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Today: 76 articles and 371 comments as of 15:53.
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Sudanese troops hunt for rebels in Khartoum
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 4: Opinion
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Good Morning
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Quit lookin' at me like that! It makes me ... nervous.
Posted by: Bobby || 05/13/2008 6:38 Comments || Top||

#2  She does have a bit of the hot Anne Heche crazy.
Posted by: Excalibur || 05/13/2008 8:48 Comments || Top||

#3  On a roll, Fred... and no, I did not make the pic-a-nic up.
Posted by: Omomons Bonaparte4208 || 05/13/2008 13:03 Comments || Top||

#4  And remember, death is not an option: who has elections first, Bangla, Zim-bob-we or Lebanon?
Posted by: Steve White || 05/13/2008 14:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Fred - just wanted to mention that I'm one of the thousands who hit the Amazon tip jar today. ;-) It's probably been too long, but I'm thankful for the opportunity to contribute a little something when I can. I'm leaving on a short trip tomorrow, so someone keep an eye on the bloodthirsty animals militants over there in jihad-ravaged restive southern Thailand. Thanks to everyone who makes Rantburg such a wild and crazy special place.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/13/2008 22:13 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Australian soldiers cleared over Afghan civilian deaths
The Australian military on Monday cleared its soldiers over the deaths of two women and a baby during a battle in Afghanistan but said all civilian casualties were “highly regrettable”.

An internal inquiry had found no wrongdoing on the part of the Australian soldiers involved in the fighting in southern Uruzgan province last November, Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie told a news conference. The operation cost the life of an Australian soldier who died from a single gunshot to the head in what the inquiry determined was straightforward combat. “Three civilians, two females and an infant child, were killed during the operation,” Gillespie said. “It has since been revealed that one of the deceased females was positively identified firing an AK-47 assault rifle at our forces during the engagement and was therefore re-categorised as an enemy combatant.” Gillespie said the baby was in one of the rooms from which the woman and two men were firing on Australian troops. “That said, the death of civilians and non-combatants during any conflict is highly regrettable,” he said.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Blame the terrorists for forcing hair-trigger reactions. Some jerks want military operations analyzed frame by frame.
Posted by: McZoid || 05/13/2008 12:55 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Somalia: 7 civilians killed as militia ambush gov’t forces
(SomaliNet) Witnesses said at the week end that militia members ambushed government forces overnight in the south of Somalia's war-wracked capital, killing at least seven civilians. In what sparkled an intense firefight, the rebels fired mortars and used heavy machine guns against their rivals manning a checkpoint in Mogadishu's Hararyale district.

"About three mortar shells landed on houses in my neighbourhood and six civilians, two of them children, died," said Abdiasis Abdullahi, a resident. According to sources, another body was found near the battle zone, said Mohamed Farey, also a resident.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Sudanese troops hunt for rebels in Khartoum
Sudanese forces hunted for suspected Darfur rebels in Khartoum on Monday after an unprecedented rebel attack at the weekend and detained Islamist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi before releasing him.

Bursts of gunfire kept Khartoum on edge. It was the first time fighting had reached the capital in decades of conflict between the traditionally Arab-dominated central government and rebels from far-flung regions in the oil-producing country.

Darfur rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim told Reuters he would keep up attacks until President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's government fell. About 65 people were believed to have been killed in the attack that began on Saturday.

"This is just the start of a process and the end is the termination of this regime," Ibrahim, of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), said by satellite phone. "Don't expect just one more attack."

Sudan accuses neighboring Chad of backing the rebels and broke off diplomatic ties with its neighbor on Sunday. Chad's government said on Monday it was closing its border with Sudan.

Chad has denied involvement but political analysts say it may have backed the JEM in retaliation for an attack on the Chadian capital three months ago by rebels it said were supported by the Sudanese government.

Exchanges of fire could be heard on the outskirts of Omdurman, across the Nile from the heart of Khartoum and where fighting raged at the weekend. A shooting incident in central Khartoum sent workers fleeing in panic.

An Interior Ministry official said some rebels were still holed up in parts of Omdurman and a curfew there was extended indefinitely.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan

#1  Kill da webbels, kill da webbels,
Kill da webbels wight now ...
Posted by: lotp || 05/13/2008 7:05 Comments || Top||

#2  "Be vewwy quiet, we're hunting webbels..."

"Duck season"
"Rebel season"
"Duck season"
"Reb[kapow]..."

If there was ever a place and time where this is appropriate, it's in Sudan, now.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/13/2008 13:00 Comments || Top||

#3  why did they release the rebel leader
Posted by: sinse || 05/13/2008 18:39 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Al-Qaeda in North Africa kills 6 soldiers in Medea
Six soldiers have been killed in Medea province by a terror group belonging to region I in Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, while security sources said the operation targeted lifting the siege on terrorists being surrounded in Boumerdés fiefs.

Local sources in Derag area, situated between Medea and Ain Defla provinces, said a terrorist group composed of many elements has set up an ambush, Sunday evening, to an Army patrol, on the road linking Derag and Ain Dalia, western Medea.

The same sources mentioned that 6 soldiers have been killed in the attack, while the rest managed to survive following a short armed clash forcing the terrorist to withdraw.
So al-Q managed to kill six more Muslims, did they ...
The terrorists have managed confiscating weapons and uniforms of the dead soldiers, the sources said, quoting eyewitnesses, pointing out the uniforms are to be used by the terrorists in bogus checkpoints. However, military back ups immediately were sent to the site, while another armed clash had broken out with the terrorists inside a forest there, the same sources added.

Furthermore, terror groups’ expert in Medea told El Khabar that the abovementioned ambush was set by terrorists belonging to the first region in Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb activating in Medea and Ain Defla provinces. The same source said the attack was likely plotted by the emir of the first region, namely Assim Abu Hayane, the leader of the Sunnite Group for Preaching and Informing, which announced in 2004 the unity with the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, GSPC.
This article starring:
ASIM ABU HAIANEAl-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Army Command bans vehicles from remote Saharan paths at night across 6 southern provinces
The Army Command southern Algeria, has taken new measures aiming at fighting terrorism and smuggling, as new control devices allowing its forces searching vehicles and suspicious people in the Sahara.

These security measures banning cars and trucks from taking non asphalted paths, across 6 southern provinces, while 20 crossing points taken by terrorists have been blocked to vehicles. In emergency cases vehicles owner obliged taking such roads should apply for a leave only the local security services are empowered granting it.

The provinces concerned by the new measures are namely Bechar, Tindouf, Adrar, Tamenrasset, and Illizi. These measures are at the aim of cracking down on the terrorist groups spreading through the Sahara, said a well-informed source, adding that the Army Command southern Algeria, and is intending blocking ways the terrorists use to enter Algeria.

In this regard, the Army forces will conduct routine patrols to control the main roads used by terrorists, using new control devices enabling them programming patrols at night searching any suspicious object.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  Excellent, control the "Trackless Sahara"
Take notes on operations for future use controlling the Tex-Mex border areas.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/13/2008 14:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Just to point out that if travel is banned at night, the only vehicles that a Predator drone, for an example, might see would be terrorists or smugglers.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 05/13/2008 23:55 Comments || Top||


Arabia
'Dozens dead' in Yemen festivities
Dozens of people have been killed or wounded in renewed clashes between the Yemen army and Shiite rebels in the north-west of the country, tribal sources said. "Fighting killed or wounded dozens of people, including many civilians," on Sunday and Monday in several regions across the Shiite Zaidi rebel stronghold of Saada, one source said.

A member of Parliament said that the fighting erupted a day after Qatari mediators left the north-western province after failing to stop the violence. The Qatari mediation aimed at implementing a peace deal brokered in June 2007 "is at a dead end," said MP Ali Abou Haliqa, who heads a committee set up by Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh to monitor the deal. The Defence Ministry in a statement accused the rebels of "not respecting" the Doha peace accord. "The state will have to assume its responsibilities to maintain order," it said.

The rebels are fighting to restore a Zaidi Shiite imamate which was overthrown in a 1962 republican coup in Yemen, one of the world's poorest countries. An offshoot of Shiite Islam, the Zaidis are a minority in the mainly Sunni country but are the majority community in the far north.

Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict since 2004, when rebel commander Hussein Badr Eddin al-Huthi was killed by the army. The rebels reject Saleh's regime as illegitimate, even though President Saleh himself is a Zaidi.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I smell yet another Sunni-Shiite proxy war. We'll sit this one out.
Posted by: McZoid || 05/13/2008 12:56 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Terror Strikes Jaipur India
60+ dead, 150+ injured, and seven bomb blasts.
Posted by: Uluger Throluque1784 || 05/13/2008 12:53 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: john frum || 05/13/2008 19:00 Comments || Top||

#2 
Posted by: john frum || 05/13/2008 19:01 Comments || Top||

#3 
Posted by: john frum || 05/13/2008 19:01 Comments || Top||

#4 
Posted by: john frum || 05/13/2008 19:02 Comments || Top||

#5 
Posted by: john frum || 05/13/2008 19:03 Comments || Top||

#6  Those Amish.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 05/13/2008 20:44 Comments || Top||

#7  What a mess. How long before the Indians start demanding a counter strike against Pakistan?
Posted by: Grusoling Panda8701 || 05/13/2008 22:21 Comments || Top||


Five blasts rock Jaipur, 6 killed
Jaipur, May 13: Five major blasts ripped through the Pink city on Tuesday evening killing six and injuring 20 people. The exact number of casualty is not known yet but is expected to mount.
All the blasts have occured in the crowded walled city of Jaipur which is a market area and this is the peak shopping season in the region.
Posted by: john frum || 05/13/2008 10:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


5 killed in shootout in India-controlled Kashmir
(Xinhua) -- Four civilians and one Army jawan were killed and 13 people injured during an encounter between Indian security forces and two Lashkar-e-Taiba militants in Samba town of the India-controlled Kashmir, according to the Indian newspaper The Hindu Monday

The 12-hour face-off on Sunday ended just before dusk with the killing of the two militants. Kulbhusan, a local resident, told The Hindu that at 5:58 a.m. the president of the newly constituted Indian National Democratic Party, Hoshiar Singh, informed him over phone that militants were attacking his house.

The militants asked for permission to enter his house, situated in the Kali Mandi colony, but when he refused they killed him, his wife Sheshi Balla and injured his daughter Bindu and relative Darshan Devi. Then the militants took refuge in another house and took eight persons as hostages.

A combined operation was initiated by the Indian Army, the Jammu and Kashmir police and the BSF to rescue the hostages. A photo journalist of the local English newspaper Daily Excelsior, Ashok Sodhi, who was covering the encounter, was killed. A hostage and an Army man were also killed in the militant fire. By 5 p.m. Sunday, the seven hostages were rescued and the security forces killed the militants.

Inspector General of Kashmir Police K. Rajendra said it was difficult to say whether the militants were new infiltrators. He, however, said intercepts showed they belonged to the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba


Taliban claim responsibility for Mohmand kidnapping
GHALANAI: Tehreek-e-Taliban on Monday claimed the responsibility of kidnapping of four people in the Baizai tehsil of Mohmand Agency. Dr Asad, claiming to be a Taliban spokesman in Mohmand Agency, said two of the abducted, Malik Andaz and his nephew Tahir Khan, were allegedly involved in kidnapping for ransom. He said all four were in the custody of the Taliban who would investigate the kidnapping charges against them. He said they would be punished according to the Islamic laws if proven guilty. The self-proclaimed spokesman said that the Taliban had issued a three-day deadline to kidnappers and criminals to leave the area.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1 
Posted by: va home loan || 05/13/2008 0:07 Comments || Top||

#2  not as sad as being poop listed A$$hole!
Posted by: RD || 05/13/2008 0:41 Comments || Top||

#3  A sure giveaway is he dot com trailer, real govt agencies are dot Gov

Idiot
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/13/2008 14:45 Comments || Top||


Forces, militants trade fire in Darra
Security forces on Monday exchanged fire with militants in the hills of Darra Adam Khel. “There is no new operation. It is continuation of the Sunday operation,” said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director Major General Athar Abbas. There were no reports of casualties in Monday’s clashes and no fresh operation was being launched, he told Daily Times. Locals said heavy firing started around 6pm on Monday and continued till 7.30pm.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Taliban give NGOs 3-day deadline
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has given a three-day deadline to non-government organisations (NGOs) in Kohat to stop their activities or face action. According to a private television channel, the TTP has distributed pamphlets to all NGOs in the area, telling them to face action if they do not stop their activities. The local Taliban have accused NGOs of “spreading vulgarity in the society”. They have also told the NGOs to close girls’ schools being run by them.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  What genius wanted Taliban pacified through legitimation as a political party? They are oppressors and terrorists, plain and simple. The hardly want peaceful co-existence.
Posted by: McZoid || 05/13/2008 13:00 Comments || Top||


Cleric's house damaged in blast
LANDIKOTAL: The house of a local cleric in Khuga Khel Shinwari was damaged after some explosives caught fire on Monday, a source told Daily Times. However, Maulana Hazrat Nabi, the prayer leader at the Quba mosque, blamed a fault in electricity wires for the fire. He added that there were no explosives at his house. The flame and smoke emitting from the fire could be seen from the distant areas, according to witnesses. Water tankers were called in to put the fire out. No injuries were reported.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  blamed a fault in electricity wires for the fire

Uh huh.
120 000 V lines direct to the house I presume?

Posted by: john frum || 05/13/2008 10:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Static electricity and islamic holy relics don't mix.
Posted by: ed || 05/13/2008 10:50 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Two al-Qaeda senior commanders captured east of Mosul
Arbil, May, 13, (VOI) - Iraqi Army forces on Tuesday arrested two al-Qaeda senior commanders east o Mosul while escaping the all-out offensive launched by joint troops in Ninewa since four days, a military source said.

“A force from the Iraqi army captured two al-Qaeda network senior commanders on the high road between Makhmour district and al-Qayara district near Makook village, 40 km west of Makhmour,” a source from Iraqi army 5th brigade, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).

The source pointed out “the detainees confessed in the primary investigations to be senior commanders in al-Qaeda network in Iraq (AQI) escaping the Operation Lion’s Roar in Rightful Assau launched in Mosul.”

“The detainees admitted they involved in killing and kidnapping civilians,” he added.

Earlier, Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), major Sunni bloc in parliament, revealed on Tuesday large numbers of gunmen have escaped after the commencement of military operations to the city of Hamrin and Upper Mosul towns.

On Sunday, the Ninewa operations commander Lt. General Riad Jalal Tawfiq said in a press conference that the military operation to crack down gunmen of al-Qaeda network in the province has started after "huge" military reinforcements arrived from the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

"The operation, codenamed Za'eer al-Assad Fi Saulat al-Haq (Lion's Roar in Rightful Assault), is focused on hunting down the al-Qaeda remnants in Ninewa as well as misled terrorist groups and outlaws," Tawfiq said in a statement he read out to reporters at the Ninewa Operations Command headquarters.

Makhmour district is a disputed area between Arbil and Ninewa provinces, lies 70 km south-west Arbil city, which lies 349 km north-east Baghdad.
AM/SR
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/13/2008 15:44 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  “A force from the Iraqi army captured two al-Qaeda network senior commanders on the high road between Makhmour district and al-Qayara district near Makook village, 40 km west of Makhmour,”

See what happens when you try to take the high road?
Posted by: Hupaish Peacock4837 || 05/13/2008 17:03 Comments || Top||

#2  The source pointed out “the detainees confessed in the primary investigations to be senior commanders in al-Qaeda network in Iraq (AQI) escaping the Operation Lion’s Roar in Rightful Assau launched in Mosul.”

“The detainees admitted they involved in killing and kidnapping civilians,” he added.


Rather Talkative... I bet the IA induced them to Blab with luxurious cups of Hot Tea.

IA: "are you Senior?"
Al-Q: "No Ima Junior."
IA: "I said are you Senior?"
Al-Q: "OW! No Ima Junior."
IA: "Allah Damn It! I said Are You Senior?
WACK! BIFF! CRACK!"
Al-Q: "OW! AHHH! OMG! OW~! OW~! OW~! Yes! Yes! Yes! Ima Senior!"
Posted by: RD || 05/13/2008 18:00 Comments || Top||

#3  Oh ye'll tak the high road and I'll tak the low road and I'll be in Eye-ran afore ye...
Posted by: GK || 05/13/2008 21:06 Comments || Top||


Insurgent gets car customized by Bradley - Chopped and Channeled


Hello Boss, this is Haji, I'll be late for work. Someone keyed my car and I have to go by the bodyshop and get an estimate for a new paint job.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/13/2008 12:28 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  heck...a little paint will fix that.. ;)
Posted by: RD || 05/13/2008 12:45 Comments || Top||

#2  We'll pimp your ride, Yo!
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/13/2008 12:56 Comments || Top||

#3  I think the owner is getting a ride to work on the bottom of those treads.
Posted by: Charles || 05/13/2008 15:54 Comments || Top||

#4  Looks like the car had been searched because all the doors and everything was open. I'm guessing they found weapons and propaganda or something. Someone had time to plan taking this video, too. Compare to near the end of this video for somewhat eerie similarities! :-)
Posted by: gorb || 05/13/2008 17:59 Comments || Top||


Soldier Gets Iraqi Girl New Legs
Link uncertain
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 05/13/2008 10:43 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bad Link for article.
Posted by: tipover || 05/13/2008 11:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Worked for me.
Posted by: gorb || 05/13/2008 15:52 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, damn my eyes, I must be drunk enough cause I found that quite touching.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 05/13/2008 17:08 Comments || Top||

#4  I must be drunk enough cause I found that quite touching

You must be.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/13/2008 20:57 Comments || Top||

#5  Sounds like Our Guys, who see individuals as well as the enemy, and who help the innocent howsoever much can be done. In this case legs, and one who understands more about the larger cause for which he must have volunteered. Sometimes a hare lip repaired, or a heart, or toys and school supplies where there were none. And each time, more hearts and minds are won for civilization -- not a bad outcome.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/13/2008 22:59 Comments || Top||


Video - US and Iraqi Forces hunt snipers in Sadr City
Notice the Gun Trucks copula is clean at beginning of video and about 3/4 through it has taken a sniper round in the right forward glass.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 05/13/2008 03:31 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I assume that the sniper was being hauled off in that red blanket near the end of the video?
Posted by: gorb || 05/13/2008 5:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Notice the Gun Trucks copula is clean at beginning of video and about 3/4 through it has taken a sniper round in the right forward glass.

@ 4:57 + - you can see sniper rounds impacting the front armor plate for the .50.
Posted by: RD || 05/13/2008 12:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Before the Surge, indulgence of sales of Sniper-snuff videos was thought to somehow promote peace and security. Internet copies are distributed widely among Muslims. A New Jersey Muslim has been uploading these for years, with absolute impunity.

On the bright side, the best US snipers are routinely killing the enemy from extremely long distances (I think the record take-out measure is classified).

Posted by: McZoid || 05/13/2008 12:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Streets are a lot cleaner than we have seen in past years.
Posted by: Glenmore || 05/13/2008 20:17 Comments || Top||

#5  At the start of the Civil War 150 yards was considered long distance for snipers. Mr. Sharps introduced his rifle and the distance increased to 500 yards. Then Mr. Whitworth introduced his rifle and Confederate snipers were hitting Union Officers at 800 yards. 800 yards is long even by today's standards.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 05/13/2008 21:01 Comments || Top||


US troops to help 'deluded' British in southern Iraq
American troops will be deployed to southern Iraq this summer with orders to adopt a more robust approach than the "self-delusional" British.

A senior US officer has told the Telegraph that Iraqi troops had not been ready to assume responsibility for Basra when British forces withdrew late last year. He also said that US commanders in Iraq believe the Shia south is ready to copy the developments that transformed the western province of Anbar from being the main hotbed of insurgency into one of Iraq's most peaceful regions. To foster this change, US troops are moving south for the first time since the 2003 war.

"There's going to be a whole new approach when we send troops down there," said the US officer. "We won't take the self-delusional route of convincing ourselves that the Iraqis are ready to fight but then standing back while they fall apart.

"They're not ready and we have to be more proactive. There's too much at stake."

Britain has been in charge of four provinces in southern Iraq since Saddam Hussein's downfall. While the divisional command will continue to operate under British leadership at Basra airbase, the orders of the US units will be to "get out front" and resume patrols and combat missions.

US hopes of making the whole of Iraq secure before its eventual withdrawal have been raised by what commanders see as a potential southern version of the Sahwa, or tribal awakening, which turned locals against al-Qa'eda.

Troops have been shifted from Anbar province to the Tallil airbase, Nasiriya, to assume responsibility from 550 Australian troops pulling out of the country. According to the US assessment, the Australians followed the mistakes of the British by pulling back to "overwatch" local forces but then neglecting the security challenges in the area.

The US officer said its allies had adopted a "University of Arizona" attitude - American slang for being rigid and unimaginative. "There's dirty work to be done and we've got to go forward to it," he said.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/13/2008 00:17 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  N.B.: The University of Arizona is in Tucson, a notoriously Democrat enclave in Arizona. It is the chief rival of Arizona State in Tempe, a notable Republican stronghold.

I would hazard to guess that somebody from ASU came up with that particular slang. They also have a very strong ROTC program at ASU, and produce a larger than typical number of combat arms graduates.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 05/13/2008 0:22 Comments || Top||

#2  an unnamed senior offical and an "American slang" term that few if any have heard of.

Hmmmmm.

Seeing as how reporters like to make up quotes, I'm suspicious of this story.
Posted by: Sninert Black9312 || 05/13/2008 0:53 Comments || Top||

#3  This smells of make up bullshite.
Posted by: OldSpook || 05/13/2008 1:30 Comments || Top||

#4  I suspect 'moose & SB are correct. 'American slang,' eh? Nowhere outside of Tempe, I'd bet. Some Scum Devil puke fed a naive reporter a line and he swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. And yes, I am a proud (but completely unbiased, of course!) U of A grad.
Posted by: PBMcL || 05/13/2008 1:35 Comments || Top||

#5  The article was written by Damien McElroy. Anybody know his reputation or what he believes in? Is he trying to goad the British into doing something that might raise eyebrows? Is he trying to pi$$ off the Brits?
Posted by: gorb || 05/13/2008 2:34 Comments || Top||

#6  FYI Moose, for all my decades in and around the Army, and the military in general (in joint commands), I have NEVER heard that phrase.
Posted by: OldSpook || 05/13/2008 9:02 Comments || Top||

#7  Not a big fan of the Australians or the Brits it would seem.
Posted by: Waldemar Clins3221 || 05/13/2008 9:04 Comments || Top||

#8  Damien McElroy. Anybody know his reputation

He seemed fair in previous articles. There's no evidence he's making anything up. It's no secret that the US military thinks the British approach had failed. It's just that the soldiers have refrained from commenting in public about it.
Posted by: ed || 05/13/2008 9:17 Comments || Top||

#9  I never heard that phrase about U of Arizona and I went to a PAC-10 school. I bet it was an ASU graduate messing with a brit journalist. Good for him.
Posted by: Penguin || 05/13/2008 9:19 Comments || Top||

#10  you guys want spin, the DT is tory, and would want to make Blair/Brown look bad.
Posted by: liberalhawk || 05/13/2008 9:24 Comments || Top||

#11  Never heard that phrase either. Being Fucked up as a soup sandwich, yes.
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/13/2008 9:43 Comments || Top||

#12  On the other hand, who wants to die immediately before a pull out? Frankly, I care more for the oil reserves than for the locals.
Posted by: McZoid || 05/13/2008 12:40 Comments || Top||

#13  Sounds to me like McElroy is a puke from America's Sports University.

From my recollection ROTC is very big at the U of A too.

"Bear Down Arizona"
Posted by: BoWowBoy || 05/13/2008 18:07 Comments || Top||

#14  McElroy is a Brit. Long time foreign correspondent, lived in a variety of places & published in lots of major papers.
Posted by: lotp || 05/13/2008 18:33 Comments || Top||

#15  ION BIGNEWSNETWORK > IRAN SHELLS KURDISH REBEL POSITIONS [again] IN NORTHERN IRAQ.

Divert from Hizbullah in Lebanon???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/13/2008 23:14 Comments || Top||


The U.S. Quietly Slashes the Reward Posted for Abu Ayub al-Masri
The U.S. government has quietly withdrawn a $5 million reward it was offering for the killing or capture of Abu Ayyub al-Masri, named by Pentagon officials as the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Al-Masri had been one of America's most wanted figures in Iraq ever since his identity was revealed in 2006. But U.S. News has learned that the bounty for him was reduced and that he was unceremoniously dropped in late February from the State Department's Rewards for Justice Program, which offers cash payments for information that leads to the capture or killing of wanted terrorists.

Currently, the bounty for the Egyptian militant stands at $100,000, a more modest payout that is now covered by the separate—and decidedly lower profile—Department of Defense Rewards Program.

It is a startling development given that U.S. military officials have frequently touted al-Masri's danger ever since they revealed his identity with great fanfare at a briefing in June 2006. At the time, it was considered a propaganda coup to show that AQI was being led by an Egyptian, because the group had been claiming that an Iraqi man became its leader after the death of its founder, Abu Musab Zarqawi.

Officially, defense sources say that rewards have historically been reduced for a number of reasons. "When they have reduced rewards in the past, some of the discussion has been to devalue them [the terrorists], to not hold them in such high regard," says a senior defense official. It's psychological warfare of sorts: "It may cause them to do things that say, 'Look, I'm important,'" says the official—and in so doing, perhaps do something that makes it easier for them to be captured. The reasons in the past have also been more pedestrian, adds the official. "Sometimes the rewards are set so high that for some people maybe $100,000 is more tangible than $1 million."

Others insist that the move reflects a shift in thinking about the importance of al-Masri. "The overarching reason is his blatant ineffectiveness as a leader of AQI," says a U.S. military official.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  "Blatant ineffectiveness as a Leader of AQI" >

Ouch!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/13/2008 0:05 Comments || Top||

#2  This is sum all around good stuff!

Think, the USA lowers the value of the Prize [Abu Ayyub al-Masri] by lowering his price for his Hide!

Now Non Ideological rational folks can appreciate this as some fine psy-ops against Al-Q etc..

But two typical Rapporteurs™ operating under the 60s school of journalistic standards don't see it that way.

It is a startling development given that U.S. military officials have frequently touted al-Masri's danger ever since they revealed his identity with great fanfare at a briefing in June 2006. At the time, it was considered a propaganda coup to show that AQI was being led by an Egyptian, because the group had been claiming that an Iraqi man became its leader after the death of its founder, Abu Musab Zarqawi.

Both Anna Mulrine, Kevin Whitelaw are being Willfully Insinsere in this piece. ...or are Dumb as Rocks.
Posted by: RD || 05/13/2008 0:36 Comments || Top||

#3  ...by lowering the price for his Hide!
Posted by: RD || 05/13/2008 0:38 Comments || Top||

#4  They could have lowered it because he has been rendered inert, or they have him on ice somewhere.
Posted by: Pliny Flolush8481 || 05/13/2008 5:17 Comments || Top||

#5  Sometimes it is better to avoid killing an ineffective leader: before killing Yamamoto the Americans considered if the Japanese couldn't replace him with someone better. Also during the siege of Granada the Spaniards captured the uneffective Muslim King and... promptly released him before another one was crowned.

Or you can be devious: reducing Al-Masri's value alongside with derogative comments about his leadership could lead Al Quaeda to terminate his job (and him) either because the half-full glass suddenly looks more than half-empty or because they susopect that if Amlericans are no longer interested in his capture is because they have turned him.
Posted by: JFM || 05/13/2008 6:40 Comments || Top||

#6  And when you dont have him, no one will notice who that guy was who was squeezed dry and tossed out the cargo hatch at 35,000 feet.

Somewhere 500 miles northwest of Kerguelen island.
Posted by: Agleton 9 || 05/13/2008 6:44 Comments || Top||

#7  I recommended this about a year ago, those people simply do NOT believe the US will shell out 5 megabucks, but they can grasp 100 Grand as payout.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 05/13/2008 14:42 Comments || Top||


Al-Qaeda Base Destroyed, Cease-Fire Agreed In Baghdad
The U.S. military has claimed on Monday that its Air Force has destroyed an al-Qaeda in Iraq training base south of Baghdad. The fighter jets have dropped eight big bombs in a large area in the district of Arab Jabour, used to manufacture bombs, stash weapons caches and train and launch sniper attacks at U.S. military convoys, the military said.

Also on Monday, representatives of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and parliament members from Iraq's main Shiite political bloc have signed a four-day cease-fire in an effort to end seven weeks of fighting in Baghdad's Sadr City slum.
Posted by: Fred || 05/13/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  So look for the re-amrament trucks t have completed their work by Saturday morning.....SSDD
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 05/13/2008 14:44 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Five gunned down in two attacks in southern Thailand
Suspected separatist terrorists rebels have shot dead five people in the insurgency-hit Thai south, police said on Tuesday. Two soldiers with a government-backed militia were killed when they were off-duty Monday evening in Narathiwat, one of three southern provinces beset by a bloody separatist movement. Also, Monday, three Muslim men were killed in two separate attacks in nearby Pattani province, police in the region said.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/13/2008 06:13 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Any connection between the violence in the south and the "shortage" of rice?
Posted by: bman || 05/13/2008 10:15 Comments || Top||

#2  bman - Southern Thailand isn't a good area for growing rice. Most of the rice is grown in the flatland around the nation's capital, Bangkok, or highland rice grown in the north. The primary agriculture in the south is rubber cultivation.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 05/13/2008 13:51 Comments || Top||



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Tue 2008-05-13
  Sudanese troops hunt for rebels in Khartoum
Mon 2008-05-12
  Hezbollah foiled US-planned coup. Really.
Sun 2008-05-11
  Army sides with Nasrallah against Leb govt
Sat 2008-05-10
  Leb coup d'etat: Hezbollah seizes control of west Beirut
Fri 2008-05-09
  Hezbollah seizes large parts of Beirut
Thu 2008-05-08
  Hezbollah at war with Leb
Wed 2008-05-07
  Hezbollah telecom network shut down
Tue 2008-05-06
  3500 U.S. troops surge home
Mon 2008-05-05
  Kaboom misses Iraqi first lady
Sun 2008-05-04
  24 killed, 26 injured in Iraqi violence
Sat 2008-05-03
  Marines chase Talibs through Helmand poppy fields
Fri 2008-05-02
  Orcs strike Iraqi wedding convoy, kill at least 35, wound 65
Thu 2008-05-01
  Paks deny Karzai murder plot hatched in Pakistain
Wed 2008-04-30
  Hamas steals Gaza fuel
Tue 2008-04-29
  Pak Talibs quit peace talks

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