Eritrea has deployed some two thousand troops to fight alongside Somalias al-Qaeda linked Islamic Courts Union, Pajamas Media has learned.
Thus, Ethiopia and the United States are not the only foreign countries with troops on the ground in Somalia.
To prevent Somalias transitional government from being crushed in its final stronghold in the south-central Somali city of Baidoa, Ethiopia dispatched thousands of troops as well as aircraft in a major campaign that began on Christmas day.
The Ethiopian campaign has been successful to date, with Ethiopian troops capturing Mogadishu and scattering the ICUs fighters.
Ethiopias longtime rival, Eritrea, had troops in the country for about four months prior to that. A confidential UN report drafted by the Monitoring Group on Somalia in late 2006 says that 2000 fully equipped combat troops from Eritrea arrived to the north of Mogadishu in late August, and redeployed to different areas held by the ICU. According to high-level sources in Somalias transitional government and U.S. intelligence, these Eritrean troops never left the countrya development unknown to American policymakers until today. More at the link.
Posted by: john ||
01/13/2007 21:32 Comments ||
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#5
I cannot believe how unbearably stupid the Eritrean government has become in the past 18 months. Less than 2 years ago, they had good relations with the US, they were on track for certain economic measures, and were assisting in the WOT. Suddenly, they switched completely around and now they are literally fighting for the terrorists. I really wonder just how much Arab oil money has suddenly been appearing in numbered secret accounts for the ruling party in Eritrea. And why the majority Christian and Animist population is putting up with this?
Somali government troops backed by Ethiopian soldiers have captured the last stronghold of the Union of Islamic Courts, the defence minister says. Col Barre Aden Shire said the town of Ras Kamboni, in south-eastern Somalia, fell after several days of fighting.
Remnants of the militia are now reported to be hiding in dense forest along Somalia's border with Kenya.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/13/2007 00:00 ||
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(SomaliNet) Details are emerging on today's deadly confrontation outside of the main presidential residence in the Somalia capital Mogadishu between government forces and militia loyal to former warlords as Somalia president sent his condolences to the relatives of the victims. The death toll rises to nine mostly were militiamen loyal to Mohamed Qanyare Afrah, member of the transitional parliament, medical sources confirmed. Eight more others were wounded in the gun battle. The wounded include civilians, hit by astray bullets.
The shootouts erupted when the militiamen refused to keep away their battlewagons from the gate of the presidential palace where the Somali president and premier were having close doors meeting over stabilizing the capital with the former warlords.
The government spokesman confirmed the injury of government soldiers who involved in the gun battle. The shootouts erupted when the militiamen refused to keep away their battlewagons from the gate of the presidential palace where the Somalia president, Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed and premier Ali Mohamed Gedi were having close doors meeting over stabilizing the capital with the former warlords, some of them MPs. The warlords who met with the president include Mohamed Qanyare Afrah, Muse Sudi Yalahow, Bootaan Isse Alin, Abdi Hassan Awale Qeybdid Abdi Nore Siad and Omar Mohamud Filish. The warlords agreed to lay down weapons and hand over their militiamen to the government to be part of the national soldiers, said Abdirahman Dinari, the government spokesman who read out to the reporters the text of the deal.
Dinari said president Yusuf expressed his sorrow over the death of the militiamen sending condolences to their relatives. The president described the event as an accident, which will have no impact on the government tasks.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2007 00:00 ||
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(SomaliNet) At least six people have been killed and others more were wounded in clan fighting which erupted in Middle Shabelle region in north of the Somalia capital Mogadishu on later Friday. Clan militiamen have launched an ambush attack on Biyo-Adde village 50km (31 miles) north of Jowhar city of Middle Shabelle region where they killed six people including well-known elders and businessmen.
Nor Bukhari, a local journalist in Jowhar told Somalinet by telephone tonight that the attack happened around 7:30 pm local time when militia opened fire on more respected men in the village and then escaped. The shooting was over revenge between sub-clans of Abgal clan in Middle Shabelle region. Tension is high in Biyo-Adde village but efforts to ease the conflict are on-going.
Mohamed Omar Habeb Mohamed Dhere the chairman of Jowhar authority is reported to have gone to the area of conflict. Earlier there has been strong difference between the two clans in the same environs who are pastorals and farmers.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Earlier there has been strong difference between the two clans in the same environs who are pastorals and farmers.
Same old, same old, Lincoln County Range War Redux.
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested a cadre of the banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) with bomb-making materials and cartridges at Karatia Bazar in Sadar upazila yesterday.
The arrestee was identified as Arman, 25, son of Liakat Khan of Hilara Adabari village under Mirzapur upazila.
On confessional statements of two arrested JMB cadres--Hassan alias Hridoy and Shoyeb alias Zahir--
I swear we've seen those names before ...
a special team of Rab-12, led by company commander Major Kazi Anis Morshed, raided the rented house of JMB cadre Selim Miah alias Babu at the Bazar yesterday morning and arrested Arman from there.
Hassan and Shoyeb were arrested with a huge amount of explosives and bomb making materials in Badda area of the capital early Wednesday. The bomb making materials and other items seized from Tangail include 500 grams of zinc oxide, 100 grams of carbon powder, 800 grams of lead nitrate, eight plastic boxes, some masks, 16 plastic circuit boards, three cartridges, 11 negatives of films, 53 audio cassettes and one mobile phone set.
The JMB cadre Selim Miah alias Babu, who rented the house at Karatia Bazar, however managed to escape arrest, Rab sources said.
He'll be back to star in a Crossfire sometime real soon ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/13/2007 00:00 ||
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Looks like a pre game show: I wonder if this report is intentionally sketchy:
To wit: :yesterday morning." Morning encompasses about half the day, when in the morning? Hopefully Oh-Dark-thirty.
Babu, the accomplice fled; however he was identified so the routine "like they were never there" disclaimer isn't used.
And the weapons cache isn't the typical RAB score; methinks that this is a bit of disinformation...
Our Kushtia correspondent reported that a team of Rab-12 arrested Santu at Patildangi village under Khoksa upazila at about 2:30pm on Thursday and took him to Kushtia Rab office for quizzing.
"Say, Santu, Christmas is over so youse not doing anything, right? Why don't youse come wit us?"
On his painfully-extracted statement, the Rab team along with Santu started for Patildangi to recover hidden firearms and arrested his accomplices.
Starts off promising enough ...
When they reached Simulia village under the upazila at about 3:30am, ...
... that magic hour in the night when crickets suddenly stop chirping ...
... Shantu's cohorts opened fire, prompting the elite force to retaliate.
"They got Shantu!"
"You mean Santu!"
"Him too! Open up, boys, it's the heat!"
During the "shootout" Santu tried to flee from Rab vehicle and received bullets.
Received two of them in fact, one behind each ear.
He died instantly, ...
... "rosebud!" ...
... while his accomplices managed to flee, Rab sources said.
Like they were never there ...
One shutter gun and two bullets were recovered from the spot.
No good crossfire is complete without the shutter gun!
Police said Santu was an accused in twelve systems three murder cases filed with Rajbari and Khoksa police stations.
And his mother didn't love him.
But wait, there's more!
According to our Jhenidah correspondent, a team of Rab-6 arrested Mohiuddin Mohi, 48, at Vaina village under Harinakundo upazila at around 12:10pm on Thursday and took him to Rab office in the district town.
"Mohi! Let's youse and us go to the district town, 'k?"
Following his confessional statement, ...
"Ooooch! Ouuuuch! I'll talk!! I'll talk!! Just put that down!"
... the Rab team, taking Mohi with them, went to the village at about 1:30 am yesterday to recover hidden firearms and arrest his cohorts.
Ah, he was the early bird ...
Sensing the presence of the Rab men, some members of the outlawed outfit opened fire.
"Hark! My spider sense is tingling! It must be the RAB!"
Rab returned fire.
But only in one direction ...
Rab sources said Mohi was shot during the encounter and died on the spot while his accomplices managed to flee.
Poor Mohi didn't even rate a trip to the Chittagong University Medical School Emergency Department, not that it would have helped ...
Officer-in-charge (OC) of Harinakundo Police Station said Mohi was a regional leader of Sramajibi Mukti Andolan and wanted in five cases including two for murder.
Another leftie meets his demise in an upazaila you've never heard of ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Underground operatives surfaced and got replanted permanently. Go RAB!
#2
Local residents say gunrunners mainly smuggle four types of firearms into Bangladesh: Kamare or Chhakka, pistols made by blacksmiths or in iron workshops or local engineering workshops; Auto-Nakka, a revolver with a nine-room magazine; Double-shutter gun, used to hit a short-range target by pulling half the bolt and a distant target by pulling the full bolt; and seven-gear sawn-off rifle.
#7
Some 5,000 of the landless, locally called as Bhumihins, settled on about 6,500 bighas of government land in Kaliganj and Debhata upazilas in Satkhira in 1998 and shrimp farms owners say they have taken 'shrimp piracy' as a living.
Very interesting. Bumpkins living in the Bighouses...in the loose translation.
#8
A seven-gear rifle? Are they all syncho'ed? And is first a real grannie gear or are the top ones killer overdrives? Gearheads the world over want to know.....
(Itar-Tass) - A total 439 militants have voluntarily laid down their arms and stopped resistance in Chechnya. Numbers of surrendering members of armed groups have been increasing as the deadline of the amnesty, January 15, is nearing, Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov told Itar-Tass on Friday. That'd be since the amnesty was declared, last... ummm... July.
January 15 ends effect of the State Dumas resolution on the amnesty to members of illegal armed units. It has been a deeply thought-out action intended primarily for a part of the youth who found themselves under the influence of a hostile ideology and do not know anything but arms. Militants initially took a waiting stance. However, a number of those who voluntarily lay down arms have begun increasing with time. The largest group, about 50 militants, has given up arms in Gudermes in August, then 35 former militants came with surrender in November. Representatives of (Aslan) Maskhadov among them, Kadyrov said.
Our main purpose is the return to the peaceful life of even one more man. If 400 well-armed militants having an experience of guerrillas action have preserved as many lives and remained alive themselves, then the amnesty has the right to be called effective, he stressed. Most of surrenders were registered in the Grozny, Gudermes and Vedeno districts, Kadyrov said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2007 00:00 ||
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There are no casualties in a terror attack in the Greek capital. A leftist group is reportedly claiming responsibility for a Friday morning rocket attack on the US embassy in Athens. "Revolutionary Struggle" is a domestic organisation that says it's opposed to Greece's role in the "global war on terror." Greece has a role in the global war on terror? As what?
The group first appeared in 2003 and has carried out bombings against mostly government targets. The blast was powerful enough to cause windows on neighbouring buildings to shatter, but caused littled damage to the embassy. American Ambassador to Greece Charles Ries says Greece's foreign affairs and public order ministers both visited the embassy after the attack as a show of solidarity. The Greek government has condemned the attack. Police plan to set up a special anti-terror task force to track down the perpetrators.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The group has been atpund since '03 and only NOW do they decide to start a special anti-terror task force?
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/13/2007 0:22 Comments ||
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It'll be two rookies, a traffic-control cop due to retire in six months, and the 'slow kid' who cleans out the police cars. But it'll be a special anti-terror task force, yubetcha!
#6
It'll be two rookies, a traffic-control cop due to retire in six months, and the 'slow kid' who cleans out the police cars. But it'll be a special anti-terror task force, yubetcha!
I almost died from a meal last time I was in Paris. It was so, strange and surreal.
I was staying in the Chateau de Saint-Germain-en-Laye (a wonderful place to stay if you ever get a chance, esp. if you like history). After the meal in city, went to sleep, as a busy day of work ahead.
Few hours later felt very ill, but tried to power through. After fighting off the urge to purge for a while, I gave in went to bathroom to vomit.
Thus ensued, 18 hours of non-stop violent purging. I could not even hold down water and as night bleed into morning, and mid-morning I started to really worry. I was terrified to enter the French medical system given my citizenship and the issues that existed (and still exist) today with France. Not so much for the care per se, but more so the run-around and extreeme billings that come later.
So every fifteen minutes, I found myself laying on the wonderfully cool marble floors in the bathroom hoping that this time it was over. It was so strange in the Chateau, because it was off season and mostly empty. All these wonderful fixtures and ambiance, and all I could care about was keeping some minor amount of water down.
The only happy part was the morning when all the kids were playing in the park. Finally after 18 hours or so of purging every 15 to 30 minutes, I could hold things down.
I have never seen a mini-bar empty so fast, and the $12 litre of coke was the best thing in my life.
Never, ever, eat the Andouille without first saturating you system with Alcohol. Lesson Learned.
I will never forget the fragrance of the hotel (cleaning) and to this day if I smell somthing like my stomach will turn instantly.
It's kept in a locked box in the ouzo-cabinet of a mid-level official from the Secretariat in the Directorate of Civil Defence and Policy Planning in Emergencies, Greek Ministry of Justice.
Of course it takes 12 days notice and filling out triplicate paperwork to be eventually approved by the EUROJUST Unit of the European Union, but it'll happen. Eventually ...
#10
Goodness, bombay dear. I just had dull and poorly prepared food, for the most part (granted, we didn't go to incredibly overpriced foodie restaurants, but tried a variety of cafes as we wandered around the city). Thankfully I've never had an experience like yours, although Mr. Wife has some unamusing tales. And I'm awfully glad you survived your experience.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/13/2007 13:11 Comments ||
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#12
Always, always check out the lavatory first, before eating ANYTHING! Especially in a foreign country, but tjis applies to the States as well.
My daughter and I have practiced this strategem for years... the only time I ever got sick from eating something overseas was a creme napoleon from a bakery in Athens. I should have noticed that it came from an unrefrigerated case. My own fault.
Always check the bathroom... if it's clean, then there is hope for the kitchen, as well!
#13
Sgt. Mom, don't have to do that in Germany. I never had a bad meal there the entire 10 years I spent in country, unless it was on an American military base.
The Greek terrorist attack appears more and more to have been a "Hey look, we're here, too!" attention-getter, rather than a serious assault on US interests.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/13/2007 14:43 Comments ||
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#14
The Greek terrorist attack appears more and more to have been a "Hey look, we're here, too!" attention-getter
So's the Greek government's response. And they've had decades of practice.
#15
The COS will get to whoever did this. The local keystone cops will never have a clue, but they will provide entertainment, the US will NEVER give up un the hunt for someone who attacks our embassy. They will find them and deal with them.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/13/2007 16:52 Comments ||
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#16
Not so sure about that Pan. For example, Mamoud is now President of Iran.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/13/2007 17:52 Comments ||
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#17
Ya carter really fucked that one. We, the US, have been very successful in hunting embassy bombers, just got a couple last week. But ya got me on the Iranian embassy. The irony of carter cutting the CIA capabilities and that embassy event is interesting.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/13/2007 19:03 Comments ||
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The bodies of 25 militants killed in a fierce battle with NATO-led troops in Afghanistan were repatriated on Friday to their tribal villages in Pakistan, where Taliban activists urged mass attendance at their funerals, residents said. NATO on Thursday reported killing or wounding 130 suspected Taliban who had crossed from Pakistan to mount attacks in eastern Afghanistan.
Several residents said the dead men were Pakistanis. About 25 other militants wounded in the fighting were being treated at private clinics in Miran Shah and another 25 were being treated elsewhere in the region.
The Pakistan Army also said it attacked militant supply trucks on its side of the border in North Waziristan. On Friday, the bodies of 25 guerrillas killed in the fighting were brought to Miran Shah. Funerals were to be held in different villages in the region later in the day, according to local intelligence officials and residents. Taliban asked everyone to attend the funerals of these martyrs, a local resident who refused to be named because he feared reprisals, told The Associated Press. Several residents said the dead men were Pakistanis. About 25 other militants wounded in the fighting were being treated at private clinics in Miran Shah and another 25 were being treated elsewhere in the region, the residents said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#4
I imagine we go to great lengths to return bodies to their tribes. For all the talk of martyrdom, seeing a lot of coffins tends to dissuade enthusiasm about joining the next batch.
#6
We need to make sure these folks are sent back with GPS locators inserted in some body cavity or another, then overfly the area dropping pamphlets and cluster munitions. The pamphlets say "next attack will be at XX:XX PM, and will cause the region to glow". Watch the rats desert the area in droves!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/13/2007 14:47 Comments ||
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India's top court rejected on Friday the final plea of a Kashmiri man sentenced to death for helping to launch the deadly attack on the nation's parliament in 2001. Mohammed Afzal, an Indian national, had filed a petition before the Supreme Court on the grounds he had been denied satisfactory legal representation during his trial. His only hope now lays in a mercy petition pending before the country's president. Under Indian law, the sentence will not be carried out until the president rejects the appeal.
Five gunmen stormed the heavily-guarded parliament complex on December 13, 2001 but were killed by security forces before they could enter the building where lawmakers sit. Ten other people, mostly security men, were also killed in the exchange of fire. Afzal was convicted of helping organise arms for the parliament raiders and a place for them to stay. He denied any involvement in the conspiracy and said he had been tortured by police into making false confessions. The court also rejected a plea by Shaukat Hussain, who had challenged his conviction for not "revealing the conspiracy to attack Parliament". He has been sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Afzal, a short, bespectacled man in his late thirties, said in a petition to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam circulated by the Society for the Protection of Detainees' and Prisoners' Rights that he had not supported the parliament raid in any way. "I do not think that the attack on the parliament served the cause of the Kashmiri people and I am genuinely sorry for the family members of those who died doing their duty," he was quoted as saying.
India blamed the parliament attack on Pakistan, which denied responsibility. It brought the nuclear-armed rivals dangerously close to their fourth war. A city court had fixed Oct. 20 last year as the day for Afzal's execution in a Delhi jail before it was put off because of the fresh petition. Executions in India are carried out by hanging.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2007 00:00 ||
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Sections of the Indian government are actively courting the muslim vote and don't wish to offend them by hanging this muslim terrorist.
Families of slain soldiers and policemen have returned the medals of gallantry awarded to them to the Indian President in protest at the Home Ministry's delay in hanging Afzal.
Posted by: john ||
01/13/2007 9:01 Comments ||
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Are you kidding ? Ten years ? Where's the outcry from the non-muz population?
Terrorists attacking British bases in Basra are using aerial footage displayed by the Google Earth internet tool to pinpoint their attacks, say Army intelligence sources.
Documents seized during raids on the homes of insurgents last week uncovered print-outs from photographs taken from Google. The satellite photographs show in detail the buildings inside the bases and vulnerable areas such as tented accommodation, lavatory blocks and where lightly armoured Land Rovers are parked.
Written on the back of one set of photographs taken of the Shatt al Arab Hotel, headquarters for the 1,000 men of the Staffordshire Regiment battle group, officers found the camp's precise longitude and latitude.
"This is evidence as far as we are concerned for planning terrorist attacks," said an intelligence officer with the Royal Green Jackets battle group. "Who would otherwise have Google Earth imagery of one of our bases?
"We are concerned that they use them to plan attacks. We have never had proof that they have deliberately targeted any area of the camp using these images but presumably they are of great use to them.
"We believe they use Google Earth to identify the most vulnerable areas such as tents."
#1
Jihad terror is carried out in the East, but it is made in the West. The Muslim Students Association and CAIR should have been declared as terrorist associations before 2001. The fact that these koranimals are allowed to live in the West, gives al Qaeda a forward base.
#4
Spot on badinov! The google earth overheads are at least 5 years old where I live. NO new construction is shown. Google earth can be used for general 3D topographical information.
#5
they also don't cover most sensitive places in the US, I found. When in OK to visit Ft. Sill, north of Lawton, the photos are mysteriously "obscure". I'd hoped to pinpoint the Gunner's Hall, etc. where the family mtgs were to occur..no such luck :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/13/2007 13:10 Comments ||
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#6
Today's Organ: Telegraph.co.uk
Terrorists 'use Google maps to hit UK troops'
This [Google Maps] is a file "story" that today's breed of media Orgs & journalists cycle every 6 months or so with minor variations.
IE. varibles to fill in:
1) which ever particular service
2) which ever particular Nation
3) which ever particular AO
4) which ever particular Terrorist Outfit
5) which ever particular Ox to be Gored
6) which ever particular Fright Wig da Rapporteur can put on.
Tomorrow's Organ:
The Day After That's Organ:
"show sum respect man"...i am!
Hmmmmm - looks like the ROE have changed ..for everybody
A recent series of American raids against Iranians in Iraq was authorized under an order that President Bush decided to issue several months ago to undertake a broad military offensive against Iranian operatives in the country, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday.
There has been a decision to go after these networks, Ms. Rice said in an interview with The New York Times in her office on Friday afternoon, before leaving on a trip to the Middle East.
Ms. Rice said Mr. Bush had acted after a period of time in which we saw increasing activity among Iranians in Iraq, and increasing lethality in what they were producing. She was referring to what American military officials say is evidence that many of the most sophisticated improvised explosive devices, or I.E.D.s, being used against American troops were made in Iran.
Ms. Rice was vague on the question of when Mr. Bush issued the order, but said his decision grew out of questions that the president and members of his National Security Council raised in the fall.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/13/2007 00:00 ||
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Even if a year+ later then it should have been, this is very welcome news.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/13/2007 0:17 Comments ||
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#2
Article: Administration officials now describe Iran as the single greatest threat the United States faces in the Middle East, though some administration critics regard the talk about Iran as a diversion, one intended to shift attention away from the spiraling chaos in Iraq.
Iran is about to get nukes and talk about it is a diversion? These guys have been navel-gazing for far too long.
#3
The ROE will have changed when SOF are directing airstikes against Persians on behalf of the Azeri, Balochi, Kurdish, Turkmen, Luri Liberation Fronts.
Posted by: ed ||
01/13/2007 1:14 Comments ||
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#4
That Iranian official was ordered released, by Ms. Rice among others, after Iran claimed he had diplomatic status
Does diplomatic status apply when you are waging war? If that is the case give our diplomats UW and weapon training and let them loose on our enemies. If they get captured they get a "free get out jail card"
#7
I just want the record to show and I would like to have a legal response from the State Department if they think they have authority to pursue networks or anything else across the border into Iran and Iraq that will generate a constitutional confrontation here in the Senate, I predict to you, Mr. Biden said.
At least it's now on the record which side Biden's on.
#8
raise the cost to the United States for its intervention in Iraq, in hopes of teaching Washington a painful lesson about the perils of engaging in regime change
And as soon as they teach us this lesson, they'll go back to being good neighbors? Somebody's been eatin' too many Dreamsicles.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/13/2007 6:51 Comments ||
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#9
Does diplomatic status apply when you are waging war?
Yes.
Embassy personnel from the enemy state are usually removed from their compound and kept in secure and comfortable quarters until such time as neutral transportation home can be arranged.
(Xinhua) -- Iraqi police said they found 37 unidentified bodies, some of them tortured, in several parts of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said. "Our patrols collected up to 37 bodies during the past 24 hours in different neighborhoods of Baghdad," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Some of the bullet-riddled bodies were bounded and showing signs of torture, the source added.
Last year, a report of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq saidthat civilian deaths in Iraq reached an unprecedented level and civilians killed in violent attacks. The report said that bodies found in Baghdad morgue "often bear signs of severe torture, including acid-induced injuries and burns caused by chemical substances, missing skin, broken bones, missingeyes, missing teeth and wounds caused by power drills or nails."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2007 00:00 ||
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Only 37 ? Most of the death squads must have taken the night off. Some obscure holiday we missed ?
US forces on Friday released one Iranian out of the six they detained in a raid on the Iranian consulate in the Kurdish city of Arbil the previous day. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari called on the US-led coalition forces to release the other five Iranians, Arab media reported Friday.
The Kurdish regional government condemned the US raid. "The attack on a consulate having immunity under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 is against the efforts exerted to establish stability all over Iraq," a spokesman said.
US forces accompanied by military helicopters stormed the Iranian consulate in Arbil, arresting six Iranian employees and confiscating documents and computers. The US military said in a statement Thursday that the detainees were "suspected of being closely tied to activities targeting Iraqi and coalition forces."
"The detainees will be questioned and the seized documents and equipment will be examined to determine the extent of the alleged illegal or terrorist activity," the statement added.
Sunni Arabs in Iraq accuse Iran of supporting Shiite militias in the country and of participating with its own fighters in murder campaigns against Sunnis.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Which one? If he has diplomatic immunity, then sign me up for bombing the hell out of all of them
#2
I vote we collect an even 100; then we'll talk.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/13/2007 6:52 Comments ||
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#3
"The attack on a consulate having immunity under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963"
Take that up with Tehran. Something about American consulate personnel being held for over a year back during the time of clueless Jimmy "Howdy Doody" Carter.
#4
Fallon might want to get a message to the kurds that says something like, "Don't make me kill you motherf'ers."
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/13/2007 9:53 Comments ||
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#5
First - the building raided apparently was NOT a consulate.
http://www.nysun.com/article/46598
Second - someone's not done his homework re: Vienna Convention of 1963.
Relevant text:
Article 55
RESPECT FOR THE LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF THE RECEIVING STATE
1. Without prejudice to their privileges and immunities, it is the duty of all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State. They also have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State.
2. The consular premises shall not be used in any manner incompatible with the exercise of consular functions.
3. The provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article shall not exclude the possibility of offices of other institutions or agencies being installed in part of the building in which the consular premises are situated, provided that the premises assigned to them are separate from those used by the consular post. In that event, the said offices shall not, for the purposes of the present Convention, be considered to form part of the consular premises.
#7
clueless Jimmy "Howdy Doody" Carter
Let's not give Howdy Doody a bad name, here. That puppet had at least THREE TIMES as much common sense as Jimmah "peanut-brain" Kahtah.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/13/2007 14:59 Comments ||
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#8
Ya' mean they didn't release him from 10 thousand feet over the Iraq/Iran border?
possible reasons
1. Theyre preparing an attack on the Sunnis in Kirkuk, and the Persians, trying to stir something up, were providing THEM with weapons (enemy of my enemy and all that) and theyre pissed, esp as the Shiites down south are still getting THEIR weapons
2. Prestive. "we finally got some diplo activity in Irbil, even if it IS the mad mullahs, and weve got to act like a sovereign govt, since thats what we want to be"
3. Deference to allies - for now Maliki and the Shiites run things, and are the Kurds allies against the Baathists and Sunnis, and to let it go would have breached that alliance.
#11
Most of the Kurd leadership lived in exile in when they sided with Iran (back to the days of the Shah) against Saddam Hussein's regime. Only with the US imposed No Fly Zone where they able to return. For example Talabani, received the bulk of his money, arms and political support from Iran. And I'd trust the Barzanis even less. Also notice the western exiled and backed Shiite leaders have been murdered, exiled or marginalized.
Same for nearly the entire Shiite leadership a decade later.
Posted by: ed ||
01/13/2007 21:06 Comments ||
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#12
Same for nearly the entire Shiite leadership a decade later.
Ignore that. I decided to write further on the Shiite exiles.
Posted by: ed ||
01/13/2007 21:08 Comments ||
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sayyyyy that's another asset freed up in the region...hmmm
Barely six months after returning from its maiden deployment, the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan will leave its Coronado pier within weeks for a cruise in the western Pacific Ocean. Two Navy spokesmen said the Reagan probably will spend several months filling in for the Kitty Hawk, the Japan-based carrier that is unavailable because it's undergoing routine maintenance. The sources requested anonymity because Pentagon policy forbids them from providing such information before an official announcement.
Said source should be court-martialed.
The Reagan's unexpected deployment is an indirect result of President Bush's new decision to station a second carrier strike group in the Persian Gulf, the spokesmen said. The Reagan will fulfill patrol duties in the western Pacific in place of the John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group, which Bush sent to the Persian Gulf as added muscle to supplement the strike group of the Virginia-based carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The Stennis strike group which includes three aviation squadrons from San Diego as well as the San Diego-based cruiser Antietam, destroyer Preble and frigate Rentz was scheduled for a routine cruise in the western Pacific.
The date of the Reagan's departure hasn't been set, but its crew is expected to receive deployment orders within a week, the spokesmen said. The tour is expected to last a few months. The ship likely will deploy without its carrier air wing or escort ships, relying for support instead on vessels and aircraft already stationed in Japan.
The Reagan, commissioned in 2003, arrived in San Diego the following year and completed its maiden deployment in July. Its crew members aren't the only locally stationed sailors affected by Bush's planned military buildup in Iraq and the Persian Gulf. On Friday, the Navy confirmed that possibly all ships in the San Diego-based Boxer Strike Group will remain in the gulf for up to 60 additional days.
The amphibious assault ship Boxer and its five escorts the amphibious ships Dubuque and Comstock, the destroyers Benfold and Howard, and the cruiser Bunker Hill left San Diego on Sept. 13. Those vessels carried about 6,000 troops, including 2,200 Marines of the Camp Pendleton-based 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
The contingent was supposed to return to San Diego in March. On Thursday, the Pentagon ordered the 15th MEU to stay an extra 45 days in Iraq. Navy officials said the Boxer, Dubuque and Comstock definitely will be extended to bring the Marines home, while the Benfold, Howard and Bunker Hill will likely stay longer as well.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/13/2007 10:23 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
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#1
"... But its crew is likely to get deployment orders with the best week."
Whoever leaked this should be looking for a new job. These men and they're families should not have to read about this before they get they're orders.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/13/2007 11:05 Comments ||
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#2
Next. Not best. D'oh!
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/13/2007 11:07 Comments ||
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#3
I'm confused. The headline implies that 6 months is an unusually short time for a carrier to wait between deployments. But that doesn't make sense; 6 months would give you a 50% duty cycle, and that makes sense to me.
Heck, I vaguely remember that subs have two crews that go out in rotation. I'm sure that's just not possible with carriers -- too many people -- but I'm still struck that the headline is frankly alarmist when I don't think it needs to be.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
01/13/2007 12:12 Comments ||
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#4
6 months is a very short time after a shakedown cruise. After a shakedown, you have to assume tens of thousands of problems will be discovered, most of which are small, but all of which you want fixed.
It covers the gamut, from glitches and improper installation, to manufacturing faults buried deep within the hull under 500 pounds of wiring. Every exposed weld has to be inspected and any stress fractures, corrosion and metal fatigue reported.
#6
So what! I don't remember anybody getting in a tizzy about the boat I was on making a couple of back-to-back northern "Hydrographic Surveys". For a total time submerged (SUBMERGED!!)
of 182 days! So cry me a river, wussy boys.
#9
Couple of clarifications may be in order:
"The Stennis strike group which includes three aviation squadrons from San Diego" There are moer than 3 squadrons aboard any CV; in addition to the attack and fighter guys ( now all lumped into the Hornet) there are the S-3, E-2C, EA-6B and SH-60 outfits, all tasked with vital functions. They mey not be dropping bombs or firing cannons, but they are providing services to keep the Lane Darts and the CV safe (not counting that little Chinese sub / Kitty Hawk thing the other day)
Second: a 6 month turn around is unusual: in addition to all the CV-based stuff posted earlier, there is an enormous amount of work for the squadrons: personnel and aircraft transfers, training, in depth maintenance on the birds that couldn't be done underway. That's not to say it is impossible, because this article clearly speaks to the event happening, but the reality is, while do-able in a short-term or surge mode, long term there will be a cost.
Sorry to be so long winded.
Personal opinion: AA5839, I don't think anybody is crying, but you make no mention of all the perks you bubbleheads get that are not availalble to the rest of the Navy. I got to spend about 3 weeks in Bangor and I was truly impressed with the professionalism and support your side of the Nav gets compared to the Airedales. But all that aside, watching a bird that you spent 6 months reasembling from a basket case make its fist flight and come back gripe free gave me and my crew a huge amount of satisfaction. Can't put a price tag on that.
A total of 64 teachers have been killed by Muslim insurgents over the past three years in Thailand's southernmost provinces. Teachers' groups plan to hold a ceremony to remember them on Tuesday for the country's Teachers' Day.
Boonsom Thongsriplai, chairman of the Federation of Teachers in the Southern Border Provinces, said Jamnong Tenmanee, a teacher of Ban Patae School in Yala, was the 64th teacher killed during the past three years of southern insurgency.
#4
An in-situ commenter advanced the idea this was done on purpose, IE weaken the local education system, so the only left available is the islamic one : this way, it will churn out lil' muslim automatons... and the kufrs will have to relocate elsewhere if they wish to have their children educated. Soft ethic cleansing.
A police officer and an off-duty firefighter were fatally shot Saturday in southern Thailand, in the latest attacks that police suspect were carried out by Muslim insurgents.
Two assailants shot Lt. Pak Petchmalai, 49, as he was driving to work at Sai Buri district's Police Station in Pattani province, said another police officer, Lt. Sakkariya Mankongket.
A witness said firefighter Nikom Nupeng, 37, had been planting trees at a park in Yala province's Bannang Sata district when two attackers shot him dead and fled by motorcycle, said police Lt. Sirichai Suksaran.
On Friday in Narathiwat, a roadside bomb seriously wounded three soldiers. Elsewhere in the province, an attacker shot dead an assistant village chief heading home from guard duty at his village, the official Thai News Agency reported. On the same day, authorities found and destroyed a bomb attached to the underside of a pickup truck entering a Pattani army camp. The military said it was investigating.
#1
Runnin' low on teachers already. Cops better get their heads out of their ass and take the bullet out of their shirt pocket and start paying attention. If anyone looks suspicious, it's target practice time. Apologize later.
"You are asinine and benighted. You are the source of all unpleasantness. You spread misery and sorrow wherever you go. I cannot believe how incredibly stupid you all are. I mean rock-hard stupid. Dehydrated-rock-hard stupid. Stupid so stupid that it goes way beyond the stupid we know into a whole different dimension of stupid. You are trans-stupid stupid. Meta-stupid. Stupid collapsed on itself so far that even the neutrons have collapsed. Stupid gotten so dense that no intellect can escape. Singularity stupid. Blazing hot mid-day sun on Mercury stupid. You emit more stupid in one second than our entire galaxy emits in a year."
#10
really? Are you, like, maybe 12? How old IS your Mom?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/13/2007 19:40 Comments ||
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#11
I once had a woman come up to me in a bar and say, "I want to make love to you in the worst way. And the worst way I can think of is standing up in a hammock." Then she left.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/13/2007 19:47 Comments ||
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#12
This site gets better every day...and not in the worst way like poor old Deacon Blues.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Somali government troops backed by Ethiopian soldiers have captured the last stronghold of the Union of Islamic Courts, the defence minister says. Col Barre Aden Shire said the town of Ras Kamboni, in south-eastern Somalia, fell after several days of fighting.
(SomaliNet) Details are emerging on today's deadly confrontation outside of the main presidential residence in the Somalia capital Mogadishu between government forces and militia loyal to former warlords as Somalia president sent his condolences to the relatives of the victims. The death toll rises to nine mostly were militiamen loyal to Mohamed Qanyare Afrah, member of the transitional parliament, medical sources confirmed. Eight more others were wounded in the gun battle. The wounded include civilians, hit by astray bullets. 
(SomaliNet) At least six people have been killed and others more were wounded in clan fighting which erupted in Middle Shabelle region in north of the Somalia capital Mogadishu on later Friday. Clan militiamen have launched an ambush attack on Biyo-Adde village 50km (31 miles) north of Jowhar city of Middle Shabelle region where they killed six people including well-known elders and businessmen. 
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested a cadre of the banned militant outfit 
Two underground operatives were killed in encounters with Rapid Action Battalion in Kushtia and Jhenidah early yesterday.
(Itar-Tass) - A total 439 militants have voluntarily laid down their arms and stopped resistance in Chechnya. Numbers of surrendering members of armed groups have been increasing as the deadline of the amnesty, January 15, is nearing, Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov told Itar-Tass on Friday. 
There are no casualties in a terror attack in the Greek capital. A leftist group is reportedly claiming responsibility for a Friday morning rocket attack on the US embassy in Athens. "Revolutionary Struggle" is a domestic organisation that says it's opposed to Greece's role in the "global war on terror." 
The bodies of 25 militants killed in a fierce battle with NATO-led troops in Afghanistan were repatriated on Friday to their tribal villages in Pakistan, where Taliban activists urged mass attendance at their funerals, residents said. NATO on Thursday reported killing or wounding 130 suspected Taliban who had crossed from Pakistan to mount attacks in eastern Afghanistan. 
India's top court rejected on Friday the final plea of a Kashmiri man sentenced to death for helping to launch the deadly attack on the nation's parliament in 2001. Mohammed Afzal, an Indian national, had filed a petition before the Supreme Court on the grounds he had been denied satisfactory legal representation during his trial. His only hope now lays in a mercy petition pending before the country's president. Under Indian law, the sentence will not be carried out until the president rejects the appeal.
Terrorists attacking British bases in Basra are using aerial footage displayed by the Google Earth internet tool to pinpoint their attacks, say Army intelligence sources.
(Xinhua) -- Iraqi police said they found 37 unidentified bodies, some of them tortured, in several parts of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said. "Our patrols collected up to 37 bodies during the past 24 hours in different neighborhoods of Baghdad," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Some of the bullet-riddled bodies were bounded and showing signs of torture, the source added. 
US forces on Friday released one Iranian out of the six they detained in a raid on the Iranian consulate in the Kurdish city of Arbil the previous day. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari called on the US-led coalition forces to release the other five Iranians, Arab media reported Friday. 
