Hi there, !
Today Sat 07/21/2007 Fri 07/20/2007 Thu 07/19/2007 Wed 07/18/2007 Tue 07/17/2007 Mon 07/16/2007 Sun 07/15/2007 Archives
Rantburg
531687 articles and 1855967 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 116 articles and 430 comments as of 10:11.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion    Local News       
Qaida in Iraq Big Turban Captured
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
6 00:00 DarthVader [1] 
5 00:00 DieMuzzieScum [] 
1 00:00 Jack is Back! [] 
8 00:00 RD [] 
0 [] 
12 00:00 Elmomoth Javitle4523 [1] 
0 [] 
3 00:00 JohnQC [] 
7 00:00 mojo [] 
6 00:00 Eric Jablow [1] 
4 00:00 Richard Aubrey [] 
8 00:00 Free Radical [] 
4 00:00 3dc [] 
5 00:00 Nimble Spemble [] 
20 00:00 OldSpook [] 
15 00:00 Super Hose [] 
3 00:00 Abu do you love [] 
1 00:00 Liberalhawk [] 
6 00:00 Jack is Back! [] 
3 00:00 Anonymoose [] 
0 [] 
5 00:00 treo [] 
0 [] 
2 00:00 Ebbang Uluque6305 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
5 00:00 Abu do you love [] 
Page 2: WoT Background
13 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [1]
2 00:00 RD []
6 00:00 xbalanke []
3 00:00 Super Hose []
7 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [1]
2 00:00 trailing wife []
5 00:00 Super Hose []
1 00:00 Super Hose []
1 00:00 Ebbang Uluque6305 []
8 00:00 twobyfour []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
2 00:00 Super Hose []
4 00:00 AT []
6 00:00 USN, ret. []
3 00:00 Duh! []
7 00:00 Crusader []
5 00:00 Cromert [1]
0 []
0 []
1 00:00 3dc []
0 []
0 []
2 00:00 Frank G []
0 []
5 00:00 Total War []
2 00:00 Old Patriot []
1 00:00 Spot []
0 []
1 00:00 Hank []
4 00:00 Old Patriot []
12 00:00 Asymmetrical T []
0 []
5 00:00 Woozle Elmeter2970 []
2 00:00 Old Patriot []
4 00:00 Duh! []
0 []
1 00:00 gromgoru []
Page 3: Non-WoT
5 00:00 Super Hose []
3 00:00 Abu do you love []
0 []
1 00:00 borgboy []
0 []
20 00:00 Rob Crawford []
12 00:00 Super Hose [1]
0 []
7 00:00 Tell D Truth []
25 00:00 Beau []
0 []
5 00:00 Oldcat []
4 00:00 Throlunter Sinatra3896 []
4 00:00 Glenmore []
0 []
14 00:00 Mark E. []
0 []
1 00:00 Procopius2k []
0 []
0 []
2 00:00 AlanC []
6 00:00 RD []
0 []
1 00:00 Redneck Jim []
3 00:00 Anonymoose []
0 []
6 00:00 trailing wife []
1 00:00 wxjames []
3 00:00 AlanC []
Page 4: Opinion
3 00:00 RD []
4 00:00 RD []
0 []
3 00:00 RD []
2 00:00 Anonymoose []
15 00:00 Elmomoth Javitle4523 []
1 00:00 Jonathan []
0 []
0 []
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
6 00:00 Elmomoth Javitle4523 []
6 00:00 Super Hose []
4 00:00 Super Hose []
2 00:00 Army Life []
4 00:00 AT []
4 00:00 Barbara Skolaut []
5 00:00 tu3031 []
0 []
3 00:00 Mike []
1 00:00 gromky []
Afghanistan
Pakistan seals border with Afghanistan
Pakistan has sealed off its border with Afghanistan at Chaman point after security forces apprehended two suspected militants while trying to sneak into Kandahar in the neighbouring country, sources said.

All transit passes issued to Pakistanis and Afghan nationals to cross over to Afghanistan have been cancelled, the Daily Times reported on Wednesday, quoting the unnamed sources as saying.

However, there would be no bar on the United Nations staff to move across the border.

Sensitive equipment and close-circuit cameras have also been installed at Chaman point to check the cross-border movement of militants, who might disrupt peace and stability in the Islamic nation, particularly in the North West Frontier Province by carrying out suicide and militant attacks.

The measures came on Tuesday after investigations revealed that the arrested duo from Swat were to meet a 17-member group of Taliban to implement a plan to kill security forces in different areas of NWFP and smuggle in huge cache of explosives, the sources said.

However, the security forces have not yet disclosed the name of the two suspected militants who were held on Monday while trying to sneak into Spin Boldak, the capital of the Pukhtoon-majority Kandahar in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, sources said that the Interior Ministry had directed the NWFP police to utilise all available resources for protection of troops deployed in the restive Swat Valley to crack down on the militants.

Security has been tightened further in Peshawar, Nowshera, Risalpur and Mardan cantonments and police have been deployed at sensitive installations to avert any untoward incident.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/18/2007 12:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I don't think that it is possible to seal that border. Oh, only the checkpoint you say. Need to just declare open season along the non-border. "It was a mistake, we didn't know where the border was."
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/18/2007 12:34 Comments || Top||

#2  When I read the headline I thought, "lightning has finally struck the shit house." But was disappointed by the very first paragraph.

Pakistan seals border with Afghanistan
Nope. They only closed one point. Try:
"Pakistan patches one leak in inner tube"
Nope.
"Pakistan vulcanizes a spot on a sieve"
That's better.
Posted by: GK || 07/18/2007 13:31 Comments || Top||

#3  However, there would be no bar on the United Nations staff to move across the border.

With closed circuit cameras, maybe they'll catch them red-handed in their UN vehicles!
Posted by: Danielle || 07/18/2007 14:05 Comments || Top||

#4  I think it's time we upped the ante. If it's possible, we should put a surveillance satellite in geosynchronous orbit, watch the pakiwaki-assghanistan border all the time and fry anything that moves. Unfair? Who cares?
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/18/2007 15:01 Comments || Top||

#5  I think we need a Swiss cheese graphic.
Posted by: WhitecollarRedneck || 07/18/2007 15:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Swiss Cheese JPG:
http://www.cheesesupply.com/images/P-16-350.jpg

I live to serve.....
Posted by: OyVey1 || 07/18/2007 15:33 Comments || Top||

#7  Anvil in position. Operation Hammer Time is a go...
Posted by: mojo || 07/18/2007 17:27 Comments || Top||

#8  Pakistan seals border with Afghanistan

OP Bubble Gum and Duct Tape
Posted by: RD || 07/18/2007 21:20 Comments || Top||


8 Taliban killed in Afghan clashes
Afghan troops clashed with suspected militants in eastern Afghanistan, just across the border from Pakistan, leaving several suspected militants dead and 10 Afghan soldiers wounded, a Defense Ministry statement said on Tuesday. In the south, a roadside blast killed three Afghan troops, while clashes left at least eight Taliban militants dead, officials said.

Near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the body of a Pakistani militant was found in the battlefield on Monday near Bermel district of the Paktika province, while the wounded Afghan soldiers were evacuated to a nearby medical facility where they were listed in stabile condition, the statement said. The clash happened just across from Pakistan’s lawless North Waziristan region where a recent spate of attacks left more than 70 people dead, mostly police and soldiers.

The rising violence in the region comes as US officials say Al Qaeda is regrouping in that area. Pakistani authorities are scrambling to salvage a peace agreement between the government and village elders. Pro-Taliban militants had renounced the agreement following last week’s storming of Lal Masjid in Islamabad. US officials have repeatedly said that the North Waziristan deal has led to increased cross-border infiltration by militants.

In the southern province of Kandahar, militants clashed with NATO and Afghan troops on Monday, in a battle that left eight militants dead, said Sayed Agha Saqib, Kandahar’s police chief. There were no casualties among Afghan and NATO troops, and authorities recovered the militants’ bodies, Saqib said. In Helmand, a bomb attack on a vehicle carrying Afghan soldiers in Gereshk on Monday killed three troops and wounded two, said the provincial police chief. Southern Afghanistan has been hit by an Al Qaeda backed Taliban insurgency which has claimed thousands of lives and left an international reconstruction drive all but paralysed in war-torn areas.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  What I have never understood about our resistance to going after AQ in NWFP and Waziristan is what are we afraid of? Not the Paki army since they don't, won't and can't even handle a littel dust up in those areas. With an airpower/specops there we can probably decimate the AQ/Taliban population and control the tribes. Why fear something that is not fearsome?
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 07/18/2007 8:24 Comments || Top||

#2  We've been trying to prop up Musharaff in power, since the alternative is the ISI Taliban wing or the even more corrupt/inept widows of dictators past.

Overt action in the region stands a strong chance of bringing down his government. We'll end up doing it, but only because/when he is clearly failing anyway, I suspect.
Posted by: lotp || 07/18/2007 8:49 Comments || Top||

#3  daughter, not widow
Posted by: Frank G || 07/18/2007 9:24 Comments || Top||

#4  A couple more Red Mosque type incidents and Perv is gonna have to slug it out with these people anyway.
Posted by: treo || 07/18/2007 10:16 Comments || Top||

#5  Jack, we could do all that, just as long as you don't mind reading about in the NYT the next day with all the disapproving editorials and a long screed from Seymour Hersh as to how we're just making everything worse.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/18/2007 10:45 Comments || Top||

#6  Steve,

It seems to me we are beyond that. What the hell could the NYT/LAT/WaPo/NBC/CBS/ABC/NPR cabal say further that would be worse than what they have done to impede our safety and security as it is? Bush seems pretty thick skinned (although he did wimp out politically on Libby) but he is also a little tentative at times. If ISI types and the military replace Mushy what will they do that they haven't been able to do so far in the NWFP and Waziristan? Join forces with Taliban and AQ? Do you think they want a war with us? Especially since their tendency would be to point to their nukes and we then point to ours in subs, 52's and so on. It would be certain one-way MAD! I just think that sometimes you have to push the envelope just to understand the effect of doing that would "really" be not in theory but practice.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 07/18/2007 12:00 Comments || Top||


Britain
UK Muslim Student Jailed for Smuggling Weapons Plans
Via Little Green Footballs. Charles Johnson is on a roll -- go check it out.

A Muslim who tried to smuggle blueprints for home-made rockets into Britain smiled as he was jailed for three and a half years yesterday.

Yassin Nassari was stopped by police with his wife and five-month-old son at Luton airport after an easyJet flight from Amsterdam. The 28-year-old from Ealing had a laptop containing bomb recipes while his wife Bouchra El-Hor had a letter offering their baby as a “martyr”.

Mr. Johnson adds: Nassari, by the way, was head of the Islamic Society at the University of Westminster.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/18/2007 13:31 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Britain

#1  Obviously, the Brits have a bunch of muzzies under surveilance and especially after they return to the UK. Good work or lucky work. It really doesn't matter. To paraphrase Gary Player: "the more I practice, the luckier I get". We need to do the same thing. Stop these guys as they come in and search their bodies, their luggage, their computers and especially look under their turbans and burqas (ugh).
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 07/18/2007 16:35 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Two terror attacks in Ingushetia: 7 people wounded
Gunmen assaulted a vehicle carrying troops, injuring one person, in the town of Karabulak in Ingushetia at about 02:15 p.m. Moscow time today. As a REGNUM correspondent was told at the Ingushetian interior ministry, a special investigation group left for the scene of the accident.

Earlier today, a bomb detonated during a funeral ceremony of a school teacher and her children shot in her home in the village of Ordzhonikidzevskaya. Six people were hurt. Prosecution started investigation on the case.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 07/18/2007 12:03 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Chechen Republic of Ichkeria


Europe
Kurd rebels kill two Turkish soldiers
Two Turkish soldiers have been killed in a clash with Kurdish separatist rebels. The deaths came during a military offensive in southeast Turkey, a regional governor's office said on Tuesday. The two men died on Monday in mountainous Sirnak province after the guerrillas ignored a call to surrender and opened fire, the Sirnak governor's office said in a statement. The military ground operation is continuing in the area, backed by helicopters, the statement added.

The clash comes just days before a national election in Turkey in which an increase in Kurdish rebel attacks has been a major theme. Turkish nationalists demanding much tougher measures against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) are expected to perform well in Sunday's election. Turkey's centre-right government, which is tipped to remain in power, has repeated calls in recent days on the United States and the Baghdad government to crack down on PKK fighters who use bases in northern Iraq to attack targets inside Turkey. Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984. Violent attacks have increased over the past year.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Fifth Column
Democrats hold a pajama party to celebrate impending defeat in Iraq
Details are all too familiar by now.
Posted by: lotp || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Smores...footed-PJs...and pillow-fights!!

I'm glad to see my tax $$$$ at work!
Posted by: Justrand || 07/18/2007 0:37 Comments || Top||

#2  more likely they are watching Reid .... oh, never mind.
Posted by: A T || 07/18/2007 2:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Congress didn't read PRAVDA's artiiiiiickles today. did we > Osama's 1998 threat agz the USA + Islamic Fundamentalism - Time to Act is Now, Before its Too Late.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/18/2007 5:19 Comments || Top||

#4  IONews, THOMPSON vz HILLARY? GORE in 08? Yet more Oliver Stone productions of almost a Paula Abdul film, as rappily sung on Amer Idol by Captain Kirk???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/18/2007 5:22 Comments || Top||

#5  Love the picture of Reid in the article. Making it look like he has a halo around him.
Posted by: Chalres || 07/18/2007 7:12 Comments || Top||

#6  Nah, I just see a bullseye.
Posted by: WTF || 07/18/2007 8:39 Comments || Top||

#7  Looks like he is touching himself behind the podium.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/18/2007 9:55 Comments || Top||

#8  Oh, and Reid didn't even show up to his own party. The Republicans called his bluff.

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/010553.php
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/18/2007 10:09 Comments || Top||

#9  I actually watched some of the festivities on CSPAN. First I saw Joe Lieberman making more sense than any donk can stand. Then there was a donk from OHIO, I forget his name. Anyway the only point I heard him make that even began to make sense was that we should redeploy from Iraq to the Afghan/Pak border area where AQ is supposedly gaining strength. Now, of course he wouldn't come right out and say it but it almost sounded like a call to invade Pakiwakiland. They wouldn't do that, would they? The donks invade Pakiwakiland?
Posted by: treo || 07/18/2007 10:29 Comments || Top||

#10  I have difficulty believing that the donks would invade Pakiland. I don't have confidence that they would respond to an invasion of our homeland. Brave lads staying up all night, eh?
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/18/2007 11:40 Comments || Top||

#11  From Lucianne, SENATE VOTES, 52-47, TO AGAIN BLOCK DEMOCRATS' BID TO PASS IRAQ TROOP WITHDRAWAL LEGISLATION.

Harry Reid gets word his nurse will not let him stay up all night.

The photo of reid is priceless.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/18/2007 12:16 Comments || Top||

#12  This isn't about the war - this is just the Democrats coming together to help their good friend Teddy. 38 years and all the booze in the world and he still can't sleep through this night. He has dreams he is drowning.

Nothing like the solidarity of friends to help you forget a murder.
Posted by: AT || 07/18/2007 15:48 Comments || Top||

#13  Mary Jo Kopechne
Killed by a Drunk Driver
July 18, 1969
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/18/2007 16:48 Comments || Top||

#14  wonder if fetted even thinks about that 'incident' anymore?
also wonder if there it was deliberate choosing this particular date for the pillow fight?
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 07/18/2007 17:38 Comments || Top||

#15  Medved played some clips of Senator Byrd that sounded as if Byrd had slid into disorientation. I wonder if WV would replace him with a GOP candidate once he takes his dirt nap.
Posted by: Super Hose || 07/18/2007 21:07 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Dallas Muslim Women Arrested After Police Standoff
Another from Little Green Footballs.

Kimberly Al-Homsi called 911 about 12:40 a.m. Monday. She said her friend, Aisha Hamad, had threatened her with a knife. The two are noteworthy because a few months ago, they were seen at Dallas Love Field, both dressed in camouflage pants under traditional Muslim robes, conducting what appeared to be surveillance, officials said.

Police say that Monday morning, when an officer came to the door, Ms. Hamad threatened to shoot him. She told him the only way she would leave was in a body bag.

So began the standoff, during which she fired a paintball gun at a tactical robot and missed, police say, and at the end of which a negotiator persuaded her to come out peacefully. Once outside, Ms. Hamad, 50, fought with them while they tried to handcuff her, police say, so they used a Taser on her. Police took Ms. Hamad to a hospital, where she was to undergo a mental evaluation. She is likely to face assault charges, Arlington police spokeswoman Christy Gilfour said.

Meanwhile, police searched the home on Wembley Road and found four explosive devices, one of which was sitting on a bedroom table. Citing an ongoing investigation, Arlington Assistant Fire Marshal Stephen Lea would not say what the devices were. “We do not know whether they would function as [explosive] devices until we have time to study them and look at them and test the materials,” Mr. Lea said. “I can tell you this; there wasn’t anything in there that would have blown her house to pieces.”

The terrorism angle stems from Feb. 25, when the two women were spotted at Love Field acting in a way authorities found suspicious. Surveillance video showed one of them walking back and forth, apparently pacing off distances. When confronted, the women told officials they were looking for the Frontiers of Flight museum.

Two days later, the pair was spotted at the airport again. This time Ms. Al-Homsi, 42, was sitting on the hood of a car looking through binoculars at airplanes. Dallas officers stopped the car nearby, but the women refused to let police search it, authorities say.

The women also came under scrutiny after they were reported driving near the runways at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on July 4.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/18/2007 13:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  She told him the only way she would leave was in a body bag.

Missed a perfect inline comment setup there, TW! What's happened to Texas? They should take some lessons from the CO State Patrol officer who off'd the whacko in front of the Governor's offfice the other day.

Police took Ms. Hamad to a hospital, where she was to undergo a mental evaluation.

There is HOPE! Maybe we can now classify Islam as a mental disease!

These are too many "incidents" for something NOT to be up with this pair. Squeeze them for all their worth, then track their hubbies/boyfriends/aquaintences and keep an eye on 'em all!

Dallas officers stopped the car nearby, but the women refused to let police search it, authorities say.

Jeebus, I've been stopped and searched before for a LOT less than that. And, I'm a mythical WASP in the "deep South."
Posted by: BA || 07/18/2007 14:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Hey, wait a minute. Ever since George Bush personally abolished the Bill of Rights, no one has the right to refuse a search without a warrant. Didn't the Dallas police get the memo?
/sarcasm
Posted by: Rambler || 07/18/2007 14:35 Comments || Top||

#3  I agree with BA. These two are doing muzzie misdirection street theater while others they are associated with are up to real mischief. Watch them all...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/18/2007 14:56 Comments || Top||

#4  #3 I agree with BA. These two are doing muzzie misdirection street theater while others they are associated with are up to real mischief. Watch DEPORT them all...

There, fixed it for ya.....
Posted by: OyVey1 || 07/18/2007 15:09 Comments || Top||

#5  "Jeremiah 51:14 says, “I will fill you with men, as with locusts; and they shall raise up a battle cry against you.” The locusts are among us and America’s liberal politicians and media are deceived. "
http://focusonjerusalem.com/newsroom.html
Posted by: DieMuzzieScum || 07/18/2007 15:24 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Pak-Afghan border sealed at Chaman crossing
Pakistan on Tuesday sealed off its border with Afghanistan at Chaman point after security forces arrested two suspected militants late Monday night while trying to sneak into Spin Boldak, the capital of the Pukhtoon-majority Kandahar province of Afghanistan, Daily Times has learnt. The sources said that transit passes issued to Pakistanis and Afghan nationals to cross over to Afghanistan had also been cancelled. However, there would be no bar on the UN staff to move across the border.

Preliminary investigations disclosed that the two suspected militants from Swat were to meet a 17-member group of Taliban to implement a plan to kill security officials in different areas of NWFP and smuggle in a sizable quantity of explosives. The 17-member group also includes two high-value targets carrying head money announced by the US government. The names of the two suspected militants were not disclosed for security reasons.

The sources said that sensitive equipment and closed-circuit cameras had also been installed at Chaman point to check the cross-border movement of militants, who might disrupt peace and stability in the country, particularly in NWFP, by carrying out terrorists/suicide attacks. The government had earlier put in place a computerized data system at Chaman point for cross-border movement of Pakistani and Afghan nationals, especially the traders.

Meanwhile, the sources said the interior ministry had directed the NWFP police to utilize all available resources for protection of troops deployed in the restive Swat Valley to crack down on the militants backed by Tehreek-i-Nifaze Shariat-i-Mohammadi (TNSM). The district police officers (DPOs) of Nowshera, Mardan, Peshawar and Swat have also been directed to cordon off the roads and areas during the movement of military convoys for Swat and Malakand areas. Security has been tightened further in Peshawar, Nowshera, Risalpur and Mardan cantonments and police have been deployed at sensitive installations to guard against any untoward incident.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TNSM

#1  Sensitive equipment, closed circuit cameras and computers? Do they plan to run an extension cord up from Peshawar, or will they build a few wind turbines to power everything?
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/18/2007 6:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Wind turbines would be a blight on that pristine, 3rd-world environment.
Posted by: Captain Lewis || 07/18/2007 7:39 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder if this is a "Hammer into Anvil" situation, where NATO blocks the border, then the Pak army runs the Talibans and al-Qaeda into it, with the baddies thinking they can escape into Afghanistan.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/18/2007 10:57 Comments || Top||


Two policemen killed in Bolan
Unknown assailants gunned down two policemen in Bolan district, Station House Officer (SHO) Dhadar Sadiq said on Tuesday. Hawaldar Allah Dad and his colleague were on their way home when the gunmen opened fire on them, killing them instantly, he said. The SHO and three subordinates suffered severe injuries when their vehicle overturned as a result of the firing. They were immediately taken to the Sibi district hospital where their condition is stated to be out of danger.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TNSM


Militants attack Hindu pilgrims in Indian Kashmir
At least 16 people were wounded on Tuesday in a grenade attack by militants against Hindu devotees taking part in an annual pilgrimage in Indian held Kashmir, police said. Five of the injured were in a serious condition and have been taken to the main hospital in Srinagar, a police spokesman said. “The area has been sealed off and a search launched to arrest the militants,” the police official said, adding that the casualties included six pilgrims, three police and several others.

Meanwhile, Indian soldiers killed four suspected Islamic militants trying to infiltrate into the Indian held Kashmir from across Pakistan on the same day the attack on the pilgrims was carried out, the army said. An army patrol spotted the four in the Rampur sector, near the Line of Control (LoC), said army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel AK Mathur. The soldiers challenged the militants who opened fire, setting off a battle that killed the suspected guerrillas, Mathur said, adding that four
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hizbul Mujaheddin

#1  Hindus have been in Kashmir for untold thousands of years. The new-comers should respect the pioneers.
Posted by: McZoid || 07/18/2007 1:45 Comments || Top||

#2  The Hindu Pandit community has been ethnically cleansed from Kashmir by the Islamist 'militants'.
Between 1989 and 1991, over 400 000 Hindus were driven out. They live today as refugees in other parts of India, many in squalid camps.
Posted by: John Frum || 07/18/2007 6:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Today there is a campaign to force the Indian Army to leave the private property, orchards and farmland where it stations troops. It is being sold as a 'normalization' measure, to have the military less visible to the Muslim community.

What is not mentioned is that the private property is largely owned by the ethnically cleansed Hindu pandit community. The true motive of the J+K government (which recently instated Sharia law in the state) is to finish the ethnic cleansing. With the troops gone, the houses, lands and businesses of the absent Hindu Pandits will be fair game for their Muslim neighbors.
Posted by: John Frum || 07/18/2007 7:02 Comments || Top||

#4  Welcome to Kashmir, the future "Palestine" of southern Asia!
Posted by: BA || 07/18/2007 9:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Just like Kosovo and just like those three southern provinces in Thailand. The pattern is pretty clear.
Posted by: treo || 07/18/2007 10:40 Comments || Top||


3 more held for Musharraf attack
Investigators probing into firing on President Pervez Musharraf’s aircraft on July 06 have arrested three persons for their alleged involvement in the incident. The three suspects have been picked up from Bannu and shifted to an undisclosed location for investigation. The arrests were made after gleaning the phone record of the suspects. Investigators claimed that the case was heading in the right direction and expressed the hope that they would soon arrest the real culprits. It is pertinent to mention that the city police have detained 39 persons in this case.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


4 die in Wazoo suicide attack
A suicide attack killed four people including three soldiers at a security check-post in North Waziristan on Tuesday, the second in the region since the LaL Masjid operation and the first since local Taliban militants pulled out of a peace agreement with the government.

Eyewitnesses said the suicide bomber, who appeared to be in his 40s, walked towards the checkpoint in Kajhri, 35 kilometres east of Miranshah, and blew himself up as he mingled with soldiers manning the post. Three soldiers, a civilian and the bomber died in the attack, and two people were injured, military spokesman Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad told Daily Times by phone from Rawalpindi. “Security forces ordered a truck to stop. A man got down from the vehicle then walked up to the post and blew himself up,” Gen Arshad told AFP.

Twenty-three paramilitary soldiers were killed in a suicide blast in North Waziristan on July 14, while dozens were killed in suicide attacks in Swat and Dera Ismail Khan over the weekend, in what is being seen as a backlash from the military operation to clear Lal Masjid in Islamabad of militants earlier this month.

Late Monday night, suspected militants blew up three checkpoints of the tribal police in North Waziristan, but there were no casualties, security officials said. Militants handed out pamphlets from a car overnight in North Waziristan warning security forces and tribal elders of violence after the collapse on Sunday of the N Waziristan peace accord.

Also on Tuesday, unidentified militants beheaded an Afghan national, Muhammad Bashir, at Khar Banda tehsil, Bajaur Agency, for allegedly spying for US forces in Afghanistan. Three policemen, including the SHO of Och police, were injured when an explosive device planted along the Chakdara-Timergara road went off near Gulabad bridge in Lower Dir.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Teh guy on the left looks like he belongs in a GEICO caveman commercial.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 07/18/2007 14:20 Comments || Top||

#2  That is an insult to cavemen.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/18/2007 14:35 Comments || Top||


Suicide attack kills 16 at CJP rally
A suicide bomber struck outside the venue of a lawyers rally here on Tuesday, killing 16 people and injuring at least 63, including 10 police officials, according to hospital sources. The powerful blast went off at about 8:27pm outside the main entrance of the corridor leading to the venue of the event in F-8 Markaz, shortly before Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was to pass through the site to give a speech to lawyers of the Islamabad District Bar Association.

The site was littered with body parts and blood, and at least 13 people died at the scene. Ambulances rushed the injured to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and Federal Government Services Hospital, the two major government hospitals of the city. Nine of the injured are in critical condition.

The site was 40 metres away from the main stage where hundreds of supporters of the Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had set up camps to welcome the chief justice. The blast occurred within the PPP camp and many of the dead, including three women, were activists of the party.

The chief justice later arrived at the site with his team of lawyers. Initial reports suggested they planned to go ahead with the function. However, the chief justice postponed the speech, after offering prayers for the dead and injured and calling for a nationwide strike on Wednesday in protest at the blast. The rally was the latest in a series, which have drawn tens of thousands of Justice Chaudhry’s supporters around the country. An emergency was declared at all hospitals in Islamabad, including the nearby PIMS, where 10 charred bodies and over two dozen injured were taken. Two unidentified dead bodies and three injured people were brought to the Federal Government Services Hospital.

The Pakistan Bar Council and Supreme Court Bar Association held an emergency meeting in the Supreme Court that was still continuing when this story was filed. State Minister for Information Tariq Azeem said the incident was a suicide attack and the head of the suicide bomber had been found. “It is a very unfortunate one and deplorable. However, it is too early to say anything about the target and motive behind this attack,” he said.

The minister said that security had been tightened in the capital after warnings of more suicide attacks. “The security agencies have cordoned off the scene and started investigations,” he added. Security agencies have warned of the possibility of more attacks in the capital, claiming that a number of suicide attackers had entered the city a few days ago.

Geo News quoted witnesses as saying the suicide bomber pulled up at the scene on a motorcycle. Azeem said the reports were being investigated but nothing could be said definitively till the investigations are complete. Earlier, Islamabad Inspector General of Police Iftikhar Chaudhry and Chief Commissioner Khalid Pervez confirmed that the blast was a suicide attack. They said one indication that it was a suicide blast was that there was no crater left at the site. “At least 12 people were killed and around 40 wounded in the blast,” Pervez had said earlier. The blast came days before the Supreme Court is expected to decide the chief justice’s petition challenging his suspension and the presidential reference against him.

There was no immediate indication of who carried out the attack or whether it was linked to a spate of bombings and suicide attacks in the NWFP and tribal areas in recent days that have been blamed on religious extremists.

Agencies add: “I heard a huge bang and thought it was an electrical blast, but then I saw so many injured and dead people,” said PML-N worker Malik Shuja, who had bloodstains over his shalwar kameez. “The injured were crying ‘Help us!’ We put four people into each ambulance, not only on stretchers but also on the floor.”
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Iraq
100 Billion Barrels of Oil in Iraq per U.S. Consultancy IHS
I put this in the WoT Operations category because we must keep Al Qaeda and terrorists away from the revenue these reserves would produce.

BAGHDAD — Iraqi oil production could double in five years, according to a new study.
The report found that Iraq's oil reserves may be almost twice as much as previously estimated. The study by the U.S. consultancy IHS said another 100 billion barrels of oil reserves could be found in Iraq.

IHS said the estimate would rank Iraq as having the second largest reserves in the world, following Saudi Arabia. Currently, Iran has the second largest oil reserves in the world.
Posted by: Elmomoth Javitle4523 || 07/18/2007 17:35 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "The new estimate was based on exploration in Iraq's western desert near the border with Jordan. So far, Iraq has reported one commercial discovery in the region."

This quote from the original article is big. It could open the door to an arrangement with the Sunnis in the west.
Posted by: Keystone || 07/18/2007 18:29 Comments || Top||

#2  BushCheney McHalliburton had their space alien allies look into the future and see this discovery! That's why they sent in their fascist warmongering Cheney McBushiBurton storm troopers! No blood for oil exploration!
Posted by: Jonathan || 07/18/2007 20:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Make Iraq our 51st state, and declare victory! (And take the g*ddam*ned oil!!!)
Posted by: borgboy2001 || 07/18/2007 20:35 Comments || Top||

#4  Iraq 51st state? Senior borgboy2001! Que Pasa MEXICO??! No likey refried Beans, you WAB???? Whats wrong with you gabachos???!!!
Posted by: El Rey de el Elote Azado || 07/18/2007 22:20 Comments || Top||

#5  That's a thought. Maybe Iraq could become Mexico's 32nd State.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/18/2007 22:40 Comments || Top||

#6  Let's just annex Mexico and Iraq and be done with it then.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/18/2007 22:43 Comments || Top||


US: al-Qaida in Iraq Big Turban Captured
Pretty significant, if the content is true.
The U.S. command said Wednesday the highest-ranking Iraqi in the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq has been arrested, adding that information from him indicates the group's foreign-based leadership wields considerable influence over the Iraqi chapter.

Khaled Abdul-Fattah Dawoud Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, also known as Abu Shahid, was captured in Mosul on July 4, said Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a military spokesman. "Al-Mashhadani is believed to be the most senior Iraqi in the al-Qaida in Iraq network," Bergner said. He said al-Mashhadani was a close associate of Abu Ayub al-Masri, the Egyptian-born head of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Bergner said al-Mashhadani served as an intermediary between al-Masri and Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri. "In fact, communication between the senior al-Qaida leadership and al-Masri frequently went through al-Mashhadani," Bergner said. "Along with al-Masri, al-Mashhadani co-founded a virtual organization in cyberspace called the Islamic State of Iraq in 2006," Bergner said. "The Islamic State of Iraq is the latest efforts by al-Qaida to market itself and its goal of imposing a Taliban-like state on the Iraqi people."

Bergner said al-Mashhadani had told interrogators that al-Baghdadi is a "fictional role" created by al-Masri and that an actor is used for audio recordings of speeches posted on the Web. "In his words, the Islamic State of Iraq is a front organization that masks the foreign influence and leadership within al-Qaida in Iraq in an attempt to put an Iraqi face on the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq," Bergner said.
In Web postings, the Islamic State of Iraq has identified its leader as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, with al-Masri as minister of war. There are no known photos of al-Baghdadi. Bergner said al-Mashhadani had told interrogators that al-Baghdadi is a "fictional role" created by al-Masri and that an actor is used for audio recordings of speeches posted on the Web. "In his words, the Islamic State of Iraq is a front organization that masks the foreign influence and leadership within al-Qaida in Iraq in an attempt to put an Iraqi face on the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq," Bergner said.

He said al-Mashhadani was a leader of the militant Ansar al-Sunnah group before joining al-Qaida in Iraq 2 1/2 years ago. Al-Mashhadani served as the al-Qaida media chief for Baghdad and then was appointed the media chief for the whole country.
This article starring:
ABU AIUB AL MASRIal-Qaeda in Iraq
ABU OMAR AL BAGHDADIIslamic State of Iraq
ABU SHAHIDal-Qaeda in Iraq
AIMAN AL ZAWAHRIal-Qaeda
Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a military spokesman
KHALED ABDUL FATTAH DAWUD MAHMUD AL MASHADANIal-Qaeda in Iraq
KHALED ABDUL FATTAH DAWUD MAHMUD AL MASHADANIAnsar al-Sunnah
Ansar al-Sunnah
Islamic State of Iraq
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 08:42 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Islamic State of Iraq

#1  KHALED ABDUL FATTAH DAWUD MAHMUD AL MASHADANI

Good thing he "graduated" before Iraq decides to put "an emphasis on education." Otherwise, he'd still be at the blackboard trying to spell his name!
Posted by: BA || 07/18/2007 10:11 Comments || Top||

#2  I guarantee that the Brave Lion of Islam™ is singing like a canary.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/18/2007 10:11 Comments || Top||

#3  Yeah, the leaders have lots of intelto share, so they get the really good interrogators. We are also picking up a number of their leaders, so someone is spilling something. By now I think we have a clear picture of al Qaeda structure, movements, tactics, times and places.
Now to infiltrate the US Senate.
Posted by: wxjames || 07/18/2007 10:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Harder to do - too many targets of opportunity.
Posted by: lotp || 07/18/2007 10:46 Comments || Top||

#5  al-Mashhadani served as an intermediary between al-Masri and Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.

Maybe with the right kind of panties on the head, info will lead to other big turbans.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/18/2007 11:27 Comments || Top||

#6  Bergner said al-Mashhadani had told interrogators that al-Baghdadi is a "fictional role" created by al-Masri and that an actor is used for audio recordings of speeches posted on the Web.

I believe we discussed the idea that might be the case here. al-Baghdadi, the phantom, the man who's everywhere and nowhere, the man who can't be caught or killed because he doesn't exist.

Which all falls apart when you nab the right guy and he sings like a bird.
Posted by: Steve || 07/18/2007 11:28 Comments || Top||

#7  Captured in Mosul on July 4th (such a nice birthday present for America!), not revealed until the 18th? They emptied his head awfully fast... not to mention his computer, his cell phone, his...
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/18/2007 11:43 Comments || Top||

#8  OOOH, there must be something wrong here. Al Queda in Iraq Mesopatania doesn't exist and if it did no Iraqi would be part of it. I know. Its my paper and I'll decide if things are real or not and whether the USA should be secured or not. If you don't like it then sell your stock and never come near my paper again.
Posted by: Pinch the Mench || 07/18/2007 12:06 Comments || Top||

#9  What they're not telling you is that Khaled Abdul-Fattah Dawoud Mahmoud al-Mashhadani wasn't captured, he defected. He's been a U.S. double agent for years, and he left behind other double agents who are still supplying us with information.

Or not.

Whether it's true or not, I hope the bad guys are hearing lost of rumors that Khaled was working for us. Confusion to our enemies!
Posted by: Mike || 07/18/2007 14:12 Comments || Top||

#10  This is an excellent omen for the Iraqis:

Other events on the 4th of July:
Declaration of Independence
July 3rd, 1863 - (I'm sure it was July 4th somewhere in the world) Lee made his single greatest mistake in the Civil War - Union troops repelled a massive artillery assault on Cemetery Ridge during the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg in southern Pennsylvania. During the early morning hours Confederate General Robert E. Lee ordered General Longstreet to prepare General Pickett's troops for the assault. Longstreet advised Lee of his reservations about the success of such an advance, which he did not feel Confederate troops could sustain. Lee disregarded Longstreet and maintained his order for a heavy bombardment of Union defenses on the Ridge followed by an advance of Pickett's men.

On July 4th, 1863, Conf. General John Pemberton surrendered his army and the army of the Confederacy was split in two.

The complete liberation of the Phillippines was announced by McArthur on July 5th (I will assume it July 4th back in the good ol' USA)

On July 4th, ? Frederick Douglass decried the evils of slavery, still prevalent in the American South at that time, but identified forces "drawing encouragement from the Declaration of Independence, the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions in operation" that "must inevitably work The downfall of slavery."

Men who were recalled by their maker on the 4th of July:
Ben Franklin
George Washington
John Adams
John Hancock
TJ
Abe

The capture and resulting information obtained from this the Iraqi likewise bodes as a major turning event in the fight for Liberty and Justice for all.
Posted by: A T || 07/18/2007 14:55 Comments || Top||

#11  note: John Pemberton surrendered his army at the battle of Vicksburg..
Posted by: A T || 07/18/2007 14:57 Comments || Top||

#12  "Alluha Akbar!!", the new Dhimmicratic Party slogan, al_Mashhadani will not get to hear (awwwwww!!!) if the Dhimmicrats ever get their way for "cutting and running" in the face of Al Qaeda.
Posted by: Elmomoth Javitle4523 || 07/18/2007 17:49 Comments || Top||


Max Boot: "You don’t hear much about Anbar Province anymore."
You don’t hear much about Anbar Province anymore. That’s because this area, once the scene of the heaviest fighting in Iraq, has turned remarkably quiet of late. Attacks are down 80 percent since last year. If there is any cause for optimism in Iraq this is it: If an area as troubled as Anbar could be turned around so quickly, then no part of Iraq can truly be said to be hopeless. Yet much hard work remains to be done to consolidate the gains that have recently been made. I asked Colonel John Charlton, commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division, whom I visited in April, to provide an update for contentions readers on what is happening in the provincial capital, Ramadi. His emailed response follows . . .

Hit the link and read the rest of the story.
Posted by: Mike || 07/18/2007 06:38 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  The real reason you don't hear about anymore is that its a victory for Bush. Everything is about Bush.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 07/18/2007 8:27 Comments || Top||

#2  That's because the natives didn't want AQ there anymore then our boys beat AQ's ass. Doesn't fit well with the MSM liberal script so they don't report it.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/18/2007 9:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Some of our silly Senators are trying to turn victory into defeat as they sacrifice so much by losing sleep all night in Washington. Traitors.

Mark Twain said: Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress.... But I repeat myself.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/18/2007 11:35 Comments || Top||


Attack weapons team engages IED triggerman
Attack helicopters from the 1st Squadron 82nd Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade engaged and killed two insurgents and wounded another three in two engagements July 13, near Samarra, Iraq. The first attack weapons team observed a fuel tanker burning after being struck by an IED on a local main supply route. The team identified and engaged the emplacers, killing one and wounding the other two.

Coalition ground forces from D/2-505 Parachute Infantry Regiment moved in and recovered small arms and ammunition and a video camera with tape containing video of mortar, IED and SVBIED attacks. A second engagement took place when attack helicopters observed two insurgents digging and placing an IED next to a road near a village in Tikrit, Iraq. Coalition Force helicopters engaged the emplacers, killing one insurgent and wounding the other.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Shoot the guy with the beard and if they all are bearded, shoot them all.
Posted by: McZoid || 07/18/2007 1:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Their "leaders" think it's OK for them to hide under burquas, but going beardless is not allowed...
Posted by: Ho Chi Whomoter3424 || 07/18/2007 7:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Attack weapons team ??

Is that what we used to call a pink team? Yes, I know this makes me sound like one of the old fogeys, but then I are one.

Extra points if you can explain to the others what I am referring to.
Posted by: N Guard || 07/18/2007 13:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Pink:
One recon/observation--white.
One attack--red.

'cause red teams couldn't see enough and white teams couldn't do what needed to be done when they saw something.

Also, one red was generally sufficient, so by going pink, you could put reds in twice as many places.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 07/18/2007 15:27 Comments || Top||


Marines launch Operation Mawtini in western Al Anbar
Regimental Combat Team 2, located in western Al Anbar province, launched Operation Mawtini July 15th to neutralize any future attempts by Anti-Iraqi Forces to re-establish a presence in key urban areas along the Euphrates River valley.

The operation, calls for over 9,000 U.S Marines, Soldiers, Sailors and Iraqi Army members to strike deep into the less-traveled regions of RCT-2’s operating area, “We anticipate that the terrorists will attempt to step-up their attacks in the urban areas to regain power and influence over the population” said Col. Stacy Clardy, RCT-2 commander. “We‘re hunting them down to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Operation Mawtini, which will include the Iraqi Army’s 2nd and 3rd brigades of the 7th division, begins on the heels of Operation Harris Ba’sil which provided a better picture of enemy movement patterns and safe havens. The information gained during Harris Ba’sil will allow the Regiment to conduct focused disruption and security operations in those areas critical to the enemy.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Operation Maw-tini. Apply one dose of southern accent, shake, mix, strain and serve em "up" on ice.

Many legendary historical figures favored mawtinis, among them Churchill, Truman Capote, J. Robert Oppenheimer, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Cary Grant, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the fictional James Bond. The dry martini is also sometimes called a "Silver Bullet" because it "is clear, potent and never misses its mark";
Posted by: A T || 07/18/2007 2:41 Comments || Top||

#2  First pour the extra dry Vermouth over the rocks and shake, then pour out the remaining liquid. Then add the gin, shake and pour. Be sure to use three olives, for the vitamins.

And remember, if you use vodka and have an onion, it is a Gibson.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/18/2007 10:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Use Tanqueray, NOT vodka. Mix it up at noon, cover it and stick it in the freezer. By six p.m. it'll be ready. Pours out like syrup. Add an olive or two. Deadly.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/18/2007 11:48 Comments || Top||

#4  Forget Tanqueray.
Use Ten or Sapphire
Posted by: epaminondas || 07/18/2007 12:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Frankly, I'm not much for mawtinis - I much prefer the old-fashioned napalm grill method, followed by picking through the ashes. Guess I'm still a Southerner at heart...
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/18/2007 12:49 Comments || Top||

#6  Depends on the situation, OP. Just think how much more sensible some of these turbans would be if you could get some good gin down their throats.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/18/2007 14:47 Comments || Top||

#7  Always start with gin unless called for otherwise. Any martini assumes gin - not vodka as gin itself is a flavored vodka. Loose the gin and you lose those essential botanicals. For the ultimate in a dry martini...swirl a few drops of good scotch in a chilled glass, then shake out excess then add yer chilled gin and gnosh of choice. Bombay Sapphire is still the benchmark for me though there's some new gins hitting the shelves that are causing a ruckus, which of course will require some thoughtful, hands on research. Oh looky...lunch time. Off to Harrington's!
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 07/18/2007 14:57 Comments || Top||

#8  Mawtini- "My Homeland"
Popular Arab folksong.
The new Iraqi national anthem?
Posted by: Free Radical || 07/18/2007 20:38 Comments || Top||


Iraqi Army, Coalition Forces capture Al Qaeda Emir in Qayyarah
Elements of the Iraqi Army Second Division, with Coalition Forces as advisors, captured the alleged emir of Qayyarah for Al Qaeda during an intelligence driven operation July 15 in Qayyarah.
"Yer comin' wit' us, yer Emirship"
During the operation, Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces also detained three other individuals at the residence and recovered terrorist propaganda, passports and Korean currency.
"An' yer yapdogs, too. Now hustle, effendi!"
The capture of this individual will disrupt terrorist networks operating in eastern Ninewa Province. The individual has high level contacts in the Al Qaeda network, cells for foreign fighters and improvised explosive devices. No Iraqi or Coalition Forces soldiers were injured in the operation.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  Korean currency?
WTF?
Posted by: 3dc || 07/18/2007 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  I wonder if the ROKs paid a ransom for their hostage and he was killed anyway:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,123343,00.html
Posted by: crosspatch || 07/18/2007 2:13 Comments || Top||

#3  The ROKs hand out money as if they have a printing press with them where ever they go. The contractors I have dealt with come to meetings and offer you $500 in bills before negotiations even begin (good will gesture). It takes all of your logic and rationale to explain to them that this is called bribery - which in my experience is SOP to them.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 07/18/2007 8:32 Comments || Top||

#4  outed by "THE BIG TURBAN"?
Posted by: 3dc || 07/18/2007 12:11 Comments || Top||


Coalition Forces detain suspected al-Qaeda senior leader in Mosul
Coalition Forces detained three suspected terrorists during operations in Mosul targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leaders Tuesday. Coalition Forces captured an alleged al-Qaeda in Iraq leader in Mosul who is believed to have been promoted within the organization after recent Coalition operations created numerous vacancies in the terrorist leadership structure.
Snicker. Someone at HQ has a sense of humor.
Intelligence reports also indicate the individual is responsible for mortar and sniper attacks against Iraqi forces and a December attack against Coalition Forces. Two other suspected terrorists were also detained during the Tuesday operation. “We’re putting continuous pressure on al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders and their networks,” said Maj. Marc Young, an MNF-I spokesperson. “We will continue attacking these networks so Iraqis can live peacefully, without fear of vicious terrorist attacks.”
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  Snicker. Someone at HQ has a sense of humor.

Or someone is a long-time Rantburg reader. Stranger things have happened.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/18/2007 6:19 Comments || Top||

#2  You know, this sort of turmoil is perfect for the infiltration of our agents. It's how the FBI got into the Mafia.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 07/18/2007 11:52 Comments || Top||

#3  Somehow I don't see CIA agent and Harvard sociology grad Remington J Winchester III infiltrating anything more dangerous than a dinner party.
Posted by: ed || 07/18/2007 14:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Thats why the Military is doing the work. DIA, doing the jobs the CIA will not.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/18/2007 18:28 Comments || Top||

#5  Or perhaps it is that the administration is asking the DIA to do the jobs it can't trust the CIA to do.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/18/2007 19:27 Comments || Top||


US: Major al-Qaida figure dead in missile strike
The most wanted al-Qaida in Iraq figure south of Baghdad was killed last weekend by a precision-guided artillery round, the US military said Tuesday. Abu Jurah, an al-Qaida cell leader, died Saturday in the Arab Jabour area just south of the city after US troops received word that he and 14 others were meeting at a house there, a US statement said.

A bit more detail from CENTCOM...
Shortly after 12 p.m., 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, received a call that Abu Jurah and 14 anti-Iraqi forces were meeting at a house in Arab Jabour. Abu Jurah was an AQI cell leader and was responsible for improvised explosive devices, vehicle-borne IED and indirect fire attacks on Coalition Forces in Arab Jabour.

At approximately 1:12 p.m., the house was positively identified allowing 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment to fire two Excalibur rounds destroying the meeting house. An unmanned aerial vehicle observed persons leaving the house, loading injured individuals into a sedan and fleeing the scene. An AH-64 Apache helicopter engaged the sedan destroying it.

Three people were observed running from the meeting house to a nearby house. A U.S. Air Force F16 Fighting Falcon dropped two 500-pound GPS-guided bombs on the second house.
This article starring:
ABU JURAHal-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  No detainees? Eeexcellent!
/Monty Burns
Posted by: PBMcL || 07/18/2007 1:00 Comments || Top||

#2  The old Triple Whammy™! Good work, troops!
Posted by: Zenster || 07/18/2007 1:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Excalibur CEP 10 meters
Posted by: KBK || 07/18/2007 3:00 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm surprised the Navy didn't get in a shot.
Posted by: KBK || 07/18/2007 3:02 Comments || Top||

#5  Shelled, straffed, and bombed in the same incident. Those boys had a bad day, and we had a hat trick.
Posted by: Galactic Coordinator Shins1195 || 07/18/2007 7:33 Comments || Top||

#6  The Feel-Good story of the week. Glad our boys were allowed to have some fun
Posted by: Captain Lewis || 07/18/2007 7:42 Comments || Top||

#7  "This meeting is adjourned. Courtesy of the red white and blue."
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/18/2007 8:30 Comments || Top||

#8  Yes, PBMcL, good news indeed. No need for Gitmo or Abu Gharib "incidents," ya know. I just wonder if the RoEs have been loosened somewhat to keep from "capturing" folks?
Posted by: BA || 07/18/2007 10:04 Comments || Top||

#9  The Iraqi hat trick.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/18/2007 10:26 Comments || Top||

#10  Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/18/2007 10:54 Comments || Top||

#11  Anonymoose, nice pic, only instead of a cute puppy, it should be a fill in the blank for pond scum
Posted by: Jan || 07/18/2007 11:01 Comments || Top||

#12  Most excellent!
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/18/2007 11:38 Comments || Top||

#13  Anonymoose is also known as Michael Vick.
Posted by: Tibor || 07/18/2007 11:53 Comments || Top||

#14  BUT... and I asked for a clarification from the press office, they did not reveal how many enemy dead. It appears obvious we got most if not all, but how about a follow-up count?
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 07/18/2007 11:54 Comments || Top||

#15  another outed by the "Big Turban"?

how long before AQ teams try to kill the "Big Turban"?
Posted by: 3dc || 07/18/2007 12:13 Comments || Top||

#16  An AH-64 Apache helicopter engaged the sedan destroying it.

The utter unfairness of it all. Anything under a 1/2 ton truck we should be instructed by the lawyers to use only "appropriate" response, like, say a 4 door or station wagon. Its just not fair to use helicopters against cars.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 07/18/2007 12:13 Comments || Top||

#17  I'm surprised the Navy didn't get in a shot.

We don't have any vessels with primary gun armament any more, KBK, and the Tigris is too shallow for destroyers anyway. I'm sure John sKerry can fabricate a river-boat encounter, if you'd ask him.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/18/2007 12:55 Comments || Top||

#18  Yes, I remember that Thanksgiving Day trip up the Tigris River, where we ended up in Iranian territory. It's SEARED, SEARED in my mind!
Posted by: John sKerry || 07/18/2007 13:46 Comments || Top||

#19  "Did I tell you about my service in Vietnam? Nearly single-handedly, I won that war." JFnK
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/18/2007 17:30 Comments || Top||

#20  Chinese menu attack:

Two from column A (Artillery, Apache), one from Column B (500lb Bomb).

Al Qaeda giblets, finely ground, hot and steaming.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/18/2007 18:30 Comments || Top||


Militants kill scores in Iraqi village
Twenty nine villagers were killed by men wearing Iraqi military uniforms who stormed their homes north of Baghdad on Monday, an Iraqi security official said on Tuesday. Colonel Raghib Rawi, spokesman for security operations in Diyala province, said a large number of militants surrounded Duwailiya village, north of the city of Baquba, on Monday afternoon and then opened fire. There were four people wounded in the attack, which he blamed on militants fleeing U.S. and Iraqi security forces who last month launched a major operation in Baquba, the capital of the religiously mixed Diyala province. Thousands of troops swept into Baquba to drive out an estimated several hundred al Qaeda militants who had turned the city into a stronghold. But U.S. commanders say that many of the most senior al Qaeda fighters departed before their net closed.

In another attack, three family members were killed and five others, belonging to the same family, injured in a car explosion eastern Baghdad on Monday evening, according to eyewitnesses. An Iraqi man, who was abducted by unknown militants, had just returned home at Ghadir suburb near Mislon Square, east of Baghdad, when his car exploded in the garage of his house, leaving him and another two members of his family dead. Five members of the just-freed Iraqi hostage were also injured and the house was partially damaged in the blast, eyewitnesses said. Immediately, the Iraqi police cordoned off the car explosion site while neighbors were thrown in panic over the incident. Maj. Gen. Abdel-Karim Khalaf, chief of the National Control Center of the Iraqi Interior Ministry, condemned the explosion as a "cowardly act", urging people to inform the Iraqi police of abduction incidents.

In another incident reported on Tuesday, four people were killed by a car bomb parked near the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, Iraqi police said. Police said five were wounded in the attack, in a car park opposite the Iranian embassy in the upscale Karadat Maryam district near the fortified Green Zone compound. The Iranian embassy is near to, but not inside the Green Zone.

Earlier on Monday, bomb attacks in the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk killed at least 85 people and wounded more than 180 others. A bomber detonated a lorry near the offices of a Kurdish political party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), causing most of the casualties. Two other bombs later went off in the city. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Two journalists including a Swedish passport holder of Kurdish origin were among 85 people killed on Monday by a massive truck bomb in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, a newspaper said on Tuesday. Sports reporter Majeed Mohammed, and writer/researcher Mustafa Gaimayani were killed when the blast damaged the offices of the Hawal Media Institute, its chairman Hashwan Dawoudi said. Gaimayani had a Swedish passport and his family all live in that country, but he had moved to Kirkuk about five months ago to join the institute, Dawoudi said. Hawal produces a weekly newspaper from Kirkuk in Kurdish and a sister newspaper in Arabic called Al-Nabaa.

Three Iraqis working for Reuters were killed in Baghdad last week, as well as an Iraqi reporter for the New York Times. Reporters Without Borders say at least 194 journalists and media assistants have been killed in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, making it the most dangerous place in the world to report. The vast majority of the deaths have been Iraqi.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  But U.S. commanders say that many of the most senior al Qaeda fighters departed before their net closed.

Escaped wearing the traditional AQ escape garb--burqas?

Twenty-nine villagers insurgents...fixed that.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/18/2007 11:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Three Iraqis working for Reuters were killed in Baghdad last week, as well as an Iraqi reporter for the New York Times. Reporters Without Borders say at least 194 journalists and media assistants have been killed in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, making it the most dangerous place in the world to report. The vast majority of the deaths have been Iraqi.

What's wrong? Can't you just withdraw your reporters like your editors have been saying we should do with our military. Oh, I see, its Bush's fault, since if we would withdraw retreat then you wouldn't have to be there anymore. Actually, if we do retreat, you are in greater peril than you are now. But who is kidding who - mostly Iraqi reporters or employees. Yep, damn hard to kill yourself in Iraq if you're a western reporter unless you somehow swallow the olive and forget to remove the toothpick.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 07/18/2007 12:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Twenty-nine villagers insurgents...fixed that.

Not this time, JohnQC. These probably were innocent villagers attacked by Al-Q in Iraqi army uniforms. Just another dispicable act by a group of power-hungry bas$$$$s using religion as an excuse to kill, maim, murder, and mangle the locals.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/18/2007 13:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Army uniforms are probably readily available to AQ. It is a shame. The AQ dressed as Iraqi soldiers should be executed on the spot as spies when caught. I was wondering if that might be a possibility OP.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/18/2007 14:49 Comments || Top||

#5  if the journo's would just stop embedding with the enemy hoping for good footage of jihadis shooting americans, they wouldnt be caught up in the action so much. plus if the jihadis would wear uniforms in accordance with the geneva conventions, our troops would know which ones to shoot and maybe spare the journos...

but for my dollar, dead syncopant journos are the best kind.
Posted by: Abu do you love || 07/18/2007 15:09 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel releases two Hamas members
Israel on Tuesday released former Palestinian Education Minister Nasser Shaer and Hamas member Ramadan Shadat from prison, the IDF said in a statement. The statement said Shaer was in administrative detention - imprisonment without trial - and was released under an agreement that he would sign a statement renouncing his membership in Hamas and declaring he would not roll his eyes and make faces at Abu Mazen no more hold positions in the Palestinian Authority for Hamas or any other illegal organization. Shaer was the most senior among 33 Hamas leaders, including lawmakers, rounded up by Israeli security forces in the West Bank last May.
This article starring:
NASER SHAERHamas
RAMADAN SHADATHamas
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Israel on Tuesday released former Palestinian Education Minister Nasser Shaer and Hamas member Ramadan Shadat from prison, the IDF Ministry of Wishful Thinking said in a statement.

There fixed that.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 07/18/2007 12:21 Comments || Top||

#2  I would have no problem with this if they released them at about 30,000 feet.
Posted by: Rambler || 07/18/2007 12:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Rambler: I would have no problem with this if they released them at about 30,000 feet.

I'd be tickled with 1% of that altitude (300ft)
Posted by: Abu do you love || 07/18/2007 20:15 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
One killed, one wounded in southern Thailand
Police review video footage of Tuesday's bombing

Terrorists Presumed insurgents wounded a rubber tapper and killed an assistant village head in Narathiwat, while police have video footage of two bombers in connection with the bomb blast in Yala on Tuesday.

An unidentified gunman shot Doromae Sama-ae on his way to tab rubber in a plantation in Rueso district on Wednesday morning. He was wounded in one arm and sent to hospital. On Tuesday night, assistant village headman Niake Salamae was shot and killed by a gunman in front of a school in the provincial seat. He died going to hospital.

In Narathiwat's Ra-ngae district, terrorists presumed insurgents fired on transformers, causing a blackout in two subdistricts. According to the initial investigation, a gunman armed with an assault rifle in a pickup truck shot at the transformers and felled a tree to block the road to prevent police pursuit. An official from the provincial electricity authority said it takes two more days to repair the damaged transformers because it needs equipment from its office in Yala to fix it. The cost of damage is estimated at more than one million baht.

In relation to the bomb blast in Yala on Tuesday, police now have video footage of two men parking the motorcycle in front of a shop in the Yala municipality. According to the preliminary investigation, the bombers may be linked to the Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK) insurgent group led by Ma-ae Aphibanbae. The bomb hidden in the motorcycle was detonated by remote control, killing one police officer and wounded 18 other people.

Among the injured, five policemen and two journalists remain in hospital, in good condition. The other bomb victims were released from hospital on Tuesday.
Posted by: ryuge || 07/18/2007 08:01 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Pro-Syrian terrorists surrender to Lebanese Army
Two Fatah al-Islam members and two fighters of the Syrian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) surrendered, as Lebanese commandos made significant advances against the terrorists.

A Lebanese soldier was killed Tuesday in clashes with Islamist fighters as the army closed in on the extremists' positions in a bombed-out refugee camp, a military spokesman said. "We have a martyr today. He was killed in the confrontations" with terrorists of the Islamist group Fatah al-Islam in north Lebanon's Nahr al-Bared camp, said the spokesman who did not wish to be identified. "We are continuing the operation. The army is extending its deployment to new positions in the camp where we are further tightening the noose on the gunmen to force them to surrender," he told Agence France Presse.

The battle which broke out on May 20 has now cost the lives of 101 soldiers, out of a total death toll of about 200. Dozens of militants have been killed, but the exact number is unknown as the group cannot be contacted. A military spokesman said three soldiers were killed in Monday's fighting with the Al-Qaida-inspired Sunni extremists around Nahr al-Bared.

80 or less Terrorists Left
Fatah al-Islam has lost its second in command Abu Hureira in the battle, according to Abu Nabil, the PFLP-GC chief for the camp who was among the four who surrendered, a senior official from his group said.
Current mood of fleas: sad. :-(
The fighting erupted when the terrorists launched a string of attacks on soldiers, killing 27 troops around the camp and in the nearby northern port city of Tripoli. The terrorists, believed to number less than 80 people at present, fired Katyusha-type rockets, five of which struck fields north of the camp without causing any casualties, police said. Fatah al-Islam has been firing rockets since last week's evacuation from the camp of militants of the mainstream Palestinian group Fatah, after apparently seizing their abandoned arsenal. Fatah and local officials have condemned the rocket fire as acts of desperation.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Fatah al-Islam

#1  We have a martyr today. He was killed in the confrontations" with terrorists of the Islamist group Fatah al-Islam in north Lebanon's Nahr al-Bared camp, said the spokesman who did not wish to be identified.

Not wishing to become a martyr himself.
Posted by: Liberalhawk || 07/18/2007 10:44 Comments || Top||


G'morning...
Hasina, Khaleda given 7 days for wealth reportSuicide attack kills 16 at CJP rallyMilitants kill scores in Iraqi village Pro-Syrian terrorists surrender to Lebanese ArmyPak-Afghan border sealed at Chaman crossingNo talks with Israel without guarantees, says AssadUK resumes financial aid to PalestiniansRajapaksa vows to wrest all land from Tigers
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Lovely shot of period wicker.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/18/2007 1:53 Comments || Top||

#2  So now we know what Fred was a-starin' at.
Posted by: Mike || 07/18/2007 6:33 Comments || Top||

#3  She was funny, sexy, and she could act and sing. Had it all.
Posted by: McZoid || 07/18/2007 10:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Backwards and in high heels ....
Posted by: lotp || 07/18/2007 10:51 Comments || Top||

#5  making up for a bad start this week, Fred.
Posted by: Skunky Glager9194 || 07/18/2007 12:26 Comments || Top||

#6  Geez, I scroll down to look at the comments and there's Grace 8^).

Classic and modern beauty aiiiee chihuahua!!!

re #2, Mike did you mean Fred or Fred???

Poor guy had to spot focus on that as he's dancin'. I think I would have tripped over my tongue.
Posted by: AlanC || 07/18/2007 15:10 Comments || Top||

#7  Hey, what about Cyd Charisse?...
Posted by: mojo || 07/18/2007 16:46 Comments || Top||


Rantapalooza reminder!
Saturday, August 4, 8 o'clock, halfway between Charm City and The Swamp. Now with secret celebrity guest moderator!

My prediction: the Sunday Scimitar might not post until very early Monday morning...
Posted by: Seafarious@yahoo.com || 07/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Don't forget to raise a cold one for Yassar Arafat. Its his birthday.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 07/18/2007 11:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Seafarious, I think you're working up to an alternate career in marketing/advertising. :-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/18/2007 12:00 Comments || Top||

#3  Sea, I'm hoping to make it if work doesn't interfere. E-mail me the time/location?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 07/18/2007 15:38 Comments || Top||

#4  Of course. I'll send them tonite...
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/18/2007 15:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Heh-heh-heh.

Er, I mean, this'll be fun. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 07/18/2007 15:48 Comments || Top||

#6  I'd like to go, but family issues may intervene. And my doctor would be very annoyed were I to drink much.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 07/18/2007 23:59 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
72[untagged]
6Iraqi Insurgency
5Global Jihad
4al-Qaeda
4Taliban
4al-Qaeda in Iraq
3Hamas
3Govt of Iran
3Govt of Syria
2Hezbollah
2TNSM
1Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
1Islamic State of Iraq
1Fatah al-Islam
1Palestinian Authority
1al-Qaeda in Britain
1Thai Insurgency
1Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
1Hizbul Mujaheddin

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2007-07-18
  Qaida in Iraq Big Turban Captured
Tue 2007-07-17
  Bombs kill at least 80 in Kirkuk
Mon 2007-07-16
  Major Joint Offensive South of Baghdad, 8,000 troops
Sun 2007-07-15
  N Korea closes nuclear facilities
Sat 2007-07-14
  Thai army detains 342 Muslims in southern raids
Fri 2007-07-13
  Hek urges Islamist revolt in Pakistain
Thu 2007-07-12
  Iraq: 200 boom belts found in Syrian truck
Wed 2007-07-11
  Ghazi dead, crisis over, aftermath begins
Tue 2007-07-10
  Paks assault Lal Masjid
Mon 2007-07-09
  Israeli cabinet okays Fatah prisoner release
Sun 2007-07-08
  Pak arrests Talibigs
Sat 2007-07-07
  100 Murdered in Turkmen Village of Amer Li
Fri 2007-07-06
  Failed assasination attempt at Musharraf
Thu 2007-07-05
  1200 surrender at Lal Masjid
Abul Aziz Ghazi nabbed sneaking out in burka
Wed 2007-07-04
  12 dead as Lal Masjid students provoke gunfight

Better than the average link...



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.
35.170.64.185
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (41)    Non-WoT (29)    Opinion (9)    Local News (10)    (0)