In a country soaked with religion, it has fallen to an Oklahoma Baptist to turn Islam into a weapon against the Taliban. The Americans help commanders command, fliers fly and spies spy. U.S. Army Capt. James Hill from Lawton, Okla. drew the job of mentoring Lt. Col. Abdul Haq, a 51-year-old Afghan National Army mullah who has never shaved. "It's very good that an artillery officer and a religious officer work together," said Lt. Col. Haq. "If the people are happy, we won't need cannons. If they don't like us, then we'll call in artillery."
#1
Don't forget that Prez Karzai (brother of a Heroin Warlord) told a Der Spiegel reporter that of Taliban, "I admire their morality." And those animals take Heroin money. Maybe nation destruction is a better play in Afgarbagistan.
KABUL A spokesman for a Taliban commander says a captured U.S. soldier will be executed unless the U.S. military stops operations in two districts of southeastern Afghanistan. The Taliban said last week they were holding the soldier. The U.S. military earlier said he went missing and may be in enemy hands.
Abdullah Jalali, spokesman for Taliban commander Mawlavi Sangin, told The Associated Press on Thursday the soldier was healthy but threatened to kill him unless the U.S. stops airstrikes in Ghazni province's Giro district and Paktika province's Khoshamand district. Jalali says Giro has been heavily bombed by international forces but did not otherwise explain why they chose those areas.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2009 11:19 ||
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#1
If history is any guide, beginning to kill American prisoners is the beginning of an understanding of the American phrase, "War is hell."
#5
I'm with Hellfish. These guys want to play hardball, huh? Okay, a-holes, be careful what you wish for. If only the 0ne administration had the balls (I'm not holding my breath).
Just as a matter of comparison, the USA does not take captured terrorists and threaten to kill them if our demands are not met. At the very worst, we waterboard them. Oh, the horror!
I still contend that waterboarding is NOT torture. For several reasons, actually, but most important is that the definition of torture is dependent on intent. We didn't waterboard detainees to punish them or illicit false confessions (unlike our enemies or the thugs over in Iran) because that would be torture. THE INTENT WAS TO SAVE INNOCENT AMERICAN LIVES. So even if people still want to insist that it was torture, it was justifiable torture. It's no different than saying a homicide committed in an act of self-defense is a justifiable homicide.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/16/2009 13:48 Comments ||
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#7
Thank God we are not Europeans, yet. Giving in to these kinds of demands is conceding defeat.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/16/2009 14:17 Comments ||
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#8
I would be very surprised if the Rules of Engagement were strictly adhered to if the taliban actually carry through. I also expect that a few Marines will have a one-on-one with anyone they think is collaborating with the enemy. The statement "You let them in here, you suffer the same consequences" gets repeated a lot in the coming months. Also expect a few "journalists" to find themselves not welcome in the vacinity of Marines.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/16/2009 19:29 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Armed Somali men stormed a hotel in the capital of Mogadishu on Tuesday and kidnapped two French security consultants working for the government as the kidnappers of two female aid workers in Darfur demanded ransom money for their release.
The two French men, kidnapped in Somalia, were initially thought to be journalists. But a government official told Reuters that they had pretended to be reporters for their own protection. "They were security consultants who arrived in Somalia to train state house security guards, not journalists," said the official.
Several gunmen, some in uniform, entered the Sahafi Hotel threatened the hotel guards and took away the Frenchmen from their hotel rooms, the hotel manager, who declined to be named told Reuters. The hotel is popular with ministers in the government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, and several live there and were in their rooms during the early morning raid.
A police officer who did not want to be named told Reuters that they had captured one of the three cars used by the gunmen. "We have captured one of the cars," he said, adding that he did not know where the French men had been taken.
Another witness said the gunmen, some of whom were dressed in uniform similar to that worn by Somali government troops, drove towards Mogadishu's Bakara market, an Islamist stronghold, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
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Egyptian security forces on Thursday arrested 25 terror suspects in the north of the Sinai peninsula. The group is alleged to have been planning violent attacks in the country.
According to local security sources, cited by Arab TV network al-Arabiya, 10 of the suspects were detained on Wednesday, while the others were arrested previously.
The suspects are believed to have been involved in the robbery of a jewellery store in Cairo last May in which five people, including the owner, were killed. The group members are believed to come from the city of Arish on the border of the Gaza Strip and are also accused of planning terror attacks abroad.
One of those arrested is a Palestinian suspected of having direct links with the Al-Qaeda terror network and of having planned attacks on foreign ships as they traveled through the Suez Canal and gas pipelines.
Investigators suspect that several of the accused are also part of the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah.
Rapid Action Battalion arrested four members of the banned Islamist outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh at the city's Rupnagar, Kanchpur in Narayanganj and in Jamalpur during the last three days. The Rab personnel also seized 38 shells of grenades and a large number of books on jihad.
A kinder, gentler RAB ...
The arrestees are Ehsar members (full timers) Kurri Mohammad Saidur Rahman, 28, and Mohammad Akkas Ali alias Akash, 25, of Muktagachha in Mymensingh, Gayeri Ehsar member (part timer) Mohammad Rokanuzzaman, 24, of Jamalpur and member Mohammad Saidur Miah, 32, of Jamalpur.
Rab-1 acting Director Maj Suman Ahmmed said they arrested Saidur Rahman at a house in Kanchpur of Narayanganj Tuesday and following his confessions they arrested Akash at a house in Rupnagar of Mirpur in the capital. Following their painful confessions, Rab arrested Rokanuzzaman and Saidur Miah at a house in Jamalpur Sadar upazila yesterday morning, Maj Suman said.
According to Rab officials, they recovered the shells of grenades and books on jihad from the house of Azizul Huq of Chitalia in Jamalpur Sadar upazila. He could not be arrested.
Replying to a query, Rab officials said the JMB men were preparing to launch grenade attacks. The major said some of the JMB men have been trying to organise a separate platform--Islam O Muslim--of the militant organisation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
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With the naxal insurgency taking on deadly new proportions, Indias premier paramilitary troubleshooters are set to become the frontline anti-maoist fighting force.
The government is working on a plan to add 38 new battalions or more than 35,000 men and women to the 60-year-old Central Reserve Police Force, which is already the countrys largest paramilitary force with 2.7 lakh personnel and is bigger than the armies of many countries.
Many? Most countries don't have armies 270,000 strong
The plan also includes a nation-wide intelligence network for the CRPF an acronym that also is translated by its own overworked, always-on-the-move, cadre as Chalte Raho Pyare. It would add more responsibility and powers to the paramilitary force to fight naxals, if the naxal-affected states come on board.
The Union Home Ministry is giving final touches to the plan, CRPF Director General A.S. Gill told Hindustan Times.
His comments came as home minister P. Chidambaram told parliament on Wednesday that the government would soon evolve a comprehensive strategy to fight naxals.
The move coincides with a spike in naxal attacks, which have already claimed lives of at least 249 security personnel in the past six months a figure that tops similar casualties in all of last year and is eight times the number of soldiers killed by insurgents in J&K this year.
For many years we did not properly assess the threat posed by Left-wing extremism. We under-estimated the challenge and in the meanwhile they (Naxalites) extended their influence, Chidambaram told Parliament on Wednesday. Today they (Naxalites) pose a grave challenge ... We are preparing to taken on the challenge. Details cannot be disclosed now.
He said the government has appointed a special military adviser and will convene a meeting of CMs of naxal-affected states next month.
The naxals, who have a presence in more than 150 districts across nine states, have stepped up attacks in recent months. Earlier this week they ambushed a police convoy, killing nearly 40 people, in Chhattisgarh a stronghold for the rebels who believe in revolutionary warfare.
Chidambaram did not give details of the governments plan.
For the first time, the CRPF will be setting up its own intelligence network at the national level, Gill said, adding it will also have more bomb disposal squads. But we will have to wait for it to come out.
The government has yet to take a final view in the matter, he said.
Since law and order is a state issue, consultation is on with the states on what role and powers could be given to the paramilitary force to carry out the anti-Naxal operations. Some states have already expressed reservations on certain provisions to be incorporated in the plan.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
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NOWSHERA/MARDAN/ISLAMABAD: Security forces arrested 12 people on Wednesday, including four relatives of Taliban commander Shah Duran and eight suspected terrorists. Sources told the Online news agency that security forces detained two nephews of Duran and two of his brothers-in-law.
Also on Wednesday, security forces arrested six suspected Taliban during a search operation in Bara tehsil. Separately, the federal police arrested a member of the Commander Tariq Farooqi Group, Attaullah, believed to be involved in the murder of a polish engineer in 2008.
In another incident, police arrested one would-be suicide bomber and his accomplice near Sabzi Mandi Police Station in Islamabad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
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ISLAMBAD: Security forces killed at least 28 Taliban in clashes in various areas of Swat and Mohmand Agency on Wednesday, said the ISPR.
Those killed include a most-wanted Taliban commander from Peochar Abu Laith, who was targeted during a search operation in Peochar. Fifteen Taliban were killed in clash with a lashkar in Mohmand Agencys Amber area, said the ISPR. Eight Taliban were killed during a search operation in Akhund Kalle near Kabal. One soldier was killed and three injured.
Troops conducted a search operation in Reema area and killed three Taliban there, while one Taliban was killed during in Chuprial. At least 16 Taliban were also arrested in a search-and-clearance operation in Swat and after a gunbattle in Darra Adam Khel. The forces arrested 11 Taliban in Darra Adam Khel, including local commander Rafiuddin. According to APP, troops unearthed a tunnel used by Taliban as a torture cell and took control of Shamozai.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] The security has been beefed up in separate parts of Balochistan after arrests of 13 alleged suicide bombers on Wednesday, Geo news said.
According to police sources, the passenger busses and trains, entering through Sibi, Jafarabad, Naseerabad and other districts are being strictly searched besides stringent checking of passengers.
Plain clothed heavy contingents of police and security forces have been deployed at bus stops and railway stations for the purpose of strict monitory, sources added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Security forces claimed demolishment of militants' hideouts with explosives including two Taliban commanders' four homes here in Swat's tehsil Barikot on Wednesday, Geo news reported.
The local people said the houses bombarded by security forces were used for detainment of persons kidnapped from separate parts of Swat, witnesses said.
Security forces also claimed to have seized suspected literatures from militants' hideouts, sources added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
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A Muslim village head was killed Wednesday in Sungai Kolok district of the southernmost province of Narathiwat, according to police.
Mr. Sadi Arong, head of Ta Se Nua village in Sungai Padi district, was gunned down by a suspected insurgent while he drove a motorcycle past a military base in Sungai Kolok district. The village head sustained multiple gunshot wounds, according to the authorities. Five bullet casings were found at the crime scene, police said. Police presumed the cause of attack was related to the jihad unrest in the region.
In the same province, two bombs exploded in the morning, wounding one soldier, and a defense volunteer was shot dead on a motorcycle in the nearby province of Pattani earlier in the day.
A Lebanese military prosecutor on Wednesday formally charged and demanded life in prison for a car dealer who allegedly passed information about Hezbollah to Israel.
Lebanese authorities have made dozens of arrests in recent months and filed preliminary charges but this has been the first formal indictment since a crackdown began earlier this year against those accused of collaborating with Israel. This case is also one of the most significant cases of alleged espionage uncovered and it constituted a serious breach of the militants' much vaunted security.
The suspect, a car dealer from the southern market town of Nabatiyeh, was accused of providing information about Hezbollah and Lebanese army positions, as well as entering Israel and meeting with intelligence officials, said Prosecutor Rashid Mizher.
Israel has declined to comment on the case.
The case became public in the spring when media reported the suspect was involved in an operation to fit cars he later sold to Hezbollah members with sophisticated electronic devices that provided the Israelis with information about militants' whereabouts and movements. Lebanese security officials confirmed he was picked up by Hezbollah in January and handed over to Lebanese authorities in February.
Mizher said he initially recommended the death penalty for the suspect but reduced it to life in prison because he was not involved in attacks against any Lebanese. Mizher's formal indictment is the last legal step before the case goes to court. No date for the trial has been set.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
As the mechanic, wiping his hands on a rag, walks away, whistling tunelessly...
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Egyptian security forces on Thursday arrested 25 terror suspects in the north of the Sinai peninsula. The group is alleged to have been planning violent attacks in the country.
ISLAMBAD: Security forces killed at least 28 Taliban in clashes in various areas of Swat and Mohmand Agency on Wednesday, said the ISPR. 
