(Itar-Tass) -- Sappers of the military commandantÂ’s office averted a major terrorist act in the highland Vedeno region of Chechnya. Servicemen found an antitank mine TM-57 1.5 kilometers of Dyshne-Vedeno, Dmitry Nikiforov, the chief of the press center of the operational headquarters of the Russian Interior Ministry in Chechnya, told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
“The blast of the mine containing 6.5 kilograms of TNT could lead to numerous victims among civilians on the highway with intensive traffic. The sappers defused the anti-tank mine by a pressure charge,” Nikiforov pointed out.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Boy howdy, this is sure to make RasPutin rethink his drink when it comes to assisting Iran's nuclear aspirations. Right? After all, the Beslan atrocity must have driven home this point already. Right? Right ... ?
Worst of all (besides Western spinelessness), is how easy the task at hand is. Russia's economic fragility is second only to the OPEC nations' (or China's). Needless to say (then why say it?), all of them need to be smashed.
#4
Zen, not sure smashing's necessary. Yes, pooty pises me of with his triangulations as well.
But the fact is that Russia is dying out so this state of affairs is only temporary. And by this fact of population shrinkage, it is on a collision course with China. The moment the decline of population will reflect in almost non-inhabited Sibiria, China is on the move for grabs. They will have an ample supply of males to dispose of, so in the case there is some resistance put forth by Rusia, there would be enough left over to succesfully occupy the region.
#6
Zen, the fissile material (or device), yea, that's a snag.
Saw recently a flick about availability of radilogical/fisile devices. A guy went to Bulgaria and bought on a black market a nuke warhead ($750 if I recall correctly), one of many that have been left on a Russian base in Bulgaria after SU collapsed. They are not fissile devices anymore due to degradation, but they can be used as radiological devices. The dude that sells them... for him it's just a biz.
I am not sure Russia would be keen to sell functional nukes to anyone, the instinct of self-preservation would preclude it. But black market--another story.
#7
I am not sure Russia would be keen to sell functional nukes to anyone, the instinct of self-preservation would preclude it. But black market--another story.
Let's all hope that our ability to trace a radiological device through its isotopic signature (or fingerprint), is enough to prevent ex-Soviet forces or other nuclear capable vendors from doing so.
Sidebar: Each breeder reactor or enrichment facility has its own isotopic fingerprint. Ratios of conspicuous trace elements such as Strontium, Francium, Americium and Cesium contribute to a unique signature which is easily identified by mass spectroscopy.
Further digression illuminates why interdiction or enforced IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) compliance is of such importance in the case of rogue regimes like Iran, North Korea and Pakistan.
Without verifiable isotopic signatures, specific reprisal in reply to a proxy attack using covertly developed terrorist atomic weapons is exceedingly difficult. This is an especially conducive aspect regarding massive retaliation in reply to even a single terrorist nuclear atrocity.
If the fallout of a terrorist nuclear attack did not yield an identifiable trace signature, there would be little alternative to launching a massive retalitory strike against the entire MME (Muslim Middle East).
This is what simultaneously represents the supposed advantage (to terrorist Muslims), and immense danger of Iran's (and the entire MME's), clandestine nuclear weapons project. Tehran's stubborn refusal to allow data gathering at it facilities by the IAEA only ensures its candidacy as a target of reprisal should America undergo terrorist nuclear attack.
#8
Ya that's true Zen and I think everyone on this board know the Muzzies are going to hit us with one kind of a nuke or another.
The thing I don't get is that Russia is still Russia to a point. Part of me wonders why Putin hasn't closed every mosque in what remains of their empire.
(Itar-Tass) - During the shootout policemen destroyed in downtown Nalchik an active member of illegal armed units Radik Bappinayev, 27, who put up armed resistance during the detention operation. He has been on the federal and international wanted list for several grave and heinous crimes, including a raid on Nalchik in October 2005, chief press officer of Kabardino-BalkariaÂ’s Interior Ministry Marina Kyasova told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
“One of notorious leaders of the Wahhabite underground criminal community in the republic was tracked down at about 23.00 Moscow time on Tuesday during the search operation upon getting the operative information,” he emphasized. According to Kyasova, upon noticing the pursuit Bappinayev opened fire, and then hurled a grenade at the police patrol car with three policemen inside. Then he was trying to seize a car with three passengers driving by, but policemen returned fire and destroyed him. “No civilians and policemen were injured,” Kyasova indicated. A Makarov handgun, which had been stolen during an attack on the Nalchik Drug Control department in December 2004, five magazines to it, a grenade and a radio tuned on the police wave were found on the destroyed bandit.
This article starring:
Marina Kyasova
RADIK BAPPINAIEV
Chechnya
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
[COMMENTS DELETED FOR BEING AN IDIOT WHO DIDN'T LISTEN TO WARNINGS ABOUT CHANGING ITS NYM]
#2
To the above commentor: you were told yesterday to change your nym. You haven't, and so none of your comments will appear in the Burg.
We will not permit comments from anyone who advocates the murder of American citizens. That's a bright line for us. Ignore it and you'll be dumped into the sinktrap every time.
Now then, are you smart enough to listen?
AoS.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/29/2007 0:18 Comments ||
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#3
Thanks, Steve. The deleted one is almost certainly a leftist moby and a rather stupid one at that. Its posts (and nic) appear to be based on standard dope-conformist left strawmen about the positions and attitudes of anti-jihad forces. It might, in fact, be listening to Alan "Strawman" Colmes, whose radio ravings go on until midnight CDT, at this very moment.
#5
i think his mom missed his cod liver oil this AM. [makes him cranky when he misses it]. He's trying to tell us that he's confused about what "free speech" is too.
Road Runner delivers the Internet and multimedia programming to more than 3 million subscribers through networks belonging to parent Time Warner Cable and other affiliated cable TV operators. The company is using the same cables to introduce Line Runner Internet-based phone services. Originally a joint venture among affiliates of Time Warner, MediaOne (later acquired by AT&T), Compaq, Microsoft, and the Newhouse publishing family, Road Runner is now 100%-owned and operated by Time Warner Cable, which is controlled by Time Warner Inc. (84%) and Comcast.
#9
..umm let's see, he's moma's spechul #11 Ass Ranger and now he's gonna attempt an asswhipping from, his high chair in Fort living Room! give yer mom a break kid.
#11
Gee, 47 minutes since the fuckhead's last post. Where are those other servers, Moby? Btw, moron, it's the NSA that tracks seditious fuckheads online, not the CIA. Has it occurred to you that we might actually be the NSA? Don't be surprised by a knock on the door.
#19
Going back over the last three years' worth of comments...
This IP (72.130.12.1) was one of the ones used by a person who used to hang around the Burg, went by the nym of "Long Hair Republican". No one else has posted from that IP. Only three people have ever posted on the 'Burg from NetRange 72.128.0.0-72.135.255.255 (see RD's comment #9, above) before: Long Hair Republican, Sgt. D.T., and Dan Darling. We all know Dan, and it ain't him. Looking at Sgt. D.T.'s old comments, it sure don't sound like him, either.
But this troll sure does sound a lot like LHR.
Maybe it's him. Maybe not. Who knows.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/29/2007 19:36 Comments ||
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#23
Listen Puke...you bore me...
Yeah, when I yell fire in a house of blind people is an abuse of "free speech" but when I call a phag a fag don't you think it pertinent to the thought process or is that just a little to deep for you?
Calling me an idiot does not seem to work to well for you tonight now does it. It just pisses me off....
#24
How tired...
Checkered flag...
Got to admit I am keeping you busy...
There are so many servers I can send My IP through that, well...unless your the CIA you would have a tough time pinning me down. And if you do, bring a lunch, I get hungry after I do a good ass whipping...
A bunch of touchy fuckers are you not?
A Tatarstan court has sentenced five men to prison terms of 11 to 19 months on charges of being members of a banned radical Islamic group, rights groups said Wednesday.
The court handed down the sentences Monday in the city of Naberezhnye Chyolny, the Memorial Human Rights Center and Civic Assistance Committee said. A sixth man was sentenced to a two-year suspended sentence. Prosecutors charged the men with belonging to Hizb-ut-Tahrir, a group that advocates the creation of an Islamic state but claims to reject violence. The rights groups said the men were threatened, tortured and unlawfully pressured into giving testimony during a 1 1/2-year detention and closed-door trial. Local and regional prosecutors refused to comment on the sentences or the allegations of mistreatment.
This article starring:
Memorial Human Rights Center
Hizb-ut-Tahrir
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2007 00:00 ||
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Four young Muslims were charged in Denmark on Wednesday with planning terrorist bombings in Denmark or abroad, the justice ministry said. The four men were accused of acquiring chemicals and laboratory instruments to make triacetone triperoxide (TATP) explosives, often used by suicide bombers. TATP bombs were used in the July 2005 London bombings. The identities of the four were not disclosed. They are residents of Denmark but do not hold Danish citizenship. The men were part of a group of nine people arrested in a September 2006 swoop in Odense in central Denmark.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2007 00:00 ||
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The arrests were part of an ongoing operation against an ETA cell in the Basque Country, a police source said. The arrests on Wednesday took place in San Sebastian and Adoain, also in the Basque Country. It was aimed at taking out an ETA cell in its stronghold.
Feinstein blazes trail for women (ht Instapundit)
...
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein was forced to resign as chairwoman of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee amid reports that her husband, Richard Blum, owned two major defense contractors, which were awarded billions of dollars for military construction projects approved by Feinstein....
this is based on reporting by a lefty weekly in silicon valley
Feinstein blazes trail for women
http://www.metroactive.com/metro/03.21.07/dianne-feinstein-resigns-0712.html#
#10
memeorandom.com had a thread on this earlier, but it is gone now. It seems the MSM doesn't have an interest in this, what with Anna Nicole and all. Sheesh.
A key piece of evidence in the case against alleged terrorism operative Jose Padilla came from an Afghan man who told the CIA he found it in an Al Qaeda safehouse, according to new court filings. The man, unknown to the CIA at the time, drove up to the agency's installation in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in a pickup truck containing "stacks of papers and other office materials" found in the house occupied by a group of Arabs, according to a CIA document newly filed in federal court.
It was common knowledge, the man said, "that the Arabs residing in this home/office, as with many other similar sites in the city of Kandahar, had been affiliated with Al Qaeda and Usama bin Laden," according to the CIA description of the December 2001 meeting. The Arabs had fled the house just before the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, he said.
Among the Arabic documents was a blue binder containing dozens of forms that U.S. officials say were essentially applications for Al Qaeda terrorism training camps. One of those forms was filled out and signed by Abu Abdullah al Mujahir, one of the aliases used by Padilla, according to federal prosecutors. While the existence of the "mujahedeen data form" has long been public, how it wound up in U.S. hands has never previously been disclosed. The document was filed last week, before the scheduled April 16 trial of Padilla and two co-defendants on charges they were part of a North American support cell for Islamic extremist groups worldwide.
Padilla, a 36-year-old U.S. citizen, was held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant once suspected of plotting to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" inside the United States. He was added in November 2005 to the Miami terrorism support case, which does not mention an al-Qaida "dirty bomb" plot. The form, which prosecutors say contains Padilla's fingerprints, is the government's single strongest piece of physical evidence. The CIA has asked that the officer who accepted it from the Afghan man be permitted to testify in disguise.
It is unclear if any other people whose names are on the forms will be called to testify. Defense attorneys say they anticipate testimony authenticating the forms from Yahya Goba, one of the "Lackawanna Six" group of men in upstate New York convicted of terrorism support charges for attending camps in Afghanistan. Padilla, who converted to Islam after moving to Florida from Chicago, had moved in 1998 to Egypt and in March 2000 attended the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Several Al Qaeda "facilitators" were scouring the crowd for possible recruits, and one of them focused on Padilla.
This article starring:
ABU ABDULLAH AL MUJAHIR
al-Qaeda
JOSE PADILLA
al-Qaeda
Lackawanna Six
YAHYA GOBA
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2007 00:00 ||
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inconvenient, that
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/29/2007 11:41 Comments ||
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The SOP model to be implemented initially in New Delhi under the auspices of the Union Home Ministry. Then it would be replicated in other vital cities subsequently. The report also says that at least four battalions of central paramilitary forces, which will function as the national disaster response force (NDRF), are currently being trained and equipped to respond to nuclear, radiological and biological emergencies. The MHA will lay down the command, control and preparedness measures and post-attack response mechanism. The National Security Coordination Secretariat (NSCS) in consultation with Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) and secretary, security MHA would constitute a team to do the groundwork, while IB and RAW will finance the initiative. The Ministry of Health is also a part of the initiative, with its role essentially to identify appropriate laboratories, development of appropriate protocol for validation or certification, strategy for procuring, producing and stockpiling of the necessary vaccines and drugs, contamination testing at source of water supply and formulation of effective Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) at the district level.
#3
It makes good sense to put a natural biological attack, such as avian flu, under military auspices, with Health Department supervision. This is because unless they train together, health authorities and the military have such a different way of doing things that it can easily become a cluster during a critical phase.
With training, even a small unit can provide support to a large area in a calm and ordered way.
The Indian Army has begun withdrawing its troops of the 27th division from Jammu and Kashmir. ItÂ’s the first withdrawal after the PDP made it a political issue.
The Army has called this a routine redeployment. 15,000 troops are being pulled out from the Rajouri, Hill kaka and Surankote areas.
The PDP has been demanding that the troop levels be reduced and the army vacate areas the like orchards, institutes etc. These troops are likely to be re assigned to Sliguri.
Alleging that a troop withdrawal was being effected in Jammu and Kashmir since the past three months, BJP President Rajnath Singh slammed the UPA government on Tuesday for “compromising national security to hang on to power in the state”.
‘’Troops were gradually withdrawn from Doda, Poonch and Rajouri sectors in the past three months. Now, even the Army has admitted it,’’ he said at a news conference.
The Congress had succumbed to pressure from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its coalition partner in Jammu and Kashmir, proving that the party was only concerned over the survival of its government in the state, he claimed.
“Such a decision should have been taken in consultation with all political parties, including the opposition,” Singh said, adding neither the political parties, nor the Army or Intelligence agencies were in favour of troops withdrawal from the restive state.
Posted by: John Frum ||
03/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Rajori is jihadi infested. Looks like Mufti Sayeed is giving breathing space for his jihadi brothers.
Things were probably too hot for them.
Sinha, the Governor of J+K called Mufti's demands for withdrawal "obnoxious". But Mufti's party is allied to the ruling Congress coalition and it is politics, not security that will determine things.
When Mufti was Home Minister of India in 1989, a group of terrorists kidnapped his daughter Rubaiya Sayeed. He released several jailed terrorists in exchange for her. This triggered a series of copycat kidnappings and release of jailed terrorists. This was the start of a dozen years of murder and bombings.
Mufti demanded to be made Chief Minister of J+K in exchange for his party's support to the ruling coalition. He has been pushing the Hurriyat agenda such as the disbanding of the Police SOG units that hunt jihadis and the withdrawal of Indian units to their cantonments.
Posted by: John Frum ||
03/29/2007 6:45 Comments ||
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They do this and it brings tears to these rheumy old eyes. Tears of laughter, but tears just the same. At least 25 militants and a paramilitary soldier were killed in a six-hour gunbattle in Tank early on Wednesday. A curfew was imposed in the city and the civil administration asked the army for help in keeping the Taliban from taking control of the city. “The (Taliban) attack was repulsed effectively,” NWFP IGP Sharif Virk told Daily Times. “Security has been beefed up and soldiers are patrolling the streets,” he said, adding that Tank had been “sealed to protect the residents” and a curfew had been imposed as a “precautionary” measure. Military helicopters were seen circling over the city.
The recent surge in violence began on Monday when police clashed with Taliban recruiters outside a private school and a police officer and a militant were killed. Intelligence sources said that Tank was under siege and no outsider was allowed to enter the city following reports that militants would make an attempt to enter the city on Wednesday night.
Security forces killed at least 25 militants when more than 200 Taliban soldiers attacked the city from all sides.
security forces killed at least 25 militants when more than 200 Taliban soldiers attacked the city from all sides. “They attacked the city to avenge the killing of their colleague who died on Monday,” he said, adding that the militants used rockets and mortars when they attacked the city late on Tuesday night. “Reinforcements have reached Tank to increase the security level. The militants want to destabilise Tank to spread out to other areas of the province,” he said. “We could not sleep, there were so many rockets and mortars exploding from all sides,” Tank resident Noor Jan told Daily Times.
Police officer Noor Islam said that electricity supply to the city had been disrupted and the residents were staying indoors. Markets, schools, banks and government offices have also been closed, he added.
Islam told AFP that two unidentified bodies were found in the town’s bazaar, while two guards at local banks were also injured. Tank District Nazim Riaz Kundi blamed the instability in South Waziristan for the disturbance in Tank city. “We are on the border with South Waziristan where the security situation is not good,” Kundi told Daily Times by telephone. A police source said that two police stations, a paramilitary fort and branches of the MCB, UBL, ZTBL and NBP were damaged in the Taliban attack. “Several banks were looted and their record was burnt,” he added.
Meanwhile, AFP reported that militants had abducted Farid Mehsud, principal of the Oxford High School where a local Taliban leader was killed in a clash with the police, and his brother late on Tuesday. The principal had asked for police protection after local Taliban visited his school and others in a bid to recruit youth to fight jihad against NATO and US forces in Afghanistan. A local militant told The Associated Press that they were questioning the principal to determine whether he had alerted police about the presence of their associates at the school. “We will kill him if we find him guilty,” the militant said on condition of anonymity.
The militant who spoke to AP said those who fought the police in Tank were followers of Baitullah Mehsud. The man, who spoke by telephone, has regularly provided information on behalf of Mehsud.
This article starring:
BAITULLAH MEHSUD
Wazir Taliban
Farid Mehsud, principal of the Oxford High School
NWFP IGP Sharif Virk
Police Officer Mumtaz Zarin
Police officer Noor Islam
Tank District Nazim Riaz Kundi
Tank resident Noor Jan
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Oh, that Tank. I thought we were having another Kursk.
Militant leader Baitullah Mehsud has offered to support peace in Tank district, but expressed anguish that he was being suspected for every militant attack, a member of an all-tribes jirga said on Wednesday. “Baitullah Mehsud is angry at being accused of involvement in every militant attack,” Senator Saleh Shah of the MMA told Daily Times after meeting the Taliban commander at an undisclosed location in South Waziristan. "Oooooh! That makes me so angry!"
The jirga met Mehsud to seek his help in bringing normalcy to Tank city following a clash between militants and police on Monday. Shah said that Mehsud told the jirga that he would take action against the people who were bringing a “bad name for the mujahideen”. “Stop blaming me for all the bad things,” Shah quoted Mehsud as saying to the government through the jirga.
This article starring:
BAITULLAH MEHSUD
Wazir Taliban
SENATOR SALEH SHAH
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2007 00:00 ||
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He's a complicated man and no one understands him but his women...
#3
“Baitullah Mehsud is angry at being accused of involvement in every militant attack. He's so angry he's liable to attack somone.”
Posted by: Mike ||
03/29/2007 12:52 Comments ||
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#4
Or #3 could be restated as : " The Brother is angry at being accused and...the brother is so angry that the brother is liable to attack someone...."
Female seminary students raided an alleged brothel here and took three women and a six-month-old baby hostage, sparking a tense stand-off with the police and raising concerns about the “Talibanisation” of the country.
Following the raid on Tuesday night, police arrested two teachers of the Jamia Hafsa girls’ seminary. Stick-wielding students of Jamia Fareedia then detained two policemen and two police vehicles inside the Lal Masjid compound. The two sides later agreed to release the teachers and policemen, but the three women and baby were still held captive. The female students vowed not to release them “until they renounce prostitution”. The district administration said the students had picked up the mother, sister, wife and baby of a government employee from his home.
The students also demanded the release of Khalid Khwaja, a former ISI official, besides five allegedly missing students of the seminary. The district administration said they would be released within 15 days, if they were in the custody of security agencies.
Earlier, Jamia Fareedia head Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi set a 4pm deadline for the release of the teachers, failing which the students would launch a “jihad”. He said the girl students had been forced to take action against the “brothel” because police had refused to. He said they would take action against 22 other brothels in the city.
This article starring:
Jamia Fareedia
Jamia Fareedia head Maulana Abdul Rashid Ghazi
Jamia Hafsa girlsÂ’ seminary
Khalid Khwaja, a former ISI official
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
A more clever person could make a joke out of "Seminary" and "Brothel." I'm still not awake.
Money shot quotes: "A woman kidnapped by female seminary students and accused of running a brothel was freed Thursday after a hard-line cleric forced her to repent in public..."
and
However, she [ Aunty Shamim ] said she had "threatened to become a Christian" over her treatment by the students.
"I don't think Islam allows anyone to beat a woman and drag her through the streets like a dog"
MANAMA (Reuters) - The U.S. navy said on Thursday it had ordered an aircraft carrier to the Gulf to replace one of two patrolling the region, as the United States winds down naval war games on Iran's doorstep.
The Nimitz carrier strike group will sail from San Diego for the Gulf on Monday, a navy spokesman told Reuters, to replace the Dwight D. Eisenhower, as tensions mount between Iran and the West over captured British troops and Iran's nuclear program.
"She (the Nimitz) will deploy to the Gulf region. She is the relief for Eisenhower, who leaves and she replaces her," Lieutenant Commander Jeff Davis said by telephone from Naval Headquarters in Washington.
Strike groups typically include four or five frigates and destroyers and a submarine.
"You are looking at the early part of May that you would have the transition. It would be without any overlap. There is no plan to overlap them at all," he added. We'll see. I like how he had to say it twice
The Eisenhower and fellow carrier John C. Stennis took part in this week's U.S. war games, the largest in Gulf waters since 2003, when the U.S. led an invasion of Iraq.
The drills, which included anti-submarine, anti-surface and mine warfare drills, end on Thursday. For the first time since the Iraq invasion four years ago, two U.S. aircraft carriers were deployed in the Gulf.
Fifth Fleet spokesman Lieutenant-Commander Charlie Brown said there were currently no plans for more.
"We do not expect to have three carriers in the Gulf region ... but we cannot talk about future needs or future operations," he said. I'll bet he can't say much
Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the U.S. not to aggravate tensions with Iran with its naval presence in the Gulf.
#4
Typical at sea turnover between CVs is a couple of days: gear personnel and face to face meetings. So even if 'no overlap' is scheduled, that 'turnover' should be good for additional puckerations....
#10
Talked with a neighbor the other night. They were headed to CA to hug their young Marine goodbye. He is on the Richard Bonhomme, and I think it is still part of the Nimitz carrier group. They knew he was sailing on Monday.
He said he had been headed for Afghan, but had called last week, and said they were probably going to Iraq.
Funny part, I asked him how the new Marine (in almost a year, straight in from high school (his dream to be a Marine) was enjoying being a Marine.
He's had a hard time -- expected boot camp to be bad, but after that, well, wasn't as much "discipline" as he thought there would be! All smokin', drinkin' cussin' tatooin and roommate always has some chick in his bed!"
But, he's adapted, he now talks like all Marines! Embarrassing to his grandmother!
I sent a hug and words that he had lots of support back home. And not just from his family.
During a joint operation targeted at destroying an Islamic State of Iraq power base in the Diyala River Valley, Coalition and Iraqi Security forces discovered eight weapons caches, killed more than 25 anti-Iraqi forces and detained more than 15 suspected terrorists.
“The Iraqi Security Forces, with our support, will maintain an aggressive approach to operations in order to secure the population and defeat the terrorists. Working together, we are attacking the anti-Iraqi forces in their perceived safe havens,” said Col. David W. Sutherland, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division commander. “The ISF continues to improve as we conduct these operations together, and the people gain confidence in their security forces’ ability to take the fight to the enemy and secure the population.”
Soldiers from the 5th Iraqi Army Division, partnered with CF from 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, have unearthed eight caches to date, consisting of small arms munitions, more than 60 grenades, rocket-propelled munitions, improvised explosive device making material and other terrorist equipment.
“These terrorist supplies have been used by the terrorists to attack the ISF, CF and the local population in Diyala to destabilize the area. However, the initiative and ability to seize every opportunity to aggressively attack the terrorists will actually destabilize the terrorists,” Sutherland added.
The detainees have been transferred to the Forward Operating Base Warhorse detention facility for further questioning.
The operation, which began March 24, continues to destroy enemy safe havens and restore security to the people of the Diyala River Valley and Iraq.
BAGHDAD (AP) - Shiite militants and police enraged by deadly truck bombings went on a shooting rampage against Sunnis in a northwestern Iraqi city Wednesday, killing as many as 70 men execution-style and prompting fears that sectarian violence was spreading outside the capital.
The killings occurred in the mixed Shiite-Sunni city Tal Afar. The gunmen roamed Sunni neighborhoods in Tal Afar through the night, shooting at residents and homes, according to police and a local Sunni politician. Witnesses said relatives of the Shiite victims in the truck bombings broke into Sunni homes and killed the men inside or dragged them out and shot them in the streets.
Gen. Khourshid al-Douski, the Iraqi army commander in charge of the area, said 70 were shot in the back of the head and 40 people were kidnapped. A senior hospital official in Tal Afar, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of security concerns, said 45 men were killed.
Outraged Sunni groups blamed Shiite-led security forces for the killings. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office ordered an investigation and the U.S. command offered to provide assistance. Ali al-Talafari, a Sunni member of the local Turkomen Front Party, said the Iraqi army had arrested 18 policemen accused in the shooting rampage after they were identified by Sunni families. Shiite militiamen also took part, he said.
The revenge killings among Shiites in the religiously mixed city 260 miles northwest of Baghdad were triggered by truck bombings in Tal Afar on Tuesday that killed 80 people and wounded 185. Al-Douski said one of the trucks exploded after the driver lured people in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood to the site by telling them he was distributing free flour from a humanitarian organization. The bombing caused surrounding buildings to collapse, leaving huge piles of concrete and bricks dusted with white flour.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/29/2007 00:00 ||
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Dozens Killed in Revenge Attack in Iraq
Let's get one thing perfectly clear. If your murderous assault upon a rival clan does not involve a hereditery blood feud less than five centuries old it is, at best, merely a recent dispute worthy of small claims court and cannot possibly be recognized as any sort of valid "revenge attack".
In order to qualify as a true Revenge Attack™ the contested claim must center upon a half-millennia old dispute involving either the hair's-breadth loss of a prestigious camel race, a goat prized for its particularly intimate qualities or some infintesimally minute region of sand unique in its ability to soak up huge quantities of needlessly shed blood such that it might qualify at all. Any of the above must have happened at least five centuries ago to assert any possible claim in a court of Islamic law.
#2
It also must be added that any innocent blood relative of the offending tribe all the way out to a third cousin twice removed (age & sex irrespective of course) is a fair target.
#5
After the Death by Sewage incident I can say I officially no longer care what these savages do to each other. Provided we carefully restrict air travel and are thorough about bombing anything that uses electricity in their desert strongholds I see no impediment to allowing them to slaughter each other at will. In fact, I see a Running Man style reality tv opportunity for Chinese or Japanese markets; those countries being less dainty at enjoying the suffering of others than we have become.
#8
Wasn't this one considered to be an AQI operation? At this time, it may be impossible to prove but it sure reeks of their tactics. I dunno, I'd think by now the Sunni's would be getting tired of this shit.
Unidentified gunmen shot at a Hamas leader and his family during a car chase through Gaza City on Wednesday, injuring five people, including bystanders and a child, Hamas and hospital officials said. A sports utility vehicle filled with gunmen chased the car carrying Abu Salah Shinbari, a Hamas leader from the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, and his wife and two young children, witnesses said. The gunmen jammed Shinbari's sedan against a parked car and then riddled it with at least 10 bullets, they said. Shinbari's wife was seriously injured, his children were moderately injured and he was lightly injured, hospital officials said. A bystander was also injured. "We are investigating this serious incident," said Islam Shwhan, a spokesman for the Hamas militia. "This is part of the ongoing chaos in Gaza, and God willing, we are going to strip the masks away from those criminals."
Rivals from Hamas and Fatah repeatedly have fought each other for control of Gaza since Hamas won parliamentary elections last year. About 140 people have been killed in the fighting, which ended in recent weeks after the two sides agreed to form a unity government. Shinbari had been active during the fighting with Fatah.
This article starring:
ABU SALAH SHINBARI
Hamas
ISLAM SHWHAN
Hamas
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"We are investigating this serious incident," said Islam Shwhan, a spokesman for the Hamas militia. This is part of the ongoing chaos in Gaza, and God willing, we are going to strip the masks away from those criminals."
Hey, Islam. Ya dropped your mask.
Oh...thank you very much.
Suspected insurgents shot dead two people in two separate drive-by shootings in the South yesterday, as the junta leader claimed separatists had infiltrated villages across the Muslim-majority region and that some members of the Wahdah faction were behind the instability.
Speaking to reporters during his visit to a Songkhla private Islamic school, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin said insurgents have stepped up violent attacks since the September 19 coup and are trying to scare residents from co-operating with authorities through violent means.
Sonti suggested that members of the Thai Rak Thai Party's Wahdah faction were involved in the ongoing violence for political gain. His statement drew strong criticism from members of the faction, including former MP Najmudine Umar, who questioned the source of the information.
Meanwhile, in Pattani's Yarang district, gunmen riding pillion on a motorbike shot and killed Saengthip Chandira, 35, and severely injured his wife, Boonpha Khampaya, 31, who was sitting on the passenger side of a pickup truck. Militants left a note saying: "You kill innocents, we will kill you people from Mohmawee", a reference to a tambon in Pattani's Yarang district. The two victims are believed to have relocated some years ago from Khon Kaen in the north-east.
In a separate incident in Tambon Sathengnok of Yala's Muang district, Padej Kraireurt, 67, was shot twice and died on the way to the hospital. Padej was riding his motorbike when two gunmen drove up and opened fire. His wife, who was sitting pillion, survived the attack without injury.
In Songkhla's Saba Yoi district, more than 100 villagers staged a demonstration calling on authorities to release three suspected insurgents arrested earlier. Deputy commander of the Border Patrol Police 4th Region, Pol Colonel Somphong Kkonkaen, claimed that one of the three had admitted to killing an unspecified number of residents and village chiefs in the Sabai Yoi area.
An army ranger volunteer was injured from insurgents' bomb Thursday morning in the restive South. Police said Sakareeya Wadeng, a ranger volunteer, was wounded in Krong Pinang district of Yala at around 9.15 a.m. when he was patroling in the district. He was among 10 other volunteers patroling in the area when insurgents detonated the roadside bomb. According to police, the bomb was hidden in a pile of garbage and was detonated by remote control.
The Iranian hostage crisis took a sinister turn last night when Tehran withdrew an earlier offer to release one of the 15 captive sailors and marines and issued a second, strangely-worded letter in her name calling for Britain to withdraw from Iraq. The letter, signed by Leading Seaman Faye Turney, the only woman in the naval crew seized last Friday, was addressed to "representatives of the House of Commons". Although the letter was handwritten, it was stilted and lacked the personal tone of the first letter, sent to her family the day before. The second letter appeared to have been dictated to her.
Unfortunately during the course of our mission we entered into Iranian waters. Even through our wrongdoing, they have still treated us well and humanely, which I am and always will be eternally grateful," the letter said. "I ask representatives of the House of Commons after the government had promised this type of incident would not happen again why have they let this occur and why has the government not been questioned over this? Isn't it time for us to start withdrawing forces from Iraq and let them determine their own future?"
A Downing Street source said: "It is a disgrace. It is cold and callous to be doing this to a woman at a time when she is being detained in this way."
The letter was released at the end of a day of rising tensions and diverging negotiating positions. Tony Blair said he was still willing to put the whole incident down to a "misunderstanding".
"The important thing is we just keep making it very clear to the Iranian government it is not a situation that will be relieved by anything but the unconditional release of all our people," he said. "What we have to do in a very firm way is step up the pressure."
Last night the UN security council released a meaningless statement expressing its "grave concern" at the capture of the sailors and marines. However, the wording of the statement was weaker than Britain had hoped after council members, notably Russia, balked at a draft that asked for the Britons' immediate release and stated that the navy boats were in Iraqi waters. The UN moves were part of an ineffectual British effort focused on building international solidarity and isolating Iran. They lobbied the Axis of Evil the UN security council, the European Union and an Arab summit in Riyadh for statements criticising Iran's actions.
The Iranian response was to dig in. An offer of diplomatic access to the British captives and to release Leading Seaman Turney was dropped. The head of the country's national security council, Ari Larijani, told state television the British government had "miscalculated this issue, and if they follow through with the threats, the case may face a legal path", an apparent reference to a future trial.
Another Iranian news agency quoted the military chief, General Ali Reza Afshar, saying that as a result of Britain's insufficiently dhimmi "wrong behaviour" the release of the woman sailor had been "suspended", reversing an undertaking given the day before by the foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki.
Meanwhile, a coastguard officer appeared on television to deliver a rebuttal of Britain's account of Friday's incident, displaying a map and GPS monitors purporting to show that the British navy patrol had been in Iranian waters. In an interview with ITV News Mr Blair was asked directly about the treatment of Leading Seaman Turney, who is the mother of a three-year-old girl, and who was shown on Iranian television on Wednesday "confessing" to having entered Iranian waters.
The prime minister said: "I just think it's typical of Islam... a disgrace actually, when people are used in that way." He added: "The longer it goes on, the more the pressure will be stepped up. We are going to have to step up pressure, not just with them in the UN and the European Union, but see what further measures are necessary to get them to understand it's not merely wrong but [it's] only going to result in further tension."
#1
Oil must not be rising fast enough to suit them. I believe Iran is going to continue milking this until it no longer has an impact on the oil markets (becomes old news).
#2
In other words ... "further tension" actually benefits them. Their budget is dependent on oil revenue. This cranks that revenue up. China will sell them cheap goods no matter what the UN does. Russia will block any strong action too. They can milk this practically forever.
#3
I *really* wish the US wasn't such a crack whore when it came to oil. Our problems with Islam wouldn't go away - and Chavez would still be an a-hole. But somehow I'd feel better knowing I'm not contributing to some nutcase's nuke fund every time I fire up my car.
#4
RUSSIA-CHINA have both premised their future economic and geopol success on AMER GETTING STEADILY WEAKER, NOT STRONGER. nor even the post-Cold War/USSR "status quo".
#5
As mentioned earlier, Iranians lie, always have, always will. It's genetic. The answer is relatively simple. Revoke visas for all their UN delegates and toss them out of the this country ASAP. Not allowed back in the US ever.
24 hour notice NATO (attck on one is an attack on all) will destroy their gasoline refinery as a token gesture of seriousness unless the captives are released. Any harm to the captives it's blockade time and goodbye Mullahs. ( I kind of liked the trade for Jimmah Carter though, another Nobel Prize post mortem, would be acceptable)
Omar Bakri Muhammad, Briton's free-range Muslim terrorist has a sit down talk with other Islamic clerics. The animals know their quran.
This is completely chilling especially when the others start to talk about invading us with their "books, products, killing our women and children" and so on. Their intentions are clear. We humans in the west are their target. Spreading the blood moon goddess cult at all costs.
All I need is 5 minutes to work proper Crusader Jehad and the virgins would be wailing and nashing their teeth. Such a prize I'd send them, lol you'd hear them back here on Earth.
#2
"Including the Crusades" > so, iff I understand the video correctly, Amer has a de facto responsible role in the medieval Crusades even though neither Columbus nor the Pilgrims, etc. had founded America = North America then. Aside from indigens North Amer Indians, the closest ones would be the VIKINGS, whom were mostly enemies of Christian Europe, or alleged CHINESE TRADERS-EXPLORERS, whose Nord Amer exploration or discoveries are still contested/debated. THAT ONLY LEAVES SQUANTO AND SAMOSET, etc. and I don't think they were born yet, unles wanna blame the First Thanksgiving.
Iran dramatically raised the stakes today in its stand-off with the UK over the seizure of 15 Royal Navy personnel in the Gulf, saying that it had no intention of releasing a female sailor if Britain created a "fuss".
The hardline rhetoric from Iran came as Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, joined the diplomatic drive to win the release of the eight sailors and seven Royal Marines taken prisoner in the Shatt al-Arab waterway last Friday.
Britain yesterday froze all bilateral ties with Iran except for contacts directly related to the hostage crisis and has appealed for support to its allies and international partners. It insists that the group were conducting routine shipping in Iraqi territorial waters when they were seized and had not, as Tehran says, strayed out of them.
After Iran's promise yesterday that the female sailor would soon be released, a senior Iranian official said today that she would remain in captivity if Britain went ahead with its threat to freeze relations.
“We said that the grounds were ready for the release of a woman among the British sailors, but if we are faced with a fuss and wrong behaviour then this would be suspended and it would not take place,” Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and his country's top negotiator, told state television.
Increasing the tension, the Iranian consul in Bassra charged that British soldiers had surrounded his office in the southern Iraqi city this morning and fired shorts into the air in a "provocative act" that "could worsen the situation of the British sailors".
"British forces should rely on wisdom and not react because of the British forcesÂ’ detention. This reflects negatively on bilateral relations," said Consul-General Mohammed Ridha Nasir Baghban.
Britain denied the allegation. The Ministry of Defence said that the was an exchange of gunfire after UK troops on a foot patrol near the consulate building were ambushed.
#3
You know I have been all over the place on this issue and now I am not sure what to do. At first I thought that the Brits (or U.S.) should pick some naval port and just destroy it. Afterwards announce that if the Hostages are not released in 8 hours another facility will cease to exist. No I am of the thought that the Iranians aint winning any friends because clearly they are in the wrong. Expose them to the world and they will crumble from within.
#5
If an Iraqi prisoner has women's panties put on his head and a picture taken by American soldiers, it is called torture by the MSM. How come the MSM is not crying torture when a British soldier is forced to wear an Islamic head covering on TV?
Increasing the tension, the Iranian consul in Bassra charged that British soldiers had surrounded his office in the southern Iraqi city this morning and fired shorts into the air in a "provocative act" that "could worsen the situation of the British sailors".
"British forces should rely on wisdom and not react because of the British forcesÂ’ detention. This reflects negatively on bilateral relations," said Consul-General Mohammed Ridha Nasir Baghban.
In other words, the Persians are demanding they be given uncontested control of southern Iraq, or else the British hostages each get a bullet in the head. They're betting that Blair's government is just craven enough to hand the oil terminals and more than half of Iraq's massive oil reserves over to the ayatollahs. Now that would increase the price of [North Sea - Scotland] oil.
The video showed Turney in a head scarf and her uniform eating with other sailors and marines. Later, wearing a white tunic and black head scarf, she sat in a room before floral curtains and smoked a cigarette.
"Obviously we trespassed into their waters," Turney said at one point. "They were very friendly and very hospitable, very thoughtful, nice people.
Personally I think the idiot just wants a date with Rosie's tuna carpet. Absolutely pathetic.
#14
Icerigger, you are certainly entitled to your opinions but crude remarks about how others react in captive situations in MY opinion are gutless. On the other hand maybe you have some stories of how brave you were in a similar situation where you didnÂ’t compromise your integrity.
#15
Ice you idiot, it has already been stated that these troops don't have counter-interrogation training as they were never expected to require it.
They were simply told to say anything the would be required to say.
You my friend, are an idiot!
#16
What is going on? The brits send an unguarded patrol in an area disputed by Iraq and Iran just before de UN is suppose to put the screws on the Iranians.................somebody has any ideas........Besides the Iranians specialize in this kind of rogue behaviour.......foreign-diplomatic property doesn't mean ANYTHING to the Iranians.......
#17
Can we safely assume the British captives have had explicit orders about what to do and say if captured? If so, why criticize them? Particularly the only woman, who the Iranians have naturally focussed on.
#20
Ice I wouldn't pay attention to anything they say while in Iran. In hostage training they taught us to do exactly what they are doing. Go on TV and be seen. One it tells your government that you are in fact alive and it may indicate where you are being held. If you have the chance to make the bad guys life difficult (walk slow, act stupid, give slurred speeches) all the better, but the important thing is to not lose faith in your country. Trust me nobody will be under the illusion that you are happy that the Iranians rescued and spirited you away to their paradise society.
#21
It also helps, once released, to vigorously insist that statements made while captive were made under duress. It would also help if the news media would add a little coda, everytime footage of captives making statements to the camera is used, along the lines of "Presumably, these statements are being made under duress, and are furthermore a pack of lies". You know, to remind the clueless that such statements are being made under duress. It might also help remind people that MSM are not the willing flunkies of a concerted anti-Western propaganda effort.
Oh. Sorry. Forgot - they are.
#22
The apporpriate response has been suggested here and elsewhere:
Blair discreetly gives Amadinejad 48 hours to return all 15 prisoners. Failing that, GB simultaneoulsy blockades Iran and destroys her oil refineries. With an assist, if needed, from the true guarantor of Her Majestey's continued security and freedom, i.e. a former colony.
Next move then belongs to Iran. Escalate as needed.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
03/29/2007 14:24 Comments ||
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#23
I was watching her eyes while she smoked, she blinked: T H I S W A L L P A P E R I S T O R T U R E
#24
Personally I think the idiot just wants a date with Rosie's tuna carpet.
[homer]
Mmmmm! Tuna Carpet. Can I get that on Pumpernickel?
[/homer]
Posted by: Natural Law ||
03/29/2007 14:51 Comments ||
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#25
"...if Britain creates a 'fuss'"
Ummm, and what else would they do? I certainly have no qualms (none) about the UK fighting man / woman, they can be as hardcore and courageous as anyone else, but their leadership, Sr officers all the way to PM, suck elephant turds through soda straws.
May these brave soldiers return safely - so they help can dish out unfathomable pain to the Iranian Mullahs and their insane minions when the shit hits the fan.
#26
Sorry guys, some of you are right. My point was regardless of their lack of training why would she make such a ridiculous statement? She sure as heck didn't look scared. Maybe they were intimidating her. How knows.
Depot I can understand your outrage and I'm guess you have never been in a similar situation. In mid-March, 89 I was grabbed by several Pakistani military plain clothes dweebs.
I was in Islamabad taking photos during a military parade. They did the old interrogate, threaten, detain and rip out the film routine and left me with with a group of 20 others while the bad guys were going to their superiors. Everyone was armed. Luckily the morons got so interested in the parade they stopped watching me and I back out of the crowd and made my withdrawal back to a hotel. The whole thing didn't last that long the violence was pretty mild.
I was particularly pissed because several days before I'd got a photo of one of their Migs on the ground. Be it an old one but I still thought it was interesting.
Depot the funny part was when they were asking where I was from I said Minnesota. None of them wanted to admit they didn't know where that was and they stopped talking to me. Gutless? I don't think so Scooter. They can only kill you once and I eat Lutefisk, out of season.
My point while decidedly overblown was that what she did was stupid and counter productive to their situation and ran sadly parallel to Rosie's comments the other day. Unless they actually were in Iranian waters she should have refused to talk. But I don't know her, only her actions.
#27
How the hell would any sailor know where they are at any given moment ? The Stooges put an 'X' on the side of the boat. But that still doesn't give exact coordinates, and even so, what coordinates are where ? Only navigators and such know such things, and they work on the bridge, not in boarding parties.
#28
How the hell would any sailor know where they are at any given moment ?
GPS receiver. Apparently they had one that transmitted back to their ship (useful in a combat zone), and it stopped the moment they were captured. I've read speculation it was intentionally dropped into the water to keep the Iranians from getting hold of it -AND- the GPS keys in it.
And, yeah, she was almost certainly acting under duress. We're talking Iran; it should be obvious what she was threatened with.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
03/29/2007 17:21 Comments ||
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#29
We should deal with this via diplomacy. We should offer to exchange the British hostages for an American VIP. Perhaps Jimmy Carter could be of service to the country in this role.
#30
They won't free her if Britain makes a fuss. What kind of responsible government makes statements like that? Dealing with Iran is like dealing with a bunch of unfiltered adolescents.
#33
Who knows what was being done off-camera. Perhaps they had one of her co-hostages with a gun to his head.
Perhaps they threatened her with rape or worse. Islam does use rape as a tool of war.
Personally I think we should remove their only refinery (not take it out -- remove it entirely). To them we (Britain and US) are weak and a paper tiger. We need to show them we have a few teeth.
But then I'm not any sort of am expert like others here :)
Russia has reported increased US military activity in and around the strategic Gulf for the first time in four years after the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has declared that its territories are off limits to anyone for staging military or intelligence operations against Iran.
In a week of ominous developments, the most serious being the Iranian seizure of 15 British Navy personnel near the Shatt al Arab waterway that divides Iran and Iraq, a statement by UAE President Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan that his country would not allow its territories for operations against Iran assumes high significance.
US U-2 spy planes and F-16 and other fighter jets have been based in the UAE ever since the 1990 Gulf crisis over Iraq's occupation of Kuwait. Due to its strategic locations and ports within the Gulf as well as in the Arabian Sea, the use of UAE land, air and waters would have been of immense value to any strike force.
Actually, the US has used bases in all the six Arab Gulf states for operations in Iraq and, to some extent, also to support its and coalition troops in Afghanistan.
Although, all the six states -- Oman, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait -- have expressed unwillingness in the past for a military engagement with their immediate Shia neighbour Iran, this is the first time that one of them, the UAE, has flatly denied its territories to the US for military and intelligence operations against Iran.
In a major policy statement on the eve of Arab summit in Riyadh, Shaikh Khalifa disclosed that the UAE had sent a written communication to Iran to assure that 'we shall never allow the use of our soil for any military, security or intelligence activities against them'... Actually, this is probably a good thing, as they are the on far side of the Strait, and by announcing their neutrality, any effort by Iran to close the Strait would be an act of aggressive war. It sounds petty, but actually does mean something.
#2
This announcement was expected. Being close to the Iranian missile threat, 'canaries will sing to the nearest cage'. This opens up the prospect for the 'windfall' down the line when oil output will have to be increased to cover the Iranian infrastructure destruction by the US! Ie, the UAE could come out of this smelling like a rose!!
#4
Call me old fashioned but this entirely predictable announcement leaves me all the more anxious for the day when that Xanadu in Dubai is flattened by some WMD equipped Orc. Not that any of these little events will prevent UK industry from doing business there in the meantime.
#5
In a major policy statement on the eve of Arab summit in Riyadh, Shaikh Khalifa disclosed that the UAE had sent a written communication to Iran to assure that 'we shall never allow the use of our soil for any military, security or intelligence activities against them'...
In other words, they won't allow their soil to be used by those fighting against Iran. This is a "Please don't hurt us!" aimed at Iran, much like the Swiss neutrality during WWII when Nazi supply and troop trains transversed the country to the Eastern fronts every night.
#8
tw you are incorrect about Switzerland's role in WW II.
Armed neutrality as practiced in Switzerland requires that the country join neither warring party and fight either side should they attempt to use Switzerland in their war. It's a Monroe doctrine for a small island of freedom in the middle of Europe. For a country of a few million people, that's a lot more integrity and courage than what other European countries did. Swiss men spent years guarding the borders, while women had to run farming, factories, etc. The Swiss government repeatedly informed the Nazis that should they choose to invade Switzerland the Swiss would never surrender, would destroy all factories and rail lines, and thus would ensure that the cost of the invasion would be greater than any advantage Germany was hoping for. Italy tried to get weapons from Switzerland and the answer was "no". Not a single Jew was delivered from Switzerland to Germany. All the gold that Switzerland received during the war for payment of indirect trade between the Axis and Allies (much of it via Portugal) was delivered to the US at the end of WW II (without compensation). All the private wealth hidden by foreigners in Switzerland before and during WW II was returned to their rightful owners, in three major efforts -- when they could be found; the only blemish in that respect may have been that the Swiss government insisted it had no role to play in that, that it was purely a business activity on the part of financial companies. There was, however, a reason for this behaviour: the Swiss government had already been made to pay tribute twice to the US after WW II, and wanted to avoid any possible judicial inference of guilt at the State level.
By the way, when Senator d'Amato forced their hands a few years ago to reveal endless lists of owner names for "inactive" secret bank accounts, there was widespread panic across socialist European countries where some families had for decades been hiding old fortune from government. The Swedish government announced that it would carefully comb the lists, for instance.
Note that Switzerland, unlike the rest of Europe, has a systematically armed militia, and had for 150 years a constitution inspired by the American experience.
#9
tw, you may also want to look at a map and wonder why the Nazis would ever have wanted to transit via Switzerland on their way to the Eastern front...
#10
Kalle, I'm willing to concede that I was wrong about the destination of the Nazi trains. Sadly, I'm geographically retarded, which afforded my friends in Germany great amusement when I got lost on my way to their homes for tea.
However, what I know about the Nazi trains running through Switzerland at night (not an invasion, but free passage) was told to me by one of my German tutors, a lovely Swiss-German lady (who as a child was the patient of one of my mother's cousins, oddly enough) who was kept awake nights by those self-same trains running through her neighborhood in St. Gallen. In fact, the reason she emigrated to the States was her fury over the hypocrisy of the adults around her pretending they'd known nothing about things they'd been involved in arranging. As for the Swiss not turning over their Jews to the Nazis, that's true, but it was at the demand of the Swiss that the Germans added the designation "J" to the passports of their Jewish citizens, so the Swiss would know who not to allow to enter. I've several cousins who were barred entry at the Swiss border that way, at least one of whom ended up in Auschwitz. In the same vein, there are endless stories of Jews and non-Jews who made their way to Switzerland after the war to retrieve the money in their bank accounts, only to have the bank managers refuse to accept their identification... or the papers from family members documenting their deaths. That's why at least some of those numbered accounts were deemed inactive.
You'll take an anecdotal story over historical fact? there is zero evidence of trains transporting Jews across Switzerland. There was transport of goods across the country because Switzerland being neutral had to abide by all its signed treaties. That's a condition of neutrality -- not siding with or against either warring party. You do realize that Switzerland was entirely surrounded by Germany and its allies from June 1940 to August 1944? what do you suggest the country should have done? attack the Axis and commit suicide?
Switzerland --a country of 4 million at the time-- gave asylum to over 50,000 civilian refugees and interned more than 100,000 foreign soldiers, but 20-25,000 refugees were rejected at the border. While that meant sure death for most of them, what was the alternative for Switzerland? commit suicide in another form by opening its borders to anyone showing up there while in the middle of a continental war?
As for the infamous "J" -- so what? it wasn't Swiss diplomats who made the Nazis get to power in Germany, build concentration camps, and wage war across Europe and Africa, was it? or do you claim that Germany had no anti-Jewish discrimination or identification in place and got the entire idea from Switzerland?
As for the anecdotal rejection of identification papers -- you make it sound like a widespread problem in a fundamentally corrupt banana republic. It wasn't and it's not. Recourse to the law is very easy there. You're aiming venom at a whole country that refused to surrender to the Nazis, never rounded Jews up for delivery to them, and with a population that tried to help as many people as it could, within the limits of what was possible and what fears they had -- while food was rationed and all backyards in the country had to be used for gardening so they wouldn't starve.
tw, I always have great respect and appreciation for your comments, but in this case I regret to say not at all.
Posted by: Kalle ||
03/29/2007 18:04 Comments ||
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#12
For a country of a few million people, that's a lot more integrity and courage than what other European countries did.
Kalle, have you ever watched the Frontline report, "Nazi Gold? If you had, I don't think you would be so staunch in your defense of Switzerland's World War II role. They were up to their ears in collaboration with the Nazis and, despite previous gestures, have only of late begun to reveal the true extent of how they plundered the Holocaust's helpless victims.
December 1, 1997: The first interim report on the "Nazi gold" affair is released by a panel of historians (the Bergier Commission). It states that Swiss banks handled 76% of Nazi Germany's gold transactions amounting to $450 million. A portion of this had been looted. This Swiss government-appointed panel of Swiss and international historians is the first to put a figure on the amount of Germany's gold which Switzerland handled.
[emphasis added]
As to prisoner trains, there is ample proof of more Swiss collaboration:
To start, we found witnesses whose stories do support the charge that Italians were forcibly sent through Switzerland.
Elena Dreher, an Italian partisan, described her unit's attempts to stop freight trains loaded with people before they passed into Switzerland. She recalled how the Germans would round up Italians in towns and villages by offering free cigarettes to all men between 18 and 40. They would be arrested and shipped to Germany as slave laborers; many would be worked to their deaths. The partisans attempted to stop these transports and were occasionally successful in derailing trains before they reached the Swiss border.
Otto Frey, a Swiss railway supervisor told us how he helped arrange for trains with cattle cars full of Italians to be transported against their will through Swiss territory. He emphasized, "We were told to get the trains through Switzerland as quickly as possible." We heard similar accounts from five additional retired trainmen, including one description of a train that was stopped by rail workers within Switzerland, so the people inside could escape.
We found material in the U.S. National Archives on use of the Swiss rail system by the Germans. There were U.S. intelligence documents from the war which confirmed a massive amount of traffic through the Gotthard mountain passage between 1943 and 1944. German trains with coal and non-strategic supplies for Italy were passing through Switzerland at the rate of up to one every ten minutes. There have also been on-the-record accounts of hidden weapons and soldiers on the same route including a report by Jean Ziegler, a radical Swiss parliamentarian, who, as a young man claims to have witnessed a derailed freight train in 1944 with weapons and Nazi soldiers giving orders: an incident that, officially, never took place.
[emphasis added]
Dear trailing wife, please keep fighting the good fight. Never forget, never forget, NEVER FORGET.
This world is on the verge of another Holocaust and it calls upon those of us who honor memory of the Shoa's victims to never allow those who perpetrated this callous crime against humanity to shirk a scintilla of their guilt. Only by aggressively laying the blame upon those who collaborated in slaying so many helpless innocents can we hope that the world will recall this horrid catastrophe and seek to avert any repeat of it.
Islam's abject refusal to abandon its obsession with genocide against the Jews must have only one result, a Muslim holocaust. They deserve nothing less for their vile and murderous troubles.
#14
Yes, that documentary was all hear-say and framed to undermine the actual report that came out. BBC/PBS rhymes with CBS. You should know better than going by anecdotes, leftist hearsay, and political hysteria.
There is zero evidence of prisoner transport via Switzerland. It all went via Austria and France. If you have evidence saying otherwise, I promise there are countless Swiss historians who would be delighted to get their hands on what you have.
The Nazis are the ones who tried to exterminate all European Jews and waged war across Europe. To blame and denounce Switzerland as you and tw are doing is a fundamental injustice, massively dropping all context.
By the way, Ziegler is a known marxist who hates Switzerland (and America) with a passion. If you knew him you wouldn't pay anymore attention to what he says as one should to Medea Benjamin's idiotic rants.
Right, NEVER FORGET who actually killed Jews, who actually waged war against the rest of Europe -- and which countries actually didn't surrender and actually saved tens of thousands of Jews.
The Swiss-hatred on display is on a par with Bush-hatred. Please check your facts and premises.
Posted by: Kalle ||
03/29/2007 18:32 Comments ||
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#15
Do you understand what the word "collaborate" means?
Switzerland did NOT collaborate. This is beyond silly.
I'll say it once, politely: Calm down and study the facts.
Posted by: Kalle ||
03/29/2007 18:38 Comments ||
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#16
#5 You're thinking of Sweden allowing Germans transit rights during the later's invasion of Norway.
As to the dear Swiss, looky here (don't be put of be the site's name).
#18
Can't we just do it without any more holocausts?
I'd love to think that we could. However, there is zero reason for any optimism when it comes to Islam. Violence is the only deterrent that Muslims recognize. So long as the Koran's central doctrine pivots upon forceful global domination and enslavement of all Infidels, all I can forsee is a Muslim holocaust.
Darrell, what do you forsee for Islam? Do you actually think that, in its current form, Islam can be reformed or sufficiently subdued in a way that it will no longer pose a substantial threat to the remaining world? If you can just get over your false accusations of advocating genocide, I'm more than willing to engage you in honest debate regarding this. Islam desires genocide and that goal simply cannot be allowed. Violence is the sole instrument that functions in dealing with Islam. Not threats of violence, the Muslim death wish is far too strong for threats to have any effect. Only violence works to combat Islam. Given Islam's stubborn refusal to abandon its goal of genocide against the Jews, little alternative exists beyond physically eliminating all followers of violent jihad. I'm proud that America is making a last stab (as it were), at bringing freedom to the MME (Muslim Middle East), but it sure as Hell doesn't seem to be working too well, regardless of our noble intentions.
Islam absolutely will not brook the least idea of free thought, internal criticism, reformation or even the simple notion of peaceful coexistence. Given those basic facts, the prospects for Islam's continuing survival can only rate as rather bleak.
#19
We no more need to wipe out all of the Islamic world to protect ourselves and Israel than we needed to wipe out every last man, woman, and child in Japan to win WWII. Right now our biggest threats are AQ, the Iranian regime, and their proxies. As for Iran, I think I've been clear that in my opinion they've needed a devastating blow for a long time. But that doesn't mean an Iranian holocaust. That means turning their nuclear, missile, and general military capabilities to dust. Qom too. Repeat as necessary. No occupation desired.
#20
Darrell, all that you mention is short term in nature. I'm talking about the long term outlook for dealing with Islam. I've already made it clear elsewhere here about how Iran needs to be taken down and that it can be accomplished with conventional weapons for a host of good reasons.
None of this addresses what it will take to permanently neutralize the threat of Islam and its quest for global domination. Try to understand that I do notadvocate genocide. I predict it, which is another matter entirely. Until you or someone else can come up with compelling evidence that there is a way to subdue Islam's quest for global jihad without having to eliminate huge portions of its followers through violent means, my opinion will remain unchanged.
#21
"I do not advocate genocide. I predict it"
does not square with
"Islam's abject refusal to abandon its obsession... must have only one result, a Muslim holocaust. They deserve nothing less for their vile and murderous troubles."
You incite holocaust/genocide and then you slither away under the cover of "prediction".
#22
Not in the least. If Islam cannot abandon its obsession with genocide, its followers represent a constant and unchanging threat to this entire world. Eliminating that threat is an obligation to all sane people. To date, Islam continues to show no sign that it will reform itself or abandon violent jihad. Given that, only extermination will protect humanity from its threat.
Darrell, while you busily try to smear me, you have yet to deliver a single shred of evidence regarding how this world is supposed to coexist with Islam. Either do so now or be placed on "ignore".
#23
Okay, here's a "shred" -- I know several fine Pakistan-origin Muslim people who have lived and worked in this country for several decades and have no more interest in jihad or subjugating us than I, a Christian, have an interest in running off to Yemen as a missionary. They are good people who are able to ignore the violent aspects of the Koran. They work hard, they pay their taxes, they have good (western) educations and manners, and their kids have no interest in jihad or Pakistan. Go ahead, Zenster, kill them. You win.
#24
Darrell, last chance. Posit some way that Islam, in its present form, can be made compatible with the rest of this world or be permanently discounted. I could give a rat's ass about your Paki friends. I'm talking about untold millions upon millions of Muslims who have zero problem with their religion being violently forced upon the rest of this world. You still have yet to mention any way of dealing with this inconvenient fact. Instead, you keep trying to tar me with all your might. You come across like a nitpicking chump who points out someone's mismatched socks in an effort to distract attention from the fact that thay have no answers.
#25
Kalle, I said Nazi troop transport and supply trains. Not transport of Jewish prisoners. I don't hate the Swiss, not even those of my Swiss cousins who are a trifle annoying at times (I've cousins pretty much everywhere, it seems). Nor do I blame the Swiss alone. My mother and her grandparents had to go into hiding specifically because they wouldn't be able to exercise their American visas for a full decade; they only moved up the list to January 1946 because so many on the list had died. But it was a Swiss demand that caused the poisonously antisemitic Nazis to label passports with a J. The Germans hadn't yet thought of such a thing themselves.
I'm sorry. In many ways the Swiss (all four languages of them!) are a charming and admirable people. But not a perfect one.
gromgoru, I couldn't possibly be thinking of Sweden. Although I have cousins there, too, I know practically nothing about their part in the war. Perhaps if I have the opportunity to learn Swedish...
#27
I apoligize to fellow Rantburgers for being off topic here but I've had enough of Darrell's endless horse hockey.
Darrell, it is exactly as I thought, you are nothing more than a handwringer. You have no solutions or even any sort of approach to the real problems at hand. Instead, you have elected to constantly tar me when others here have even more extreme viewpoints. So be it. You are now on permanent "ignore".
It is your type that present one of the greatest dangers of all. Your type would dither endlessly when confronted with a critical decision point. Your type would get us all killed while you agonized over a difficult choice. You are also someone who criticizes without being able to do so constructively. By avoiding or refusing to engage in real debate you have rendered all of your arguments hollow. You are an intellectual coward and not worth any more of my time. Let this incident stand as proof of your inability to properly participate in any further discussion of Islam and the fight against terrorism. You are disgusting.
#29
Oh sure, have our protection against a dictator..that is now dead and you want let us destroy your next enemy with a little help from you. Turn that shit hole into glass also...
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
(Itar-Tass) - During the shootout policemen destroyed in downtown Nalchik an active member of illegal armed units 
A Tatarstan court has sentenced five men to prison terms of 11 to 19 months on charges of being members of a banned radical Islamic group, rights groups said Wednesday. 
Police arrested seven suspected members of ETA in the Basque Country on Wednesday. One was named as José Angel LerÃn, 36, from Pamplona, who has been wanted since the beginning of 2005. He has previous convictions for street violence and attacking a police officer, for which was jailed for three years. He was captured by police on Wednesday with a firearm.
A key piece of evidence in the case against alleged terrorism operative 
At least 25 militants and a paramilitary soldier were killed in a six-hour gunbattle in Tank early on Wednesday. A curfew was imposed in the city and the civil administration asked the army for help in keeping the Taliban from taking control of the city. “The (Taliban) attack was repulsed effectively,” 
Female seminary students raided an alleged brothel here and took three women and a six-month-old baby hostage, sparking a tense stand-off with the police and raising concerns about the “Talibanisation” of the country.
BAGHDAD (AP) - Shiite militants and police enraged by deadly truck bombings went on a shooting rampage against Sunnis in a northwestern Iraqi city Wednesday, killing as many as 70 men execution-style and prompting fears that sectarian violence was spreading outside the capital.
Unidentified gunmen shot at a Hamas leader and his family during a car chase through Gaza City on Wednesday, injuring five people, including bystanders and a child, Hamas and hospital officials said. A sports utility vehicle filled with gunmen chased the car carrying 
