but more at some other concepts of what Israel should do in the territories)
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/15/2007 16:55 Comments || Top||

#12  The Beeb reporter decided to look for stories and glory, or whatever, in Gaza---land of entropy, corruption, bad sanitation, criminals, terrorists, and a dearth of rational thinking. He made a choice to go here and report, and now he is facing the consequences of working there. Such is life in a sh*thole like Gaza. That is why rational people don't go there if they do not have to.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/15/2007 22:57 Comments || Top||

#13  LH all your points well taken. Agree. Your analysis is especially compelling when one starts to ponder the likelihood that Israel will have to undertake some serious actions in the territories in response to the upcoming Nth Fruitless and Idiotic Palestinian Offensive (new term just coined here).
Posted by: Verlaine || 03/15/2007 23:23 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Curfew imposed after minibus attack in Thai south
BANGKOK (March 15, 2007): Thailand imposed a curfew on an area of the rebellious Muslim south on Thursday where suspected insurgents killed eight Buddhists in an unusual attack on a civilian minibus. People in two districts of Yala, one of the three southernmost provinces hit by the three-year separatist insurgency in which more than 2,000 people have been killed, will be confined to their homes from 8 p.m to 4 a.m. (1300-2100 GMT).

"The Fourth Army therefore exercises its power under martial law to impose curfew in the districts of Yaha and Bannangsta of Yala provinces from now," southern army commander Lieutenant-General Viroach Buacharoon said.

In a televised news conference from revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej's southern palace, Viroach also said civilians wearing outfits similar to those of soldiers or police faced up to 10 years in jail and banned the use of two-way radios. Everyone in the three provinces would have to report overnight guests, he said without saying what the penalties would be for breaking the curfew or not reporting guests. "We need to contain some freedom of the innocent people to prevent trouble makers from taking advantage," Viroach said.

The imposition of the new security measures came after eight Buddhists and two Muslims were killed in Yaha on Wednesday. Gunmen in green uniforms shot dead eight Buddhist passengers, most of them at close range, on a minibus ambushed in broad daylight on a road through a rubber plantation. After dark a bomb was thrown into a Yaha mosque, wounding 11 people, and 10 km (6 miles) away gunmen sprayed a teashop with automatic rifle fire, killing two Muslims.

The army said both the mosque bombing and the shooting were carried out by militants who were hoping people would believe them to be attacks by Buddhists to avenge the bus killings. The army said it feared the attacks suggested the insurgents had shifted their focus once again to Buddhists, as they did early in the latest uprising in the largely Malay-speaking Muslim region annexed by Thailand a century ago. The aim would be to widen the rift between Muslims and Buddhists, an overwhelming majority of the national population but a minority in the far south, Army spokesman Acra Tiproch told a Bangkok television TITV.

The Wednesday attacks took place on the anniversary of the founding of the separatist Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), or National Revolutionary Front, which the government had feared would be marked by an increase in violence.
The attacks angered many Buddhist Thais in Bangkok, media reported, but Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont insisted violence would not bring peace. "I never compromise with law breakers, but we need to use political means to tackle the problem in the south, not drastic actions," Surayud told reporters.

Surayud, installed after a bloodless coup ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September, went to the region soon afterwards to apologise for his predecessor's hardline policies there and has said talks are the only way to resolve problems. The insurgents, who never claim responsibility for attacks or say anything in public, have ignored him.
Posted by: Steve || 03/15/2007 10:16 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I don't see what the Thais are going to do about this.

Geography is a cruel mistress and it works against the Thais. The three southern provinces have long borders with Malaysia, and those borders are rugged, indefensible and porous. I don't see how the Thais are going to stop an insurgency with the usual curfews, sweeps, arrests, etc. The people in the south have the same ethnicity and religion as the Malays. This isn't going to end well.

Two potential solutions:

1) throw all the Muslims out of the south. That wouldn't go over well internationally and it could provoke a war with Malaysia. Other Muslim states (e.g., Indonesia) could jump in, and that in turn could threaten Singapore. The Thais have a decent army but I don't know that they could whup the Malays.

2) write the south off. Declare it independent or sign a treaty with Malaysia. Then build a big friggin' wall on the new border, which would be very short, and make clear that a Malay Muslim north of the wall will be regarded with great suspicion.

If there's another option for the Thais I'd love to hear it.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/15/2007 10:38 Comments || Top||

#2  3. Work WITH the Malaysian govt, which may not share my views on Israel, but AFAIK opposed AQ and wants peace with Thailand. Compromise on legitimate grievances of the southerners, to undercut support for the rebels. And then kill, clear, and hold against the rebels. Dont know if that will work - the big question is do the southerners really want independence, or are they just riled up for legitimate or semi-legitimate reasons.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 03/15/2007 10:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Janjaweed, Dr. Steve.
Posted by: ed || 03/15/2007 11:22 Comments || Top||


Thailand mosque bomb wounds 11 Muslims
A bomb wounded 11 Muslims outside a mosque in southern Thailand, in possible retaliation for the execution-style killings of eight Buddhist commuters in the same area earlier in the day.

Col. Apirat Sangkhao, the police chief in Yala province's Yaha district -- where both attacks took place on Wednesday -- described the bombing as "an attempt to pit Muslims against Buddhists." No one has taken responsibility for either attack.

The bombing raised the specter of a spiral of revenge attacks in Thailand's far south, where a Muslim insurgency has led to more than 2,000 deaths in the past three years. Relations between the Muslim and Buddhist communities in the region are tense, but up to now there has been little sign that Buddhist villagers were seeking to retaliate for the violence that has claimed mostly civilian lives.

Thai army spokesman Col. Akara Thiprot blamed insurgents for the mosque bombing. "They want to trick people into believing that this is retaliation," for the earlier killings of Buddhists, he said. "They want to cause divisiveness between people of different religions," he said. Akara said the village where the bombing took place was one of the few in the area that did not cooperate with the insurgents, who otherwise have a strong influence there.

Earlier Wednesday, eight Buddhist commuters were slain when their van was forced to stop due to a tree in the road and gunmen threw open the vehicle door and opened fired on the passengers, police Lt. Kitti Mankhong, a duty officer in Yaha district, said.

The Muslim driver, who was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the face, survived the attack, as did one passenger. "Everyone was shot in the head at close range, execution style," Kitti said. Two of the dead were 16-year-old schoolgirls, he said.

The driver recounted that he heard the insurgents say "kill them all" in the local dialect of the Malay language that is widely spoken among Muslims in the south instead of Thai, according to Yaha district chief Suppanat Sirunthawinet.

"Thais have never seen such a cruel incident. A mother was hugging her daughter as they died," Suppanat said. He quoted the driver saying that the gunmen did not execute him after they heard him praying for his life in the Malay dialect, which indicated he was likely to be Muslim.
Posted by: ryuge || 03/15/2007 01:08 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Muslims in Bosnia were killing their own people at one point to gain sympathy. Same thing here?
Posted by: Icerigger || 03/15/2007 6:30 Comments || Top||

#2  "Malay dialect" There is the source of infection, the Islam of the Koran via Malayasia and supported from Malayasia.

I am past the point of thinking we can get along, or that building a wall between this century and the 7th will work. That most regretably only leaves one viable solution. It's a solution the muslims have already planned and started to execute for and on us non-muslims.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 03/15/2007 6:31 Comments || Top||

#3  "Execute" being the operative word. I hope it doesn't harm our souls.
Posted by: Jackal || 03/15/2007 8:23 Comments || Top||

#4  One can only hope that Thailand's Buddhists have finally decided to get a bit frisky.

For every innocent Buddhist killed by the Muslims, a visit like that mentioned in the article should be paid to the nearest mosque. Should such an incident happen at the precise midpoint between two mosques, both should receive such attention just to avoid any error.

Change will occur only when Thailand's Muslims are made to feel equal or greater amounts of pain than the Buddhists. Discomfort is the only successful motivator for those who refuse to stand up against brutality. As SPoD so astutely observes, "building a wall between this century and the 7th", simply is not an option.

No progres will be made in fighting terrorism until Infidels learn how to consistently apply the "equal or greater" principal on a truly vast scale.
Posted by: Zenster || 03/15/2007 16:22 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
Lanka air force bombs rebel base for the third straight day
Sri Lanka’s air force bombed a major eastern rebel base for the third straight day Wednesday, the Defence Ministry said, as Amnesty International said armed groups - some wearing breakaway Tamil Tiger insurgent uniforms - are abducting people from refugee camps. Details of casualties and damage from the air raid on the mainstream Tamil Tigers’ Thoppigala base in Sri Lanka’s eastern jungles were not immediately known.

The base has served as a major training centre for the rebels. It is considered one of the last rebel redoubts in the east, since Sri Lankan forces have carried out several ground and air attacks over the past year and captured other territory. “This morning we have taken a target there,” military spokesman Brig Prasad Samarasinghe told reporters. A rebel spokesman confirmed the air raid, but said the insurgents suffered no casualties. “The bombs fell in the jungle areas and none of our fighters were there,” said Rasiah Ilanthirayan from the mainstream insurgents’ stronghold of Kilinochchi.
Posted by: Fred || 03/15/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iranians sought for Buenos Aires bomb
Interpol says it is planning to seek the arrest of six Iranian former officials whom Argentina blames for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre. But it has decided to turn down arrest requests for three others named by Argentina, including former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. The attack on a seven-storey building in Buenos Aires killed 85 people. Argentina's investigation concluded that Iran had ordered the bombing. The country denies any involvement.

Interpol, the international police agency, considered written and oral presentations from both Iran and Argentina before making its decision. It said it would issue the six "red notices" at the end of the month, unless either side appealed against its decision in the meantime. A red notice enables the international arrest warrant, issued by Argentina, to be circulated worldwide, with a view to the suspects being arrested and extradited.
This could be fun
The six concerned are Imad Fayez Mughniyah, Ali Fallahijan, Mohsen Rabbani, Ahmad Reza Asghari, Ahmad Vahidi and Mohsen Rezai. Applications for the arrest of Ali Akbar Velayati and Hadi Soleimanpour, as well as Mr Rafsanjani, were rejected.

No-one has ever been convicted of the 1994 bombing - the worst terror attack in Argentine history - and the government has admitted failures in its initial investigation. Last year it said it believed Iran ordered the attack, and militant group Hezbollah carried it out. Iran has called such claims a "Zionist plot".
Posted by: Steve || 03/15/2007 12:36 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ahmad Reza Asghari is the guy we got in Turkey, correct?
Posted by: Brett || 03/15/2007 13:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes
Posted by: ed || 03/15/2007 13:26 Comments || Top||

#3  This is huge. Someone named names.
Posted by: Chenter Unimp7361 || 03/15/2007 13:57 Comments || Top||

#4  Ahmad Reza Asghari is the guy we got in Turkey, correct?

One of the many rumors is that Interpol had him arrested and then he cut a deal.
Posted by: Steve || 03/15/2007 14:01 Comments || Top||

#5  Maybe he becomes the Sammy the Bull of the International Jihad...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/15/2007 14:15 Comments || Top||


Interrogation with "Fath Al-Islam" suspects in Lebanon
(KUNA) -- Lebanon's Chief Military Investigating Magistrate Rashid Mezher has started questioning suspects of the Fath Al-Islam network the government said was involved in blowing up two buses in northern Lebanon last month, sources told KUNA on Wednesday. They added that Magistrate Mezher would issue bills of charges for the four suspects.

Meanwhile, the Director of Internal Security Ashraf Refi said that the network had been discovered five days before and that its elements were later arrested in various parts of the country. "The network was discovered when enough intelligence was gathered. We do not control the timing, but we act according to the security information we get starting with the first clue, then confessions, until evidence is verified. Then, findings are revealed to the public, substantiated by adequate documents." The Lebanese Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa said yesterday that four Syrian nationals from Fath Al-Islam network had been arrested and owned up to blasting two buses in the village of Ein Alak on February 13 which killed three people and injured 20 others.
Posted by: Fred || 03/15/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wonder if they give the injection with that syringe before or after they put the panties on?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/15/2007 15:55 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
German jihadi wannabes arrested in Wazoo
Pakistani intelligence agents have arrested two men from Germany near the border with Afghanistan -- they are suspected of having contact with Islamic terrorists. Berlin is trying to gain access to the prisoners, and is hoping to avoid a replay of the Kurnaz case.

For most foreign visitors, the road to Waziristan ends less than 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of Lahore, at a Pakistan military checkpoint. Beyond the checkpoint begins a journey through a mountainous no man's land dotted with small villages, past houses surrounded by high walls. Gun barrels jut from many a pickup truck with tinted windows. Getting out of the car here is not such a good idea.

Intelligence agencies are intensely interested in what goes on in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. No other area is mentioned more frequently in discussions of where exactly Osama bin Laden's hideout may be located. Pakistani intelligence agents estimate the number of terrorists in the region to be above 2,000, with most thought to come from Uzbekistan and Arab countries. "Not the right place to study the Koran," in the opinion of Ernst Uhrlau, the president of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND). His agency characterizes the region as "al-Qaida's deployment zone."

In the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan, it's not difficult to spot a European -- even when they're dressed in traditional garb like the two German men that showed up in northern Pakistan early this year. Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's intelligence agency, seized 29-year-old Nihad C. from Pforzheim, Germany, in Rawalpindi. Three days later an acquaintance of his, 30-year-old Michael N. from Oberhausen, was arrested in Raiwind.

the rest is at the link
Posted by: ryuge || 03/15/2007 01:18 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Take us to your Führer!"
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/15/2007 1:37 Comments || Top||

#2  "Allah'U Achtung!!"
Posted by: Bunyip || 03/15/2007 3:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Were their names Helmut and Konrad? Or perhaps a different ethnicity?
Posted by: Jackal || 03/15/2007 8:25 Comments || Top||

#4  Were their names Helmut and Konrad?

Story sez they are Nihad C. and Michael N. Sounds like converts to the ROP.
Posted by: Steve || 03/15/2007 14:03 Comments || Top||

#5  I'd bet money that at least one, if not both, were neo-NAZIs looking for a little training to take back "home".
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/15/2007 15:14 Comments || Top||


My apologies...
Yesterday we got hit pretty heavily by some sort of DoS, and last night the firewall locked up for about an hour.

Unfortunately, I'm the only one with remote restart capability right now, so if I'm off wasting time earning a living there's no one to step in. Our (new) hosting company assures me that the remote restart is coming back - they just don't know when.

I'll keep an eye on things a little better tomorrow. Things won't be quite so hectic, so I'll have some attention span to spare.
Posted by: Fred || 03/15/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thanks for the explanation, there's no need to apologize. But apparently I picked the wrong week to give up tequila shots.
Posted by: Seafarious || 03/15/2007 0:07 Comments || Top||

#2  yes, thanks, I thought it was my computer mucking up.
I wish there was something that could be done so that you didn't have to futz so much fixing things. Was it coming from any specific IP?
Posted by: Jan from work || 03/15/2007 0:47 Comments || Top||

#3 
Fredman you are a jewel and a genius for promoting Emily to full Modi whilst on the field of battle. For the team then thanksbunches.


Posted by: RD || 03/15/2007 1:03 Comments || Top||

#4  As Fred has mentioned before, try

http://rantburg.com:81/

When the barbarians are blocking the front gate.
Posted by: PBMcL || 03/15/2007 1:51 Comments || Top||

#5  Thanks for your hard work, Fred, you're helping to keep freedom of speech going

Thanks
Posted by: anon1 || 03/15/2007 1:58 Comments || Top||

#6  Amen to all of the above. I did get in the back door, but that was a bit of a problem, too, since I had hidden the link - along with all my other files! It took a couple of trys before I remembered the proper :81 format.

D*mn computer things always do exactly what you tell 'em to, just not always what you'd intended!
Posted by: Bobby || 03/15/2007 5:53 Comments || Top||

#7  Fred if it make you feel any better it looks like LGFs got the DOS yesterday too. The site was down for several hours.

Any possibility in finding out where it came from?

Last night I had dinner with several liberal friends, told them about your site. Darn if they didn't get excited. MSM is vacant on the WOT news and as American Vets they were very interested. Yours is a service to this nation. Keep up the good fight.
Posted by: Icerigger || 03/15/2007 6:29 Comments || Top||

#8  Thanks Fred. I was beginning to wonder if it was THIS again!

You have accessed a site that is prohibited under the Multi-National Forces - Iraq (MNF-I) policy. If you receive this message for ALL website access attempts, you are in violation of one or many MNF-I policies and your system has been intentionally blocked. Please contact the help desk @ SIPR VOIP 242-1111 for further instructions.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/15/2007 6:57 Comments || Top||

#9  It was probably those rapidly rising sea levels again! You gotta watch those things.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 03/15/2007 7:55 Comments || Top||

#10  I thought corporate IT was finally on to you guys and a firewall was between me and the news so I am relieved to learn it was "just" a DOS.
Posted by: Excalibur || 03/15/2007 9:00 Comments || Top||

#11  Beware the ides of March.
Posted by: wxjames || 03/15/2007 14:04 Comments || Top||

#12  Fred, I'm not surprised you're attacked by those that want the truth suppressed. I'm only surprised the Iranian, Saudi, Syrian, Pakistani, Egyptian, and Lebanese government, friends, and family, don't do more. You spread truth, friend, and that's very threatening to closed minds. Keep up the good work!

PS: I've lost your address. Send it to me again, and I'll put a check in the mail.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/15/2007 14:35 Comments || Top||


Good morning...
Brothel discounts 'matinee sex' for pensioners Interrogation with 'Fath Al-Islam' suspects in Lebanon'Bangladesh security forces involved in extrajudicial killings'9 held in Morocco after suicide blastNorth Korean envoy 'too busy' for UN atom chiefKey suspect 'admits 9/11 guilt'Palestine Unity Government Is ReadyTsvangirai's skull may have been fractured
Posted by: Fred || 03/15/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  DAMN.......I thought you found a picture of my X wife!!
Posted by: ARMYGUY || 03/15/2007 6:40 Comments || Top||

#2  I think she's cute. And I want to see her dive into the pool with that top.
Posted by: Fred || 03/15/2007 7:20 Comments || Top||

#3  I be concubining with Martha! /dream on
*sigh*
Posted by: Spot || 03/15/2007 7:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Hey, Spot, all you need are five more to catch up to ol' Ricky!
Posted by: Mac || 03/15/2007 10:19 Comments || Top||

#5  Fred! You've got it bass ackwards again! I want to see her leap out of the pool w/o her top (bottom) ( both) off. {Illegal in some states}

Just sayin' ;-)
Posted by: Almost Anonymous5839 || 03/15/2007 11:50 Comments || Top||

#6  Silly me, I thought Vickers only built aircraft hydraulic pumps...... I think I like this model better.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 03/15/2007 14:22 Comments || Top||

#7  Paleo Unity Government Ready to Excel

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We know what the backup plan is, and it doesn't involve Lotus.

Miss Vickers has a nice ... ... smile.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 03/15/2007 14:40 Comments || Top||



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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.
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2007-03-15
  9 held in Morocco after suicide blast
Wed 2007-03-14
  Mortar shells hit Somali presidential residence
Tue 2007-03-13
  Lebanese Police arrest a Palestinian carrying a bomb
Mon 2007-03-12
  Talibs threaten Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Mexico, Samoa
Sun 2007-03-11
  U.S. calls Iran, Syria talks cordial
Sat 2007-03-10
  Captured big turban wasn't al-Baghdadi. We guessed that.
Fri 2007-03-09
  Ug troops arrive in Mog
Thu 2007-03-08
  Pentagon Deploys more MPs to Baghdad
Wed 2007-03-07
  Split in Hamas? 2 Hamas officials move to Syria
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

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