ABU DHABI - France, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates began joint military exercises involving land, sea and air forces in the UAE on Saturday, the official WAM news agency reported. The military training, which will last for several days and whose exact location was not disclosed, is part of the Gulf Shield manoeuvres held regularly by France and the UAE, WAM added.
A total of 1,500 French, 2,500 Emirati and 1,300 Qatari troops are involved in the exercises, the French defence ministry website said.
The two countries signed a defence agreement following the 1991 Gulf War but this is the first time Qatar has taken part in the exercises, WAM added. The pact, concluded in 1995, allows for regular joint manoeuvres by units from the two countries armed forces with previous exercises held in 1996, 2000 and 2005. This years war games are being held in both Qatar and the UAE, WAM said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
To maintain the current strength of the infantry - the troops who have been most in demand since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and now widely deployed in southern Afghanistan - the infantry must recruit and train at least 5,000 new men a year, a target the MoD now acknowledges it has failed to meet for the past five years.
Overall, the Army is short of 3,800 soldiers but it is the infantry, which should be composed of 25,000 soldiers, where the crisis is hitting hardest. Almost every one of the infantry 36 battalions are under strength. 16 Air Assault Brigade, one of the most prestigious units in the Army, is almost 500 men under strength and could face significant challenges when it deploys to Helmand, in Afghanistan, next month.
The problems of overstretch have been further exacerbated by the fact that of the 98,000 soldiers in the Army, 7,000 are unfit for duty.
Not good news
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2008 15:02 Comments ||
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#2
The consequence of no national support, decades of multicultural curriculum in schools, influx of Muslims overwhelming the sense of patriotism and cultural identy, entry into the EU and self-identification as European more than British.... and rampant socialism undercutting family and sense of pride and self reliance.....
who wants to take a dangerous job to support that mess?
#4
Which in turn is linked to & exacerbated by the emmigration of well educated professional Brits, leaving their jobs to be filled by immigrants who do not value the historic British cultures.
#7
Let me reiterate a point. "Consent of the governed" is not about votes. Hell, dictators and tyrants get the rigged results just like Chicago, Washington State, St. Louis. It's about the willingness to expend that last full measure of devotion. When that will is gone, so is the nation.
Page One of a three-page article.
The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, who received death threats for airing his views on Islamic issues, has vowed that he will continue to speak out. His claim that Islamic extremism has turned some parts of Britain into "no-go" areas for non-Muslims led to fierce rows between political and religious leaders over the impact of multiculturalism on this country.
Those comments were followed soon after by the Archbishop of Canterbury's suggestion that the adoption of aspects of sharia law in Britain was "unavoidable".
The bishops' views in The Sunday Telegraph sparked a storm of criticism and raised questions over the role of the Church in society but, most seriously for Dr Nazir-Ali, led to threats that he and his family would be harmed.
Yet, in his first interview since the sinister calls were made to his home, the Bishop of Rochester remains steadfastly defiant. He will not be silenced. "I believe people should not be prevented from speaking out," he says. "The issue had to be raised. There are times when Christian leaders have to speak out."
He arrived in Britain in the 1980s and seems to have taken up the mantle for defending the country's values he fears are being threatened by a loss of its Christian heritage.
Dressed casually in a roll-neck jumper and sports jacket, he seems relaxed now as he walks around his study in Bishopscourt, but it has clearly been a stressful time. Threats were made warning that he would not "live long" and would be "sorted out" if he continued to criticise Islam. "If you disagree, that must be met by counter-arguments, not by trying to silence people. It was a threat not just to me, but to my family. I took it seriously, so did the police. It gave me sleepless nights."
However, it's not the first time that his life has been endangered.
Shortly after being made a bishop in Pakistan - at 35 he was the youngest in the Anglican Church - he was forced to flee to Britain to seek refuge from Muslims who wanted to kill him.
He says that he never expected to suffer the same treatment in Britain and expresses concerns over recent social developments. "The real danger to Britain today is the spiritual and moral vacuum that has occurred for the last 40 or 50 years. When you have such a vacuum something will fill it.
"If people are not given a fresh way of understanding what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be a Christian-based society then something else may well take the place of all that we're used to and that could be Islam."
A highly-respected academic - he studied at Cambridge and Oxford - he speaks calmly and with a measured deliberation.
#1
"If people are not given a fresh way of understanding what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be a Christian-based society then something else may well take the place of all that we're used to and that could be Islam."
I have to disagree with him on a fine point. Islam is allowing people a way of understanding what it means to be a Christian and a Christian based society.
OVERWEIGHT preacher of hate Abu 'Hooks' Hamza has given prison officials a list of demands after telling his lawyer: Im starving in here. Fatty Fatty 2x4 Couldn't Fit Through the Prison Door
Hamza, 49, who weighs about 20 stone, has told jail chiefs he wants more and better food, extra phone time and an end to constant strip searches. 1 stone = 14 pound * 20 stones = 280 lbs.
The former imam of Finsbury Park Mosque in north London, who is fighting extradition to the US, also objects to squatting during searches as it contravenes Islamic law. doesn't every G'Damn thing contravene?.. as needed
Hamza, who has hooks after losing both hands, is serving seven years at Belmarsh prison in south London for soliciting the murder of non-Muslims and inciting racial hatred. SOB is very lucky to be alive.. humm if Hooks were to slip and fall 5 tiers down it wouldn't contravene a thing in the church of RD.
A dossier of complaints compiled by his solicitors states: He receives insufficient food which appears to be out-of-date and does not meet his dietary requirements. humm How about a special dish of carrion served with a fox-glove puree
He has been left in a room without adequate facilities to meet the needs of a disabled person. This included no heads on taps so he did not have access to cold water and didnt have his diabetic pack. Does anyone have an extra, give-a-damn?
His team at Arani Solicitors claims Hamza was strip searched 13 times in one day, making him feel degraded. LOL!! Dear Lord, Please help the poor prison guards who have to look at 280 lbs of Abu Hook's flesh and search his body cavities.
Many Muslims will be aware that strip searches and other degrading practices, such as squatting, are against Islam. doesn't every G'Damn thing contravene?.. as needed
Inmates of the category A jail, which houses some of Britains most dangerous prisoners, have branded Hamza the Hungry Hippo because of his vast bulk. A prison insider said: It was a label which instantly stuck hes a big man and everyone knows him for wearing that grey outfit. When word got round that he was moaning about being hungry, it seemed an obvious title. LOL.. Abu Hungry 'Squats' Hippo
#3
We should recruit the lefty food-police who think school kids will willingly eat tofu and alfalfa and put them in charge of meal planning for imprisoned jihadis.
Talk and well bring in all the Big Macs you want!
"Urinating while standing has been considered by some scholars as makruh or undesirable simply because of the fact that doing so may cause urine to splash on our body or clothes. We should therefore avoid it "
"The Sunnah is to answer the call of nature sitting, making oneself close to the ground, because this is more concealing, and makes it less likely that spray from one's urine will come back on ones body or clothes, making them dirty. If a person can be sure of avoiding this, then it is permissible to urinate standing up."
Posted by: john frum ||
02/24/2008 8:11 Comments ||
Top||
#8
From Hadith....
Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said:
"Whoever tells you that the Prophet(PBUH) used to urinate standing up, do not believe him. He only ever used to urinate sitting down."
Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, al-Tahaarah, 12
Posted by: john frum ||
02/24/2008 8:13 Comments ||
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#9
give him rice and chopsticks
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2008 9:41 Comments ||
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#10
"Whoever tells you that the Prophet(PBUH) used to urinate standing up, do not believe him. He only ever used to urinate sitting down."
Huh, so the muzz pee sitting down. Who knew? Nancy boys.
#14
Who says the authorities don't listen to Rantburg? This was Fred's secret plan from the beginning. It was his belief, expressed here as far back as '02 (as I recall), that no terrorist should leave prison until he weighed at least 400 pounds.
The theory being: a fat terrorist is a slow terrorist.
Hook-Hand has 120 pounds to go. More cake and pudding!
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/24/2008 14:10 Comments ||
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#15
Hamza, 49, who weighs about 20 stone, has told jail chiefs he wants more and better food, extra phone time and an end to constant strip searches.
He obviously doesn't understand the difference between a five star hotel and Prison.
I look forward to his education with glee.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/24/2008 14:15 Comments ||
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#16
worst than 'water-boarding' I say, denying the man his daily measure of fried rice, hot wings, and babyback ribs!! Next...prepare for the "Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death!" speech.
A Russian cargo ship has been detained and boarded by armed coastguard agents in North Korean waters, Russian maritime officials say. The Lida Demesh, carrying a consignment of cars from Japan, was heading for the Russian port of Vladivostok when it was stopped by patrol near Cape Musudan.
No reason was given for the search, but Russian sources said the ship may have gone too close to a missile test site. A similar incident in 2005 took 15 days to resolve through diplomatic channels.
The ship had sought shelter from a storm in North Korean territorial waters.
#1
A very good strategic move by the Norks. Knowing that the Chicoms (people like us) got their back, and it's more of them than Pooty's got, I'm not surprised at all, at the occasional tug on the chain by the 'puppet masters'. Look for a quiescently attributable 'boot licking' by Pooty's Kremlin and a mellow dramatic 'vaporising' stand down.
#3
No, an exchange of goods wouldn't be on the news at all.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/24/2008 14:32 Comments ||
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#4
I agree Redneck Jim; the honey bear knew the KS-12 tracked zoomed in and wake measured it's coarse since it left the red crescent. No, this is a little 'gentle reminder' by the Chicoms (despite the handshakes and treaties signed) and their surrogates, whose territorial hegemony, these waters belong to.
(AKI) - The first Moroccan-born member of Italy's far-right Northern League party has complained that there are too many mosques in Italy.
Zakaria Najib is an Italian citizen who came to Italy when he was 20 years old. Now aged 50, he lives in the province of Padua in northern Italy. He is now planning to run in Italy's general elections in April as a candidate for the Northern League, an anti-immigrant party that campaigns for autonomy for Italy's wealthy north.
Although a member of the Cadoneghe city council in the province of Padua between 1999 and 2003, two months ago he told a local newspaper that he had asked president Giorgio Napoletano to take away his Italian citizenship so he could be Moroccan again. He said being a foreigner in Italy was better because they were "given homes and work, while I only have taxes and difficulties in paying the bills at the end of every month".
He criticised in particular the policies of leftist city administrations for helping immigrants and in particular Muslim immigrants. "In a nearby city council, 30,000 euros were given to restructure a mosque," Najib told AKI. "Now they want to give another 800,000 euros to construct another bigger mosque a few kilometres away. It is time to say enough. I am not against mosques but here we really have too many."
Najib admitted that he was no longer a practising Muslim and only considered himself culturally linked to Islam having been born in North Africa. "I believe that everyone has the right to have their own beliefs but they must pay for it themselves," he said. "It is not fair that taxpayers' money is being used to build mosques. On top of that I don't like the imams that I have seen inside the mosques and I think these are places that have to be controlled."
Najib has said that he is available to run as a candidate for a Senate seat for the Northern League. Party sources in Padua say that the decision depends on the federal and provincial councils of the party.
Despite that he says if elected, his first proposal would be to deal with what he called the excessive presence of mosques in the northern Italian region of Veneto.
Good fellow, but make sure you look underneath your car every morning ...
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2008 00:00 ||
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The case against a group of Canadians sometimes referred to as "the Secret Trial Five" isn't as secret as it used to be. Ottawa unveiled more specific allegations against the five terrorism suspects yesterday: for example, that one suspect called the satellite phone of al-Qaeda's second-in-command, and that another was in charge of a group of training camp recruits in Afghanistan.
In hundreds of pages of court documents yesterday, Canadian ministers signed new security certificates against alleged members of the al-Qaeda network. In doing so, the government narrowly beat a date imposed by the Supreme Court for the previous certificates to expire.
A Supreme Court ruling last year forced the federal government to relaunch its security certificate power. The controversial measure is intended to be used to jail and deport Canada's most dangerous non-citizens through court proceedings where the defendants are not allowed to hear all of the evidence against them.
The new process will still involve some court hearings the suspects can't attend, but to make the process fairer and more constitutional, the government yesterday appointed 13 "special advocate" lawyers to represent the suspects.
Federal Court judges have already ruled that the five suspects are likely threats who, for the most part, lied in court about their travels and associates. One suspect remains jailed while the rest are under strict house arrest. Fears that the suspects would be tortured abroad continue to stymie efforts to deport them.
Government officials did not say yesterday why they are now revealing more about the allegations against the men. Among the details the government apparently kept up its sleeve for years:
Syrian Hassan Almrei, accused of document forgery, is alleged to have gained access to a restricted area at Toronto's Pearson Airport in September, 1999. "Almrei and the five individuals appeared to have access cards and codes for a restricted access building on the [Pearson] grounds," the documents state.
Egyptian Mahmoud Jaballah, long alleged to be a communications conduit for terrorist cells involved in the 1998 African embassy bombings, is said to have "communicated closely" with Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda No. 2. The new documents indicate that conversations Mr. Jaballah had in Canada were recorded, including ones in which he referred to Mr. al-Zawahiri as "the father" and dialled his satellite phone.
A Moroccan, Adil Charkaoui, is said to have admitted to CSIS that fellow Montrealer Abderraouf Hannachi - who sent the so-called millennium bomber, Ahmed Ressam, to Afghan training camps - sent him there too. The court documents say that Mr. Charkaoui didn't just attend a terrorist training camp but was also in charge of recruits.
An Egyptian who has admitted working for Osama bin Laden in Africa, Mohamed Zeki Mahjoub, was allegedly fingered as a high-level terrorist by another Egyptian security certificate detainee, Mr. Jaballah. "On Nov. 16, 1996, Jaballah disclosed that he and Mahjoub once worked alongside each other 'over there.' And that he [Jaballah] regards Mahjoub as a shrewd and manipulative individual."
An alleged Algerian sleeper agent, Mohamed Harkat, is said to have been overheard making ominous remarks. "In February, 1998, Harkat stated that he had to keep a 'low profile' as he needed status in Canada. Further Harkat said that as soon as he received his 'status' he would be 'ready,' which the (Crown) concludes meant that Harkat would be prepared to undertake a jihad in support of Islamic terrorism."
The charge sheets make no reference to earlier allegations made by Abu Zubaydah, a Guantanamo Bay detainee, who was recently revealed to have been interrogated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency using harsh methods.
Compared with the earlier cases, the charge sheets filed yesterday include more references to Canadian Security Intelligence Service spy methods, including telecommunications intercepts.
The government also announced yesterday that a sixth man, who was being held as an alleged Tamil Tiger terrorist, will no longer be subject to a security certificate. "The government of Canada has decided not to reissue a security certificate to [Manickavasagam] Suresh at this point," Mélisa Leclerc, a spokeswoman for Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, said in a statement. She said the government is eyeing other legal measures.
Last year, Mr. Charkaoui's name was affixed to a Supreme Court ruling that parts of the old security certificate regime violated the Charter of Rights. The court gave the government one year to fix the law. Yesterday was the last working day before the court deadline.
The 13 "special advocates" that the new law created include many veterans of judicial inquiries who've fought government secrecy.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
A good thing. But imagine the outcry if this was done by "Bush".
Posted by: Bill Unomosh6436 ||
02/24/2008 8:39 Comments ||
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Hassan Abu-jihaad Charged With Leaking Navy Secrets If appearance matters, Hassan Abu-jihaad is an improbable holy warrior. His demeanor has been painfully meek during the legal proceedings leading up to his trial Monday in federal court in New Haven, where he is charged with transmitting military secrets to terrorists. Mostly, he has been a bewildered-looking man in an oversize prison jumpsuit.
Little is known about him. He was born Paul R. Hall and lived in Southern California. He converted to Islam, changed his name and joined the Navy. Later, he would be recorded by the FBI laughing with a friend at an al-Qaida propaganda video showing an insurgent known as the Juba sniper killing American soldiers in Iraq. "They show him knocking out about probably like, 10 of 'em," says the friend, who confides to Abu-jihaad that he screened the video with a girlfriend. "Ding! Ding! Ding! I'm like, Allahu Akbar."
#3
News last night, they're finally saying the obvious, "The face of Crime is Black" and it's the "Black"culture encouraging it.
They have a point, yesterday the cops caught a couple of bank robbers and everyone was surprised when they showed two white guys pictures.
Can't recall when they last caught a white guy for armed robbery? (No Dammit, NOT racism, fact)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/24/2008 14:39 Comments ||
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#4
Azzam should have been taken down by the UK well prior to 2003. As to Hassan, try him and then fry him if the jury agrees. His story sounds familiar in alot of ways.
Claiming widespread tension in Orissa after naxal attack in Nayagarh, a fact finding team of academics and human rights activists today asked the govt to hold dialogue with the Maoists, cut force presence in several areas and prevent harassment of people.
"Following the Nayagarh attacks, there is an atmosphere of widespread tension in the state. In the name of operations to nab naxalites, there are reports of arrests and tortures of innocent people," Prof Manoranjan Mohanty of People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) said.
He was briefing reporters after the team of PUDR, Delhi, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL, Orissa), Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC), Centre for Protection of Civil Liberties (CPCL), Tamil Nadu and All India Students Federation (AISF, Orissa) visited the affected areas to study the situation after 15th February naxal attacks.
Observing that 91 people were lodged in a school for last one week in Gasama area since the combing operation began, Mohanty said the tribal residents of Gasama and other affected villages should be enabled to return to their villages from the camp operating at the school and helped economically.
Asking the state as well as central authorities to enter into unconditional dialogue with naxalites, he said "there should be comprehensive socio-economic-political and legal response to the escalating violence and counter-violence".
Harassment of innocents in the name of picking up of Maoists should be prevented, he said.
Since excessive deployment of security forces created unnecessary tension, insecurity and fear among people, "we demand withdrawal of unnecessary security forces," he said.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/24/2008 10:55 ||
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#1
"we demand withdrawal of unnecessary security forces," he said.
So that the Maoists are not inconvenienced in their extortion, murder and other activities...
Posted by: john frum ||
02/24/2008 11:03 Comments ||
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#2
Well the Maoists just about have Napal nailed down, might as well start expanding ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/24/2008 14:22 Comments ||
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#3
"Govt urged to open dialogues with Maoists in Orissa"
Hokay.
Howzabout "Turn blue" and "DROP DEAD"?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/24/2008 19:20 Comments ||
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Pervez Musharraf is considering stepping down as president of Pakistan rather than waiting to be forced out by his victorious opponents, aides have told The Sunday Telegraph.
This is going to create real problems for us unless we can get the next prime minister and president on our side.
One close confidante said that the president believed he had run out of options after three of the main parties who triumphed in last week's poll announced they would form a coalition government together, and also pledged to reinstate the country's chief justice and 60 other judges sacked by Mr Musharraf in November.
"He has already started discussing the exit strategy for himself," a close friend said. "I think it is now just a matter of days and not months because he would like to make a graceful exit on a high."
According to senior aides, Mr Musharraf wants to avoid a power struggle with the newly elected parliament, in which his opponents will be close to the two-thirds majority needed to impeach him and remove him from office. "He may have made many mistakes, but he genuinely tried to build the country and he doesn't want to destroy it just for the sake of his personal office," said an official close to the president.
Yahya Iyash Kamkutty bridged the north-south divide when it came to activities of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India. Being employed in a well-paying job, he actively coordinated SIMI's activities in Bangalore with north Karnataka and other states.
Yahya has been kept in the custody of CoD (Corps of Detectives) police till March 6 for further interrogation. A resident of Mukkam in Kerala, Kamkutty moved to Bangalore after he got selected in the campus recruitment by Tata Infotech company in 1996 at his Regional Engineering College, Calicut. In 1997, he went to Chennai for training and returned the same year. As he was an active member of SIMI, it did not take him much time to find SIMI members in Bangalore. In 1999, he quit Tata Infotech and joined GE. He was busy for some time as he had to go to the US thrice during 2000 and 2001, the year SIMI was banned.
Over a period of time, Yahya came in contact with Adnan, one of the prominent SIMI leaders in south India. Adnan, a resident of Bijapur used to stay with his brother at Annasandrapalya in Bangalore.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
ALLABAKSH
Students Islamic Movement of India
ASADUALLAH ABUBAKER
Students Islamic Movement of India
MOHAMED ASIF
Students Islamic Movement of India
MOHAMED GHUSE
Lashkar-e-Taiba
RIYAZUDIN NASIR
Lashkar-e-Taiba
SHAKIL AHMED
Students Islamic Movement of India
YAHYA IYASH KAMKUTTY
Students Islamic Movement of India
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Students Islamic Movement of India
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2008 00:00 ||
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The arrest of a CRPF jawan from Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir carrying IEDs, grenades and other ammunition to blow up his own battalion headquarters has once again raised concerns on the vulnerability of security forces to threats from within.
Questions are being asked about the susceptibilty of recruits from the Valley to the jihad call of terrorists.
A detailed dossier prepared by intelligence agencies recently articulated the growing threat perception. It said that some soldiers in the security forces and police personnel hailing from far-flung areas such as Poonch, Kupwara and Rajouri had been coerced into acting as couriers for terrorist outfits supplying arms, ammunition and working as informers.
It was not without basis. Since 2003 more than a dozen policemen and soldiers have been arrested for charges as serious as assisting in carrying out fidayeen attacks on army camps to arranging and supplying arms, ammunition, SIM cards, batteries and carrying letters for various militant commanders across the Valley.
Besides the appeal of jihadi propaganda, threat to kin and lure of money have been identified as the factors
why security personnel are turning into accomplices of those whom they were supposed to fight. Sources said that most of the cases of policemen working as footsoldiers for militants had occurred in the bordering areas of Poonch, Kupwara and Rajouri.
In July 2007, a Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) jawan was held in Delhi while passing on secret information on the training modules of Indian Army to an ISI contact in the Pakistani High Commission here. Quite similar to Wednesday's arrest in which the CRPF jawan was on leave for two weeks, the JAKLI jawan had been in Delhi on month-long leave before he tried to reach his ISI contacts.
In 2006, three JAKLI soldiers were held in Poonch while they were in the process of passing SIM cards, batteries and documents to their contacts in the ranks of Lashkar-e-Taiba. Sources said more than the soldiers in the paramilitary forces and the army, the lower ranks of the J&K police were susceptible to such infiltration.
Police personnel in J&K, mostly in the lower ranks, are being used as couriers by militant outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen to transport arms and ammunition and for carrying hawala money to militant commanders in their patrol vehicles, a senior official said.
In several cases, policemen have been found to have lent their uniforms to militants to carry out operations, sources said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Jawans - sheesh! And don't get me started about those darn Tusken Raiders....
(Xinhua) -- Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin has gone missing for 13 days but the government believes the missing diplomat is safe and alive, foreign office spokesman said Saturday.
Tariq Azizuddin went missing on Feb. 11 in Khyber tribal agency, one of seven semi-autonomous tribal regions along the Afghan border.
Tariq Azizuddin was traveling to Kabul from Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province, by road in his car with a driver and body guard when the local administration lost contact with them.
Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said security forces were actively searching the missing official in the area. Expressing his confidence that the ambassador was safe and alive, Sadiq said all measures would be taken to trace him.
Last week local media reported that local Taliban had claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and said Tariq would be released in exchange for the release of their detained leader Mulla Mansoor Dadullah.
However, the government rejected any such claim and made it clear that no body had contacted them on the abduction nor made any demand.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Iraq's firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's office demanded on Sunday an immediate withdrawal of Turkish forces from northern Iraq and advised negotiations instead. "We demand that the Turkish government withdraw its forces immediately from the Iraqi territory and rely on negotiations to solve this conflict," al-Sadr's influential political committee said in a statement issued by his office in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.
"We call upon the Muslim neighbor Turkey through its Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and its Muslim people to be an element of peace and security in the region," the statement added.
The Sadrists also held the Iraqi government and U.S.-led forces responsible for the "deteriorating security situation on our northern borders." "The government is called upon to move rapidly to guarantee the security of our Muslim Kurdish people according to its constitutional responsibilities," the statement said.
#3
Tater is a mouthpiece for iran, he is a proxy element waiting for instructions, today it appears, its been established, that his army was established as a hezbully arm.
Meanwhile he's just signed a six month extension agreement to hold balck his forces. This sounds like a just in time tactic, freeing him, to interfere with US elections......on demand.This brand of chaos, is a tactical position really, in an ever narrowing space.
From the WaPo's very own Sunday The Washington Post Magazine THE SCOWLING MAN DECLARED IT LIKE AN ORDER: "YOU DON'T FLY THIS."
He was in his 40s, a civilian. With his knitted brow and jutting jaw, Marine Capt. Katie Horner recalls, the man seemed half perplexed, half ticked off. About what, exactly, Horner wasn't sure at first. Looking back on it now a few years later, she remembers he was so insistent that passersby began to glance at him. The woman with him was tugging his arm.
Horner was a first lieutenant at the time, baking in the sun at an air show next to one of the Marine Corps' light attack helicopters, both she and the AH-1 Super Cobra on public display. The 29-year-old Texan is Nordic pale, with a small straight nose and a deadpan mouth. In her dark sunglasses, green flight suit and black steel-toed boots, her long, blond hair in a regulation knot at the nape of her neck, Horner is all about the mission. Her mission that day: Stand in front of the Cobra, talk to the public.
Sometimes people would ask about the helicopter. Both the Cobra and its slower, plumper cousin, the Huey, are relatively small helicopters that have seen combat since Vietnam and are used to attack targets on the ground. But while the Huey can also carry up to a dozen troops into an assault or a half-dozen wounded out of one, a lean-bodied Cobra can accommodate only two people and one purpose: to attack.
When Horner is strapped into the Cobra's front seat, merging herself with the helicopter, she has her hand on the controls of a three-barrel 20 mm turreted cannon that juts like a stinger from the aircraft's nose. Beneath two stubby wings just aft of the cockpit, she can carry rockets or missiles like armfuls of spears. During her two tours in Iraq, if Marines on the ground were in trouble, she could rush to their rescue at up to 218 mph, then spin around in a hover, bring herself to bear on the enemy and unleash enough firepower to blast through tanks and bunkers and disintegrate human flesh. She had the power to kill, and she used it.
At the air show, sometimes people would also inquire about the Cobra's pilots, as in, "Where are the pilots?" To which Horner would reply, "The pilot's right here." This, she says, is what set off the scowling man.
"You don't fly this," Horner remembers him insisting.
"Yes," she said, "I fly it."
"No, you don't."
"Uh, yes. I do," she said.
"But you just transport it." His tone dared her to contradict him.
"Yes," she agreed. "I fly it wherever it goes." This is the first of five pages at the link.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/24/2008 08:37 ||
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#1
i and o are sooo close together on the keyboard...
I would appreciate it if someone could correct my spelling in the title.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/24/2008 8:46 Comments ||
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#2
Yes people with vaginas can fly, fight, and die like anyone esle. The Marine in the story should be lauded for what she does and not because of her gender. The article should exemplify the point that the Military ie way ahead of public (and MSM) in their thinking. I just wonder if she still calls in the "Cockpit"?
Agreed, CS. And I'm pretty sure the Marine pilot mentioned here would second that heartily. The female Army pilots I know get pretty tired of having the press & others focus on their gender rather than the Air Assault and Senior Aviator badges they've earned or their deployments in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
#6
Anyone who is flying a US combat helicopter is going to be a lethal individual, I don't care what sex.
When push comes to shove, they wreak an impressive amount of destruction with those birds, yet realize that it is an expendable item, and treat it accordingly.
One Vietnam pilot was known for repeatedly using damaged helicopters in Kamikaze attacks against critical targets, then walking home.
As a rule of thumb, do not EVER fly in a military helicopter piloted by someone nicknamed "Tex", if you value your lunch. Such pilots routinely prove that both loop-de-loops and zero gravity are not beyond the capability of their aircraft. Perhaps their passengers, but not their aircraft.
And yes, you are hearing them hum "The Flight of the Valkyries" over the intercom.
#7
Thanks liotp, oops, lotp. From the bottom of page 4 at the link I came across some interesting tripe: So, from the military's perspective, it seems to make little difference who kills the enemy, male or female. But does it make a difference to society?
"We see our female soldiers with helmets and gear, and we're very proud of them. But the social costs are high," argues Elaine Donnelly, head of the independent Center for Military Readiness, which focuses on military personnel policy issues. "If we as a nation say it's okay to expose women to direct combat violence, it's a cultural shift, and not in the right direction."
On this issue, Donnelly is allied both with conservatives such as political activist Phyllis Schlafly on the far right and radical feminists on the far left. According to Mady Segal, the military sociologist, radical feminists contend that the many changes in gender roles since the '60s have been mostly one-way: Women have become more like traditional, aggressive men, but men haven't become much more nurturing. "The radical feminist view," says Segal, "is that women shouldn't be in the military, that we need to preserve some portion of humanity who don't become takers of life."
Before all those changes in the '60s, a woman's biological role as a mother generally kept her off the killing fields. In her book, Women in the Line of Fire, feminist military affairs writer Erin Solaro summarizes the historical research this way: "Women who, because of their sex, risked their lives and health bearing children should not also have to bear the burden of defending those children when men were available."
So the left got what it wanted, but now discovers it didn't want what it got. The author is a female, of course. Life's a beech, and then you die!
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/24/2008 12:30 Comments ||
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#8
Not quite, Bobby.
The left doesn't want ANYONE to be military. On account of All You Need is Love and the UN will bring world peas.
#10
Clarification: They got equality, like they wanted, but not where they wanted it. Equality of the sexes, like equality of the races, came first in the military.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/24/2008 15:34 Comments ||
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#11
Bobby, yesterday I saw an article on the Fox News website lamenting the fact that many women soldiers were "rushed back to the front" only four months after giving birth, and how awful it was that they might miss their baby's first year.
My reaction was "Tough noogies". Military fathers often aren't even present at their baby's birth (obviously the mother has to be there). And they miss the first year and then some. War is hell.
Feminists wanted to share in the military glory. Unfortunately, to do that they have to share in the misery.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
02/24/2008 18:37 Comments ||
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#12
I vehemently disagree that men have not become more nurturing. All the husbands I know have changed diapers, calmed screaming babies (often better than their wives because they are bigger and therefore radiate more heat, have somehow more appealing heartbeats, and have lower voices that feel calmer when rumbling through a large, male chest -- yes, it was extremely frustrating to spend ages trying to get the baby to sleep only to have her fall asleep after Mr. Wife held her for a few minutes!!), read books to a child, etc. and so forth. Any radical feminist who isn't aware of this simply isn't paying attention to the real world around her.
There - fixed that for ya', #8 lotp. Bringing something entirely irrelevant to the table is what the Useless Nitwits do best.
"Any radical feminist who isn't aware of this simply isn't paying attention to the real world around her."
That would be all of them, #12 tw. Their fantasy world revolves entirely around themselves, not the real one the rest of us live in.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/24/2008 19:06 Comments ||
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#14
..yesterday I saw an article on the Fox News website lamenting the fact that many women soldiers were "rushed back to the front" only four months after giving birth, and how awful it was that they might miss their baby's first year.
My reaction was "Tough noogies".
It's a free choice on their part.
AR 635-200 Active Duty Enlisted Separations.
CHAPTER 8: SEPARATION OF ENLISTED WOMEN â PREGNANCY
Like Chapter 6, this chapter is a unit function (S1) and not handled by the Military Justice Section. This chapter establishes policy and procedures, and provides authority for voluntary separation of enlisted women because of pregnancy.
1-18 Counseling Required: No (1-18a) but immediate commanders will ensure that the soldier completes the Pregnancy Counseling Checklist (Fig. 8-1, AR 635-200).
Rehab Transfer Required: No (1-18c)
Medical Required: Yes (1-34a)
Mental Required: No (1-34b)
Approval Authority: Bn Cdr (1-21d)
Type of Discharge Authorized: honorable, general* (8-3)
Procedure: Notification (2-2)
* Under chapter 8, no soldier can be awarded a general under honorable conditions discharge unless the soldier is notified of the specific factors in his or her service record that warrant such a characterization.
Remarks: An enlisted woman who is pregnant and elects to remain on active duty when counseled may, if she is still pregnant, subsequently request separation. Separation authority (Bn Cdr) must separate the soldier, but may set the separation date (8-8g).
NOTE: An enlisted woman who requested separation in writing may subsequently request withdrawal of the separation request. The separation authority (Bn Cdr), based on the circumstances of the case and the best interest of the Army, will determine in writing if the soldier is to be separated, as previously requested, or is to be retained (8-8h).
Yes, TW, I'd normally agree with you, excepting that the radical feminists do NOT live in the REAL world. In fact, many parts of me tell me that men in this nation have become a LOT more "female" than vice-versa due to the feminazis. Could your generation ever imagine terms like "metrosexual", a show like "Queer eye for the Straight guy," or men sipping $4/cup lattes? Methinks men have become almost too feminine in this nation....
Now, there are still PLENTY of exceptions to this rule, but they are mostly outside the urban/even suburban corridors for the most part.
Posted by: BA ||
02/24/2008 20:06 Comments ||
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#16
Contrary to all that's been written or said, we've had women fighting to defend what's theirs since before we became a nation. There were women, such as Sybil Luddington, who were spies, couriers, and occasionally, even riflemen, in defense of freedom. Today they're Cobra pilots.
In unconventional warfare, there is no FEBA, no "rear" - it's all vulnerable to attack. Every person in the military, then, should be trained to respond, regardless of their rank, position, or branch of service. The only exceptions should be those who are traditionally excepted - medical personnel, Chaplains, and their assistants. I'm not sure about the assistants, but we'll cut 'em some slack for now.
When bullets are coming in your direction, it's nice to be able to send some back now and then. Doing so accurately is a plus that anyone in uniform should ascribe to.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/24/2008 20:49 Comments ||
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#17
Could your generation ever imagine terms like "metrosexual", a show like "Queer eye for the Straight guy," or men sipping $4/cup lattes?
There have always been men like that, BA. Historically gentlemen encouraged their wives in such friendships, then got upset if the results weren't quite what they expected. The Baby Boomers didn't invent sex, either, my dear. ;-)
Parade Magazine from Sunday's WaPo
Capt. Andrea Ourada wears a 9mm Beretta semi-automatic pistol in a shoulder holster, wryly decorated with a pink Princess sticker. She also has good jewelry. The latest piece is a delicately wrought Combat Action Badge. The silver sword-and-wreath was awarded for direct-fire involvement as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot.
Ouradas unit, the Armys 2-147 Assault Helicopter Battalion, recently flew a combat-conditions mission unique in American history: The missioninvolving two Blackhawks, each with two pilots and two door gunnerswas carried out entirely by women, right down to the pre-mission crew flight briefings.
It was exciting, says Ourada, 29. But it was also routine. Were pilotsno problem. There isnt any question about our abilities.
Despite Pentagon regulations designed to limit their role in combat, more and more women are placing their lives in peril in service of their country. Ourada doesnt talk about it much, or even worry about it. The members of her outfit fly day and night, over all kinds of terrain. They get shot at a lot, and they shoot back: Several crew chiefs, who also serve as door gunners, are female.
The 2-147s pilots and crew handle a variety of missions. Most of the flying is called the Baghdad Shuffle and involves moving troops, other American and Iraqi personnel, and small, high-value packages around the country.
Less commonly, Ouradas unit will drop infantrymen in the countryside, then recover them later, after sweeps against Iraqi insurgents. Ourada recalls vividly the mission that earned her the Combat Action Badge: I was on the aircraft controls. The lead aircraft came over the radio and said, Taking fire, breaking left! Everybody in our cockpit started looking, asking, Where is it, where is it?
Suddenly, Ourada spotted tracer fire, dazzlingly bright through her night-vision goggles. I said, Three oclock, three oclock, three oclock! We were taking fire from multiple sources, and it was pretty intense. We were close enough that I could actually see enemy personnel with weapons.
As Ourada identified the source, her gunner started pounding the insurgents with machine-gun fire. Though it felt longer, she says, the whole engagement probably lasted less than 10 seconds. Its an adrenaline rush that cannot be compared to anything else, Ourada says. It was almost like celebrating. How do you explain that? More at link
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/24/2008 08:29 ||
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Iraq's Kurds are moving towards taking control of the vital oil city of Kirkuk as one of the most explosive disputes bequeathed by Saddam Hussein nears a resolution.
The rigs and pipelines around Kirkuk account for about one third of Iraq's oil output, now running at 2.4 million barrels per day.
In the past, this was a Kurdish city, but after the Kurds rebelled against Saddam in the uprising of 1987-88, the regime resolved to change this. Tens of thousands of Kurds were deported from Kirkuk, with many ending up in mass graves. Arabs were settled in their place. After Saddam's removal in 2003, Kurdish leaders sought to reverse these clearances and regain control of Kirkuk.
If an independent Kurdistan ever emerges, this city would probably become its oil-rich capital. Arabs have been offered compensation to leave - and thousands are now signing up. They have until the end of this month to register for a scheme which gives each Arab household £8,000 to move elsewhere. By the standards of Iraq's recent history, the process is orderly. Applicants stand near gun-toting sentries only because the government office has heavy security.
The offer of compensation was made on television - not on a piece of paper wrapped around a brick and thrown through a window. Yet many Arabs say their departure is anything but voluntary.
"Our ration cards are being cancelled and transferred," said Sheikh Hassan Rashid, who has lived in Kirkuk since 1989. "How can we live without the ration card? It would be impossible to buy food. We are being forced out."
Salaam Adil, who comes from the Shia holy city of Karbala in southern Iraq, moved to Kirkuk in 1987 after being demobilised from Saddam's army. He said officials worked overtime to help Kurds return to Kirkuk.
Arabs trying to register for compensation are deliberately kept waiting. "We have to wait here day after day but the Kurds are dealt with quickly," he said. "What does this tell you? It says the government wants to make it easy for them to come back, but inflict as much suffering on us as it can."
The rush of Arabs out of Kirkuk has left a trail of abandoned livelihoods, with houses jettisoned at fire sale prices.
Hamad Khadam, who runs a photographic studio, said: "I have a business I cannot sell, my home is a flat and is worth very little. I have to move my wife and two daughters to Baghdad where it is not safe. I haven't lived there for 25 years. I don't want to go."
Abdulrahman Fatah, the governor of Kirkuk, acknowledged that there had been "administrative problems".
Later this year, Kirkuk's final status should be settled by a referendum. Its residents will be asked whether the city should be incorporated into the Kurdish governorates of northern Iraq, which would position it as the possible capital of an independent Kurdistan. Colonel David Paschal, of the US Army's 10th Mountain Division, said the city's ethnic composition remains delicately poised after five years of Kurdish expansion.
About half of the residents are Kurds, while 30 per cent are Arab and 20 per cent ethnic Turks. But few doubt the result of the eventual referendum.
When it takes place, the Kurds will probably be an absolute majority in Kirkuk. This leaves Arabs fearing for their future. "The day is coming when it will be bye bye for us," said Ahmed al-Jawash. "But it's our land, the Kurds might want it but no one can take it away from us." We took it fair and square. The Kurds got plenty of gas and lead as compensation in the late eighties.
#2
When they moved in there they must have at least felt that it was wrong, although they wont admit it.
Now its payday. They are lucky they are leaving with compensation instead of lead poisoning. And yes, I'd say the Kurds are making them suffer on purpose. I suspect I would too.
#3
The referendum will be in Kirkuk the province, where Kurds are closer to 60% of the population. The ethnicity of Kirkuk the city is essentially irrelevant.
MOSUL, Iraq U.S. forces have begun pushing into insurgent-controlled neighborhoods, establishing a series of combat outposts and fortifying police checkpoints in an effort to strangle the ability of al-Qaida and militant groups to move freely in what U.S. officials call their last urban stronghold in Iraq.
Soldiers under the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment have already built five outposts and are currently erecting three more, almost doubling the number of smaller bases that were scattered around Mosul when they arrived here in mid-December. These were areas of the city where the populace was living in daily terror, said Maj. Bob Molinari, regimental operations officer. If youre not living among the populace, you cant provide them with anything that will convince them that youre serious about providing for their security.
The Iraqi government, meanwhile, has created a single command center that will coordinate all operations involving the national army, police and border guard units in Ninevah province. An Iraqi lieutenant general oversees the headquarters, which was established Jan. 15.
The tighter security measures come nearly a month after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki promised a decisive battle against al-Qaida and other insurgent groups in Mosul. The Jan. 25 announcement came two days after an insurgent explosives cache blew up in the Zanjili suburb in west Mosul, killing as many as 60 people, and a day after a suicide bomber killed the provincial police chief and two other officers who were inspecting the blast site.
Despite al-Malikis announcement, U.S. forces caution the fight will not consist of a single big offensive, but say it will consist of a much longer campaign over time. We dont look at this being a dramatic, Fallujah-type battle, said Molinari, referring to the 2004 battle that destroyed much of that city in fierce fighting. He added that U.S. forces in Mosul want to minimize the damage to the infrastructure and work on establishing relationships that will build trust with the population.
By pushing out into small neighborhood bases, U.S. forces are replicating a strategy that has proved successful in routing insurgents from Baghdad, Baqouba and other cities. Many of the outposts are slated to become what the military calls joint security stations and will house American and Iraqi forces.
While the clear, hold and build strategy has worked elsewhere in Iraq, Mosul poses significant challenges for U.S. forces. The city of nearly 2 million, 255 miles north of Baghdad, has long served as a gateway for foreign fighters who slip over the border from Syria to join up with al-Qaida. Nationalist insurgent groups have always maintained a strong presence here.
And while nearly 60 percent Sunni Arab, Mosul also has significant minorities of Kurds, Assyrian Christians and other minority populations. That makes it virtually impossible for U.S. forces to enlist the armed tribal groups, now called Sons of Iraq, that have been key to fighting al-Qaida and other insurgents in Anbar province, Baghdad and other parts of the country.
U.S. forces estimate that anywhere from 400 to 600 hard-core insurgents are active in Mosul, along with another 800 to 1,000 criminals who add to the daily mosaic of violence. Molinari said U.S. forces record anywhere from 20 to 30 significant acts of violence a day in the city, ranging from bomb attacks to small-arms fire. Eight U.S. troops have been killed in Mosul since soldiers under 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment moved into the city. In the latest incident, a U.S. soldier died Wednesday during a rocket-propelled grenade attack.
Still, U.S. forces in Mosul are about double what they were before December. Two battalions now operate in the city, compared to only one before 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment took over. About 22,000 Iraqi security personnel, including the 2nd Iraqi Army Division, augment them.
One of those U.S. battalions the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division arrived in Mosul in mid-January, and now has security responsibility for much of the eastern half of the city. The battalion is constructing three outposts in its area, in neighborhoods that have seen plenty of insurgent activity.
At Combat Outpost Rock, soldiers with Company A moved in a little over a week ago, in what was once an opulent estate owned by a local businessman who fled to Syria. The outpost is little more than a muddy field surrounded by tall concrete blast walls. Were here in this outpost to project combat power right in the middle of where these guys (insurgents) like to operate, said company commander Capt. Dave Sandoval.
Enemy contact so far has been light. But dangers still lurk. Five soldiers from Company B were killed last month, about a mile from the site, after their Humvee struck a roadside bomb. Just a few days ago, soldiers discovered a truck bomb packed with an estimated 5,000 pounds of explosives in the neighborhood.
While Sandoval said many residents have been cordial to U.S. troops, they also remain wary. Just how much fear the insurgents still command over residents was evident during a recent night patrol. Sandoval paid a visit to a home where his troops had camped out for a few days, during the initial construction of the nearby combat outpost.
Sandoval offered to pay for the muddy carpets and other damages his troops had caused, but the owner refused, saying the soldiers had been his guests and that his ethics prevented him from taking the money. But as Sandoval persisted, the man finally admitted he was afraid insurgents would find out. I could really be in trouble if someone knows about this, the man told Sandoval.
Sandoval told the man he understood and that he would not force the money on him. I dont agree with it, but I respect it, he said.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC ||
02/24/2008 00:00 ||
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"My love of the biz [sic Rapporteur] probably started in high school with me reading my father's New York Times subscription every morning," wrote Moore, 36. "And believe it or not, I first started thinking about being a foreign correspondent when I was 16 and watched a movie called 'Salvador,' by Oliver Stone. The movie is about this reporter who chucks everything and drives from New York to El Salvador to report on U.S. involvement in death squad killings. The reporter has no money, no power, no gun; he's not even a particularly virtuous fellow. But he's able to shake up the status quo just by the force of his questions, just by hewing to the truth. I loved that idea and still do."
#3
I'll save the rest of you the time and trouble of going to a (urk) New York Times article. Here it is in a nutshell: British and American officials say Basras experiment in self-rule could serve as a model for Iraqs future, but if so many locals and outside advisers say that future remains dark.
Of course, I didn't see any facts or numbers on the first page. Perhaps some braver soul could look at the other two pages.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/24/2008 6:23 Comments ||
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#4
Why don't we just take the goddamned place , force order, and pump that damned oil right into our tankers? We have been running around for 5 years trying to convince everybody what nice guys we are, and spending billions of $ kissing ass. Lets just put our govt. in place, reap the oil and be done with it.
Basra, Feb 23, (VOI) Basra's governor accused Iranian diplomats of planning an attempt on his life and interfering in the port city's political and security affairs. "Diplomatic personnel working in the Iranian consulate in Basra disclosed to me that some of the Iranian mission members planned to assassinate me and my brothers, Ismail," Governor Mohamed Misbah al-Waili told Aswat al-Iraq Voices of Iraq (VOI).
"The Iranian consulate members have been interfering in Basra's political and security affairs despite the fact that their job must be restricted to diplomatic responsibilities only," Waili said.
He pointed out that his family "is in danger," holding the Iranians "responsible for any future assaults on my life."
The oil-rich predominantly Shiite city of Basra had seen clashes and power struggle by various Shiite parties. The governor, a member of the Shiite Fadhila (Virtue) party, is at odds with other Shiite parties participating in Basra's local council on how to administer the port province's affairs and organize its relations with the central government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/24/2008 00:00 ||
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A ranking Iraqi military intelligence official said Saturday Hezbollah's slain Imad Mughniyeh was a co-founder of the Mehdi Army militia of Muqtada al-Sadr and had recruited followers in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
The Iraqi daily al-Zaman quoted the unnamed official as saying Mughniyeh supervised travel of the Mehdi Army Militia's primary cells to Lebanon for training at Hezbollah bases in the Bekaa valley, a few weeks after collapse of the Saddam regime in 2003.
The 300 fighters were trained on the use of assault rifles, booby-trapping and kidnapping operations, the report added.
Mughniyeh also recruited fighters for the Mehdi Army militia in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait that were directed to Lebanon for training at Hezbollah bases under the supervision of an Iranian Intelligence official identified as Qassem Suleimani, the report said. Mughniyeh, the Iraqi official said, had also sponsored the so-called Thaarullah (God's Revenge) underground group operating in the southern Iraqi province of Basra.
The group, according to reliable sources, is in charge of supervising activities of the so-called Kuwaiti Hezbollah that surfaced after the Mughniyeh assassination.
The United States has accused Hezbollah on several occasions of involvement with the Iraq Mehdi army , but Hezbollah has maintained that it is strictly a Lebanese resistance movement . This new revelation in Iraq could raise many questions about Hezbollahs involvement outside the Lebanese borders . Yesterday the Iraq Mehdi army extended its truce for another six months.
Mughniyeh was assassinated in Damascus, Syria last week and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah accused Israel of being behind his murder, but Israel denied any involvement . Yesterday General Yahya Rahim Safavi, a former leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards accused an Arab country of being involved in the murder of Mughniyeh , but did not name the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#5
Boy howdy the surprise meter didn't even budge on that one.........hmmmmmmm
You'd think our intrepid intelligence community would have been able to figure that one out a while ago..........no wait they're too busy leaking stuff to the Times to go sniff out terrorism.
#6
#4 Or Wally, or the Syrians...
Posted by: Pappy 2008-02-24 13:24
Actually, I'm beginning to suspect the Soddies. Hezbollah and Iran are beginning to make inroads on ground formerly the sole property of Soddy Arabida. I think the Soddies just sent a very stern warning that interfering in THEIR game will have dire consequences.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/24/2008 21:16 Comments ||
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The death of Hamas activist Majed Barghouti is throwing fuel onto the fire in relations between the Islamic group and the Palestinian Authority. The 44-year-old preacher died on Friday after a week in a PA prison in Ramallah. The deceased's relatives as well as fellow Hamas members said on Saturday that medical personnel who viewed the body reported signs of abuse.
Despite autopsy reports that show that Barghouti died from a heart attack, Hamas is claiming that his death is proof that Palestinian Authority prisons have become "worse than Israeli occupation prisons with regards to prisoners' rights."
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said that PA security forces are carrying out a "factional cleansing": (Palestinian President Mahmoud) Abbas' gangs are conducting crimes against Hamas leaders and members through arrests, torture and the closing of welfare and charity organizations. This is all part of factional cleansing that is propped by the occupation in order to eliminate the Hamas movement.
"These crimes are carried out hand-in-hand with Israeli coordination and the visits of American generals that arrive to the West Bank in order to see and make sure that the Fayyad government is carrying out the plan to eliminate Hamas and eliminate all that believe in the resistance," Barhum added.
The Hamas movement received some support from a report by one of the main human rights organizations in the Palestinian Territories, A-Damir a group that specializes in defending the rights of prisoners. The organization noted that it appears that Barghouti was tortured in a Palestinian intelligence service base and added that the PA group refuse to allow Barghouti to continue medical treatment at a hospital in spite of doctors' recommendations.
Hamas also called for the Palestinian Authority to release the dozens of prisoners currently jailed in PA installations who they claim are being tortured.
Barghouti was among hundreds of Hamas activists to be detained by Abbas' security forces in the West Bank following the violent Hamas takeover of Gaza in June. Dozens are currently in custody. In many cases, Hamas activists are released after telling investigators about hidden weapons. Barghouti, a father of eight, was a mosque preacher in the West Bank village of Kobar, and spent several years in Israeli prisons.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Hamas will abduct more IDF soldiers if Israel does not answer its demands for freeing Cpl. Gilad Schalit, a Hamas official said in an interview published Saturday, referencing a March 2007 proposal whereby Palestinian security prisoners would be released in return for Schalit.
The swap has been upheld by disagreement between the two sides over the criteria regarding prisoners to be included in the exchange. "Abducting soldiers is not a purpose in and of itself and is not a hobby," Osama al-Zeini, the Hamas official in charge of the "Schalit file," told Palestine, a newspaper affiliated with Hamas.
"The issue is the issue of prisoners. If the Schalit deal does not meet its objectives and the enemy will not answer our demands, there is no doubt that more pressure must be exerted on the enemy so that it complies. [Our] goal is to free the prisoners and we insist on it. "If we don't see compliance from the enemy, abductions will continue until every single prisoner is released," he said.
Zeini said negotiations to free Schalit, whom Hamas kidnapped in June 2006, were at a standstill because "the Israeli enemy demands other lists of prisoners to choose from. We say the fighters [prisoners] are not fruits and vegetables to be served to Israel according to its mood. We insist on the deal agreed upon in March 2007."
The official also threatened that if Israel were to invade the Gaza Strip, it would sustain heavy casualties. "As a fighting organization, we must always expect the worse. That is why our fighters have undergone training to prepare them for such an invasion, if it happens. The enemy will be surprised by what the holy warriors have prepared for it," Zeini said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I think it's time for Israel to decide that if another attempt to abduct an Israeli soldier is made, Gaza will be totally wasted, down to the worms crawling 10 feet underground. Gaza has never really suffered. The next attempt should remedy that, in spades. Destroy everything, reduce the entire Strip to rubble, and bounce the rubble until it's fine sand. Then turn the guns on Abbas and "negotiate" over the West Bank.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/24/2008 21:26 Comments ||
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(Xinhua) -- A delegation from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Islamic Jihad (Holy War) movement headed for Egypt on Saturday morning for talks on ceasefire and reopening a crossing point between Gaza and Egypt, a Hamas spokesman said. The delegation comprising Mahmoud Zahar, Said Siam and Jamal Abu Hashem from Hamas and Mohammed al-Hendi from the Islamic Jihad, departed through the closed Rafah crossing and will meet Egyptian officials at al-Arish town in Sinai Peninsula, Ayman Taha said. "It is clear that the Egyptian brothers will carry special responses to the delegation regarding the calmness (with Israel), the siege and reopening Rafah crossing in addition to other outstanding issues," Taha said.
In January, Hamas blew up the border with Egypt, allowing the Palestinians to flood into Sinai to stock up on daily necessities following an unprecedented Israeli siege that dates back to June when Hamas ousted pro-Abbas forces and took over Gaza. Hamas wants to reopen Rafah crossing according to its own vision while Egypt refuses and insists on an earlier international deal which runs Rafah with the presence of European Union monitors and control by security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
It is the first time that the Islamic Jihad joins Hamas in its talks with Egypt. Taha revealed, meanwhile, that Egypt has told Hamas that a group of Hamas members who were arrested in Sinai in January will be released.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Talks will go nowhere, you showed what "Good neighbors" you were last time.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/24/2008 14:29 Comments ||
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An Indonesian professor at the Mindanao State University in Sulu claimed Thursday that suspected terrorist Joko Pitoyo alias Dulmatin died way back in May 2007, ABS-CBN Regional Network Group reported.
Professor Octavio Dinampo said he was shocked when he heard reports of the recovery of the supposed body of Dulmatin, correspondent Leila Vicente said.According to Dinampo, it was religious leader Mohammad Sulaiman who told him that the fugitive and suspect in the 2002 Bali bombings has been dead for close to a year.
Based on Sulaiman's story, Dinampo said that Dulmatin died because of a gunshot wound he suffered during an encounter with the military in Sulu. Dulmatin was able to escape the encounter but was left by his companion and fellow Indonesian Umar Patek in Sulu.
Dinampo said that Sulaiman himself witnessed Dulamtin's the secret burial in Indonesia.
An ABS-CBN source, however, said story is not credible. According to the source, he was with Dulmatin as recently as December 2007.
Meanwhile, United States Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney said that officials should wait for the DNA test being done on the tissue samples of the supposed cadaver of Dulmatin before statements are released regarding his death.
On Wednesday, members of the Philippine Marines who penetrated the camp of the armed group tagged in the killing of Catholic priest Rey Roda in Panglima Sugala town in Tawi-tawi province were in high spirits and said they are certain that it was Dulmatin who died during an encounter on January 31. Lt. Col. Ruben Candelario, commander of the Force Recon Battalion said they are certain it was Dulmatin, one of the suspects in the Bali, Indonesia, bombings in 2002, who died in the clash.
Soldiers showed pictures to ABS-CBN Regional Network Group's Queenie Casimiro of the area where Dulmatin and at least 30 supporters were holed up for no less than 25 days leading to the encounter. Lt. Pacifico Nono, a company commander of the Force Recon, said they are positive that Dulmatin was in the house raided in Sitio Lubok in Panglima Sugala.
Following the 30-minute clash, the armed men withrew, the military said. They left behind the remains of a suspected Abu Sayyaf commander identified as Wahab Upao.
Civilian informants disclosed later that another suspect was fatally wounded in the firefight.
The soldiers added that two weeks after the clash, they recovered a blood-stained T-shirt which they suspect to be the one Dulmatin was wearing during the encounter. A day later, troops, with the help of residents, found a shallow grave where a body believed to be Dulmatin's was buried.
The military, meanwhile, is validating reports that Patek was among those wounded in the encounter with government troops that also supposedly killed his compatriot Dulmatin and Abu Sayyaf leader Wahab Opao in Tawi-Tawi last month. A ranking intelligence officer said they are validating the claims of captured Abu Sayyaf rebel Alpha Moha, who also led troops to a shallow grave containing the supposed remains of Dulmatin.
Moha said Dulmatin was initially injured during the encounter with government troops in Panglima Sugala. In that encounter, Opao, who carries a P2-million bounty for his capture, was killed. The official said there were reports that during the encounter, Patek was with the group of Opao.
We are now verifying reports from our civilian contacts that aside from Dulmatin, Patek was also critically wounded in the fighting, the official said. He said the reports indicated Patek was also wounded during the encounter with special forces in the area.
Moha had admitted participating in that encounter and recalled seeing Dulmatin seriously wounded and being dragged to safety by the Abu Sayyaf rebels retreating from the firefight.
This article starring:
Alpha Moha
Dulmatin
Joko Pitoyo
Wahab Opao
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jemaah Islamiyah
The president of Iran vowed Saturday that his country will not be held back from developing its nuclear program, and accused other nations of being jealous of its technological advances.
"They see the Iranian nation making progress -- just reaching the same scientific level -- and this is very difficult for them," said Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who did not name any nations.
"The nuclear technology is ... the sort of technology that has been monopolized by a few countries," he told a reporter during a nationally televised interview. "And they want to maintain such a monopoly, and they want to use it as an instrument of domination over the whole world." So we're planning on selling it to any reasonable bidder. And giving it away to some who are not so reasonable.
In addition, he said, the questions about its nuclear program never stop.
"We realized that as we give them more concessions, they come up with more expectations. We acted in an honest matter."
Ahmadinejad's comments came one day after the United Nation's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iran had lied about clarified many of the outstanding issues regarding its nuclear program.
However, despite the clarifications, the IAEA said in a report that Iran was not able to clear up its alleged weaponization studies to its satisfaction. Imagine that. Everything but the holy grail.
The alleged weaponization includes the "green salt project" studies -- research involving uranium tetrafluoride, a precursor to uranium hexafluoride, which is used in gas centrifuges to make enriched uranium -- as well as high-explosive testing and missile design work, the agency said.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, hailed the IAEA report as an indication that Iran's nuclear program was peaceful, Iran's state-run news agency IRNA reported Friday. As are the ICBMs.
Last year, Iran proclaimed it had been vindicated by a U.S. intelligence report that concluded the Islamic republic was not actively working toward developing a nuclear weapon.
The National Intelligence Estimate, released on December 5, also surmised that Iran had been trying to acquire a nuclear weapon prior to 2003, which Iran categorically rejected.
The NIE report shows the United States, and specifically U.S. President George W. Bush, has been wrong in accusing Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons, Ahmadinejad said. He accused Bush of ignoring the conclusions of his own intelligence agents.
Bush has called on Iran to "come clean" about its past nuclear activities, and has been the most vocal country in accusing Iran of seeking to use nuclear power for weaponry.
"Now it has become quite clear that there are no questions left, and that all the allegations have been baseless and unrealistic, and that Iran has been going through the legal process and Iran has had positive interaction with the IAEA," the Iranian leader said.
The U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran after its uranium enrichment activities represented a nuclear proliferation threat. Ahmadinejad said his country is owed an apology and compensation for losses related to restrictions placed on it. One compensation, coming right up!
"From now on, we will tread the path of unity and resistance. Neither they or their allies will have the Iranian nation bow to them," he said. Must have asked one question too many.
"The case is closed. the global atmosphere has changed, so it's not possible today to make impositions on other countries." "Impositions"? Like leaving them alone? Like accepting their immigrants. Who refuse to assimilate and spread terror for the mother nation? Impositions like a Jewish homeland in a tiny and until-recently-forgotten and uninhabited corner of the mideast that you need to develop and spread lies about to justify your behavior towards? What else? What next? Hmm.
During an interview by Dalia Nehme , Lebanon's MP Henry Helou on Saturday accused Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah of straight out rejection of the international tribunal that would try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri and related crimes terming it a "very grave" step.
Helou, a member of MP Walid Jumblatt's Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc, told Nehme the "most grave point in Nasrallah's address (on Friday) is his rejection of the international tribunal. He has dropped the veil for the first time and said he is against the tribunal." "When he speaks against the international tribunal it means he is against all international institutions, the international community and laws that govern relations between states," Helou added.
He asked Nasrallah's allies about their response to his stand of rejecting the international tribunal. "What is the stand of Speaker Nabih Berri and AMAL Movement? What is the stand of the Free Patriotic Movement and Gen. Michel Aoun?" He asked. "This is a very serious stand (by Nasrallah). This is evidence that Hezbollah does not want the international tribunal," Helou added.
Helou also rejected threats by Hezbollah of open war against Israel because "they give Israel a pretext to invade Lebanon."
"Israel, to us, is the enemy and Lebanon, to Israel, is the enemy Israel wants to invade Lebanon. Why give Israel an excuse to do so?" he asked. "As if he is inviting Israel to invade Lebanon," Helou said of Nasrallah.
Lebanon, he said, had "enough of fighting and resisting Israel alone."
Hezbollah 's Imad Mughniyeh was "killed in Syria. My question is why wouldn't Syria go into war with Israel instead of using Lebanon's land and borders as long as the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh was carried out on its terrain?" he asked. "If they want war against Israel let all the Arab states open their fronts to war," Helou stressed.
He reiterated the stand that the decision to go to war or peace should be strictly in the hands of Lebanese authorities. Helou said Nasrallah's "aggressive words would lead to nothing but war and destruction."
He rejected Nasrallah's call for a two-demonstration competition, saying the Hezbollah leader can mass "one million supporters, more or less, for a demonstration, but they would all be from one sect ( meaning Shiites) . March 14 grouped participants from all the Lebanese sects. The pluralist system and joint existence are the essence of Lebanon."
He reiterated commitment by the majority to the Arab Initiative, rejecting the tripartite distribution of equal shares in the government that had been proposed by the Hezbollah-led opposition as "non-constitutional."
Helou said threats made against Arab and foreign embassies was aimed at "aborting the Arab initiative." The threats prompted Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to issue travel advisories restricting the travel of their citizens to Lebanon.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
(Xinhua) -- Iran on Saturday called for a return of the country's nuclear issue from the UN Security Council to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), one day after the agency's chief circulated his latest report on Iran's nuclear program.
What was said in the report once more indicated that "referring of Iran to the UN Security Council was a political move which lacked legal basis," the official IRNA news agency quoted government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham as saying.
He reiterated that Tehran believed "the only legitimate and official center to study Iran nuclear issue is the IAEA which has now verified the peaceful nature of Iran nuclear activities."
Elham made the remarks one day after IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei circulated his latest report on Iran's nuclear program to the IAEA Board of Governors.
In response to the IAEA report, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that his country will not retreat "one iota" in maintaining its nuclear rights.
In his live interview with state television late on Saturday, Ahmadinejad vowed that "we've said that our red line is the nuclear rights of the Iranian nation and we will not retreat one iota."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Quick we need a stall.
How about involving the UN?
Brilliant, that will give us between 6 months to two years, have a cigar, you're promoted.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/24/2008 15:00 Comments ||
Top||
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora appointed two officials on Saturday to coordinate between Lebanon and Syria on the status of the investigation of the assassination of Hezbollah's Imad Mughniyeh.
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Siniora instructed Prosecutor General Saeed Mirza and chairman of the Higher Lebanese Syrian Council Nasri Khoury to maintain contacts with the Syrian authorities with the aim of being " regularly informed on the ongoing investigation in the assassination of Lebanese citizen Imad Mughniyeh, who is a member of Hezbollah command and who was killed in Damascus on Feb. 12.
Many intelligence experts are of the opinion that the assassination of Mughniyeh could only have taken place with the collaboration of the Syrian intelligence . These experts do not deny that Israel may be behind the assassination , but the job could not have been done without the help of the Syrians.
The Iranians are reportedly unhappy with the progress of the Syrian investigation and have publicly stated that they are involved along with the Syrians in probing the murder. There were also reports that Hezbollah has also sent its own team of investigators to Damascus, but Syria has denied the involvement of any outside parties in the investigation. This was also confirmed yesterday by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during his speech.
Given the possible implications of the Syrian intelligence in this crime , many doubt the Damascus regime abilities in probing such a murder, specially since Assef Shawkat , the top man of the Syrian intelligence is the brother-in- law of the Syrian president Bashar al Assad.
According to MP Samir Franjiyeh Syrias negotiator with Israel , the Syrian-American Abraham Suleiman was talking to Israeli officials in Ankara Turkey about the Israeli Syrian relationship , the night Mughniyeh was assassinated and Israeli Defense Minster Ehud Barak was at the time in Turkey too. Turkey, which has good relations with both Syria and Israel has been trying to broker an agreement between them.
Communications Minister Marwan Hamade questioned Hezbollahs call for avenging the killing of Mughniyeh . Why wouldn't Syria avenge the assassination of Mughniyeh who was killed in Damascus not in Lebanon.? He asked. Mughniyeh assassination in a Damascus suburb was a major insult to Syria's national security, unless Syria was involved in liquidating him," Hamade added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2008 00:00 ||
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[9 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
...appointed two officials on Saturday to coordinate...
Please, the senorita wishing upon a pair? After he finishes the A1 spit shine on Hassan's patent leather boots, he'll make sure they remember to take both jars of Vasoline®!!
#2
Apparently the winds of Change are permeating minds in all directions. that is good.....and so would the outcome be, change wears the grey cloak. stops momentum and regenerates hope.
#3
smn, your unreasonable hatred of Siniora is ...well,....stupid. He's doing the best possible job of removing Syrian/Iranian/Hezb influence that he can, given the relative lack of power. He's been courting the French/US to help, and actually had the army wipe out the Fatah Al-Islam rebels, devastating the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. Pretty strong stuff. You, on the other hand, throw ad-hominem "siniorita" aspersions. Have a big ol cup of STFU
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2008 15:17 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Frank G, don't start! You were there when the senorita cried and wailed and lamented the lost humanity and destruction upon 'his' homefront during the '2nd Lebanese War'. The senorita demanded so heartfully sickening, that the Israelis be censured and remanded by the UN to cease and desist their unlawful actions upon the valiant Hizballah! Frank G, reassess your glowing review of the senorita, He should resign rather than be dictated terms by Hassan and Baby Assad; and you just may have to 'eat your words' in the next conflict!
#6
Who would've done a better job, given the short list of tools and supporters? You have nobody, because it's a thankless impossible job. Keep yakking, though, your credibility goes down with each comment
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2008 16:09 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Frank G, I will concede that if your..."the short list of tools and supporters?... statement may indicated the Siniora Government may have the "ear" of Meir, then yes, he'd have to play the 'double agent role' and that I may not need be so critical and sceptical of Lebanese intentions. However if this is your way of having me swallow this 'bowling ball' simply on the well meaning intentions of a no way out puppet, then add his name to the growing list of 'Neville Chamberlains'. As always, in such discussions,I will consider your wish for me to simply take my marbles and go play in another's sandbox...maybe the Rantburg 'battlefield' isn't big enough for the both of us!!
#8
do what you wish - just expect to be called on nonsense when you post it. I do.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/24/2008 17:07 Comments ||
Top||
#9
It rather seems like a bit much to expect Siniora to be an Israeli at heart. He is, after all, the PM of *Lebanon*, smn.
FWIW I'm with Frank on this one - it's a difficult and thankless job he has and he's doing about as good a job at it as anyone is likely to do. Anyone still surviving Syrian carbombs that is.
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.
OVERWEIGHT preacher of hate Abu 'Hooks' Hamza has given prison officials a list of demands after telling his lawyer: Im starving in here.
If appearance matters, 
Pervez Musharraf is considering stepping down as president of Pakistan rather than waiting to be forced out by his victorious opponents, aides have told The Sunday Telegraph.
Iraq's firebrand Shiite cleric 
THE SCOWLING MAN DECLARED IT LIKE AN ORDER: "YOU DON'T FLY THIS."
MOSUL, Iraq U.S. forces have begun pushing into insurgent-controlled neighborhoods, establishing a series of combat outposts and fortifying police checkpoints in an effort to strangle the ability of al-Qaida and militant groups to move freely in what U.S. officials call their last urban stronghold in Iraq.
Basra, Feb 23, (VOI) Basra's governor accused Iranian diplomats of planning an attempt on his life and interfering in the port city's political and security affairs. "Diplomatic personnel working in the Iranian consulate in Basra disclosed to me that some of the Iranian mission members planned to assassinate me and my brothers, Ismail," Governor Mohamed Misbah al-Waili told Aswat al-Iraq Voices of Iraq (VOI).
A ranking Iraqi military intelligence official said Saturday Hezbollah's slain Imad Mughniyeh was a co-founder of the Mehdi Army militia of Muqtada al-Sadr and had recruited followers in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. 
(Xinhua) -- Iran on Saturday called for a return of the country's nuclear issue from the UN Security Council to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), one day after the agency's chief circulated his latest report on Iran's nuclear program. 
