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Arab FMs urge immediate Leb presidential election
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
10 00:00 DMFD [4] 
48 00:00 JosephMendiola [5] 
4 00:00 Bugs Hupusose2306 [3] 
13 00:00 Frank G [8] 
2 00:00 g(r)omgoru [4] 
7 00:00 trailing wife [6] 
7 00:00 Solomon Ulereque3409 [4] 
5 00:00 Threack Brown4380 [4] 
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Page 2: WoT Background
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4 00:00 Redneck Jim [2]
4 00:00 Alistaire Spaigum7294 [3]
10 00:00 JosephMendiola [4]
10 00:00 ed [2]
12 00:00 JosephMendiola [3]
1 00:00 Chusong Grundy6409 [2]
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4 00:00 mojo [3]
2 00:00 JosephMendiola [3]
1 00:00 g(r)omgoru [2]
3 00:00 Old Patriot [2]
18 00:00 trailing wife [5]
1 00:00 gorb [2]
2 00:00 M. Murcek [2]
3 00:00 Icerigger [2]
4 00:00 Chusong Grundy6409 [2]
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2 00:00 Fred [3]
7 00:00 Pappy [3]
Page 3: Non-WoT
4 00:00 Grumenk Philalzabod0723 [3]
4 00:00 Chusong Grundy6409 [4]
12 00:00 mom [3]
24 00:00 Alaska Paul [7]
13 00:00 Grumenk Philalzabod0723 [3]
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8 00:00 Grumenk Philalzabod0723 [2]
Page 4: Opinion
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18 00:00 eLarson [3]
18 00:00 Old Patriot [3]
6 00:00 tu3031 [4]
1 00:00 Spot [3]
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
2 00:00 trailing wife [4]
2 00:00 Ptah [4]
2 00:00 tu3031 [3]
8 00:00 JosephMendiola [6]
14 00:00 Sock Puppet of Doom [6]
17 00:00 N guard [5]
10 00:00 smn [3]
4 00:00 Whomong Guelph4611 [3]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Islamonline asks readers - Does "How to Behead" poem make "you feel ?"
How to Behead

Hold him
Tie the arms behind his back
And bandage his legs together
Just by the ankles
Blindfold the punk
So that he won't hesitate as much
For on seeing the sharp pointy knife
He'll begin to shake
And continuously scream like an eedyat
And jiggle like a jelly
Trust me–this will sure get you angry
It’s better to have at least two or three brothers by your side

Reading the poem above, what do you feel? Do you feel instigated to commit an act of terror, or do you feel disgusted?

Spit
Posted by: Icerigger || 01/07/2008 09:48 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  I envision this poem being read to a room full of jihadi beatniks in berets and bomb belts who snap their fingers when it's over and say "Heavy, man."
Posted by: Jonathan || 01/07/2008 13:22 Comments || Top||

#2  only possible answer
Posted by: 3dc || 01/07/2008 14:16 Comments || Top||

#3  It makes me think Canada's Human Rights Commissions need to be deluged with suits against the people who write snuff poetry.
Posted by: Excalibur || 01/07/2008 14:31 Comments || Top||

#4  Reading the poem above, what do you feel? Do you feel instigated to commit an act of terror, or do you feel disgusted?

Neither, I feel the "Artist" should be heavily seated, confined to a 6X6 room, and hungby the neck until dead (No Drop), either that or be forced to participate in a live demonstration, as The beheaded "Participant".

Comment, when given two unpleasant choices, think of a third, fourth, etc. Do NOT fall into this trap of only using the choices provided.

Remember the old question
Did you beat your wife again this morning, answer yes, or no.
Either answer makes you confess to beating your wife, whether or not that's true.
AVOID TRICK QUESTIONS.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/07/2008 14:43 Comments || Top||

#5  This poem (actually the poem is longer than what is posted above) is an issue in a criminal case in England.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=3970719&page=1
Posted by: mhw || 01/07/2008 16:39 Comments || Top||

#6  Thanks M. The link takes you to the full poem, if you can call it that. It's by Samina Malik who called herself a "lyrical terrorist." What is very troubling is that she works in a store in London's Heathrow Airport. Nah, no chance that could be a problem. Atually is sounds like the Minneapolis airport as far as the number of Muslims there.

Her friends set up Web sites and blogs condemning her arrest and deliberately tried to provoke authorities by downloading al Qaeda manuals and outlining methods to kill President Bush with depleted uranium bombs

The hard thing the MSM is going to have with this (as if they would cover this story in any depth) is that the Quran calls for Muzzies to murder us in this method.

Strike off their heads, strike off the very tips of their fingers." (Sura 8, Verse 12)

"When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield strike off their heads." (Sura 47, Verse 4)


In the meantime it is very telling that Islamonline saw if fitting to post these Islamic happy killing crap.
Posted by: Icerigger || 01/07/2008 17:17 Comments || Top||

#7  Hey, it's just a metaphor, right? Just a political statement, satire, right? Right? Hey, it's just a joke? Come on, it's a joke, let's laugh about it, what ya say? What are you doing with that roll of duct tape? What's with the knife? AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGG! *gurgle*
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 01/07/2008 17:46 Comments || Top||

#8  Here's an (old) answer to the poem and to happy little head choppers everywhere. (warning: strong language)
Posted by: DMFD || 01/07/2008 20:28 Comments || Top||

#9  We're sorry, but this video may not be available.

Google has opinions, DMFD.

One of the commenters there mentioned he uses the site often for dawa (outreach to the infidels with intent to convert), and the presence of the poem on the site is going to make things more difficult for him. So it's a good the poem was posted. Especially since if we here at Rantburg already know about it, so does enough of the on-line Muslim community, and they should be forced to answer questions about why the poem was written, and why Islam Online felt pressed to ask the question.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/07/2008 22:14 Comments || Top||

#10  We're sorry, but this video may not be available.

Not mine - one of Grouchy Media's odes to US ordinance.
Posted by: DMFD || 01/07/2008 22:37 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Unconfirmed: Dr. Amin al-Haq. head of Bin Laden's "Black Guard" Reported Captured
Until it's confirmed we get the accordion lady.
A senior al Qaeda commander has been reported to have been captured in the Pakistani city of Lahore, according to a Pakistani newspaper. Dr. Amin al Haq, the security coordinator of Osama bin Laden’s Black Guard, “was apprehended from Lahore couple of days back,” The Nation reported, citing “credible Afghan sources.” Al Haq is said to be “under interrogation” at an undisclosed location.

The report of al Haq’s capture has not been confirmed, a senior intelligence official told The Long War Journal. US intelligence agencies are aware of the report.

Al Haq has a long pedigree with both the Taliban and al Qaeda. He was born in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, was educated as a physician, and practiced medicine in Pakistan. “He was associated with Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan headed by late Maulvi Younas Khalis, which joined the Taliban Movement in 1996,” The Nation reported. He “was also part of the Afghan delegation flown to Sudan in 1996 to bring Osama bin Laden to Afghanistan.”

On Dec. 19, 2000, al Haq was identified as a senior member of al Qaeda per United Nations resolution 1267. He accompanied Osama bin Laden during the 2001 battle at Tora Bora in Nangarhar province, and helped senior al Qaeda leaders escape the US and Afghan militia assault on the cave complex. During renewed fighting at Tora Bora in the summer of 2007, al Haq was reported to have been wounded and fled across the border into Pakistan's Kurram tribal agency.

As security coordinator for the Black Guard, it is believed al Haq would be in close proximity to Osama bin Laden. US intelligence believes Osama bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan’s tribal agencies, a claim the Pakistani government has denied. Many of the senior al Qaeda leader captured in Pakistan since Sept. 11, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Musab al Suri, have been detained in Pakistan’s major cities.
The last I heard, which was awhile ago, Binny was holed up in Chitral. However, I also believe he travels with relative freedom throughout Pakistain and at any given time he's as likely to be in Lahore or Peshawar or Multan as he is to be in Chitral.
Several senior al Qaeda leaders -- such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Saif al Adel, and Walid bin Attash -- rose through the ranks in al Qaeda by serving in the Black Guard. A Special Forces raid against the Black Guard camp in Danda Saidgai in North Waziristan, Pakistan in March 2006 resulted in the death of Imam Asad and several dozen members of the Black Guard. Asad was the camp commander, a senior Chechen al Qaeda commander, and associate of Shamil Basayev, the Chechen al Qaeda leader killed by Russian security forces in July 2006.
This article starring:
ABU MUSAB AL SURIal-Qaeda
DR. AMIN AL HAQal-Qaeda
IMAM ASADal-Qaeda
KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMEDal-Qaeda
SAIF AL ADELal-Qaeda
SHAMIL BASAIEVal-Qaeda
WALID BIN ATTASHal-Qaeda
YUNAS KHALISHizb-e-Islami Afghanistan
Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan
Posted by: Hupogum Angomotch4873 || 01/07/2008 00:32 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Getting this guy would get us close to the leadership.....where he goes Osama goes.
Posted by: Chenter Unimp7361 || 01/07/2008 7:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Isn't this piece 5 months old?
Posted by: JSU || 01/07/2008 8:55 Comments || Top||

#3  No this piece appeared last night. Follow the link.
Posted by: Chunky Phurong7960 || 01/07/2008 9:10 Comments || Top||

#4  Here goes... "I question the timing". I am hoping the NYT/CIA overt ops leak about moving into the Wazoo is connected to this and, obviously, the Bhutto assassination. I expect the ISI could put their hands on almost any of these guys whenever they want to.

Though I could be wrong.
Posted by: Excalibur || 01/07/2008 9:26 Comments || Top||

#5  Try this
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 01/07/2008 9:28 Comments || Top||

#6  Sorry but as long as he is in Pakistani hands I don't consider him as captured.
Posted by: JFM || 01/07/2008 10:12 Comments || Top||

#7  This makes me think that Osama spends the "plurality" of his time in a major urban center of Pak as well, rather than the tribal areas.

I wouldn't be shocked if we found him (or Zowie) in a commandant's quarters or military hospital in Rawalpindi.
Posted by: charger || 01/07/2008 10:18 Comments || Top||

#8  A real blackguard, that.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/07/2008 11:34 Comments || Top||

#9  Doc, Binny and "that crazy American kid" are hiding out in some TV studio off Hollywood and Vine living off hand-outs from Sean Penn, George Clooney and Susan Sarandon. The same people who hoaxed up the moon landing are the same ones behind this whole AQ thing. It just doesn't make sense, never has and never will. If we would only stay home and not bother anyone outside our borders we'd all be better off.
Posted by: Ron Paul || 01/07/2008 12:05 Comments || Top||

#10  That's why we keep you in the debates, Ron.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/07/2008 14:40 Comments || Top||

#11  Why should any reasonable person not believe that Bin Laden is already dead? After all of these years, his "appearances" become less and less frequent and the technology involved moves BACKWARDS rather than forwards ("still" photos with voiceovers of questionable origin rather than actual video).
Posted by: Crusader || 01/07/2008 15:54 Comments || Top||

#12  agree with Crusader. He's dead, but I really have no problem with him not being afforded martyr status. I think he'd be really bummed to know that he's being reduced to comic appeareances along side the American Dork.
Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 || 01/07/2008 18:19 Comments || Top||

#13  48 hr hold on ululating. The Nation (Pak version) is the same one that said BB was killed with a *laser*, per Bob Owens....
Posted by: Frank G || 01/07/2008 22:04 Comments || Top||


One killed in Peshawar music shop boom
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A bomb blast outside a music shop and hair salon in northwestern Pakistan killed a security guard early Sunday, police said. The blast in the Sheikh Mohammadi suburb of Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, took place around 4:00 am (2300 GMT).

‘Unknown militants planted a bomb outside a music centre and a barber shop and the blast destroyed the shops and injured a security guard posted outside,’ police official Farhad Khan told AFP. ‘The guard later succumbed to his wounds in Lady Reading hospital.’
Posted by: Steve White || 01/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  When we capture these people we should force them to listen to the Beatles.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/07/2008 14:42 Comments || Top||

#2  No, make them listen to broadcast Hymns, and Gregorian chants, at loud volume, endlessly (Drown out the "Call to prayer)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/07/2008 14:50 Comments || Top||

#3  The Polka Dot Bikini song, with speed varying randomly. Gregorian chants are in their own way glorious and calming.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/07/2008 16:20 Comments || Top||

#4  Gregorian chants are in their own way glorious and calming.

Not if they're recorded at 33 1/3 RPM, played back at 45 RPM, backwards, in Japanese, at 220 dB. Ya gotta think outside the box, TW.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 01/07/2008 16:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Gregorian chants are in their own way glorious and calming.

Not to Muslims, being forced to listen to another religion's hymns and music(With NO chance of drowning it out with their own caterwauling) endlessly is what makes this torture
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/07/2008 19:20 Comments || Top||

#6  I forgot, the lights must remain on the whole time, no dimming at night armored so they can't be broken, then their time to pray sense is fouled up, any bulbs out should be replaced immediately, and kept on a semi bright-twilight setting, that should destroy their "Programming" thoroughly.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/07/2008 19:54 Comments || Top||

#7  Ya gotta think outside the box, TW

You're much more creative than I, Old Patriot dear. So I'll leave it to you and the others, while I put another carrot cake in the oven and start a pot of tea. ;-) (Does anyone remember James Cagney in the classic film One, Two, Three -- about the Coca Cola executive based in Berlin before the Wall went up?)
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/07/2008 22:20 Comments || Top||


Troops set up two checkposts in Matta
Security forces on Sunday set up two security posts at Renai Bridge and Arkot areas of Matta tehsil in Swat district as part of efforts to restore writ of the government in the troubled valley, sources said. Tough security measures were being taken to avoid any attack by militants on the security forces.

Also on Sunday, people gathered at different points to welcome troops in their areas.
They chanted ‘Pakistan Zindabad!’ and ‘Pak Army Zindabad!’ as the troops advanced from Matta.
They chanted ‘Pakistan Zindabad!’ and ‘Pak Army Zindabad!’ as the troops advanced from Matta.

Meanwhile, curfew was relaxed in Matta, Kabal and areas between Mingora and Kalam from 7am till 6pm on Sunday. Most shops and markets in Mingora, Barikot and Khwazakhela remained open and people were seen shopping despite rain and severe cold.

Separately, Maulana Fazlullah asked his followers to attack security forces without waiting for his orders, reported Dawn News. In a sermon on his illegal FM radio on Sunday, Fazlullah told his followers to blow themselves up upon meeting security forces.
Whoa. Now there's a well-thought out plan.
Posted by: Fred || 01/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: TNSM


Iraq
Iraqi soldiers throw selves on suicide bomber, AP reports
A suicide bomb exploded Sunday amid an Army Day celebration in central Baghdad, killing at least 11 people and wounding 17, an Interior Ministry official said.

The bomb attack occurred about 12:30 p.m. Sunday as people participated in an event called "The Gathering for Iraq" in the Karrada district of central Baghdad, the official said, as soldiers and civilians were being given gifts by a nongovernmental organization. Two Iraqi soldiers were killed when they tried to thwart the attack by throwing themselves on the bomber who had slipped into the crowd, The Associated Press reports.

The bomber detonated his explosives vest, and killed an additional nine people, including three police officers and four civilians, an Interior Ministry official told CNN. "These two Iraqi martyrs gave their lives so that others might live," according to a statement issued by the U.S. military, the AP reports.
I take absolutely no issue with the use of the term "martyrs." They were good men and brave, and I hope there is an appropriate reward for them in the afterlife.
Also on Sunday, gunmen shot to death a Shiite tribal sheik active in an effort to counter militias in his northeastern Baghdad neighborhood, Iraqi officials said. Ismaiel Abbas was killed instantly when gunmen in two cars attacked him near his home in the Shaab Shiite neighborhood at 8 a.m., an Interior Ministry official said. Witnesses told investigators the gunmen were Shiite militia, but police are still investigating, the official said. Sheik Abbas was part of an effort to form an armed group to combat militias in his neighborhood, the official said.

A third attack Sunday involved a parked bomb which killed four, including a police officer, in northeast Baghdad Sunday afternoon, the Interior Ministry official said. Eleven others were wounded when the bomb exploded near an Iraqi police patrol on a crowded street in the Qahira neighborhood.

In the Nahda commercial area in central Baghdad, one civilian was killed and four others wounded when another car bomb exploded about 2:30 p.m. local time. An Interior Ministry official said that the explosion was followed by four mortar rounds attacks in the same area and damaged 15 civilian cars, but there were no other causalities.
Posted by: Fred || 01/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  God rest their souls.
Posted by: Excalibur || 01/07/2008 9:21 Comments || Top||

#2  lets teach them how too shot suicide bombers
Posted by: sinse || 01/07/2008 9:48 Comments || Top||

#3  I take absolutely no issue with the use of the term "martyrs." They were good men and brave, and I hope there is an appropriate reward for them in the afterlife.

Agreed. This has given me more hope for the Iraqi army than I've had in a long time.
Posted by: Ptah || 01/07/2008 11:37 Comments || Top||

#4  lets teach them how too shot suicide bombers

Um, what part of "the bomber who had slipped into the crowd" did you miss?
Posted by: Pappy || 01/07/2008 11:57 Comments || Top||

#5  THese two men define heroism, a word that gets thrown around all too much these days, usually for the wrong reasons.
Posted by: Threack Brown4380 || 01/07/2008 18:39 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Three Paleos Go Tango-Uniform in Gaza
GAZA CITY - Three Palestinians including a teenager were killed on Sunday in the latest Israeli military operation in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics said.

Ziad Abu Raqba, 17, died after being shot in the chest during an incursion east of the Al Bureij refugee camp in the centre of the territory, they said, adding that he was not a member of a militant group.
"No, no, certainly not! He was just a simple lad. A simple lad with an automatic weapon."
Four other people were wounded during the operation that involved Israeli jeeps, armoured vehicles and bulldozers backed by helicopters, they said.

Later on Sunday a missile slammed into a house east of Al Bureij, killing two people and wounding six, medics said. It was not immediately clear whether the two were fighters or civilians. An Israeli army spokeswoman said she was looking into the incident.
But not for long. Dinner's at six.
Posted by: Steve White || 01/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Great pic!
Posted by: Mike N. || 01/07/2008 3:45 Comments || Top||

#2  An insult to Man's best friend, this picture is!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/07/2008 5:23 Comments || Top||


Palestinian hurls bomb at troops southwest of Bethlehem; none hurt
A Palestinian hurled a bomb at IDF troops southwest of Bethlehem on Sunday night. No one was wounded and no damage was reported
Posted by: Fred || 01/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Aqsa Martyrs


Southeast Asia
Ten arrested as Islamist spies in Thai police force and army
Seven police officers have been arrested for allegedly spying for Muslim terrorists insurgents in the three southern border provinces, a well-informed police source said Monday. The source said the seven officers were arrested following the arrest of three army intelligence officers.

The source said the seven police offices and three army officers were suspected of providing all details of operations to Muslim terrorists insurgents. The seven police officers have been being detained and interrogated at the army base in Pattani. All of the ten officers are Muslims.
Posted by: ryuge || 01/07/2008 06:31 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency

#1  three army intelligence officers
Taking lessons from the Paks, I see.
Posted by: Spot || 01/07/2008 7:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Now all they've to do is take care of the other 23789 Muslims in their Police/Armed Forces.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/07/2008 8:03 Comments || Top||

#3  And the guy at the top?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/07/2008 9:04 Comments || Top||

#4  All of the ten officers are Muslims.

Of course!
Posted by: Bugs Hupusose2306 || 01/07/2008 11:30 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iranian Gunboats Harassed, Provoked U.S. Navy Warships
Five Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboats took threatening actions toward three U.S. Navy gunships sailing in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, FOX News has confirmed.

The U.S. gunships -- a cruiser, a frigate and a destroyer -- took defensive action to avoid striking the close by Iranian ships, and armed their weapons, but neither side fired any shots.

The Iranian boats reportedly came within 200 yards of the U.S. ships, and also threw boxes into the water ahead of the U.S. boats. It could not immediately be determined what was in the boxes.

Tensions between the United States and Iran remain high. Last year, Revolutionary Guard boats intercepted a British vessel, holding naval servicemen aboard the vessel for several days before releasing them.
Posted by: Sherry || 01/07/2008 09:34 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  i would say throwing the boxes into the water would have been a hostile action hence blow them the fuck out of the water
Posted by: sinse || 01/07/2008 9:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Sinse - makes sense. Another reply makes sense also.

The key word in the report seems to be "immediately". Intersting to see what is in the "boxes". I suspect this was a fairly naked test of the ROE by the persians, USN response capacity, and retrieval of the boxes which likely contained nothing of note.

The video will be useful when we compare to the upcoming video of the phalanx system activating and the follow on strike at the "box" factory.

Posted by: Chusong Grundy6409 || 01/07/2008 9:59 Comments || Top||

#3  I would inform Iran that our "no go" area for our ships would be 1 km and if they came closer they would be engaged and destroyed. Then, if they even stuck their big toe over by a meter, the boats go bye-bye.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/07/2008 10:04 Comments || Top||

#4  The Persians have explicitly threatened swarm tactics. I see no advantage in allowing this sort of provocation to continue. Time and again it has been shown that even a modicum of force produces big results. These vessels should all have been destroyed long before they had a chance to test their box deployment.

The ROE must be changed. More important, we need to elect leaders who are prepared to allow our armed forces the latitude to protect themselves and defend us all.
Posted by: Excalibur || 01/07/2008 10:13 Comments || Top||

#5  I doubt an American naval commander will let his ship or crew be humiliated the way the Brits did. I hope the iranian seamen's widders an' orphans fund is paid up...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/07/2008 10:32 Comments || Top||

#6  What kind of ROE allows the enemy to get within 200 yards of your ship? Is it just me or is 200 yards very close?

The ROE needs to acknowledge that we are in a de-facto war with Iran and have been for thirty years. These boats should have been blown out of the water before they got within half a mile.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 01/07/2008 10:35 Comments || Top||

#7  Bush due to tour the mid-east you say? Mmmm... Glad you didn't have your fingers up your proverbial as the RN did in similar circumstances.
Posted by: Howard UK || 01/07/2008 10:43 Comments || Top||

#8  What's the effective range of an RPG against a target the size of a US destroyer?
Posted by: mrp || 01/07/2008 10:46 Comments || Top||

#9  The Iranian probably know full well that the Americans won't behave like the spineless Royal Navy, so I don't expect them to try anything.
Posted by: Apostate || 01/07/2008 11:08 Comments || Top||

#10  What's the effect of an RPG on a DD? Much less than the response to the launcher.

It's the boats getting within 200 yards that's the problem. The Navy seems not yet to be in the war. Time to unleash the Praying Mantis.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 01/07/2008 11:12 Comments || Top||

#11  Some of the best commentary on this is at Information Dissemination
Posted by: Rory B. Bellows || 01/07/2008 11:24 Comments || Top||

#12  I have some good commentary: It is time to refer back to how things were handled when Ronald Regan was running the show. Reference: Operation Praying Mantis

'Really superb video clip at: http://www.navybook.com/nohigherhonor/vid-prayingmantis.shtml

It must have been memorable for the crew of the American ship that delivered the US response. Quoting the Commander as he hailed the Iranian ship (and this is in the video clip):

"This is a warning. Stop, and abandon ship. I intend to sink you..."

Watching and listening to this clip, every single word sounds EXACTLY appropriate to the current situation.
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 01/07/2008 11:33 Comments || Top||

#13  This is a warning. Stop, and abandon ship. I intend to sink you..."

I like that.
Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 || 01/07/2008 11:46 Comments || Top||

#14  This is a warning. Stop, and abandon ship. I intend to sink you..."

Freakin' awesome.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/07/2008 11:47 Comments || Top||

#15  Put a warning shot amidships.
Posted by: mojo || 01/07/2008 11:52 Comments || Top||

#16  This was an act intended to start a war. They'll be back, and they wont throw cardboard boxes next time.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 01/07/2008 12:10 Comments || Top||

#17  200 yards is too fucking close. I'd splash 'em.
Posted by: twobyfour || 01/07/2008 12:19 Comments || Top||

#18  I have some good commentary: It is time to refer back to how things were handled when Ronald Regan was running the show. Reference: Operation Praying Mantis

I have some good commentary as well: look at the background of Operation Praying Mantis. Bit different situation than the present one.

Yes, it was intended to start something. But those who've been through the drill ought to recall what the 'limitations' are.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/07/2008 12:24 Comments || Top||

#19  Where's the diplomacy here, and by that I mean the preparation-to-fire-for-effect diplomacy. We should have a canned reply reciting UN positions, Law of the Sea interpretations, and response ratcheting up the transit lanes and clearances - namely 200 yards is way to close, for the next month let's try 2nm in radius, and negotiate further protocol after that works. All of this coordinated with the GCC, Lloyd's parties, and non-military maritime interests.

Is anyone at the State Dept. handling this? Are they lined up at the major studios, domestic and foreign? Huh?
Posted by: Chusong Grundy6409 || 01/07/2008 12:34 Comments || Top||

#20  Pappy - I'm not sure what you're driving at - but our commanders in the Gulf can either have an outcome like the USS Samuel B. Roberts - or they can have an outcome like the USS Simpson - or they can have no outcome of significance.

Our military is always allowed to exercise self defense - the question here is: How aggressively are we allowed to practice self-defense in a mine-laying situation?
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 01/07/2008 12:42 Comments || Top||

#21  From experience, there is actually little that can be done outside of 200yds against small quick moving craft. The guns that were manned are .50 cal and 25mm chain guns. Its hard to hit a target much further then that with them in those situations. I don't want to start a "gun statistics" debate, but from actually being there and knowing how much (little) training they get shooting them, not much more could have been done or expecte. Why else do you think the Iranians turned around at that "magical" range?

The Captain and crew did it right.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 01/07/2008 12:59 Comments || Top||

#22  The Iranians say, "Move it along, nuthin to see here"...

Iran plays down Gulf incident with US

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's Foreign Ministry said Monday that a confrontation between Iranian boats and U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf over the weekend was "something normal" and was resolved. It suggested the Iranian boats had not recognized the U.S. vessels.

The Pentagon said that in the incident early Sunday, five small Iranian boats repeatedly "charged" U.S. warships in the Gulf's Hormuz Strait and dropped boxes in the water. The boats warned the U.S. ships that they would set up "explosions," a U.S. Defense Department official said.

The U.S. craft were on the verge of opening fire when the Iranian boats fled, the official said, calling the incidident "the most serious provocation of its sort" in the Gulf. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Hosseini played down the incident, suggesting it was an issue of mistaken identity. He did not comment on the U.S. claims of the Iranian boats' actions.

"That is something normal that takes place every now and then for each party, and it (the problem) is settled after identification of the two parties," he told the state news agency IRNA.

The incident was "similar to past ones" that were resolved "once the two sides recognized each other."

U.S. Navy and Iranian officials have said in the past that vessels from the two rival nations frequently come into contact in the waters of the narrow, heavily trafficked Gulf. They often communicate by radio to avoid incidents.

But the latest incident was the first time U.S. officials have spoken of such a direct threat from Iranian boats.


Mistaken identity? Might wanna tell the Iranians that people die of that all the time...
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/07/2008 13:01 Comments || Top||

#23  How the f*ck do they mistake a US warship for anything else, other than another country's warships? Did they think that they were a approaching an oil tanker and only turned away at 200 yards when they suddenly realized it was a warship?
The US should declare a cordon sanitaire around all US warships of about 2 nm. ANYTHING that approaches closer than that, without permission, should be fired upon.
Posted by: Rambler || 01/07/2008 13:33 Comments || Top||

#24  An RPG will go 1000 yards before the self destruct detonates. Accurately hitting something at that range, even as large as a ship, from a bobbing boat is another matter. But luck is just as good as skill.

The Phalanx has a range of several kilometers and even the remotely operated 25mm chain guns are stabilized and, I guess, good for at least 2 km against small boats.
Posted by: ed || 01/07/2008 13:36 Comments || Top||

#25  Is anyone at the State Dept. handling this?

While I have little confidence in what they'll ultimately come up with, Fox news reported that the DoS is "working on it".

That they didn't have something in the can is a little disappointing.

Then again, I'm perpetually disappointed with our Bottom Foggers.
Posted by: eLarson || 01/07/2008 13:36 Comments || Top||

#26  Problem is the ships are not in any territorial waters and by international maritime convention can't exactly do anything to those boats until they definitely do something overtly aggressive (i.e fire upon them or reach the inside threshold where they MUST be stopped). I'd be giving high credit to the crews for not creating a international incident while at the same time making the iranians look like terrorist swine and maritine incompentents who can't even control their own navy.
Posted by: Valentine || 01/07/2008 13:43 Comments || Top||

#27  Iran has been a national incident since 1979 and is proud of it.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 01/07/2008 13:51 Comments || Top||

#28  A FEW YRS AGO YALL MAY REMEMBER SOME PIRATES IN AFRICA FIRING ON A CRUISE SHIP, HAD VERY LITTLE EFFECT, SORRY CAPS LOCK KEY IS STUCK
Posted by: sinse || 01/07/2008 14:24 Comments || Top||

#29  How wide is the Strait of Hormuz? Where is the international boundary of Iran relative to the navigable passage - I don't know that the Iranian boats were even outside nominal Iranian waters.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/07/2008 14:32 Comments || Top||

#30  Well seems US Navy was caught with pants off like the British. The consequences were not so dire...
A Phalanx can have 2km range against something not fast like this boats.
Posted by: Pholugum Stalin1270 || 01/07/2008 14:32 Comments || Top||

#31  Pappy - I'm not sure what you're driving at -

Operation Praying Mantis was a response to an incident. The mines that hit the Roberts may or may not have been intended for the ship; she was in a minefield after all. However, a causus belli was established.

Same for Operation Prime Hammer, which resulted in the capture of an Iranian minelayer in the process of laying mines, and the subsequent sinking of an Iranian Boghammer after the IRGCN threatened a swarm attack on the support barge Hercules. In all instances a causus belli was establshed.

The IRGC actions echoed what the Soviets often did (pointed weapons w/o using fire control radar, agressive and interfering manuvering, etc).

but our commanders in the Gulf can either have an outcome like the USS Samuel B. Roberts - or they can have an outcome like the USS Simpson - or they can have no outcome of significance.

Or they could have an incident exactly as the IRCGN intended.

Our military is always allowed to exercise self defense - the question here is: How aggressively are we allowed to practice self-defense in a mine-laying situation?

Depends. It could be a mine, it could not be a mine. You treat it as if it were a hazard, short of opening fire on it. Again, the Soviets did the same thing (and we did some things to the Soviets that could also be considered 'aggressive'...)
Posted by: Pappy || 01/07/2008 14:56 Comments || Top||

#32  Well seems US Navy was caught with pants off like the British. The consequences were not so dire...

Nice to hear from the head of the Portugese Navy...

A Phalanx can have 2km range against something not fast like this boats

There are other point-defense systems.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/07/2008 15:01 Comments || Top||

#33  The narrowest part of the Strait is about 55 nautical miles, but from Wikipedia

Ships moving through the Strait follow a Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS), which separates inbound from outbound traffic to reduce the risk of collision. The traffic lane is six miles wide, including two two-mile-wide traffic lanes, one inbound and one outbound, separated by a two-mile wide separation median.

Given claims around the islands, it's quite possible the Iranian boats were close enough to claimed waters to allow them cover if we were undisciplined enough to respond to an empty provocation.
Posted by: lotp || 01/07/2008 15:08 Comments || Top||

#34  !Nice to hear from the head of the Portugese Navy..."

Thanks :) Ormuz was Portuguese from year 1507 to 1508 and 1515 to 1620...
Posted by: Pholugum Stalin1270 || 01/07/2008 16:05 Comments || Top||

#35  Btw i have read that Phalanx is not anymore being placed as an anti-missile system. It's RAM and ESSM's for small ships.
Posted by: Pholugum Stalin1270 || 01/07/2008 16:20 Comments || Top||

#36  Iran's Foreign Ministry said Monday that a confrontation between Iranian boats and U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf over the weekend was "something normal" and was resolved. It suggested the Iranian boats had not recognized the U.S. vessels.

The Pentagon said that in the incident early Sunday, five small Iranian boats repeatedly "charged" U.S. warships in the Gulf's Hormuz Strait and dropped boxes in the water. The boats warned the U.S. ships that they would set up "explosions," a U.S. Defense Department official said.


Do they behave like this towards every unknown vessel? I think not. It doesn't even come up to the level of rubbish.

Against some kind of swarm attack, you'll need hundreds of missiles or (even better) tons of lead. Someone please tell me we have tons of lead! It just seems to me that something like a half dozen computerized chaing guns around the periphery of each ship would be a perfect match for a hundred fast patrol boats carrying some kind of portable anti-ship missile. They'll need to deal with both the missiles and the boats. And why would they be practicing this kind of maneuver and dropping mines if they had some kind of anti-ship missile that they could launch against a destroyer? Suggests poor resources or a diversion from true capabilities. I know which one I put my money on!

And whatever happened to their vaunted supersonic torpedo? These probing actions suggest they don't have one. Why am I not shocked?

Want DoS to handle this for real? Station one agent on each ship.

I personally think the captains did fine. This is not how a war with them will start. It's the last thing they want. This is just a test. We don't want to reveal our capabilities just yet. As for the Brits, who could have known the Iranians were going to do what they did? They just wandered a bit too far from the mother ship, and the Iranians had already planned this underhanded operation. The US Navy under slightly different circumstances could have been taken advantage of as well, but hopefully now they know where the Iranians have drawn the line in the water.

Now if the Brits get fooled a second time, I'll have something to say! :-)
Posted by: gorb || 01/07/2008 16:54 Comments || Top||

#37  Do they behave like this towards every unknown vessel? I think not. It doesn't even come up to the level of rubbish.

No. But the IRGC has a history of trying to screw with USN vessels. Everything from false distress calls to get a ship to enter Iranian waters, to misleading radio traffic during interdiction ops in order to start an incident, to deliberately aggressive broadcasts (in one instance it was started by someone on an Iranian navy ship; it ended abruptly with an audible 'smack' and someone else, likely the ship's CO, coming on to wish us a safe transit).

As an aside, the KSA navy has or had a habit of shooting first and asking later.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/07/2008 17:51 Comments || Top||

#38  What would be nice is some US-made very very very very quite Fuel-Cell Electric boats.

Probably only need 4 of them and charter them for "special purposes".

And get a special purposes tube or 2 on those.

You can see where Im going...
Posted by: OldSpook || 01/07/2008 18:29 Comments || Top||

#39  checked out the ABC web article - a lot of the moonbats are screaming "Gulf of Tonkin!" and decrying that it's a "natural" response by Iran cuz they're feeling so "surrounded" by Chimpy Bushitler/Chainey/Halliburton's forces..... *ack* disgusting
Posted by: Frank G || 01/07/2008 18:44 Comments || Top||

#40  What would be nice is some US-made very very very very quite Fuel-Cell Electric boats.


The ones with operators on board, OS, or the ones that move about without humans right there?
Posted by: lotp || 01/07/2008 19:09 Comments || Top||

#41  There are a lot of nice ones of the latter type..
Posted by: 3dc || 01/07/2008 19:18 Comments || Top||


#43  I would suggest pulling the Phalanx equipped Destroyer off station, and replacing it with an older version equipped with 5 inch Radar tracking guns, (Or larger) those will take care of "Small fast boats", up to and over the horizon, (Even a near miss will sink them) Video the whole thing, from initial warning to sinking.(Ever hear chering like a football game score, clear across the nation? Show the video and you will, intersplice pictures of the hole in the Cole's side.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/07/2008 19:37 Comments || Top||

#44  Second thought, find or re-commission a few PT boats, carry them aboard destroyers, turn them over the side as needed, cover them with the above mentioned 5 inchers. Happy hunting.
Orders? Sink on sight. No more problems
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/07/2008 19:42 Comments || Top||

#45  An AH-6 would be a better choice, but they've only operated from larger amphib ships.

Correction: Operation Prime Chance, not Prime Hammer.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/07/2008 21:05 Comments || Top||

#46  I believe beehive rounds would be a good choice. Either that, or the Bushmaster cannon they showed on "Future Weapons" -- its rounds will detonate at a set range, and they demonstrated it against small craft.

Of course, staged tests and RL situations often have different results.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 01/07/2008 21:09 Comments || Top||

#47  I'm sure the Navy is waiting to start that war until our guys have had a chance to rest a bit after the Surge.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/07/2008 22:23 Comments || Top||

#48  FREEREPUBLIC/TOPIX > USA WARNS IRAN TO BACK DOWN AFTER NAVAL SKIRMISH.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/07/2008 23:25 Comments || Top||


Good Morning.
Posted by: Fred || 01/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Not a lotta meat on them bones, but what's there is cherce!"
Posted by: Almost Anonymous5839 || 01/07/2008 2:57 Comments || Top||

#2  I have a sudden compulsion to eat breakfast at a jewelry store.
Posted by: Mike || 01/07/2008 7:48 Comments || Top||

#3  The goddess.
Posted by: Excalibur || 01/07/2008 9:20 Comments || Top||

#4  Class.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/07/2008 11:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Nice Belgian girl, just like my wife!
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 01/07/2008 11:49 Comments || Top||

#6  "Not a lotta meat on them bones, but what's there is cherce!"
-- Spencer Tracy, re: Kate Hepburn
Posted by: mojo || 01/07/2008 12:13 Comments || Top||

#7  sigh
Posted by: Solomon Ulereque3409 || 01/07/2008 15:36 Comments || Top||


DaybyDay™ needs our help
Rolled over from Sunday...
Chris Muir of DaybyDay needs our help:
"I am asking readers of DaybyDay to contribute $10 or more for the 2008 DaybyDay Fundraiser. This amount is based on a 'guesstimate' of how many serious readers DBD has. Perhaps this will result in a Fundraiser that is held every 2 years , instead of every year. Perhaps it will keep DBD going for just a month.

What I do know are that funds are needed to continue the strip, well, day by day.

This Fundraiser will end January 30, 2008.

I know this is very much a vote from readers on DBD. Contrary to rumor, I'm not rich, and I need the help of every reader. If you have donated in the past, ask someone you know who reads DBD to contribute. What will really determine things is meeting the minimum cost of running DBD for one year.

If you find DBD speaks to you on the issues you find important, I urge you to step up. This kind of grassroots participation is what defines New Media, and frankly, it will only be the small donations of the many that will matter."

Let's try to help him out, folks. I know he brightens each of my days with his insightful and biting wit, and I'm donating today.

And don't forget our good host Fred! (If not this time, howzabout next paycheck? Even $10 helps.)

(Mods, please move if this isn't the correct category. And if you can think of a better title, feel free....)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 01/07/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Barbara Skolaut a Catholic nun?

I wanna keep DBD going so I'll kick in.

By the same token, now that Sister Skoulaut mentions it, how can I not kick in to Fred's RB?

Damn Catholic guilt....(muttering to myself as I pull out the credit card....errrrr).
Posted by: Mark Z || 01/06/2008 14:07 Comments || Top||

#2  You can thank Barbara for Rantburg this year. The coffers were totally empty when she last kicked in, and that paid to renew the domain name.
Posted by: Fred || 01/06/2008 14:52 Comments || Top||

#3  Catholic guilt here too. Fred, I just hit your tipjar as well as Chris's.

Now, I feel better....Go Chargers!
Posted by: Frank G || 01/06/2008 14:58 Comments || Top||

#4  "Barbara Skolaut a Catholic nun?"

Wrong on both counts, Mark. Particularly the latter. ;-p

No guilt - just sometimes we all (me in particular) need to be reminded that the wonderful content we enjoy on Rantburg, DaybyDay, and other sites doesn't come cheap. And particularly not free.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 01/06/2008 15:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Barbara, you may not BE a Catholic nun, but your words wield the power of a nun. That, lady, is a POWER your friendly local imam would envy. I suspect there are enough RC's on this site to know exactly what I mean.

For the record, I clicked onto the DBD site and I'm only getting today's (steamy FredHead) cartoon strip. Where the hell is the paypal link? Frank G hit the DBD tipjar. I can't find it. I admit I'm stoopid when it comes to computers, but damnit there is no paypal link on the DBD site and I've clicked on the thing several times throughout this afternoon.

P.S. Kudos to you, Sister Barbara, for coming through for Fred & RB when the coffer was utterly bare and the domain name needed to be renewed. You say you're not Catholic or a nun? Really? Well, according to the RC Church, that's one verified (by Fred) miracle under your belt. In my faith that means you're buckin' for Sainthood. One down, two to go. Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Mark Z || 01/06/2008 16:36 Comments || Top||

#6  I wuz wondering how the popcron kept appearing outta nowhere.
Posted by: Thomas Woof || 01/06/2008 16:56 Comments || Top||

#7  the "donate" button is a paypal link
Posted by: Frank G || 01/06/2008 17:30 Comments || Top||

#8  Fran G:

Believe me when I say that earlier...nothing...NOTHING was loading on my screen except for the cartoon strip and some BS advertising. Traffic heavy? Maybe. I was just now able to hit the DBD tipjar.

LOL: According to Tommy Woof-man above, we now have TWO verified miracles attributable to Sister Barbara. Fishes/loaves or popcorn/butter. It all counts.

Now, if Sister Barbara can only convince the MOD's to lift their ban on Zenster we may have three verified miracles to submit to the Vactican for B16's consideration.
Posted by: Mark Z || 01/06/2008 18:05 Comments || Top||

#9  Geez, guys, you're making me blush. It was just dumb luck (and a little extra Christmas cash); the real miracle is that Fred (and the other mods, thank their patient souls) continues to give our voices a place to be heard - and to put up with us.

As for the popcorn, Tom, didn't you see Alaska Paul's pic of my Industrial-Strength Popcorn Machine™? ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 01/06/2008 18:18 Comments || Top||

#10  :-) no problem - I wuzza just trying to be helpful


Posted by: Frank G || 01/06/2008 18:18 Comments || Top||

#11  but don't call me Fran
Posted by: Frank G || 01/06/2008 18:19 Comments || Top||

#12  Frank G:

Preview is my friend.

Sorry !
Posted by: Mark Z || 01/06/2008 18:41 Comments || Top||

#13  no problem. In the immortal words of Sgt Hulka: "lighten up, Francis" :-)
Posted by: Frank G || 01/06/2008 19:45 Comments || Top||

#14  When I donated, he had $350. Now it's $9150 and I'll bet he's cracking a beer.
Posted by: KBK || 01/06/2008 19:57 Comments || Top||

#15  That's fantastic!
Posted by: Icerigger || 01/06/2008 20:11 Comments || Top||

#16  today's cartoon sez he got $11 grand yesterday
Posted by: Frank G || 01/07/2008 9:52 Comments || Top||

#17  Count me in - both sites. I have only fond memories of being educated by both nuns and brothers. They were mercenary angels compared to my latter hard-core education by Jesuits. Imagine a Marine trained in metaphysics, logic and rhetoric as well as argumentation. Not a fair fight.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 01/07/2008 11:59 Comments || Top||

#18  It's not intended to be, Jack. LOL
Posted by: lotp || 01/07/2008 15:03 Comments || Top||

#19  One of Mr.Wife's great-aunts was a teaching nun. A very fair exchange, she explained to me, for getting to go to college and get a degree or three, instead of having to drop out of high school and get married like all the other girls in the neighborhood. A darling lady -- I was only sad I didn't know her in her prime, with her ruler. ;-) I'm quite sure it was never a fair fight with her, either.
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/07/2008 21:35 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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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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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2008-01-07
  Arab FMs urge immediate Leb presidential election
Sun 2008-01-06
  Morocco jails 50 Islamists for terror plots
Sat 2008-01-05
  Fatah al-Islam sez they're infesting Ein el-Hellhole
Fri 2008-01-04
  Coalition forces kill AQI big turban in Baghdad
Thu 2008-01-03
  Baquba Awakening Council leader killed by cross-dressing suicide squeegeeman
Wed 2008-01-02
  Army intervenes to end fist fights between Hezbollah, Hariri party
Tue 2008-01-01
  Iraq December death toll lowest in 22 months
Mon 2007-12-31
  Little Pugsley appointed PPP chairman, Gomez regent
Sun 2007-12-30
  Bin Laden vows jihad to liberate Palestinian land
Sat 2007-12-29
  Sindh Rangers given shoot-at-sight orders
Fri 2007-12-28
  Bhutto's assassination triggers riots
Thu 2007-12-27
  Benazir Bhutto killed by suicide bomber
Wed 2007-12-26
  15-year-old bomber stopped at Bhutto rally
Tue 2007-12-25
  Government amends Lebanon constitution for presidential election
Mon 2007-12-24
  Hindu nationalists win Indian election


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