A mid-level Taliban commander said to lead more than 100 men in southern Afghanistan surrendered to a government reconciliation drive as authorities arrested 12 other rebels. Mullah Ibrahim, aged about 45, told reporters in the southern city of Kandahar that he had decided to join the reconciliation process "because I can see that there is an Islamic government in place."
Police arrested the one-legged mullah about two weeks ago in Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban movement that sees the worst of the militant uprising against the new government.
Since when does being arrested constitute "surrender"?
The US-led coalition says Ibrahim had been in charge of 100 to 150 troops and was "active" in Kandahar city and Panjwayi district, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) to the southwest. Panjwayi is a known Taliban stronghold and was the focus of intensive coalition and Afghan security force operations last month in which scores of Taliban were killed or arrested.
The commander however denied at a media conference that he was involved in the insurgency launched after the Taliban was toppled from government in 2001 by a coalition led by the United States.
"Nope, nope, wasn't me."
Ibrahim, popularly known as Mullah Got -- a Pashtu language reference to his limping gait -- was an influential military commander under the Taliban regime, said a regional head of the reconciliation programme, Agha Lalai. He fought the Northern Alliance, which later formed part of the coalition that toppled the hardline government, but then went underground.
The government initiated the reconciliation programme more than a year ago in a bid to persuade Taliban loyalists to abandon the insurgency. The scheme allows an amnesty for members of the Taliban and other Islamic militias "whose hands are not stained with innocent people's blood". Officials say more than 1,200 former militants have signed up.
Elsewhere, four policemen were killed in Kandahar province's Maiwand district, close to Panjwayi, when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb, said Daud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial governor.
And 12 Taliban were arrested Friday in a house in central Ghazni province where they were attending a funeral, provincial governor Sher Alam said. "The police acted on a tip-off and surrounded the house the Taliban were in and captured them without fighting," he said.
Good thing it wasn't a wedding
A vehicle, four motorbikes and several guns were seized, he said.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/16/2006 14:45 ||
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#1
"Stop! Don't shoot! Please! I surrender! Take my men...they have information. I am just a lowly..."
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/16/2006 20:20 Comments ||
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#2
Never trust a one-legged mullah who surrenders
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/16/2006 22:36 Comments ||
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KABUL: At least 40 insurgents were killed in a coalition air and ground strike targeting "terrorists" in remote southeastern Afghanistan, the US-led force said late on Thursday. The strike in Paktika province which began on Wednesday and ended on Thursday was part of Operation Mountain Thrust, it said in a statement.
A bomb hidden in a bus heading to a coalition base in Kandahar city exploded during morning rush hour, killing seven people and injuring 17, the Interior Ministry said. Coalition spokesman Maj Quentin Innis blamed the attack on Taliban militants. Among the dead were interpreters and workers for the airbase, Afghan officials said.
A man opened fire on Thursday on Nepali guards working for a US security firm in central Kabul, killing one of them before he was shot dead himself, Afghanistan's police chief said.
A mine exploded in southwestern Nimroz province along the main highway from Kandahar to Iran, killing two Turkish construction workers, said provincial spokesman Wahid Kharzad.
Three policemen were killed when they came under fire by Taliban forces late on Wednesday night in southern Zabul province, according to provincial police chief Noor Mohammed.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I think we need a new graphic...
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
06/16/2006 8:41 Comments ||
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Mods, 'sensitivity' check on the above graphic please....whahahahhaa.
(SomaliNet) The chairperson of islamic courts' union in Mogadishu Sheikh Sharif Shekh Ahmed has renewed his warning against deploying foreign peace keeping troops in Somalia after the Somalia law makers approved a proposal from the government on outside troops in Somalia on Wednesday. As Somalinet correspondent reports.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2006 00:00 ||
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(SomaliNet) Reports from Baidoa town, which is temporarily capital of the transitional federal government, say military batches have been delivering in Baidoa airport for the last three nights, where heavily guarded by militiamen loyal to President Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed. It is in violation of the UN embargo on Somalia in 1992.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2006 00:00 ||
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(SomaliNet) The Somali parliament has finally approved of peacekeepers into the country after the Islamic courts took control of Mogadisho two weeks ago. The decision was made yesterday inorder to supress the anarchy that has gripped the country for the past years. Somalia has been struggling with poverty,disease and the lack of a stable government since 1991 when president Siad Barre was over thrown leaving the country to warlords.
The war between the warlords and the Islamic courts has ruined the country and left it to the dogs. The death toll has risen to more than 350 people mostly civilians,forcing the Islamists to capture the town and promise to stabalise it.
The warlords extended their threshold to the southern part of Somalia, Jowhar, on Wednesday. The decision to invite foreign troops into the country by the Somali government has been strongly opposed by the Islamic courts union and they threatened to close talks with the government should it bring peacekeepers into the country. Analysts have oberved that this decision may make Somalia's situation worse. Several troops will be deployed into Somalia from different contries such as Ethiopia and other bordering nations.
I thought the turbans took Jowhar yesterday? Did the warlords take it back?
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
The warlords left Jowhar, so the muzzies didn't attack the town. The question about these African countries is are they worth saving ? You know, at least France has wine and cheese.
(SomaliNet) Militiamen loyal to Islamic courts union in Mogadishu, are reported to have taken over on Thursday the control of part of Beledweine town, the capital of Hiran region in central Somalia peacefully and declared an Islamic court in the town, day after the ICU seized the power of Jowhar town 90km of the capital. As Somalinet correspondent reports. Beledweine town is 335km north of the capital Mogadishu and is strategy town which bordering with Ethiopia. "Islamic gunmen seized the main bridge of the town and other key positions at around 10:00 am local time but there were no clashes with the militia of the recently nominated chairman of the region Yusuf Ahmed Daba-ged," one of residents in Beledweine told Somalinet.
Hundreds of pro-Islamic courts unions have gathered in front of the the centre of regional council in town to show their support for Islamic courts in the region, with the officials of Beledweine Islamic court said they will form the executive council of the court in Beledweine. The towns clerics said the Islamic court will be extended to all districts of Hiran region to work on peace in the region.
No words yet from the ruler of town Yusuf Daba-ged on the instant change in Beledweine. The Islamic courts union which seems to be Somalia Taliban in horn of Africa captures towns day to day and moves vastly to central Somalia with the help of Somali society.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2006 00:00 ||
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3 criminals killed in 'crossfire' with Rab
Three alleged criminals were killed in 'crossfire' between their cohorts and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) personnel in the capital and Barisal early yesterday.
Triple-Play Thursday
Police said Sujan Kumar Das (Mohammad Raihan) was accused in five murder cases and a close associate of infamous criminals-- Shahdat, Khorshed, Rajib and Mintu-- in the Mirpur area. The 25-year-old hailed from Ramgar in Khagrachhari and he was residing at a house on the Commissioner Road in Jurain in Sutrapur.
Rab members arrested Sujan from the capital's Kotwali area on Wednesday and he admitted to have links with the Mirpur gangsters during interrogation.
"Aaaaaahhhhhaaaaaaa!!!!! (wimper)"
"I'll just put that down as a 'Yes"."
Following Sujan's information, a team of Rab-4 took Sujan to raid the criminals' den at Shialbari early yesterday to seize arms and arrest his accomplices.
Same old story, same happy ending
A Rab release claimed that when they reached the area, Sujan's accomplices opened fire on them from hideout, compelling the crime busters to retaliate.
"That's our claim. Youse gonna make sumthin' bout it?"
At one stage of the shootout, Sujan tried to escape and died on the spot having caught in the line of fire.
Houdini couldn't escape from this spot
Two Rab members were also injured during the incident, the release stated.
"Dammit, dat coffee's dot. I dink i urnt by tung"
Rab members recovered one pistol and four round bullets from the spot.
Meanwhile, two convicts of the Barisal city were killed in 'crossfire' with Rab early yesterday at the BSIC water tank area, reports Our Barisal Correspondent.
Two, two, two thugs in one!
Ziaul Hassan Suhad was sentenced for 108 years rigorous imprisonment under the Public Safety Act and Rafiqul Islam Pipal for 32 years in a murder case. Rafiqul was an accomplice of Ziaul. Accused in more than dozen criminal cases, the two moved freely at the courtesy of their godfathers in a ruling party.
So that whole "rigorous imprisonment" thing is working real good
Captain Zamil of the Rab-8 said Ziaul was caught from the Kawnia area at about 10:00pm on the Wednesday night hours after the arrest of Rafiqul.
Rafiqul rat him out?
Following interrogation, a Rab team went to the BSIC water tank area along with them to recover arms. Associates of the two arrestees opened fire on the team in an effort to snatch them away at about 3:15am yesterday.
"Day's got da boss! Open reckless inaccurate fire!"
The two criminals were caught in crossfire when they tried to flee.
"Curly toed sneakers, don't fail us ....Ouch, ouch..rosebud.."
Rab said they recovered one revolver, one gun, one pipe gun and six rounds of bullet.
Local people brought out processions in the area with the spread of the death news.
"Huzza! They're dead, dead, dead! Sweetmeats for all!"
Sources said Ziaul, a former BCL cadre and leader of the notorious Suhad Bahini, was a terror of the city during the AL regime. After alliance government came into power he along with his gang joined the Akbar Bahini led by Jubo Dal leader Bihari Akbar.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/16/2006 08:48 ||
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#4
No! Wait! Even better.... FredMan! How about a Do-It-Yourself Crossfire Maker! It would be like the pinacle of your lifes work. You'd be even more famous, folks would flock to see the infidels infernal word machine.
Two bomb makers, who were injured in a blast at Nawapara in Jessore on Tuesday, died of their injuries on Wednesday and yesterday.
"They're dead, Jim!"
They were identified as leader of the gang Habibur Rahman, 30, of Laxmipur near Nawapara and Aminur Rahman, 18, of Masharhati in Jessore. Habibur died at his grandparents' house in Nadendrapur of Jessore on Wednesday afternoon.
"Grandmaw! It's gettin' dark, Grandmaw!"
His body was however recovered around 10:00am yesterday at Prembagh when his wife was taking the body away. Aminur died at Khulna Medical College Hospital around 8:30am yesterday.
"Whatcha got there, lady?"
"It's ummm... my husband."
"He looks dead!"
"No, no! He's just takin' a nap!"
"Uhuh. Wake up, there, fellow! Where'd you leave your lower jaw?"
Two people died earlier in that bomb blast incident at a field in Nawapara in Jessore on Tuesday night. The dead were identified as Billal, 28, of Ektarpur and Suman, 27, of Masharhati. Locals found Suman, Billal and Aminur lying in a pool of blood and informed the police. Suman and Billal died on Wednesday at Jessore General Hospital.
"Paging Doctor Quincy! Code Blue!"
Police quoting Aminur said he was involved in the attack on Farazi Motiar Rahman, a BNP leader of Abhaynagar unit, last year. He said Habibur had hired them to make the bomb and injured Habibur managed to escape following the explosion.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- At least four Turks were injured Thursday when explosives placed in a trash bin near a bus stop blew up in Eminonu district in the landmark tourist city of Istanbul. Anatolia news agency quoted a security source as saying "a real disaster could have occurred because the area is usually one of Turkey's most crowded places but fortunately it was not so crowded today." Security forces rushed to the area, surrounded it, started investigations and searched for other possible explosives.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2006 00:00 ||
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A little warning from Perv. Be careful what you report.
A Pakistani journalist who reported the death of an alleged al-Qaeda commander has been killed, officials say.
The body of Hayatullah Khan, 30, was discovered near the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan tribal region.
"He was shot in the back," an official, Fida Mohammed, told AFP news agency. He said the killing appeared to be recent.
Mr Khan disappeared in December after reporting that Abu Hamza Rabia had been killed by a US missile - not in a bomb making accident as claimed by Pakistan.
Relatives found Mr Khan's body 3km south of Mir Ali near the Afghan border on Friday.
He had been handcuffed and appeared to have been shot from behind while trying to escape, his brother, Ehsanullah, told the BBC.
The journalist had lost a lot of weight and had grown a long beard. Mr Khan's brother said the handcuffs were of a type usually used by security forces.
The BBC's Haroon Rashid in Peshawar says it is a mystery who kidnapped and killed Mr Khan.
Both the militants and the authorities denied knowledge of his whereabouts during the six months he was missing.
Local tribal journalists' organisations have blamed the government for his death because it failed to rescue him.
Mr Khan was seized by unidentified gunmen on 5 December.
Days earlier, the Pakistani authorities had said an al-Qaeda commander they named as Abu Hamza Rabia had been killed with four others in a blast at an alleged militant hideout in North Waziristan.
The official version was that bomb-making materials had exploded by accident.
But locals said the men were killed by a missile fired from an unmanned US drone. Mr Khan took photographs of what appeared to be pieces of a US missile at the scene.
Pakistan is a close ally of the US in its "war on terror" but reports of US strikes on Pakistani soil provoke anger among opponents of the government in Islamabad.
Hayatullah Khan worked for a Pakistani English-language newspaper and a foreign photo agency.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said he had in the past been threatened by security forces, suspected Taleban members and tribesmen for his reporting.
He leaves behind three children and a widow.
Posted by: john ||
06/16/2006 17:35 ||
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#1
Mr Khan a Pakistani journalist had been kidnapped in December 05 after reporting that al-Qaeda commander Abu Hamza Rabia had been killed by a US missile.
He was founed handcuffed and appeared to have been shot from behind while trying to escape.
KHAR: Authorities in Bajaur Agency arrested dozens of people on Thursday for suspected involvement in attacks on security forces in the area. Most of the arrested were Afghan nationals, according to reports. Sources said that the administration had also started deporting the families of the arrested Afghans. Sources said that the administration suspected the arrested men of links with Indian intelligence agencies. Political administration officials refused to comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2006 00:00 ||
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QUETTA: Four men were hurt in a blast at a security compound in Balochistan on Thursday. Police said the residential quarters for officers of Inter Services Intelligence was attacked in Qalat, 160 km south of Quetta. "It seems somebody threw a hand grenade from outside," said a police official who declined to be identified. Three paramilitary troops on guard at the compound and one intelligence agency official were wounded, he said, adding that Baloch rebels were suspected to be behind the attack. In separate incidents on Thursday, gunmen attacked a paramilitary vehicle, killing one man, and a railway line in another area was blown up by a bomb, police said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2006 00:00 ||
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PESHAWAR: Two army personnel were wounded and an army vehicle damaged in a landmine explosion at Darpakhel in North Waziristan on Thursday. The army personnel retaliated and opened fire after the blast, resulting in the death of an elderly woman bystander. Security forces also arrested two tribesmen.
Oh, nice shootin', Tex!
The incident took place at 1:30pm at Darpakhel as the army convoy headed to Dattakhel from Miranshah. Another source said three army jawans were wounded. Local Taliban called reporters on the telephone from an undisclosed location accepting responsibility for the attack.
"Yup. We dunnit an' we're glad!"
They said the blast had killed and injured "several army soldiers". They said that the two men who were arrested had nothing to do with militants.
Just the usual suspects...
In another incident at Ahmedkhel, two FC personnel were seriously injured in a landmine blast. Security forces opened fire on four suspected militants at around 9:30pm on Wednesday night at the Army Camp in Miranshah, killing one of them. The other three fled. The Security forces took the body of the dead tribesman with them. Reports from the Spin Wam area said an exchange of fire between the army and militants was continuing and helicopter gunships were spotted over the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- Four senior police officers and a civilian were killed and more than five others were wounded, two of them critically, in a drive-by shooting Thursday in the commercial city of Karachi, said police. Police officer Amanullah Niazi told KUNA in a telephone call that two armed motorcyclists intercepted a police and a government vehicle in Saddar area of the city and sprayed bullets at them.
He said the firing killed four policemen including Deputy Superintendent Police (DSP), Assistant Superintendent Inspector (ASI) and two constables, as well as a civilian. He added that more than five people were also wounded and two of them were said to be critical condition. He termed the incident as being an act of terrorism and said police had launched investigations.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- Four security officials were wounded and a soldier was killed Thursday in Southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan in two different incidents of hand-grenade explosion and firing, police said. An unknown person hurled a hand-grenade at the residential quarters for security officers in Kalat area, about 150 kilometers from Quetta, the provincial capital, police sources told KUNA. They said the explosion badly damaged the compound and wounded four security officials. In a separate incident, a paramilitary vehicle came under firing by suspected militants that killed a trooper. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks but police blamed Baluch nationalist militants, waging war since decades for more provincial autonomy.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2006 00:00 ||
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Careful -- it's Reuters
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Friday a probe of allegations that U.S. Marines killed up to 24 unarmed civilians in the town of Haditha last year has been completed and a top commander is reviewing it.
Lieutenant-General Peter Chiarelli, commander of U.S. ground forces in Iraq, received the findings of the investigation and would either approve the findings, add his own conclusions or request more information from the investigating officer.
A separate investigation being conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service could lead to charges including murder.
Major-General Eldon Bargewell led the fact-finding mission looking at not only whether Marines involved in the November 19 incident lied about what happened, but whether senior Marine Corps officers sufficiently examined the veracity of the troops' account.
Defense officials previously have said a preliminary military probe conducted in February and March found evidence that the Marines involved in the incident gave a false account of what happened.
An article on MG Bargewell
General Leading Haditha Probe Known for Integrity, Toughness
#1
Why conduct the probe? These are the brave soldiers who volunteered to protect us all, but the MSM is the high court, right?
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/16/2006 17:07 Comments ||
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#2
An editorial here at the 'Burg some months back tagged the MSM as the "New Inquisitors" - taking the place of the Catholic Church in the 1500's.
They can do no wrong, and are on a quest for the holy grail of truth and perfection.
It fits.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/16/2006 17:41 Comments ||
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#3
The mnilitary was on this case long before the MSM even knew of it, just like Abu Ghraib. That our military takes these incidents seriously and investigates them is part of what makes it the most oputstanding military in the world. It is also why those in the chain who may not have followed procedure properly may end up paying a price even if it is determined that nothing worthy of prosecution occurred in the actual event itself.
When the media gets involved, these things become political and we get outrages such as the Marines here being held in irons in spite of not being charged with any violation. Remember that when you give the media money by watching and reading it.
#7
amen OS - this smells of Pentagon REMF's covering their ass by throwing away innocent Marines. Contact your congresscritter. Demand JUSTICE and unshackling for those not convicted of any crimes, DAMMIT!
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/16/2006 21:59 Comments ||
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#8
...and the MSM is all too eager to oblige. The video didn't come from REMF but a so-called "credible humanitarian" (who just happened to spend quality time at Abu Ghraib)
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/16/2006 22:34 Comments ||
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Basra, 16 June (AKI) - Armed gunmen on Friday killed Yusuf al-Hassani, the prayer leader of the Grand Mosque in Basra and president of the Basra section of the Council of the Ulema. A spokesman for the Iraqi Islamic Party told Adnkronos International (AKI) that "Hassani, imam and preacher of the Grand Mosque of Basra, was going to the mosque when his convoy was attacked at 12.15 by armed men who opened fire killing him and some of his aides." He also accused "Iranian" Shiite militias of being behind the attack.
Basra police spokesman Karim Al-Zaydi confirmed the attack, saying that "the police are carrying out inquiries to clear up the circumstances of the killing". Basra, until some months ago considered one of the calmer cities in Iraq, is under a state of emergency declared by the new prime minister Nouri al-Maliki during his latest visit. Despite this and new security measures some observers in the city say the rate of killings has actually increased.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/16/2006 13:26 ||
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BAGHDAD, Iraq - A key terror leader linked to the deaths of at least six coalition soldiers was captured in Karbala, the US military said on Friday, a day after the local council issued strong protests over the arrests of three members. The military said Iraqi soldiers, assisted by coalition advisers, conducted an early morning ground assault raid on Thursday in the Shiite holy city, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad, and captured a high-ranking terrorist network commander without firing a shot.
The suspect was identified by the military as Shaikh Aqeel. Aqeel commands a Karbala terrorist network and is wanted for assassinating Iraqi citizens and planning and ordering attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces, the military said in a statement. The military also accused him of providing financial support to other militants, along with roadside bombs it said were linked to the deaths of at least six coalition soldiers last year and the deaths of a coalition soldier and an interpreter on June 8. Aqeel also was linked to a 2005 attack on the al-Mukhayim Iraqi police station and the killing of Iraqi intelligence officers in Karbala, the statement said.
The security forces also captured another terrorist during the raid and seized a substantial weapons cache, the military said, adding that no Iraqi or coalition forces were killed or wounded during the operation.
The 40-member local council in Karbala suspended its operations and demanded an apology Thursday after police said US forces with air cover raided the house of the council leader Aqil al-Zudeidi, a member of the Shiite Fadila Party, and arrested him at about 6. a.m. Two other council members Ahmed al-Hassani, a supporter of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and Gasid Karim, an independent, were arrested in the same area, police said. Hundreds of demonstrators also took to the streets to demand the mens release.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/16/2006 08:28 ||
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#1
Big fish in terms of trying to direct a dirty war and keep clean hands. Brove to the intelligence work that got all this assembled.
Plus its a clear warning shot to Moqtada Sadr.
Start that stuff with the Mahdi Army again, and this time it will be Iraqi SHIA Troops taking them down. Notably less merciful than US forces.
I still oncdier it to be one of the biggest errors onthe part of the intial Coalition that Sadr is walking around -they should have put a bullet in him, the murdering little thug.
Iraqi forces captured a high-ranking terrorist network commander during an early morning ground assault raid in Karbala, Iraq, today and coalition forces in eastern Baghdad stopped an alleged kidnapping June 13, military officials reported.
Iraqi army soldiers, assisted by coalition advisers, captured Sheik Aqeel in the Karbala raid. Aqeel commands a Karbala terrorist network and is wanted for assassinating Iraqi citizens and planning and ordering attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces, officials said. The terrorist network commander provides financial support to subordinate leaders and supplies them with improvised explosive devices.
The IEDs supplied by Aqeel are linked to the deaths of at least six coalition soldiers in 2005 and the deaths of a coalition soldier and an interpreter on June 8, officials said.
Aqeel is also linked to a 2005 attack on the Mukhayim Iraqi police station and the killing of Iraqi intelligence officers in Karbala. Iraqi forces captured one other terrorist during the raid and seized a substantial weapons cache.
Coalition forces in eastern Baghdad conducting combined curfew enforcement stopped two vehicles June 13 and seven Iraqi citizens jumped out, claiming to have been kidnapped.
Soldiers from Multinational Division Baghdad's Company E, 3rd Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, were conducting curfew enforcement at about 11 p.m. when they spotted two vehicles carrying the suspected kidnappers and their victims.
During a search of the suspected kidnappers, soldiers discovered three pistols.
Following the search and questioning, the soldiers detained four suspected kidnappers and took the seven victims to a nearby forward operating base. The kidnapping victims had been seized June 10 near Namiyah where they work for an engineering firm. They were released after providing sworn statements.
A suicide bomber struck a Shiite mosque during prayers Friday in Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and wounding 20, as violence persisted in the capital despite a massive security operation Why can't they stop everything? Whazzamatter wit' dem people?aimed at restoring order. Police Lt. Thaer Mahmoud said the attacker blew himself up at the Buratha mosque in northern Baghdad.
Mahmoud said the bomber was wearing an explosives belt, but Jalal Eddin al-Sagheer, the preacher at the mosque and one of the country's leading politicians, said the explosives were inside a worshipper's shoes. He said the bomber blew himself up when confronted by the guards as they began searching worshippers with shoes beside them inside the mosque, al-Sagheer said.
The streets of Baghdad were largely empty of cars due to a four-hour driving ban supposed to prevent violence during traditional Islamic prayers held every Friday.
It was the second time the mosque has been hit in just over two months. The Buratha mosque also was attacked during Friday prayers on April 7, when four suicide bombers, including a woman, set off their explosives, killing at least 85 worshippers as they left the mosque after the main weekly religious service.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/16/2006 07:12 ||
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#1
He's not to blame, reports are surfacing that repeated cries were coming from the Mosque saying "blow me," "blow me, "blow me."
#4
One would think blowing up a mosque would cause major Koran desecration with resulting condemnation, seething and the odd riot. Never mind that blowing up a church is simply depraved.
#5
Blew out a flipflop did he? Gotta cruise on back home.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/16/2006 10:33 Comments ||
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#6
btw, MHW, see this, from IraqtheModel
"One of the most significant things about this operation is that we did not see any serious rejection or opposition to it from any of the influential parties or clerics which indicates that there's a general desire to back this operation or at least let it pass without complications and accept it as a means to get out of the deteriorated security situation.
Maybe that's because this particular operation doesn't give an impression that it's directed against a certain segment or sect as the case would be if the operation was conducted in Najaf, Sadr city or Ramadi for example."
#7
lol, DB! I heard this this morning, and I think it's just the New Guy(tm) (sorry, can't remember his name right off the top of my head) trying to flex some muscle and secure the coming civil war & strife(tm) the MSM keeps talkin' about.
Posted by: BA ||
06/16/2006 11:01 Comments ||
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#8
LH
thanks
Yes I was worried that 'secure Baghdad' (that's my name - I don't know the official name) would fail if it tried too hard to go after Shia terrorists.
On the other hand, it seems that someday soon there will have to be a reckoning.
I had also half hoped that the intel folk would find evidence in Zark's docs of coordination with Tater (or at least with the Mullahs in Iran) but so far--- nada.
ITM says theirs rumors that the arrest of a Shia cleric in Karbala was connected to the Zarq papers. That guy isnt a follower of Sadr - hes Fadilla party, which is a party that followed the khomeinist ideology of Sadrs family, but isnt loyal to young muqty himself. It seems the govt is going to war with Fadila first, (see also the clampdown in Basra) perphaps giving Muqty one more chance to go legit.
#12
How did he even get into the mosque? You're not supposed to wear shoes inside one.
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
06/16/2006 12:00 Comments ||
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#13
He said the bomber blew himself up when confronted by the guards as they began searching worshippers with shoes beside them inside the mosque, al-Sagheer said.
"Where yew goin' with those shoes, stranger?"
[BOOM]
#14
You just want someone to talk to
They just wanna get their hands on you
You get whatever you choose
Oh, no, you can't do that,
Once you started wearin' those shoes.
#15
Well it's one for the money,
two for the show
Three to get ready now go cat go.
But don't you, step on my boomer shoes.
You Can do anything but lay off of my boomer shoes
Posted by: Steve ||
06/16/2006 14:36 Comments ||
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#16
NEW Fatwa: ON Happy Raisin Belts, Worship and Da Mosque
*All Parties Faithful, Men and Women, Coming to Fridays Prayers Must Arrive At Mosque Holding Hands in Full New Born Nakid-Ness From Now On.
RAMADI, Iraq, June 14, 2006 The crack of insurgents firing rounds overhead sends him into action to find his target and neutralize it - fast. The Marine assesses multiple enemy targets approximately 400 meters away. He sights in. His finger steadily squeezes the trigger as a single shot jets from his rocket launcher. The explosion rocks the earth as the perfect hit is rewarded by the now silenced enemy courtesy of the "Rocket man."
They are calling me Rocket man because of all the rockets Ive fired since we have been here, said Lance Cpl. Richard M. Mason II, of Medina, Ohio. Its an adrenaline rush to be the guy firing the rocket during a firefight.
Mason has accurately fired 24 rockets in combat and his teammates have dubbed him appropriately.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/16/2006 06:59 ||
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#2
During almost every engagement he has stopped enemy fire by destroying insurgents held up in a building, said 1st Lt. Carlos M. Goetz, 2nd platoon commander.
What? No one checked if innocent women or children were in the building? This is cold blooded murder.
Posted by: John Murtha ||
06/16/2006 9:20 Comments ||
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#3
Medina, Ohio! That's where I live!
I love it when a local boy makes good.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/16/2006 9:23 Comments ||
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#4
Sure, the rocket launcher is cool, but I always liked the nail gun or the BFG 9000. Oh, wait! This is Real Life. Never mind.
#5
Mewonders if LCpl Mason should have Medina, OH "adopt" Medina, Saudi Arabia as a "sister" city when he gets home. He could have some real fun target practice with his rocket there, I'd imagine. Also, he would be an asset there in shutting down a lot of financing. Just sayin' is all.
Posted by: BA ||
06/16/2006 10:58 Comments ||
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#6
By means of comparison, how much is Roger Clemens getting paid?
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/16/2006 11:03 Comments ||
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#9
I don't know the guy or his family, but if I do cross paths with him, the drinks are on me.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/16/2006 12:08 Comments ||
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#10
Good thing is they stull teach em right: Get good with the iron sights, because those are the ONLY ones you can be sure you have all the time. The other stuff is gravy.
Glad to know we still have them in the mold of Alvin York out there in terms of marksmanship.
As long as this nation can continue to produce young men like that and allow them to fight unfettered against our enemies, we will remain free.
#12
"You wanna know how you do it? Here's how, they pull a knife, you pull a gun. They pull a gun, you put a rocket up his ass. That's the Marine way, and that's how you get jihadis! Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that?"
Posted by: Steve ||
06/16/2006 15:43 Comments ||
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Lance Cpl. Richard M. Mason on call Defending America 24/7/365, [have SMAW will travel]
SAEPE EXPERTUS, SEMPER FIDELIS, FRATRES AETERNI
____________________________________________
same enemy but a bit off topic:
Iraq: Army of Ansar al-Sunnah fires rockets at Ramadi? [forgot] and then vacate as fast as their little Jehadi feets can beat before counter battery fire, but they leave video cam on tripod filming the results.
US counter battery fire. Large rounds 155 arty. smaller rounds 81/120? mm mortar. feedback welcome
CAMP HABBANIYAH, Iraq, June 15, 2006 A stretch of highway once called IED Alley just might get a new nickname. Maybe something along the lines of Darkhorse Drive.
Marines of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, are making steps to secure Main Supply Route Michigan, the highway connecting Fallujah and Ramadi. They built several new observation posts along the way, an area near the Euphrates River with no distinct city lines or local government.
The Marines are cutting into insurgents ability to move and plant improvised explosive devices.
"Its to keep the major lines of communications open, prevent IEDs from getting in place, so as units transit back and forth its safer, said Staff Sgt. William W. Heidelberger, a platoon sergeant for K Company.
Marines live in houses, which have no electricity or running water. They patrol the area, stand watch and labor to improve the post with temperatures exceeding 114 degrees in the sun.
Tough living conditions are nothing new for Marines in the infantry company.
We do what we have to do to survive, said Cpl. Matthew Brines, a motor transport operator attached to I Company. Theres no amenities like at the forward operating bases, but we have what we need a place to sleep, food, water and relative security.
Heidelberger, a 33-year-old from Marvell, Ark., said hes already noticed an improvement in the situation along the highway during the short time since his platoon began patrolling from their observation post, dubbed OP Falcons.
So far weve only been here for a day, but weve managed to disrupt enemy activities by maintaining constant surveillance and constant watch, Heidelberger said. As they try to do things, we can interdict them and disrupt and destroy enemy activities.
The new positions along the highway enable the Marines to keep eyes on the road for anything out of place. There are signs we look for, a lot of obvious things that tell us if theres going to be an attack, said Cpl. James Walters, 21, from Houston.
A common method used by insurgents to attack Marines is planting roadside bombs along the highway. Seven have been found within a 1,000-meter stretch of road, according to Sgt. Joseph Zolnai, a squad leader for I Company. The 22-year-old from Holt, Mich., said the insurgency is more organized in their new area of operations.
We deal with coordinated attacks a lot more now, he added.
The change of operational tempo is welcome to many Marines in the company, who waited for a good fight since the battalion arrived in Iraq in January.
Weve seen more action as a company here in our first four or five days than we did in five months in Amiriyah, said Cpl. Matthew J. Thienes, a team leader with I Company. This place is the hub ... a way different pace and whole different ballgame. The 22-year-old from Lake Elmo, Minn., doesnt mind the extra work, either. Its fine, he said. Were doing our job.
Brines, a 22-year-old from White Lake, Mich., spent five months at Camp Smitty driving trucks to re-supply forward operating bases. He also drove for patrols. He got his first taste of enemy contact soon after the battalion shifted forces west.
The other day, two IEDs detonated near my truck within 100 meters of each other, he said. Its not natural to have bullets shot at you, but after being a Marine for three and a half years, its kind of exciting. It feels like were actually doing something.
The company plans to reach out to the surrounding community and let the citizens know whats going on, make allies and help the local Iraqis help themselves attain some peace and stability in the area.
Thats always an ongoing process, Heidelberger said. Were just now getting here and getting our feet wet, so as it develops a little more well see what we can do.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/16/2006 06:47 ||
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#1
Best of luck, Jim. Hope you bag a few.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/16/2006 8:18 Comments ||
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#2
3/5 is one of the Marine battalions that took Fallajah in November 2004. They took the bridge from which the terrorists had hung the bodies of four Blackwater contractors, and painted this sign on the bridge:
This Is For the Americans of Blackwater
Murdered Here in 2004.
Semper Fidelis, 3/5 Dark Horse
F--- Y--
The battalion commander made them paint over that last bit. (Sorry, I can't find a link, but see No True Glory by Bing West at page 306-- a great book.)
Posted by: Matt ||
06/16/2006 8:28 Comments ||
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#3
I've never really understood how a "Main Street" that is used by our troops could be called "IED Alley". It just seems that it would not be that hard to secure a particular stretch of road. But then what do I know? Anyway, I'm glad to see that they are coming up with ways to prevent that.
#5
take a road of 30 miles. how many guys do you need on it to make sure nobody lays IEDs on it. Remember, you cant assume ANYONE walking on the road is an enemy, so rifle shot range is too far for seperation. You need eyes close enough to see that someone stopping is doing something suspicious, say bending down like planting an IED. So lets say one guy every quarter mile. that 120 guys for 30 miles of road. Assuming youre comfortable leaving them standing out there with the nearest friendly a quarter mile away in either direction, but lets assume this is in completely open country, so an ambush is unlikely. Now take 120 and multiply by three, since you need 3 eight hour shifts. Thats 360. Again, assuming a quarter mile is good enough at night, but weve got those night vision goggles, so okay.
Thats 360 combat troops to secure ONE 30 mile section of road. given the number of US troops, and the number of first line Iraqi troops, and all the other things theyve got to do, is it worthy sparing 360 troops for one 30 mile section of road, of which there are a lot in Iraq? Sometimes, yes, if its the road from the Green Zone to the Baghdad airport. But mostly, no.
"you go to war with the army you have" - Donald Rumsfelf
He's answering, and educating 2b from post #3, about the logistical difficulties in securing a stretch of road, and preventing IED's from being planted.
Lost the plot, did you?
This is a good place to learn, but you have to pay attention. Reading comprehension and retention skills help too.
Rummy was just stating the obvious for a brain dead press pool, and at the time it was still largely Clinton's military.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/16/2006 11:06 Comments ||
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#10
Reading comprehension, huh? Let's see... After making a semi-laborious point about available troops required and what gets guarded as a result, he takes a swipe at Rummy. Now what purpose did that little quotation make? Is Rummy to blame that there aren't infinite resources available?
Fact is, he's had a chubby for Rummy and recited the plethora of related Dhimmicrat Talking Points from Day One. It's old, lame, and dishonest. The army we have is damned good, but if he's looking for someone to pin it on in the last sentence of such an exposition, well it was made a LOT smaller during the Clinton Era. Rummy's exactly and obviously right - we do what we can do with what we've got, and they all need downtime, too. You know how long it takes to train-up people, not to mention taking good people offline to do it.
That was his real point, Manolo, disguised as a mental exercise in covering a stretch of road - else it had no place in the comment, did it? How is it relevant, if it is not his actual point, his playground-level dig?
And that was my point. My reading comprehension is fine, thanks. You haven't been paying attention if you missed the endless Rummy Shots that come from LIBERALhawk and that his closer is irrelevant except when seen in this light. Comprende?
The real answer, of course, is training up the Iraqis and instilling some sense of nation in them, superseding sectarian and tribal BS. And that takes time.
#12
unfortunately for you guys, I actually remember the 90s. The GOP sure did criticize military spending under Clinton - they attacked the lack of funding for ballistic missile defense, and they attacked readiness problems, esp in the USAF. They did NOT ask for an expansion in the number of ground troops in the US army and USMC. So blaming Clinton for the lack of resources in 2003 is silly, unless you think ballistic missile defense would have helped secure Supply Route Michigan.
And when the GOP came to power in 2001, they did start to address the problems in the military - esp BMD. But again, they did NOT try to expand the number of ground troops available.
Which is understandable - just as Clinton didnt expect 9-11, neither did Bush.
But even AFTER 9-11 Rummy resisted expanding the Army. An expansion in the authorized end strength of the US Army was finally pushed through congress by McCain, in 2004, I think.
And of course, even with the army we had, we could have put more boots on the ground. We had more available troops to go in summer 2003 then were actually there - we were, in fact rotating troops out, IIRC. Which is the normal thing to do, of course, to maintain readiness. Except that gave the insurgency a chance to build up, which has resulted in a much longer and bigger presence than might otherwise have been necessary. Which has strained readiness at least as much as a bigger commitment in summer 2003 would have.
and its not just democrats making these points (in fact the left democrats are NOT as inclined to make them, since it would imply that the war COULD have gone much better, which is heresy to them) Its made by sane Republicans, including Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard, and many bloggers. Its also, apparently, the belief of the man who is the front runner for the Republican nomination for President.
#13
In fact the history of the size of our ground force from early 2002 on, and the size of deployment to Iraq, can NOT be explained, AFAICT, by resource constraints, but by Rumsfelds belief that "nation building" was a mistaken mission for the US military ('we dont do windows') and that it would not be necessary in Iraq, since there would be no significant insurgency in Iraq. Thats consistent with his statements during the looting of Baghdad ('just the same vase, over and over' 'democracy is messy') on into 2004.
Yes, Im angry. Im angry cause I supported and still support this war, and I want to win.
#14
its also a bit silly, on a site where little snarky comments are our bread and butter, to get all bent out of shape out of one little snarky quote like mine. Theres far worse directed against others here.
But this is a site for those who want to win the WOT, including in Iraq, and not for one political party, so I think my snark belongs just as much as any others.
#15
Rumfeld's transformation of the services is aimed at much more than the Iraq war. Those who fail to understand that will inevitably misread his comments and his actions.
#16
Excellent quickie whitewash of the Clinton Era. Indeed, as he downsized the manpower the politicians scrambled for ways to spend the "Peace Dividend" - I remember it, too - it is the curse of democracies to have greedy politicians who wish to polish their knobs with easy pickings. But the push for downsizing came from his end of the DC swamp everyone piled on.
After 9/11 "Rummy resisted" - prove it with a link. I think Rummy "resisted" doing anything rash - for several reasons. Rummy was given multiple tasks, including one that is usually more than enough to occupy 100% of a SecDef's time: total global force reorg.
At the same time, there has been a virtual (lol!) explosion in technology advances. The difference between Gulf War I and II is astonishing. And this had to be taken into account in everything, from the reorg to planning N years down the road, to fighting the war(s) in-hand and getting that new tech in-theater - if it's going to be adopted ASAP, etc. You make it sound so slick, he fucked up, when it is a huge undertaking. The military is one big-assed complicated machine, and he's doing (done) a remarkable job.
And he was directed to equip and man 2 war fronts.
I'm sure you could've done better.
As for the force size needed, it does depend VERY heavily on whether or not you are going to attempt nation-building. We can break things and be home for 2nd breakfast. That Bush decided to make an example of Iraq in the M.E. was one Goddamned Huge curve - you don't suddenly train-up 100,000 (or however many experts such as yourself deem needed) new troops on demand. The decision may be made overnight, but the reality won't happen for a long long time. And if you're also working with and assessing those new technologies to identify and procure and test and field force-multipliers, that tends to make you hesitatnt to start a multi-year upsizing effort, too.
Just quibbly little bits that actually affect decisions, I'll bet.
There has been a lot of post-war screwing up with DoD and State and CIA all complicit in the mistakes. And it all goes to that pesky little nation-building thing. Something we haven't done in awhile and never were too damned good at to begin with.
Americans have this funny deeply ingrained idea that if given the opportunity people will grab freedom. Naive, eh? When it comes to Islam, that doesn't apply, now does it? Rummy certainly gets a share of the blame for DOD's screw-ups. But you want his head on a pike. Bush disagrees, so you can stew for a year, or two, or three more.
The insurgency got its start because the Sunni Triangle got a pass. It's that simple. It grew as much because the Sunni Triangle continued getting a pass - instead of a thorough enema - as any other factor. Ask any of the military guys here who were there and see what they say. Hammer. Anvil. Oops, no Hammer. Thanks, Turkey.
The Triangle was never pacified. We're still dealing with it piecemeal years since the fall of Baghdad. Wonder why? I'd say it's because we turned the political game over to the Iraqis before there was a completed military pacification. They have had veto-power for more than 2 years, now. And they fucked up Fallujah and Najaf with it, for glaring examples. More of that nation-building crap. I accept Bush wanted to try it, but I don't believe it was worth what it cost us.
Holding up Krystol is clever, but he's not his daddy, he's a prima dona and his little spitfits don't impress me. I think he's a dick.
I'd love to hear what Verlaine says, and who he points to regards dropping the post-war ball, in specifics and overall. Wanna bet it covers the entire spectrum of participants? Oh, and let's not talk about our "partners" the UK down south.
I want to win, too. Put your chubby away and pray that Bush's experiment works. I'll even bet Bush wants to win. Maybe even more than we do. Oh, and let him be the President and have his own SecDef, okay? Thanks, so much.
I have read every single thing you posted on the Dhimmicrap sites. Know the litany of Dump Rummy bits by heart. More knowledgeable people, those with first-hand knowledge, such as Verlaine and Jarhead (Broadhead6?) and 11A5S and Oldspook should critique this and let the chips fall where they may.
And I knew the real message was a Rummy Shot, LOL.
#20
The change of operational tempo is welcome to many Marines in the company, who waited for a good fight since the battalion arrived in Iraq in January.
Weve seen more action as a company here in our first four or five days than we did in five months in Amiriyah, said Cpl. Matthew J. Thienes, a team leader with I Company. This place is the hub ... a way different pace and whole different ballgame. The 22-year-old from Lake Elmo, Minn., doesnt mind the extra work, either. Its fine, he said. Were doing our job.
Thats a key point! ONe the left consistently misses in thier mindset of victimology. These are not duped rubes, they are warriors! And warriors WANT to get into combat. Its what they do. Even now, too old and broken to do it anymore, I *still* want to go. The left will never "get" that. Its beyond their ability to understand the true spirit and heart of the warrior culture in the US, and its moral center: the sense of self-sacrifice and patriotism that reinforces and drives it.
We are drvien by love of our country, love of our families, love of our values, and the bonds that a warrior has with other warrirors. Its all about what we are FOR. Our core is our belief in the individual and our shared values, and our willingness to sacrfice and take the burden ourselves.
The left is all about hate these days - and they are driven by what they are against. They have no core - its all external, everything is someone elses fault (aeveryone is a vitcim), finger pointing is more important than fixing, government more importnat than individuals. Thats why the left is so hateful: nothing at thier core - its a hollowed out empty ideology. Their core is their belief in non-individualism and their unshared values, and thier willingness to shift the sacrfice away from themselves and place the burden on others.
#22
This was a truly innovative tactic, and it took the US timeto adjust.
Your figures are off on securing the roadways - you omit a lot of technological changes, and any intelligence effects. Your numbers woudl be good for WW2, but are not indicative of 2006.
Consider that a MSR need not be locked down, just enough deterrent present to prevent ambushes and most IEDs. Remember, this is a war, there is no airtight way to prevent casualties other than to simply NOT FIGHT - thats the ultimate end of the "too many casualties, not enough troops" argument.
Sensors, ECM, UAV, carefully placed LP/OP, patrols, and proper convoy formation and security can and have reduced the effectiveness of IEDs, and will continue to do so.
The enemy has evolved by using larger explosives, and we are evolving counter-tactics and countermeasures as well (OPSEC precludes further discussion).
Add ot that the increasingly large numbers of Iraqi troops that are now reliable enough to take up local patrolling jointly with US forces. And don;t forget the intelligence tips that come to us through that channel. The Iraqi people are tired of the bombs and are turing the little bomb-making bastards in, in all but the most extreme Sunni/Baathist areas. And their support in the local populations is dwindling as well. People simply do not want them around anymore. Mao said the people are the ocean in which the guerilla swims. Well, in Iraq, the ocean is rapidly becomign a small pond incapable of sustaining much geurilla life. their predations have turned the ocean against them.
But even with all that, the biggest impact will be the recent political turning point. Remember, Zarq and 800 of his best friends are now dead or captive - major blow to the infratrsucture and command framework for the bad guys. Plus the inteliigence developed from all these captures is only now astarting to be exploited - especially unraveling the financial stuff, and busting "standoff" terrorist supporters like those Mullahs in Karbala. There there's the emergence of a "Strong Man" in PM Maliki (Arab culture loves the appearance of a "Strong Cheif") who is very active militarily and politially - and uuite astute with the Arab and Iraqi press. Bush's visit to bolster him and his cabinet and the Parliament were a big splash over there for that kind of "Strong" image building - despite that you never read it here.
So, given technology, tactics, and the changing political situation over there its not as big an issue as some here would make it out to be.
#23
liberalhawk is a dove. How many college kiddies have drunk themselves to death lately ?
The MSM will not pursue that any more.
How many liberals does it take to eat a lightbulb ?
#24
1. Bush made the decision to nation build in Iraq. With good reason I think. and it was up to HIS secdef to do everything he could to make that happen, not to risk it so hed have a better air superiority fighter in 2012. or whatever.
2. Yes, its Bushs choice to make as to who his Secdef is. So? If Bush was standing behind someone who YOU thought was undermining a key aspect of Bushs presidency, im sure youd say so.
3. You dont sound like you much like nation building in the Islamic. Well, we probably wont do much more of it, especially if this ends in failure.
4. Yes, I know most of the ex-soldiers here are more conservative than I am on the Rummy, and more sympathetic to the admins conduct of the war. And the ex-soldiers on the liberal sites are LESS sympathetic than I am. From which i must conclude that the ex-soldiers dont all agree. And I must draw my conclusions from the info available to me, despite my own limitiations.
5. You are incorrect about the 90s. Everyone right and left expected a peace dividend - after the cold war it was simply not controversial. Present me with evidence that ANYONE important in the Republican party opposed the drawdown in ground forces, and I'll listen.
6. You seem to forget why we handed over political control to the Iraqis so early. Cause Sistani insisted on it, and it was Sistani who kept the Shias in check, and the Shia rebellion confined to Sadr and his minions. We were in a very bad way in spring and summer of 2004 - we were having extreme difficulty getting convoys into baghdad, IIUC. We simply did not have the troops to fight the sunni insurgents, and to take on Sadr AND to oppose Sistani.
If we didnt want to nation build, and just wanted to break things and leave, than we shouldnt have gone into Iraq at all - since an Iraq left in chaos was certainly worse than the threat posed AT THAT TIME by Saddams WMD, even if EVERYTHING we said about them at the time had proven true. But Rumsfeld supported the war, and supported the idea that we needed a positive outcome politically in Iraq. He cant escape blame by suggesting that nation building was never his idea.
#25
So many different points of view. So many cogent arguments. All interesting.
Y'all aren't as far apart as ya think.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/16/2006 13:47 Comments ||
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#26
Interesting comments.
Observations:
1) The article was written by a Corporal (most likely a Marine) about a Marine unit
2) The article doesn't state that the 3/5 is the only unit patrolling that stretch of road, which allows the possibility that the Dark Horse might be posted with attached Iraqi unit(s).
This article is a mighty thin reed on which to base an all-out Rumsfeld bash.
#27
Something to think about: if the Marines were to plant a few of their OWN IEDs and then using their NVG and other surveillance devices, surprise a few of the bad guys. Call it Pre-emptive IED, or something. And our stuff would be a lot more reliable (read: fun) to operate.
#28
and it was up to HIS secdef to do everything he could to make that happen, not to risk it so hed have a better air superiority fighter in 2012. or whatever.
Fundamental misconception of the job, LH. The job is broader than your short-term focus.
But first to address the question of force size. The SECDEF *did* inherit a creaking military that had been leached dry from within to a dangerous degree during Clinton's administration. The count of active duty serving is a rather limited and inadequate indicator of the state of our military capability - which is why you didn't see Republicans and conservative Dems complaining on that particular count during the Clinton years.
As regulars here know, I have worked in both the commercial and defense technology arenas for several decades and am the spouse of a retired career officer. We saw the neglect and drain during the 90s up close. The question isn't WHETHER the military needed a lot of transformation and attention -- it's WHAT that should look like. And Rumsfeld began addressing that well before 9/11.
I must draw my conclusions from the info available to me, despite my own limitiations.
The problem with your analysis isn't so much specific data, LH, as it is that you seem to lack an appropriately scoped and informed view of several tectonic shifts which are underway and to which it is the SECDEF's role to respond. These include, as a subset, the breakup of the post-WWII power structures; the role of information and network technologies in social, political and military change; the dangerous stagnation of socialist economies in democratic states and the coming tidal wave of demographic and social consequences from the collision of that stagnation with the retiring generations; the deliberate neglect of European military capabilities, which shifts so much of the response to these events onto the US to deal with; the proliferation of WMD technologies and know-how, facilitated by technological changes; and last, but not least, the nature of the optimal *professional* military under all of these circumstances, which can be projected to continue to unroll for at least 15-20 years or more.
That's the DOD "CEO" hat that the SECDEF wears.
He *also* wears the DOD "COO" hat, one task of which you have focused on.
And just as a sidenote, the nature, pace and urgency of transformation will differ among the services for a variety of reasons, made more intense by the fact that it must be carried out simultaneously with the current low-level ground conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. Arguably, this shift was always going to be hardest on the Army, both logistically and culturally. OTOH, lessons learned in theater have supplied accelerant for some of those changes and I suspect that that process will continue for some time.
#29
#4 - there are far less "ex soldiers" (We call ourselves Veterans) on the left sites. Many there are poseurs, and of the ones that aren't most are either peacetime REMFs like Kos or old angry Vietnam protestors who think this is Vietnam all over again and Rumsfeld is Macnamara.
So your point 4 is moot at best.
As for naiton building - what the hell else are we supposed to do?
The primary problem in the world today is the failed natiion states that abound - and thatthey have become a festering growth area and safe haven for terrorist organizations and for Islamic Fundamentalism.
The cure for that? Nation building. And that takes time effort money and blood. Iraq is key. Its geographically central to the Arab world, it can be self-sustaining once its settled in, and it will have influence on all its terror supporting/funcing neighbors - Syria, Saudi, and Iran. The terroists logistic lines used to cross Iraq - no longer. The dictatorship and Caliphate are dreams of the neighbor nations which can be shattered by a functioning and stable democracy in the middle.
Iraq was geopolitically vital, and remains so.
As far as the 90's RIFs go, there were a lot of folks in the Navy who warned us of the loss in capacity for combat, capacity for production (we are down to s single shipyard for many of our most critical ships), etc. Yet this has been the Ameircan pattern going back to the Revolutionary war. Get in a war, hurry to catch up arming up, and demobilize as fast as we can afterwards, usually to excess. So nothing here is new. But it is exepnsive.
The Army is having the same troubles with the "Big Division" brass that the Navy had with the "Battleship Admirals". Its a fundamentally different way of conduction large scale operations than we have used since the plains indian was of the mid-late 1`800's, or the actions in the Phillipines in the lat 19-ealry 20th century. Big Divisions have been the way to go since WW1, arguably won WW2 and were very effective in Korea and the Cold Ware Europe. But tis time for a change, and thats why "Rummy" has faced so much opposition. Has he messed up? Yes. But its a mtter of degree and gaps, not intent nor fundamental direction. So Rumsfeld is right - irritating, but right onthe fundamentals.
We had the wrong army for this fight in 2003; we have the right now now in 2006. But the one thing we didnt have in 2003 was time - we'd squandered far too much of it talking in the UN, and our (incorrect in some spots as it turns out) intelligence painted a picture that required immediate action.
So, to get back to the article, its overblown to say we dont have enough troops to secure our MSRs. We do - its a matter of applying them well, and realziing that we are in a war zone and that no matter how well we execute, there will be casualties. But the trends are good in terms of tactics and countermeasures, and especially in politics.
Yes. The first was his pre-deployment nym (nic? Somebody needs to tell me the correct terminology!!), the second what he became when he and his people became the tip of the arrow (much faster moving than a spear, and with less of a tail, I s'pose).
#31
#10 .com, is that you? If not, you sure do know his style.
"After making a semi-laborious point about available troops required..."
Sure, sure...laborious (semi or otherwise) but quite thorough and accurate.
"...he takes a swipe at Rummy."
Rummy is a big boy, I doubt LH's swipe is going to worry him. LH's disdain for Rummy is well known, I don't pay any attention to it.
"Now what purpose did that little quotation make?"
You'll have to ask him. Sounds like you've already decided what you want it to mean.
"Fact is, he's had a chubby for Rummy...from Day One. It's old, lame, and dishonest."
Well, you know this though! Dog crap stinks, I know that, you know that! So why bitch everytime the dog craps? LH is predictable, same as Aris or any of a bunch of folks that pass through here.
"The army we have is damned good,..."
No argument from me on this one!
"That was his real point,..."
That is your perception, I couldn't care less what his real point was or whether it was disguised in several layers of dried camel dung. I don't worry about the hidden points or agendas of the LH's of the world. I know they're there and proceed accordingly.
He did give a pretty good summation of the logistics of securing 30 miles of bad road though. And isn't that what 2b was asking?
"You haven't been paying attention if you missed the endless Rummy Shots..."
I haven't missed them. Like I said, Rummy is a big boy.
"BTW, what's with the pretentious signature bit?"
Huh? My, you are critical. No pretension, just laziness.
#33
im not going to argue this any further. Y'all know that plenty of people more knowledgeable than me share my concerns. That you get so bent out of shape about a one line quote, is a sign to me that you are quite aware of how widespread that concern is.
#35
This debate is a quagmire! The debate on Iraq can't be won! Fire Fred!
Posted by: Mike N. ||
06/16/2006 16:32 Comments ||
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#36
I voted for the debate, before I voted against it.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/16/2006 16:48 Comments ||
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#37
"Only if you think that bodies are the only thing we bring to that effort. As others have noted, we do have a FEW other resources to use."
Then why are we NOT using them? Sometimes, "bodies" and the eyeballs they come with are what is needed.
IED's are a widespread problem, obviously we do not have enough of the "other resources" to go around. If bodies are what you have, then LH's description, is pretty much how it's done.
#38
of course old spook is right - if you have intel to know WHERE theyre gonna lay IEDs, you dont need as many troops. If you can achieve a political process to get less of them doing it, that helps. and you dont have to stop EVERY attack. Again, i was responding to someone who seemed to think it was simple to secure a road.
I was there when the shit hit the fan in Vietnam. I was there, man. We ran ops deep into Canada. We were elite, man. We knew how to kill Charlie even when he was disguised as an evil Quebecer. We were that good.
Posted by: Phil ||
06/16/2006 19:22 Comments ||
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#43
I defer to OS and others who've been there. LH and I fundamentally disagree and I believe he's no hawk. My 2 cents
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/16/2006 19:46 Comments ||
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#45
Been a lot of thunderstorms (plus some much-needed rain) in my area today, so I'm just getting started with Rantburg. This discussion is a lot like the one in the Senate yesterday - a lot of words, few concrete ideas, and even most of the faint at heart agreed to "keep on keeping on" in the end. It's about all we can do at this point, other than surrender, which is a non-starter.
There are several dozen things that can be done to secure a highway other than put people every so far apart. The problem is both time and resources. Some resources are stretched to the limit, and can best be employed elsewhere (UAV's, primarily). Discussing them would violate operations security (Opsec), as Old Spook pointed out. I know some of the things I would do, based on my 26 years' experience in imagery intelligence. Whether they would be effective or not will require they be tried, much like most of what is being done in Iraq. War is a constantly-changing environment, with both sides learning from mistakes, modifying their operations, and trying to stay one step ahead of the opposition. We're normally better at that than our enemies, which is why we usually win.
Personally, I think Clinton cut too deeply, too quickly, and without careful thought for what might happen in the near future. We're now in a race to catch up. As I've mentioned before, troop strength is slowly climbing. New troops cannot replace the years of experience held by mid-level officers and senior NCOs that were lost in the 90's. Replacing that will take time, and we'll lose people in the process.
We ARE moving forward. Recent events in both Afghanistan (the Taliban "summer offensive" that's getting thorougly whacked) and Iraq (Zark buying it, rolling up his network, a stable government, and the current offensive in Baghdad) show that Coalition forces are on the offensive, not the defensive. The enemy is dying in far greater number than we are. Yes, there are 1.2 billion Muslims, but only a small percentage is going to fight, and even fewer have any training or innate capabilities.
Everyone in the chain of command, from the team leader to the SecDef, are working as hard as they can to adjust to realities on the ground, and doing what's necessary to accomplish the mission with as few casualties as possible. You're not always going to succeed, and some of the things you're going to try will fail. Still, we're moving forward. The only way we can lose is if we lose the support of a majority of the American people. That, in my personal opinion, is the biggest mistake this administration has made - failing to keep focused on what's happening, and failing to keep the American people informed of what's happening. The administration relied too much on the MSM, which is acting more as an enemy than a part of our nation.
BTW, OS, I'd be right beside you, if Uncle Sam would allow it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/16/2006 20:51 Comments ||
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#46
Old Pat:
Try this recipe for a solid IED killer meal given your no reported operations experience
take small clandestine remote acoustic sensors, and on them mix in peer-to-peer digital RF mesh networking and bake each into a node for a distributed grid computing array with signature disciminators and pattern analysis built into the firmware. Cheap, disposable, and on a single chip.
Now, emplace them like FASCAM, from air breathing assets over an AO
top with simplex uplink from "elected" (redundant) control nodes (just a few mixed in slightly more expensive members of the grid)
Then serve array product via overhead elements (JSTARS or "other" assets).
As a side dish, a UAV for local QR visual acq of tgt
And as dessert: Nearby OP/LP and mobile teams with direct strike capability via air supt (with proper optics).
Now you know why I love my job.
Just give me the budget for the latest thing named after Robert Byrd being built in WVa, and I'm all set.
I'll go ya one better, Pappy. This debate reminds me of one I read while riding in a boat into Cambodia right before Christmas to drop off Spec Ops. I tell ya's, I was there and read that debate on that boat.
Posted by: BA ||
06/16/2006 23:36 Comments ||
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An Iraqi group says it has abducted a Turkish technical expert and his translator and are demanding the withdrawal of Ankara's ambassador from Iraq. The Imam Ali Brigade gave the Turkish government a week to meet its demands, which included "banning Turkish companies from ferrying material to US bases in Iraq". Video footage from the group on Thursday showed the alleged hostage against a wall and holding up an identity document. He was named as Hasan Eskinutlu. The nationality of the translator was not specified.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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#1
"One false move and the Turk gets it!"
You promise? Honest and for true?
(Takes giant step)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/16/2006 11:50 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- Ten Iraqi civilians were shot dead by unknown gunmen in northeast the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Thursday, according to the police. A source at the police said in a statement the gunmen stopped a bus carrying workers and killed 10 of them. The bodies, with ages not more than 45 years old, were taken to Baquba hospital, said the source. Killings continue in the Iraqi capital as the government is placing a security plan to crack down on outlawed militants.
The killings aren't going to magickally shut off just because we killed Zark or we kill Izzat Ibrahim or we kill al-Muhajer. But if we kill enough of them we'll see the number of killings drop over a six month period and then drop further in the next six months. We'll have reached a major milestone the first day that goes by without a killing, even though there'll be another one the day after.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2006 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
I'd enjoy seeing a trap set for this ashholes with commandos taking them out. There is a pattern with these cowards stopping a bus to kill innocent Iraqis.
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/16/2006 0:35 Comments ||
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#2
I'd enjoy seeing a trap set for this ashholes with commandos taking them out. There is a pattern with these cowards stopping a bus to kill innocent Iraqis.
For bait they could use a bunch of blow-up dolls that look like women and children.
Posted by: grb ||
06/16/2006 1:02 Comments ||
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Ooooops. Hate when that happens...
GAZA CITY (AFP) - Two Palestinian militants, rather than three as initially reported, were killed by Israeli troops on the border with the Gaza Strip, a medic said. The source, who had said three Palestinians were killed in the incident near the Kissufim border crossing, attributed the confusion to the state of the remains, which had made assessment of the number of dead difficult. Blowed up REAL good!!!
Witnesses had also spoken of a three-man Palestinian commando. Maybe the third guy got vaporized...
The medic named the dead as Mohammed Abu Tanjara, 22, and Salam Abu Zubeida, 23, both from the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad faction. They were both buried after the main weekly Muslim prayers in Gaza City. Rest in Pieces.
An Israeli military spokesman said an elite infantry unit on patrol with air support intercepted and fired at Palestinian gunmen preparing to plant a bomb. Surprise, surprise, surprise!
#3
The fewer people Israel kills to day, the more that live to kill Joooos tomorrow. OTH, the fewer the kill today, the less Arab seething there is tomorrow. I doubt the difference between two and three means anything to the Paleos, but the seething thing probably holds true if we compare two to say, two hundred. And that only matters to people who care about Paleo seething.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
06/16/2006 9:55 Comments ||
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#4
liberalhawk you are so wrong.
The more Paleo-terrorists Israel manages to kill today, the better for the security of Israel. Killing Islamofascists is always a good thing, especially in large numbers.
NOT killing terrorists is an invitation to further slaughter of innocents.
#5
Must've been that Jooooooish laser-vaporizer thingy we sold 'em. Looks like the testing phase is now over, so they can use 'em en masse. And, how come, I'm flashing back to the scene of the former Hamas "spiritual leader" who was in a wheelchair being "vaporized." Probably not much left of him either after that airstrike [I remember the smokin' wheel of the wheel chair was about all that was left...and of course, the Paleos first wheelchair swarm(tm)].
#6
If there was a third man, hwo got away, i would regret that Israeli troops were ineffective.
If there were two terrorists, rather than three, id be glad there were less terrorists attacking Israel.
Im glad when the IDF protects Israel by killing terrorists. I do NOT see that as part of a strategy to reduce the Palestinian population, or even to reduce the number of members of Hamas and Fatah.
I would NOT want, say, 500 terrorist to charge the border to give the IDF a chance to kill them. I do not want more people to take terrorists actions, so they can be killed. I want fewer to do so.
And I want less blood on the IDFs hands, even guilty blood. 1, for the political benefit of Israel (has anyone noticed that new polls show growing support for Israel in France and Germany - moderation has its fruits) and cause the men and women of the IDF are my sisters and my brothers, and I know that killing even the guilty is traumatic for them, and if they can defend Israel with less killing, I think thats better for them.
I hate the terrorists for FORCING my brothers and sisters to have to kill in order to live in relative peace. If they are not forced to kill as much, thats good.
At least for me, this is different from when Hamas and Fatah militants kill EACH OTHER.
you also have to keep in mind that the fellow who wasn't killed may have been an IDF intel asset
probably there are hundreds, if not thousands of Paleos who are IDF assets of one kind or another
and there are some (granted not that many) non intel asset Paleo who are genuinely peaceful people
having said that, it is also possible, maybe likely that, if there was a third person in the IJihad squad, the 3rd person was probably a blood thirsty terrorists who will try to murder again
Unfortunately the moral calculus is really complicated.
(KUNA) -- Palestinian gunners on Thursday unleashed a new missile salvo in the direction of the southern Israeli town of Sderot in latest action in ongoing attacks and counter attacks with Israeli regulars. Al-Quds Brigades, military wing of the Islamic Jihad organization, that advocates an open-ended struggle against Israel, said a missile unit fired a four-missile salvo on Sderot, adding that the Israeli Army acknowledged that one settler was wounded. Another faction, Al-Aqsa Brigades Battalion of the mainstream group Fatah, said its gunners also targetted the same town with missiles.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/16/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
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#1
advocates an open-ended struggle against Israel
Now, that's a delicate euphemism for "throwing the Jews into the sea".
#2
Nope; they don't want to thow the Jews into the Sea. They want to exterminate them. That was already the goal of the Palestinain movements before the Six Days war.
An Indonesian was detained with bomb-making equipment in Thailand's rebellious Muslim south on Friday as another rash of small explosions wounded at least five people there, police said.
The man, identified by police as Sabri bin Emaeruding, 37, from Sumatra, was held in a dawn raid in the region, where more than 1,300 people have been killed in two years of separatist insurgency.
Emaeruding had 1 kg of urea fertiliser and 2 kg of nails -- commonly used in making bombs -- and was charged with entering the country illegally. He would be detained for further questioning, police said.
On Friday, a small bomb hidden under a truck exploded near a teashop in the southern Yala province, wounding the driver, his wife and three other people, police said.
Small bombs also exploded in toilets at five train stations in the three provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat near the Malaysian border where the separatist insurgency has been concentrated, but noone was hurt, police said.
The blasts in the Malay-speaking region came a day after a wave of bombings which Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said security forces knew was coming but failed to prevent. At least two people were killed and 16 wounded in those attacks.
Police said the Indonesian man was caught during a hunt for suspected militants behind the rash of at least 41 bombs which exploded on Thursday.
"Under current circumstances, we need to detain him under the emergency law and find out if he is part of an Indonesian rebel network in Aceh or elsewhere," Police Colonel Manoch Ananritkul told Reuters by telephone.
He was referring to the Sumatra province of Aceh, where rebels and the government made peace last year and spoke a day after Abu Bakar Bashir, reputed Indonesian spiritual leader of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah network, was freed from jail.
Narathiwat Governor Pracha Taerat told Reuters on Thursday more than 200 small bombs the size of a soda can with a digital wrist watch as a timer, were smuggled from Malaysia in the past week.
He said the bombs were easily smuggled in the region of 1.8 million people, most of them ethnic Malays who feel more connected to Malaysia than predominantly Buddhist Thailand.
#2
Ryuge, when you post an URL, could you please post it as a proper link so it doesn't bust the page formatting and shove all the right hand sidebar stuff off the screen? The syntax for a link is like this:
<A HREF=''>...</A>
You put the URL in between the single quote marks, and the text you want for the visible link goes in place of the "..."
If you do that with the URL you provided, you get something like this.
Much more compact, and it doesn't garf up the page.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
06/16/2006 7:37 Comments ||
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#3
(I should have mentioned that not all web browsers will let a long unbroken text string mess up the page width, so some people might not notice anything wrong.)
Posted by: Dave D. ||
06/16/2006 7:56 Comments ||
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#4
Thanks Dave, will do so in the future. For some reason, I've had a string of sloppy postings lately, so I thank everyone for their help and patience, and I will be making sure to double-check things more thoroughly from now on. I love being able to contribute to Rantburg. Now I'm off to the tip jar.
Sri Lankas military have dropped bombs near the Tamil Tiger headquarters in response to an attack on a bus that killed at least 64 people. Several bombs fell south of the town of Kilinochchi, Tamil Tiger officials said. There was no word on casualties from the Sri Lankan raids. "If they are attacking Kilinochchi, they are showing they are ready for war," S Puleedevan, head of the Tamil Tiger peace secretariat, told Reuters.
If you're blowing up buses full of people you've already shown you're ready for war...
A military source said air force Kfir and MiG jets were aiming for a Tiger airstrip south of Kilinochchi from which they operate their fledgling air force - around three light aircraft smuggled into the country in pieces. Earlier air and artillery strikes were carried out on the Tamil Tiger controlled northeast coast after two mines destroyed a bus packed with commuters and schoolchildren. "The airstrikes were carried out as a deterrent," Prasad Samarasinghe, a military spokesman said. "We have taken known LTTE (the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) targets in Sampur and Mullaitivu."
The government said rebels detonated two mines which fired ball bearings into the bus heading for Kebitigollewa, in an ethnic Sinhalese district of North-Central province close to territory held by the Tamil Tigers. Officials said 13 children were killed in the blast. The separatists denied involvement in the attack. "Directly targeting civilians, as the Kebitigollewa claymore attack has, cannot be justified under any circumstances," a statement said.
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.
KABUL: At least 40 insurgents were killed in a coalition air and ground strike targeting "terrorists" in remote southeastern Afghanistan, the US-led force said late on Thursday. The strike in Paktika province which began on Wednesday and ended on Thursday was part of Operation Mountain Thrust, it said in a statement.
(SomaliNet) The Somali parliament has finally approved of peacekeepers into the country after the Islamic courts took control of Mogadisho two weeks ago. The decision was made yesterday inorder to supress the anarchy that has gripped the country for the past years. Somalia has been struggling with poverty,disease and the lack of a stable government since 1991 when president Siad Barre was over thrown leaving the country to warlords. 
(SomaliNet) Militiamen loyal to Islamic courts union in Mogadishu, are reported to have taken over on Thursday the control of part of Beledweine town, the capital of Hiran region in central Somalia peacefully and declared an Islamic court in the town, day after the ICU seized the power of Jowhar town 90km of the capital. As Somalinet correspondent reports. Beledweine town is 335km north of the capital Mogadishu and is strategy town which bordering with Ethiopia. "Islamic gunmen seized the main bridge of the town and other key positions at around 10:00 am local time but there were no clashes with the militia of the recently nominated chairman of the region Yusuf Ahmed Daba-ged," one of residents in Beledweine told Somalinet. 
3 criminals killed in 'crossfire' with Rab
Two bomb makers, who were injured in a blast at Nawapara in Jessore on Tuesday, died of their injuries on Wednesday and yesterday.
(KUNA) -- At least four Turks were injured Thursday when explosives placed in a trash bin near a bus stop blew up in Eminonu district in the landmark tourist city of Istanbul. Anatolia news agency quoted a security source as saying "a real disaster could have occurred because the area is usually one of Turkey's most crowded places but fortunately it was not so crowded today." Security forces rushed to the area, surrounded it, started investigations and searched for other possible explosives.
KHAR: Authorities in Bajaur Agency arrested dozens of people on Thursday for suspected involvement in attacks on security forces in the area. Most of the arrested were Afghan nationals, according to reports. Sources said that the administration had also started deporting the families of the arrested Afghans. Sources said that the administration suspected the arrested men of links with Indian intelligence agencies. Political administration officials refused to comment.
QUETTA: Four men were hurt in a blast at a security compound in Balochistan on Thursday. Police said the residential quarters for officers of Inter Services Intelligence was attacked in Qalat, 160 km south of Quetta. "It seems somebody threw a hand grenade from outside," said a police official who declined to be identified. Three paramilitary troops on guard at the compound and one intelligence agency official were wounded, he said, adding that Baloch rebels were suspected to be behind the attack. In separate incidents on Thursday, gunmen attacked a paramilitary vehicle, killing one man, and a railway line in another area was blown up by a bomb, police said.
PESHAWAR: Two army personnel were wounded and an army vehicle damaged in a landmine explosion at Darpakhel in North Waziristan on Thursday. The army personnel retaliated and opened fire after the blast, resulting in the death of an elderly woman bystander. Security forces also arrested two tribesmen. 
(KUNA) -- Four senior police officers and a civilian were killed and more than five others were wounded, two of them critically, in a drive-by shooting Thursday in the commercial city of Karachi, said police. Police officer Amanullah Niazi told KUNA in a telephone call that two armed motorcyclists intercepted a police and a government vehicle in Saddar area of the city and sprayed bullets at them.
(KUNA) -- Four security officials were wounded and a soldier was killed Thursday in Southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan in two different incidents of hand-grenade explosion and firing, police said. An unknown person hurled a hand-grenade at the residential quarters for security officers in Kalat area, about 150 kilometers from Quetta, the provincial capital, police sources told KUNA. They said the explosion badly damaged the compound and wounded four security officials. In a separate incident, a paramilitary vehicle came under firing by suspected militants that killed a trooper. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks but police blamed Baluch nationalist militants, waging war since decades for more provincial autonomy.
An Iraqi group says it has abducted a Turkish technical expert and his translator and are demanding the withdrawal of Ankara's ambassador from Iraq. The Imam Ali Brigade gave the Turkish government a week to meet its demands, which included "banning Turkish companies from ferrying material to US bases in Iraq". Video footage from the group on Thursday showed the alleged hostage against a wall and holding up an identity document. He was named as Hasan Eskinutlu. The nationality of the translator was not specified.
(KUNA) -- Palestinian gunners on Thursday unleashed a new missile salvo in the direction of the southern Israeli town of Sderot in latest action in ongoing attacks and counter attacks with Israeli regulars. Al-Quds Brigades, military wing of the Islamic Jihad organization, that advocates an open-ended struggle against Israel, said a missile unit fired a four-missile salvo on Sderot, adding that the Israeli Army acknowledged that one settler was wounded. Another faction, Al-Aqsa Brigades Battalion of the mainstream group Fatah, said its gunners also targetted the same town with missiles.
Sri Lankas military have dropped bombs near the Tamil Tiger headquarters in response to an attack on a bus that killed at least 64 people. Several bombs fell south of the town of Kilinochchi, Tamil Tiger officials said. There was no word on casualties from the Sri Lankan raids. "If they are attacking Kilinochchi, they are showing they are ready for war," S Puleedevan, head of the Tamil Tiger peace secretariat, told Reuters.
