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Pak police told to give Talibs a free hand
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 04/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday: April 15th

Leonardo da Vinci -died 1519 (67) "Italian Renaissance polymath - Mona Lisa"

Lita Grey - died 1995 (87) "Charles Chaplin's child bride"

Michael Ansara - 87 "Klingon" (Now?)

Elizabeth Montgomery - died 1995 (62) "Bewitched"

Lois Chiles - 62 "Holly Goodhead" (Now)

Emma Thompson - 50 "Sense and Sensibility" (Now)

On this day in history: April 15th
1892 – The General Electric Company is formed.
1923 – Insulin becomes generally available for use by diabetics.
1943 – An Allied bomber attack misses the Minerva automobile factory and hits the Belgian town of Mortsel instead, killing 936 civilians.
1945 – The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.
1947 – Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line.
1952 – The maiden flight of the B-52 Stratofortress
1989 – Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in the People's Republic of China.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/15/2009 1:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Bill and Lela McMath's little girl Virginia Katherine. Oh Boy, this is going to be a Gam-A-Thon



Ginger Secret

My dog Spot

Daily Gam Shot (Seems redundant)

Flip a coin

Your tent or mine?

A moral booster for the boys overseas.

That Studio Couch paid off, I got the contract.

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/15/2009 1:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Your tent or mine?

Both.
Posted by: gorb || 04/15/2009 3:20 Comments || Top||

#4  "Women with legs" series....

Sorry, Heather
Posted by: Frank G || 04/15/2009 8:40 Comments || Top||

#5  Do you think we'll see the day when LCD monitors are replaced by holographic displays? Screens that literally appear out of thin air in full color?

What do you think? Holographic technology is still fairly new but there are scientists out there who believe we've only begun to tap into it.

There are also people working on holographic based cloaking devices for use in combat. In 10 years we could be looking back on the technology of today and laughing.

Thoughts?
Posted by: MrTimt || 04/15/2009 13:32 Comments || Top||

#6  Yes probably, I never thought big screen tv's would grow to billboard size, why not holograms.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 04/15/2009 17:14 Comments || Top||

#7  Question, knowing it's movie magic, just how did they make the hologram of the dead researcher in "I Robot"?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 04/15/2009 17:17 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
French warship captures pirates
A French warship has captured 11 pirates off the coast of Kenya, amid calls for the international community to deal with the problem of piracy. The pirates were captured by a warship from an EU piracy patrol, French officials said, hours after a failed attack on a US ship.

Other pirates released a Greek ship and its 24 crew held since mid-March.
That couldn't possibly be cause and effect, could it?
News of the incidents came as the UN special envoy for Somalia said the attacks threatened international peace.

The latest attack involved pirates firing rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at a US-flagged cargo ship, the Liberty Sun, which was carrying food aid for Africa.

The French Defence Ministry said the warship Nivose captured the pirates about 550 miles (900km) east of the Kenyan port of Mombasa. It had detected a "mother ship", or command vessel, on Tuesday, and observed it overnight before launching an assault early on Wednesday, the ministry said.
Posted by: john frum || 04/15/2009 12:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Right on! In tribute, I will refrain from making surrender jokes for at least one week.
Posted by: gromky || 04/15/2009 13:58 Comments || Top||

#2  UN special envoy for Somalia said the attacks threatened international peace

RRIIGGHHTTT!!! All the Somalis are doing are collecting tolls and taxes the for use of their waterway. Gotcha!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 04/15/2009 14:12 Comments || Top||

#3  AA5839: I'm pretty sure the UN Special Envoy means that the PIRATE attacks threaten the peace, not the attacks on the pirates. He even says that those bankrolling the pirates should be held accountable. Almost adult of him. LINK.
Posted by: Free Radical || 04/15/2009 14:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Captured, huh.

A picture is worth 1000 words....

http://ibdeditorial.com/Cartoons.aspx

Posted by: mercutio || 04/15/2009 15:48 Comments || Top||

#5  There those ignorant French go again. Creating more pirates in the name of fighting.

No. I will not act like an adult. At least for a while. After all those years of taking their childish Eutopian shit, I'm giving it back.
Posted by: Mike N. || 04/15/2009 17:49 Comments || Top||

#6  The French have been doing some really good work. It's a shame that more pirates don't "resist" arrest. It would simplify things.
Posted by: Keystone || 04/15/2009 18:02 Comments || Top||

#7  WAFF > STRATEGYPAGE - LEGALISTIC NONSENSE THWARTS ANTI-PIRACY AND ANTI-TERROR EFFORTS.

Can prob safely add [universal]DIPLOMATIC/POL CORRECTNESS???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/15/2009 18:42 Comments || Top||

#8  hell they will hust give them ctizenship
Posted by: rabid whitetail || 04/15/2009 19:04 Comments || Top||

#9  Well, geee...talk about missed opportunities.

If only the French had declared a 'war on piracy', they could have declared this a 'victory' and added it to their short list...
(snicker)
Posted by: logi_cal || 04/15/2009 22:15 Comments || Top||

#10  If I understand correctly, you have to have a 3-D body to create a holographic image, so it won't do justice for most of our lovely cover ladies.
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/15/2009 22:26 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
IAEA: North Korea expels inspectors
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] The International Atomic Energy Agency says North Korea is expelling its inspectors. The North has also told the UN nuclear watchdog that it is reactivating all of its nuclear facilities. An IAEA statement Tuesday said North Korea has told inspectors to remove seals and cameras from the Yongbyon nuclear site and leave the country as quickly as possible.

The Obama White House meanwhile called on the reclusive communist nation Tuesday to "cease its provocative threats" and respect the international community's will.

Presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs said Pyongyang's vow to restart its nuclear reactor and boycott international disarmament talks is "a serious step in the wrong direction." He said the international community won't accept North Korea "unless it verifiably abandons its pursuit of nuclear weapons."

"We call on North Korea to cease its provocative threats, to respect the will of the international community, and to honor its international commitments and obligations," President Barack Obama's chief spokesman said at his daily briefing with reporters.

North Korea vowed Tuesday to bolster its nuclear deterrent and boycott six-party talks aimed at its denuclearization in protest of a UN Security Council statement condemning the country's recent rocket launch.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it "resolutely condemns" the action by the United Nations, which it said "rampantly" infringes upon the country's sovereignty and "severely debases" the people's dignity. "We have no choice but to further strengthen our nuclear deterrent to cope with additional military threats by hostile forces," the statement said.

The statement also said that "six-party talks that we are taking part in are not necessary any more." Those negotiations, which also involve China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States, began in 2003 and have been aimed at achieving North Korea's denuclearization.

The North also said it will restore nuclear facilities it has been disabling in line with an international disarmament-for-aid deal negotiated under the six-party process and resume operating them.

The statement was the country's first reaction to the Security Council's unanimous condemnation Monday over the April 5 rocket launch, which Pyongyang says sent a satellite into space but critics say tested long-range missile technology.

The Security Council demanded an end to missile tests and said it will expand sanctions against the reclusive communist nation. The council's statement, agreed on by all 15 members and read at a formal meeting of the United Nations' most powerful body, said the launch violated a council resolution adopted after the North conducted a nuclear test explosion in 2006 that banned any missile tests by the country.

The statement was a weaker response than a UN resolution, which had been sought by Japan and the United States but was opposed by China and Russia. US Ambassador Susan Rice insisted the statement is legally binding, just like a resolution - a view backed by Russia - but other diplomats and officials disagreed.
Posted by: Fred || 04/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Look, we all know Kimmie is a big movie guy who likes to make his own epics. Why not just send Jane Fonda, The Dixie Chicks and Barbara Streisand over to keep him cool for a while and give BO (not Bo) time to figure out his next move.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 04/15/2009 11:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Surprise... GROUNDHOG DAY!

N. Korea is like a spoiled child throwing a fit over not getting enough attention. Let them cry for a bit....
Posted by: bgrebel || 04/15/2009 11:30 Comments || Top||

#3  IRAN is proclaiming that it will dev and build LARGER, HEAVIER, MORE CAPABLE ROCKETS; + wholly MASTER THE NUKE FUEL CYCLE.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/15/2009 21:40 Comments || Top||

#4  ION IRANIAN.WS > MUSLIM [nuclear] POWER PLANS ACROSS THE MIDDLE EAST.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/15/2009 21:43 Comments || Top||


Europe
Somali 'pirate' suing Germany
Strange days, friends, strange days.
Berlin -- A Somali suspected pirate filed a lawsuit against Germany Tuesday for what he called his inhumane treatment since being handed over to Kenyan authorities, court documents said.

The German navy patrolling the Gulf of Aden captured the plaintiff, identified as Ali Mohamed A.D., last month when he allegedly tried to seize a freighter, the MV Courier. He was transferred to Kenya along with eight other Somali suspects for prosecution in the port city of Mombasa under an EU agreement with the east African country.

The plaintiff's lawyer Oliver Wallasch said his client was seeking 10,000 euros (13,300 dollars) from the German government before the Berlin regional court for damages incurred after his "unlawful" transfer to Kenya.

The lawsuit, targeted at the interior, defence, justice and foreign ministries, contends that Berlin must have been aware that a suspect would likely have no access to medical treatment, sanitary facilities or privacy in a Kenyan jail. This "inhumane treatment" could expose him to "life-threatening illnesses" and possibly deprive him of a "proper legal defence", Wallasch wrote in the court documents provided to AFP.

Ali Mohamed A.D. denies involvement in piracy in the lawsuit.

Meanwhile a second suspect, Mohamud Mohamed H., has filed an injunction with the Berlin administrative court aiming to force the German foreign ministry to cover the costs of a public defender in Kenya. His lawyer Andreas Schulz said his trial was to begin in Mombasa on April 22 and he currently has no defence attorney there.

Wallasch said another three suspected pirates had hired German lawyers.

Kenya and the EU have signed an agreement to transfer to the country suspected Somali pirates who are detained as part of the bloc's Atalanta anti-piracy naval mission off the Somali coast.
Posted by: Seafarious || 04/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  a suspect would likely have no access to medical treatment, sanitary facilities or privacy in a Kenyan jail.

I feel for this poor traumatized soul missing the wonderfully hygienic and restful conditions of his tranquil native land. NOT!
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie || 04/15/2009 5:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Those conditions are available at Gitmo, and there are openings!
Posted by: Spot || 04/15/2009 7:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Behold! International lawfare.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/15/2009 8:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Let's have Spain indict those Germans responsible for this.
Posted by: HammerHead || 04/15/2009 9:22 Comments || Top||

#5  The German navy patrolling the Gulf of Aden captured the plaintiff

"Plaintiff" is what they are being called now? Jerk is lucky he didn't get one in the head.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/15/2009 9:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Just one more indication that the lawyers have screwed up EVERYTHING. From now on, if a pirate is captured, he gets one in the brain and dumped into the ocean. Don't even worry about identifying him, just make sure he's not able to pursue his "career" any longer.

The lawyer in this case needs to have some severe trauma involving the kneecaps.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 04/15/2009 14:40 Comments || Top||

#7  I don't blame the lawyer, I blame the "Human Rights Activist" movement for convincing large numbers of touchy-feeley dickweeds that everyone who commits a crime must be coddled in the name of humanity.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 04/15/2009 17:52 Comments || Top||

#8  So if the lawyer collects 10k EU, how much does the pirate get?
Posted by: Skunky Glins 5*** || 04/15/2009 18:53 Comments || Top||

#9  OP, why waste a bullet? If you're 350 miles out to sea, just dump him overboard. Tie him to some heavy garbage so he sinks, if you don't want him washing up on some shore.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 04/15/2009 18:59 Comments || Top||

#10  Personally, I'm for the.... one round of bullet method.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/15/2009 19:01 Comments || Top||

#11  Serious question, just HOW are the lawyers getting paid?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 04/15/2009 19:46 Comments || Top||

#12  "It's cash, it comes in an envelope. I don't ask no questions."
Posted by: mojo || 04/15/2009 20:35 Comments || Top||

#13  Rambler, I believe that Somalia has some of the most shark infested waters on the planet. The garbage is unnecessary. Just toss in some tuna or leftover chum....that should do it.
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie || 04/15/2009 23:28 Comments || Top||


Turkey: Dozens arrested in anti-PKK raids
[ADN Kronos] Three top-level officials from a pro-Kurdish political party were among 46 people arrested on Tuesday in a nationwide police operation across Turkey. Raids were conducted in 12 Turkish provinces targeting alleged militants from the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Turkish anti-terror police detained the 46 suspects and raided the offices of the Democratic Society Party (DSP), as well as the headquarters of local TV station GUN in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, Turkey's Hurriyet said.

DTP leaders Bayram Altun and Kamuran Yuksek were among those detained by police.

Tuesday's operation, which had reportedly been planned for a year, aimed to expose those with links to the PKK within the DTP, said Hurriyet quoting an unnamed judicial source.

The PKK is committed to the creation of an independent Kurdish state in a geographical region comprising parts of Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran.

Blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States, the PKK began its campaign for self-rule in Turkey's southeast in 1984, triggering a conflict that has claimed an estimated 44,000 lives.
Posted by: Fred || 04/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Great White North
Fallen soldier's casket begins journey to Canada
Tearful soldiers carried the casket of Trooper Karine Blais onto a waiting plane at Kandahar Airfield in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday during a solemn ramp ceremony honouring a woman described as "full of energy" and "friendly to everyone."

Blais, 21, was killed Monday when the armoured vehicle she was in hit a roadside bomb north of the city of Kandahar.

At the ceremony on Tuesday, bagpipe music played as 2,400 soldiers — some weeping openly — lined the tarmac to salute Blais's casket, which is being flown back to Canada. "We will remember Karine as a woman who loved to smile, who was full of energy and who was very friendly to everyone around her," Padre Martine Bélanger, a Catholic lay chaplain, said during the ceremony.

Blais, who had only been in Afghanistan for two weeks, was the second female Canadian soldier to be killed in the war-torn country. Her death comes nearly three years after Capt. Nicola Goddard was killed in a grenade attack west of Kandahar.

Blais was from the 12th Armoured Regiment of Canada based at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier in Quebec, but she was serving with the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment Battle Group, also based in Valcartier. She grew up in the small town of Les Méchins on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, where she spent her teen years babysitting and working at a convenience store and restaurant.

A statement released by her family on Tuesday said she often asked her mother if she was proud of her. "To answer your question, yes, we are always proud of you, despite the sadness that has enveloped us," the statement said. "In our eyes, you were a soldier who displayed dynamic leadership and who was dedicated to your regiment. You loved your job in the military and you were very proud of yourself … You are our ray of sunshine and you will always be in our hearts. Your sense of humour and your vivacity will remain forever in our memories."

Blais leaves behind her mother, Josée, her grandmother, Laurette, and her brother, Billy. She also had a partner named Hugo who she lovingly called Kermit.

Before the ramp ceremony began, Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance said Blais believed in her role in Afghanistan and was dedicated to the mission. "She was an energetic soldier who gave 100 per cent to every challenge she faced," he said. "Frank and direct, she demonstrated the qualities of a future leader who was respected by all members of her squadron."

Her death brings the total of Canadian soldiers killed to 117 since Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan began shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. One Canadian diplomat and two Canadian aid workers have also been killed in Afghanistan.
Thank you, Trooper, rest in peace, and deep condolences to your mates and family.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If I was Canada I would pull my troops out of this miserable country.
Posted by: Injun Jutle2612 || 04/15/2009 10:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Meanwhile the Euros wring their hands.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/15/2009 10:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Bon voyage, Quebecois! May God be so good as to give your soul the peace and sanctuary it deserves.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 04/15/2009 11:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Can we stop being "nice" now?
Posted by: Old Patriot || 04/15/2009 14:43 Comments || Top||

#5  French speakers have always opposed Canada's wars. Most opposed the Afghan mission, although thousands of French speakers would welcome participation.
Posted by: Craith Dingle8487 || 04/15/2009 16:20 Comments || Top||

#6  Irrespective of the political concerns, her family is about to find out tomorrow afternoon what ordinary Canadians think about her sacrifice.

I will have the honour to stand with them. God Bless Trooper Blais.
Posted by: Skunky Glins 5*** || 04/15/2009 19:06 Comments || Top||

#7  ANY FORGET RIP
Posted by: rabid whitetail || 04/15/2009 19:06 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
March of the Taliban
ON Saturday, March 11, a convoy of 10 double-cabin four-wheel drive pick-up trucks loaded with Taliban armed with every description of portable weapons – Kalashnikovs, rocket launchers, heavy machine guns – drove from Daggar the headquarters of Buner district to the villages of Sohawa and Dagai in Buner.

It entered Swabi district at Jhanda village, drove through the district headquarter (the town of Swabi), drove on to the motorway, exited at Mardan, drove through the cantonment of Mardan and, showing their weapons for all to see, went on towards Malakand.

In doing the above, the Taliban broke many laws of the state of Pakistan not least those that prohibit the possession of heavy weapons; showing weapons publicly and so on. They drove through a district HQ of a district they have not yet occupied (but are well on the way sooner rather than later, given the non-governance being exhibited by the ANP non-government of the Frontier); on the federally policed motorway; through an army cantonment – as a matter of fact right past the Punjab Regimental Centre’s shopping plaza containing the usual bakery and pastry-shop run by serving soldiers – and thence through the rest of the crowded city of Mardan which is also the home of the chief minister of the province.

Must have struck the fear of God into the populace of the villages/cities/ towns/cantonments they drove through, these ferocious men who so recently humbled the great Pakistan Army! So what am I going on about, talking of the laws of the state? What state? What laws? Much shame should adhere to the various actors, or shall we call them jokers, who are prancing about on the national stage striking nonsensical attitudes and mouthing pitiable platitudes.

Just as one example, the very same ‘leaders’ of the ANP who just eight days ago admitted on TV that the flogging of poor Chand Bibi had actually happened but that it happened before they signed the (craven) deal with the Taliban, are now saying the flogging never happened! Look at Muslim Khan, the fiery spokesman of the Taliban in Swat who said, again on TV, that the woman was lucky to have got away with a beating – that she should have been stoned to death. He now says there was no beating at all.

As another, the COAS, Gen Ashfaq Kayani says several weeks after the army handed Swat over to the Taliban that it was ready to face any threat, internal or external! Can you even believe any of this? What is happening to this country of ours; how long will we live in denial; when will we realise that if we don’t act now it will all be over; that the Taliban will simply take over the state using the shock and awe that comes from killing wantonly and cruelly.

Let’s go back to the most recent ‘flag march’ the Taliban carried out from Buner to Mardan via Swabi and see its effects already furthering the Taliban’s agenda. Please go to http://buner.com and see what mayhem they are creating there, recruiting jobless youths by encouraging them to ‘take-over’ their respective areas and neighbourhoods. What, pray, would the loquacious Mian Iftikhar, the Frontier’s information minister, say about this latest in a series of coming conquests for the Taliban?

Does he know that Mansehra and Haripur are next on the hit list and that once in Mansehra the Taliban are but a few hours’ drive from the Karakoram Highway? Does someone in the federal non-government know that once they tie up with the Sunni Chilasis who hate the Shia Gilgitis with a passion, there will be havoc of a very special kind in our Northern Areas?

Is Islamabad the Beautiful cognisant of the fact that our great and good friend, China, is already up to here with the Taliban and others of their ilk, who have forever interfered in their restive province of Xinjiang. This interference goes back to the early 1980s when the highway opened to public traffic and I found myself in the company of two American friends at the Chinese customs post which was then located just below the Khunjerab Pass on the Chinese side.

We noticed that our Pakistani companions, most of them bearded young men, were being searched most closely and out came copies of the Quran from their baggage which the Chinese confiscated saying there were enough copies in China. It is too well known to repeat again the charge the Chinese have oft laid at our door that Chinese citizens are trained in guerrilla training camps in the Frontier.

So, has our FO, ‘unaware’ that it usually is about matters that concern the country that it supposedly serves, taken stock of how the Chinese might react to the march of the Taliban? How will they do when they see that the Taliban are advancing, unchecked, to threaten the one land link China has with Pakistan, and through it with the rest of the world, not forgetting Gwadar? And that once there, given the fact that they face no real opposition from the great Pakistan Army, it is but a day’s drive to the Chinese border itself?

Have our Napoleons and Guderians and Rommels given any thought to any of the above? Where are they and our hopelessly inadequate government in Islamabad the Beautiful in all of this? Have they even begun to realise the gravity of the situation our country is faced with? That if they don’t act fast the Taliban will pick up enough recruits to seriously threaten them and their ill-led and poorly motivated troops? Whilst they might well think that they are safe in their palatial villas guarded night and day by weapons-toting guards and barricades and tens of servants, all it will take is one beheaded body per cantonment every second day for their guards to throw in the towel.

On the ‘bloody civilian’ side, Shah Mehmood Qureshi has been talking down to the Indians most recently in words that are a lot of hot air and bluster. On Swat: ‘The whole of Swat is neither under Taliban control nor is being attacked by them’! On the ISI: ‘Without ISI’s help you (India?!) could not have apprehended the 700 or so Al Qaeda operatives’. As to his first statement the minister obviously needs to read the papers/see TV. For the second I can only say that he is mightily ignorant if he means the 700 as part of those that Musharraf sold to the Americans for $5000 each. Of whom at least 90 per cent have been proved to be innocent by none other than their jailors in Guantanamo. So have a heart, minister.

There is a great furore going on in our self-righteous media about how Pakistan will not accept aid under any conditionality. In the first place it will starve, which isn’t a bad idea at all considering that our brass hats will come crashing down to reality; in the second, let’s see if we have a country by then!

In the meantime, could the non-government of the ANP please resign for its acts of omission and commission re: Swat and Buner.
Posted by: john frum || 04/15/2009 07:39 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This has all been planned by the military to once again overtake another weak Civilian govt!

The days of co-operation?with the West is over!!!
Posted by: Paul2 || 04/15/2009 7:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Today's edition of The News

Letters to the Editor

Responses to Colonel Puri's open letter to Kayani (published in the Burg yesterday)

How the DG ISPR will respond to the Indian colonel, I don't know. However, being a true nationalist, I am going to give my own befitting reply to him. Let it suffice if I tell him (and our enemies) to stop hatching conspiracies against our nationhood (and our strategic weapons), as this time we have the Taliban on our side, against whom no known antidote exists. A country governed by the Taliban and armed with nuclear weapons has the potential of becoming the next real superpower of the 21st century. No wonder our opponents look terrified. And no wonder General Kayani is abiding by "national interest."
Posted by: john frum || 04/15/2009 8:25 Comments || Top||

#3  John Frum,

The letter writer demonstrates that the Pak are bigger idiots then we give them credit. Do they really think that even BO (not Bo) would allow a Taliban controlled Pak to have Nukes? My God, that is some strong hemp these guys have.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 04/15/2009 11:37 Comments || Top||

#4  It represents their longing for the days of Muslim glory and conquest. The Pakistan army has failed at this so the Taliban become the standard bearers.
Posted by: john frum || 04/15/2009 12:43 Comments || Top||


On eve of trial, 26/11 breakthrough in Europe
60-day global covert operation by Indian intelligence agencies leads to Pak Lashkar operative’s detention in Europe

A secret, determined global effort by India to track down those involved in the November 26 Mumbai attacks has borne fruit.

Riaz’s arrest will further strengthen the 26/11 case trial, which begins in a special court inside the high-security Arthur Road jail on Wednesday. Shahid Jamil Riaz, a key Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) operative who handled financial transactions and was among the core group of 26/11 conspirators, has been detained in a European country, top officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs have told Hindustan Times.

Riaz is likely to be brought to India by the end of this week, where he will be officially charged and arrested.

The breakthrough, indicating the global reach of the conspirators, comes on a day Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India had given “enough evidence” to Pakistan.

Riaz’s arrest will further strengthen the 26/11 case trial, which begins in a special court inside the high-security Arthur Road jail on Wednesday. The arrest will also validate India’s stand that Pakistani nationals were involved in the attack, which left 173 dead and more than 300 injured.

A retired teacher from a village near Bahawalpur in Pakistan, Riaz went to Spain to facilitate the procurement of the Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), said sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs. “It was later procured in the name of one Javed Iqbal, a Lashkar operative,” said the official.

The virtual phone number used for VOIP was initially set up with the US-based service provider Callphonix by Riaz, who identified himself as Kharak Singh from India, added the official. All VOIP subscribers are entitled to multiple phone numbers that can be used from different locations, and “Riaz requested Callphonix to assign five numbers”.

The numbers were used to communicate with the 10 Mumbai attackers. The official said the Pakistani national was also instrumental in the procurement of the Yamaha motor fitted on the rubber dingy the terrorists used to land in Colaba, after leaving MV Kuber — the fishing trawler used to travel from Pakistan up to the Mumbai coast — two nautical miles off the Indian coast.

Top Lashkar commanders Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Muzzamil alias Yusuf and Abu-Al-Qama used the VOIP service to keep in touch with eight of the 10 terrorists who laid siege on the three hotels for nearly 60 hours. Transcripts of these calls, prepared by the Mumbai crime branch, said the terrorists had made 284 calls and talked for nearly 20 hours to their handlers in Pakistan.
Posted by: john frum || 04/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba


Pakistan: New suspect arrested over Mumbai attack
[ADN Kronos] Pakistan's top civilian security official has revealed that authorities have arrested a fifth suspect linked to last year's deadly siege in the Indian city of Mumbai.
'civilian security official': he was out of uniform that day?
Interior ministry chief Rehman Malik said on Monday that Shahid Jamil Riaz was arrested in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi. Riaz is alleged to have maintained financial accounts and helped to plan the November attack, which killed around 170 people in India's commercial capital.

Malik added that Pakistan needed more information from India to aid its investigation. Pakistan summoned India's deputy high commissioner to the interior ministry and asked for more information on the Mumbai attack, including a certified copy of the statement given by the lone surviving attacker Ajmal Kasab before a magistrate.

Malik said Pakistan had requested a copy of the charge sheet against Kasab, who is also known as Ajmal Iman. The de facto interior minister also asked for details of the mobile phone's SIM card and GPRS system used in the attacks. He also asked India for a copy of the statement Ajmal Kasab recently made before the court.
All this so that the ISI can figure out where they made mistakes in their Mumbai op ...
He said five of the nine suspects were in custody but did not disclose when Riaz was picked up.

India blamed the outlawed Kashmiri separatist group, Lashkar-e-Toiba, (LeT) for the November siege that claimed the lives of Indians and others in the siege at two luxury hotels.

Islamabad admitted in February for the first time that the Mumbai attacks were planned partly in Pakistan and filed a case against several suspects, saying that six of them were already in custody.

Kasab's trial is due to start in Mumbai on Wednesday.The 21-year-old faces the death penalty if convicted on a string of charges relating to the attack.

In January Pakistan bowed to international pressure and arrested 124 militants suspected of involvement in the deadly terrorist attacks. The government said it had closed five training camps and 20 offices belonging to banned charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa and LeT.
Posted by: Fred || 04/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba

#1  I love this site why because I got a lot of information from this site
Posted by: Online Paper Advertisement Agency || 04/15/2009 8:54 Comments || Top||

#2  I didn't know Karachi was in Europe!
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 04/15/2009 11:50 Comments || Top||

#3  I suspect the Europe story was cover to allow the Pak Interior Ministry to send Riaz to India without causing problems with the Islamists or the Military.

Now that they've publicized the Karachi arrest, he can no longer be sent to India.
Posted by: john frum || 04/15/2009 12:04 Comments || Top||

#4  I agree with you, but the People Every where in the Country Must be Alert to escape from these type of attacks.

Olympic Reporting
Posted by: Tom || 04/15/2009 23:37 Comments || Top||


Taliban reach Karachi
The Taliban are covertly operating in Karachi and extorting millions of rupees in 'donations' from Mehsud and Wazir tribesmen living in the city, a private TV channel reported on Tuesday. The tribesmen told the channel that a few months ago a Taliban representative had collected more than Rs 2 million in just a few days. The channel said while some of the donors are said to be Taliban sympathisers, others pay them out of fear.
Posted by: Fred || 04/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  ...others pay them out of fear.

Nothing changes.
Posted by: mojo || 04/15/2009 12:08 Comments || Top||

#2  if they're in Karachi mabey the Navy can blow the crap out of them now as well....
Posted by: beach boys || 04/15/2009 14:23 Comments || Top||


Taliban making inroads in Punjab?
The Taliban are teaming up with local militant groups to make inroads in the Punjab, a New York Times report has claimed.
Is there anywhere in Pakistain that doesn't have a local militant group?
The report quoted Pakistani experts as saying the Manawan siege, the Sri Lankan cricket team ambush, and the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad last year were only the most spectacular examples of the joint campaign. American officials said they viewed the developments with alarm.

"I don't think a lot of people understand the gravity of the issue," said a senior Punjab police official. "If you want to destabilise Pakistan, you have to destabilise the Punjab." An NYT reporter claimed seeing abundant signs of creeping militancy in towns and villages around Dera Ghazi Khan. Some villages, the report said, were so deeply infiltrated by militants that they were already considered no-go zones.

In at least five towns in southern Punjab, including Multan, barbershops, music stores and Internet cafes reported threats from Taliban. "It's going from bad to worse," said a senior police official in DG Khan. "They are now more active. These are the facts."

Tactical alliance: At least 20 Taliban killed in American strikes in the Tribal Areas since last summer were Punjabis, according to officials. One Pakistani security official estimated that five to 10 percent of the militants in FATA could be Punjabi. "These are tactical alliances," said a senior American official. The Pashtun Taliban and Arab militants, who are part of Al Qaeda, have money, sanctuary, training sites and suicide bombers. The Punjabi militants can provide logistic support in cities like Lahore.

The situation is still far from that in the Swat Valley but there are strong parallels. The Taliban here exploit many of the same weaknesses that allowed them to expand in other areas: an absent or intimidated police force; a lack of attention from national and provincial leaders; and a population steadily cowed by threats, or won over by hard-line mullahs. In Shadan Lund, just north of DG Khan, militants are openly demanding shariah.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif told the NYT reporter he was painfully aware of the need to restore people's faith in government. "Hearts and minds must be won," he said. "If this struggle fails, this country has no future."
Posted by: Fred || 04/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  Just one more piece of evidence that the very existance of a place called "Pakistan" needs to end. Take out the nukes first, then just start carpet bombing. The few survivors can be incorporated into either India or Afghanistan. If possible, capture some of the "leaders" of the ISI, and use whatever means necessary to find out ALL the skullduggery they've been involved with over the last couple of decades. It'll make some very interesting reading, I'm sure.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 04/15/2009 14:58 Comments || Top||


Sikh families leave Orakzai after Taliban demand jizia
Sikh families living in Orakzai Agency have left the agency after the Taliban demanded Rs 50 million as jizia (tax) from them, official sources and locals said on Tuesday.

Residents of Ferozekhel area in Lower Orakzai Agency told Daily Times on Tuesday that around 10 Sikh families left the agency after the demand by the Taliban, who said they were a minority and liable to pay the tax for living in the area in accordance with sharia.

Locals said the Taliban had notified the Sikh families about the 'tax' around a week ago. They said of the 15 Sikh families in Ferozekhel, 10 had shifted while the remaining were preparing to do so.

The locals said the families were impoverished and had left the area to avoid any Taliban action.
Posted by: Fred || 04/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  I wonder how those Sikhs who aligned themselves with the Pakis (ISI) and Afghanis (Hekmatyar/Rubbani) in their quest for Khalistan will like Sharia law?
Posted by: HammerHead || 04/15/2009 9:17 Comments || Top||

#2  They're all safe in Canada
Posted by: john frum || 04/15/2009 9:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Actshully, most of the Sikhs have left Canada and are now driving cabs in Seattle.....
Posted by: Slaitch Stalin4670 || 04/15/2009 15:53 Comments || Top||


Police told to give Taliban a 'free hand'
Police have been told by the government not to interfere with the Taliban, as they are "guests" and should be allowed a free hand, a report in The Telegraph claimed on Tuesday.

A police official in Buner, neighbouring the restive Swat, was quoted by Telegraph as saying that they "have been instructed by the government to stay away from the Taliban as they are our guests and should be allowed to walk around the marketplace".

Buner is the latest district hit by violence after the Taliban stormed it from the neighbouring Swat valley, where the government on Monday agreed to the Taliban demand of imposing sharia. The policeman said he was told that any action against the Taliban would be a setback for the peace process.

Buner residents formed a lashkar to resist the Taliban, and clashes have so far killed eight Taliban, three policemen and two villagers. Authorities claim they were negotiating with the Taliban to convince them to withdraw, but the Taliban seem going nowhere and determined to take over the valley, police said.

"They are everywhere," a senior police official was quoted by Telegraph. "They are visiting mosques and bazaars and asking people to help them enforce sharia".

He said Buner was rapidly turning into Swat.
Posted by: Fred || 04/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  Who gets the feeling the military/Govt want the taliban to be a major force in the country so we in the West start paying them their usual welfare cqs?
Posted by: Paul2 || 04/15/2009 7:11 Comments || Top||


Man arrested in Jamrud for 'links with terrorists'
Authorities on Tuesday arrested a tribesman in Jamrud on suspicions of having links with terrorists, sources said. They said that the man, identified as Hanif, was arrested by security forces and had been moved to an undisclosed location.
Posted by: Fred || 04/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


American Qaeda operative claims Western economy on brink of failure
Al Qaeda member Adam Gadahn called on Muslims to support jihad with "men and money", claiming militants had brought the West to the verge of collapse.

Gadahn, who is a US national, stated this during a one-and-a-half hour video produced by Al Qaeda's media wing, As Sahab, and released on the Internet on Monday. "The enemy under the leadership of the unbelieving West has begun to stagger and falter, and the results of its unabated bleeding has began to show on its economy, which is on the brink of failure," said Gadahn, in a report by CBS News.

Contradictions: Dismissing efforts by US President Barack Obama to improve relations with the Muslim world, he said former US president had all made similar claims but all have maintained the same policies and the same approach towards Muslims. "Obama's own statements contradict his claims," he said, referring to the US president's assurances to Israel that Jerusalem will remain its undivided capital, and his pledge to increase US forces in Afghanistan.

Gadahn also claimed that big US corporations and financial institutions dictated America's domestic and foreign policies, specifically mentioning the case of Bernard Madoff and books written by American author John Perkins. The video also included a documentary-style historical introduction at the beginning, which Gadahn described as examples of crimes perpetrated by US forces in the wars it fought during the 20th century. He referred to the killing of Germans during World War II, the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam. "Agent orange contains Dioxin, one of the most poisonous substances on earth," he noted, adding "just three ounces of it in the water supplies of New York, is enough to poison its entire population". The video also contained excerpts from statements released previously by other Al Qaeda leaders, such as Osama Bin Laden, Ayman Al Zawahri, Mustafa Abu Al Yazid and Abu Yahya Al Libi. The statements all stressed on jihad as the only way to rid Muslim countries from corrupt rulers and Western occupation.

It also included footage of operations carried out by Arab and Afghan fighters against NATO and Afghan forces in Afghanistan, including a succession of rocket attacks, IED attacks and suicide bombings. Gadahn pointed to a US army handbook, 'Route Clearance', that he said was seized during an attack on US forces. A copy of the handbook has been distributed along with the video.

The book explains the various tools and techniques used by the US army to minimise the damage caused by IED attacks. Gadahn said the procedures explained in the handbook were not being followed, suggesting the US preferred to save money on minesweepers rather than the lives of its own soldiers.

New technique: The video also revealed a new technique used by Al Qaeda for suicide operations, consisting of placing rocket launchers on top of vehicles, and firing those rockets before the suicide bomber detonates the car bomb.
Posted by: Fred || 04/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  American Qaeda operative claims Western economy on brink of failure

...from his dank dusty cave somewhere in the desolate region of the Northwest Territories.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/15/2009 10:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Actually, I think he is now working at a G20 adviser for the IMF.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 04/15/2009 13:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Young Master Pearlman aka Gadahn is obviously angling for a guest spot on the Kudlow show.
Posted by: Kofi Flomotch5556 || 04/15/2009 21:26 Comments || Top||


Taliban now 50km away from Islamabad
The Taliban are fast gaining on Pakistan's federal capital Islamabad. Reports on Tuesday said the Islamic militia is now marching towards Haripur, a district 50 km from Islamabad and the lone remaining buffer territory.

With Swat and the North West Frontier Province firmly in their grip, the Taliban has already overrun Buner district before their advance to Haripur. Besides the Taliban are gaining in newer areas.

Security analyst Muhammad Amir Rana said: "The Taliban are marching towards other areas, the settled areas at the same pace as they were marching from 2006. So there is no doubt that this is an emerging threat."

Even more worrying for India is that the Taliban are teaming up with local militant groups to make inroads into Punjab province.

Signs of Taliban terror abound in the villages near Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab. Fearing the hardline mullahs of the militia, traditional ceremonies have been halted in some areas.
In at least five towns in southern and western Punjab, barber shops, music stores and Internet cafes have already received threats from the terrorists.

Senior police officials in Dera Ghazi Khan admitted: "It's going from bad to worse. They are now more active. This is a fact. I don't think a lot of people understand the gravity of the issue. If you want to destabilize Pakistan, you have to destabilise Punjab."
Posted by: john frum || 04/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What does it mean when the Taliban control Pakistan? As a creation of the ISI does that mean ISI control or does that imply the monster controlling Dr. Frankenstein?
Posted by: 3dc || 04/15/2009 0:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Closer to Islamabad than Kabul. Shouldn't have conspired to attack the US on Sept 2001 you Pakistani asswipes. Now have a very interesting, but brief, life.
Posted by: ed || 04/15/2009 0:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Military-Mullah alliance at work again!
Posted by: Paul2 || 04/15/2009 7:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Dude!

Taliban with Nukes? No way, jose. Tell me this is just a bad dream.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 04/15/2009 11:53 Comments || Top||

#5  The Kahuta nuclear facility where Pak nukes are made is nearby
Posted by: john frum || 04/15/2009 12:07 Comments || Top||

#6  Didn't the pak tinpot junta sign a treaty with those animals? Given them an inch...
Posted by: Craith Dingle8487 || 04/15/2009 16:21 Comments || Top||

#7  HMMMMM, lessirree, the feared 2nd SS Panzer + German Army on the outskirts of Moscow, versus 1975's Fall of Saigon???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/15/2009 18:45 Comments || Top||


Iraq
US, Iraq to assess withdrawal of American forces from Mosul
Attacks and violence have decreased "significantly lower" during the past six months than they have been in a number of years, commander of US forces in the Mosul area Army Colonel Gary Volesky affirmed Tuesday.

In a video link from Iraq, Volesky told reporters at the Pentagon that the insurgencies still were able to conduct operations in Mosul due to three main reasons, the first was "that there was an ineffective provincial government that didn't represent the majority of the population in Nineveh. And they did nothing, really, of any measure to improve the people's quality of life." He added that "the ISF, all the Iraqi security forces, they were still developing, getting more and more capability, but they were unable really to handle the threat that (Al-Qaeda in Iraq) AQI and the other insurgents were able to do while attacking Mosul," and that "there were fewer coalition forces here in Mosul." "As we continue to clear more and more neighborhoods, what we've seen is the enemy has two choices: They can fight, or flee," he stressed.

The Commander indicated that an assessment is being conducted at the present time with the Iraqi counterparts to determine what the way ahead is for security in Mosul. He affirmed that based on that assessment, "a decision will be made what we will do on 30 June." Volesky noted that If the Iraqi government believes "we should stay in Mosul to continue the security progress, we'll support our Iraqi counterparts past 30 June and continue to build on the momentum that we've got here." "If we're -- if the decision's made that we leave, then we'll go into the Nineveh province at large and continue supporting Iraqi security forces," he added.

He stressed that according to this assessment the US combat soldiers will stay in Mosul after June 30th, saying "If the Iraqi government wants us to stay, we will stay ... it's the Iraqis' decision." A senior U.S. commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno was quoted saying on Sunday that a decision on withdrawing American forces from Iraq's major cities by a June 30 deadline will be made by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki along with the advice of the American military.
Posted by: Seafarious || 04/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Mideast: Hamas and Fatah reach Žhistoric accordŽ
[ADN Kronos] Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and the Islamist Hamas movement have reached an historic accord for the creation of a new "confederation" with two governments to rule in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, sources have told Adnkronos International (AKI).
Izzat the same thing as a "government of national unity"?
Top-level Palestinian sources told AKI that the two groups are waiting for the right moment to make an official announcement about the agreement.
"There's a couple-three 'accidents' that ain't happened yet."
Well-informed sources based in Damascus said the "confederation is based on two governments : one in the West Bank led by Fatah and the Palestinian National Authority and the other in the Gaza Strip led by Hamas".
And that's different from what they have...how? Oh, I think I know...the Hamas cut is now more-or-less "legal". Huzzah.
"It is a government for each of the two principal factions of the Palestinian conflict," the source said.
"One fer youse, two fer me. Three fer youse, four fer me..."
Under the accord, a co-ordinating commission would supervise the two executives in a type of politburo "central government", sources said.
With regular consultations with Damascus...
The commission would not have particularly broad or binding responsibilities, it will co-ordinate the two governments so that they act like a single body, sources said. "The two governments will restrict themselves to managing reconstruction and election preparations, without a clear political function," one source said.
"Leaving the bloodshed community organizing to the grassroots, as it were."
However, the accord is expected to attract strong opposition from other Palestinian groups including the Democratic Front and the Popular Front since the plan excludes their participation, sources said. A Damascus official from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine has already said that his organisation is "totally cheesed opposed to this plan since it reinforces and perpetuates the divisions between the Palestinians, hampers the possibility of creating an independent Palestinian state and confirms the division of power between the two principal factions."
Posted by: Fred || 04/15/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  However, the accord is expected to attract strong opposition from other Palestinian groups including the Democratic Front and the Popular Front

And the Democratic Popular Front, the Democratic Popular Front, the Front for Popular Democratics, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Popularity, the Front for the Liberation of Democratic Palestine, the Front to End All Fronts...
Posted by: Pappy || 04/15/2009 19:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Abbas was heard to declare the accord "peace in our time".
Posted by: DK70 the scantily clad || 04/15/2009 21:55 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2009-04-15
  Pak police told to give Talibs a free hand
Tue 2009-04-14
  Zardari officially surrenders Swat
Mon 2009-04-13
  Somali insurgents fire mortars at U.S. congressman
Sun 2009-04-12
  Breaking: Captain Phillips Freed
Sat 2009-04-11
  Holbrooke reaches out to Hekmatyar
Fri 2009-04-10
  French attack Somali pirates, free captured yacht
Thu 2009-04-09
  500 killed in Lanka fighting
Wed 2009-04-08
  Somali pirates seize ship with 21 Americans onboard
Tue 2009-04-07
  B.O. makes surprise visit to Iraq
Mon 2009-04-06
  Today's Pakaboom: 22 dead in Chakwal mosque
Sun 2009-04-05
  North Korea space launch 'fails'
Sat 2009-04-04
  Six dead in Islamabad Pakaboom
Fri 2009-04-03
  Air strike kills 20 Talibs in Helmand
Thu 2009-04-02
  Ax-wielding Paleo kills 13-year-old Israeli boy
Wed 2009-04-01
  Netanyahu sworn in as Israeli PM

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