Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Cerina Vincent aka Areola in "Not Another Teen Movie" aka Marcy in "Cabin Fever" aka Yellow Ranger Maya in "Power Rangers" aka Dannielle "Danny" St. Claire in "It Waits" (age 32)
I know we've gotten out of the body count business, but we must have taken out a lot of bad guys during the past year or two. I read somewhere that the Marine units are really kicking butt.
As it turns out, not everyone isn't counting bodies. Last August, Strategy Page had an article on exactly that subject with regard to Afghanistan. In the past they've done similar write-ups for Iran and other War on Jihad fronts.
August 30, 2010: According to data released by the Afghan government, war related deaths are running at the rate of 40 per 100,000 population (about 12,000 dead a year). Two thirds of the dead (at least in the last month) have been Taliban. About a quarter of the dead were civilians (mostly killed by the Taliban) and the remaining twelve percent security forces. Afghan casualties are unchanged, if you leave out Taliban losses, over the last few years. Two years ago, civilian and security force losses were 15 per 100,000. They are still at that level. The NATO effort keep civilian losses down has had an impact here. The economy continues to grow, and the number of Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan is 100,000 (so far this year), twice what it was last year. This is partly because of the growing violence across the border, as the Pakistani Army goes after their local Taliban.
January 11, 2011: Afghanistan is only half of a war that straddles the Pakistan border. Most of the hostiles are Islamic conservative Pushtun tribesmen. Northern Pakistan and southern Afghanistan are Pushtun country, where 40 million Pushtuns live (65 percent in Pakistan). Last year this war left about 15,000 dead. Over 90 percent of those killed were Pushtun. Over 10,000 were the Taliban and terrorist fighters determined to drive infidels (non-Moslems) out of the area and establish an Islamic state (under Pushtun control). Most of the other 5,000 dead were civilians, most of them killed by the Taliban. The casualties are pretty even on both sides of the border, although last year they were a bit higher in Pakistan. This year, there was a surge of fighting in Afghanistan. No one expects the Pushtuns to win this war, they never do. That's why there have been so few Pushtun kingdoms in the region, much less a modern "Pushtunstan."
#1
There is no modern Pushtunstan, but there also isn't a way for the US to exit Afghanistan quickly, particularly if we persist in 'nation building'.
I think George Bush had it right in late 2001, but he and others in his administration were co-opted by all the bleating about nation building. That's what caused us to ratchet this up, in the guise of "only a modern nation-state in Afghanistan will prevent al Qaeda from coming back in and taking over."
I've thought for a while that what we need is a de-facto border between the crazy Pushtuns and the rest of the crazy Afghans. Keep 'em on their respective sides of the border. Then remind the Pushtuns that the Arabs (like Binny) are also furriners who need to be killed.
If Obama really wants to make progess, make this happen and don't pay attention to the bleeding hearts, the UN, and the grubs and sponges inside the Karzai government who are making money off us. Let the Tajiks and Uzbeks have their areas. Let Harat go the way it goes. Tell the Pushtuns that we'll leave them alone as long as they don't let any Arabs in.
Leave the CIA in place, leave some support and training elements in the Tajik and Uzbek areas since they seem to like us a little more, and otherwise depart. Remind the Pushtuns of Ripley's famous comment about nuking them from orbit if necessary.
If we do this we get relative security at a lower price, and we can refocus on the other quiet parts of the WoT that need to be won.
Am I missing something here?
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/07/2011 12:15 Comments ||
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#2
You've missed nothing Dr. White. This effort is a dike of a thousand holes. On the bright side however, following recurring engagements and re-captures of released detainees, our French Coalition partners have for all intents and purposes....... stopped taking prisoners.
#3
The Frogs have always been willing to play dirty when it's their interests that are being affected. God bless 'em.
It seems to me that if we really wanted to scare the Pak leadership, we'd start talking about the creation of an independent Pashtunistan on the Afghan side of the line.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/07/2011 15:15 Comments ||
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#4
Misplaced '/em' moved to the proper place in my comment above the article text. Only the second sentence, the one in italics, was written by Keystone; the rest was written by me in response. Also, Iran was meant to be Iraq. My apologies to Keystone and to you, Dear Reader, for causing any misunderstanding.
#5
The problem is, jihad -- or at least, murdering foreigners and/or unbelievers -- has a long history in Pashtun culture, as it does, for instance, in Yemen. And while at the moment on the Afghan side of the border they are concentrating on re-establishing Taliban rule and throwing out Coalition troops, on the Pakistan side they are concentrating on overthrowing the Punjab/Sindh oligarchy and attacking unbelievers in India and the West. So shortly after we stopped killing jihadis on both sides of the border in Pashtunistan, they'd go full-out to control the Afghan side to provide themselves a haven farther from Punjabi/Sindhi attacks... from which they could expand their attacks on that part of the world which should by rights be dhimmi.
General Petraeus is now saying that we have killed enough jihadis that we are starting to win the war. The Strategy Page analysts clearly believe we are starting to win, too. I am beginning to wonder if all our nation building isn't an acceptable way to stay in the neighborhood long enough to kill enough blood-maddened idiots to force them to accept sobriety... and that while the nation building is a good thing, it's actually the raw numbers of dead and disabled jihadis that is turning the tide.
I do like the idea of forming a Pashtunistan... then making it very, very clear to the new country that we will will bounce their rubble on their hydrocephalic heads if they engage in, or do not stop any guests from engaging in, any activity beyond their borders, whether in the rump Afghanistan, in Pakistan, or in the West/Australia. No doubt we would have to do so, several times, before they learnt the lesson.
Of note, Strategy Page last August wrote that Afghan war deaths are about 12,000/year of which 2/3rds are Taliban & friends, or 8,000/year. If the implication is that we've killed that many since the invasion in 2002 (let's go with 2003 as the first full year), then 8,000 x 8 years (we've only just started 2011, after all) means 64,000 dead jihadis. If it's only been the past two years, with some significantly smaller amount in the preceding years, then it may be only about 20,000 dead hard boys drunk on the idea of infidel blood... on the Afghan side of the border.
I'm not quite sure how to calculate from Strategy Page's January entry. SP's analysts are not trained writers, which sometimes makes things difficult, as they seem to make no attempt at consistency from post to post. But I think the writer means to say 5,000 Pashtun jihadis were killed in 2010 on the Pakistani side of Pashtunistan. We have been accelerating our operations there, as has the Pakistani army, so my data-free guess is that perhaps as many as 8,000 Pakistani Pashtun jihadis have been killed since Al Qaeda fled Tora Bora. On the other hand, that number is clearly accelerating upward.
I would very much appreciate if anyone would challenge my calculations -- I haven't any experience in this kind of thing, after all.
#6
TW: This entire effort, the Petreaus effort is basically a three-pronged strategy. (1.) Take down the Taliban leadership network. (2.) Deny supplies, weapons, and funding wherever possible. (3.) Continue to work with the GIRoA (Gov't of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan) Army, Police Force, and court system. Numbers of insurgent KIA doesn't tell the story. The number of key Taliban leaders killed or captured is the key.
[Tolo News] Nearly two tonnes of marijuana have been siezed in eastern Afghanistan, Senior Afghan border officials said on Sunday.
General Aminullah Amarkhil, Commander of border forces in eastern region, told TOLOnews that the drugs were seized during an operation in Achin district of eastern Nangarhar province.
No one has been jugged in connection with the drugs.
Military officials said there may be some other drug caches in other parts of the district.
"Based on the information drug smugglers had transferred marijuana to the district and had hidden it in a pit," said General Amarkhil.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Nangarhar Governor Spokesperson told TOLOnews that Afghan and foreign forces have destroyed a drug laboratory during an offensive carried out on Saturday.
During the operation 250kg of drugs and some weapons were seized by the forces.
There are reports suggesting turbans' control over some villages in the province.
Smugglers are also found to be doing some drug dealings in the province.
Recent operations in eastern Afghanistan have led to the death and detention of dozens of turbans.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
In other Afghan news, the US Air Force is performing saturation bombing of eastern Afghanistan with pallets of Cheetos.
[Ennahar] Two beturbanned goons were killed Sunday by the Algerian army in Bir El Ater in the province of Tebessa, about 640 km east of Algiers, said a security official.
The two terrorists, whose identity was not specified, were killed in a clash with soldiers in the forest of Djebel Labiod where the army has carried out for ten days a combing operation, according to this source.
Two soldiers were seriously maimed by the kaboom of a roadside kaboom Jan. 31 at the passing of a truck belonging to a military convoy that led the operation in the area deemed to be the stronghold of gangs, authors of deadly attacks in recent years in the east.
The army launched a search operation in the region of Tebessa and neighbouring department of Khenchla after locating the places where gangs were digging, the source said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] The Egyptian Vice-President Omar Suleiman on Sunday rejected a call from the opposition to assume the powers of geriatric President Hosni Mubarak, strongly disputed for nearly two weeks, said an opponent who participated in the dialogue between the government and the opposition.
"We asked that the President delegated his powers to Vice President in accordance with the powers given to him by section 139 (the Constitution) but he refused," told AFP a head of an opposition party who spoke under condition of anonymity.
The authority has launched a "national dialogue" with the opposition including the Mohammedan Brotherhood, the main opposition force in Egypt and "bete noire" of the regime so far.
After the start of popular protest on January 25, Mr. Suleiman, former head of intelligence services, was named vice president, a position abolished by Hosni Mubarak upon his arrival to power in 1981.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] The building housing the police headquarters of Kef, in the north-west of Tunisia, was engulfed in flames Sunday afternoon, said a union member who said the army had been deployed in the city after the attacks by "gangs".
"There's panic in the city. The building (home to) security forces in the district is on fire," told AFP Raouf Hadaoui, a trade unionist in Kef joined by phone.
"Several police cars were burned and the fire threatens neighboring homes, he said, describing a constant ballet of ambulances.
"The army has been deployed throughout the city and seeks to facilitate the work of rescue," he added.
Kef Saturday was the scene of violent festivities between police and protesters demanding the departure of the local police chief accused of abuse of power. The festivities left four dead and fifteen maimed, according to union sources.
After a return to calm in the morning of Sunday, the situation has again deteriorated in the city, where "gangs of youths attacked and looted the cop shoppe" before setting fire to the building of the police, according to Mr. Hadaoui. For him, the robbers were "paid by the RCD (former ruling party) to cause trouble."
For his part, the official news agency TAP reported the fire at the police building and confirmed the deployment of the army. The agency said the protesters had "taken the documents and equipment" at the police headquarters before setting it on fire.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] A young man, unemployed, tried to set himself on fire Sunday morning during a demonstration of unemployed before the Algerian Ministry of Labour, a witness told AFP.
"A young unemployed doused himself with petrol and tried to set fire, but the protesters managed to stop him," told AFP Menadi Amine, a founding member of "Pacifique Algérie" a "an independent Youth Group" created on Facebook in the wake of riots that rocked the country in early January.
Some 150 unemployed people gathered in the morning outside the headquarters of the Ministry of Labour to lay a platform of demands," said Menadi.
This action, which drew national coordination for the rights of unemployed people, aimed in particular to denounce "the illegal practices of certain public and private companies and multinationals and low salaries."
Riots against high prices have left five people dead, over 800 injured and extensive damage in early January.
Since then, at least nine Algerians tried to set themselves on fire and three are dead, like the gesture of the young Tunisian who, on December 17, sparked protest in the neighboring country.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] Algerian security services managed to dismantle, network of Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in the south-east, who was preparing attacks in Europe including La Belle France, newspapers reported on Sunday in Algiers.
Fourteen Islamist Death Eaters, including two Mauritanians suspected of links with AQIM and preparing attacks in Europe, were nabbed in late December by security forces in the region of Batna, in the Aures (450 km southeast of Algiers), according to the daily El Watan.
Among them the Salafist leader Ibrahim Ould Mohamed Mauritanian Ouldna presented as the "mufti" (exegesis) of AQIM, who had joined the ranks of AQIM in Algeria in 2008, the newspaper said, citing the Algerian security services.
The Islamist then stayed in the thicket of Tebessa (Far East) and Batna where he organized and trained gangs in Algeria and Mauritania to carry out suicide kabooms and kidnappings of Westerners, the paper added.
The group would hit in European countries including La Belle France, according to the Arabic daily El-Khabar. Ibrahim Ould Mohamed Ouldna was nabbed in late December as he was about to reach the refuge of AQIM leader Abdelmalek Droudkel, said El Watan.
His confession led to the first arrest of another Islamist, Abu Mustapha Debchi, alias Mohamed Al Othman, an electronics engineer at the port of Annaba (east) while preparing to embark to Europe to put in place AQIM cells, the source said.
The confessions of the engineer then led to the arrest of all members of the network in Algeria.
In addition, an Islamist presented as a senior al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was killed Friday night in the region of Bouira (120 km south-east of Algiers), according to several Algerian newspapers.
Bourihane Kamel, aka Abu Hafs, was also considered the right arm of AQIM leader Abdelmalek Droukdel.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2011 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] Egypt's vice president met a broad representation of major opposition groups for the first time Sunday and offered new concessions including freedom of the press, release of those jugged since anti-government protests began nearly two weeks ago and the eventual lifting of the country's hated emergency laws.
Two of the groups that attended the meeting said this was only a first step in a dialogue which has yet to meet their central demand -- the immediate ouster of longtime geriatric President Hosni Mubarak.
"People still want the president to step down," said Mostafa Al-Naggar, a protest organizer and supporter of Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace laureate and one of the country's leading democracy advocates.
"The protest continues because there are no guarantees and not all demands have been met," he added. "We did not sign on to the statement. This is a beginning of a dialogue. We approve the positive things in the statement but ... we are still demanding that the president step down." The outlawed Mohammedan Brotherhood, the country's largest opposition group, made a similar statement after its representatives attended the meeting.
Vice President Omar Suleiman offered to set up a committee of judiciary and political figures to study proposed constitutional reforms that would allow more candidates to run for president and impose term limits on the presidency, the state news agency reported. The committee was given until the first week of March to finish the tasks.
The offer also included a pledge not to harass those participating in anti-government protests, which have drawn hundreds of thousands at the biggest rallies. The government agreed not to hamper freedom of press and not to interfere with text messaging and Internet.
The offer to eventually lift emergency laws with a major caveat -- when security permits -- would fulfill a longtime demand by the opposition. The laws were imposed by Mubarak when he took office in 1981 and they have been in force ever since. They give police far-reaching powers for detention and suppression of civil and human rights ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... .
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry ... the Senate's current foreign policy expert, filling the empty wingtips of Joe Biden... hailed the talks with opposition groups and the promise to remove the emergency law as "frankly quite extraordinary." Kerry called on Mubarak to lay out a timetable for transition and new elections.
"He must step aside gracefully, and begin the process of transition to a caretaker government. I believe that is happening right now," Kerry told NBC's Meet the Press.
"What's needed now is a clarity in this process." Mubarak is insisting he cannot stand down now or it would only deepen the chaos in his country. The United States shifted signals and gave key backing to the regime's gradual changes on Saturday, warning of the dangers if Mubarak goes too quickly.
Sunday's meeting drew the broadest representation of Egypt's fragmented opposition to sit with the new vice president since the protests began on Jan. 25.
The new offer of concessions followed a series of others that would have been unimaginable just a month ago in this tightly controlled country. All appear geared to placate the protesters and relieve international pressure without giving in to the one demand that unites all the opposition -- Mubarak's immediate departure. The latest agreement makes no mention of any plan for Mubarak to step before a new election is held later this year.
Since protests began, Mubarak has pledged publicly for the first time that he will not seek re-election. The government promised his son Gamal, who had widely been expected to succeed him, would also not stand. Mubarak appointed a vice president for the first time since he took office three decades ago, widely considered his designated successor. He sacked his Cabinet, named a new one and promised reforms. And on Saturday, the top leaders of the ruling party, including Gamal Mubarak, were purged.
There were signs that the paralysis that has gripped the country since the crisis began was easing Sunday, the first day of the week in Egypt. Some schools reopened for the first time in more than a week, and banks did the same for only three hours with long lines outside. However, The infamous However... there is still a night curfew, and tanks ringing the city's central square and guarding government buildings, embassies and other important institutions.
At the epicenter of the protests, Tahrir (Liberation) Square in central Cairo, some activists said they had slept under army tanks ringing the plaza for fear they would try to evict them or further confine the area for demonstrations. The crowd of thousands in the morning swelled steadily over the day to tens of thousands in the late afternoon. Many were exhausted and maimed from fighting to stand their ground for more than a week in the square.
"We are determined to press on until our number one demand is met," said Khaled Abdul-Hameed, a representative of the protesters.
He said the activists have formed a 10-member "Coalition of the Youths of Egypt's Revolution," to relay their positions to politicians and public figures negotiating with the regime.
"The regime is retreating. It is making more concessions everyday," Abdul-Hameed said.
The opposition groups represented at the meeting included the youthful supporters of ElBaradei, who are one of the main forces organizing the protests. ElBaradei was not invited and his brother said the statement by those who did attend does not represent his personal view.
The Mohammedan Brotherhood and a number of smaller leftist, liberal groups also attended, according to footage shown on state television.
The government offered to open an office that would field complaints about political prisoners, according to the state news agency. It also pledged to commission judicial authorities to fight corruption and prosecute those behind it. In another concession, authorities promised to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the yet unexplained disappearance of police from Cairo's streets more than a week ago, which unleashed a wave of lawless looting and arson.
The government agreed to set up a committee that includes public and independent figures and specialists and representatives of youth movements to monitor the "honest implementation" of all the new agreements and to report back and give recommendations to Suleiman.
"I think Mubarak will have to stop being stubborn by the end of this week because the country cannot take more million strong protests," said Mohammedan Brotherhood representative Issam Aryan Mohammed Mursi, one of the Brothers who attended the talks, said: "Unless he moves fast to meet people's demands there is no point in the dialogue." Mursi said what was issued was a position in principle, "a first step." "All those attending the meeting agreed the protesters have a right to stay where they are without anyone assaulting them," he said. "People want real change, a change that includes the president, his government, his party and his regime," Mursi added.
He also said the group was expecting a second round of talks within a few days.
The fundamentalist Mohammedan Brotherhood, which has been outlawed since 1954 but fields candidates in parliamentary elections as independents, did not organize or lead the protests currently under way and only publicly threw its support behind them a few days into the movement. It only ordered its supporters to take part when it sensed that the protesters, mostly young men and women using social networks on the Internet to mobilize, were able to sustain their momentum.
There have been no known discussions between the Brotherhood and the regime in years -- one of many startling shifts in policy after years of crackdowns by the Western-backed regime against the Islamists.
Both Mubarak and Suleiman have blamed the Brotherhood as well as foreigners of fomenting the recent unrest. Mubarak is known to have little or no tolerance for Islamist groups and the decision to open talks with the Brotherhood is a tacit recognition by his regime of their key role in the ongoing protests as well as their wide popular base.
The Brotherhood aims to create an Islamic state in Egypt, but insists that it would not force women to cover up in public in line with Islam's teachings and would not rescind Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
The group, which fields candidates as independents, made a surprisingly strong showing in elections in 2005, winning 20 percent of parliament's seats. However, The infamous However... thousands of its members were nabbed in crackdowns over the past decade and it failed to win a single seat in elections held late last year. The vote was heavily marred by fraud that allowed the National Democratic Party to win all but a small number of the chamber's 518 seats.
At Tahrir Square, hundreds performed the noon prayers and later offered a prayer for the souls of protesters killed in festivities with security forces. Later, Christians held a Sunday Mass and thousands of Mohammedans joined in.
Some of the worshippers broke down and cried as the congregation sang: "Bless our country, listen to the screams of our hearts." "In the name of Jesus and Muhammad we unify our ranks," Father Ihab Al-Kharat said in his sermon. "We will keep protesting until the fall of the tyranny," he said.
In the capital Cairo, home to some 18 million people, there were some signs of a return to normality. Traffic was back to near regular levels and more stores reopened across the city, including some on the streets leading to Tahrir Square. Protesters greeted some store owners and people returning to work with flowers.
In Zamalek, an affluent island in the middle of the Nile that is home to many foreign embassies, food outlets reopened and pizza delivery boys checked their cycle of violences.
Employees at a KFC restaurant wiped down tables.
Hairdressers and beauty salons called their patrons to let them know they were reopening.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
If Kerry wants to be Sec of State, he should be forced to open his military records for the vetting. After all, it's been 6+ years since he promised to do that. Ooooohhhh not so eager now, you putz?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/07/2011 8:05 Comments ||
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[Ennahar] Talks between the government and the Mohammedan Brotherhood, the main opposition force in Egypt, began Sunday in the national dialogue initiated by the Vice-President Omar Suleiman, to which were invited all political forces, according to to the news agency Mena.
Talks between the government and the Mohammedan Brotherhood, the main opposition force in Egypt, began Sunday in the national dialogue initiated by the Vice-President Omar Suleiman, to which were invited all political forces, according to to the news agency Mena.
These discussions bring together representatives of the Mohammedan Brotherhood, the Wafd party (Liberal) and Tagammu (left), members of a committee chosen by the pro-democracy groups who launched the protest movement that calls for the January 25 departure of geriatric President Hosni Mubarak, as well as independent political figures and businessmen.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
FREEREPUBLIC this Guam AM > EGYPT: MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD THREATEN TO "QUIT TALKS".
Yokay-y-y, I'll bite, IIRC as per NET + Regional fears isn't the MUBROS "joining" the talks as bad as them "quitting" the talks???
[Yemen Post] An officer in the political security office in Hadramout beat feet on Sunday an apparent liquidation attempt after gunnies believed to be suspected Al-Qaeda forces of Evil carried out an attack on Major Saleh Ba Dhris.
Sources said that the attackers were riding a cycle of violence when they fired on the major's house but no casualties were reported.
The incident came amid a series of attacks against public security and intelligence offices and liquidation attempts against intelligence and security officers in southern and southeastern regions.
Many were killed and injured in the attacks and attempts mainly blamed on Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the separatist movement.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2011 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] Ten alleged Al-Qaeda members shouted defiance on Sunday when they went on trial over an April 2008 kaboom near the offices of a Canadian energy company in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
The defendants, aged between 25 and 40 years of age, refused to answer questions from Judge Mohsen Alwan, who adjourned the hearing until Monday in order to interrogate them in pairs.
It is alleged that the group was behind an kaboom in the Hadda district of the capital on April 10, 2008 near the offices of Nexen Inc. Based in Calgary, Alberta, Nexen says it operates the biggest oil project in Yemen.
"It's an illegitimate court. The end of the regime is near," shouted one of the defendants, Mohammed Ahmed Badr, from the dock. "We are jugged in an American prison and this is an American court."
The defendants also alleged that they had been tortured while in detention.
Besides the kaboom, in which no-one was hurt, the defendants are accused in connection with attacks on the military, security services, a currency exchange bureau in the western port city of Al-Hudaydah, and the 21-day kidnapping of the son of a Yemeni tribal leader.
Situated at the strategic southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, Yemen -- ancestral home of Osama bin Laden and scene of anti-government protests in recent days -- has been fighting Al-Qaeda snuffies in its south and east.
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02/07/2011 00:00 ||
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Google Translate For a map, click here. For a map of Nuevo Leon click here
A total of 15 alleged members of the Gulf Cartel were arrested and more than 8,000 rounds of ammunition were seized in an operation east of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon Saturday, according to Mexican press reports.
A traffic stop by a unit of the Mexican Policia Federal near Cadereyta and a subsequent search of the vehicle uncovered hidden compartments where a large amount of munitions were found.
Federal agents seized 10 AK-47 assault rifles, one unidentified rifle, 4,675 rounds of ammunition, 116 magazines, communications equipment and a cell phone.
Information developed during the stop led Federal agents to a location of two safe houses in Guadalupe municipality where agents placed 14 others under arrest and seized a large number of munitions.
Agents also seized 3,658 rounds, 11 AR-15 assault rifles, one handgun, 86 magazines for AK-47, six bullet-proof vests, two vehicles and radio equipment.
Google Translate. For a map, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas, click here
A total of 13 armed suspects were killed Friday in encounters with elements of the Mexican Army in Tamaulipas, according to Mexican press accounts.
A Mexican Army detachment on patrol was fired on by armed suspects in the village of San German in the San Fernando municipality. Return fire by the army killed six men. The unit seized two vehicles, three grenade launchers, one grenade, seven rifles, one pistol and 79 magazines following the firefight.
A Mexican Army unit was on patrol in the village of Santa Apolonia in Valle Hermoso municipality when they were fired on by armed suspects. Six suspects were killed by army return fire. The unit seized one vehicle seven rifles, one pistol and and 85 magazines.
A Mexican Army unit was fired on in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas near the intersection of calles Rio Eufrates and Prage in the Campesina colony. One man was killed by army return fire. The unit seized a vehicle and four rifles in the aftermath.
A total of 28 individuals died in violence in northern Mexican states including five individuals shot to death in Juarez, Chihuahua.
A convicted kidnapper died in his jail cell Friday morning. Edgar Antonio Romero, 28 was found dead in his cell at the Juarez municipal Centro de Readaptacion Social (CERESO) likely from exposure to record low temperatures. Antonio Romero is the second member of his gang who has been killed since last n November. He was serving a 100 year sentence for kidnapping.
Four unidentified men were shot to death in Juarez Friday. The victim has just begun occupation of an abandoned residence near the intersection of calles Cordillera Jura and Bosque de Aragon in the Villas del Cedro II colony when armed suspects came to the area and shot them.
Two individuals were killed in separate incidents in Juarez Friday, according to the Mexican news daily La Polaka.
A man was found shot to death and dumped near the corner of calles Miñaca and Santa Clara in the Kilometro 5 colony. The victim was dumped wrapped in a blanket.
A teenager was shot to death in his residence Friday night. The victim was drinking beer with friends when armed suspect broke into the home near the intersection of calles Zacatenco and Islas Carolinas in the Plutarco Elias Calles colony.
A suspected car thief was shot to death by police in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Friday night. Francisco Javier Murillo Melendez was observed by Chihuahua municipal police attempting to dismantle a vehicle near the corner of calles 20 de Noviembre and 38th in the Pacifico colony, when members of the group helping him fired at police. Return fire hit Francisco Murillo Melendez, who died while being transported for medical attention. The other suspects escaped capture.
An inmate at the state CERESO in Serdan Achilles shot himself to death in his cell Friday night. Reports say Carlos Alberto de la Cerda, 32 and serving time for possession of a weapon, shot himself twice in the head using a .380 automatic pistol. Reports noted that Mexican Federal agents conducted a contraband sweep at the Serdan Achilles CERESO January 28th.
Two unidentified men were shot to death and a third wounded Saturday in Juarez. The victims were riding aboard a Honda Civic near the intersection of calles Maximo Castillo and Gilberto Limon in the Revolucion Mexicana colony when they were attacked. The driver crashed his vehicle when he was hit, and was taken to a local hospital for medical attention.
An unidentified man was shot and dumped in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Saturday. The victim was found near the corner of calles Urbi Villas and Vitromex shot and wrapped in a blanket.
Three unidentified men were shot to death at a shop in Juarez Saruday. The victims were all employed a mechanics at a shop near the intersection of calles Sandia and Sorgo in the El Granjero colony. Reports say the victims were herded into the shop office prior to being shot.
Three unidentified men were shot to death in Juarez Saturday afternoon. The victims were at a used car lot on Avenida Gomez Morin near television studios of Channel 44. Reports say the victims sought refuge from their attackers amidst the used car and were not employed at the used car business.
Five unidentified individuals were shot to death in Juarez Saturday evening. The shootings took place at a residence near the corner of calles Costa Rica and Alfonso Junjo in the Zona Centro of Juarez. Two men and a woman were found inside the garage of the residence while two others were found in an apartment nearby.
A city councilman in Ensenada, Baja Californian was shot to death Saturday night. Arturo Castellanos Ruiz was leaving a nightclub on calzada Cortez in the Hidalgo colony when he was shot. Several 9mm and .45 caliber spent shell casings were found at the scene. Castellanos Ruiz was with the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI).
An unidentified teenager was found shot to death in Torreon, Coahuila Saturday. The victim was foun near the intersection of Bulevar Revolucion and the Tec de La Laguna bridge shot three times.
A man was shot to death near Parral, Chihuahua Friday. Wilber Francisco Aguirre Palma, 34 and a resident of Tijuana, Baja California, was found dead near the village of of Norogachi Tajirachi in the Guachochi municipality.
Two men were shot to death in Parral, Chihuahua Saturday night. Emilio Aceves Villarreal and Manuel Chavez Jesus Rodriguez were found between the municipalities of Emiliano Zapata and Lopez Portillo. Several .45 caliber spent shell casings were found at the scene.
#1
An inmate ... shot himself to death in his cell Friday night. Reports say Carlos Alberto de la Cerda, 32 and serving time for possession of a weapon, shot himself twice in the head using a .380 automatic pistol.
I do not know what is more disturbing: The fact that a prisoner had an automatic pistol in his cell, or that the guy commited "suicide" by shooting himself twice in the head.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
02/07/2011 11:50 Comments ||
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#1
90 pages and all I can do is sighhh. I think we're screwed.
Posted by: Total War ||
02/07/2011 15:48 Comments ||
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#2
As a retired CT Agent, the excuses not to interview those in Hasan's chain of command are indefensible. There are plenty of pretexts to use. If I were on the JTTF in WDC, I'm not sure how well I could sleep anymore.
Posted by: Jack Salami ||
02/07/2011 16:44 Comments ||
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#3
The frequent mention of phone traffic and obvious monitoring, the redactions, etc, are telling. I will always believe the Bureau was running a source. Easier to isolate and monitor the source from Fort Hood than the Beltway. Something to keep the WACO field office busy. Nobody wanted a nutcase to blow up in D.C.
#5
CT = Counterterrorism
JTTF = Joint Terrorism Task Force
WDC = Wash D.C.
Running a Souce = Actually somethng of a misnomer in this particular case. Should read monitoring an intelligence lead. Reporting on his/her contacts, travel, activities, meetings, etc, in the hope of uncovering a network or illegal activity(s).
#6
Thank you, dear Besoeker. I once worked for a corporation that had different sets of acronyms for each division, so even if I think I know what it means, I prefer to make sure. In this case I was completely clueless until you took pity on me, though.
Jack Salami, thank you for all that you and your colleagues have done to keep us safe.
#7
I still wonder if the FBI (or ATF or womebody) was running a source or something similar in relation to the Oklahoma City bombing. Too much never seemed to tie together afterward, and McVeigh didn't stay alive long enough to change his mind about keeping his mouth shut.
#8
Iff FED INTEL-PYWAR, e.g. FBI + NSA-CIA + SECRET SERVICE - YOU KNOW, THE PA STATE POLICE, were observing at PENN STATE, THEN THEY SHOULD HAD KNOWN ABOUT HASAN + ATTA + MCVEIGH, E-T-A-L way Way WAY W-A-Y WWWWWAAAAAAAAYYYYYY BACK THEN.
To paraph WARD BOND in THE SEARCHERS > "D *** NG IT, WAY, WAY, spelled W-A-V-E = W-H-Y, WAY"!
[Iran Press TV] Militants have killed four people who were allegedly spying for Indian and Jewish intelligence agencies in Karak town in northwestern Pakistain.
Officials and local sources told Press TV that police have found four bullet-riddled bodies with notes from gunnies in their pockets outside Karak, a northwestern town near the lawless North Wazoo tribal district on Saturday.
The note said that those killed were spying for Indian and Jewish intelligence agencies.
This is the first such incident in Karak.
Militants frequently kidnap and kill people in the tribal regions of South and North Wazoo, accusing them of spying for the Pak government or for US-led forces in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] A leader of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,' armed wing arrived in the Gazoo Strip on Saturday after escaping from an Egyptian prison.
Thousands of prisoners broke out of jail in Egypt amid security chaos as ongoing anti-government protests spread across the country.
Al-Qassam Brigades beturbanned goon Ayman Noufel returned to the Al-Buriej refugee camp in central Gazoo, where he was received by his family and Hamas big turbans.
Noufel was jugged three years ago in El-Arish, when thousands of Paleostinians broke out of Gazoo through the wall on Egypt's border.
He was one of eight Paleostinians who beat feet from Egyptian jails, six of whom have returned to Gazoo.
The whereabouts of the remaining two is still unclear, but their families said they received unconfirmed information that Egyptian forces jugged them at a checkpoint near Sheikh Zweid, a city 15 kilometers from the Gazoo border.
According to official statistics in Gazoo, 39 Paleostinians were in Egyptian prisons before the protests broke out. More than a dozen had court orders mandating their release, but Egyptian security insisted on keeping them in jug.
The oldest detainee to escape was Mu'tasem Al-Quka, who spent seven years in Abu Za'bal prison accused of affiliation with Hamas.
He added he did not know at first what he was charged with but was later told it was for being a member of a movement banned in Egypt.
Al-Quka said he was ill-treated in Egyptian prisons especially in Abu Za'bal prison. He said prisoners were able to flee the jail because Egyptians demolished its walls.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] Jordan's Islamist opposition said on Sunday it has rejected an offer to join a new government led by Prime Minister Marruf Bakhit and tasked with pushing through reforms.
"We have received an offer to join the government of Marruf Bakhit, but we refused," Hamzah Mansur, leader of the powerful Islamic Action Front, the political arm of the Mohammedan Brotherhood in Jordan, told AFP.
"We did not discuss the details of the offer, but all what I can say is that taking part in this government under the current circumstances is out of the question," he said.
While the IAF's internal bylaws do not prevent the Islamists from joining government, "acceptable participation for us is the one that comes through national consensus and parliamentary elections," he added.
"We are not asking for miracles. Our demands are realistic, practical and do-able. We demand early general polls in line with a new electoral law."
The IAF boycotted the last general election in November in protest at constituency boundaries set up under a new electoral law, which it said over-represented rural areas considered loyal to the government.
Bakhit said on Saturday that his cabinet -- which he hopes to have in place by next Thursday -- would "include personalities who are credible and close to the people."
King Abdullah II instructed the 64-year-old career soldier and past prime minister to undertake a sweeping program of political and economic reforms following street protests.
When Bakhit was appointed, the Islamist opposition questioned his reformist credentials. But Islamist leaders expressed satisfaction on Friday after meeting both him and the monarch.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Jordan's trade unions, which group more than 200,000 members and are largely dominated by the Islamists, urged Bakhit to "widen participation of all civil society institutions in decision-making, and meet their demands."
The unions, which also had a meeting with Bakhit on Saturday, issued a statement listing their demands and calling for "a modern electoral law, which would boost national sense of belonging."
"All laws that restrict freedom of expression should be scrapped. Current economic policies should also be reviewed," they said, urging Bakhit to pick "capable, honest and responsible people" for his team "at this critical stage."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2011 00:00 ||
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[The Nation (Nairobi)] An Iranian revolutionary court put three Americans on trial on Sunday on charges of spying, more than 18 months after their arrest on the unmarked border with Iraq while on a hiking trip.
The prosecution of Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal comes at a time when anti-American rhetoric is at fever pitch in Iran as it marks the anniversary of its 1979 Islamic revolution on February 11.
State news agency IRNA said the trial was being held in a closed session and authorities barred the Swiss ambassador Livia Leu Agosti -- whose mission represents US interests in Iran -- was barred from attending the proceedings.
"I was not invited to the court and it was my decision to come. So far the authorities have not allowed me in," Ms Agosti was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Repeated pleas
Iran has dismissed repeated pleas from the United States for the release of Mr Bauer and Fattal after it allowed Ms Shourd to return home on bail of around 500,000 dollars last September after more than a year in detention.
Ms Agosti confirmed Ms Shourd was not attending the trial. "This was her personal decision and I have no information why she is not in the court," she said.
Ms Shourd, her fiance Bauer with whom she got engaged in an Iranian prison, and fellow hiker Fattal say they innocently strayed into Iran from across the unmarked border with northern Iraq when they were jugged on July 31, 2009 by Iranian authorities.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/07/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Time for the Heinlein quote:
"Stupidity is the only universal capital crime..."
#2
IIRC CNN this AM > MS SHOURD claimed that She + Friends were MISLED, IHO INTENTIONALLY, BY AN IRANIAN BORDER GUARD THEY'D MET WHOM INFORMED THEM THAT A WALKING TRAIL/PATH THE HIKERS DESIRED TO FOLLOW WAS INSIDE IRAQ WHEN IN RELAITY IT WAS INSIDE IRAN???
* ION IRAN, DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > IRAN[begins] MASS PRODUCING ANTI-SHIP BALLISTIC MISSLES.
* WAFF > NAVAL BATTLE BETWEEN US AND IRAN |{YouTube] IRAN DM VAHIDI CLAIMS IRAN HAS THE ABILITY TO STRIKE, SINK US AIRCRAFT CARRIERS, SUBMARINES, + DESTROYERS WID ARMED FAST PATROL BOATS CAPABLE OF TRAVELING 65-MPH.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > RUSSIA SAYS TOO EARLY TO TALK TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS [Treaty] WID USA.
Until such time the US deploys effective TACTICAL/BATTLEFIELD-LEVEL MISSLE DEFENSE, + lower vee AREA/SPOT = MICRO BMD].
"Dual-use" or Nuclear Mortars, NUC MANPORTABLE MISSLES, etc. ...... "BACK TO THE FUTURE" OF NOT-FESS-PARKER "DAVY CROCKETT", JEEP = HUMMER-LAUNCHED NUKES.
Ala RED DAWN, former "Wolverines" Patrick Swayze is dead from cancer, Charlie Sheen dallies wid Porn Stars + Courts, Jennifer Grey is unhappy wid her Nose job, + Lea Thompson is married, etal - THE COMMIES WIN!
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.
John 
