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Iraq: Khalis tribal leaders sign peace agreement
Today's Headlines
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Deadly blast at Syrian arms depot
An explosion at an arms depot in northern Syria has killed 15 soldiers and wounded 50, the Sana state news agency has said. The explosion took place early in the morning at Musalmiya, about 10km (6 miles) north of the city of Aleppo.

"One hospital I went to was filled with injured personnel," a witness told the Reuters news agency.

Officials say the blast was caused by high summer temperatures, up to 50C, which set off explosive materials. It was "not the result of sabotage", they said. "There is a heat wave and temperatures reached close to 50C degrees, which caused an ammunition dump to explode," an official told Reuters.
Heat and gunpowder: who knew?
Syria has seen violence by Islamic extremists in recent years, with security forces clashing several times with militant groups.

An official at Aleppo University Hospital told the Associated Press news agency that the bodies of five dead soldiers and 10 wounded were brought to the facility.
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/26/2007 11:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Something else to blame on global warming.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 07/26/2007 11:46 Comments || Top||

#2  "Oops"
Posted by: Seal Team 6 || 07/26/2007 11:52 Comments || Top||

#3  Who would have thunk that "high summer temperatures" were present "early in the morning"?
Posted by: Crusader || 07/26/2007 12:30 Comments || Top||

#4  An "intentional" accident? Perhaps payback for allowing over 90 percent of the Jihadi homicide boomers (nearly half from the Soddy Kingdom) that are in Iraq to cross over from Syria.

If it was our "spooks," we of course would not know or learn of this for about another 20 to 30 years. *wink*
Posted by: Sigmund Freud || 07/26/2007 13:05 Comments || Top||

#5  THis just in: reearchers at the McMurdo Science Station have observed water change from its normally fluid state to that of solid when temperatures drop to the 0 degree C mark. Who would have thought THAT?????
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 07/26/2007 13:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Mossad is everywhere
Posted by: gromgoru || 07/26/2007 16:30 Comments || Top||

#7  #5 - clearly a sign of global climate change.

And you know? If you happen to have an actual hockey stick and a puck, some of that hard water and skates: it can be pretty fun.
Posted by: eLarson || 07/26/2007 16:51 Comments || Top||

#8  That hard water actually has utility when mixed with some of our Kentucky made products.
Posted by: Skidmark || 07/26/2007 17:03 Comments || Top||

#9  Obvious bullshit. They're not even trying.

The old "Early morning heat wave" expalnation...
Posted by: mojo || 07/26/2007 17:12 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
160 Talibs Killed Since Sunday
BAGRAM, Afghanistan (Courtesy of CJTF-82 PAO, July 26, 2007) – An element of 1st Brigade, 205th Afghan National Army Corps, combat-advised by Coalition forces, killed more than 50 enemy fighters during a combat patrol on the western side of the Helmand River in Helmand province during a battle that lasted more than 12 hours and finished early this morning.

Taliban insurgents engaged the ANA-led patrol 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) north of Qal’eh-ye Gaz, a village in Helmand province. During the course of the battle, the insurgents attacked from 16 separate compounds using heavy machine guns, rocket propelled grenades and small-arms weapons.

The Afghan National Security Forces and Coalition forces immediately returned fire and called in close air support to destroy the enemy fighters within the compounds.

Coalition air support dropped two bombs on the compounds with the greatest concentration of insurgents. Both compounds produced significant secondary explosions immediately suggesting a large quantity of explosive material was present in each. Insurgents routinely hide explosive material used to make IEDs in compounds within populated areas.

Throughout the evening, the insurgents arrived using a wadi system from Musa Qala to reinforce the established enemy positions. The combined force maneuvered to defendable positions and directed close air support aircraft to continue obliterating the identified Taliban militia positions. No more bombs were dropped during the engagement.

As the battle concluded, more than 50 insurgents were confirmed killed with an unknown number wounded. Sixteen Taliban compounds, three enemy motorcycles and five enemy trucks were destroyed as well.

Intelligence suggests a heavy concentration of Taliban insurgent fighters in the Musa Qala area. They are using Musa Qala as a base of support and it is believed that they will stay and defend the area rather than use their normal hit-and-run tactics. Since Sunday, more than 160 insurgents have been killed in the vicinity of Musa Qala.

The combined force suffered just one casualty, a broken hand by a Coalition Soldier. There were no Afghan civilian injures reported.

“The enemies of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan continue to deliberately put innocent Afghans into harms way by attacking ANA and Coalition Forces in populated areas,” said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force- 82 spokesperson. “We are taking every possible precaution to avoid harming non-combatants. Our aircraft engaged legitimate enemy targets during this engagement to minimize the potential of Afghan casualties. Further, with the lack of any combined force injuries inflicted by the Taliban, this engagement is another humiliating defeat for the enemies of Afghanistan”
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 07/26/2007 08:48 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  “The enemies of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan(including DoD lawyers) continue to deliberately put innocent Afghans into harms way by attacking ANA and Coalition Forces in populated areas,” said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force- 82 spokesperson.

There, a little added detail.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 07/26/2007 9:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Great news, Chuck. I guess your request for a body count ignited an overkill of sorts. 160 to 0 !
ONE HUNDRED and SIXTY to ZERO !

'Hey guys, somebody named Chuck in the US wants body counts.'
Posted by: wxjames || 07/26/2007 9:36 Comments || Top||

#3  While this is a kill ratio we can definitely live with, the kill rate is still much too low to win a war by killing - we still have to succeed in converting the people to desire (or at least tolerate) peace in order for us to 'win'.
Posted by: Glenmore || 07/26/2007 9:38 Comments || Top||

#4  This is why I prefer to think of it in terms of military units.

8-13 Squad
25-60 Platoon
70-250 Company
300-1,000 Battalion
2,000-3,000 Regiment
3,000-5,000 Brigade
10,000-20,000 Division
30,000-50,000 Corps
50,000-60,000 Army

Looking at Iraq and Afghanistan, if the enemy were a conventional army, what would you estimate their total losses so far?

It is actually less important that you look at our losses vs their loses, than to imagine the impact of their losses on their ability to wage war.

That is, what remains of al-Qaeda is mostly replacements, their original leadership having been so annihilated that few remain. But the new ones are far less experienced or skilled than the many who fought Russia in Afghanistan. The average age of their leaders is probably 22 years old and falling.

They have no experienced leaders of any kind who have successfully accomplished *any* offensive operation. They have *always* lost their battles, and usually with great loss of life. None of their tactics have proven militarily significant.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/26/2007 10:22 Comments || Top||

#5  I might add that it is also useful to estimate, when an enemy leader is captured or killed, their approximate equivalent military rank. Zarqwari would have been perhaps a General (4-star), with the various Emirs of big cities being Major Generals or Brigadiers.

"Senior al-Qaeda leader" could be thought of as a Major to a Colonel in rank. "Cell Leader" or "IED or car bomb facilitator" as a Captain or Major.

You can see how much punishment they have received in Iraq, this way.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/26/2007 10:39 Comments || Top||

#6  Further, with the lack of any combined force injuries inflicted by the Taliban, this engagement is another humiliating defeat for the enemies of Afghanistan
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2007 11:04 Comments || Top||

#7  I have often thought a possible supporting strategy would be to allow the Taliban to have a section of Afghan for their own as long as they don't molest the rest of the country. That way the inhabitants can live under a Sunni Islamic Paradise.
Posted by: mhw || 07/26/2007 12:47 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Ethiopia evicts Red Cross from volatile region
Ethiopian authorities have ordered the International Committee of the Red Cross to pull out of the volatile Ogaden region for allegedly interfering in political issues, officials said Wednesday. "We have asked the ICRC to leave the region within seven days because they have been meddling in the region's affairs," said Jema Ahmed Jema, the vice president of the region. "We had issued verbal warnings before and now we have given them a final ultimatum," Jema added. He accused aid agencies of falsely claiming that the Ethiopian army was blockading aid in the region. "We have information that they have been acting outside their mandate, they have been spreading lies and false accusations against the region," Jema explained.
"Our national mustache has been Humiliated™. Leave quickly or we're not responsible for what might happen!"
Earlier this week, the United Nations' food agency said that military operations against the rebels were slowing down the delivery of humanitarian aid. At the beginning of July, New York-based Human Rights Watch accused Addis Ababa of slapping a trade blockade on the impoverished region since June, with few goods -- including food -- permitted into the area.

The ONLF, formed in 1984, is fighting for the independence of Ogaden, a region which is suspected of holding large oil and natural gas reserves and which rebels say has been marginalised by Addis Ababa.
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We have asked the ICRC to leave the region within seven days because they have been meddling in the region's affairs

Glad to see somebody has the guts to treat the tranzi scum as they deserve.
Posted by: gromgoru || 07/26/2007 8:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Volatile Region. Just east of Parts Unknown...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/26/2007 9:30 Comments || Top||

#3  What tu3031 said.
Posted by: Excalibur || 07/26/2007 9:35 Comments || Top||

#4  Has anyone else been noticing that just about any area that MIGHT have oil and gas deposits is suddenly a "volatile area"? The entire MME, Pakiwakiland, Darfur, the Ogadan, Somalia, Nigeria, Venezuela, Bolivia, etc., at nauseum. I see the Iranians and the Chinese as equally culpable in these little contretemps. Both need their hands slapped at the wrist - with something large and sharp.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/26/2007 13:37 Comments || Top||

#5  #4 forgot Chechnia (N. Caucasus oil) and, IMO, Soodis are at the bottom of most of it.
Posted by: gromgoru || 07/26/2007 20:06 Comments || Top||


Britain
Brown announces UK border force
Britain's first unified border force is to be set up by the Government, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said.

Officers from the Border and Immigration Agency, Revenue and Customs and UKVisas will be brought together to create a single checkpoint for travellers at ports and airports.

In a major security statement in the Commons, Mr Brown also announced moves for a controversial increase in the maximum time police can hold terror suspects, backing a new maximum of 56 days.

And he set out alternative proposals which would introduce French-style "examining magistrates" to run police investigations.

"To strengthen the powers and surveillance capabilities of our border guards and security officers, we will now integrate the vital work of the Border and Immigration Agency, Customs and UKVisas overseas," Mr Brown said.

"At the main points of entry to the UK we will establish a unified border force."

The Cabinet Secretary has been asked to report on plans for implementing the proposal by October and also look at whether there is a case to go further, added Mr Brown.

The new agency will be known simply as the Border Force and officers from all three organisations will wear the same uniform, a Home Office spokesman said.

Opposition leader David Cameron said he was "delighted" to see the Government adopting his party's policy for a single border force.

In a radical new move, for the first time the Government said it would be giving serious consideration to introducing a Continental-style system of investigating judges. Such a move would have dramatic implications for traditional methods of police investigation and on the way cases are prosecuted in British courts.

Posted by: lotp || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  OT, but I was drafting a post concerning the Daily Mirror dudes who dedcided to test train security with a fake bombing. The day turned over and I was unable to post on that particular article. Here is my post:

Here's hoping that they are released and continue their legitimate journalistic endeavors until they are popped in the head with a 45 cal. A nice photo of a janitor squeegying up some journalistic cerebrum will sell quite a few papers. The security footage might even provide a nice object lesson once it inevitably hits You Tube.
Posted by: Super Hose || 07/26/2007 0:13 Comments || Top||

#2  With respect to the actual article - fighting terror with bureaucratic adjustments seems overly optimistic.
Posted by: Super Hose || 07/26/2007 0:16 Comments || Top||

#3  I was thinking that they wanted to keep out the Scots and the Welsh.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/26/2007 0:18 Comments || Top||

#4  Just like our response to 9/11 by creating Homeland Security, this is nothing more than a political exercise to make the averge Brit feel good that something is being done.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 07/26/2007 9:18 Comments || Top||

#5  I was going to ask if the Royal Navy wasn't enough of a border force, but events in Iraq have answered that question.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds || 07/26/2007 16:57 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Sudan must pay USS Cole victims $8M
A US court has ordered Sudan to pay $8m (£4m) to the families of 17 marines who died in a suicide bomb attack on the USS Cole warship in Yemen in 2000.

Robert Doumar, a Virginia federal court judge, said there was enough evidence that Sudan had helped al-Qaeda, the terrorist group blamed for the attack. Sudan has denied any links with al-Qaeda and made several unsuccessful attempts to have the case dismissed. A lawyer for the families said he was "thrilled" with the court's decision. The families of the victims had initially sued the government in Khartoum for $105m.

In a written ruling, the judge said: "It is depressing to realise that a country organised on a religious basis with religious rule of law could and would execute its power for purposes which most countries would find intolerable and loathsome."
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm sure the sailors would be surprised to discover that they were mareines.
Posted by: Super Hose || 07/26/2007 0:20 Comments || Top||

#2  hmmm, I hope we actually see these families get the money.
I don't see Sudan being very forthcoming.
I hope I'm wrong.
Posted by: Jan || 07/26/2007 0:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Sudan has money? Mostly in Chinese won, I'll bet. In that case, the families may end up owning a few Wal-marts.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 07/26/2007 9:20 Comments || Top||

#4  I guess we'll just have to annex Darfur, since I doubt the Sudan government will be very forthcoming. I wouldn't make it a state yet - territorial self-government can only be achieved over time. Yet I can't think of a more fitting solution to the whole Darfur/Sudan/terrorism mess.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/26/2007 13:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Chinese just signed an oil deal with Sudan IIRC. Assets in US become attachable under this ruling, no?
Posted by: lotp || 07/26/2007 14:41 Comments || Top||

#6  Did you know, from the depth of your missing mind that the USA was organized on "Religious law"? Maybe you will learn in time. Guess what? the Bill of Rights and Constitution is GODS law - do your research. And if you refute that, I still have 613 mitzvot that also discredits you. Someday, all of mankind shall know the law.
Posted by: newc || 07/26/2007 23:55 Comments || Top||

#7  Pay up.
Posted by: newc || 07/26/2007 23:56 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Bring 'em on: Militants in Pakistan await US
Posted by: tipper || 07/26/2007 21:28 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Guess they have not heard of MOAB-brand tenderizer?
Posted by: OyVey1 || 07/26/2007 21:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Apparently the Wazoo Air Force is more formidable than we thought?
Posted by: Frank G || 07/26/2007 21:57 Comments || Top||

#3  An oddly balanced report considering it's the Asia Times.....
Posted by: Gerthudion Choper6698 || 07/26/2007 22:08 Comments || Top||

#4  Not the brightest bulbs in the package. Wazoo sounds like a marvelous...simply marvelous...place to try out that new bunker buster they have for the B-2.
Posted by: anymouse || 07/26/2007 22:29 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm more inclined to think that a few MLRS rockets full of cluster munitions would really do wonders.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/26/2007 22:43 Comments || Top||

#6  Guys, that is some horrible country to operate in. No roads for vehicles and much of it above the ceiling for helicopters. The Army would need alpacas or llamas to hump supplies into that country and attack some of those hideouts. Our vehicles, UAVs and helicopters would be useless up there.

I don't think people appreciate exactly how rugged that terrain is. We are talking Himalayas folks. And most of the routes though the rugged country are going to begin closing in 30 to 45 days as the snows come. We are talking about a mountain range with some PASSES at 10,000 feet.

We would need specially trained mountain troops using pack animals hauling their own feed in addition to any ammunition and other supplies and there would be no chance of medevac or even attack helicopter support in the most rugged areas. Operations in some of the isolated valleys in winter would be nearly impossible as we wouldn't be able to get troops into them save paratroops and then we would still have no way to evacuate wounded.

It is some hellish terrain and conditions would be very primitive. I am not sure we have a lot of troops trained to operate in conditions like that.
Posted by: crosspatch || 07/26/2007 22:58 Comments || Top||

#7  I have little interest in invading Pakistan or Iran, but neither country can be allowed to be a safe harbor. Bomb and ambush AQ where they think they are safe. Don't invade the joint - then we have to make the toilets work.
Posted by: Super Hose || 07/26/2007 23:12 Comments || Top||


Kashmir: Jihadis Behead Fellow Muslim...
Militants beheaded a civilian in a remote mountain village in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district late Wednesday night on suspicion of being an informer of the security forces.

Four militants barged into the house of Mohammad Ibraham, 45, in Sumbher village in Ramban, about 180 km north of Jammu, late in the night and dragged him out. 'The militants beheaded Ibraham,' said Basant Kumar Rath, superintendent of police, Ramban.
Posted by: Aiden || 07/26/2007 08:49 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  We was being bored, and Ahmad said "Why don't we go have sone fun?"
Posted by: gromgoru || 07/26/2007 8:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Who would have thought?
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/26/2007 9:48 Comments || Top||

#3  "We wuz foolin' around and suddenly his head just fell right off!"
Posted by: Zenster || 07/26/2007 14:37 Comments || Top||


Lashkar-e-Jhangvi activist arrested
Quetta Police on Wednesday arrested Zahoor alias Choota Waqar, an activist of banned organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ), Aaj News reported. Zahoor belongs to Dera Murad Jamali and is wanted for the killing of important Shiite personalities of Quetta, and two bomb blasts in imam bargahs. In the preliminary interrogation, he admitted to have carried out the activities from the LJ platform with the help of other activists, police said. Police have started raiding various locations on his information to arrest other LJ activists. The reward for Zahoor’s capture was Rs 1,000,000.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi


Thousands flee N Waziristan fearing anti-Qaeda offensive
Several thousand villagers fled North Waziristan on Wednesday, where an army offensive was expected any day following pressure on Pakistan from the United States to act against Al Qaeda cells.

Since President George W Bush spoke on Saturday of being “troubled” by Al Qaeda re-gathering its strength in Pakistan’s tribal lands, some kind of counter-terrorism operation has appeared highly probable in North Waziristan. “We have no choice but to pray to Allah for the safety of our lives,” said Akbar Khan, a labourer in Miranshah, worrying that his family risked being caught in the crossfire by staying.

Bush said President Pervez Musharraf realised action was needed, and the army has deployed more troops to the region where a week earlier militant tribesmen, supporting the Taliban and harbouring Al Qaeda, scrapped a 10-month-old peace deal with the government. The army said it has killed at least 54 militants in clashes since Saturday, largely in retaliatory actions, but the increased deployments added to a tense atmosphere.

Thousands of villagers streamed out of Macha Mandakhel village, 40 km west of Miranshah, after the army warned it would be cracking down in the wake of an attack on a convoy which killed 12 soldiers last week.

Movements of military and paramilitary convoys in and around Miranshah and Mir Ali towns had become more regular, while checkposts had been reinforced. Soldiers, fearful of suicide attacks, have opened fire on cars approaching their checkposts too fast.

The main road connecting the tribal region with the rest of Pakistan was blocked by security forces after militants fired rockets on Esha checkpost near Miranshah. “We’re so scared. This time, the situation is worse than last year. In the past, we used to go with our family and children to Bannu city but now, it is not safe there either,” said Noor Ahmed Khan, a shopkeeper in Miranshah’s main bazaar. In the towns, militants who had roamed around the main bazaars in four-wheel-drive vehicles with tinted glass windows were spotted less often.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  That's actually a good thing. The fewer the non-combatants, the easier to the decision to pull the trigger.
Posted by: anymouse || 07/26/2007 14:54 Comments || Top||


Three engineers killed in Khuzdar
Gunmen on Wednesday attacked government workers assessing flood damage to a highway in Balochistan, killing three engineers, police said, AP reported. The engineers’ driver and another man in the survey team were wounded in the assault in Khuzdar district, police officer Siraj Ahmed said. The attackers fled. No one claimed responsibility and Ahmed declined to speculate about who was responsible. The dead engineers were identified as Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Nadeem and Babu, Online adds.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Taliban leader killed in Chaman
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Taliban commander and two Uzbek nationals in separate incidents here on Wednesday, Online reported. A private television channel said that Taliban commander Mullah "Nematode" Naimatullah had come to Chaman from Afghanistan on Tuesday to meet his brother. Naimatullah was shot dead when he was returning to Afghanistan. The Chaman SHO said that Naimatullah’s family had not demanded his body so far.

Naimatullah was an associate of the governor of Afghanistan’s Khost province during the 1996-2001 Taliban regime, AFP reported. A spokesman for local Taliban, Gul Mohammad, said Naimatullah settled in Chaman after the 2001 ouster and was teaching at a madrassa. The SHO said that in another incident, unidentified men stopped a vehicle carrying 15 Uzbek nationals near Zaraband on the Chaman National Highway and killed 2 Uzbeks.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


9 civilians die in Bannu attacks
At least nine people including a woman were killed and 40 others injured when Taliban unidentified militants fired a barrage of rockets on the civilian population in Bannu city late on Tuesday night, police said. Bannu police official Khawaja Muhammad told Daily Times that a rocket hit a house in Tafsil Street in the Bannu main bazaar at around 1:35am. He said that when people gathered at the site another rocket landed in the area, causing the nine deaths. He said that another rocket hit a house in the Gopa Khel area, one hit a bookstore in Chowk Bazaar, while a fifth rocket hit a mosque. He said that 40 injured people were rushed to the Bannu civil hospital after the incident, adding that the injured included seven policemen of whom two had been shifted to a hospital in Peshawar.

Bannu District Coordination Officer Syed Jamaluddin Shah confirmed to Daily Times that nine people had died in the attack. He said the NWFP chief minister had announced Rs 100,000 compensation for the families of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured. “I am not sure if the attack was in revenge for Taliban commander Abdullah Mehsud’s death,” he said.

Meanwhile, a woman lost both legs in a landmine explosion in Bajaur Agency on Wednesday. Militants had planted the landmine in the Gabri area of Mamond tehsil. The victim has been shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar. Separately, Levies personnel had a narrow escape on Wednesday when militants exploded a remote-controlled bomb near Khar Bazaar in Bajaur.

Agencies add: Overnight, militants fired a rocket at a fort manned by paramilitary troops and blew up a government utility office in Miranshah, North Waziristan, forcing authorities to shutter all government offices and banks for fear of casualties, local security officials said, AP reported. Residents say almost half of the shops in Miranshah have closed, and about 500 families have fled. In a sign of declining law and order, five masked men stole a pickup truck from a government office during daylight hours on Wednesday. In the nearby town of Mir Ali, a bomb early on Wednesday damaged a government school, local security officials said. No one was inside at the time.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Iraq
Michael Yon: "I wanted to see the F-16 drop a boulder on the people that shot at our guys."
. . . I walked into the TOC at about 0320 that Saturday morning, and there was a video feed coming in from an F-16. Crosshairs were steady on a house the pilot was circling. We could sometimes hear the jet as it orbited over the Baqubah. The Shadow was circling the same house but from a lower altitude.

“What’s up with the house?” I asked.
“An element took SAFIRE (small arms fire) and the enemy ran into that house.”
“What’re you gonna do?”
“Trying to decide. Probably bomb it.”

‘Bomb it,” he said. Sounded simple. Question is, with what? Commanders have myriad options. Some weapons are within their direct authority to use, while other weapons require higher permission. Rules of Engagement (ROE) constantly change, and in order not to tip the enemy, I’ll only talk about the ROE in a general sense. For the early days of operation Arrowhead Ripper, the ROE were relaxed, giving robust options further down the chain, with caveats to mitigate civilian deaths, which had been few.

The 3-2 is combat seasoned—many 3-2 soldiers have served three or more combat tours—but if such relaxed rules were extended to a brigade without a similar depth, the results might be muddier missions from commanders whose soldiers had either sticky trigger fingers, or were too quick on the draw. Either extreme could result in catastrophe. . . .

The F-16 and Shadow both beamed down live images of the house where the terrorists had hidden after firing on US forces. Now was option time. Which weapon to use? There were so many choices: mortars, missiles, and cannons of various sorts, among others. With the enemy hiding in the building, an F-16 and a Shadow orbiting in the black above, both peering down on thermal mode, the Battle Captain asked the Air Force experts,(the JTACs) what weapons the F-16 was carrying. As a JTAC started ticking off a long list, I was thinking, “How in the world to do those little jets carry all that?” In fact, I believe they were reading down the list for two jets flying in the same package. They carry a mixture of weapons cross loaded between the jets so that they will have the black magic needed for a likely situation.

In addition to the F-16’s bombs of various sorts, there was the MLRS rocket system dozens of miles away that had been precisely punching rockets through Baqubah rooftops for days. The MLRS had been flattening buildings that were rigged as giant bombs. There were the 155mm cannons on this base that can hit and flatten anything in Baqubah and beyond. The Apache helicopters could spin up with their rockets and cannons. Infantrymen could just roll in. Or tanks. Or Bradleys. Or Strykers. Even Humvees. The idea was to use just the amount of force to kill the enemy fighters, but leave everyone in the surrounds unscathed, if possible. If that was not possible, often they would simply not fire, but other times they would. Judgment call.

By about 0400, the Battle Captain had decided to use 120mm mortars. As a reference, if a 120mm were to land on a car, the car would be obliterated, but a 120mm would not be enough to flatten a decent house. The first round was shot, and the explosion left a black-hot thermal cloud on the two video screens. The impact looked hundreds of yards off target. Successive shots did not hone it, but got worse. It was starting to look like a turkey shoot, so the Battle Captain ordered the mortars to cease fire and refused to consider using the mortars again for that mission.

They discussed dropping a JDAM (a special type of bomb from one of the jets), but were worried about CD (collateral damage). The idea of a strafe run came up but that would likely cause even more CD, and so that idea was also nixed. Things sure look different from the comfort and safety of the TOC, even though the TOC is still so close to the battlefield that often the explosions can be felt from there. Still it’s like being a thousand miles away by comparison to being with the infantry in the dark and danger. (TOCs do get hit by rockets or mortars sometimes.)

The MLRS rockets and JDAMs were good enough to actually hit buried IEDs, and could easily take the house. The F-16 was carrying at least one concrete bomb—literally, just a bomb made from concrete, like throwing boulders at people—but a JTAC said, “We are not dropping a concrete bomb.” For some reason he didn’t want to just throw a rock. Personally, I don’t like to see bombs explode because it means we are still at war. But a strange feeling came over me: I wanted to see the F-16 drop a boulder on the people that shot at our guys. I knew if the rock hit them, the neighbors would be fine. . . .

Go read it all, of course.
Posted by: Mike || 07/26/2007 10:14 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Dropping rocks on people from great heights is always fun.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/26/2007 10:37 Comments || Top||

#2  It's no wonder we're still in Iraq if this is the way we pussyfoot around with those animals.

If you live next door to a house full of jihadis, you may accidentally get bombed, tough luck.
Posted by: Chainter Sinatra7937 || 07/26/2007 10:38 Comments || Top||

#3  An image of the enemy forces in the house holding up signs that say "uh oh" followed by "ouch" came to mind.
Posted by: eLarson || 07/26/2007 10:41 Comments || Top||

#4  If you live next door to a house full of jihadis, you may accidentally get bombed, tough luck.

Jihadis have moved into my neighborhood. They have personally threatened to harm my wife and children if we cooperate with the national government or coalition forces. They killed Bob down the street. Left him lying in the road minus his head; probably more for an example than any actual act of collaboration. And now you are going to blow up my house and children? Tough luck, indeed.
Posted by: SteveS || 07/26/2007 11:06 Comments || Top||

#5  And now you are going to blow up my house and children?

Stop whining about such petty things as home and family.
Posted by: Mike N. || 07/26/2007 11:17 Comments || Top||

#6  If they're out of rocks they could try a MOAB.
Posted by: Stargazer || 07/26/2007 11:56 Comments || Top||

#7  It seems that SteveS is saying that the terrorist (sorry Michael-minutemen)ROE are more efective then ours. Should we change?
Posted by: plainslow || 07/26/2007 12:42 Comments || Top||

#8  Dropping rocks on people from great heights is always fun.

It's been a seasonal recreational activity since the time the first neighbors decided to 'liberate' the goods of the first gated fortified communities. It did tend to make the visitors rather angry if you didn't stop the party crashers. Man's evolution in technology, to drop a rock from a higher height. Now if we cold just nudge that small asteroid and give just the right trajectory towards ...
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/26/2007 12:42 Comments || Top||

#9  I don't think the experience military officers are getting in running civil matters is getting enough play time. Each of these guys can come back to the US and have serious political traction in politics.

If I was a political animal, I would spend some time looking at officers getting out for political prospects. Possibly even headhunting them.
Posted by: Penguin || 07/26/2007 12:59 Comments || Top||

#10  Penguin, we have been trying that but the heads at the top of the Republican party are deaf as a friggen post. They are Country Club Repubs (Bush, Lott, Spector, etc), we are Sam's Club Repubs, and they don't want the riff-raff joining the old boys club in DC. Might shake things up with the pork and lobbyists and they already have their hands full with the few we managed to get in there, like Sen Coburn fighting pork and Rep Shadegg trying to force earmarks out into the open.

Seriously! The old guard is more interested in keeping washington going the way it is than they are in anything else - even if it means keeping idiots like Murtha and Pelosi and Reid around (and in charge).

Craven bastards to be that way - we need these veterans in congress to turn things around.
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/26/2007 13:19 Comments || Top||

#11  FYI, my call in the situation above would have been to have the viper smack the blivet into the house, and if that failed, then get a hellfire round on it. If there are any in theater, a Stryker MGS 105 HE would work well in direct-fire mode too (particularly if we still have the old HESH rounds which would help limit CD)

That officer needs to learn the limitations of artillery in urban environments, its way different than rural arty planning.

120mm (4.2") mortar in this heat = inaccurate - its not spin stabilized, so thermals, etc will throw off the ballistics.

Throw in a gun round that is stable and accurate, then you might have trajectory issues - they fire flatter and there may be higher buildings around.

Howizter seems to be the weapon of choice for this scenario due to higher trajectories, but do we have any guided howitzer munitions anymore? If not, you have the same issues as the mortar.

So, let the zoomies earn their pay, then follow up with Apaches, and then organic support. Thats how I'd decide it (lacking any other inputs)
Posted by: OldSpook || 07/26/2007 13:29 Comments || Top||

#12  You'd be surprised how many former officers have found jobs as city managers and other such offices. They usually do well. Some NCOs make equally as good managers - they've had the equivalent experience managing offices, teams, and units.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/26/2007 13:55 Comments || Top||

#13  How about a REALLY REALLY REALLY big anvil?
Posted by: OyVey1 || 07/26/2007 13:59 Comments || Top||

#14  fuck bob down the street do you think they would consider the collateral damage on you?
Posted by: sinse || 07/26/2007 14:21 Comments || Top||

#15  People say Al Qaeda also outlawed cold water, but I have no idea why

because it is refreshing?
Posted by: 3dc || 07/26/2007 14:59 Comments || Top||

#16  Our military is, in a sense its own little country, with city-states spread out all around the world. Each base is like a little city-state. The military commander must understand how the water, electricity, sewerage, food distribution, police, courts, prisons, hospitals, fire, schools, airports, ports, trash control, vector control, communications, fuel, fiscal budgeting, fire, for his “city” all work. They have “embassies” all over the world and must deal diplomatically with local officials in Korea, Germany, Japan and many dozens of other nations. The U.S. military even has its own space program, which few countries have.
In short, our military is a reasonable microcosm of the United States – sans the very important business aspect which actually produces the wealth the military depends on. The requisite skill-set to run a serious war campaign involves a subset of skills that include diplomacy and civil administration.

Posted by: 3dc || 07/26/2007 15:07 Comments || Top||

#17  Concrete Bombs are just chubby "Rods from God" which can minimize CD.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/26/2007 21:01 Comments || Top||

#18  fuck bob down the street do you think they would consider the collateral damage on you?

The more pertinent question is: do you think?

Posted by: Pappy || 07/26/2007 22:24 Comments || Top||

#19  I would think that the consideration was whether there was a family inside that had received some surprise unwelcome guests. If they could have gotten the mortar close, the roaches would have scattered and snipers could have taken them down. I think the commander knows that these jihadis have already written their check and it will be cashed shortly. Baquba is the end of the road for these three.
Posted by: Super Hose || 07/26/2007 23:26 Comments || Top||

#20  The soft war has ended and the hard war has begun. Yon is the finest wartime journalist I have ever head in any war. Please support him and his Kin duely.
Posted by: newc || 07/26/2007 23:48 Comments || Top||


Khalis tribal leaders sign peace agreement
Approximately 75 tribal sheiks and local leaders gathered at the Iraqi Army Headquarters in Khalis, Iraq, to discuss grievances between tribes, determine solutions for security and services, and unite to defeat al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations in the Khalis area.

“Our goal is to be united and cooperate between us to stand between any force that wishes to challenge our unity,” said one tribal sheik. “We have to show the people that we are honest and serious about fighting against al-Qaeda.”

The meeting, led by Staff Maj. Gen. Abdul Kareem, commander of Iraqi Security Forces in Diyala; Staff Maj. Gen. Ghanem Abass Ibraham al-Qureshy, the Provincial Director of Police; and Col. David W. Sutherland, commander of Coalition Forces in Diyala, resulted in the signing of a peace agreement between 18 of the tribal leaders in attendance.

“The sheiks are the backbone of Diyala,” said Sutherland. “We are not 25 major tribes with 100 sub-tribes; we are one tribe – the tribe of Diyala.”

As stated in the Quran, “And hold fast, all together, by the rope which God (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves,” the sheiks agreed to eight conditions.

“Here, right now, I am denouncing the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Qaeda,” said another sheik who later swore on the Quran to uphold the conditions of the peace agreement.

Some conditions of the agreement include cooperating with the ISF; stopping tribal conflicts such as kidnappings and murders; reporting and removing improvised explosive devices; assisting in recruiting for ISF; dissolving illegal militias; and solving disputes between tribes through local meetings with the government and other tribal sheiks. After the meeting, the sheiks enjoyed a feast and agreed to meet in the near future to continue their efforts at uniting and solving the issues of their people.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


Three insurgents killed emplacing roadside bomb
Multi-National Division – Baghdad troops opened fire on insurgents emplacing a roadside bomb, killing three and wounding at least one more July 21 during continuing clearing operations in the Rashid District.

Troops from Company B, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, witnessed five men out after curfew excavating a hole by the side of the road in a Doura neighborhood of southern Baghdad. The location was an area historically used by insurgents to employ deep-buried improvised explosive devices against Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces.

When one of the men was positively identified with an AK-47 assault rifle and appeared to be pulling security for the other diggers, the troops requested permission to engage.

After investigating the area where the insurgents were digging, the troopers found three bodies, the assault rifle, a pistol, two shovels and an axe. They also identified blood trails leading south.

Under Iraqi law, citizens are permitted to keep one AK-47 and a full 30-round magazine in their homes for protection. Handguns or weapons heavier than an assault rifle are not allowed.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  LOL! You can keep a full-auto AK, but not a big handgun? Only in the MME.

And, Fred, with your headline I was hoping for another "work accident." Of course it warms my heart that the military is off'ing them too.

Next stop for Baghdad? More "crossfire" events. Maybe the Bangladeshis can give some training on how to conduct those raids.
Posted by: BA || 07/26/2007 10:22 Comments || Top||


Al-Qaeda cell leader killed, seven insurgents detained near Karmah
Iraqi Security Forces killed a senior member of an al Qaeda in Iraq cell and seven suspected insurgents were detained following a series of early-morning raids at a terrorist training camp July 23.

With Coalition Forces present as advisers, Iraqi Security Forces cleared a series of buildings located on an abandoned Iraqi Army base in the Hamrah Region northeast of Karmah. Iraqi Security Forces were engaged by an enemy shooter at one of their objectives. An assault team moved to positively identify the shooter, a senior al Qaeda cell member, and lethal force was used to eliminate the threat. Various rifles, pictures and identification cards were also seized during the operation.

The abandoned base is purportedly being used as a training facility and safe house for active insurgents, foreign fighters, and weapons. Several insurgent groups from Fallujah and other Western Iraq cities are suspected to use the facility for small arms training and other activities. The death of the senior member and detainment of the other insurgents will greatly inhibit al Qaeda in Iraq activities. No Iraqi or Coalition Forces were injured during this operation.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  Our Karmah (troops) ran over al Qaeda's dogma.
Posted by: Zenster || 07/26/2007 18:16 Comments || Top||


IA, ISF, U.S. Special Forces detain key rogue Jaysh al-Mahdi suspect in Southern Iraq
Elements of the 3rd Division of the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Security Forces, with U.S. Special Forces as advisors, detained a key member of a rogue element of the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia July 23 during an intelligence driven raid in al-Imam near al-Hillah. The targeted individual is reportedly in charge of a JAM political wing in Al Imam responsible for emplacing improvised explosive devices and explosively formed penetrators along supply routes targeting Iraqi and Coalition Forces, causing the deaths of several Coalition Forces. The assault team located, identified and detained the primary target without incident or resistance. Iraqi Forces also seized JAM propaganda, cellular telephones, one AK-47 rifle and numerous documents. No Iraqi or Coalition Forces members were injured during the operation.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Mahdi Army


Al-Qaeda mortars kill children in Al Awad
Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers responded to a mortar attack that killed two children, and injured a woman and her child in northern Baghdad July 23. Soldiers with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division responded to the attack, shortly after 7:30 p.m., after mortar rounds, believed to be fired by Al Qaeda operatives in the area, landed in the village of Al Awad.

The patrol found two little girls killed, one little girl slightly wounded and their mother also severely injured. The wound girl and her mother were immediately evacuated via helicopter to a Coalition Combat Support Hospital after receiving immediate care at the patrol base. “Here is another example of Al Qaeda using indiscriminate force on the people of Iraq,” said Maj. Robert Rodriguez, the battalion’s executive officer. “You have Al Qaeda firing mortar rounds into simple farming villages killing women and children. This type of action shows Al Qaeda’s only purpose is to terrorize.”

The 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment and the 3rd Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division will continue to work with the people and local government of Al Awad to bring an end to the violence. “With the help of the Iraqi people and government we will continue to make Iraq a safer place,” Rodriguez said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


20 suspected al-Qaeda terrorists detained
Coalition Forces detained 20 suspected terrorists during raids Wednesday targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq key leadership and operatives throughout Iraq.

During early morning raids in the northern city of Mosul targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq key leadership, Coalition Forces detained three suspected terrorists. One of the three individuals detained during the operation is assessed to be the al-Qaeda in Iraq administrative emir for Mosul.

Coalition Forces detained 10 suspected terrorists during operations in Tarmiyah. The 10 individuals were detained for their association with a known al-Qaeda in Iraq key leader who coordinates vehicle-borne improvised explosive device operations and attacks throughout Baghdad.

In a series of coordinated raids in Samarra, Coalition Forces detained six suspected terrorists. During one operation, five individuals were detained for their association with key al-Qaeda in Iraq leadership in central Iraq known to be involved in the movement of foreign terrorists into Iraq. During a separate operation in Samarra, Coalition Forces detained one suspected terrorist who is assessed to be a close associate of the Baghdad al-Qaeda in Iraq leadership.

In the capital city, Coalition Forces detained one suspected terrorist while targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq’s network in Baghdad. “With every operation Coalition Forces conduct we are further degrading and destroying the al-Qaeda in Iraq network,” said Maj. Marc Young, an MNF-I spokesperson. “Al-Qaeda and its foreign leadership seek only to bring violence and fear to the Iraqi people in its attempt to prevent a secure and democratic Iraq.”
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  No, no, no. There is no Al-Queda in Iraq. Never has been and never will be. But if they are there, then it is Al-Queda in Mesopotamia. Got it?
Posted by: Pinch Sulzberger || 07/26/2007 9:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Pinch, you're off message. There was NO al-Q in the Land Between the Two Rivers until GWB's black helicopters dropped them there personally. Before that, they just Apparated and Disapparated from Afghanland to Saudi Arabia to Newark Airport.
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/26/2007 9:28 Comments || Top||


Cache found, three detained in Adhamiyah
Baghdad troops uncovered a weapons cache and detained three suspected insurgents July 23 in the eastern Baghdad Adhamiyah District. Elements from the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment uncovered the cache and detained the suspects during a search of Adhamiyah neighborhoods. The unit found a cache consisting of eight mortar rounds, five rocket-propelled grenade launchers, three RPG rounds, seven grenades and 1,800 rounds of small arms ammunition. An explosive ordnance disposal team removed the cache from the area for disposal.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


11 Iraqis killed, 20 wounded as multiple explosive attacks rock eastern, central Baghdad
Eleven Iraqi civilians were killed and 20 wounded in a series of five explosive attacks in central and eastern Baghdad July 23. One Iraqi was killed and another wounded when a bus exploded at the juncture of the al-Tib and al-Ulum areas of the Rusafa District at 8 a.m. July 23. Shortly after the explosion, Soldiers with Company A, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division responded to the attack, sealed off the area and reported that a package or explosive device placed on the bus caused it to explode in place, damaging three additional vehicles in the area.

Two additional attacks occurred simultaneously at 10:40 a.m. on the Karadah Peninsula, killing five Iraqis, wounding nine others and damaging 11 vehicles. Soldiers with the 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, attached to the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, rushed to the scene, cordoned off the area and aided Iraqi emergency services on site.

One hour later, just northeast of the Karadah Peninsula another car bomb detonated in the al-Wehda area of Rusafa, killing one Iraqi and wounding two others. Two Iraqi Police officers were also wounded in the attack. Coalition Forces, Iraqi Security Forces and Iraqi emergency service workers helped secure and clear the area. All of the wounded Iraqi civilians in these attacks were transported to the Medical City Hospital for treatment.

In central Baghdad, four Iraqi civilians were killed and two others wounded when a fourth car bomb detonated at approximately 1:30 p.m. in the al-Salhiya area of the Karkh District just north of the International Zone. Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division quickly responded establishing a secure cordon, clearing the area.

Four hours later, a car bomb was found near the site of the attack earlier that afternoon after an Iraqi civilian approached Coalition troops manning an entry control point outside of the International Zone.

Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division located a Black Volkswagen 4-door hatchback packed with 12 lbs. of homemade explosives and 16 81mm mortar rounds inside. An Iraqi explosive ordnance disposal team was called in to secure, clear and disable the car bomb.

Since July 15, three car bomb attacks have occurred in the Karkh District. Seven car bombs have targeted the Rusafa District. Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces continue targeting these insurgent and militia groups with ongoing clearing and cordon and search operations designed to reduce sectarian violence and clear areas of weapons caches and bomb-making materials.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  I've been noticing lately that A-Q is having to expend ten times the effort to equal preceeding "successes". This is making the war more costly for A-Q and its "allies", and making them look rather unsuccessful. There are still a few heavy hits now and then, but the average are small and ineffective. Good work to those that are putting the pressure on so successfully.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 07/26/2007 14:30 Comments || Top||


Chasing the Mahdi Army through Baghdad's hall of mirrors
Scott Thomas now writing for France24?
On a searing summer afternoon the streets of the Al-Hurriya neighbourhood in western Baghdad are bustling, the shops are open, the people are smiling and chatting and lounging outside in the shade.

Ask anyone and they will tell you there is complete security in their corner of central Baghdad -- no militias, no insurgents, no worries. But no one calls this a victory for the five-month-old Baghdad security plan, and the US soldiers who police Al-Hurriya are convinced that most of its people are in the grip, or on the payroll, of a shadowy militia.

"The reason they say it's safe is that all the Sunnis they worry about -- neighbours they lived with for generations -- are dead," Lieutenant William Cone of the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne said. "The Mahdi Army will come and beat the hell out of them if they talk."
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
Jaish al-Mahdi
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  twas a dark and stormy night...
On a searing summer afternoon the streets of the Al-Hurriya neighbourhood in western Baghdad are bustling, the shops are open, the people are smiling and chatting and lounging outside in the shade.

Scott Thomas - lol. It sounds just like the NPR boiler plate propaganda piece. But it's just not the same without the NPR standard sound effects.
They should automatically load up soothing, culturally appropriate, "mommy is near" type of background music and also allow you to rub over words such as "bustling", "chatting", etc. to access their most common studio sound clips.
Posted by: AT || 07/26/2007 5:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Mahdists wear black and carry black flags. That might make them safe at night, but otherwise...
Posted by: Chusomble Wittlesbach1010 || 07/26/2007 16:11 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Abbas security chief Dahlan resigns
Palestinian security chief Mohammad Dahlan resigned on Thursday, six weeks after his forces were routed by Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip, two senior officials told Reuters. Dahlan, 46, made the request on medical grounds, a senior official in his office. President Mahmound Abbas accepted his resignation, another senior Palestinian official said. Dahlan was heavily criticized within Abbas's secular Fatah faction for the failure of his security forces to prevent Hamas seizing control of the Gaza Strip last month. During the Gaza fighting, in which more than 100 people were killed, Dahlan was outside his native Gaza, sidelined by surgery on both knees which was performed in Germany.
I don't remember seeing that news...
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/26/2007 07:35 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Fatah

#1  Sea,
The Big Media CAN keep secrets when it wants to.
Posted by: Glenmore || 07/26/2007 8:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Dahlan was outside his native Gaza, sidelined by surgery on both knees which was performed in Germany.

Knee-capped? Is the IRA training Hamas?
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 07/26/2007 9:31 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Aluminum Armor That Works
Posted by: 3dc || 07/26/2007 04:43 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Works as well, weighs a ton less, British company that took the initiative to do some research -- what's not to like?
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2007 11:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Just like the Japanese and their Hybrids.
Posted by: danking_70 || 07/26/2007 12:43 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Two soldiers injured in southern Thai bombing
Two soldiers were injured, one seriously, when a bomb exploded around Khok Pho district in Pattani province on Thursday morning. The victims, who were security officers deployed to provide security for teachers and students, were taken to a nearby hospital.

Also:

The police detained 14 suspected terrorists insurgents and seized weapons in a series of raids in this southern border province on Wednesday. Police detained 14 suspects and seized a number of items, including six firearms and ammunition, two chain saws, explosive devices, and Malaysian currency worth several thousand baht. All the suspects underwent forensic tests to determine possible links with earlier terrorist insurgent activities. The police will examine the tests and forensic evidence collected from crime scenes, Col. Jatupourn said.

The suspects denied any involvement in terrorist insurgent attacks. If the investigation shows that they are not involved in the attacks, they will be released, he said. However, anyone found to be connected with the terrorism insurgency will be sent to an army camp for further investigation, he added
Posted by: ryuge || 07/26/2007 01:01 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanon army seizes explosives during raid on camp shelter
The Lebanese army on Tuesday continued to tighten the noose around the diehard Fatah al-Islam militants, pounding the northern Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared with heavy artillery barrages. The army bombarded the remaining pockets of Islamists at the camp with long range artillery fire. Sources said troops occasionally fought fierce house-to-house battles with the militants.

The state-run National News Agency ( NNA) said the Lebanese army on Tuesday also seized explosive materials as well as weapons, detonators and electronic devices during a raid on a shelter inside the camp on the outskirts of the northern port city of Tripoli. NNA said a number of militants were killed in the attack.

NNA said troops also blocked most exits to a sanitary sewer system after they discovered that sewage pipes have been used as escape routes by the terrorists There was no word on casualties from Tuesday's fighting. NNA said the army's guns bombarded the remaining Islamists' pockets at the camp with long range artillery fire.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Fatah al-Islam


Lebanese army close to eliminating Fatah al-Islam terrorists. Really.
Lebanese army troops unleashed a barrage of artillery and tank shells on the northern Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in an effort to seize the remaining pockets controlled by Fatah al-Islam militants. Troops advanced towards fortified positions of Islamist militants at a Palestinian refugee camp on Wednesday, in what political sources said was the start of a final assault to root out the gunmen.

In some of the heaviest bombardment of Nahr al-Bared in weeks, army cannons fired shells at a rate of 8 to 10 every minute at suspected Fatah al-Islam positions inside the camp. The shelling could be heard in the nearby port city of Tripoli, witnesses said. Moving in under cover of artillery and tank fire, soldiers killed at least three Fatah al-Islam militants at Nahr al-Bared camp in north Lebanon, raising the overall death toll from two months of fighting to at least 245, security sources said.

A senior military official said Wednesday that two soldiers were killed in military operations a day earlier, raising to 120 the number of troops killed since fighting with the al-Qaida-inspired militants broke out in the camp on May 20. "This is the final phase of the military operation," one Lebanese political source said, adding that he expected the army to capture the whole camp by the end of this week.

Security officials said the army shelling on Monday had mainly targeted the Saasaa neighborhood of the camp, where remaining militants are thought to be hiding in underground shelters and bunkers. The source said there were about 100 people left inside the area controlled by Fatah al-Islam -- 60 fighters and 40 civilians who include 24 wives of militants and 16 children.

Throughout last week, the army used loudspeakers to urge the militants to surrender or allow their families to leave the camp, but they have vowed to fight to the death. The army has consistently demanded the unconditional surrender of the militants who had attacked its positions around Nahr al-Bared on May 20, killing around 16 soldiers. Palestinian and U.N. officials had earlier put the number of civilians left in the hundreds. The Lebanese source said some 200 civilians had left the camp in recent days.

Witnesses said soldiers blasted with tanks and artillery the last pockets of the militants who have refused repeated calls to surrender. The fighting, which began on May 20, is Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war. The conflict has further undermined stability in Lebanon, already crippled by a prolonged political crisis and shaken by bombings that have killed six U.N. peacekeepers and two anti-Syrian lawmakers in the past eight months. "At its heaviest shortly after dawn, some 20 shells a minute were hitting the camp," said one witness who watched the fighting from a distance. "It was deafening."

The militants hit back, firing a few Katyusha rockets into areas outside the camp. The security sources said two soldiers were wounded in the clashes.

Fatah al-Islam, which espouses al Qaeda's ideology but says it has no direct links to Osama bin Laden's network, emerged last year after breaking away from a Syrian-backed Palestinian faction. It has Lebanese, Palestinians and other Arabs, including some Iraq war veterans, in its ranks. The political sources said the military had rejected an offer from Fatah al-Islam to put its Lebanese members in charge of the group in return for safe passage of all non-Lebanese militants outside Lebanon, the deployment of a Palestinian force in the camp and the retreat of the army from the camp.
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Fatah al-Islam

#1  Haven't they fired enough arty to LEVEL this place?
No I'm not complaining, mind you.
Posted by: Free Radical || 07/26/2007 0:31 Comments || Top||

#2  It's a type of inshallah level. Just as good if not better than the infidel level.
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/26/2007 0:41 Comments || Top||

#3  I can't say I've ever heard anything about the Lebanese Army, but they certainly have spunk. They ain't taking it no more from these bad guys. The news report of a continuous "barrage of artillery and tank shells" on the bad guys just makes me feel warm and fuzzy towards the Lebanese Army.
Posted by: whatadeal || 07/26/2007 3:21 Comments || Top||

#4  One of the principal characteristics of the Arab Mind is total inability to distinguish between desire and reality.
Posted by: gromgoru || 07/26/2007 8:02 Comments || Top||

#5  One of the principal characteristics of the Arab Mind is total inability to distinguish between desire and reality.

just like liberals
Posted by: AT || 07/26/2007 9:21 Comments || Top||

#6  they have spunk but sure aren't worth a shit at clearing this refugee camp
Posted by: sinse || 07/26/2007 14:28 Comments || Top||

#7  If people ever bothered to do research, one would find that:

a) The Lebanese Army has deliberately been kept weak and ineffectual by all the factions in that country (probably the only thing they have ever agreed on),

b)The army has about 60,000 under-trained and relatively inexperienced troops (many of dubious loyalty) with 1960s era equipment and,

c) An 'air force' that consists of a handful of unarmed helicopters.

Given those conditions, it would seem to be a wee bit difficult to perform close air support, strategic bombing, and effective urban combat.
Posted by: Pappy || 07/26/2007 22:36 Comments || Top||

#8  They aren't nearly as undertrained as they were a few weeks ago, which is something.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2007 23:11 Comments || Top||

#9  I hope we are training them and can upgrade at least their helicopters. I wouldn't make a whole lot of noise while we're doing it, but I can't see even the tranzies arguing for a weak Lebanese military.
Posted by: Super Hose || 07/26/2007 23:31 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Scott Thomas Revealed
via Drudge, so lots of people will read it. Presented in full, plus a useful post from the comment thread. I solicit the thoughts of those of you with military/Sandbox experience. Oh, and Instapundit has a roundup with links that will take you to other links...

A STATEMENT FROM SCOTT THOMAS BEAUCHAMP:

As we've noted in this space, some have questioned details that appeared in the Diarist "Shock Troops," published under the pseudonym Scott Thomas. According to Major Kirk Luedeke, a public affairs officer at Forward Operating Base Falcon, a formal military investigation has also been launched into the incidents described in the piece.

Although the article was rigorously edited and fact-checked before it was published, we have decided to go back and, to the extent possible, re-report every detail. This process takes considerable time, as the primary subjects are on another continent, with intermittent access to phones and email. Thus far we've found nothing to disprove the facts in the article; we will release the full results of our search when it is completed.

In the meantime, the author has requested that we publish the statement below. --The Editors
My Diarist, "Shock Troops," and the two other pieces I wrote for the New Republic have stirred more controversy than I could ever have anticipated. They were written under a pseudonym, because I wanted to write honestly about my experiences, without fear of reprisal. Unfortunately, my pseudonym has caused confusion. And there seems to be one major way in which I can clarify the debate over my pieces: I'm willing to stand by the entirety of my articles for the New Republic using my real name.

I am Private Scott Thomas Beauchamp, a member of Alpha Company, 1/18 Infantry, Second Brigade Combat Team, First Infantry Division.

My pieces were always intended to provide my discreet view of the war; they were never intended as a reflection of the entire U.S. Military. I wanted Americans to have one soldier's view of events in Iraq.

It's been maddening, to say the least, to see the plausibility of events that I witnessed questioned by people who have never served in Iraq. I was initially reluctant to take the time out of my already insane schedule fighting an actual war in order to play some role in an ideological battle that I never wanted to join. That being said, my character, my experiences, and those of my comrades in arms have been called into question, and I believe that it is important to stand by my writing under my real name.

--Private Scott Thomas Beauchamp
======================================================
This entry made the Drudge Report. I'm sure the TNR servers are being bombbarded, which explains the slow response times this morning.

A quick glance at some conservative sites shows that the fact checking is just starting. Pvt Beauchamp appears to have been (or may still be) an undergraduate in creative writing at U of Missouri in Columbia. A few of his poems appeared in the undergrad literary magazine. It also looks like Pvt Beauchamp kept a blog for most of last year while he was training in Germany.

I'm sure later this week members of his unit will be questioned about the events in Shock Troops. I'm curious to know what they have to say.

For the single event of Pvt. Beauchamp laughing at the woman disfigured by the IED, he should be the subject of a 'blanket party' hosted by his pals in his unit.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2007 11:57 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "...My pieces were always intended to provide my discreet view of the war"

I think he meant discrete.

Also, I call shenanigans on this,

"...I was initially reluctant to take the time out of my already insane schedule fighting an actual war in order to play some role in an ideological battle that I never wanted to join."

It seems obvious that he wants to be part of the ideological battle. Otherwise his reporting would have events that show the Coalition forces in a positive light in proportion to their actual occurance.
Posted by: mhw || 07/26/2007 12:44 Comments || Top||

#2  This young leftist is living in a dream world whose sides are about to implode upon him.
You reap what you sew, ahole.
Posted by: wxjames || 07/26/2007 12:49 Comments || Top||

#3  My pieces were always intended to provide my discreet view of the war; they were never intended as a reflection of the entire U.S. Military.

I call bullshit. The two are inseparable and smearing one smears both.

I was initially reluctant to take the time out of my already insane schedule fighting an actual war in order to play some role in an ideological battle that I never wanted to join.

A mhw noted, it's pretty difficult to imagine that this clown didn't forsee the ideological usefulness of his writings. I hope general command cleans this guy's clock.
Posted by: Zenster || 07/26/2007 12:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Pvt Andy Warhol, reporting for my 15 minutes of fame, sir.
Posted by: anymouse || 07/26/2007 12:55 Comments || Top||

#5  If in fact there is indeed a "Private Scott Thomas Beauchamp" and he penned the anti-American, rat-bug garbage for The New Republic, then this is more evidence that simply wearing a uniform does not qualify one as a "better" citizen than does that have not worn the uniform.

I'll take wheelchair-bound Charles Krauthammer, who obviously could never serve in the military over any number of scumbags that have worn the uniform, e.g., Lee Harvey Oswald, John F. Kerry, Marcos Zoulitsas (founder of the vile Daily Kos), and now PFC Beauchamp. Seems the latter has spent too much time reading Erich Maria Remarque and John Dos Passos.
Posted by: Sigmund Freud || 07/26/2007 12:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Corrections:

#5 If in fact there is indeed a "Private Scott Thomas Beauchamp" and he penned the anti-American, *rat-bag* garbage for The New Republic, then this is more evidence that simply wearing a uniform does not qualify one as a "better" citizen than *those* who have not worn the uniform.
Posted by: Sigmund Freud || 07/26/2007 13:00 Comments || Top||

#7  they also serve who sit and post to Rantburg / LGF / etc....

(and now if you'll excuse me, i'm off to check the Chocolate Distribution Network in preparation for the next big Taliban kill...)
Posted by: Querent || 07/26/2007 13:12 Comments || Top||

#8  So he's a real guy. So I guess he'd have some friends in Alpha Company, 1/18 Infantry, Second Brigade Combat Team, First Infantry Division to corroborate what he wrote, yes?
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/26/2007 13:12 Comments || Top||

#9  my pseudonym has caused confusion

Errr....correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that was the whole point of a pseudonym.
Posted by: Swamp Blondie || 07/26/2007 13:17 Comments || Top||

#10  Scott Thomas Beauchamp's blog is here. Last update: 9/8/06. He writes like a grad student in the English department:

Sunday, September 03, 2006

english songs about commerce and love written by machines

I'm somewhere in Kuwait. Its a dry hot, like what suicides feel when they stick their heads in the oven. I'll send a mailing addy out as soon as I get one. I'm currently living off of bottled water, bob dylan, and umberto eco. I miss everyone so much...you have no idea. cant wait till i'm back in the states this winter with my bride-to-be. I love you Priscilla. I'll hopefully get a chance to call everyone soon.
love and peace
scott "scabies" beauchamp

Bob Dylan and Umberto Eco? Bob Dylan and Umberto Eco? Pretentious, overrated, liberal-Boomer nostalgia music. Pretentious, overrated, unreadable lit-fic that only pretentious Boomer liberals could love. Figures.

(Real men read Tom Clancy and listen to Tom Petty, but I digress.)

And how's this for stream-of-consciousness"

Thursday, August 03, 2006

pro patria, non "dulce" non "et decor"

Sliced writsts recovering from barbwire night mission in a furnished 1600's bedroom window open to the stars strained notes The Magic Flute from further down the hall when I'm off work early she brings me coffee and a fresh stack of freshly pressed laundry while struggling through The World According to Garp auf Deutsch...warum?...now you are a citizen of the world, son, so she rents a car to take me to Bamberg this weekend and maybe plane tickets to London the next because through a month of silence and guilt and regret, reciting the Zarathustra quote over and over in your head, "I've always carried a disdain for creatures who considered themselves kind merely because they were clawless"..and you "get it" and you "understand" and you see yourself maybe not for the first time and finally a perfect rearrival of yourself, doch, ja, meine mereshweinkin ist sehr schon...die Welt ist deins...do you come to terms with the past or accept it or apologize and bow or cut free and run...then, of course, theres the war, and your dreams about a haunted barn...but she wakes you up practicing for an opera performance and then drives you to work...three days of perfect tears, the colors red and blue, at least thats what he said...the library closes and you're already drunk...you run six miles...you lift weights...you bullshit with seargent Justify to get out of guard duty...you aim a little low and to the left and follow the glow of the tracers across the targets at night and the slow down slow down slow down in your sweaty head till you can hear them chruning and grinding slower maybe than constellations in the sky...

Oooohh! A Wilfred Owen reference in the title! His Poetry I prof will be so proud!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that first part read like he was doing a little TDY with one of the local Frauleins while in Germany? And he puts that in the same blog as the "I miss you" post to his fiancee?

No class.
Posted by: Mike || 07/26/2007 13:24 Comments || Top||

#11  If this alleged Private does exist, he will shortly discover that his life has become very complicated.

First and foremost, he will need to explain to a whole lot of people what he knows about any suggestion of war crimes, who if anyone he reported this to, and if there is anyone else in his chain of command that will soon be testifying in corroboration.

If by his admission, he participated in war crimes, then he will soon learn to appreciate a special accommodation provided for him in Kansas, for say, the next 30 years.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/26/2007 13:32 Comments || Top||

#12  As has been noted elsewhere in the blogosphere, PV2 Beauchamp has just set himself up for several bad days at his unit. I'm fairly certain his entire chain of command is going to want to have a series of little discussions with him.

No, I have no sympathy for this mental defective either. He is either going to
a: have to admit that he made up a bunch of BS, or
b: get prosecuted for various violations of the UCMJ.

My money is on a. And TNR is going to have to admit they've been snookered again. Heh(tm).
Posted by: N Guard || 07/26/2007 13:37 Comments || Top||

#13  Are you questioning his narcissism?
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/26/2007 13:39 Comments || Top||

#14  Don't know about you guys, but I'm questioning his narcissism, his patriotism, his veracity, his taste in literature and music, and his spelling and punctuation.
Posted by: Mike || 07/26/2007 13:44 Comments || Top||

#15  Among others, PVT. Beauchamp may want to acquaint himself with THIS article:

878. ART. 78. ACCESSORY AFTER THE FACT
Any person subject to this chapter who, knowing that an offense punishable by this chapter has been committed, receives, comforts, or assists the offender in order to hinder or prevent his apprehension, trial, or punishment shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

unless of course it is all BULLSHIT! and if it IS, then he should know that THIS splendid provision comes into play:

934. ART. 134. GENERAL ARTICLE
Though not specifically mentioned in this chapter, all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this chapter may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general, special or summary court-martial, according to the nature and degree of the offense, and shall be punished at the discretion of that court.


Posted by: Justrand || 07/26/2007 13:51 Comments || Top||

#16  Are you questioning his narcissism?

I'm questioning his literary skills. They are teh suxor. The aroma of superannuated piscines attends his every sentence. And this guy got an MFA in creative mastu -- er -- writing? Granted, it only was from the University of Missouri[1]. Ol' John Barnes, who used his mad semiotician skillz to conclude that "Scott Thomas" was a graduate of an "elite" MFA program, one of the top twenty in the nation, must be feeling mighty foolish about now.

I think he meant discrete.

And neither he nor the editors caught it. It's a sign of the end of civilization, I tells yah.

(Real men read Tom Clancy and listen to Tom Petty, but I digress.)

Real men read Kipling and listen to Johnny Cash.

[1]Speaking as an only-somewhat-sheepish U. of Missouri grad.
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 07/26/2007 13:52 Comments || Top||

#17  Hey! Nothing wrong with Umberto Eco in small doses!

I can see how large ones would drive you crazy, though.

As for Mr. Thomas, anyone else suspect that he'll be in front of a court-martial within three months?
Posted by: The Doctor || 07/26/2007 13:53 Comments || Top||

#18  Correction:
Nothing wrong with Eco in small doses. But real men read Patrick O'Brian and listen to Celtic music, with an emphasis on Irish drinking songs.
Posted by: The Doctor || 07/26/2007 13:54 Comments || Top||

#19  Angie: Kipling & Johnny Cash? I'm cool with that.
Posted by: Mike || 07/26/2007 14:02 Comments || Top||

#20  Angie: Kipling & Johnny Cash? I'm cool with that.

Maybe somebody will arrange for this Beauchamp guy to fall down into a burning ring of fire.
Posted by: Jonathan || 07/26/2007 14:11 Comments || Top||

#21  You're all right! Michael Goldfarb of the Weekly Standard has been in email contact with Major Kirk Luedeke since last week. Here's his today response to Mike.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Reaction From FOB Falcon

In response to a request for more information, FOB Falcon PAO Major Kirk Ludeke sent this along:

Mike-

We are in the midst of a formal investigation into the allegations Pvt Beauchamp has made. That's all I can say for now.

Respectfully,

Kirk

Major Kirk Luedeke
Public Affairs Officer
4th IBCT, 1st ID
DRAGONS
Posted by: Sherry || 07/26/2007 14:16 Comments || Top||

#22  Real men read the Picayune.
Posted by: Mike N. || 07/26/2007 14:16 Comments || Top||

#23  Heh.
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/26/2007 14:20 Comments || Top||

#24  After it is revealed that PV2 Beauchamp is spinning pure bullshit into propaganda, I hope his supervisors find other things to keep him busy and out of trouble. Anyone want to bet this turns out to be a REMF?
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 07/26/2007 14:48 Comments || Top||

#25  Recently joined up. The business connection to TNR was in place when he went in, or not too long thereafter I would guess.

I suspect we'll find more people who appear to have enlisted in order to besmirch the military in the runup to the 2008 election.

spit
Posted by: lotp || 07/26/2007 15:23 Comments || Top||

#26  Also, it seems PV2 Dickhead was a PFC. (E-3 now down to E-2)
On Malkin's blog this email:
I’m active Army & an Iraq vet.

I just pulled up “Scott Thomas Beauchamp” on the secure “Army Knowledge Online” website. It lists his current rank as “PV2″. (That data is kept accurate via pay records on that website.)

In his Sep 06 blog post he listed his rank as “Private First Class”. That indicates that without a doubt he was busted at least one rank as part of Article 15 proceedings under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and he likely has a strong ax to grind with his chain of command.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/26/2007 15:27 Comments || Top||

#27  Darth beat me to it. I was going to question you 'active-duty' guys as to why someone who has been in the service as long as this fool could still be a private.

I guess the operative word is 'fool'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 07/26/2007 15:32 Comments || Top||

#28  Are you questioning his narcissism?

LOL! Seafarious, that's a keeper.
Posted by: xbalanke || 07/26/2007 15:40 Comments || Top||

#29  Go read Ace. Don't ask why, just go read.
Posted by: Seafarious || 07/26/2007 16:02 Comments || Top||

#30  #13 Are you questioning his narcissism?
The funniest line I've read all day. Kudos!
Posted by: eLarson || 07/26/2007 16:04 Comments || Top||

#31  Get rid of the turkey shoot patrols, and you won't have any of this nonsense. US troops prevail when they take it to the terrorists. When they march to show the flag, they take sniper and IED kills. I read the unit websites; the troops need to be delivered a winnability context. And they need to get it by September.

Sorry folks, the President lost me on the Euro-missiles, Kosovo, return to the Islamic Center (DC) and revised 2-state imposed suicide against Israel. We need a hardliner and not some goof who wants a Saudi financed library.
Posted by: Chusomble Wittlesbach1010 || 07/26/2007 16:06 Comments || Top||

#32  Real men read the Picayune.

Yeah, I just buy it for the articles. Yeah, that's it.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/26/2007 16:12 Comments || Top||

#33  not some goof who wants a Saudi financed library.

Now that's gonna leave a mark.
Posted by: Zenster || 07/26/2007 16:35 Comments || Top||

#34  Maybe somebody will arrange for this Beauchamp guy to fall down into a burning ring of fire.

At least he won't have to live like a refugee.
Posted by: Mike || 07/26/2007 16:41 Comments || Top||

#35  Read Seafarious's link. And the link to the guy who uncovered the confirmation via the wedding site.

Two things:
1) after the CIA got caught doing the nepotism thing with Mr. Valerie Plame, what made TNR think it was a good idea to do the same?

2) I don't know if the registry is still up, but no matter what: I'm cool with the towels we have. Totally and completely.
Posted by: eLarson || 07/26/2007 16:46 Comments || Top||

#36  It seems like TNR's Ms. Reeve has known Scotty since her days with The Columbia Missourian at the Missouri School of Journalism:

Mid-Mo. protesters hit D.C.

By ELSPETH REEVE and DANIELA VELÁZQUEZ

April 26, 2004 | 12:00 a.m. CST

Washington — Hundreds of thousands of people descended on the nation’s capital Sunday to protest recent U.S. policies regarding women’s reproductive health. Included in the throng of marchers were more than 100 young men and women from the Columbia area. “I don’t think there’s usually enough men at these kind of events, so it’s really important to show up and support it,” said Scott Beauchamp, who endured a 24-hour bus ride from Columbia to attend Sunday’s march. “I think it’s really a civil rights issue.”

Posted by: Steve || 07/26/2007 17:21 Comments || Top||

#37  He's looking more and more like a mole. He should have stuck to stories that are true instead of making up stuff to feed his Liberal Ego. Talk about removed from reality. Sheesh.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 07/26/2007 18:15 Comments || Top||

#38  Mark Steyn is on Hewitt's show as I type this. He says there are some "lurid war fantasies" in Beauchamp's blog archives written before he got deployed.
Posted by: Mike || 07/26/2007 18:21 Comments || Top||

#39  Here's one example of a "lurid war fantasy", from nearly a year before Beauchamp got to Iraq:

Monday, May 08, 2006

i make me feel stupid

"Shit, I don't know...put a 556 in his head"
On the street below the mans brown face dissolves into a thick red mist. The lights in the cities houses shut off in unison. Elecricity rationing. Water rationing too. You ever tried to survive for more than a few hours in hundred and twenty degree weather without water? In the streets the kids bodies start convulsing in semi-orgasmic rhythms. Their pants fill up with shit and piss and the smart ones sneak out to the fields to hidden caches of water jugs and trinkets of candy from the american soldiers.
"See that sarge, kids digging or something?"
"Well, better safe then sorry. Cap his ass Leclaire."
"You sure sarge?"
"Well, im either right or wrong. And if I'm wrong im still right because i could have been right even though i was wrong."
They watch the sliver of red sun fall slower and slower, silhouetting the little barbarians falling bodies. The Chaplain turns and walks back towards the FOB in contemplation. Gotta rack out early tonight. Handing out bibles in the marketplace tomorrow, early. Unintelligible rap blares out of the open doors of the HUMVEE.
Posted by: Mike || 07/26/2007 18:36 Comments || Top||

#40  Another choice excerpt:

My goal is to become an incompetent leader that gets fragged by 30 something NCO's at a forward operating base in Sadr City.


Be careful what you wish for . . .
Posted by: Mike || 07/26/2007 18:55 Comments || Top||

#41  Yeah, he might be ahead of schedule...
Posted by: tu3031 || 07/26/2007 18:58 Comments || Top||

#42  Makes you wonder how many provocateurs are out there. As lotp noted, this could all be a political operation -- imagine somebody like Soros placing leftists in the Army to sow disinformation and then go out and run for political office. (And that's my entire daily allowance of paranoid theorizing.)
Posted by: Jonathan || 07/26/2007 19:09 Comments || Top||

#43  Our boy Scott seems to be aiming either for the political route or for a book contract w/ TV appearances galore.
Posted by: lotp || 07/26/2007 19:30 Comments || Top||

#44  So, the wonder-boy Baghdad TNR correspondent turns out to be a baby-troop with delusions of adequacy, and a really pathetic, bathetic fantasy life... who out of all the milbloggers in theater, got a cushy gig because his significant other happened to work at TNR.

My daughter had this really keen fantasy, of this twerps' commander lining up the whole unit at attention, with Pvt. Beauchamp standing at attention, while the Commander reads the entire TNR stories, with frequent requests for any troop who knows anything about the reported incidents to come clean.

Yep, he will indeed be quite well known about his unit.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 07/26/2007 19:37 Comments || Top||

#45  Run for office or publish the book & hit the TV shows in the runup to the election. Actually, earlier, to force a withdrawl before the surge can be completed.

I am sitting here seething at seeing this AGAIN in my lifetime. Winter Soldier was bad enough.
Posted by: lotp || 07/26/2007 19:56 Comments || Top||

#46  ooops ... didn't refresh my cache and thought that next to last comment of mine went into the aether.
Posted by: lotp || 07/26/2007 19:57 Comments || Top||

#47  There's discussion over at Blackfive, that his unit might need some moral boosting after this. They might need to know, we know, it ain't them.

Me, I'm gonna support whatever they come with, and will pass the word around. (not busy at work this month, so I got lots of time!)

I'm so impressed with these guys and gals serving "over there" -- many folks have been calling them the "Next Greatest Generation."

They deserve a name of their own -- I like what a Marine General called them:

In reading Grim at Blackfive the other day, Grim posted the transcript of the Department of Defense Bloggers Roundtable with Major General Walter E. Gaskin, Commander Multinational forces-West via Teleconference from Iraq..

The words caught me, held me, stuck in my mind. General Gaskin had the words to describe them.. The Millennium Kids.

Words the Marine Major General Gaskin used, "The Millennium Kids".... to quote him: What I've found out is, this is truly, truly the best generation of our generation. The Millennium kids have a feeling that they want to do something to better themselves and they want to be challenged.

I got to take Major General Gaskin at his word..... the best generation of our generation.... The Millennium Kids.... had he thought about this? I don't know... but I like it... the Millennium Kids....
Posted by: Sherry || 07/26/2007 20:00 Comments || Top||

#48  ...imagine somebody like Soros placing leftists in the Army to sow disinformation and then go out and run for political office. (And that's my entire daily allowance of paranoid theorizing.)

What you're suggesting might not be too far off the mark if Soros is a paranoid schizophrenic with delusions...oh, never mind!
Posted by: Natural Law || 07/26/2007 20:02 Comments || Top||

#49  he mistyped:
My goal is to become an incompetent leader that gets fragged shagged by 30 something NCO's at a forward operating base in Sadr City

seriously, though... I hope he sleeps with one eye open and likes eating by himself. He's not gonna have many friends in the motor pool. Lying that disparages your "comrades" has that tendency. Perhaps his TNR wife can get him called home early? Whoops, I bet that marriage isn't long for the earth, business backlash and all... Sorry Beauchamp, you woulda been a great CU Indian Lit Prof
Posted by: Frank G || 07/26/2007 20:23 Comments || Top||

#50  So, John Barnes got it right about this guy yesterday in the article referred to here at the RB - he's an MFA grad student.

Barnes nailed it in 1.

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 07/26/2007 21:04 Comments || Top||

#51  I'm sure later this week members of his unit will be questioned about the events in Shock Troops. I'm curious to know what they have to say.

For the record, the bit highlighted at the end of the article was from the TNR comment thread, not my own thoughts. There is now a formal investigation into Pvt. Beauchamp's allegations, it seems the private is married to a TNR staffer, and someone at TNR has been fired for talking to bloggers. This tempest is outgrowing its teapot.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2007 21:07 Comments || Top||

#52  Son doesn't ever remember seeing him at either of the Mizzou papers or the city paper in Columbia Mo. Suggest his importance there was self inflated.

In addition MFA students as compared to Journalism Dept didn't get any important positions and were usually quietly squeezed out to make room for the journalism students.

Also, points out that many MFA students were ones who couldn't tough out the journalism dept. In blunt words - FAILED.


Posted by: 3dc || 07/26/2007 22:29 Comments || Top||

#53  Ouch, 3dc. Our thanks to your son. Based on the samples of the Pvt. Beauchamp's writings that I've seen, I'm not sure how he survived in the creative writing program -- it's not like his stuff is actually readable.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/26/2007 23:09 Comments || Top||


Rantapalooza update
This is just a quick note to tell y'all that if you sent me an email and didn't hear back from me yet, it might have gotten deleted from my spam folder. I found one message there yesterday, hiding in amongst Mrs. Abacha's numerous and very generous offers. Please send again, I'll be watching carefully!

If you haven't sent me that email, what are you waiting for?
Posted by: Seafarious@yahoo.com || 07/26/2007 08:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Good morning...
Abdullah Mehsud buried amidst jihadi slogansKhalis tribal leaders sign peace agreement US points out 9 terror camps in WaziristanLebanese army close to eliminating Fatah al-Islam terrorists. Really.Taliban leader killed in ChamanJirga seeks Fazl's help to rescue North Waziristan peace dealIsrael proposes deal on Palestinian statehood points
Posted by: Fred || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  AKA: Mrs Joe Dimaggio
Posted by: McZoid || 07/26/2007 0:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Early Predator?
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/26/2007 3:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Not too subtle, is it? ;)
Posted by: mrp || 07/26/2007 8:10 Comments || Top||

#4  She was working as a waitress in a .... soda shop
Posted by: eLarson || 07/26/2007 9:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Who knew they had employee ID badges back then?
Posted by: BA || 07/26/2007 10:28 Comments || Top||

#6  Props to her!
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/26/2007 10:55 Comments || Top||

#7  Practicing with an air screw before moving on to the real thing?
Posted by: Zenster || 07/26/2007 12:55 Comments || Top||

#8  #2 - yes.
(pre - Ryan bees)
Posted by: 3dc || 07/26/2007 14:03 Comments || Top||

#9  It occurs to Me that Rantburg has a Page 3.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds || 07/26/2007 17:02 Comments || Top||


Posting reminders and style guide
A few simple reminders about posting on the Burg, for those who asked:

  • Provide a source for your post. If you don't your post will be deleted. None of the moderators have enough time to look for the source of your post.

  • Shorter, not longer, titles. Remember, the http:// source does NOT go into the title. Snarky and catchy titles are fine.

  • File it in the right place. If it's about the current intifada in Frankistan, don't file it under 'Great White North'.

  • We focus on the WoT and matters related to the WoT. That includes general thuggery around the world, such as Zim-bob-we, and the politics surrounding the WoT. The farther away it is from that, the less likely people here want to read it here on Rantburg. We assume y'all read other weblogs for the other news. Weird animal stories, of course, are always welcome: they go into the SAST as a 'non-WoT' item. The more lurid the crime, the more likely it goes into 'Lurid Crimes Tales' (but we don't overdo it). But domestic issues in Australia, surface crawlers on Mars, and the general firmness of J Lo's butt shouldn't be posted here.

  • Opinion pieces go into the 'Opinion' category. Tricky, eh? This includes blog pieces. Some exceptions exist: VDH, Lileks, and Marc Steyn can go into any appropriate category. All the rest go into Opinion. And that's not an invitation for other blog-owners to post stuff in Opinion just to advertise their own blog.

  • Please format the post. That means, help us make the post readable. Think of it as a chance to teach English composition to the MSM. Delete the fluff and the stuff we already know. If there are no line breaks, put them in. If there are too many line breaks, take some out. Some sources (e.g., BBC) think that each and every sentence should be a new paragraph. Other sources (e.g., myway.ap.news) think that an entire story is a single paragraph, three pages long. Some gentle editing to make a post readable really helps all of us, especially the moderators who then don't have to go back and re-edit stuff.

  • Your comments are in hilite (yellow) text. Start your comments on a separate line. Don't put a leading line space before or after.

  • Strikout text can be placed in-line in the text. Some here complain when we use too much of it. Unless you've got a sure-fire 'mad-libs' winner, use strikeout text sparingly.

  • Check for duplicates before you post. I miss that one myself sometimes (thanks to Emily and Steve for the gentle 'gotchas').

    And as always, thanks for all your support. You make Rantburg a special place.
  • Posted by: Steve White || 07/26/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  Wow. And I thought remembering all those swing thoughts in golf was hard.
    Posted by: Jack is Back! || 07/26/2007 9:11 Comments || Top||

    #2  Thanks for the Guideline posting...!!
    As Montgomery Burns would say.."Excellent"!
    Posted by: Delphi || 07/26/2007 10:08 Comments || Top||

    #3  the general firmness of J Lo's butt shouldn't be posted here

    So, I guess that means you don't want this review of the new movie "Beowulf"?

    "Angelina Jolie's lips look even fuller than usual. She's emerging naked from a pool of dank cave water, rivulets of gold streaming gently down her body.

    "Giiiif meee sonnnn," she coos, in an Old English accent.

    Her flaxen hair is braided down her back in a long tail that slowly undulates and slaps the dark pool around her. She continues to purr enticements about making babies as a virtual camera circles 360 degrees panning around her long limbs and waist. Gold dribbles down her inner thighs past her feet, revealing sharp stilettos merged with bestial hooves."
    Posted by: Steve || 07/26/2007 11:40 Comments || Top||

    #4  The guidelines make sense; its strange how fast we forget them
    Posted by: Chusomble Wittlesbach1010 || 07/26/2007 16:09 Comments || Top||

    #5  If there are no line breaks, put them in. If there are too many line breaks, take some out.

    This one single—and exceptionally reasonable—request still continues to be ignored by far too many people when posting an article. Given the general appraisal that the MSM enjoys around here one would think that its editing styles would draw a lot more flack.
    Posted by: Zenster || 07/26/2007 17:01 Comments || Top||

    #6  More substantive issues to discuss about the MSM.
    Posted by: lotp || 07/26/2007 17:24 Comments || Top||



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    In no particular order...
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    Seafarious
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    Two weeks of WOT
    Thu 2007-07-26
      Iraq: Khalis tribal leaders sign peace agreement
    Wed 2007-07-25
      U.S., Iranian envoys meet in Baghdad
    Tue 2007-07-24
      Abdullah Mehsud: Dead again
    Mon 2007-07-23
      Summer Offensive: More than 50 Talibs killed in Afghanistan
    Sun 2007-07-22
      N. Wazoo Peace Jirga Rocketed
    Sat 2007-07-21
      Afghan Talibs kidnap 23 S. Koreans
    Fri 2007-07-20
      6 dead in rocket attack on Somali peace conference
    Thu 2007-07-19
      Hek declares ceasefire
    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

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