***Open Keri with care*** Keri Russell - 33 "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid" (Now)
This Day in History
1775 - Patrick Henry delivers his famous speech -"give me liberty or give me death"
1806 - After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, Lewis and Clark and their "Corps of Discovery" begin their arduous journey home.
1868 - The University of California is founded in Oakland, California
1933 - The Reichstag passes the Enabling act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
1956 - Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world.
1983 - SDI: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.
KABUL (AP) - NATO killed a senior Taliban commander and nine other suspected militants in southern Afghanistan, while the coalition and its Afghan allies suffered an equal number of deaths in separate attacks in the same area, officials said Monday.
Senior Taliban commander Maulawi Hassan and his associates were killed Saturday when troops attacked an isolated compound in the Kajaki area of southern Helmand province, NATO said in a statement, adding there were no civilians involved."Maulawi Hassan was a senior insurgent figure in northern Helmand, and his influence extended into western Oruzgan," the statement said.
Southern Afghanistan is the center of the Taliban insurgency, which has made a comeback in the last three years following the group's initial defeat by U.S.-led forces in late 2001. Afghan and coalition forces have stepped up operations against militants in southern Afghanistan, and the U.S. plans to send thousands of additional soldiers there this year.
On Monday, Afghan police and intelligence agents detained five Taliban militants in Oruzgan, including the group's senior commander for the province, Mullah Azizullah, said police officer Wali Jan. The militants were stopped in Arzo district while driving from the city of Quetta in neighboring Pakistan, Jan said. Well fancy that...
Quetta is believed to be a safe-haven for many senior Taliban leaders, including the group's supreme leader, Mullah Omar, according to Afghan officials. Pakistan denies the claim and says Omar is in Afghanistan.
Also Monday, Taliban fighters ambushed a police patrol in southern Kandahar province's Spin Boldak district, killing eight officers and wounding another, said Sahib Jan, a police officer.
On Sunday, a rocket slammed into the main NATO military base in the south, killing a contractor and wounding six others. Kandahar airfield, the nerve center for the alliance's war effort in southern Afghanistan, has been hit by many rockets in the past but Sunday's death was the first in such an attack, another NATO statement said. Also Sunday, two NATO soldiers were killed in a "hostile incident" in the same region, a third NATO statement said, without releasing the soldiers' nationalities or the exact location of the attack.
"Maulawi", "Maulavi" and "Maulana" are all three the same person, idea, and concept. They come from the Arabic word "maula", which means "leader, master, lord", and "Maulana" means "Our leader, lord, or master". It is a term generally used for a learned man or a scholar of Islam.
Ideally, a trained Mullah (from the Farsi) will have studied Islamic traditions (hadith), and Islamic law (fiqh). They are often hafiz, i.e. have memorized the Qur'an. However, uneducated villagers often recognize a literate Muslim with a less than complete Islamic training as their "mullah" or religious cleric. Mullahs with varying levels of training lead prayers in mosques, deliver religious sermons, and perform religious ceremonies such as birth rites and funeral services. They also often teach in a type of Islamic school known as a madrasah. This triumvirate of knowledge is applied mostly in interpreting Islamic texts (ie. the Quran, Hadiths, etc.) for matters of Shariah, ie Islamic law.
The term is most often applied to Shi'ite clerics, as Shi'a Islam is the predominant tradition in Iran. However, the term is very common in Urdu, spoken throughout Pakistan, and it is used throughout the Indian subcontinent for any Muslim clergy, Sunni or Shi'a. Muslim clergy in Russia and other former Soviet republics are also referred to as mullahs, regardless of whether they are Sunni or Shi'a.
The term is seldom used in Arabic-speaking areas, where its nearest equivalent is shaykh (implying formal Islamic training), imam (prayer leader; not to be confused with the Imams of the Shiite world), or `ālim (plural `ūlamā') (scholar; see ulema). In the Sunni world, the concept of "cleric" is of limited usefulness, as authority in the religious system is relatively decentralized.
#6
Thanks for the info, tw. That, to me, is one of the (many) problems with Islam. There is no central, guiding authority. So one imam can say "Death to the infidels" and another can, with a straight face, claim that Islam is a religion of peace. If you point the conflict out to either of them, they can both claim to be experts on the Koran and the hadiths, and both claim to be right.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
03/23/2009 20:35 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON -- The United States must look for a way out of the war in Afghanistan, President Obama said, in a signal that the military build-up in Afghanistan will not be open-ended and will lead to the eventual withdrawal of American and NATO troops from the country. "There's got to be an exit strategy," Mr. Obama said in a wide-ranging interview shown Sunday on "60 Minutes" on CBS. "There's got to be a sense that this is not perpetual drift."
All of a sudden the 'good war' isn't. Bambi now realizes that all his tough talk in the campaign about Afghanistan and Pakistain, about getting bin Laden, has to be matched by action. He can't do it. He doesn't know how and he's getting contradictory and bad advice. This isn't going to go well.
European officials have been outspoken about their plans to leave Afghanistan in the next three to four years. Mr. Obama's remarks, which were recorded on Friday, indicated that the administration, which has more troops and resources in Afghanistan than European countries do, is also working toward a long-term strategy.
Last month, he announced that he would send 17,000 more American troops to Afghanistan this spring and summer, adding to the 36,000 already there.
In the interview, Mr. Obama also signaled that the United States was redefining its mission in Afghanistan, away from the Bush administration's broader strategy of promoting democracy, civil society and governance in Afghanistan and toward getting the country to a point where it is not used to start attacks on the United States.
The 'realists' are in charge when idealism is what the Afghan people in the north and west have bought.
Asked what the United States' mission in Afghanistan should be, Mr. Obama replied: "Making sure that Al Qaeda cannot attack the U.S. homeland and U.S. interests and our allies. That's our No. 1 priority."
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
All of a sudden the 'good war' isn't. Bambi now realizes that all his tough talk in the campaign about Afghanistan and Pakistain, about getting bin Laden, has to be matched by action. He can't do it. He doesn't know how and he's getting contradictory and bad advice. This isn't going to go well.
#9
The way out of Afghanistan is thru Islamabad, silly.
Correct. And no one really wants a third war of that magnitude, unless India wants to do the heavy lifting, and maybe not even then. So let's get out.
The idea that we can defend a landlocked country surrounded by enemies is delusional.
The idea that we can introduce any form of government even roughly approaching a representative republic to a stone age tribal culture is fantasy.
Afghanistan is not a winning proposition in and of itself. Better to get out sooner rather than later. If they want another round they can punch us in the face again. But if they do, we should go back with the gloves off, via Islamabad with a Sherman.
#10
How about we stop giving them modern transport and communications? No planes, no ships, no cars or trucks. No TV, phones, telegraph. Spread jihad by camel-back if you want to.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/23/2009 11:53 Comments ||
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#13
OK, so then why send those 17,000 additional troops into harm's way if all you're doing is looking for an exit? Why not just get the hell out? I'm thinking the reason is that BO is confused, unsteady, unreliable and grasping at straws. The thing to do is sit down and think about it, analyze all the various ramifications, come up with a policy and then stick to it whatever that policy is for at least a year. Sending mixed messages, making contradictory statements, moving troops in and out without a long range strategy is criminal. But I guess that's just how it is when you really don't give a rat's ass about the human beings under your command.
#14
My thoughts, exactly, EU6305. The 17,000 troop increase was nothing more than an empty display with our troops in harm's way. The 0 has no real intention of winning the war. He's just looking for an excuse to "exit", with or without victory and it looks more and more like the latter will be the case.
#15
The donks and MSM (generally=liberals) have never seen a war they approved of. They prefer to carp and snipe from the sidelines whenever anyone does do anything about war.
There is an attitude that has developed mostly in Washington that wars should be like the Super Bowl--over in about 4 hours including all the hoopla, entertainment and shouting. Washington also thinks that wars should be bloodless, riskless, and not cost anything-especially low polls ratings or votes. During WWII, no one really knew when the war was going to end. Washington was committed to seeing it through and WIN. No one knew how long they would have to serve--they served until it ended whenever that was. The people at home, who were too young or old or infirm or needed to work in factories, were accustomed to sacrifice also. Rationing and scrap drives were commonplace, people put tin cans and lard out at the curb for pick up to be used for the war effort. Little was available for anything but the war effort. The concept of total war existed and was practiced. Contrast that with what we have today.
#17
OBambi has never had to make a hard decision in his life, EU6305. Suddenly he's in the hottest of the hot seats, and is flailing around like a non-swimmer caught in a rip tide. He has no idea what he's talking about, because except for being a "community planner", he has no experience with the "real world". He's an empty suit, and there isn't enough there to keep the electrons from escaping.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/23/2009 15:58 Comments ||
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#18
Obama is of the "war never solved anything" school of thought. Which means he'll look weak to our enemies and sell-out our friends. That crisis Biden promised is coming and it's going to be costly in both dollars and lives.
A Moroccan court postponed the trial of 35 alleged members of the al-Qaeda-linked Belliraj terror network until next week upon a request from defence attorneys, MAP reported on Friday (March 20th). The appellate court of Salé also ordered that all weapons seized when the ring was dismantled in February 2008 be entered into evidence. Belgian-Moroccan Abdelkader Belliraj and suspected members of his cell are charged with plotting assassinations of senior government officials and strikes against Jewish targets.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2009 00:00 ||
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A Bangladesh court sentenced seven militants to life in prison on Sunday for their role in simultaneous bomb attacks across the country in 2005, officials said.
Just not a good time to be a JMB hard boy in B'desh given the border rifles rebellion. These boys are going to have a short, difficult life in jug ...
Authorities say the banned Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) was behind 400 blasts detonated on the same day in a coordinated assault that prompted a crackdown by the then government. "All seven JMB members were found guilty of carrying out a series of bomb blasts at the Rajshahi University in the city on August 17, 2005," court inspector Devendranath Das said. The multiple attacks were part of a campaign apparently aimed at forcing Bangladesh to replace its secular legal system, which dates from the British colonial era, with traditional Islamic law.
At least 28 people were killed and hundreds injured in the attacks and the ensuing crackdown saw 1,000 JMB members arrested and prosecuted. JMB leader Shaikh Abdur Rahman, his deputy, and four other members of the group's decision-making body were hanged in 2007. The life terms given on Sunday came a week after a minister of the newly-elected secular government accused militants linked with the JMB of being behind a bloody mutiny at a military base in Dhaka in February.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Yet another member of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) died in mysterious circumstances at the city's Pilkhana headquarters yesterday. The man was identified as lance nayek Mobarak Hossain. He fled the HQ shortly before the 33-hour mutiny ended on February 26, and later reported back to barracks.
With his death, the number of border troops who have died since March 9 stands at four. Of them, three died at Pilkhana and one in Joypurhat. Besides, BDR central mosque's pesh imam (someone who leads prayers), who reportedly witnessed the start of the bloodbath, died during the same period. In all cases, the authorities concerned have cited heart attack or suicide as causes of death.
All of them at about 4 a.m. ...
Mobarak's relatives however allege that he was tortured to death. They claim he was in good health when he returned to Pilkhana.
Before coming to Dhaka on February 18 to join the BDR week, he was stationed at Rifle Security Unit in 29 Battalion of Chittagong. He held ID No.48235.
Requesting anonymity, his cousin yesterday afternoon told reporters, "My brother died an agonising death after torture."
Earlier, sources at Dhaka Medical College (DMC) morgue said the lance nayek's wrists, arms, knees and shoulders were swollen and badly bruised. Two police constables rushed him to DMC Hospital at around 10:40am. Doctors on duty there announced he had already died.
Mahbub, one of the constables, said they don't know anything. All they did was shift him from the Pilkhana hospital.
Contacted, BDR Director General (DG) Brig Gen Md Mainul Islam said, "Perhaps, he [Mobarak] died of a heart attack. I'm not sure though about the cause of his death. That will be known after post-mortem."
Asked about the injury marks, he said, "You know how soldiers suffered injuries while fleeing the headquarters. The marks on his body might have resulted from those wounds."
The deaths at regular intervals bring into question the soundness of the measures taken to protect suspected mutineers, most of who are considered vital witnesses to the vicious killings of 74 people including 55 army officers.
This article starring:
Mobarak Hossain
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Police have arrested a man on suspicion of involvement in a bomb hoax after an incident temporarily shut down London's Gatwick airport.
The incident occurred Sunday morning aboard EK 011 flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to London. Sussex police said a passenger on board the flight found a note implying there may be a suspicious device onboard, CNN reported.
According to Emirates airline, the note was found about 10 minutes before the plane landed at Gatwick. The discovery forced airport officials to close Gatwick at about 6:45 a.m. local time.
There were 164 passengers aboard the plane. They and the crew were evacuated from the plane, and a bomb disposal team worked with police to search the aircraft and luggage.
"This was potentially an extremely serious situation and we immediately mounted an emergency response. At all times public safety was the key priority. All the agencies worked together to provide a coordinated response and minimize disruption and the airport operated as normal during this time," Chief Inspector Ed Henriet said in the Sussex police statement.
He added, "We are very grateful for the calm and understanding response from those directly affected, including the passengers who were on board and those waiting to meet them."
The police said they have arrested a man in his 20s in connection with the incident. Meanwhile, a Sussex police spokeswoman declined to comment whether the detainee was a passenger on the plane. She only said the search and investigation was concluded by 3 p.m. local time.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Jerusalem -- India has purchased a spy satellite manufactured by the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and plans to launch it into space in April. The advanced satellite will help India defend itself against terror attacks of the kind that were carried out in Mumbai last November.
The news of the satellite purchase was reported by Indian sources, prompting reports in the Indian and international medias. According to the reports, India bought the satellite because of pressure from the Indian army following the Mumbai terror attacks.
India has spy satellites, but they are effective only during daylight conditions and are ineffective at night or under poor weather conditions.
The Indian NDTV station reported the Risat-2 satellite, which weighs 280 pounds, would be launched by an Indian Polaris rocket, which was also used to carry the Israeli Tecsar satellite into space last year. All reports indicate that the new, advanced satellite is fitted with a special radar, capable of identifying targets on the ground, even in the dark, inclement weather and during sand storms.
The Indians charge the terrorists who committed the attacks in Mumbai arrived by boat from Pakistan, and an effective spy satellite would have allowed them to identify the boat long in advance.
India's decision to buy an advanced spy satellite from Israel raises security links between Israel and India to a new level. This marks the first time that Israel has been reported to have exported a spy satellite. The deal places IAI in a small and very select club of spy satellite manufacturers and exporters. The other spy satellite manufacturers, such as the United States and Russia, are not prepared to sell their satellites to foreign countries.
According to other security reports in India, IAI is currently developing a surface-to-air missile for India. It has also purchased unmanned aerial vehicles, and there are a number of other deals that are in advanced stages.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/23/2009 17:32 ||
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#1
Israel has also reportedly supplied India with the Synthetic Aperture Radar for a larger Indian built satellite.
India and Israel will share the data from their various spy satellites.
Design verification model of Synthetic Aperture Radar for RISAT undergoing near-field test
Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT) is a microwave remote sensing mission with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) operating in C-band and having a 6 x 2 meter planar active array antenna based on trans-receiver module architecture. SAR is an all weather-imaging sensor capable of taking images in cloudy and snow covered regions and also both during day and night. RISAT weighs 1,750 kg.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/23/2009 17:37 Comments ||
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#2
ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > US-ISRAEL-INDIA NEXUS PLANS THE "BALKANIZATION" OF PAKISTAN AND IRAN [Central Asia]???
Also from PDF > INDIA: PAKISTAN IS PERILOUSLY CLOSE TO BEING A "FAILED STATE" ['Tis already "pretty dysfunctional" as is].
#3
Call me an irrepressible romantic, but if (when) the USA abandons Israel during the Obama Administration, it warms the cockles of my heart to think the Hindus and Buddhists of India might well stand by her side. I'm told good Hindus and Buddhists have a very long memory and much more experience dealing with islam... the huh...(spit)
religion of peace.
#4
Two allies cultivated under the Bush Admin and which may be abandoned now at least have eachother for mutual defense. Both are facing death at the hand of Islam, and through common ground have come to rely on eachother where our own elected officials abandon them. I'm rooting for both countries.
Posted by: Charles ||
03/23/2009 23:14 Comments ||
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Bazitkhel, Pakistan - This tiny village in northwestern Pakistan has paid a high price for its defiance. The health clinic lies in ruins, blasted to rubble by a car bomb that exploded outside three weeks ago. The mayor's compound next door is full of jagged holes. Five residents are dead, including a shopkeeper's small son and daughter. More than 20 were injured, including a young man whose right hand was severed.
But while most inhabitants of this violence-plagued region near the Afghan border have been cowed by the growing tide of Islamist and criminal violence, those in a handful of communities like Bazitkhel -- where tribal bonds are especially strong -- are determined to arm themselves and fight back. Any vehicle that approaches Bazitkhel on the winding road from Peshawar, the provincial capital about 20 miles away, is quickly surrounded by men of all ages, each carrying a rifle and many loaded with grenade vests, ammo belts or military weapons. None wears a uniform or a badge.
"I am an educated and peaceful man. I would rather be carrying a book than a gun," said Hizar Amin Shah, 22, leaning on a rocket launcher. Shah said he spent the past decade studying and working in the capital, Islamabad, but has answered the call to return and defend his home. "These terrorists want to destroy the peace of Pakistan. It is up to us to finish them," he said.
The government of Pakistan, facing pressure from the West and increasing concern among its own citizens, has been struggling for months to contain an epidemic of religiously cloaked mayhem that is spreading from tribal havens along the Afghan border into the surrounding belt of "settled" areas that are theoretically protected by the state. Authorities have tried various methods, first using the army to attempt to quash the rebels, and more recently negotiating truces with individual militia groups. Thousands of conflict-zone inhabitants, terrified by government bombing and insurgent brutality, have fled their homes. Few local officials dare visit their constituencies without military escorts.
A few tribal leaders, however, have refused to budge and are urging others to do the same. One of the first was Anwar Kamal Marwat, a former member of Parliament, who decided to organize a self-defense force in 2007 after Taliban militias began kidnapping and threatening people in his native Lakki Marwat district, demanding their support for a holy war. "We are Muslims, and we know what holy war is. What they were doing was committing crimes," Marwat, 60, said last week in Peshawar. "They kept threatening us, but our tribe is very united and every village went on alert. We wanted to stop them before the cancer spread. It took many months, but now all their camps are gone, and they have not been back."
Marwat's success has been both an inspiration to other vulnerable communities and an embarrassment to the government, whose police are supposed to keep order and whose army is supposed to fight extremists.
One problem, according to experts and tribal leaders, is the divided loyalties and limited capacity of the security forces. Police are easily corrupted, tribal constabularies are ill-equipped and soldiers are often reluctant to shoot fellow Muslims. It is also widely believed everywhere here, though the government denies it, that Pakistani intelligence agencies covertly aid the insurgents in order to create trouble for next-door Afghanistan.
A second problem is that malefactors of all types benefit from a peculiar administrative arrangement, instituted by British colonial rulers, in which Pakistan's seven tribal zones are overseen by a federal agency and are off-limits to provincial or state security forces. As a result, they have become sanctuaries for both Islamist militias and criminal mafias, a distinction that local leaders said is becoming increasingly irrelevant. "Some of the tribal agencies are totally controlled by the militants, and we are surrounded on three sides," said Afrasiab Khattak, a senior official in the party that rules North-West Frontier Province. Khattak has been a key promoter of the recent peace agreement with Taliban commanders in the Swat Valley, a tourist region in the province just outside the tribal belt.
The agreement has been criticized as creating a launching pad for a fundamentalist sweep through Pakistan. Last week, Islamic law courts began operating in Swat under the agreement, but Taliban commanders have not yet laid down their weapons. Still, Khattak said he believes the deal will hold. "We have morally disarmed the militants in Swat. Now we have to create the conditions for physically disarming them," he said. "Swat is in a transition stage, and there is some confusion. The Taliban have no knowledge of law, and a few of them are addicted to violence, but 90 percent are behaving well."
But even in Peshawar, a city of several million, the chilling effects of Talibanization are everywhere. Half the movie theaters have shut down for lack of attendance at Bollywood action films deemed un-Islamic. Wedding parties have stopped hiring musicians, and only one craftsman who carves traditional instruments has remained in Dabgari Garden, a famous alley that once hummed with nightlife.
Gulzar Alam, an ethnic Pashto singer, has not performed at a single event since two gunmen ambushed him in a cemetery several months ago. As a further precaution, he has grown a beard and carries prayer beads. "There is no more music in this city, not even in the public buses," Alam said, adding that most of his fellow entertainers have moved away or joined religious minstrel groups. The new provincial government hoped to spark a cultural revival, he added, "but now they've forgotten about it. The militancy problem has taken over everything."
In rural districts closer to the tribal zones, people are even more vulnerable to the predations of outlaw militias that roam freely just a few miles away. Bazitkhel, for example, is very near the Khyber Agency, a relatively prosperous tribal area that bustles with cross-border commerce but is also the stronghold of Mangal Bagh, a former bus driver who heads an Islamist militia-turned-criminal gang.
Leaders in Bazitkhel said most of their troubles originated with Bagh's followers, whom they allege enjoy the tacit acceptance of federal tribal officers. They said they had given authorities specific evidence about numerous attacks and their perpetrators, including cellphone records linking them to gang leaders in Khyber, but that nothing had come of it. The village council head, Fahim ur Rahman, is now guarded around the clock by a small army of tribal members. He recounted half a dozen recent attacks and tribal retaliations, including a decisive battle last month in which hundreds of villagers encircled a group of militiamen in a three-hour gunfight, killing nine. Two weeks later came a message of gruesome revenge.
A pickup pulled into the village square in mid-afternoon and the driver walked into a shop, asking for cigarettes. The shopkeeper's children were outside munching on candy when the truck exploded, spraying deadly shrapnel in all directions. Two children died on the spot, and a third was rushed to a hospital in Peshawar with her stomach in shreds. "These people call themselves Taliban, but they are nothing but criminals," Rahman said over rice and meat in his shrapnel-pocked compound. "We ask the security forces to crush them, but the police are afraid to take action, and other authorities protect them. If our tribe were not so united, we would have no hope of defending ourselves. We do not have permission to do this, but we have no choice."
Unidentified men blew up a girls' school in Mardan on Sunday. According to police sources, the men planted explosives near Government Girls High School Hattian, located near the residence of NWFP senior minister Rahim Dad Khan. The sources said the blast caused panic among the residents. However, no casualties were reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2009 00:00 ||
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The authorities on Sunday released 14 more Taliban from Daggar prison in Buner district under a peace accord between the NWFP government and the Tehreek Nafaz-e-Shariat Muhammadi in Swat, according to officials.
The officials told Daily Times that the number of released Taliban now stood at 48, and more would be freed in phases. They claimed that normalcy was gradually returning to Swat 'because of the release of the Taliban'.
They said the government was fulfilling the promises made under the accord with the Taliban, and "it is now their turn to play their role in restoring peace in the valley".
The release of Taliban prisoners was one of the group's demands for the restoration of peace in the region. The government officials said the decision to free the Taliban was also a goodwill gesture, in addition to being part of the peace accord.
Meanwhile on Sunday, hundreds of residents of Swat protested against the deployment of security personnel at mosques and in residential areas.
Following the protest, security forces left their position from Salanda mosque.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Fox and Hounds, anyone?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
03/23/2009 8:40 Comments ||
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#2
You see that they release them just so the CF can kill them in Afganistan. Pakistan is not fighting with us on the "War on Terror", they are fighting against us.
Posted by: Sarge Reports From The Front ||
03/23/2009 14:25 Comments ||
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#3
This goes to tell everyone(Everywhere)that Pakistan only negotiates with Terrorists.
Posted by: Sarge Reports From The Front ||
03/23/2009 14:27 Comments ||
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#5
I wonder what the colonels in the ISI think. They must have realized that their pet Taliban are no taking orders, not to mention the other jihadi groups they've trained and funded for so long, and quite possibly will try to destroy Pakistan before too much longer. It's too much to expect that Pakistan's famous generals will ever figure this out, but colonels are expected to be quicker witted...
The Taliban in Lower Dir on Sunday locked a family planning centre working under the Population Welfare Department in Maidan, locals and official sources told Daily Times. According to the sources, the Taliban warned that the centre would be blown up if the government reopened it. The sources said the centre was found locked on Sunday and a notice was pasted on the door warning that no one would be allowed to reopen the office. A source in the department confirmed the report but refused comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
The Taliban now have control of SWAT Providence. Next DIR. Then the FATA. Then NWFP. By then the Government of Pakistan will realize what a problem they have and it will be to late. Dumb Ass SOB's!!!
Posted by: Sarge Reports From The Front ||
03/23/2009 14:32 Comments ||
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A security forces operation continued for the second day in Bar Qambar Khel area of Khyber Agency's Bara tehsil on Sunday. The security forces used helicopter gunships, tanks and armoured vehicles to attack the hideouts of an the Amr Bil Maroof Wa Nahi Anilmunkar outfit, destroying a base and a house used by it. No casualties were reported. A peace committee in Bara condemned the operation and the shelling saying tribal elders should have been taken into confidence before the operation. The committee said it was ready to cooperate with the government for the restoration of peace in the area. The peace committee demanded the immediate end of the military operation and the release of people who were arrested during the operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Five Indian soldiers and six Muslim rebels were killed in separate gunbattles in Kashmir yesterday, police said, a day after Pakistani and Indian troops traded fire across the de facto border. These'd be the guys they were providing covering fire for, I guess...
The deaths came during some of the fiercest fighting in the disputed region for months and followed Saturday's cross-border firing that left one Indian soldier injured.
The clashes on Sunday erupted in the northern Kupwara district as Indian troops launched a search operation in thick forest. "As the troops moved in, militants opened fire killing five soldiers, including an officer," a police officer said, adding two militants had died in retaliatory firing. "The fighting is still going on," he said, adding army reinforcements have been rushed to the area. Indian troops also shot dead four more militants in two separate incidents in the same district, police said.
Kupwara borders Pakistan-administered Kashmir and is often used by militants to cross into Indian Kashmir.
Pakistan and India agreed to a 2003 ceasefire along the Line of Control, which divides Kashmir between the two countries, and have since held slow-moving peace talks.
The negotiations came to a halt after last November's Islamist militant attacks on Mumbai that India has blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
New Delhi has also accused "official agencies" in Pakistan -- a reference to the Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency -- of involvement in the Mumbai attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2009 00:00 ||
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The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Sunday ordered all non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to immediately leave Swat.
In an exclusive chat with IRIN, TTP spokesman Muslim Khan said, "They come and tell us how to make lavatories in mosques and houses. I'm sure we can do it ourselves. There is no need for foreigners to tell us this."
"NGO is another name for 'vulgarity and obscenity'," Khan said. He said NGOs hired women who worked with men, in the field and in offices. "That is totally unIslamic and unacceptable," he said.
Infertility: When asked why the TTP was against the polio vaccination, Khan said: "The TTP is against polio vaccination because it causes infertility. I'm 45 and have never had one drop of the vaccine and I am still alive." He added that another reason the TTP was against polio vaccination was that the campaign was run by NGOs and the vaccine was imported.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Well... like I always say, enjoy the polio, boys.
SIDON, Lebanon (AFP) A top Palestinian official and four bodyguards were killed in a bombing on Tuesday at Mieh Mieh refugee camp near the southern Lebanese coastal city of Sidon, a Palestinian official told AFP. So long, boys. Give our regards to Allah...
"Kamal Medhat was killed along with four of his bodyguards when a roadside bomb exploded as his convoy drove by, near the entrance to the camp," said Munir Maqdah, in charge of security at Lebanon's 12 refugee camps. Doin a helluva job there, Munir...
Medhat was the deputy representative of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Lebanon. He was also a former intelligence chief for the Fatah movement in Lebanon. Badda-bing...
The blast, apparently from a roadside bomb, struck a two-car convoy carrying Fatah's Kamal Madhat as they left the Mieh Mieh camp near the southern port city of Sidon, killing him and the bodyguards, the officials said. A fourth bodyguard was wounded.
Madhat's car was completely gutted in the explosion that left a 5-meter wide crater, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. The blast was heard across Sidon. Witnesses said pieces of torn flesh were scattered near the bombing site, as ambulances and civil defense rushed to evacuate the victims.
The Mieh Mieh camp and the nearby Ein el-Hilweh camp are mainly controlled by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah group. Madhat was a military, political and security aide to a Palestinian representative in Lebanon, Abbas Zaki, who is close to Abbas. It was not immediately known if Zaki could have been the target, since he had left the camp only a few hours earlier.
It was also unclear if the blast was related to a reported power struggle among Fatah members in Lebanon. Madhat was known to have enemies within and outside Fatah, mainly extremist Islamic groups opposing Abbas' peace deals with Israel.
#4
Looks like a Fiat from that picture. They never do well in a roadside bomb.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2009 13:56 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Geez, Kamal. Looks like "wrong place, wrong time". Bet you won't make that mistake again...
Palestinian sources in Lebanon say they believe the bomb was aimed at the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Lebanon, Abbas Zaki, the BBC's Natalia Antelava reports from Beirut.
However, Mr Zaki left the camp earlier than scheduled and the explosion killed Mr Medhat instead, the sources say.
"The bomb was apparently hidden in a little shed on the side of the road and was detonated as Medhat's convoy drove by," a Lebanese army spokesman told AFP news agency.
The force of the blast tore through the Mercedes in which Mr Medhat was travelling and threw the car into a nearby field, witnesses said.
A senior source in the Palestinian Authority told Haaretz Sunday that he suspects Hezbollah or another organization with links to Iran was behind the attempted bombing of the Lev Hamifratz shopping mall in Haifa on Saturday night.
According to the source, the PA holds definitive intelligence that Hezbollah has been trying for some time to recruit members of Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in an attempt to get operatives of those terror groups to carry out an attack in Israel.
The aim of the Lebanese Shi'ite group is to carry out a massive terrorist attack that would avenge the assassination of its mastermind terrorist, Imad Mughniyeh, in Damascus in February 2008, the Palestinian source said. Hezbollah blames Israel for Mughniyeh's death.
Last week, two police officers were killed in the Jordan Valley, and an anonymous caller claimed responsibility in the name of the Mughniyeh Units.
In recent weeks there has been a slight increase in the number of attempted attacks on both sides of the Green Line, leading security forces to examine the possibility that some of the events may be linked. All the same, a Shin Bet security service official said there was nothing to suggest an overall upsurge of terror.
"During the past months there have been warnings for pending attacks," the source said yesterday. "But we do not identify an unusual trend suggesting a renewed wave of terrorism."
The investigation of the attempted bombing, some details of which are still under a gag order, suggests that it was an unusually sophisticated plan, and officials suspect the know-how came from abroad.
The terror attack was thwarted when police sappers disarmed a bomb weighing dozens of kilograms in a car outside the mall Saturday night. An organization calling itself the Galilee Freedom Fighters claimed responsibility Saturday, but security officials said they doubted the veracity of the claim.
The bomb had the potential to cause enormous destruction, said Yossi Malka, a police sapper involved in defusing the bomb.
"We can compare the potential blast to 15 suicide bombers exploding at once," he said.
As a result of the bombing attempt, security at malls and public institutions throughout the city was stepped up Sunday.
Police are trying to locate a woman who reported to a mall security guard that a sedan had exploded in the unguarded parking lot near the mall and that its trunk had popped open. The guard, who had seen the car entering the lot at high speed a few minutes earlier, called the police.
Sappers said one part of the device had gone off prematurely and another had failed to detonate.
Eli Gatnio, the first sapper to reach the car bomb, said there were dozens of kilograms of explosives and metal balls in a bag, which "were packed into various packages that included all the components of a bomb." He identified the car as containing a "live bomb," rather than merely a vehicle that aroused suspicion, and got into the car to disable the explosive immediately. He was joined by three other sappers several minutes later.
"The immediate urgency of dismantling the bomb and the presence of so many people in the area meant that we had to feel and smell the explosive, physically deal with the components rather than doing it from a distance, with a robot," said Gatnio. "Most of the bomb was dismantled by hand."
The entire operation lasted about half an hour, though the lab analysis of the evidence and the search for suspects in the area took longer.
"During the incident we are focused and think of nothing else, not children, or family," Malka said, attributing his officers' skill to their training.
Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that a "miracle" had prevented a huge terror attack from taking place in Haifa. The prime minister also said Hamas was seeking to establish itself in the West Bank and use it as a base for terror attacks against Israel.
"We are treating the attempted attack in Haifa with great gravity," Olmert said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. "A huge disaster was prevented by a miracle."
"We shouldn't delude ourselves - attempts at terror attacks have continued and will continue," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2009 00:00 ||
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BIGNEWSNETWORK > LEBANON: SOVEREIGNTY IS NOT COMPLETE IFF SHARED WITH IRAN, SYRIA.
Two bombs planted by terrorists suspected militants wounded 11 people today in Thailand's Muslim-majority far south, where a separatist jihad insurgency is raging, officials said.
In Narathiwat province, a bomb hidden on a motorcycle outside a food market exploded soon after dawn, injuring 10 people including two policemen who were guarding the busy gathering place, provincial authorities said. The explosives were triggered by mobile phone, police said, but no one was seriously wounded in the blast in Narathiwat's main town.
Later in the same province, a member of the bomb squad was injured when a suspicious package police were inspecting blew up outside a coffee shop. It was also detonated by a mobile phone signal.
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.
WASHINGTON -- The United States must look for a way out of the war in Afghanistan, President Obama said, in a signal that the military build-up in Afghanistan will not be open-ended and will lead to the eventual withdrawal of American and NATO troops from the country. "There's got to be an exit strategy," Mr. Obama said in a wide-ranging interview shown Sunday on "60 Minutes" on CBS. "There's got to be a sense that this is not perpetual drift."
A Moroccan court postponed the trial of 35 alleged members of the al-Qaeda-linked Belliraj terror network until next week upon a request from defence attorneys, MAP reported on Friday (March 20th). The appellate court of Salé also ordered that all weapons seized when the ring was dismantled in February 2008 be entered into evidence. Belgian-Moroccan Abdelkader Belliraj and suspected members of his cell are charged with plotting assassinations of senior government officials and strikes against Jewish targets.
A Bangladesh court sentenced seven militants to life in prison on Sunday for their role in simultaneous bomb attacks across the country in 2005, officials said.
Yet another member of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) died in mysterious circumstances at the city's Pilkhana headquarters yesterday. The man was identified as lance nayek &(ii).jpg)
Bazitkhel, Pakistan - This tiny village in northwestern Pakistan has paid a high price for its defiance. The health clinic lies in ruins, blasted to rubble by a car bomb that exploded outside three weeks ago. The mayor's compound next door is full of jagged holes. Five residents are dead, including a shopkeeper's small son and daughter. More than 20 were injured, including a young man whose right hand was severed. 
Five Indian soldiers and six Muslim rebels were killed in separate gunbattles in Kashmir yesterday, police said, a day after Pakistani and Indian troops traded fire across the de facto border.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Sunday ordered all non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to immediately leave Swat. 
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