Facing ambushes and small pockets of resistance, Canadian soldiers continued fighting Sunday as a major coalition offensive continued in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province. Nearly 5,000 coalition forces, including about 600 Canadians, were involved in the operation west of Kandahar, along with soldiers from the Afghan National Army and Afghan police. In two separate battles late Saturday afternoon, the coalition troops suffered no casualties, but killed at least 35 Taliban fighters, wounded more than 20 others and captured more than a dozen insurgents, according to Helmand's provincial police chief.
The battles happened in Sangin, where most of Canada's combat troops stationed in southern Afghanistan had been fighting since early Saturday. A Canadian reconnaissance platoon and another infantry squad were reportedly ambushed, although none of the soldiers were hurt as they fired back during short, fierce battles. Canadian coalition officials were unable to confirm the number of dead or whether Canadians were involved in the attacks that also led to the arrests of 14 Taliban.
In the battles for control of Sangin, eight Taliban fighters were killed and four others captured in one late afternoon altercation, the police chief said. Then, about an hour later, 27 Taliban were killed, 18 wounded and another 10 arrested. Canadian officials had earlier reported that 10 Taliban were killed during the coalition's first offensive push into Sangin involving Canadian and American ground troops and British paratroopers.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 11:50 ||
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N.B.: Leave your helmets on when you attend the Shura.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - More than 40 insurgents were killed Saturday as hundreds of coalition troops, many dropped by helicopter, wrested a desert town from the Taliban and U.S. forces battled militants across southern Afghanistan, officials said.
Before dawn Saturday, more than 300 British paratroopers, backed by hundreds of U.S. and Canadian forces, launched a raid in Sangin, where hundreds of Taliban had massed in preparation for attacks, said coalition spokesman Maj. Scott Lundy. "Coalition forces killed 10 Taliban and drove the others out, but it is difficult to say if the remainder are still nearby," Lundy said.
Gotta get some good tracking dawgs over there...
... and some Kentuckians with long-barrel rifles ...
The assault was part of Operation Mountain Thrust, an anti-Taliban offensive involving more than 10,000 U.S.-led troops. Coalition forces will remain in Sangin until the Taliban threat has been wiped out and Afghan authorities can reach out to impoverished residents to promote reconstruction efforts, Lundy said. The Sangin Valley is a "natural corridor" for Taliban and criminal movement in southern Afghanistan, plus opium poppy cultivation, with the Taliban believed to use some of the proceeds to buy weapons, Lundy said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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I see we're back up to the number 40 again. That's better.
TWO British warships were powering towards Lebanon today as part of a risky plan to evacuate up to 10,000 British nationals from the war-struck country, starting with the most vulnerable.
In an agonising wait for everyone involved, the boats were not expected to arrive before Wednesday, Foreign Office minister Kim Howells said, noting that Britain was moving as fast as possible to rescue its nationals.
"But it's going to take some doing," Mr Howells told BBC radio.
"There's essentially a war going on there at the moment, there are shells being fired, there are war planes zooming overhead," he said.
"We've seen these scenes of some countries trying to get people out by buses when they've been endangered by explosions on the sides of the roads.
"We don't want to do that to our citizens. We want to get those who we need to get out as safely and as quickly as possible."
As well as the two navy ships HMS Illustrious and HMS Bulwar Britain had other boats, including merchant vessels, in the Mediterranean that might be called on to carry evacuees to a reception centre in Cyprus, Mr Howells said.
He acknowledged that it was a worrying time for those in Lebanon and gave assurances that the navy would reach them by Wednesday, or Thursday at the latest.
"The people must be absolutely terrified," he said.
At the same time, British officials on the ground needed the next few days to prepare for the evacuation.
"Remember this though, we have to negotiate with the Lebanese, we have to negotiate with the Israelis," Mr Howells said.
"It's no good us sending helicopters in if they are going to be shot at by whomever.
"We don't know, for example, what the attitudes of the terrorists ... are going to be in this situation."
Mr Howells noted that Britain was "one of the lead nations" on the evacuation plans, and was working in co-operation with the US and Australia.
There are about 10,000 British nationals in Lebanon, but officials are trying to identify the most needy.
These include the elderly, children, or people there without friends or support, such as business travellers.
Mr Howells acknowledged that "lots of others" would not want to move because they felt safer staying put.
The evacuation plan came as more than 50 Lebanese were killed in a devastating blitz of Israeli airstrikes yesterday and the Jewish state was hit by an unprecedented rocket attack.
#1
The morning news here in Oz was full of people saying the government should evacuate Australian nationals in Lebanon and now the Brits are sending warships.
This is nuts. Unless you live next door to a Hezbollah base (and in which case you should move), the risk is minimal. You will be at more risk being evacuated, given the anti-ship missiles flying and trigger happy terrorists who are likely to open up on helicopters.
MOSCOW: The Chechen terrorist leader behind the Beslan school massacre was killed by Russian security forces with the help of a mole who betrayed him for $600,000, according to intelligence sources quoted in a Moscow newspaper.
Shamil Basayev, leader of the Chechen rebels and Russia's most wanted man, is said to have been blown up by a mine the informant placed in a lorry full of explosives and set off by remote control.
The claim was made by Viktor Baranyets, a military expert and former defence ministry official, in Komsomolskaya Pravda.
"The security forces are being very tight-lipped about how Basayev was killed, but after dozens of calls I have established through intelligence sources that he was betrayed by one of his own men," Mr Baranyets said.
His sources told him that the FSB, which had been hunting Basayev for nearly a decade, learned he was planning a terrorist attack during the G8summit.
Basayev -- known as Russia's bin Laden -- was planning to detonate a lorry bomb at the interior ministry in Nazran, the former capital of Ingushetia, which borders Chechnya, the sources said.
The Russians are said to have stopped the attack and killed Basayev by recruiting one of his men. As the terrorist chief and a his group escorted the convoy of explosives, the mole set off a bomb in the lorry.
According to the Ingush Interior Ministry, the lorry was carrying 100 rocket-propelled grenades, two grenade-launchers and more than 13,000 rounds of ammunition. Basayev was decapitated by the blast.
The FSB's reticence over its coup had led many to suspect that Basayev was killed in an accidental explosion, as the Chechen rebels claimed.
#2
Can I have his head?
I want to mount it on my wall.
Or is Putin already sending it out to be mounted.
I don't care how it was done. I just glad this monster is dead.
And I am glad to see they are finally referring to this piece of crap as a "terrorist leader" instead of a "separatist leader" or worse yet "Rebel Leader".
#3
They're desperate to claim it as one of their operations aren't they?
Not that it matters to me, the outcome is the same - the PoS is in bits and very very dead.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/16/2006 13:09 Comments ||
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#4
'piece of crap' == 'PoS'
Great minds eh SPoD? ;)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/16/2006 13:10 Comments ||
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Y'know, this story is a KGB-quality operation.
So, WTF the FSB has been doing since Sept 1, 2004? Especially after the much ballyhooed Putin statement about going medieval on the Chechnyans - and only having a few poor scape-goat-herders to show for the last 23 months...
1] It quiets the critics, internal and external
2] Face saver for Putin
3] Face-saver for the FSB
4] Lets them loot the FSB budget for $600K
5] Set precedent for future repeat raids on budget for party favors
Yep. That's the kind of disinformation you could expect of the old KGB.
#6
So is this a remote control mole or a martyr mole? Or do the Ruskies give out a posthumous mole award?
Posted by: john ||
07/16/2006 19:11 Comments ||
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Disinformation campaign. Suggest that a mole is there, after "dozens of calls", wheedled out of them by a persistent former comerade, lean back, and watch them off each other off.
The war in Chechnya goes on despite the death announced this week of top rebel warlord Shamil Basayev, said the president in the fugitive separatist government yesterday. "The war continues and, with the help of Almighty Allah, we intend to reach the victory in which we have not doubted one minute," rebel president Doku Umarov said.
The threat came as the foreign minister in the rebel government, Akhmed Zakayev, announced that the guerrillas' ultimate aim was not necessarily independence, but peace and security for Chechnya, where as many as 100,000 people have been killed in two wars with Russia over the last decade. Umarov described the death of Basayev in a massive explosion near Chechnya announced on July 10 as a "heavy loss." Basayev was the rebels' most experienced guerrilla commander. He also claimed responsibility for a series of large-scale attacks on civilians, including Beslan.
It seems we have a difference of opinion here. I thought that might be the case, since Chechenpress and Kavkaz seem to be taking different tacks. Maybe they'll fight it out?
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 11:40 ||
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According to a source inside the Chechen command, 7 Mujahideen were became Shaheeds (insha Allah) and 2 Mujahideen were gone missing as a result of combat with Russian kafirs and Chechen munafiqs in CRI's Nojay-Yurt district. The source reported that the majority of died Mujahideen were natives of Khasavyurt district of Dagestan.
The source reported that the group of 25 fighters had entered into firefight with superior forces of the enemy on July 13. The group consisted of young fighters, who never were in the action and only just went into the Jihad. Let's remind that earlier the Russian side reported about 13 Mujahideen were died and 2 were captured during the gun battle in CRI's HRI Nojay-Yurt district.
The group consisted of young knuckleheads new to the jihad game, and they got blown away. Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stoopid.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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The unrecognized rebel government of Chechnya is ready to begin peace negotiations with Russia, Chechen Foreign Minister Akhmed Zakayev said July 16. Zakayev said Chechnya acknowledged that continued military action and violence will not lead to resolution of the conflict, so negotiations with Russia should begin without preconditions on either side. Russian Federal Security Service director Nikolai Patrushev declared a two-week amnesty offer for Chechen guerrillas July 15.
Manifesto for Peace in Chechnya
(This Manifesto has been written with the aim of attracting the attention of the World Leaders of the G-8 in view of their meeting in St. Petersburg mid July 2006)
Too bad they forgot to coordinate with Iran and Hizb'Allah...the festivities in Lebanon are apparently sucking up all the oxygen at the conference. Not that anyone at the G-8 really gives a rat's patootie about the plight of the Chechens anyway. That goes double with the demise of Basayev.
Considering, that Russians and Chechens, during their shared history over the last four centuries, have been in an ongoing conflict, which has endangered the mere existence of the Chechen people through wars and deportations,
Considering that since the agreements in Moscow, Nasran and Khasavyourt followed by the peace agreement of 12 May 1997 - ten years have passed - ten years during which resumed hostilities have caused the death of maybe a hundred thousand persons, forced an even greater number of refugees to leave the republic, brought further destruction of the material basis of society and made life for the remaining population extremely hard,
Considering, that the ongoing conflict has led to increasingly barbaric violations of human rights - torture, seductions, illegal imprisonments and terrorist acts - and has weakened or destroyed moral values in society; religious traditions have been undermined by the influence of foreign ideologies and youth has lost any perspective for a decent life in future,
Considering, that this conflict has serious effects on the entire region, destabilizes the whole of Northern Caucasus by aggravating ethnic conflicts and by jeopardizing its potential of becoming a prosperous zone where all different ethnic and religious groups could live together in peace,
Considering that the late President Maskhadov who had been elected in the free and fair elections, officially recognized by Moscow, has launched in early 2005 a substantial peace initiative, proposing unconditional talks with Moscow, and declared a one-sided one-month-ceasefire for the month of February 2005 this initiative remained without any reaction from the Russian side and Maskhadov was killed on March 8, last year;
Today we declare that urgent action is needed for a peaceful solution of this conflict as the only way out for bringing stability and progress to the whole region. In this perspective we define our goals as follows:
To guarantee the security in the life of the people of Chechnya, the respect of human rights and of law,
To establish political power structures, based on free and fair elections,
To create the conditions for economic and social development for normalizing life and allowing the return of the refugees.
For achieving these goals our means are the following:
Our people have been fighting for defending independence during all these years through the first and the second war. In view of Russian aggression against our Republic, we always have considered independence as the fundamental means to achieve our goal of peace for the Chechen people and as guarantee for its security. However, if based on international law, any other solution for peace with the Russians can be found, for achieving the above mentioned goals, we are open for according negotiations.
Through our conflict with the Russians a lot of violence has been brought into our society, the consequences of which constitute a heavy burden for future internal peace. Therefore, all efforts for general conciliation and internal peace in Chechnya have to be brought about. For this not only amnesty measures are necessary but also means - like truth commissions , with allow an active participation of the family members of the victims of violence.
For reconstruction of the Republic foreign assistance has to be mobilized.
We know that there is no solution of the conflict by continued warfare and violence. Therefore, we declare that negotiations with Russia have to start without preconditions. We condemn all forms of violence against the civilian population, including terrorist acts.
Ahmed Zakayev, Foreign minister of the Chechen Republic of Itshkeria 5 July 2006
Patrushev suggests Chechens surrender
The head of the FSB (Russian Secret Service) Patrushev has made a-long-time-forgotten propagandistic statement in Moscow. He has suggested Chechens to lay down weapons and surrender. The time for those who are ready to surrender is certain till August 1st, 2006.
The statement of the leader of FSB in itself is remarkable. On the background of bravura reports on full rout of Mujahideen several years ago, and for a long time stopped war, to call someone to lay down weapons, is strange enough. According to Patrushev's explains, this appeal to Chechens is connected with death of vice-president of CRI, the Military Amir Shamil Basayev who as Patrushev assures, did not allow Mujahideen to surrender.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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Hey quit dissing me!
/idont give a shanks pony bout the G8 but I do lovs me V8!
#7
"Considering, that Russians and Chechens, during their shared history over the last four centuries, have been in an ongoing conflict..."
Translated,
"Dear Russians,
We hate you. You suck. This all your fault. We are having a few ... difficulties. We are not defeated, but we will consider talking about peace - for the sake of the children. Stop killing us. We want amnesty. And independence. And a group-encounter session. So we can blame you. Without getting shot at, of course.
#8
Putins victory over his terrorists wasnt won with rhetoric, it was decisive use of force. Israel must do the same, the terrorist thugs need to arrive at a point of realization, that to live by the sword is to die by the sword.
soon the jihadists will get thier chance to march into a now certain outcome.
#11
Hummmmour. Believe that the FSB had anything to do with Basayev's departure? Right.
Hey, people believe all sorts of shit. You and Glish can buy the Pootie's a Tough Guy silliness if you want. The evidence is that Basayev's demise was in the "work accident" category, not the absurd evolving farce (reread the sequence of press statements) that the FSB pulled it off. Beslan was a long long time ago. Pootie's "anyplace, anytime" press release was a howler, in retrospect.
And this is merely the usual Colleseum Scene - one source calling for a hudna (this story) while another says the "struggle" goes on (Count Dooku story).
Take the Beslan Massacre number out and the FSB has killed about as many civilian Russians as the Chechies. I'll grant they were more "humane" about it: They put them to sleep, first.
#13
The Chechen rebels need to be hunted down and taken out. Every last one. They showed no mercy, and they should get none. They are a scourage on humanity.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/16/2006 13:19 Comments ||
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North Korea has angrily denounced a United Nations resolution condemning its missile tests and said it would build up its military arsenal.
The country's foreign ministry described the resolution as the product of a hostile American policy and said Pyongyang would not be bound by it.
North Korea would, it said, "bolster its war deterrent" in every way.
South Korea has urged Pyongyang to order a moratorium on missile tests and return to six-party nuclear talks.
The UN resolution demands that North Korea suspend its ballistic missile programme, and bars all UN member states from supplying North Korea with material related to missiles or weapons of mass destruction.
It was passed unanimously by the Security Council after being revised to drop any mention of Chapter Seven of the UN Charter, which is legally binding and can authorise sanctions or even military action.
China had otherwise threatened to veto it.
The resolution was tabled by Japan after North Korea test-fired seven missiles including a long-range Taepodong-2, believed capable of reaching Alaska.
'Unambiguous message'
Japan had produced its draft resolution for the 15-member Security Council just days after the tests on 4 and 5 July.
It underlines the need for North Korea "to show restraint and refrain from any action that might aggravate tension", and calls for Pyongyang to return to the six-nation talks over its nuclear programme.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said the Security Council had acted "swiftly and robustly in response to [North Korea's] reckless and condemnable act".
The UK and US ambassadors to the UN described the resolution as strong and binding.
US Ambassador John Bolton said it had sent "an unequivocal, unambiguous and unanimous message to Pyongyang".
He said that if North Korea did not comply with the resolution, the council could consider further action.
Sure is convenient that with things heating up in the ME we can afford to be without a flattop in the Persian Gulf due to the centrally located airfields in the quagmire that is Iraq.
Posted by: Howard Dean ||
07/16/2006 11:34 Comments ||
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#6
Is my imagination playing tricks on me, or have we had unusually little news lately on the doings of U.S. forces in Iraq? Makes me wonder if they're busy preparing for something...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/16/2006 11:41 Comments ||
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No dead Americans. The MSM are mourning the lack of dead Americans.
#9
Some Repub commenters on TV this AM saying Bush has to get engaged, too.
But I think his strategy was to give the Paleos and their sponsors room either to build a peaceful state or provoke an open confrontation. They've chosen the latter.
#11
Me thinks the lack of american dead in Iraq is due to the fact that the Iraqi army is rapidly coming up to speed and.....pardon my cynicism BUT.........we are probably kicking the crap out of the local terrorists and baathists with few casualties so the MSM doesnt want to report on our successes......so................F@#k em the MSM are morons and at least 85% of america knows it.
Sayonara MSM.......
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to impose limited sanctions on North Korea for its recent missile tests, and demanded that the reclusive communist nation suspend its ballistic missile program. North Korea immediately rejected the resolution and vowed to continue missile launches. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said North Korea set "a world record" for a rejection -- 45 minutes -- and warned that Pyongyang's failure to comply could lead to further council action. He did not say what that might be.
The resolution bans all U.N. member states from selling material or technology for missiles or weapons of mass destruction to North Korea, and from receiving missiles, banned weapons or technology from Pyongyang. It condemns North Korea's multiple missile launches on July 5 and demands that North Korea "suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program" and re-establish a moratorium on missile launches. It strongly urges North Korea to return to six-party talks on its nuclear program, which have been stalled since last September.
North Korea's U.N. Ambassador Pak Gil Yon, who was in the Security Council chamber for the vote in a rare appearance, accused the council of trying to isolate his country, known officially as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK. "The delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea resolutely condemns the attempt of some countries to misuse the Security Council for the despicable political aim to isolate and put pressure on the DPRK, and totally rejects the resolution," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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North Koea won't even abide by agreement's they've agreed to. What makes the UN think they will abide by sanctions they don't agree with...
Airstrikes. Now. Let's eliminate North Korea's ability to wage nuclear war before it is too late.
#3
Two valuable aspects to these sanctions. First, the UNSC is on record as demanding the missile program be suspended - and that includes China.
And second, Bolton has suggested strongly that if the NORKs fail to comply, we have "national security means to monitor compliance" and "national means to enforce it". (words as verbatim as I can remember from his press conference yesterday)
(KUNA) - Turkish security forces announced Saturday that a Kurdish rebel was killed in armed clashes between the Turkish Army and members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Sirnak province. Turkish Ihlas News Agency quoted a release from Sirnak's mayor office saying the military operation was ongoing.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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nice roadkill pic
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2006 9:15 Comments ||
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Hundreds of youths set fire to a Pizza Hut, two gas stations and a dozen vehicles in Pakistan's biggest city Saturday after a funeral for an Islamic Shiite cleric killed in a suicide attack. Rioters rampaged through a busy commercial area of Karachi a day after a suicide bomber killed cleric Allama Hassan Turabi, his cousin and a police guard. Police fired shots in the air, swung batons and used tear gas to control the crowd.
Hours earlier, Turabi was buried at a city cemetery after more than 8,000 people, beating their chests with their hands as a sign of grief, packed the city streets for his funeral. Most of the crowd dispersed peacefully after the ceremony, but a gang of youths damaged shops and torched a Pizza Hut, two state-owned gas stations and several vehicles, apparently expressing general anger at the U.S. and Pakistani governments.
Turabi's son denounced the violence. "My father always advocated for peace and sectarian harmony, and those people who torched cars and shops have no links to my father's party," Murtaza Turabi told reporters after the funeral.
He said his father's assassination was a "conspiracy to pitch Shiites and Sunnis against each other," and he demanded punishment for those behind the suicide attack.
Pakistan is a key U.S. ally in what Washington calls the war on terror. Many Shiites identify Pizza Hut with the American administration and have burned the chain's outlets after previous attacks on their leaders.
About 80 percent of Pakistan's 150 million people are Sunni; most of the rest are Shiite. The majority live together in peace...
#8
Hard to find any rationale for torching a business. This has a chill effect for any franchiser/franchisee
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/16/2006 14:48 Comments ||
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#9
Famous Ray's Original Pizza should add a franchise. Or is it Ray's Original Famous—I forget. Or Original Famous Ray's? I haven't lived in NYC for a long time.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
07/16/2006 16:18 Comments ||
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#10
Must've torched all the KFCs already. Look for the bullet riddled Ronald McDonalds to start showing up soon.
The Indian Army on Saturday sounded an alert saying the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) was planning to let loose a reign of terror in Assam in apparent retaliation for the killing of two of its cadre by the security forces. An army statement said the ULFA was planning a series of bomb blasts in the districts of Baska, Kamrup, Nalbari and Barpeta to avenge the death of two of their leaders killed on Tuesday in western Assam in an encounter.
"Reliable intelligence inputs have revealed there are very strong indications to suggest that this threat will be carried out in the immediate future to avenge the deaths of the ULFA terrorists," the statement from the army's Four Corps Headquarters in northern Assam's Tezpur said. Four more ULFA rebels were killed in the adjoining state of Meghalaya on Tuesday in a separate encounter. "While the government machinery and the security forces have been informed about the threat, the public needs to be also sensitised to the evil designs of the ULFA and prevent necessary loss of lives," the army statement said.
Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday said his government was ready to offer a ceasefire and release five top jailed ULFA leaders as sought by the outfit to facilitate direct talks between the rebel leadership and New Delhi. "We are ready for a ceasefire and releasing the five jailed ULFA leaders once direct contact is established between the militant leadership and the government," the chief minister told. "So far we have been talking with the ULFA through a third party," Gogoi said, referring to the 11-member People's Consultative Group (PCG) chosen by the ULFA that is currently engaged in peace talks with New Delhi.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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Here's an idea, why don't you quit talking and kill the f*ckers. Then you can be reasonably sure they won't blow anything up. Of course, that would be SO American though.
As many as 65 terrorist modules have been busted in India in the last seven months, according to a senior official concerned with national security. However, the Government has reason to believe that many more "sleeper cells" have been "re-commissioned" and that the country needs to be vigilant against possible terror attacks, mostly being masterminded by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
In the post-Mumbai blast assessment, intelligence agencies believe that while foreign-based terror groups have managed to recruit some local support, the involvement of Indians is low. "None of the controllers is Indian," said the official. At the same time, the official assessment is that the involvement of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) is "clearly indicated."
SIMI's an arm of Lashkar-e-Taiba...
What is worrisome, according to the latest assessment, is that the ISI has succeeded in "outsourcing" some of the terror chores to groups in Nepal and Bangladesh, while there is evidence that terror networking includes elements in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. All this is to hide direct Pakistani involvement in terrorist activities in India.
Little-known outfit Lashkar-e- Qahhar yesterday night purportedly claimed responsibility for Tuesday's serial blasts in Mumbai. An e-mail, received by Aaj Tak news channel, said it was sent by Lashkar-e-Qahhar and the outfit was associated with al-Qaeda and Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba. The e-mail said 16 Qahhar activists had carried out attacks in Mumbai and threatened to carry out more attacks if the Indian Government does not stop the "exploitation of Kashmiri people". The same outfit had claimed responsibility for the bomb blasts in Varanasi in March this year.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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Al Qaida - more franchises than McDonald's. The drive-through is a killer tho'.
(KUNA) -- Investigations into the serial blasts in the western Indian city of Mumbai are gaining momentum as 11 of the 285 wanted in Mahim area of the city were detained Saturday. The people were arrested up in a search operation conducted by over 400 policemen, leading English news channel NDTV 24 X 7 reported from Mumbai.
Statements of 350 blasts victims have already been recorded by the Mumbai police. Among the eyewitnesses are stockbrokers and doctors. The raids were conducted early Saturday by officials of the central region of Mumbai police, the news channel reported. Various police units in Mumbai have already detained over 200 suspected Students Islamic Movement of India members during the past two days, while local police stations are also likely to intensify combing operations in the coming days. Meanwhile, a suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba operative believed to be the mastermind of attacks on tourists in Srinagar last Tuesday, was arrested Saturday from Srinagar itself, the news channel reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- Three militants were killed Saturday and six others were arrested in armed clashes in Baghdad, Iraqi Police announced. Iraqi Army clashed with unidentified militants in Athamiya district, a source from the police said in a press statement. Police also said unidentified armed men were positioned in the streets of Al-Fathil district in Baghdad, carrying RPG missiles and light weapons. Police clashed with them, killing one militant and injuring seven others.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Question: Does anyone over the age of 18 months not have an AK and RPG?
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/16/2006 0:25 Comments ||
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No remission of rockets in the southern front: Within one hour on Sunday five Qassam rockets landed in Sderot and Ashkelon. Overall eight Qassam rockets landed in Sderot and Ashkelon. One of the rockets landed near a strategic facility in Ashkelon, miraculously failing to hit the structure.
Two other rockets landed in open fields in Karmiya and Mavki'im. Later Sderot was hit by three Qassams, one landing in a babies' clinic, which caused some people to suffer anxiety. Another rocket dud landed in a park and third by officials' estimates landed in Palestinian territory near the border.
Earlier on Sunday two other rockets landed near Shaar Hanegve Regional Council and another one near kibbutz Nahal Oz. In some communities the residents were asked to go into shelters. On Sunday morning two Qassam rockets landed in Sderot, one landed in a school and other in near synagogue.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2006 23:05 ||
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What we are witnessing in southern Lebanon is concurrent with actions designed to prep a battlefield for the insertion of ground forces. So far, Israel has relied on its dominance in sea and air forces to isolate Hezbollah, rather than focusing their brunt of their superior forces on actual enemy positions. By blockading the coast, neutralizing Beruit's airport, and damaging roads and bridges into and out of Lebanon, the IDF has cut off Hezbollah's supply routes by land, sea, and air, and blocked all lines of escape.
These isolation actions are eerily similiar to Coalition movements prior to Operation Hail Mary during the first Gulf War, where allied aircraft severed supply lines to foward deployed Iraqi Army units.
The end result is a battlespace that traps the now ill-equipped enemy force, the ideal environment for Israel to crush Hezbollah forces.
I think that in the coming days, we will see a sizable Israeli ground incursion into southern Lebanon, a campaign designed to exploit the favorable conditions that Israel has created for itself. I have the feeling that once that invasion comes, Hezbollah's ability to launch rocket attacks into Israel proper will be severly reduced, if not eliminated.
Endstate: IDF holds the territory until it is satisfied that the Lebanese Army is A) free from Syrian control and B) capable of holding the southern border on their own.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/16/2006 19:52 ||
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#1
Will the Leb army use this chance to bury Hezbollah? Will the Lebanese people use this opportunity to shitcan the militia once and for all or give them quarter and hide them from the Israelis? This should be an interesting social experiment. Reading the Lebanese blogs on Pajamas, I get a feeling that Hezbollah is not as popular with the urban population as they might think they are.
#4
some 60% of the Lebanese army are Shia and most of those would likely refuse to act against Hizb'Allah.
Many are probably Hizb'Allah sympathizers and some apparently are members or cooperating, as with the use of coastal radars to guide the Iranian missile against Israel's frigate. Note that the IAF struck 2 Lebanese army bases in/around Tripoli in the north today.
#6
What does Israel gain by putting boots on the ground in Lebanon? The only thing I can see is clearing out an area for the Lebanese Army to move in as a buffer. But they aren't getting ready to coordinate with the Lebanese. I think they're going to do a Serbia on Lebanon/Hisballah.
Now setting up a forward base to do a thunder run to Damascus is another kettle of fish entirely.
#7
A brief incursion to destroy any Hezbollah facilities not destroyed by air especially bunkers and tunnels, to clear out arms caches, take down any infrastructure, and possibly to plant explosives and booby traps and listening devices.
They could even put in sensors that would let them quickly triangulate enemy firing positions.
I don't see that much value in a land force. Sure there would be more dead Hezb, more destroyed infrustructure and some more positives, but there would be a lot of dead Israelis also, some lost equipment, etc.
#12
"I don't see that much value in a land force."
It absolutely pushes Hezbollah out of missile range of the Israeli cities. If Israel occupies the Southern areas, the missiles are going to stop flying into Haifa. Sure, the military might start taking missiles, but the civilians in the cities would be safe and that is ultimately the job of an army. Lebanon should learn a lesson from that.
#13
add me to those who believe ONLY a ground operation will allow them to fully degrade the terrorists in Lebanon. Mosad MUST have identified lots of potential targets...but many will available only to a determined ground force.
#14
The missiles have a much longer range now. Israel will have to cut off their supply of longer range missiles if they want to have a small buffer zone across the bottom of Lebanon. What do you suppose this suggests? Ground forces would probably crush Hezballah, but they would eventually have to go after the source somehow . . . .
Israel has said they want Hezbollah to redeploy North of the Litani river. That would put them roughly midway between Tyre and Sidon or roughly 25-30 km from the current border. In light of the range recently shown, Israel might want to consider a line drawn roughly from Sidon to Jazzin but a river makes a hard boundary that is easier to police.
#16
Going in 10 miles will put Israel out of range of 98% of the rockets.
Posted by: ed ||
07/16/2006 23:06 Comments ||
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#17
Folks, if you think you can get it done from the air only, you are dead wrong.
To truly destroy the offensive capability of Hezbullah, and to secure a 40km buffer zone, Israel will have to put ground forces in. There is just no way around it. If you think you can find it all form the air, you don't know a damn thing about miltiary operations, especially in built-up terrain.
the second thig this does is gives the Lebanese government and army time to bitchslap the Hezbullah supporters. And no, they are not a mjority of them, just they have control of the heavy weaponry. Israel is changing that, dramatically.
Third, if needed, this gives Israel easier reach into the Bekka valley in Syria. The lay of the gorund and probable occupation areas will allow the IAF to fly basically unmolested until they het (and SEAD) the Syrian SAM sites. Once those are gone, Israel will have free reign over Syrian airspace. And I woudlnt be surprised if AWACS calls just happneed to go our since we can see everything in Syria fromthe Iraqi side.
All-in-all, this now shows what I have been ahrping on all along: the geopolitical importantce of Iraq.
If we did not have Iraq occupied, and the North (Kurdish) areas reinforce, Iran would be able to directly support Syria. But since wea re in the way, as well as a pretty well armed Iaqi military, the Syrians are on their own, and Israel knows this - they can defeat the Syrian military in detail, and shatter Hamas and Hezbollah at one blow.
I hoe, os so much, that Syria attacks and opens war with Israel - it will mean Syria will finally see its military destoryed and its central government demolished. And I also hope Iran tries to interven overland - the Kurds and a US Bridage up there woudl chew them up badly! The side effect wooudl be a rally of Iraqi's against Iranian (Perisan) invadeers, the collapse of the last Baathis regime in the region, and the death of Hama and Hezbollah as anything other than minor terrorist organizations.
#18
Folks, if you think you can get it done from the air only, you are dead wrong.
To truly destroy the offensive capability of Hezbullah, and to secure a 40km buffer zone, Israel will have to put ground forces in. There is just no way around it. If you think you can find it all form the air, you don't know a damn thing about miltiary operations, especially in built-up terrain.
the second thig this does is gives the Lebanese government and army time to bitchslap the Hezbullah supporters. And no, they are not a mjority of them, just they have control of the heavy weaponry. Israel is changing that, dramatically.
Third, if needed, this gives Israel easier reach into the Bekka valley in Syria. The lay of the gorund and probable occupation areas will allow the IAF to fly basically unmolested until they het (and SEAD) the Syrian SAM sites. Once those are gone, Israel will have free reign over Syrian airspace. And I woudlnt be surprised if AWACS calls just happneed to go our since we can see everything in Syria fromthe Iraqi side.
All-in-all, this now shows what I have been ahrping on all along: the geopolitical importantce of Iraq.
If we did not have Iraq occupied, and the North (Kurdish) areas reinforce, Iran would be able to directly support Syria. But since wea re in the way, as well as a pretty well armed Iaqi military, the Syrians are on their own, and Israel knows this - they can defeat the Syrian military in detail, and shatter Hamas and Hezbollah at one blow.
I hoe, os so much, that Syria attacks and opens war with Israel - it will mean Syria will finally see its military destoryed and its central government demolished. And I also hope Iran tries to interven overland - the Kurds and a US Bridage up there woudl chew them up badly! The side effect wooudl be a rally of Iraqi's against Iranian (Perisan) invadeers, the collapse of the last Baathis regime in the region, and the death of Hama and Hezbollah as anything other than minor terrorist organizations.
#23
Old Spook, thanks, even for the double post! All day, I've been clicking, watching for you to appear.
And all day, I've had the ear tuned to the TV -- and it's like our presence is Iraq, is not to be mentioned. It's just completely forgotten by all these "experts" parading in front of us.
So thanks, for putting a "face" on our presence in Iraq, and the fact, this is why we are really there. Rather, it's been the MSM declaring Bush a failure, not even thinking to consider, that what is happening now, is all part of a master plan, to put these evil guys out of business.
#24
What's remarkable is how much slack Israel is getting from the international community. Usually they are forced to stop winning by pressure from the outside.
I suspect this has something to do with Iraq as well.
#25
Iblis, it has something to do rather with Iran, not Iraq. People heard AhMad-i-nutjob's ramblings and he gives people major creeps. Despite rhetoric, they all wish him to be gone. Obviously, wishfull thinking has an abyssmal rate of success so they see Israel as the magic bullet or its precursor. It's a politically incorrect secret hope.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/16/2006 18:49 Comments ||
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#2
Yes, but the original strike was very limited - took out the offices but didn't totally destroy the building, which had residential apartments on many floors. The residents moved out and now Israel has take down the building, apparently.
Sending a message AND dismantling the ability of Hamas to rule in Gaza. Hamas had its chance to accept Israel's existence and consolidate a working government. Not any longer, I suspect.
#3
D'oh - if I'd read the post correctly, I'd have seen it myself...sorry lotp ;)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/16/2006 18:56 Comments ||
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#4
Israels message to the G-8.
The roadmap is no more.
We will never nergotiate with Hamas.
That offer is off the table.
You are back to square one.
The Palestinians got what they voted for.
Hamas allied with Iran it's over.
No Palestinan "homeland" for Iran's clients.
The Pentagon notified Congress of plans to sell Israel jet fuel valued at up to USD 210 million "to keep peace and security in the region". "The proposed sale of the JP-8 aviation fuel will enable Israel to maintain the operational capability of its aircraft inventory," the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in notice required by law.
It said Israel had requested the sale, but did not say when the request was made. "The jet fuel will be consumed while (Israel's) aircraft (are) in use to keep peace and security in the region," the notice to Congress said. It said the sale - which Congress may block if both houses were to enact resolutions rejecting it within 30 days - would not affect the basic military balance in the region.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2006 15:36 ||
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#11
H3 airbase in western Iraq is a nice topping off point, some cold water and blintzes for the aviators, restroom break, etc....
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2006 18:57 Comments ||
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#9 & #10: Check out the proposition by Froggy Rumination at Power Line about how Israel could strike Iran.
I can't comment on the viability of the plan - I'm not a military expert, and don't play one on TV either - but it's sure an intrigueing idea. And one that just might work (in my non-expert opinion).
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/16/2006 18:58 Comments ||
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#13
I hope we deliver most of it as mid air refuling.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2006 19:23 Comments ||
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#18
Yes, by the NYT.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/16/2006 19:25 Comments ||
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#19
touche, Tony :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2006 19:26 Comments ||
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#20
The enemy of my enemy is my friend,or so I've been told.
Posted by: john ||
07/16/2006 19:29 Comments ||
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#21
If the Israelis were going to use H3 or any other Iraqi facility, they'd have to disguise themselves as USAF planes. There are just too many eyeballs otherwise. The pilots and crews are easy enough to hide (off to a secure location on the base), but the planes themselves are visible, and the Star of David is VERY visible.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2006 19:36 Comments ||
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#22
In-flight fueling it is, then!
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2006 19:38 Comments ||
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#23
What about a small landing strip out in the middle of the desert with a bunch of tanker trucks standing by?
#24
actually Powerline readers have noted the F-15I and F-16I (I for Iran?) equipped with external conformal fuel fuel tanks can make the round trip, even with loiter time over targets
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2006 19:40 Comments ||
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#25
and Israel has 50 F16I's and 25 F15I's
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2006 19:41 Comments ||
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#26
I will throw out three possibilities:
1. Seize an airstrip in eastern Syria, or
2. Use a remote airstrip in Azerbijan, or
3. Use an airstrip in Kurdish territory.
While likely, I do not think the Israelis would use USAF markings. More likely the IAF markings will merely be covered over.
Security forces managed to foil an attempt to infiltrate into Moshav Avivim in northern Israel. According to initial reports, soldiers shot dead a terrorist who was spotted approaching the community, located near Kiryat Shomna.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 15:16 ||
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ISRAEL has no plans "at this present moment" to attack Iran and Syria, the country's chief spokesman told US television today, although he charged both countries with playing a key role in recent kidnappings of its soldiers. "There is full responsibility on the shoulders of Iran and Syria," spokesman Isaac Herzog told ABC television's This Week program, without ruling out future attacks against the two countries.
"The responsibility lies on them, and we know it and we will remember it," Mr Herzog said. "Nonetheless at this present moment we are focused on Lebanon."
He made his remarks as the Israeli army confirmed today that its special forces were operating on the ground in Lebanon, in conjunction with air and sea forces, on the fifth day of its offensive aimed at crippling the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.
Israel has accused Iran and Syria of having deep influence over the Hezbollah militants who captured two Israeli soldiers in an attack that sparked Israeli military retaliation. But Mr Herzog stressed that Syria is not currently in Israel's sights. "We made it clear that we are not including Syria in this campaign out of our own volition," Mr Herzog said.
"We are focused on Lebanon. We want the Lebanese body politic, the Lebanese government which includes Hezbollah as one of its coalition partners, to take forceful steps to confront the Hezbollah and to make sure that this mode of behaviour does not reoccur, namely that Lebanon really takes sovereignty over its affairs."
He also insisted that Israeli forces are doing their best to avoid civilian targets in Lebanon, while conceding that "tragic circumstances" have occurred involving innocents. "We are very restrained," Mr Herzog said.
A classic understatement. Too restrained so far, IMHO, both in word and deed, but I'm waiting to see what they do with the armor and infantry reservists called up. When those people have checked in, then we will see to what extent Olmert will commit to destroying Hizbollah, as he said.
IAF forces bombed a tunnel in southern Gaza on Sunday afternoon, thereby preventing a terror attack. At the same time, IDF artillery was firing at Kassam-launch sites in the northern Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 12:29 ||
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A stabbing attempt was thwarted in Hebron as a Palestinian ran at an IDF post with a knife drawn on Sunday afternoon. The soldiers subdued the would-be stabber without sustaining any injuries. The Palestinian was taken to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) for questioning.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 12:28 ||
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#1
Weird way to surrender, LOL. Maybe an informant who needed cover for his return to report in.
Palestinians hurled stones at an Israeli bus near the Hawara checkpoint south of Nablus late Sunday afternoon. Damage was caused to the bus, but no casualties were reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 12:25 ||
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#1
It's peculiar how there doesn't seem to be any effort to involve the West Bank in the festivities.
#4
The Sunni/Shia split is only important in Iraq - Hamas and Hizbullah are like two peas in a pod as far as Israel is concerned. The West Bank is not part of this conflict because it has already been pacified by the IDF. The Israelis have arrested 90% of the hard boyz on the Pal side and are mopping up the dregs at the rate of 50 per week. It's all over bar the stone-throwing over there.
The Israel Police on Sunday detained an Al-Jazeera news team after it broadcast live footage which disclosed the area of Sunday's deadly Katyusha attack in Haifa, in violation of military censorship rules, police and security officials said. Eight people were killed and dozens were wounded in the mid-morning attack, the most lethal Hizbullah rocket attack since Israel's withdrawal from South Lebanon six years ago. The station's Israel correspondent, Elias Karram, was among those detained by police.
The media stationed in Israel has been instructed not to broadcast the exact location of the Hizbullah rocket attacks, so as not to help the Lebanese-based terror group refine targeting for future attacks. The longstanding security regulations have been accepted by Al-Jazeera when they opened their office in Israel. But, the police spokeswoman said, the crew broadcast live during the rocket attack from a nearby observation post. It was warned not to do so again.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 12:23 ||
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#1
Get a rope!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/16/2006 13:20 Comments ||
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#2
Sounds like the North Pole will be getting an Al-Jazz news crew after all
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/16/2006 14:55 Comments ||
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#3
al jizz is part of the terrorist infrastructure. Take them out and shoot them. They are spys and propagandists.
Do the same for any one working for the NYT. The NYT wants the terrorists to win and openly aids them.
#4
One seemingly obvious question, to wit: Why would the Israeli's allow Al-Jazeera access to their county, let alone a war Zone, in the first place?? Is this some kind of PR ploy?? I mean, REALLY, what were they thinking??
Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin reported at a cabinet meeting Sunday that kidnapped IDF soldier Corporal Gilad Shalit was alive and remained unharmed by his captors. Shalit was kidnapped June 25 during an ambush on a military post near Kerem Shalom that left two other soldiers dead.
Meanwhile on the Gaza front, three Palestinians were killed and at least 11 wounded in IAF strikes in Beit Hanoun early Sunday as IDF troops, tanks, and attack helicopters re-entered the Gaza Strip, firing missiles and clashing with Palestinian gunmen, hospital officials said. Troops entered the town of Beit Hanun in northern Gaza, residents and Palestinian security officials said, as attack helicopters fired machine guns. The IDF said its forces attacked Palestinian operatives and fired a missile at a Hamas office in northern Gaza. Armed Palestinians exchanged fire with IDF forces, and operatives said they set off a land mine next to an IDF bulldozer building embankments near the residential areas of the town. Hamas said its cells activated bombs against several bulldozers and tanks.
Overnight Saturday, the IAF struck a building serving as base for Hamas activities in Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources reported two Palestinians killed and six wounded. Witnesses and Palestinian security said the new land operation in northern Gaza started Saturday evening with machine gun and shell fire, then about 10 tanks and bulldozers crossed into Gaza, with dozens of other armored vehicles poised just inside Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 12:17 ||
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#1
Even if he's alive now, I don't like his chances. After Israel rips every Hamas operative in Gaza a new asshole, what does Hamas have left to lose by killing him? The Israeli response has humilated them, and they won't erase the stain of shame by handing over this guy unharmed. My guess is at some point they make him the star of a beheading video. I hope I'm wrong, but I just don't see the upside for Hamas in releasing him. Ditto the guys captured by Hezbollah.
#2
I doubt there was any way for Israel to get them back safely short of releasing thousands of detaineers, who would just begin attacking Israel once released.
Lebanon's prime minister considering sending the army to wrest control of southern Lebanon from Hezbollah.
Hezballah peppers much of northern Israel with Katyushas, including heavily targeting the refinery near the Haifa suburbs. They blame it on Israel, of course.
Yet another moderator note: your comments go in Hilite text. Moderators are busy today and can't fix everything. AoS.
#1
CNN is running a News Alert. No details and nothing elsewhere yet:
Lebanon says Italy has relayed Israeli conditions for it to stop assault on Lebanon: hand over two captured Israeli soldiers and pull back from border area.
Seems a reasonable request. Let's grab some popcorn and watch Leb, Hezb's and pals response.
Hizbullah threatened Sunday to attack petrochemical installations in Israel's third-largest city of Haifa.
In a statement read on its TV station Al-Manar, Hizbullah said its military wing fired rockets on the port city but deliberately avoided hitting the petrochemical installations.
"The Islamic Resistance warns the Zionist of committing any new folly because it (Hizbullah) deliberately avoided the petrochemical installations," said the statement. "But next time, it (Hizbullah) will not spare anything in Haifa and its surroundings." The oil refinery war begins. I'm betting on Iran to lose.
#1
I am beeting in Israel to loose. It's leadership is a bunch of idiots (ehud barak should receive a special honorable mention) and it's army is showing big levels of complacency and to be bragging kids.
Just hope that a 1973 turn around can happens but
unfortunatly i dont really expect it.
Israel's leadership doesn't have to be the smartest in the world, it just has to be smarter than that of "Palestine", Hezballah, Lebanon, and Iran (and it's bitch Syria).
#4
Since direct retaliation against missile launch crews is rarely possible, the appropriate retaliatory weapon is: Napalm bombs, striking the entire launch area, disproportionately. Israel has over 100,000 missile of all kind, including rocket launchers that it can cite at will. Enough of appeasement; let them liquidate Hizbollah and then we will work on Syria and Iran. With those cess pools in operation, peace initiatives are a joke.
#6
Peretz: Civilian infrastructure that protects terrorists must expect harm
Defense Minister, Amir Peretz, warned residents of the Dahiya neighborhood in southern Beirut, considered a Hizbullah stronghold, that the situation has changed.
"Hizbullah uses civilians as a cover for terror activities, and a civilian infrastructure that protects terrorists must expect harm," said Peretz in a cabinet meeting.
#7
Mofaz: Must continue to attack Lebanon with full force
Transportation Minister and former Minister of Defense, Shaul Mofaz, said in a cabinet meeting that "Israel must continue to attack Lebanon, in particular around Dahiya, with full force, possibly even more than we're exerting now." "
We need to give the IDF all the time necessary because we've come to the point of no return," he continued.
#10
Do they have the ability to target these rockets onto the installations? - I've always assumed they're pretty much area weapons.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/16/2006 6:01 Comments ||
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#11
The al-Jazeera Arab television station reported that one of its crews, including journalist-reporter Elias Karam, was arrested by police in Haifa, following a barrage of rockets on the city.
Apparently, the crew was arrested after broadcasting a live video from the area of Haifa's oil refineries.
[2x4 note: Also they were broadcasting where missiles hit. Suspicion is they were essentially providing guidance info to Hizbullah for further attacks. I don't understand what AJ is doing in Israel. They should have been told to pack up the moment military operations started.]
#13
[2x4 note: Also they were broadcasting where missiles hit. Suspicion is they were essentially providing guidance info to Hizbullah for further attacks. I don't understand what AJ is doing in Israel. They should have been told to pack up the moment military operations started.]
That is for that kind of reasons that a said the above.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/16/2006 7:18 Comments ||
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#15
CU - I don't share your view. Israel has a competent army, navy, air forc e,and ample reserves. Where is the Syrian or Hezbollah navy? Where is the Syrian or Hezb air force? Either non-existent or afraid to take to the sea or skies in the Syrian case. Hezbololah is being taken apart in the actual field and beaten down in the people's eyes. Are Nasrallah his band of heroes fighting? No, they're hiding like children, and the Lebs know it
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2006 9:27 Comments ||
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#16
They dont need to play Israel game to win, so they dont need AF and Navy. Rockets can rain is Israeli towns and Israel is with its hands tied in back.
Complacency and incompetence is what was showed by Israel in last weeks:
a)A tunnel under an army position near Gaza.
b)after that warning 2 Humvv in an arborised(??) road near Lebanon are attcked and 2 soldiers are made hostage. The reaction by a tank was destroyed by a land mine.
c) A 200M$ israeli corvete got lucky and wasnt sunk by a missile large enough to send it to the fishes.
A brigadier has candure to say that Israel didnt know instead of being in shame! Only after that coastal radars in Lebanon were attacked...Smaaaaaart!
I am sure there are great units in Israel sadly that dont translates to leadership and some part of military.
Read this http://www.meib.org/articles/0211_l2.htm
Nov 2002...
What Israel leadership has made against that threat since then? Are they expecting that only when rains nerve gas rockets to start to act?
They are playing the status squo. It's like in soccer when a team plays to get a tie it usually looses.
#22
The question isn't who won, but how and why. Bombing cities without military targets such as Hamburg and Dresden contributed nothing to the ultimate victory. The only thing bombing non-military cities does is kill civilians. But there's too many of them to ever be able to kill them all, so no matter how many rockets the Paleos shoot at Israeli civilians and no matter how many of those civilians they kill, they will only make the Israeli military more remorseless and effective.
#24
it's certainly a tactic in "all out war", like Nasrallah declared
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2006 11:37 Comments ||
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#25
Bombing of cities contributed to the victory, disruption of transportation hubs and some industries. But i think it has also a moral heavy cost too.
What i am saying is that Israel isnt fighting back like England.
And what we did to the Japanese cities makes all the European bombing pale in comparison. But not one Japanese or German soldier surrendered as a result.
It was only when we demonstrated the we could and would utterly exterminate their nation at Hiroshima and Nagasaki that the Japanese surrendered. And not all of them wanted to, even then.
That is the level of destruction that must be visited upon a polpulation to make a civilian focused bombardment effective. Hisballah has nothing near that capability. Their civilian directed rocket attacks will be useless against Israel in a general war such as has begun.
#30
What i am saying is that Israel isnt fighting back like England.
After four days we can reach this conclusion? I've certainly been critical of Olmert in Gaza, but he's also learning on the job. How long did the phoney war last? A year? I'd say thus far we've seen little more than preparation of the battlefield. Are all the reserves even effective yet? Tell me Israel didn't fight back like Britain after the fighting is over.
#31
"And what we did to the Japanese cities makes all the European bombing pale in comparison. But not one Japanese or German soldier surrendered as a result."
That's not true.
The bomb was the last important drop. If you read Japanese political decisions you would have known they were already intended to reach peace and the cabinet was discussing many ways to achieve that.
#33
CU2772 is on target with the end of Japans war. The bombing was bad, but the mining of the homewaters was catastrophic. Japan was facing mass starvation within weeks unless they surrendered. To that end the 2 nukes may have saved millions of Japaneese lives.
#34
Japanese individually were all over the map. You can find writings to support any conclusion. And there was an assasination team on the way to rub out the Emperor before he could give the radio message. So argue whatever position you wish about intentions. Actions speak louder than words.
The minimg would have been disastrous, but only as part of boiling the frog by slowly raising the temperature of the flame. Note that the greatest destruction of the Japanese economy was probably rendered by the Silent Service. The only ships the japanese had left had no fuel to sail. But the atomic bombs were the equivalent of throwing the frog into boiling water. And it jumped out.
If you're willing to make judgements on insufficient data, be my guest. I'd not be inclined to make conclusions about this war yet. Israel did not choose the timing so it's not surprising it takes some time to gear up a large organization.
#35
(Hizbullah) deliberately avoided the petrochemical installations,
Pahleeze, they just missed and want to cover themselves, not want to hit a target such as that? Hawh.
Thank God Israel is taking the steps it has been.
Posted by: Jan ||
07/16/2006 13:30 Comments ||
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#36
Cleret - If you have it available, you should tune into FoxNews - they're going to interview your buddy, Ehud Barak, ina little while. Tagline was that he's one of Israel's most highly decorated Special Forces soldiers.
#37
Until the Israelis respond with overwhelming force and/or attack Syria this will just go on. What they need is a truly humiliating defeat for the Hizzies and their puppeteers, but the cost of that effort will be exceedingly high.
The other option is to destroy Syria if they don't resolve this. The cowboyesque "You got 48 hours to git 'r done" message to Chinless or the air campaign extends to Syria. And, if there is any, any response from Syria other than supine acceptance, then the Golani Brigade will lead the way to Damascus. Comprende?
#38
Israel has made a lot of mistakes in the past, not dealing with the threats presented by Hizb'Allah, Hamas, Syria, and Iran. Well, shiite, so have we. Now even Olmert is getting it. so Israel has some catching up to do. Serious catching up. And they are doing it. We are going to get drawn into this one, via Iran. I hope that we are ready when the time comes for a decisive blow.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/16/2006 13:40 Comments ||
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#39
About the Israel reserve soldiers. I read somewhere yesterday, on one of the Israel sites, that it takes 6 days to get the reserves fully mobilized. We're at Day 5. And I think that Day 6 coincides with that 72 hour announcement that was or wasn't made!
#42
And the British destruction of those cities was equally effective militarily.
You mean like Dresden and our own bombing of Tokyo? Well guess what they were damn effective for a period of time when we didnt have anything like precision guided weapons. Dresden itself had somwhere between 110 to 127 medium to large factories and workshops that were almost entirely dedicated to the war effort along with its railway system that could have shunted materials away from Berlin, which was already being bombed, to the front line. The military was right to attack it. To suggest otherwise would be equivalent of moral naivety on the level of those in the heights of academia who respond to historical events in hindsight. Things are always great when you can look back on them, not so great when you're the one busy surviving.
#43
"they're going to interview your buddy, Ehud Barak(...)
Obviously a stupid git"
Yes he was great soldier and yes he was a stupid PM.
A great soldier doesnt make a great PM. If you know a little bit of military History even a great Division Commander doesnt make a great Corps Commander.
The point he failed like abandoning the buffer zone in Lebanon a treason to many Lebanese that supported Israel and great loss of inteligence about hizballah...
Be happy. I have one good thing to say about current leadership that i was forgetting. They didnt accepted a prisioner deal. That is an important change is Israel policy.
----------------------
Japanese were collapsing without nukes they would be resisting a couple more months maybe. In the end the Nukes saved japanese many lives.
#45
Valentine, I'm not calling into question the decision made at the time so much as the lesson their results teache us. The lesson it teaches me is that bombing does not have a material effect on a civilian population unless it threatens them with annihilation. Thus the rockes being sent into Israel by Hezballah will have minimal effect on the outcome of the war.
However, Israel should be doing everything it can to portray them as terror tactics.
#46
Dresden itself had somwhere between 110 to 127 medium to large factories and workshops that were almost entirely dedicated to the war effort along with its railway system that could have shunted materials away from Berlin, which was already being bombed, to the front line. The military was right to attack it.
Concerning Dresden, my understanding is that Churchill ordered the bombing at the request of Stalin, who was about to roll through it. Dresden mostly escaped the bombing campaign throughout the entire war. The Brits came at night, Americans finished the job during the day.
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/16/2006 22:15 Comments ||
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#47
The lesson it teaches me is that bombing does not have a material effect on a civilian population unless it threatens them with annihilation.
That was actually true during the entire strategic bombing campaign as carried out by the Brits. German film footage at the time shows that German civilian morale was still relatively high. So much so, that in fact the whole success of the campaign had been called into question by the end of the war. And even bomber crews weren't given campaign medals.
Posted by: Rafael ||
07/16/2006 22:25 Comments ||
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At least 8 civilians killed, 20-30 injured, in heavy Hizballlah rocket barrage of Haifa, Acre and Nahariya from Lebanon. At least 20 rockets counted in metropolitan Haifa - Upper Hadar, Krayot and Haifa Bay
July 16, 2006, 10:22 AM (GMT+02:00)
Most of the casualties, six in serious condition, at the main railway terminal near Checkpoint in Haifa. Hizballah reports improved Grad rockets fired in its deadliest attack so far in reprisal for air raids against Beirut. Their range is 35-40 km. Smoke clouds rise above Haifa Bay site of big port, industries and refineries. Close to a million residents of affected area and south advised to take shelter indoors and heed sirens. Heavy peak hour traffic heading into Israel's third largest city, Haifa, turned around and headed out of the city. Nahariya to the north is under Hizballah attack for fifth day, as are western Galilee moshavim.
Israeli artillery has opened heavy fire on sources of rocket fire in Lebanon.
#1
Launching missiles at civilian centers, invites retaliatory area bombardment by artillery. Israel will take the hits in exchange for disproportionate retaliation. Can't wait until the G8 is over. There will be a nice little secret consensus on what to do with proliferators.
#2
Grads are not Katyshas, a 122mm artillery rocket which are a relic of WWII. They are a modern Russian built MRL system. The BM-21 MRL uses the Grad missile.
#7
Obviously, from the sheer volume, these are supplied from Iran. These chumps have np way of acquiring these independently. What other evidence is required to attck Iran now ?
#8
The international community may or may not accept Isarael's word on the origin of the rocket - although I don't hear many demurrals.
More important is issues of tactics, logistics and timing. It's not clear Bush or our forces in Iraq are ready for that move yet. OTOH, last winter a senior Israeli leader said that if the Iranian nuclear program wasn't dismantled by August it would be too late. And Bush has said they will not be allowed to have nuclear arms.
Note that the head of Mossad is due in Washington this week to discuss the Iranian program. He may be held in Israel due to the fighting but it's a sign ....
#10
well there you go, plenty of pro-Israel moderate muslims in Pakland
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2006 19:55 Comments ||
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#11
Shavitch Glesh8218 has awfully good English. D'you s'pose he's one of the many Pakistanis who ran back/was shipped back when the Muslim men had to check in with Immigration? You know, all those who'd settled in the US on expired visas and such? He must miss home terribly to hang around here at this time.
Two Palestinians were killed as Israel pounded Gaza with fresh air raids yesterday. Ten people were wounded including three babies, in Israels campaign to retrieve a captured soldier.
and hold Hamas accountable for its actions.
A 25-year-old Palestinian was killed when Israeli aircraft slammed two missiles into a three-story building in Gaza City, which the Israeli Army described as a weapons factory used by Hamas fighters. Three infants and three women were among 10 other people wounded in the strike, medical sources said. Earlier, an 18-year-old Palestinian was killed by an Israeli helicopter strike in a village near Deir Al-Balah.
Firefighters were searching for bodies among the ruins of the building in Gaza City which was demolished, with a huge crater dug out by the blast according to an AFP correspondent. An Israeli Army spokeswoman said the building was being used as a rocket factory and ammunitions depot by members of the ruling group Hamas, and that Hamas members were inside at the time. The powerful blast that occurred afterward could have been caused by the explosion of ammunition stashed inside the building, she said. The building belonged to a Hamas member, a professor at the Islamic University in Gaza, although he did not live on the premises.
Some neighbors said the building now served as a shop selling wood for construction work, although others said it was used as a secret meeting place for various groups. Armed members of Hamas armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, swarmed around the building after the attack, pushing journalists away.
As meeting places go, it doesn't seem to have been all that secret.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Fluffy bunnies sometimes explode after they've been grievously injured . . . .
GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli forces clashed with terrorists militants in Gaza on Sunday as tanks moved back into the north of the Strip on an offensive that has continued even as fighting with Lebanese Hizbollah guerillas opened a second front.
The Gaza offensive, aimed at recovering a captured soldier and stopping armed terrorists groups from firing makeshift rockets, has piled pressure on the Palestinian government led by Hamas, which demands a terrorist prisoner swap for the Israeli corporal.
Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers, backed by helicopters with machine guns sending down bursts of fire, moved into farmland near Beit Hanoun, an area often used by terrorists militants for launching rockets. Small groups of terrorists militants opened fire at the Israeli forces, but there was no report of casualties. "There is an army activity in Beit Hanoun. There has been deterrent fire," said one Israeli military source.
Israeli troops had pulled out of the northern Gaza Strip a week earlier after a major raid into the territory, which Israel abandoned in 2005 after a 38-year occupation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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Israel's war with Hizbullah intensified over the weekend as Katyusha rockets rained down on northern Israel, prompting the IDF to deploy Patriot missile batteries outside Haifa and Defense Minister Amir Peretz to declare martial law throughout the North. Meanwhile. a Katyusha rocket warning system is due to be activated in southern Haifa on Sunday, Home Front Commander Yitzhak Gershon said on Saturday night. The system will sound the alarm a minute before the rockets hit the ground in order for residents to seek shelter. Residents who had previously been asked not to leave their houses are requested to stay in the vicinity of shelters despite the introduction of the warning system.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Hi Fred!
I heard patriot can't bring down katyushas but CAN bring down the more sophisticated, longer-range Iranian missiles such as the one that blew up the Israeli warship.
The warship could have been protected by a missile warning system but it was switched off as the Israelis didn't realise Hizballah had the missile capability to strike at that range
#2
The missile that hit the gunboat was a Silkworm variant, from what I've read. That element of surprise thing has to be pretty delicately calibrated. The IDF is warned now.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 0:28 Comments ||
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#3
Surely, Patriot isn't the only missle defense system available to Israel.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/16/2006 0:34 Comments ||
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#4
Arrow is not fully operational, nor is the laser anti-katusha system. Only Patriots and Standard 3s are fully operational, and both are anti-ballistic missile systems. Katushas and mortars are too short-ranged and too low altitude for the ABM systems. SCUDs and FROGs have an high enough arc to be intercepted.
#5
The way the Katyushas are raining down on Israel, they'd exhaust their Patriots in short order. Even if the Patriot could take out Katyushas with 100% success, they would still want to save them for bigger threats.
#6
Even if possible it doesn't make sense to targe a Grad with a Patriot. It's an ugly thought, but it's just not cost effective. I doubt there are more than 100 Patriot rounds in the IDF inventory.
Under development for nearly four years, the joint U.S.-Israeli Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) destroyed an in-flight, short-range Katyusha rocket for the first time during a June 6 test. Although Lieutenant General John Costello, commanding general of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, hailed the test as turning "science fiction into reality," the laser must still undergo several more tests, including tests against multiple rockets, before being shipped to Israel later this year, as currently planned.
Stemming from an April 1996 commitment from President Bill Clinton to then-Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres to help defend northern Israeli cities from terrorist attacks, THEL is a high-energy chemical laser designed to shoot down short-range rockets. In the June 6 test, THEL identified, tracked, and shot down the Katyusha rocket, which was traveling at about a speed of Mach 1, without any preprogrammed information on the rocket's trajectory or outside guidance. The effective range of the laser is classified, and its operational performance is susceptible to environmental factors, such as wind, rain, and fog.
At present, Israel only intends to take delivery of the current THEL demonstrator, while the United States has no plans to acquire the system, which Pentagon officials say is not mobile enough for U.S. defense needs. However, a U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command spokesperson remarked that the "THEL success demonstrates that high-energy lasers do have the potential for meeting the Army's need" for defenses against rockets, mortars, and artillery. The current program is expected to total more than $250 million dollars, including an Israeli contribution of $67.5 million.
That test was back in 2000. The US has significantly progressed in THELs on movable platforms but none are operationally deployed to my knowledge.
#8
How about the Phalanx CIWS (correct me on the name or acronym). Isn't it the rapid fire/fill-the-sky-with-lead-and-let-the-incoming-round-hit-it device? Is it a question of range - i.e. katyusha's trajectory crossing the border is out of range?
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2006 10:57 Comments ||
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#10
Thanks Frank - I note the range is "classified", but since it's a Gatling gun (albeit at the top of the chart, #1 hit parade type) I suppose it all comes down to physics. Might as well invite any gunnies into the discussion - is there an existing weapon with the range to hit a mid flight projectile - at whatever trajectory - from the mortar to the katyusha?
Israel's northern border is so short (compared to, say, Korea) is it practical (yet) to line it with an anti-projectile defense system?
Or de we need to just erase the violent and gruesome parts of the Koran and wipe out the adrenaline charged, overly excitable types who take them literally?
#12
eLarson:
Yep, they can hit mortar, rocket & arty with very accurate counterbattery. And have been. That's where most of the 'civilian' casualties in Lebanon have probably been coming from - counterbattery hits on launchers in family courtyards etc.
Two maritime policemen and a suspected Abu Sayyaf militant were killed yesterday in a shootout inside the busy port of Zambonga City in the southern Philippines, officials said. A port security guard was also wounded in the gunbattle that erupted around 6:30 a.m. as policemen tried to frisk the man after his backpack yielded a magazine for .45-caliber pistol. "The man quickly pulled a pistol from under his shirt and shot at the two policemen and the security guard. The assailant was later killed," Chief Inspector Francisco Clavecillas, the port police commander, told Arab News.
"There he is!"
[BANG!] "Hands up, youse!"
[BANG!] "Stop or [BANG!] we'll [BANGETY BANG!] shoot!"
"The man was well trained in handling a gun. He was quick and really trained to kill. He was a determined assassin and we suspect that he was a member of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group," Clavecillas said. He said the man did not have any identification card. "We are still trying to identify him," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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Nine Lebanese soldiers were killed and many more wounded in Israeli air strikes on two army bases on the northern Lebanese coast early on Monday, a security source said. The source said the troops were killed in strikes on an army base at the port of Tripoli and at Abdeh, adding that there could be other casualties.
Delicate Intelligence information coming out of Hezbollah indicated that the 2 missing captives of the Israeli Army Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev have been smuggled outside Southern Lebanon to the capital.
They are secretly being held at the Embassy of Iran in Beirut, under direct Iranian security guards supervision.
#6
Prolly a ruse to get Israeli commandos to storm the embassy and get Iran in on this. If Israel had reliable knowledge of their whereabouts, I think they'd be there in a flash to implicate Iran. But if they shag the place and their guys arent there....
#2
Great footage, I love watching the same friggin' fire footage 6,000 times in a row. Can't wait for tomorrow when Fox and Friends bring their scintillating insight to the table.
The Israeli Air Force hit five long-range rocket launchers in Lebanon, a senior Air Force commander revealed Sunday afternoon. Every strike on rocket launchers damages Hizbullah's firing ability, as the group has limited quantities of the weapon, he said.
According to the military chief, Air Force sorties over Lebanonhit 60 buildings in the Dahiya quarter, Beiruts Shiite quarter, in which Hizbullah infrastructure is located. During the air strikes, bunker buster bombs were fired in attempt to destroy underground targets. The officer said, In one of the strikes in the Tyre area, a number of senior Hizbullah leaders were hit, but refused to detail their identities.
The air force chief said that army jets managed to hit a portable launcher of the type Hizbullah used to fire on Haifa. At first the air force believed they managed to blow up the actual rocket launcher that fired the lethal barrage on the Haifa train station Sunday morning, but later concluded that it was a different launcher that was destroyed. According to the officer, in a number of the strikes, rocket crews manning the launchers were also hit.
The officer added that the army was operating in two aspects: First, air sorties aimed at hitting terror targets across Lebanon, and second, flyovers aimed at searching Lebanese territory forlong-range rocket launchers . He explained that hitting the launchers was significant, as Hizbullah was in possession of a limited stockpile of the weapons, and every hit minimized their ability to fire long-range missiles at Israel.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2006 15:28 ||
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#1
Of course, once the high-altitude assets shift their attention to the battle area, then targetting is going to get a lot easier.
#2
I think it's pretty clear now why neither the U.S. nor Israel smacked Iran and its nuclear program last spring. This mess has to be cleaned up first. This was Iran's plan for retaliation. I doubt they have a back-up plan.
(IsraelNN.com) The rockets which caused death and destruction in Haifa on Sunday morning contained parts made in Syria, according to security officials.
They were, however, Iranian-made 220 mm Fajr missiles, with a range of 40 kilometers, security sources said.
In a statement read on al-Manar TV, Hizbullahs television station, the terrorist organization said it had fired a salvo of Raad-2 and Raad-3 rockets.
The terror organization added that it would target petrochemical plants in Haifa if the IDF continued air strikes in Beirut.
#2
they had ball bearings shrapnel designed to kill/maim civilians, which Fox said was a Syrian specialty - the Syrians and Hezb being so compliant with the GC and all....
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2006 20:11 Comments ||
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#3
Fajir sounds like a variant of the BM-27...
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 21:19 Comments ||
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#4
Syria also makes copies of the BM-27.
Posted by: ed ||
07/16/2006 22:37 Comments ||
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In a recorded television speech on Sunday evening, Hizbullah head Hassan Nasrallah urged Arab states to come to the organization's aid. "Where are the Arab nations?" he asked, moments after declaring that Hizbullah wouldn't ask for help from anyone.
Great minds of the 7th century at work...
Speaking to Lebanese civilians, many of whom have expressed anger at Hizbullah's Wednesday attack in which two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped and which triggered a massive Israeli aerial bombardment of Lebanese infrastructure, Nasrallah affirmed that all damage caused by IDF strikes would be repaired after the battle was won. "We have friends who have a great ability to help us financially," he said.
That'd be Iran, of course. On the other hand, the Lebs may like their old country, even if the ayatollahs are willing to buy them a new one.
He also urged the Arab world not to believe Israeli claims about the escalating conflict. "The enemy is lying," he declared, saying the "Zionists" were "managing a psychological war against us." In an unusually apologetic tone, Nasrallah said the organization had "no choice" but to hit the city of Haifa with rockets Sunday after Israel struck civilians in Lebanon.
Nasrallah also used his speech to repeat threats to IDF forces and Israel. "If the enemy invades, we will have the opportunity to meet Israeli tanks [in battle]," he said, adding that Hizbullah fighters were "ready to sacrifice themselves and are convinced they will be victorious."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 15:10 ||
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#1
I wouldn't count on Iran if I were them. The Paleos are still looking for their $50 million check that is "lost in the mail".
#5
Remember that the Lebanese Shiites see Hezbollah as their own private army, so any reduction of them or their weapons is only a short-term solution.
The only longer term solution is for the Israelis to force the Lebanese army in the Hezbollah positions, and force them to hold their positions for so long that Hezbollah would have to force them out before it could re-occupy.
This is not impossible, but implies that the Israelis will have to parallel occupy right next to the Lebanese army for a time.
#8
"Israelis will have to parallel occupy right next to the Lebanese army for a time"
No, I think what we're going to end up with is a whipped Hizbullah, a wide no-man's land along the Lebanese and Gaza borders, and survivors in Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, and Iran who have higher priorities than messing with Israel -- priorities like food and electricity and fuel and maybe iodine pills. By the end of July, a lot of black hats are going to have the 7th century they've been longing for.
#9
French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said Israel must defend itself, and it had the right to do so -- don't believe what Chirac is saying, he is certifiably senile and blathering crap profusely.
There is an aggressive element in the Middle East, and that is Hizbullah. As friends of Israel we must advise it to maintain level-headedness and restraint -- everybody is saying this, I don't want to be an odd man out, he said.
#10
The Lebanese army are probably thinking "Why should we be expected to suppress Hezbollah in future, when the Israelis themselves couldn't do it when they were here before 2000?" Especially as the Lebanese army contains a lot of Shia anyway...
#15
#8 I think what we're going to end up with is a whipped Hizbullah, a wide no-man's land along the Lebanese and Gaza borders,
Good idea. For Gaza make it about 8 miles wide and take it out of the Gaza side.
#13 I think the IAF is already working to solve that problem. See the attack map posted by 3dc this morning. Maybe some of those 500 bunker busters the IDF bought in 2004 went boom underground in Bakkaa Valley.
#20
Fox just showed an IAF missile aimed at a TV relay station. It hit a house adjacent, killing 4 "civilians", baby ducks, kittens and a baby milk factory
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2006 19:08 Comments ||
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#21
"If the enemy invades, we will have the opportunity to meet Israeli tanks [in battle],"
Can't help but wonder if he is requesting a shipment of anti-tank mines from his Iranian masters. Poor planning?
About 25 percent of Hizbullah's capabilities have been hit, a high-ranking IDF officer estimated on Sunday night at the end of the fifth day of Operation Just Reward. According to the officer, the group's chain of command is still functioning. He estimated that the Lebanese group would not be annihilated when the dust settles, only severely damaged. The officer predicted that the operation would end in the middle of next week.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 15:09 ||
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#1
Reports are that hundreds of (or at least more than 100) innocent civilians have been killed by the Israelis; if we accept that as true, how many guilty civilians (they aren't an army so they must be civilians) have been killed? After all, Israel is not targeting the innocent - those are just the collateral damage of one of the most accurate military forces in the world. 25% degradation of Hezbollah capability doesn't sound too far wrong.
#7
"Saudi Arabia on Sunday donated $50 million to Lebanon in response to a plea for help made by Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. The Saudi official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said King Abdullah ordered a fund transfer immediately."
Kind of tells the Palestinians where they rate on the grand scale.
The original 'nabka' (i.e. disaster) was the creation of Israel. This is a very strong statement.
Nasrallah says he knows Israel 'better than anyone.' Here are 7 crucial mistakes he's made
Like French soccer star Zindane Zidane, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah was riding a temporary wave of popularity and felt he was on top of the virtual world. It was the sort of high that dupes people into thinking they can commit the sin of arrogance without being punished for it.
He made a fatal mistake, to say the very least, from our perspective and that of his organization at the height of its power and popularity he head butted Israel, and the referee the international and Arab community gave him a red card. The enemy themselves will be the ones to remove him from the playing field.
Anyone who has followed the Arabic electronic press in recent days has certainly noticed that in certain places in the Middle East, images of children receiving candies in celebration have been replaced with unprecedentedly harsh statements against this shining star who supposedly "restored the Arab world's pride."
One Persian Gulf leader called Nasrallah a "fool" for bringing a mega-disaster, mainly economic, on Lebanon. Now, it is true that in every generation a leader arises who tries to destroy the Land of the Cedars: In the 1970s it was Yasser Arafat, who brought in his PLO and made the place look like Sodom. Now it is Nasrallah, king of arrogance, who is making the place look like Gomorrah.
Lebanese society is licking its wounds. Tourism has collapsed. We can assume that the 15,000 Saudis who cut short their annual holidays and are torturously making their ways back to Syria via back roads aren't exactly singing the praises of Nasrallah as they board their planes in Damascus for their flights back to Riyadh.
Also, hundreds of investors, thousands of planners and tens of thousands of workers who make their livings from late President Rafik al-Hariri's plans to recreate the country, weren't exactly thrilled to see Beirut burning.
Where are the demonstrations?
The only question left is how it could be that ordinary Lebanese, who just a few months ago filled the streets of Beirut to demand, "Assad go home!" haven't done so now to protest against modern Lebanon's destroyer.
Flattering statements by ordinary Beirutis remind me of a battered woman who rushes back to the open arms of her abusive husband. What can you do, to each society its own enjoyment.
Future writers of history will have to deal with this question: How, and why, did Nasrallah decide that now was the time to bathe Lebanon in blood, destroy its economy and lay waste to its society? The Hizbullah made seven mistakes that brought about Lebanon's "nakba", version 2006.
1. 1990's strategy. Nasrallah is armed with strategic abilities that were good a decade ago. He believes Israel is afraid to engage him in light of the ongoing threat of long-range missiles at Israeli cities. He is wrong.
2. 1990's tactics. On the basis of this faulty premise, Nasrallah believes that if Israel does attack, it will do so with ground forces- and that's what he prepared for. He prepared his forces to combat IDF tanks and infantry, and hoped to hit Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers, like he did that first tank. Israel might send in some ground troops for a final clean up, but it is not clear that even this will be necessary.
3. He is not familiar enough with Israeli society. Nasrallah miscalculated the public's staying power. For someone claiming to know us better than anyone, he figured that if the relatively sheltered residents of Sderot, are supposedly "quivering" from the Qassam attacks then residents of Haifa and other cities in the north would flee their supposedly unprotected cities in the north en masse. Israel's staying power and determination have surprised Nasrallah, but he'll never admit it.
4. There is no Elhanan Tannenbaum every day. Judging by the prisoner swap in which Israel released hundreds of prisoners in response for kidnapped civilian Tannenbaum and the bodies of three dead soldiers, Nasrallah figured Israelis would pester their government for a hostage-swap. He doesn't understand that he the most arrogant, overbearing patronizing Arab leader is the last person Israel is going to make a deal with.
5. Israeli unity. Hassan Nasrallah, the expert in Israeli affairs, has almost pushed Israeli Arab politicians Ahmed Tibi and Mohammad Barakeh into joining the coalition, especially after the attack on Majd al-Krum. It's been many years since the Israeli public supported a war so broadly against an enemy who "deserves it." Nasrallah managed to unite Israel in a way that no president, prime minister or chief of staff has ever been able to do.
6. It's the economy, stupid. Nasrallah has flushed billions of Lebanese dollars down the toilet. He is a leader who has a broad understanding of many issues, apart from the main one that concerns most Lebanese today the economy. This wretched country, that has been trying to rebuild itself for more than a decade, to once again become the "Paris of the Middle East" has taken a brutal kick from the leader of an extremist religious sect with no interest in the economy.
7. Media star? Not exactly. Nasrallah's theatrical media appearances were the best intelligence he could have supplied to the IDF. How would we know what he's like under pressure if we hadn't seen his speech following the kidnapping? The only people who might have believed that the appearance was proof of his determination, or that the sweat on his brow was due to a "faulty air conditioner" were one or two members of his immediate staff.
On the other hand, anyone who understands a little bit about body language understood that this was one of his most pathetic performances. Without question, it contributed to our decision to attack him and his staff. Even more so was his second speech, delivered by telephone after his headquarters in Beirut was destroyed.
Brig. Gen. (res.) Moshe Elad is a researcher at the Shmuel Neeman Institute at the Technion
Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatens "direct confrontation" if Israeli ground forces enter Lebanon.
Nasrallah was taped at an unknown location on Sunday.
Ummm... I think that's the idea, isn't it, Hassan?
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 12:21 ||
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#1
That should be the idea, but the "Lion's of Islam" only talk how tough they are going to be while they let thier other countrymen die.
#5
Boy Howdy pass the popcorn.
Hmmm, lets see well trained, well equipped, highly disciplined IDF vs. undisciplined, fanatical, suicidal mob with a mixed bag of weapons and assorted rocks.
Whats the odds this will last till noon or will Hezbull$h!tollah gonna take a standing TKO?
I hope the IDF carpet bombs their @$$es.
The IDF on Sunday mobilized a reserve infantry division in preparation for a possible ground incursion into south Lebanon, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The move was intended as the beginning of a new effort to push Katyusha rocket launching cells away from the Israel-Lebanon border. The division was setting up command posts along the northern border, while tanks and armored personnel carriers were being transported northward.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 12:14 ||
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#1
"Lahoud also accused the Security Council of delaying intervention to stop Israel's military operation, thereby giving them extra time to make Lebanon surrender to its conditions."
Oh, I wouldn't say "delaying". Who the heck does he think is going to intervene? Even a lot of the Arab countries think Hezbullah is getting what it asked for. Go Israel!
#2
The IDF on Sunday mobilized a reserve infantry division
Is this the same division noted 2 days ago or a 2nd division? Is the divisional structure new to the IDF? Or perhaps their calling up multipule brigades with their Corp Hq. Who knows.
#3
Little sister sucker slapped her big brother one too many times and it looks like the adults are not going to interfere. Guess mommy [Russian, China, France] pissed daddy [Anglosphere] one two many times herself. Paleo meet Darwin. Adapt or perish.
#4
6, I believe what they called up earlier was a reserve armored division. Calling up Infantry means they plan on holding territory.
May I suggest Beaufort Castle and environs? As well as land up to the Litani with all military-age men forced north of that line?
Also, ein al-Hellhole could use some D9 urban renewal.
I hope they also bring up other battalions of M109s and maybe some of those oh sooo sweet 175mm beauts the Israelis used on Beirut in '82? I watched CBS then 'cause they always showed the impacts. Lotsa 'sploding buildings and such. ;-)
#5
Some other parts of the article. Chock-ful of new information:
"A senior IAF officer revealed to the Post on Sunday afternoon that the IDF was using bunker-buster bombs to strike at senior Hizbullah officials in hiding throughout Beirut and Lebanon. According to the officer, several of the bunker hideouts were hidden under civilian parking lots........
Since the Lebanon operation began, the IAF has launched close to 2,000 sorties over Lebanon.....
In addition, overnight strikes in northern Lebanon near Tyre killed several senior Hizbullah officials....
Meanwhile, Al-Arabiya television reported that the Syrian military was mobilizing its own reserve divisions....
Shortly thereafter, the IAF succeeded in hitting arms warehouses in southern Lebanon, as well as 20 mobile Katyusha launching crews in the area. Since Sunday morning, dozens of launchers have been targeted.....
Before the Al-Manar strike, an IDF attack on Hizbullah's main headquarters in southern Beirut destroyed the compound and sprouted new rumors that Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah was wounded in the strike......
The IAF also staged four bombing runs on residential areas inside the eastern city of Baalbek, where senior Hizbullah officials have residences or offices, witnesses said. Heavy black smoke billowed from the area and ambulances were seen rushing to the scene.(I believe they stuck at Hussein Mussawi here).......
Earlier on Saturday IDF fighter jets struck the western side of bridges connecting between Lebanon and Syria. That target was the closest to Syria that was hit since the campaign in Lebanon began. The IDF said that the strike was meant to prevent the transport of weapons from Syria into Lebanon.
#2
It's time to go Old Testament on Syria and Iran.
Posted by: mac ||
07/16/2006 11:37 Comments ||
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#3
It IS a PR battle, and as such, Israel cannot win. That is why I said in the very beginning that Israel's actions had to be fast - as hard as possible, but FAST. They're about out of time. Check the MSM, the blogs, international diplospeak - it's all about how many innocent children Israel has killed. Not how many innocent Israelis Hezbollah has killed. (Even I, biased as I am, question some of Israel's targetting, but what do I know.)
I have seen some discussion of 'banned weapons' in use or about to be used by Israel - white phosphorus - not exactly what most of us would consider a banned weapon.
It's not as though Israel has anything to lose, is it?
Massive internationsl condemnation? That's already the case. WHO THE FUCK CARES, besides the usual Tranzi bitches? Yawn.
It takes time to evacuate friendlies, such as the US citizens that are leaving Beirut. A courtesy. And it also means this baby's just starting. Window of time? A week? Give me / us a break.
Israel is finally planning to do the deed: kill Hizbollah. Olmert was clear. What anyone other than their only ally, the US, thinks is completely irrelevant. They have no popularity points to lose. They do have an obligation to stop the rain of rockets, i.e. protect their people.
If they were to stop now, because the MSM is lining up against them, then they'd deserve to lose. That they are NOT wimping out because Marvin Kalb or some other useful tool says, is very VERY encouraging. Do it Olmert. Kill the Hizbollah bitch.
#5
I'm not so sure about being out of time, Glenmore.
1) There isn't a lot of condemnation flowing out of the ME, at least the Sunni part, beyond pro forma condemnations for domestic consumption. I suspect a lot of them would be happy to watch Israel take Hisballah, Syria and Iran down a notch or two.
2)Bush has never responded well, i. e. at all, to media pressure. Sure, he withdrew Harriet Miers, but that was because he didn't have the votes, not the newspapers.
3) The Arabs keep making their own media errors. Sure, the MSM helps cover them up quickly, notice all the coverage and outrage about the Egyptian ship Hisballah/Iran sank? But I'll bet Hosni hasn't forgotten about it, or the threat their friends pose to him and his dynastic succession.
I think they've got enough time to let Iran make a really dumb move. Then W will send the thank you note.
#6
The other great unknown here is exactly how much of a hurtin has already been put on the Hezzi's... most people assume that with 24 hour CNN coverage, we are all up to speed. However, military damage reports on both sides take a bit of time to compile, and access.
Just seeing black smoke from the distance doesn't begin to even get to the issue of whats been blown up... and not all missions in war are about destruction...
I will only say that no matter who is politically in charge of Israel, the war game scenarios have been played out in Israel more times that our local gang bangers copy of "Grand Theft Auto" has been booted up.
#7
I observe the absolute lack of condemnation by Israel's Arab neighbours....Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia. There has been an ongoing transformation in the middle east that the MSM has completely overlooked (as usual) and that is the power play that Iran is making to dominate the Arab world. Also notice how Gaza and Hamas has disappeared from the news. By the time Israel has put the rout on Hezbollah, Hamas will no longer exist.
Does not appear anybody east of the West Bank is unhappy about the current situation. Nasrallah speech was a call for help aimed at Tehran. The Mullahs just might blink and hang him out to dry. After all, if they have the bomb, they really do not need Hezbollah any more.
If the claim that the kidnapped soldiers are at the Iranian embassy in Beruit is true, then they might have committed a major PR blunder. They hardly want to remind the world about hostage taking.
Posted by: john ||
07/16/2006 20:09 Comments ||
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#8
Iran may not help Nasrallah because it can't. It can't start a war with Israel any more easily than Israel could prosecute one with Iran. Iran needs to be careful it doesn't give Uncle and excuse to whack it. That's why I'm applying the 48 hour rule to the embassy venue rumor, though it may be a very safe place. Iran is going to cool it, for Iran, and hope it can get the nuke finished.
On CNN TV with Wolf Blitzer: Peretz offered to meet face to face with Lebanese government, IF they will take control of the country. He said, "Lebanon is not our enemy."
Siniora responded with a major tirade saying all problems are due to decades of terror by Israel against Lebanon. He refuses even to mention Hizb'allah. Spittle is flying.
He is demanding releaser of all Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails in exchange for the Israeli soldiers..
#1
Bad move. Didn't work for the Paleos, won't work for the Lebanese, and taking Hizb'Allah's position at this point will only make the situation worse.
#3
He's been trying to 'negotiate' with Hizb'allah for years. He thinks he can get them to free the soldiers if he can get ISrael to meet Hizb'allah's demands.
And that's the problem in a nutshell. Siniora either can't or won't control his country. It's fine and good that he NOW wants international help in countering Hizb'allah's power in the southern half of Lebanon, but where the hell was he on this issue prior to Israel's counterattack? It's put up or shut up time, unfortunately -- and I do mean unfortunately, because I had tenuous hopes for the Cedar revolution. But the extremists will NOT allow a peaceful evolution.
Iran warned its arch-enemy Israel of "unimaginable losses" if it attacks Syria and vowed that it was standing by the Syrian people.
"We hope the Zionist regime does not make the mistake of attacking Syria, because extending the front would definitely make the Zionist regime face unimaginable losses," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.
"Iran is standing by the Syrian people," he said of the Islamic republic's sole regional ally.
"We have offered and will offer Syria and Lebanon spiritual and humanitarian support," Asefi insisted, reiterating Iran's denial that it is providing military and financial assistance to the Hezbollah movement.
The Israeli army has said Hezbollah militants had used an Iranian-built radar-guided anti-ship missile in an attack on Friday on an Israeli warship off Lebanon's coast.
The attack marked the Lebanese militia's first successful strike on an Israeli warship, dealing an unprecedented blow to the Jewish state's military. One Israeli sailor was killed and three more were missing, feared dead.
An Israeli military intelligence official has also alleged that around 100 members of Iran's powerful ideological army the elite Revolutionary Guards were in Lebanon, acting as military advisors to Hezbollah.
Iran is a major backer of Hezbollah, but regularly insists that it only gives "moral support" to the Shiite movement.
"We have no Guards there. It is not true that we have sent missiles. Hezbollah is capable enough. The Zionist regime is under pressure," Asefi said, repeating Iran's denial of any connection to the attack.
He also hit out at the United States after President George W. Bush said Israel had "every right to defend itself".
"The United States has had a destructive role by vetoing resolutions and hence encouraging the Israeli crimes," Asefi said, referring to Washington's use of its veto in the UN Security Council Thursday to block a resolution calling for a halt to an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
"The United States should reconsider its policies and correct its wrong attitude of supporting the Zionist regime."
On Friday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad boasted that Israel was not powerful enough to take on Iran and also warned against an attack against Syria.
"Thanks be to God, despite its criminal and savage nature, the Zionist regime and its supporters in the West do not have the power to look in the same way towards Iran," the fiercely anti-Israeli president said.
"If Israel commits another act of idiocy and aggresses Syria, this will be the same as an aggression against the entire Islamic world and it will receive a stinging response," Ahmadinejad said in a telephone conversation with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad.
The hardline president, who has calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map" or moved as far away as Alaska, has also compared Israel's military strikes on Gaza and Lebanon to tactics used by Nazi Germany's leader Adolf Hitler.
"Their methods resemble Hitler's. When Hitler wanted to launch an attack, he came up with a pretext," Ahmadinejad said Saturday.
"Zionists say they are Hitler's victims, but they have the same nature as Hitler," said Ahmadinejad, who has previously described the Holocaust of six million Jews in wartime Europe as "a myth."
"We have two solutions for the crisis. One of them, which is a logical one, is that as you (Western nations) who imposed this regime by fabricating stories, you put an end to it and take it with you," he said.
Ahmadinejad's second solution was to have a referendum in which only the "true Palestinians," decide their fate.
#1
Yep, uhhuh, right. You want to see talk that people will pay attention too. Start low level notices to foreign governments with embassies in Tehran, that our government will not be responsible for their safety if they choose to remain there. Then watch the action.
#2
Remember Granada and Panama? The White House wasn't saying much, then President Reagan gave a brief clarifying speech, while US troops were doing the rest.
#3
So what does this mean?
a) I have a nuke and just dying to use it
b) I'm pretending I have a nuke and if Israel backs off I will claim victory
c) This kind of rhetoric worked for Saddam, didn't it?
Posted by: regular joe ||
07/16/2006 9:07 Comments ||
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#4
Just cross fingers, everybody, that we have a very dense, layered anti-missile shield around Iran and Syria.
#7
It's time for Israel to give the people of Iran a 48 hour notice that they can either overthrow their insane government or they can be the second country to experience nuclear war on their territory. 48 hours, and if the world doesn't see Iranians tearing Ahmedinejad and the Pasdaran limb from limb with their bare hands, Israel can legitimately assume the Iranian populace supports them--and can suffer the consequences right along with them. It's nut-cutting time now, and the mad mullahs need to be vaporized along with any who are in their vicinity. Sympathy for the Iranians? Just as much as I have for the Lebs. Both countries elected the bastards who put them in these situations. They can now reap the rewards.
Posted by: mac ||
07/16/2006 11:35 Comments ||
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Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz declared on Sunday afternoon that the rocket which hit the train station in Haifa and killed eight was maunfactured by Syria.
"The metal from the missile shows that it was made in Syria...We know that over the last few years, Syria has transferred ammunition to Hizbullah and that is what they used today," he said after touring the site of the attack.
"Hizbullah is al-Qaeda and Nasrallah is bin Laden" and we have to fight them accordingly, he declared.
Mofaz said the goals of the IDF's campaign were to push Hizbullah back from the border, impair its capabilities and get back the captured soldiers. He encouraged Lebanese President Fuad Siniora to bring the army to the south.
He also expressed approval of the IDF's strategy thus far.
"Hitting Dahiya in southern Beirut [where Hizbullah's stronghold is] is especially right," he stated.
Mofaz accused Iran and Syria of providing Hizbullah with weapons.
"Iranians are heavily involved with Hizbullah - they give them guns and money.
Hizbullah is Iran's proxy. Syria also gave them weapons."
Mofaz also said that the government had been aware of most of Hizbullah's capabilities.
"Most of what is happening to us now was expected [in the event of a conflict with Hizbullah]," he concluded.
#1
Wouldn't change much but it would be gratifying to get him so soon after he unilatterally declared open war. Is the intelligence and targeting of IDF that good? Or did they get lucky? Or, were there 3rd parties (Saudis) who may have ratted him out? (This is hard to believe, we know the non-hizzie Lebs wanted him dead and the region's Sunni bigwigs were unhappy with him too but it's hard to imagine them helping Israel.) Or is this just a wild rumor, the typical kind that flies around during such times?
#4
Why is it hard to believe, Monsieur Moonbat? Most of Israel's intelligence in the Palestinian territories comes from friends and neighbors tired of the shenanigans, and not long ago when Israel occupied the Hizb'allah portion of Lebanon, they had strong support from other sections of Lebanese society. And ratting out is a key factor in Arab culture, predating Islam.
#5
It would be a nice irony if some of the Hizb prisoners released in a one sided exchage in 2004 where actually IDF intel sources who had a hand in 'hurting' Nasr allah
(KUNA) -- Israeli war planes bombarded Saturday a Lebanese army radar center in northern Lebanon as well as the coastal area of Ain Al-Mersya in Beirut.
They said yesterday they were taking out radar sites. They don't want any more Silkworms...
A security source told KUNA that the bombardment of the army center in Wajh Al-Hajar area resulted in several injuries to the soldiers in the center. It added that the Beirut lighhouse in Ain Al-Mirsya was targeted by Israeli helicopters.
The light's out, but the lighthouse itself wasn't destroyed...
The source said that Beirut's southern suburbs also witnessed two air raids on Hezbollah's security centers. Meanwhile, Israeli Jet fighters launched an attack on several Lebanese seaports. Tripoli and Jounieh seaports were targeted by Israeli jet fighters, said the security source who added that the attacks caused major damages to ports. The source confirmed that the Israeli jet fighters also stormed Tripoli's Hamah airport.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
No more missle imports from Iran by sea or otehrwise. Missles that are not in control of the Government of Leabanon.
(KUNA) -- Up to 12 Egyptian sailors were sent to Bassel hospital in Tartous city in northern Syria after their ship was attacked by the Israeli army on the Lebanese international waters, said Syria Arab News Agency (SANA) on Saturday .
SANA added that the Egyptian survivors sent a distress call via the satellites Friday night. They were rescued by Syrian and Egyptian ships that were sailing towards Tartous seaport. Head of Bassel hospital Dr.Talal Hamdan said the sailors were medically treated and they were now in stable condition except for one whose injury was serious. The Egyptian vessel was carrying cement when it came under fire 65 km from the Lebanese coast in an area between Beirut and Tripoli.
I wonder if that's the ship that Hezbollah attacked at the same time it was launching at the Israeli navy?
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Gotta be, I'll bet chaff fooled one of the missiles.
I think we all saw this coming. In fact, I think we all saw this coming right about now.
Iran's leadership has rejected demands to freeze sensitive nuclear work contained in an international proposal aimed at resolving the crisis over Tehran's nuclear drive, an official was quoted as saying yesterday. "In the West's proposal, two preconditions are raised: suspending nuclear activities and responding to questions" raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli, the deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. "The leadership has reached the conclusion that it will not accept the precondition set by the Europeans," he was quoted by semi-official Mehr news agency, which is close to the Islamic republic's top national security body. Although a number of senior officials have over the past month spoken out against a freeze, the comments from Rahmani-Fazli the deputy of Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani are the first indication that the regime has reached a clear decision.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm thinking either Iran is orchestrating the Hezballah war to provide distraction cover so it can continue nukes program unhindered (and work towards wiping Israel off the map)
OR
Israel is taking advantage of trigger situations in an attempt to blitz Hizballah and then take out Iran's nuke program.
Predict: Israeli bombs to drop on Iranian reactor sites. Particularly since Hizballah using Iranian missiles blatantly
#4
The US could form two teams: One for the nuke sites, one for the MMs. Give them whatever they want. Whoever does a better job of taking out their target with minimum collateral damage gets a $100k bonus for each team member. The loser only gets $50k for each team member. :-)
#5
There is so much unrest in Iran right now that any sort of attack either land or air against the MM's would percepitate a revolt.
I think all hell is gonna break loose in Iran and all we need to do is bomb the nuke sites and pass the popcorn.
What do you suppose a white turban will sell for on ebay?
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Warplanes bombed Beirut's southern suburbs again early Sunday, witnesses reported, after a day in which Israel tightened a noose around this reeling nation with the heaviest air strikes yet in the four-day-old conflict.
The Israeli air force on Saturday hit strongholds of the Shiite Muslim guerrilla group Hezbollah, bombed central Beirut for the first time, and pounded seaports and a key bridge. Then, in Sunday's early morning darkness, a half-dozen thunderous explosions shook southern Beirut, where Hezbollah is headquartered and much of the intensifying air assault has been targeted since cross-border hostilities erupted Wednesday.
Israeli warplanes demolished the last bridge on the main Beirut-Damascus highway - over the Litani River, six miles from the Syrian border - trying to complete their seal on Lebanon.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#5
I don't want to hear "hurt." I want to hear "dead, and verified by reliable authority as being so." The verifiable authority should hopefully be the IDF.
Posted by: mac ||
07/16/2006 11:12 Comments ||
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#6
Number 3 on the charts with a bullet: "Last Train to Damascus."
Cyprus yesterday evacuated 104 people from Lebanon via Syria early after Israel launched an air, land and sea blockade on Beirut. A government-chartered jet landed at Larnaca airport early yesterday morning. The island, the closest EU member to the Middle East, has also offered to evacuate Europeans on another flight should that be needed today. The aircraft arrived more than six hours later than scheduled because security concerns forced a change in the route used in the evacuation from Beirut to Damascus by road on Thursday night, officials said. "The buses took a northern route instead of going southwards for security reasons," Foreign Ministry Director General Sotos Zakhaeos told Reuters.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2006 00:00 ||
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(IsraelNN.com) The Anti-Terror Bureau has issued a travel advisory to Israelis traveling abroad.
Terrorist organization Hizbullah is planning to kidnap Israelis as they travel overseas. As a result, a travel advisory is in effect warning Israelis not to travel to Arab countries other than Mauritania and Comoros Islands.
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
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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.
Facing ambushes and small pockets of resistance, Canadian soldiers continued fighting Sunday as a major coalition offensive continued in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province. Nearly 5,000 coalition forces, including about 600 Canadians, were involved in the operation west of Kandahar, along with soldiers from the Afghan National Army and Afghan police. In two separate battles late Saturday afternoon, the coalition troops suffered no casualties, but killed at least 35 Taliban fighters, wounded more than 20 others and captured more than a dozen insurgents, according to Helmand's provincial police chief.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - More than 40 insurgents were killed Saturday as hundreds of coalition troops, many dropped by helicopter, wrested a desert town from the Taliban and U.S. forces battled militants across southern Afghanistan, officials said.
The war in Chechnya goes on despite the death announced this week of top rebel warlord Shamil Basayev, said the president in the fugitive separatist government yesterday. "The war continues and, with the help of Almighty Allah, we intend to reach the victory in which we have not doubted one minute," rebel president Doku Umarov said.
The unrecognized rebel government of Chechnya is ready to begin peace negotiations with Russia, Chechen Foreign Minister 
North Korea has angrily denounced a United Nations resolution condemning its missile tests and said it would build up its military arsenal. 
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to impose limited sanctions on North Korea for its recent missile tests, and demanded that the reclusive communist nation suspend its ballistic missile program. North Korea immediately rejected the resolution and vowed to continue missile launches. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said North Korea set "a world record" for a rejection -- 45 minutes -- and warned that Pyongyang's failure to comply could lead to further council action. He did not say what that might be. 
(KUNA) - Turkish security forces announced Saturday that a Kurdish rebel was killed in armed clashes between the Turkish Army and members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Sirnak province. Turkish Ihlas News Agency quoted a release from Sirnak's mayor office saying the military operation was ongoing.
The Indian Army on Saturday sounded an alert saying the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) was planning to let loose a reign of terror in Assam in apparent retaliation for the killing of two of its cadre by the security forces. An army statement said the ULFA was planning a series of bomb blasts in the districts of Baska, Kamrup, Nalbari and Barpeta to avenge the death of two of their leaders killed on Tuesday in western Assam in an encounter.
As many as 65 terrorist modules have been busted in India in the last seven months, according to a senior official concerned with national security. However, the Government has reason to believe that many more "sleeper cells" have been "re-commissioned" and that the country needs to be vigilant against possible terror attacks, mostly being masterminded by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). 
Little-known outfit Lashkar-e- Qahhar yesterday night purportedly claimed responsibility for Tuesday's serial blasts in Mumbai. An e-mail, received by Aaj Tak news channel, said it was sent by Lashkar-e-Qahhar and the outfit was associated with al-Qaeda and Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba. The e-mail said 16 Qahhar activists had carried out attacks in Mumbai and threatened to carry out more attacks if the Indian Government does not stop the "exploitation of Kashmiri people". The same outfit had claimed responsibility for the bomb blasts in Varanasi in March this year.
(KUNA) -- Investigations into the serial blasts in the western Indian city of Mumbai are gaining momentum as 11 of the 285 wanted in Mahim area of the city were detained Saturday. The people were arrested up in a search operation conducted by over 400 policemen, leading English news channel NDTV 24 X 7 reported from Mumbai.
The Pentagon notified Congress of plans to sell Israel jet fuel valued at up to USD 210 million "to keep peace and security in the region". "The proposed sale of the JP-8 aviation fuel will enable Israel to maintain the operational capability of its aircraft inventory," the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in notice required by law.
A stabbing attempt was thwarted in Hebron as a Palestinian ran at an IDF post with a knife drawn on Sunday afternoon. The soldiers subdued the would-be stabber without sustaining any injuries. The Palestinian was taken to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) for questioning.
GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli forces clashed with 
Two maritime policemen and a suspected Abu Sayyaf militant were killed yesterday in a shootout inside the busy port of Zambonga City in the southern Philippines, officials said. A port security guard was also wounded in the gunbattle that erupted around 6:30 a.m. as policemen tried to frisk the man after his backpack yielded a magazine for .45-caliber pistol. "The man quickly pulled a pistol from under his shirt and shot at the two policemen and the security guard. The assailant was later killed," Chief Inspector Francisco Clavecillas, the port police commander, told Arab News. 
Nine Lebanese soldiers were killed and many more wounded in Israeli air strikes on two army bases on the northern Lebanese coast early on Monday, a security source said. The source said the troops were killed in strikes on an army base at the port of Tripoli and at Abdeh, adding that there could be other casualties.
Delicate Intelligence information coming out of Hezbollah indicated that the 2 missing captives of the Israeli Army Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev have been smuggled outside Southern Lebanon to the capital.
In a recorded television speech on Sunday evening, Hizbullah head Hassan Nasrallah urged Arab states to come to the organization's aid. "Where are the Arab nations?" he asked, moments after declaring that Hizbullah wouldn't ask for help from anyone. 
(KUNA) -- Up to 12 Egyptian sailors were sent to Bassel hospital in Tartous city in northern Syria after their ship was attacked by the Israeli army on the Lebanese international waters, said Syria Arab News Agency (SANA) on Saturday .
Iran's leadership has rejected demands to freeze sensitive nuclear work contained in an international proposal aimed at resolving the crisis over Tehran's nuclear drive, an official was quoted as saying yesterday. "In the West's proposal, two preconditions are raised: suspending nuclear activities and responding to questions" raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli, the deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. "The leadership has reached the conclusion that it will not accept the precondition set by the Europeans," he was quoted by semi-official Mehr news agency, which is close to the Islamic republic's top national security body. Although a number of senior officials have over the past month spoken out against a freeze, the comments from Rahmani-Fazli the deputy of Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani are the first indication that the regime has reached a clear decision.
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Warplanes bombed Beirut's southern suburbs again early Sunday, witnesses reported, after a day in which Israel tightened a noose around this reeling nation with the heaviest air strikes yet in the four-day-old conflict.
Cyprus yesterday evacuated 104 people from Lebanon via Syria early after Israel launched an air, land and sea blockade on Beirut. A government-chartered jet landed at Larnaca airport early yesterday morning. The island, the closest EU member to the Middle East, has also offered to evacuate Europeans on another flight should that be needed today. The aircraft arrived more than six hours later than scheduled because security concerns forced a change in the route used in the evacuation from Beirut to Damascus by road on Thursday night, officials said. "The buses took a northern route instead of going southwards for security reasons," Foreign Ministry Director General Sotos Zakhaeos told Reuters.
