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Today: 77 articles and 328 comments as of 9:36.
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Pakistan: Curb 'vice' Or Face Suicide Attacks, Mosque Warns
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
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Afghanistan
Taliban burn music shops in Khost
Taliban torched or damaged nearly two dozen music and video shops selling “un-Islamic” materials in a small town in eastern Afghanistan, an official said on Friday. The fundamentalist rebels also left leaflets warning that merchants in Alisher in Khost province will be “badly punished” if they do not stop selling CDs and DVDs, police official Wazir Badshah said. “The enemies came and burned down some nine music shops and destroyed the doors of 12 others. They’ve also dropped leaflets in the area threatening to punish people selling musical materials,” Badshah said. He said the act was aimed at creating fear amongst residents and to show the weakness of the government of US-backed President Hamid Karzai.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If they'd come over here and burn the RIAA buildings, I'd be seriously conflicted.
Posted by: Jackal || 04/07/2007 11:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Remember this, the 'c' is silent in rap.
Posted by: Almost Anonymous5839 || 04/07/2007 12:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Let's see...no bacon, no beer, no music, no Roberta Haynes posing on a ladder with those outrageous legs of hers. Now, why do I want to be a Muslim?
Posted by: Elmereter Hupash6222 || 04/07/2007 16:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Well, you get to kill people and blow things up. If you're male, you can treat your property any way you want. If you rape someone simply make sure there are 3 or fewer moslem males, or bribe some to reduce the number.
Posted by: Jackal || 04/07/2007 20:52 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan: Four Dead In Suicide Bombing
(AKI) - A suicide car bomber hit a police checkpoint near the parliament in Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Friday, killing four people, including a policeman who tried to stop him, police and witnesses said. At least four other people were wounded in the attack in Darulaman Road, in western Kabul, the capital's police chief Esmatullah Dawlatzai told reporters at the site. "It was a suicide attack. The attacker exploded his car when a policeman tried to stop his vehicle,'' he said, quoted by Pakistan's Geo TV.

The pieces of the vehicle were strewn around the road, and charred remains of the bomber were covered by plastic and white cloth in at least two places nearby. Windows of the nearby buildings were shattered.

Police closed down the road, and officers were collecting pieces of the vehicle and those of the bomber. No one immediately claimed responsibility.

Last week four people died in a blast near Kabul's main market during the morning rush hour, in one of a series of attacks in recent weeks. Friday's attack is the third in Kabul this year.
Update: death toll now six.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Taliban Take Over District In Zabul Province
(AKI) - The Taliban have seized control of the Afghan district of Khak in the province of Zabul, Gulab Shah Alikhail, spokesman for provincial governor, told China's Xinhua news agency. More than 100 fighters took part in the attack in the centre of the district which lies about 65 kilometres from Qalat, capital of Zabul province. Local police forces were forced to withdraw from the district centre. Reports say that the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), is verifying the information. The seizure of the district comes as the ISAF and Afghan troops are involved in a major offensive launched last month in the nearby province of Helmand, where rebels have held a small town for nearly two months.

Meanwhile in a separate attack also in Zabul province, between the capital Qalat and the district of Mizan, militants attacked a construction site, killing five guards and injuring another four, according to Gulab Shah Alikhail, spokesman for the provincial governor.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Horn
Ransom paid: Somali pirates free Indian crew
DUBAI: An Indian-flagged vessel with its 14-member crew, which was hijacked by pirates off Somalia, has been freed after a USD 45,000 ransom was paid to the captors, maritime sources in Dubai said on Saturday. The vessel MV Nimatullah was hijacked by the Somali pirates last week off the port of Mogadishu.

Basheer Khalid Moosa, who charted the vessel to Mogadishu from Dubai, said his agents paid the ransom. "The pirates had demanded USD 50,000 but settled for USD 45,000," he was quoted as saying by Khaleej Times.

MV Nimatullah is currently docked in Mogadishu port and will set sail for Dubai after clearing the cargo, Moosa said, adding the crew members were all safe and healthy.

The pirates in Somalia had hijacked another UN-charted vessel, MV Rozen, on February 25 this year. This vessel is still missing.
Posted by: John Frum || 04/07/2007 11:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Algeria cracking down on Al-Qaeda
Algerian troops backed by helicopter gunships have carried out their biggest offensive in years against armed groups, after a reported increase in attacks.

Al Jazeera reported that thousands of troops have been carrying out assaults in the mountains and forests in the east of the country for more than a week. "We are waging the counter-terror fight without let-up," Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the Algerian president, told El Pais, a Spanish daily newspaper, a few days before the military campaign began last month.

Newspapers have reported the aim is to kill or arrest fighters behind the attacks, which are said to be linked to Al-Qaeda. Diplomats say the goal of the military operation is to cut ties between Algerian groups and people among North African communities in Europe seeking to attack Western targets.

"The time for the hand of friendship policy has reached its limits. I believe there's a shift in the government approach towards giving the fight against insurgents more muscle," Anis Rahmani, a security analyst who edits the Ech-Chorouk daily, said.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Tunisian court convicts 5 men of terrorism
A Tunisian court on Friday convicted five men of terrorism-related charges and handed them sentences of up to 28 years in prison, their lawyer said.

The court sentenced computer expert Mohamed Moncef Baghdadi to a total of 28 years in prison in two separate cases. In one, he was charged with belonging to and collecting funds for a terrorist organization, said his lawyer, Samir Ben Amor.

Prosecutors said Baghdadi raised money to send recruits to Algeria to join Al-Qaida in North Africa, formerly known as the GSPC, or the Salafist Group for Call and Combat. Two others were also sentenced to 10 years in prison in the case.

In a separate affair also tried Friday, Baghdadi was convicted for training in explosives-making, a skill prosecutors said he had hoped to use in Iraq after joining up with insurgents there, the lawyer said. Another man was also handed a 16-year sentence in that case. In a third case, student Mehdi Mabrouk was sentenced to seven years in prison for planning to join Iraq's insurgency, Ben Amor said.
This article starring:
his lawyer, Samir Ben Amor
MEHDI MABRUKal-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
MOHAMED MONCEF BAGHDADIal-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
Al-Qaida in North Africa
Salafist Group for Call and Combat
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Eight Kurdish activists imprisoned
Turkey sentenced eight Kurdish political activists to three years and nine months imprisonment on Friday. Turkey's court official said they were sentenced for aiding armed Kurdish rebels in southeast Turkey. The eight were from the Democratic Society Party (DTP), the main Kurdish party in Turkey.

The try against them started after a militant from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) implicated them in his testimony. Although they rejected the charges, the court found them guilty of "aiding and abetting a terrorist organization". The sentence is to be appealed in the future for the PKK militant who accused them in the first place later retracted his testimony.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Pakistani army secures Uzbek militants' stronghold in S. Wazoo
The Pakistan army moved into a known stronghold of foreign al Qaeda militants near the Afghan border after a tribal militia battled the Islamist militants this week, residents and officials said on Saturday. Pakistani troops were deployed on Friday evening in mountainous Shin Warsak, about 10 km (6 miles) west of South Waziristan's main town of Wana. It was the first movement of Pakistani troops outside Wana in the tribal region since the government struck a peace deal with tribal elders in February 2005.

Military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad said the troops moved into Shin Warsak to provide security to the people and were not involved in the fighting. Shin Warsak, Azam Warsak and nearby villages saw heavy fighting in 2004 after the Pakistan army launched a major offensive against jihadists commanded by Tahir Yuldashev, head of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Yuldashev, who is accused of a series of bomb blasts in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, in 1999, is at large but believed to be still in the region.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/07/2007 16:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Six killed in naxal attack in Jharkhand, twenty die in Tamil Nadu explosion
RANCHI: Six persons, including two CISF personnel, were killed and six others injured when naxals launched attacks on a CISF picket at Khasmahal coal project in Bokaro district and a police station, a senior police official said on Saturday. The two CISF personnel received fatal bullet wounds in the attack on Friday night on the picket near the project under Gandhi Nagar police station of the district, Superintendent of Police Priya Dubey said.

Four civilians died when the Maoists fired at Kurpania Bazaar nearby, the SP said. Two other CISF jawans and four other civilians were injured in the attack.

The Maoists, who exploded landmines at several places to create panic in the area, also tried to storm the Gandhi Nagar police station but the police repulsed their move. Both the security personnel and the Maoists traded several rounds of bullets.

A cleaner of a dumper was injured when a separate group of extremists exploded a landmine in an attempt to blow up a bridge leading to Khasmahal to stop police movement.

Soon after the attack, the Bokaro SP rushed to the spot with reinforcements. The encounter lasted till the early hours. The injured were being treated at a nearby hospital.

20 killed, 18 injured in car explosion in Tamil Nadu

NEW DELHI: The Union Home Ministry is in touch with the Tamil Nadu government following the death of 20 people in a car explosion in Villupuram on Saturday. An MHA spokesman said senior officials in the Home Ministry were in touch with state government officials and trying to find out the details of the incident.

At least 20 people were killed and 18 injured, some seriously, when a car believed to be carrying "some explosive substance" blew up at Senthur village near Villupuram.
Posted by: John Frum || 04/07/2007 11:07 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Naxals, why do they hate us ?
Posted by: wxjames || 04/07/2007 12:57 Comments || Top||

#2  May not be Naxals in Tamil Nadu may very well Tamil Tiger reprisals for India's sitting on the sidelines.
Posted by: Rightwing || 04/07/2007 16:05 Comments || Top||


Blasts damage 'un-religious' activity site
An explosion at the Peshawar bus terminal in the Gulbahar area on Friday damaged a Quetta-bound vehicle, but caused no casualties, while unidentified assailants exploded two bombs at the site of a mela scheduled for today in Dera Ismail Khan. The Gulbahar police moharrar, Amir Siaf, told Daily Times that the blast took place at around 12:15am, partially damaging a vehicle. Peshawar SSP (Operations) Muhammad Iftikhar told Daily Times that the blast was part of the series of recent explosions aimed to terrify the city’s residents.

Meanwhile, the blast in Dera Ismail Khan damaged the site of the mela. “The assailants also left pamphlets calling the mela an un-Islamic activity, and warned the people to stay way or face such blasts,” said police.

Every year, residents of DI Khan organise the mela in which they play traditional games like kabaddi and horse racing. Draband police official Faqir Mohammad said the bombs exploded at around 12:30 am, damaging the site in the Kalo Qalandar area on Draband Road.

On Thursday evening, a blast in front of the City Girls College in the Hashtnagri area damaged the college’s wall and injured worker Niaz Ali Shah, said sources, but Hashtnagri police said the blast injured two men – Ahmad Saeed and Muhammad Yasin. NNI adds: Separately, a blast in the Bahzadi Chakkarkot area of Kohat on Friday damaged a music shop. Cantt police said two men planted a bomb at a music centre in Bangesh Plaza and they had been arrested.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There's a lot of good material to work with in this article. The Cantt Police, or the Wontt Police?

And what's up with bombing the City Girls College? I guess that really messed up the Delta Delta Delta reunion (tri-delt joke anyone?) I guess someone got pissed the burka wasn't covering their sexually provocative nostrils or whatever.
Posted by: covertfloridian || 04/07/2007 10:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Now you're just being silly, covertfloridian. Everyone knows nice girls only leave home to travel to the house of their new husband on the wedding day. Why on earth would they go to college for that? ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/07/2007 11:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Let's see...no beer, no bacon, no music, no horse racing, no college girls, no sexually provocative nostrils, no Roberta Haynes posing on a ladder with those outrageous legs of hers. Now, why do I want to be a Muslim?
Posted by: Elmereter Hupash6222 || 04/07/2007 16:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Of course, they probably wouldn't like Rantburg either.
Posted by: Elmereter Hupash6222 || 04/07/2007 16:40 Comments || Top||

#5  And they definitely would not like the Rantburgers who would shoot back at them.

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 04/07/2007 19:02 Comments || Top||


20 more killed in Wana gunbattle
Authorities imposed a curfew in Kurram Agency on Friday following sectarian violence in which three people were killed, and the army was called out to control the situation, said officials. FATA security chief Arbab Arif confirmed that a curfew had been imposed, and said the political administration had told him about a single casualty so far.

However, hospital sources said that three people were killed and 13 injured when Shias were attacked in an imambargah in the morning. AFP quoted an administration official as saying that trouble erupted when Shias staged a demonstration outside their mosque against local Sunnis who allegedly chanted anti-Shia slogans during a religious rally last week. Reuters reported that 20 people had been injured in gunbattles between Shias and Sunnis. “There is curfew in Parachinar city,” said a security official. A resident of the area where the imambargah is located said, “The situation is still tense ... sporadic firing can still be heard.”

Agencies add: Meanwhile in Wana, pro-government tribesmen stormed key bunkers occupied by foreign Al Qaeda militants on Friday, killing around 20 people, said security officials. In the major assault, the tribesmen overran several bunkers held by Central Asian rebels. “Some 20 bodies were found lying there before dawn, and more casualties were feared as the fighting continued throughout the night,” said a security official. Sporadic gunfire continued on Friday morning. Residents said the dead in the clashes overnight included seven tribesmen. Meanwhile, ISPR Director General Major General Wahid Arshad said that army troops had been deployed to Shin Warsak to tighten security, but they were not taking part in the fighting.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Kashmir Korpse Kount
SRINAGAR, Kashmir - Two suspected Muslim militants and a soldier were killed in separate gunbattles in India-administered Kashmir on Friday, officials said.

One rebel was killed after a night-long encounter in state capital Srinagar’s Nishat area. ‘A gunfight began late last night after militants hurled grenades and opened fire on security men raiding a house on a tip-off,’ a police officer said on condition of anonymity. ‘One militant was killed. Two other militants managed to flee from the scene,’ he said adding that the identity and group affiliation of the militants was being ascertained.

In another incident, security forces shot dead one rebel in the Anantnag district, 50 kilometres south of Srinagar. An Indian Army soldier was also killed in the gun battle.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Whoa - I'm back on this site after a long absence. Damn, when did that neighborhood go down the drain? I suspect it was the "suspected Muslim militants".
Posted by: covertfloridian || 04/07/2007 0:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Damn, when did that neighborhood go down the drain? I suspect it was the "suspected Muslim militants".

Kashmir Korpse Kount Konniptions

Dead jihads are a'clogging every drain system from home to Himalayas, covertfloridian.

In fact nite soil lines from small homeys up to the Great Mother of all Sh&t Storm Drains are packed full from five consecutive J & K Dreaded Spring-Offal-Ofensives. [tec speak]

List of the Jammu and Kashmir cloggers
Jaish-e-Mohammed (Army of the Prophet) and Lashkar-e-Taiyaba (Army of the Pure)
Lashkar-e-Omar (LeO)
Lashkar-e-Jabbar (LeJ)
Tehrik-ul-Mujahideen
Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF)
All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC)
Mutahida Jehad Council (MJC)

India is waitng for sum Big Dig skim $$$ left over from Teddy Kenedey's pork projects. They'll use em for the Big Flush in J & K 2007-2008.
Posted by: Red Dog || 04/07/2007 3:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Time for some draino then. Hey isn't that Jabbar group a rip-off something in Star Wars? These guys really need to grow up.
Posted by: covertfloridian || 04/07/2007 9:36 Comments || Top||

#4 

Women protesting at Ishbar Nishat in Srinagar against the arrest of a youth after an encounter on Friday. Counter-insurgency force SOG personnel and CRPF men killed three militants in the encounter. Police claimed the militants belonged to Jaish-e-Mohammad. — Photo: Nissar Ahmad
Posted by: John Frum || 04/07/2007 11:22 Comments || Top||

#5  4 militants killed in Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Four militants, including two Pakistanis, and an Army havaldar were killed in two separate encounters in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.

Two police personnel were injured and a large quantity of arms and ammunition recovered.

In the first encounter, a 14-hour gun battle between the security forces and militants began when the forces cordoned off Gousia Colony in Nishat area on the city outskirts following a tip off, Deputy Inspector-General, Central Kashmir Range, Farooq Ahmed told The Hindu. The forces finally zeroed in on the house of Ghulam Mohammed Bhat at midnight and the militants were asked to surrender. "Instead, they opened indiscriminate fire on the security forces," Mr. Ahmed said.

Before the flushing out operations began, the house owner and his neighbours were shifted to safer places. Jointly launched by the 19 Rashtriya Rifles, the 2 Para, 112 and 122 battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force and the State police, the operation — supervised by Mr. Ahmed — concluded at about 2.30 p.m.

Three militants, including the divisional commander of the Al Badr, were killed. While the Al Badr militant was identified as Aamir from Pakistan, the other two were identified as Rameez Malla from Litter in Pulwama district and Irfan.

Rameez, according to the DIG, was a freed militant of the Hizbul Mujahideen but had taken to militancy again and joined the Al Badr.

The operation was conducted with surgical precision with no civilian casualties. There was minimal collateral damage. Three AK-47 rifles along with a large quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered, he said.

A group of women staged a demonstration in protest against the re-arrest of Rameez and the damage caused to two houses.

In another encounter, a Hizb militant Mohammad Ibrahim was killed at Sangam Bijbehara. Troops from the 16 Madras regiment, 1 and 3 Rashtriya Rifles, besides the CRPF, cordoned off a house in the area. Army havaldar Ram Chandra was seriously injured in the operation and later died in hospital.
Posted by: John Frum || 04/07/2007 11:24 Comments || Top||

#6  Welcome back, covertfloridian. How long has it been, and were you under the same name then?
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/07/2007 11:26 Comments || Top||

#7  ahhh the Islamic Boil On the Ass Of The World™ erupts once again
Posted by: Frank G || 04/07/2007 13:00 Comments || Top||

#8  Meanwhile..



An Indian army doctor examines an elderly Kashmiri Muslim at a medical camp organised by the Indian army in Mujpather, 45 km (28 miles) west of Srinagar, March 31, 2007. Apart from launching combat operations against rebels in the Himalayan region, the Indian army is organizing medical camps and other activities for the welfare of the locals, especially needy and poor, an Indian army officer said.
Posted by: John Frum || 04/07/2007 13:49 Comments || Top||

#9  Back in Delhi...

img src=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/169/389376118_6b17f8442a.jpg>

61st Cavalry Regiment of the Indian Army at Sunrise
Posted by: John Frum || 04/07/2007 13:58 Comments || Top||

#10 
Posted by: John Frum || 04/07/2007 14:01 Comments || Top||

#11 


Indian soldiers in Kashmir. Three suspected Islamic militants and an Indian army officer were killed Tuesday during a gunbattle in the north of Indian-administered Kashmir.(AFP/File/Tauseef Mustafa)
Posted by: John Frum || 04/07/2007 15:25 Comments || Top||

#12 

Indian soldiers patrol the Siachen Glacier near the Forward Logistics Base (FLB), a key coordinating point for troops manning the northern part of Siachen, Kashmir.
Posted by: John Frum || 04/07/2007 16:24 Comments || Top||

#13 

Indian Navy commandos patrol Wullur lake in Kashmir

Posted by: John Frum || 04/07/2007 16:31 Comments || Top||

#14 

An Indian Air Force plane takes off in the mountainous Kashmir region from the village of Leh. All flights must pass through a narrow ravine shortly after take-off, or before landing, making for a spectacular departure/arrival. On side of this ravine is the Indian Air Force motto chalked out for all to witness.
Posted by: John Frum || 04/07/2007 16:34 Comments || Top||

#15  Thanks for the pix, John Frum. I especially like the one with the Indian Army doc working with the Muslims. I know they gotta kill the bad guys but winning hearts and minds is a better long term strategy.
Posted by: Elmereter Hupash6222 || 04/07/2007 16:49 Comments || Top||

#16  Yeah John Frum - cool pictures, thanks. Out of all of our allies in the war against Islamic fascism, I know the least about the Indian military.
Posted by: ryuge || 04/07/2007 21:07 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Reuters notices chlorine gas attacks
A truck bomb exploded in the volatile Iraqi city of Ramadi on Friday, killing at least 15 people and releasing chlorine gas into the air, police and security sources said. There has been a spate of chlorine truck bomb attacks in recent months, mainly in western Anbar province. Ramadi is the capital of Anbar, stronghold of the Sunni Arab insurgency and a haven for al Qaeda.
Not that it's news to Rantburgers, but because Reuters finally noticed.
U.S. commanders and Iraqi police have blamed al Qaeda militants for several of the chlorine attacks.

Chlorine gas was widely used in World War One but its use in insurgent attacks in Iraq has particular resonance there. Saddam Hussein attacked Kurdish areas with chemical weapons in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war.
Next step: to remember that using war gasses for any reason is a war crime. But at least they acknowledge it's occurring.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/07/2007 16:24 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Not much gets past those vigilant and professional Reuters newshounds, eh?
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 04/07/2007 19:46 Comments || Top||

#2  "U.S. commanders and Iraqi police have blamed al Qaeda militants for several of the chlorine attacks."

Notice the use of 'blamed' in the text above. As if Al Qaeda was entitled to the benefit of a doubt - its reputation at stake. This is all of a piece with the MSM softening facts into 'accusations' or 'claims' or 'blame'.
Posted by: WTF || 04/07/2007 19:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Good catch, WTF. Although the softness is ameliorated by the previous paragraph, wherein it's noted that the chlorine truck bomb exploded in Ramadi, stronghold of the Sunni insurgency and a haven for AQ. So clearly somebody bad did it, even if Reuters isn't quite certain who. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/07/2007 20:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Don't forget they also like to use the word 'alleged' ....just in case there's a Scottish Law Not Proven Specter out ther.
Posted by: Solomon Flolush2771 || 04/07/2007 20:51 Comments || Top||

#5  The retaliatory use of chemical weapons is not a war crime. Just a thought.
Posted by: Jackal || 04/07/2007 20:54 Comments || Top||

#6  So, the cowardly hypocrites finaly noticed, did they? How nice.

Next step: to remember that using war gasses for any reason is a war crime. But at least they acknowledge it's occurring.

Sorry. Won't happen untill they figure out how to blame it on us/Bush/Joooos/etc.

The cowards are afraid that if they say anything bad about the muzzies, they will get attacked. Which they will also blame Bush for.
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for N guard || 04/07/2007 21:58 Comments || Top||

#7  Convention agains't Chemical Weapons.
Article I
GENERAL OBLIGATIONS

1. Each State Party to this Convention undertakes never under any circumstances:

(a) To develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile or retain chemical weapons, or transfer, directly or indirectly, chemical weapons to anyone;

(b) To use chemical weapons;

(c) To engage in any military preparations to use chemical weapons;

(d) To assist, encourage or induce, in any way, anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Convention.

2. Each State Party undertakes to destroy chemical weapons it owns or possesses, or that are located in any place under its jurisdiction or control, in accordance with the provisions of this Convention.

3. Each State Party undertakes to destroy all chemical weapons it abandoned on the territory of another State Party, in accordance with the provisions of this Convention.

4. Each State Party undertakes to destroy any chemical weapons production facilities it owns or possesses, or that are located in any place under its jurisdiction or control, in accordance with the provisions of this Convention.

5. Each State Party undertakes not to use riot control agents as a method of warfare.
Posted by: Caesar Glemp7672 || 04/07/2007 23:30 Comments || Top||

#8  War Crimes Helmuth, speaking for the N guard ..Oh yeah I think this qualifies; next question, who will likely enforce it? Not the raving moonbats in the MSM.
Posted by: Caesar Glemp7672 || 04/07/2007 23:34 Comments || Top||

#9  Correction, will the MSM make a stink about it, probably not. Your comments also noted too Jackal.
Posted by: Caesar Glemp7672 || 04/07/2007 23:36 Comments || Top||


U.S. Warplanes Attack Shiite Militiamen
U.S. warplanes attacked suspected militiamen wielding shoulder-fired rockets Saturday in the second day of fierce fighting against Shiite gunmen south of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi officials and witnesses said.
warms the cockles, donnit?
At least one civilian was killed and five were seriously wounded when an American tank fired on their house in Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad, Iraqi police and hospital officials said. The victims were pulled from the rubble and evacuated to Diwaniyah hospital, police said.
"civilians" huh? thanks AP
The U.S. military had no immediate comment Saturday on any casualties among civilians or soldiers in Diwaniyah.

In Baghdad, two American soldiers were killed and seven were wounded by two separate roadside bombs Friday. One U.S. soldier was killed and four were wounded in an attack with an armor-piercing explosively formed projectile, or EFP, the military said in a statement.
another "gift" from the dinnerjacket?
The U.S. has blamed Iran for supplying Shiite militias in Iraq with the powerful weapons, which hurl a molten, fist-sized copper slug capable of piercing armored vehicles. Saturday's statement did not say whether the soldiers were on foot or in a vehicle. Another roadside bomb killed an American soldier and wounded three Friday in western Baghdad, the military said.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Frank G || 04/07/2007 11:16 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  seized a robot used to explode roadside bombs

Note to manufacturer either add a self-destruct or Taser functionality
Posted by: 3dc || 04/07/2007 12:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Bomb-disposal robots are typically really "waldoes", not robots. That is, they don't really operate on their own in the traditional sense of a robot. So if they seized one, they took something with either a cable or radio connection to its controller, and a camera on it.

If it's radio-operated and has a camera...
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 04/07/2007 13:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Abu Baraa al-Libi, a little-known junior al-Qaida leader, was killed in a raid in Ghazaliyah

heh abu ignominious

Posted by: RD || 04/07/2007 16:21 Comments || Top||


Militias in Diwaniyah Engaged After Local Tips
FOB KALSU, Iraq - Fixed wing aircraft conducted an air strike against armed militia men in Diwaniyah April 7. Iraqi Army and coalition forces as part of Operation Black Eagle used a strategic air strike to defend against illegally armed militia men using shoulder-fired rocket propelled grenades.

IA personnel were informed by local residents, through a tip line, of militia men employing RPGs in the area.
Militia generally means Mookie's boys; interesting even they are no longer always 'swimming in the sea of the common people.'
IA made positive identification of the militia men and called for the air strike.

The incident highlights the growing confidence the people of Diwaniyah are having with the Iraqi Security Force as seen in this indication of popular support through use of the local tip line.
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/07/2007 11:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Additionally from CentCom regarding Diwaniyah:
"A facility was found where several explosively-formed projectiles
(indicating an Iranian connection) were in several stages of production. Four EFPs were assembled in the facility and secured. EFP-making materials were also found and secured.
Two other locations were found containing homemade explosives."
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/07/2007 11:23 Comments || Top||

#2  The incident highlights the growing confidence the people of Diwaniyah

It also points to the disenchantment with the Al Qaeda thugs
Posted by: Captain America || 04/07/2007 17:03 Comments || Top||


Iraq official: EFP bomb killed Britons
BAGHDAD (AP) - The Basra police commander on Friday said the roadside bomb used in an attack that killed four British soldiers had not been used in southern Iraq before, and his description of the deadly weapon indicated it was a feared Iranian-designed explosively formed projectile.

The U.S. military has claimed Iran is supplying Shiite militia fighters in Iraq with explosively formed projectiles, known as an EFP. They hurl a molten, fist-sized copper slug capable of piercing armored vehicles.

The Basra region police commander, Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Moussawi, said two similar bombs had been discovered Friday morning; one was discovered on the road leading to Basra Palace, the compound that houses a British base and the British and U.S. consulates. A second was uncovered in the western Hayaniyah district where Thursday's attack occurred. The area is known as a stronghold of the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

The British patrol struck a roadside bomb and was hit by small-arms fire early Thursday in the southern city of Basra, British military spokeswoman Capt. Katie Brown said. The explosion created a 9-foot crater in the road.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Isn't it about time EFPs started to kill IRG forces inside Iran? Just saying, Iran isn't the only country capable of designing, building, using these. Give em to the Anti-Mullah rebels (even as distasteful as those groups are to us) to use
Posted by: Frank G || 04/07/2007 7:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Frank G, for several good reasons we do not sponsor or condone terroists. It may be painful to endure, but we are gonna have to put up with it untill our political masters decide to do regime change in iran.

We do sponsor honest insurgencies (sp?) however. But the insurgents better at least go thru the motions of observing the outlines of our laws of warfare. The insurgents have to have a realistic chance of sucess, and have a plan for ruling that includes more than oppression and looting the national treasury.

Terrorists, OTOH meet none of the above critera.

Besides-- when it comes to bombing, shooting, killing and breaking stuff, its more fun to do it your self. Plus, you get to do it right. Proxies never get it just right.
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for N guard || 04/07/2007 9:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Plus, you get to do it right. Proxies never get it just right.

Yep, then the Treasury's loot is YOURS, not theirs. (Rather obvious.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 04/07/2007 10:03 Comments || Top||

#4  well, "Helmuth", we typically call them "freedom fighters" - I was thinking more of Kurds in Iran than the MEK
Posted by: Frank G || 04/07/2007 10:14 Comments || Top||

#5  While striving (and succeeding) to avoid harming non-combatants is a criterion, Helmuth, your others simply are not. To apply pressure and pain to an enemy like Iran we're not limited to proxies that are more pure than even the US military in their performance. The specific hypothetical in question - EFPs directed against IRGC personnel inside Iran - doesn't raise any issues of the sort you list.

I say "yes" to the "or" question - proxies or do it yourself? The starting point should always have been an extremely harsh and relentless hunt for Iranian agents inside Iraq - and of course those working with them. The Irbil 5 should have been the all-over-Iraq-1,000, starting probably two years ago, if not sooner.

Political issues in arresting/killing folks connected to a sovereign govt. in Iraq? OK. They'd have put up with it, just as they've been putting up with lots of things they don't like from us, every day, before and after June 2005. Besides which the optics of confronting Iran helps with Sunnis and many more educated urban Shi'a.

In this case satisfaction of Frank G and others here, and national objectives, are in perfect harmony. Hurting Iran and their proxies in Iraq both protects our forces and Iraqis and would likely affect Iranian behavior. They'd be unlikely to be steadfast when, finally, they're hit, and hit hard.

Posted by: Verlaine || 04/07/2007 10:56 Comments || Top||

#6  I guess I skipped a few thoughts. One additional consideration is that regimes like Iran, Saddam's Iraq, and most of the other members of the U.N. Human Rights gaggle do not respond well to indirect pressure applied to their general population.

You have to hit the regime directly to modify behavior. Preferaby with high explosives. (i.e. libya) If you use a proxy that primarily attacks civilians, the rulers of these hell-holes will not care. After all, peasants and cannon fodder are a renewable resource.

As for the EFP's, I take it as a good sign. The AIF are having to import munitions. Back in 2005, it seemed that every time we turned around, we found a pile of arty shells that were being used for assorted IED's/VBIED's. Toward the end of our tour in 2005, we were just seeing the first EFP's.

It is interesting that the brits are just now getting hit with the stuff we've been dealing with. V, do you have any additional info you can put out here?
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for N guard || 04/07/2007 11:40 Comments || Top||

#7  OK, but that's why I first said:

Isn't it about time EFPs started to kill IRG forces inside Iran?
Posted by: Frank G || 04/07/2007 11:45 Comments || Top||

#8  One other thought-- It would seem that one of our objectives in regime change(tm) is to set up a gov't that will not cause us trouble. This usulay is labeld as "democratic and Relatively un-corrupt" by us. Sometimes it even matches the label.

That was what I menat with my criterion about more than oppression and looting the national treasury.
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for N guard || 04/07/2007 11:47 Comments || Top||

#9  I'm extremely curious as to how the families of these dead soldiers feel about the conciliatory attitude being shown Iran in the face of its hostile acts. Now that they've been freed, maybe those overly-cooperative fifteen soldiers could come up with some consoling words for these bereaved families. Although I'm obliged to wonder just how well received such a demonstration would be.
Posted by: Zenster || 04/07/2007 11:51 Comments || Top||

#10  Frank, the IRG are cannon fodder. Politicaly relaibe, but still cannon fodder. The ordinace needs to be killing mullahs, not cannon fodder.

I seriously doubt we can find a group that will attack the Mullahs. The Mullahs are just too tough a target for your insurgents. So we will have to do it ourselves, after we exhust all other alternatives.
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for N guard || 04/07/2007 11:53 Comments || Top||

#11  the Mullahs respond to power and money - they have assets, remove em. I understand that Rafsanjani owns a Mercedes dealership (how holy!)...be a shame if it burned to the ground... I agree that taking the fight directly to the Mullahs is a better way, but as you note, it's not easy
Posted by: Frank G || 04/07/2007 12:02 Comments || Top||

#12  So we will have to do it ourselves, after we exhust all other alternatives.

Weren't "all other alternatives" exhausted back in 1979? Tyrannies have no sovereign rights. It is a tremendous flaw amongst leaders of the free world that they persist in needlessly according any respect or recognition to scum like Iran's mullahs, Mugabe, Kim Jong-il, Assad or any of the other two-bit shitheads that make a pretense of governing.
Posted by: Zenster || 04/07/2007 12:13 Comments || Top||

#13  All governments are not equal, for this reason we should disolve the UN, and form a democracy only organization. We don't need to pretend to 'talk' to the bloodthirsty dictators of the world.
Posted by: wxjames || 04/07/2007 13:03 Comments || Top||

#14  Sending an aerial message to G'Daffy got his attention, for a while. Same with the MMs. Taking out their assets and families will send a message. You hurt us. We hurt you 10x. This Shiite has been going on for almost 30 years. So we wait for an atomic bomb to start the cleanup? The MMs are saying "We will produce a nuke and we will destroy you." The EUniks are saying, "We think that your rhetoric is a bit harsh. Can't we just talk and settle our differences?" Dinnerjacket and the MMs need to be personally hurt to get the message across. They do not give a rat's behind about their people or forces. They are pawns. Just look at what happened to them during the Iran-Iraq war. Thousands and thousands mowed down, for nothing. Dinnerjacket and the MMs need some direct pain, covert or overt. Then this crap will stop. The latest Brit hostage crisis was just Jimmah---Teheran Lite. There will be more if we don't deal with it now.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 04/07/2007 13:15 Comments || Top||

#15  You hurt us. We hurt you 10x.

Nothing will change until this is a blanket policy for all Muslim attacks on the West. Disproportionate retaliation is one of the only ways get their attention. Islam must be made to feel our pain so acutely that every terorist atrocity brings on another wave of Muslims slitting jihadist imams' throats.
Posted by: Zenster || 04/07/2007 13:31 Comments || Top||

#16  The ordinace needs to be killing mullahs, not cannon fodder.

We can do both, you know. Lotsa concentrated targets every Friday...
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 04/07/2007 13:48 Comments || Top||

#17  Helmuth, Speaking for N guard

Gimme just a sec to find my DeLameter.
Posted by: gromgoru || 04/07/2007 15:26 Comments || Top||

#18  We won't be able to get a handle on the MME until Qom and Riyadh are nuked into glass. These two locations supply the money, direction, and intensity to all jihad movements, and only their total destruction will put an end to that sponsorship. Wipe out the house of Saud, divide Saudi Arabia between Jordan and Kuwait, and let both know that if they get "uppity", the same thing will happen to them. Let the Persians and their fellow-travellers decide for themselves whether we need to make a second attack, and where. LET THE WHOLE DA$$$D WORLD KNOW THAT WE WILL DESTROY THOSE MAKING WAR AGAINST US, USING ANY AND ALL WEAPONS AT OUR DISPOSAL, AND WE DON'T GIVE A RAT'S A$$ WHAT THEY THINK. This "we need to be liked" crap is just that - unadultrated, unrefined male bovine feces, cubed.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 04/07/2007 21:56 Comments || Top||

#19  Gimme just a sec to find my DeLameter.

I wondered when somebody was going to catch that.

Any lensmen out here? I have something for youuuu...
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for N guard || 04/07/2007 22:02 Comments || Top||

#20  We won't be able to get a handle on the MME until Qom and Riyadh are nuked into glass. These two locations supply the money, direction, and intensity to all jihad movements, and only their total destruction will put an end to that sponsorship.

Islam's current course sure makes it seem so. I'd love to think there were any alternatives. I'm no longer so optomistic. Reformation just doesn't seem to be isn't in the cards and that's a death knell for Islam. Can't say I'll maiss any of these rotters, that's for sure.

This "we need to be liked" crap is just that - unadultrated, unrefined male bovine feces, cubed.

Better to be feared than liked, or however Rantburg's motto goes. We've tried the "being liked" ploy for the last several decades and all there is to show for it is a smoking hole in New York City. Enough of this shit.
Posted by: Zenster || 04/07/2007 23:58 Comments || Top||


Curfew imposed on Diwaniyah
Security forces imposed a curfew on the central Iraqi city of Diwaniyah on Friday amid ongoing Iraqi military raids and clashes with insurgents. The curfew began at 5:00 am (0100 GMT), with only security forces and gunmen visible on the streets after daybreak, an AFP correspondent said.

Iraqi troops conducted house-to-house searches, made arrests, clashed with gunmen and called in an air strike after sealing off four neighborhoods in central Diwaniyah late on Thursday, the correspondent said. Sporadic clashes continued in the center of the city after daybreak with heavier fighting reported in northern Diwaniyah. A witness told AFP he saw the bodies of five gunmen and dozens more wounded.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


US refuses to intervene in Iraqi death sentence
A federal appeals court refused to intervene Friday in the case of a US citizen facing a death sentence in Iraq for his role in the kidnapping of three Romanian journalists in Baghdad.

A three-judge panel said it is unable to step into the case because Muhammad Munaf was convicted by an Iraqi criminal court. Courts in the United States have "no power or authority" to intervene in a case brought by an Iraqi court of nationwide jurisdiction and administered by the government of Iraq, wrote Judge David Sentelle of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Sentelle noted that Munaf is held in Iraq by US military personnel, but they are part of a multinational force authorized by the UN Security Council in coordination with the Iraqi government.
This article starring:
Judge David Sentelle
MUHAMAD MUNAFIraqi Insurgency
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "A three-judge panel said it is unable to step into the case because Muhammad Munaf was convicted by an Iraqi criminal court..."
...and he's got a funny name.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/07/2007 0:34 Comments || Top||

#2  If this is the same case, it was an absolutely unbelievable combo of staged kidnappings leading to an actual abduction leading to all kinds of trouble, a grim version of a 1960s comic movie featuring all the great comic actors of that era, with an unfunny ending. I remember a US official recounting the story to a rapt mixed audience including senior embassy folks and the CO of detainee ops.

Or perhaps it's another case ....
Posted by: Verlaine || 04/07/2007 1:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Kind of a good case in a sick way though, b/c we don't want them US courts exercising jurisdiction over what our military does oversees.
Posted by: covertfloridian || 04/07/2007 1:29 Comments || Top||

#4  Also, this is a message (though one that will be totally ignored) to other nations: "We don't meddle in what your courts do, so don't try to meddle in ours..."
Posted by: M. Murcek || 04/07/2007 8:41 Comments || Top||

#5  Why would we want to intervene? He's convicted of kidnapping (journalists, but the good kind), he got the death sentence, and his name is Muhammed.
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/07/2007 9:53 Comments || Top||

#6  hmmm, too bad he's not an illegal so the Mexican government could try to get him back since they don't believe in the death penalty.

Just sayin'
Posted by: Jan from work || 04/07/2007 11:48 Comments || Top||

#7  Covertfloridian,
The US courts do retain jurisdiction over the US military.
It's Muhammed Munaf, not the US military, that is charged with an offense in this case.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 04/07/2007 11:52 Comments || Top||

#8  Muhammed Munaf, (wipes tear from face), we hardly knew ye.
Posted by: wxjames || 04/07/2007 13:07 Comments || Top||

#9  Just reading the perp's name zeroed out my sympathy meter on the spot.
Posted by: Zenster || 04/07/2007 13:22 Comments || Top||

#10  how do the reg courts of the US retain rights over te military courts? if they do what is the point of milktary courts?
Posted by: Kojo Crack8514 || 04/07/2007 20:05 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas chief vows no compromise

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Hamas's exiled leader Khaled Meshaal vowed Friday that his organisation would continue to resist Israel and would not compromise its claims to all of historical Palestine.
Keep up the struggle my brothers! I will feast on room service tonight in honor of you!
Speaking from Damascus by telephone, Meshaal addressed thousands of Hamas supporters who had gathered in the West Bank city of Ramallah to mark the third anniversary of the deaths of former Hamas leaders Abdel Aziz Rantissi and Ahmed Yassin, who were killed by Israel within weeks of each other in 2004.
Good times...good times.
"Hamas will not back down. We will not give up on a single metre of our homeland," Meshaal said to thunderous applause."We will and we must continue in the path of resistance," he added.
So get used to drowning in raw sewage and not getting paid. Know that I'll be watching it all on Damascus Action News and ordering up more room service. And maybe a massage...in honor of you all, of course.
Earlier this year, in a bid to end a Western-lead aid boycott, Hamas formed a unity government™ with the rival Fatah faction loyal to president Mahmud Abbas. Israel and the West, however, say they remain unconvinced the new government meets international demands for acceptance, including recognising Israel and renouncing violence.
Jeez, can't imagine why...
The crippled and charismatic Yassin founded Hamas in 1987 and remained its spiritual leader until he was killed in an Israeli air strike on March 22, 2004 after praying in a Gaza City mosque. Rantissi, his successor, was killed just four weeks later on April 17, in a second Israeli air strike in Gaza City.
Hot enough for ya, boys?
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fatah, Hamas....let's you two fight it out to the death. I'll get the popcorn. Lots of butter and salt, too.
Posted by: Mac || 04/07/2007 1:03 Comments || Top||

#2  "Hamas will not back down. We will not give up on a single metre of our homeland,"

Like all Palestinian leadership, Meshaal is willing to fight to the last drop of everyone else's blood.
Posted by: Zenster || 04/07/2007 11:09 Comments || Top||

#3  The hands in the picture seem to say to me:

"One the one hand, we want to kill the Jews, on the other hand, we want to kill the Jews."
Posted by: WTF || 04/07/2007 12:36 Comments || Top||

#4  No compromise - too bad Western politicians don't feel the same way about aid to the Paleo terrorist govt.
Posted by: DMFD || 04/07/2007 19:20 Comments || Top||

#5  I find it exceedingly curious that the West thinks compromise is possible with an enemy who absolutely will not. Meshaal desperately needs to take his richly deserved place on that poster with Yassin and Rantissi.
Posted by: Zenster || 04/07/2007 19:53 Comments || Top||


Hamas and Fatah Clash in Gaza Strip
Hamas and Fatah forces clashed on Friday in the Gaza strip wounding two fighters and a young boy. The gun fight broke out in the town of Khan Younis and at least one member of the Hamas and one of Fatah were wounded as a result of the fight. A hand grenade also slightly wounded a young boy, and the house of a Hamas member was torched.

Meanwhile in the West Bank city of Ramallah 2,000 Hamas supporters rallied in memory of Hamas leaders who have been killed by Israel.

Despite the formation of a unity government on March 17 tensions between the two factions is still escalating. Palestinian Prime Minister and a member of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh accused the United States of fuelling tensions by not lifting the economic sanctions. “The banks refused to deal with us and still refuse to deal with the government because of American gang-like actions,” Haniyeh said. Ismail Haniyeh told reporters that his cabinet will hold a meeting on Saturday to discuss new security plans for stemming factional violence.

The leader of the Palestinian authority Mahmud Abbas is seeking ways to free an Israeli soldier, who was seized by Palestinians last June in a cross border raid in Gaza. “We are undertaking efforts to free Gilad Shalit and these efforts will soon come to fruition”, Abbas told France 24 television.
This article starring:
Gilad Shalit
ISMAIL HANIYEHHamas
Mahmud Abbas
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Paleo definition of unity is as warped as everything else they touch. Murderous cretins all.
Posted by: Mac || 04/07/2007 8:29 Comments || Top||


Palestinians honor leading martyrs
Palestinians carrying banners rallied in the streets of Ramallah to honor their martyr's on Friday. Thousands of Palestinians carrying the Palestinian and Hamas flag rallied in the streets of the West Bank city of Ramallah to remember their martyrs killed by the Zionist Regime forces thorough out the years.

Hamas leaders Abdel Aziz Rantissi and Ahmed Yassin and other militants killed were especially honored during this event. Throughout the years thousands of Palestinians have been killed by the Zionist Regime. Hamas's exiled leader Khaled Meshaal vowed today that his organization would continue to resist Israel and would not compromise its claims to all of historical Palestine.
This article starring:
ABDEL AZIZ RANTISIHamas
AHMED YASINHamas
KHALED MESHAALHamas
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yeah, but you left out Ali Kaboomi who was killed in a Paleostinian work accident.

No virgins for him either.
Posted by: WTF || 04/07/2007 20:07 Comments || Top||


Palestinian gunmen wound Fatah official
Palestinian gunmen ambushed a top union leader as he drove in the Gaza Strip on Friday, moderately wounding the man before fleeing in his vehicle, officials and relatives said.

There was no claim of responsibility for the shooting of Ghassem Bayrie, head of the 45,000-member national Palestinian labor union. But Bayrie is a prominent Fatah loyalist in the Gaza Strip and has feuded with the rival Hamas movement in the past.

Palestinian police said Bayrie, 50, was driving in a union minivan with his family when they were ambushed. Bayrie was shot in the leg, and the entire family was forced out of the vehicle before the gunmen sped away. Union spokesman Rezek Bayrie, brother of the leader, said the shooting was part of the "lawlessness and ongoing anarchy" in Gaza. "This is a crime and the authorities and the government must act to end this," he said. "We are not accusing anyone except the enemy of our people."

Bayrie has been an outspoken critic of Hamas and is close to Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan.

During a recent wave of infighting over the winter, Hamas militants attacked union offices and destroyed the union's radio station, accusing it of inciting against the group. Hamas has also accused Bayrie of corruption.
This article starring:
Ghassem Bayrie
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How is it that these violent goons barely manage to inflict even a flesh wound upon each other, yet need only a moment's notice to snuff a straying female relative?
Posted by: Zenster || 04/07/2007 12:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Is that a trick question?
Posted by: Steve White || 04/07/2007 16:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Trick question, BGO (Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious), conundrum, enigma.
Take your pick.
Posted by: Zenster || 04/07/2007 17:33 Comments || Top||


IDF arrests six terror suspects in West Bank
IDF soldiers arrested six terror suspects overnight Thursday throughout the West Bank. Two Hamas fugitives, two Islamic Jihad fugitives, and a suspect whose affiliation was unspecified were apprehended near Ramallah. Near Hebron, a sixth suspect was arrested. Meanwhile, shots were fired at troops operating near Nablus. None of the soldiers were wounded and no damage was caused.
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Oy ve. Now that's what I call "Shalom in the Home" on Discovery.
Posted by: covertfloridian || 04/07/2007 0:38 Comments || Top||

#2  and a suspect whose affiliation was unspecified

Lordy, does it realy matter? "Yarr, I be a Pali, lets kill sumfin!"

Comparing these guys to Orcs, or Khornate Berzerkers is more apt than you know.
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for N guard || 04/07/2007 10:03 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
For Iran, seizure pays
Posted by: Gromoting Uneaper6788 || 04/07/2007 01:12 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is what I suspected the reason being. The price of oil was in the low 50's prior to this little action. The MMs needed a chunk of cash to pay off the Russkies (and others) for some 'work' they're having them do. "Let's create an incident". It won't be the last as long as they can get away with it. It's easier (almost) than an ATM.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 04/07/2007 9:13 Comments || Top||

#2  It was never about 'Sovereignty'. It was just about the cash.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 04/07/2007 9:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Just one more reason why Iran needs to suffer some "seizures" of its own.
Posted by: Zenster || 04/07/2007 11:03 Comments || Top||

#4  That article is a bit off in one respect. It assumes Iran is making $3/bbl on every barrel it produces when it is making $3 on each bbl it SELLS. Iran might produce 3.8 million bbl/day but as far as I know, they export about 2.5 million bbl/day.

Still, the point is correct. Iran is directly profiting from the event.
Posted by: crosspatch || 04/07/2007 11:10 Comments || Top||

#5  Funny how the "no blood for oil" crowd once again overlook any war-profiteer provided they are islamic war-profiteers.
Posted by: Excalibur || 04/07/2007 12:16 Comments || Top||

#6  Aside from the Iranian regime's financial and propaganda gains, I am sure that Ahmadinejad and the mad mullahs also felt great glee in the humiliation of a Western nation.

The captured British sailors disgraced themselves during the media spectacle of their release, smiling and thanking the Iranians and accepting gift bags(!)

The behavior of the British public in welcoming them back as virtual heroes was very disturbing as well. It struck me as almost a celebration of victimhood.

Iran has even made further gains in the gullible Western mass media, which is now presenting their leadership as flexible negotiators and ignoring mounting evidence of Iran duplicity and concealment:

http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6072
Posted by: Grumenk Philalzabod0723 || 04/07/2007 15:40 Comments || Top||

#7  I wouldn't mind the behavior of the sailors and marines so much if we could just bomb the crap out of Iran now. Another thing that would be slightly satisfying would be for a change in the ROE ordering our forces to blow Iranian vessels out of the water if they cross into Iraqi waters so that no more incidents can take place.
Posted by: Elmereter Hupash6222 || 04/07/2007 17:03 Comments || Top||

#8  That was the day before Iran seized the HMS Cornwall, a British frigate the Iranians charge had strayed into their territorial waters, and its 15 sailors and marines.

The author's also clueless about what actually happened claiming the Cornwall itself was seized. Of course, something on that scale might be next on the mad mullahs agenda.

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 04/07/2007 18:59 Comments || Top||


Good morning
Taliban Threaten To Kill Interpreter Of Freed ItalianPakistan: Curb 'vice' Or Face Suicide Attacks, Mosque Warns20 more killed in Wana gunbattleHezbollah: Captives treated humanelyHamas chief vows no compromiseUS refuses to intervene in Iraqi death sentenceTunisian court convicts 5 men of terrorism
Posted by: Fred || 04/07/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I Wana say that I'd rather kill them in Trashcanistan (keeps the kill-ratio kind of high if you know what I mean)
Posted by: covertfloridian || 04/07/2007 0:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Oh Man ! I love fishnets....think she's getting ready to change a light bulb?
Posted by: Warthog || 04/07/2007 10:25 Comments || Top||

#3  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0371536/

Roberta Haynes

Overview
Date of Birth:
19 August 1929, Wichita Falls, Texas, USA more
Trivia:
Measurements: 35-24-34 1/2 (measured in 1953),
Posted by: covertfloridian || 04/07/2007 10:32 Comments || Top||

#4  Red on red is almost as satisfying, with no effort on our part, covertfloridian. I just made up a fresh batch of buttered popcorn -- please help yourself. ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/07/2007 11:18 Comments || Top||

#5  She looks - - - tense! Maybe a warm oil back rub would help me - er- Her! That's what I meant to say! Her!

Texas, huh? They grow 'em big down here! She's ogival and spathic!
Posted by: Almost Anonymous5839 || 04/07/2007 12:02 Comments || Top||

#6  Wait'll she gets her Haynes on me. Whoo-hoo!
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 04/07/2007 14:18 Comments || Top||



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On Sale now!


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.
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2007-04-07
  Pakistan: Curb 'vice' Or Face Suicide Attacks, Mosque Warns
Fri 2007-04-06
  12 killed in Iraq Qaeda chlorine attack
Thu 2007-04-05
  50 more titzup in Wazoo festivities
Wed 2007-04-04
  Iran deigns to release kidnapped sailors
Tue 2007-04-03
  All British sailors confess to illegal trespassing
Mon 2007-04-02
  Democrats To Widen Conflict With Bush
Sun 2007-04-01
  Wazoo tribesmen attack Qaeda bunkers
Sat 2007-03-31
  Japan sets up missile defence shield near Tokyo
Fri 2007-03-30
  Abdur Rahman, Bangla Bhai stretchy neck
Thu 2007-03-29
  Arab League unanimously approves Saudi peace plan
Wed 2007-03-28
  US starts largest exercise since war
Tue 2007-03-27
  Hicks pleads guilty
Mon 2007-03-26
  Release Sufi Muhammad in 72 hours or Else: TNSM
Sun 2007-03-25
  UNSC approves new sanctions on Iran
Sat 2007-03-24
  Iran kidnaps Brit sailors, marines

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